was tolerated. Secondly:—It must not be forgotten that, no nation was capable of appreciating a pure system of religion before Christ; and, lastly,—It must be kept in mind, that in all circumstances, war has been regarded, by God and man, as a sore calamity. The shedding of blood, it is true, "defiled the land of Israel, and it could not be cleansed but by the blood of him that shed it."—Nu. 35: 33.
It is, also, very remarkable that, notwithstanding many of the wars were the Lord's, and he chose good men for his agents, the shedding of blood disqualified them for many important duties. David, who, while in the innocency of his youth, following his father Jesse's flock, was—"A man after God's own heart;" was disqualified for even building the temple, in consequence of the amount of blood he had shed. When he was old, and about to be gathered to his fathers, he said to Solomon:—"My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house unto the name of the Lord my God; but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, thou has shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build a house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth, in my sight. Behold! a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest, [the Hebrew, menuhah, may, with great propriety, be translated peace.] and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Solomon; [the Hebrew Shaloum, means peace.] and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name."—1 Chron. 22: 8-10.
From these facts we are led to conclude that, extreme wickedness called for the shedding of blood, in order to rid the earth of some of its curses; but still, the agents, although appointed by the Almighty, were not entirely free from the stain. We desire it to be clearly understood that, under the dispensation of Moses, there was no system of religion to cleanse the soul of man from sin, and point him to immortality and eternal life. God was only preparing our race for better things. In these circumstances, when nations and individuals became too corrupt to live, they were slain by Heaven's appointment. The act of killing even the vile, however, was of no moral advantage to him who did the deed; hence, as a general rule,—"The wicked are the sword o the Lord."—Prov 17: 13. The conclusion of the whole matter
