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His commandments which I command thee this day . . . . ." (Deut. 28: 1). It must
never be forgotten that only one people of the earth received the law of God and that was
the people of Israel and they undertook by solemn covenant to keep it in all its details.
After reciting the law to the people, we are told that Moses confirmed the covenant by the
sprinkling of blood on the altar and the people themselves:
"And he took the book of the covenant (the law) and read it in the audience of the
people; and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do and be obedient. And
Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, Behold, the blood of the
covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words" (Exod.xxiv.8).
There is a lot of loose thinking today about the law of Moses. Too often it is forgotten
that this was a solemn covenant made between Jehovah and His earthly people Israel
alone. It was never given as a covenant to any Gentile nation. Therefore when the
question is asked, who comes under the curse of God? the Scriptural answer is perfectly
clear, the Jewish nation.
"Now we know what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the
law" (Rom. 3: 19).
Consequently the Jew as a sinner was under a double disability. He was not only
under the dominion of sin and death as the whole human race has been since the fall of
Adam, but was in addition a breaker of the covenant of the law, the penalty of which was
God's curse. Contrary to popular opinion, Adam as a sinner was not cursed by God. It
was the serpent and the ground that was cursed for Adam's sake (Gen. 3: 14, 17).
While it is true to say that the whole human race as sinners have broken God's law for we
are "all under sin" (Rom. 3: 9) yet it was only one section of them (the nation of Israel)
who have covenanted with God to keep this law, knowing at the same time what would
be the consequence of breaking that covenant, namely coming under the terrible curse of
God. It is noteworthy that God refers to the law as the old covenant which Israel `broke'
(Jer. 31: 32).
It was in this sense that the Jew was not only under sin but "under the law" as Paul
expresses it in Romans and Galatians and "as many as are under the works of the law are
under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are in the book of the law to do them" (Gal. 3: 10), and this was clearly recited to
Israel and not to any other nation. The conditions of this divine code had been made
abundantly clear to this people. It consisted of commandments, all of which had to be
kept in practice not theory, and this meant that not one slips in thought, word or deed
could be tolerated during the span of human life. Ninety nine percent obedience was not
sufficient; it must be one hundred percent. Nothing less than this would be counted as
"keeping the law".
It should have been obvious that no failing creature could ever approximate to such a
standard. As we have before pointed out, the law set out the high standards of God but
gave no power or ability to keep them. All it could do was to show up the sinfulness of
sin, and condemn it, bringing in the verdict of guilty (Rom. 3: 9-19) and finally shutting