THE LAWGIVER

THE LAWGIVER

The spelling of the word "LORD" in capital letters identifies the lawgiver as Jehovah, as it is translated in the American Revised Version. Jehovah is a combination of three Hebrew words indicating the eternal, ever-living, self-existent God. "I am the Eternal," is the James Moffatt translation, and "I am your ever-living God," is the rendering by Ferrar Fenton. He is the great "I AW who was, and is, and is to come. He is "the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity." Isaiah 57:1S. "LORD and "Jehovah" indicate the Redeemer as well as the Creator; the One with the power to make and remake, create and recreate. Christ is therefore identified as the lawgiver, as He is declared to be in Isaiah 33:22 and James 4:12. That Christ is the Creator is evident from many texts. (See John 1:14; Ephesians 3: 9; Colossians 1:13-19; Hebrews 1:1J; Revelation 3:14.) Only the Creator can redeem or re-create. Both require the same omnipotent power. Likewise, only the Lawgiver can redeem from the curse, penalty, or condemnation of the law.

A well-known writer said: "Christ was not only the leader of the Hebrews in the wilderness,-the Angel in whom was the name of Jehovah, and who, veiled in the cloudy pillar, went before the host,-but it was He who gave the law to Israel. Amid the awful glory of Sinai, Christ declared in the hearing of all the people the ten precepts of His Father's law. It was He who gave to Moses the law engraved upon the tables of stone.'
That Christ was the divine leader of ancient Israel during their journey from Egypt to Canaan is clearly stated in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4. The law is a revelation of the very nature of the Lawgiver, a transcript of His character. The same expressions are used throughout the Scriptures in describing God and His law, showing that they are inseparable in character. Both are declared to be perfect, holy, righteous, good, just, eternal, and unchangeable. The decalogue is therefore the expression of the eternal and unchangeable principles of right inherent in the very nature or character of God. Since the principles of right can never change, the moral law that proclaims them can never change or become obsolete. The holiness, justice, perfection, and righteousness that belong to the law, belong also to the Lawgiver.
The decalogue is organic, fundamental, and constitutional. It is the foundation of the throne and government of God. Being an expression of the nature and character of God, the law must be as perpetual as God Himself, for the nature of God never changes.