Three things we learn about God as Moses reviews the rebellion of the children of Israel.

 

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Deuteronomy Chapter 9: Moses Rehearses Israel’s Rebellion

Deuteronomy 9:1-29 – Highlights of The Passage and Some Thoughts

Moses uses this chapter to remind the sons of Israel about all their rebellions against God from the time they left Egypt to the point where “this day” they were going to cross over the Jordan into the Promised Land.  We will avoid repeating the charges against Israel in our study, but we touch verses that have something to teach us about God. Let’s dig in:

Verse 3: It is God that is “crossing over before you”. Whenever and wherever God is sending us, he will go before us, as He did for the Israelites. And not only that, He will go “as a consuming fire.” You have a big meeting tomorrow with your boss, or your accuser, or any difficult meeting that God wants you to be part of, know this – God will go before you as a consuming fire. And it gets better.  The text says, “He will subdue (your enemy) before you.” He has already prepared the outcome. All you need to do is move in, and “drive them out and destroy them quickly” or whatever the Lord has spoken to you to do. Friends that is very powerful. If you can believe that and if you can claim that, and walk in His ways, you got it made.

Verse 10: Moses talks about the Lord having given him “the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God”. The Ten Commandments were not figments of Moses’ imagination. They were written by the “finger of God” because God knew mankind needed those commandments.  And they need them in A.D. as much as they needed them in B.C. Again, we either believe it and claim it, or we don’t. If we don’t, we can ignore each of the commandments. If we do, we must do all to keep each of those commandments.

Here they are in case you don’t have your Bible handy. The text of the Ten Commandments appears twice in the Hebrew Bible: at Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-17.

·  Thou shalt have no other gods before me

·  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image

·  Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain

·  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy

·  Honour thy father and thy mother

·  Thou shalt not kill

·  Thou shalt not commit adultery

·  Thou shalt not steal

·  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour

·  Thou shalt not covet

Yes, every one of them applies to you as a child of God and as a believer in Jesus Christ. There’s no getting around that. How and what you interpret some of them to mean is between you and God, but don’t be looking for any ‘bye’ as you might get in a tennis tournament because you’ve been good in the past. God, to my knowledge, isn’t into sports.

Verse 19: Moses says he “was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was wrathful against (the Israelites) in order to destroy you”. Let’s not make any mistake about it – God could and did get angry, very angry in the Old Testament. And we know that God doesn’t change. That tells me that God can and does get very angry today. Yes, He is a loving Father and He has proven that over and over – even with you, if you are honest. But that doesn’t mean He doesn’t get fuming angry at things or even at you and me. He can and He may well have or do so again in the future. If Moses, who was intimately associated with the Creator (Exodus 33:11a tells us, ‘Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend’), says God gets angry, then that’s good enough for me. So, I have to live my life in a way that does not get God angry. Not because He can’t handle it (like my nonagenarian father couldn’t handle it), nor because He would not forgive me (as sometimes my dad wouldn’t forgive me), but because I love God and I want my relationship with Him to a pleasing aroma to Him (which is what we all want with our earthly fathers to the extent possible).

Wrap-up

A simple chapter reminding the children of Israel of their rebellion against God, but you’ll remember that recently we decided that God should be the Hero of every passage of Scripture. And we need to focus on Him, rather than the human characters in the text. So, we gleaned the passage for gems about God and His character.  This time we found three:

1.     He goes before us and lays all the groundwork for the challenges we face when walking in His ways.

2.     He actually “hand wrote” the ten commandments. Think about that and what it means.

3.     He gets angry. Think about that and what it means.

It is my prayer that by keeping these three things in our minds, our relationship with God will grow and deepen.  Love to hear from you as we continue our journey through Deuteronomy.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

God Gives Moses His Own “Handwritten” Instructions

Exodus 31:18: And when He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.

I wanted to deal with this last verse of Exodus chapter 31 all by itself as it contains significant information.

First we all need to realize there comes a time when God is finished speaking. While His love for us continues, there is no more He can say to us at that point. The ball then shifts to our court and we have to play it or drop it. If we haven’t got His message by that time, on the particular subject He is communicating with us on, there is nothing more He can say or do, short of hitting us with the consequences. He often chooses to just stop talking for our own sake. Those of you who are parents of older, perhaps even married children, may feel that way sometimes.

