Page:Unlawfulmarriage00jane.djvu/156

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152
LEVITICAL LAW

did." What is a moral wrong? Is it not sin? And what is sin? An inspired writer has answered the question: "Sin is a trangression of the law." Did not the Israelites, when, in opposition to a Divine command, they refused to march forward and take possession of the promised land, and when they threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb who exhorted them to go forward, sin? Did they not commit a "moral wrong?" And when God, to punish them for their disobedience, reversed his command, and swore they should perish in the wilderness, did they not sin again—again commit a "moral wrong," by attempting to march forward in opposition to His will? See Num. xiii. and xiv.

The Puritan has failed in his attempt to prove, the prohibition to "uncover the nakedness of a brother's wife," does not involve a prohibition to marry a brother's widow. We have shown that the Levitical law relates to marriage, as well as to single incestuous acts; and it follows, that in all cases, except one, if a Jew married the widow of his brother, he sin-