contagious influence of the
heathen practices by which they were surrounded. On this ground the
Mosaic laws everywhere rest the restrictions which they impose upon the
Israelites: "Thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his
daughter shalt thou take to thy son. For they will turn away thy son
from following me, that they may serve other gods." Deut. 7:3, 4. How
necessary were these restrictions was made manifest by the whole
subsequent history of the people. So far was the Mosaic law from
countenancing hatred towards the _persons_ of foreigners, that it
expressly enjoined kindness: "If a stranger sojourn with thee in your
land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you
shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as
thyself: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." Lev. 19:34.

5. Another ground of objection to the Mosaic law has been the number and
minuteness of its ordinances. That this feature of the theocracy was,
absolutely considered, an imperfection, is boldly asserted in the New
Testament. The apostle Peter calls it "a yoke which neither we nor our
fathers were able to bear." Acts 15:10. Nevertheless the wisdom of God
judged it necessary in the infancy of the nation, that it might thus be
trained, and through it the world, for the future inheritance of the
gospel. It is in this very aspect that the apostle Paul says: "The law
was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified
by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a
schoolmaster." Gal. 3:24, 25. The divine plan was to prescribe minutely
all the institutions of the Mosaic economy, leaving nothing to human
discretion, apparently to prevent the intermixture with them of
heathenish rites and usages; perhaps also that in this body of outward
forms the faith of the Israelites might have a needful resting-place,
until the way should be prepared for the introduction of a simpler and
more spiritual system.

We must be careful, however, that we do not fall into the error of
supposing that the Mosaic law prescribed a religion of mere outward
forms. On the contrary, it was pervaded throughout by an evangelical
principle. It knew nothing of heartless forms in which the religion of
the heart is wanting. The observance of all its numerous ordinances it
enjoined on the spiritual ground of love, gratitude, and humility. If
any one would understand in what a variety of forms thes