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"If a thief be found . . . . . he should make full restitution: if he have nothing, then he
shall be sold for his theft" (Exod. 22: 2, 3).
The law provides for the case of an Israelite who by reason of poverty sells himself to
a rich stranger; of this one the law says, "After that he is sold he may be redeemed again"
(Lev. 25: 48). What shadows of gospel substance the law contains! The parable of
Matt. 18: 23-35 is based upon the law, and in that parable the pardon of debt with its
deliverance from bonds is typical of the forgiveness of trespasses.
The carnal nature of man seems to result from his bondage. "I am carnal", said the
apostle, "having been sold under sin" (Rom. 7: 14). Whether the apostle here refers to
his own sin, or by the words "sold under the sin" looks back to that one act whereby sin
entered into the world and death by sin, we will not stay here to discuss. For our present
purpose man is viewed as having been sold under sin, and no effort of his own can bring
about his deliverance. If Israel were bondmen in Egypt and under the law, the Gentiles
were in bondage too, as Gal. 4: 1-9 shews. All the sons of Adam, whether Jew or
Gentile, are found under the bondage of sin and death, from which redemption, and that
by the Kinsman-Redeemer, can alone deliver them.
#9.
The Amorites, Dispossessed and Succeeded.
pp. 68 - 70
We noted in article #8 four items in the unconditional promises made by God to
Abraham, the fourth item being the explanation given by the Lord as to the reason why
Israel should wait 400 years before entering into the land of promise. The reason is that
"the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full".
Israel's bondage and redemption had something to do with the Amorites' iniquity,
strange as the thought may appear. When the iniquity of the Amorites had reached its
height, then the children of Israel were delivered out of Egypt, and upon entering the land
of their inheritance were commissioned with the awful task of exterminating the
Canaanites of which the Amorite was one. Amos, recalling the love of God to Israel
manifested in their redemption from Egypt, says:--
"Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the
cedars, and he was strong as the oaks . . . . . Also I brought you up from the land of
Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite"
(Amos 2: 9, 10).
This idea of dispossessing the Amorite and entering into his land in his place is
evidently a feature to be noted, for Moses in Deut. 2: gives three illustrations of the
same principle. Deut. 2: 1-5 speaks of the inheritance of Esau. The command is
"meddle not with them". Deut. 2: 8-12 speaks of the inheritance of Moab. Again the
command is "distress not the Moabites". Deut. 2: 18-21 speaks of the inheritance of