Why is Moses’ portrait central to all 23 lawgivers
reproduced in the U.S. House of Representatives?
Find out why this is a good reminder for July 4th week
by watching our Truth in Two (2 min vid + text).
#5 in our Summer 2024 series, “With What Will You Replace It When It’s Gone?”
Dr. Mark Eckel is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration at Liberty University. Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website) and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video).
Pictures: Josh Collingwood, File:Flickr – USCapitol – Moses (C. 1350-1250 B.C.).jpg – Wikimedia Commons
.jpg){kind=link}
FULL TEXT
Over the chamber doors of the United States House of Representatives are the carved portraits of 23 great lawgivers throughout human history. The central figure of the 23 is Moses. His visage faces forward, all other portraits are positioned to look at him. American law owes a great deal to the Pentateuchal law of Moses. The first five books of the Bible proclaim (1) human rights are given by God, not men, (2) all human authority is given by Heaven, (3) all people are to be treated as having worth, value, and dignity, (4) justice is premised on the ideal that people are innocent until proven guilty, and (5) during any trial, the accused should be able to confront his accuser.
Imagine American law courts without these basic ideas. Justice would be left up to the whim of a judge. Law could be twisted to say anything to indict the accused. Evidence that supports the defendant could be withheld. The list is endless. The essential nature of American jurisprudence, however, is in jeopardy when a person is already considered guilty. The safeguards American citizens depend upon in a courtroom originate from the law code given by God to Moses.
In Deuteronomy 4:6 God says that His law would cause the nations to exclaim, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” But like all people groups, the protections of law will only stand if the populace upholds them. The question I have asked us this summer is “What will you replace the law courts with if they are gone?” And this week, in the case of courts of law, the answer is bleak if we depend on human law over Heaven’s law. Here is the reason why I hope the portrait of Moses remains as the central portrait in the U.S. House of Representatives. For the Comenius Institute, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration at Liberty University, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.