O Adonái

O Adonái, et Dux domus Israël, qui Móysi in igne flammæ rubi apparuísti, et ei in Sina legem dedísti : veni ad rediméndum nos in bráchio exténto.

O Adonai, and Guide of the house of Israel, who appearedst to Moses in the flame of the Burning Bush, and to him on Sinai gave the Law: Come for to release us with arm outstretched.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,

Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height

In ancient times once gave the law

In cloud and majesty and awe.

Are we Christians of the New Testament only? Do we really hold the Old Testament as closely to ourselves as we do the new? Yes, of course, we interpret the Old Testament in the Light of the New - that's the correct way - but do we regard the Old Testament as highly as we ought? It has an integrity of its own, after all.

To the Jews, the Bible just consists of that one Testament - the Law and the Prophets, and what a reverence they have for their Law. Why not? It is the Law of God, God-given, God-scripted and God-breathed and it is truly a work of Love. The Law was not written to bind the Jews at all, but to free them from the slavery of the Egyptians both literal and metaphorical. The Great Decalogue, when read correctly, is less an collections of ten dos and don'ts but rather a set of Divine Precepts to enable us to live decent ordered and holy lives. Of course, they give us also measure ourselves against the Will of God and this is the darker side of the Law.

St Paul goes to great lengths to show us that the Law does nothing to help us if we see the Law as an absolute way of working and God as an impassive and remote judge ready to bring down plague upon plague upon any offender. God's true law is written in the sincerity of the heart thirsting for God. Why else does He bother to stretch His arm across what to us may be pan-galactic distances, but to Him a fraction of the Planck Length?

The Law pf God is absolute but powerless to save in itself.

The Love of God is absolute, but to all the lowly servants and handmaids it is an arm that shews strength, shews the Strength of Love as well as the sheer Power of God. Love is stronger than the Law because it fulfils the Law. A little Jewish couple knew it, taught it to their little boy Who took it into His heart, obeyed it with all of His heart, was pierced for it even to His heart and so redeemed us all - with his arms outstretched.