A relationship with one’s adult children, especially if they are married, is much different than a relationship with one’s minor-aged children who must obey, or even with one’s employee who ultimately must carry out the wishes of management. Adult children have freewill and need to make decisions for themselves. A parent can tell them what he/she believes is right, but ultimately, the decision to follow the advice is theirs. So, it is with God. But in both cases, there is the risk of consequences. There is somewhat of a risk in disregarding the advice of an older, more experienced, individual such as a parent, although we need to keep in mind that parents too are human and prone to error, even when trying to give wise advice to one’s children.  However, the consequences of disregarding advice given by God are most definite, as after all, He is God.

The second thing we remind ourselves of here is that Moses had gone to Mount Sinai to hear the words of the Lord. You can’t hear God easily amidst the din and clamor of the valley.  It’s not that God can’t get your attention in the busy circumstances of your life if he wanted to; believe me, He can – and it’s not always pleasant. But you need to go to the mountain (your own solitary space) where it’s quiet and you seek out God’s message to you personally. He wants to have your undivided attention to what He is about to tell you. When was the last time you had a totally private and planned date with God and not a double, or a triple, or a congregational one? If we want to hear a personal message from God, we need to be in a private space with God.

Thirdly in this verse we note that God gave Moses two tablets of the ‘testimony’ or law. They had been promised to him back in Exodus 24:12. God now delivers them to him as He sends him down from Mount Sinai to the people. They were to be properly put into the Ark. Not only were the ten commandments spoken by God, but they were now written down. There is something added to the binding power of words when they are written down. That’s why we often ask someone who feels another person is reneging on a promise, “Do you have that in writing?” That’s why we advise people to get things in writing.

[An aside: Interestingly, as I was writing this section, the daily paper carried an article about an indigenous university professor who lost her job because she refused to submit any articles or research whatsoever for peer review – something all professors are required to do.  She claimed “that peer-reviewed research is contrary to indigenous oral traditions and that (the university’s) research standard effectively discriminated against her ‘race, color, ancestry, place of origin . . . and sex.’” Strange how even God Himself wanted to write things down rather than rely totally on His ‘oral tradition’ to get His message out.]

Not only were the laws written down, but they were written in tables of stone. It is clear here (and from Exodus 24:12) that he found them all ready prepared by God. Matthew Henry suggests that the law was written in tables of stone to denote its perpetual duration. The idea being nothing lasts as long as something written in stone.

The text says they were written with the finger of God. Henry suggests that this means by God’s will and power directly, without the use of any tangible writing instrument. He indicates that some consider this to have been carried out through the ministry of angels.  He believes the implication of this ‘handiwork’ of God symbolizes that only He can write His law in our heart, utilizing 2 Corinthians 3:3 as his source. God gives us a heart of flesh, and then, by his Spirit, which is the finger of God, he writes his will in the fleshly tables of the heart.

There is no definitive explanation as to why there were two tablets and what exactly was on each one. There are basically two options that would fit with Jewish interpretation represented in the Midrash (which according to Wikipedia is a method of interpreting biblical stories that goes beyond simple distillation of religious, legal, or moral teachings. It fills in gaps left in the biblical narrative regarding events and personalities that are only hinted at). Either the two tablets had five commandments on them each, or they both contained all ten commandments and were a copy of each other. The idea here being that as in all covenants, each party got a copy. If this were the case, God’s copy would be stored in the Ark of the Covenant that He had ordered built. But what about the Israelites’ copy? The Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange website gives us this possible answer:

Since the Israelites had the status of vassal vis-à-vis G-d and were the lesser partners to the Covenant, it was reasonable for them to file their copy of the Pact in the Holy Ark of the Lord their G-d. Thus we conclude that both Tablets were placed together in the Ark in the Tabernacle, and later in Solomon's Temple: "There was nothing inside the Ark but the two tablets of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, when the Lord made [a covenant] with the Israelites after their departure from the land of Egypt" (I Kings 8:9).

So, again, Scripture helps to answer Scripture. We know for sure there were both tablets in the Ark, even if we cannot say with absolute certainty as to what was written on each. Henry suggests that what was on them was indeed called tables of testimony, because this written law testified both the will of God concerning them and his good-will towards them, and would be a testimony against them if they were disobedient.

We can also assume Moses was required to show these to the people before laying them in the Ark. This way they were seen while being read, and thus, hopefully, better remembered. But did the Israelites remember and have we remembered?

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