Deuteronomy 10 commentary

DEUTERONOMY 10 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Tablets Like the First Ones
1 At that time the Lord said to me, “Chisel out
two stone tablets like the first ones and come up
to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden
ark.[a]
BARNES, "These verses are closely connected with the preceding chapter, and
state very briefly the results of the intercession of Moses recorded in Deu_9:25-29.
The people are reminded that all their blessings and privileges, forfeited by apostasy
as soon as bestowed, were only now their own by a new and most unmerited act of
grace on the part of God, won from Him by the self-sacrificing mediation of Moses
himself Deu_10:10.
Deu_10:1-5. The order for making the ark and tabernacle was evidently given
before the apostasy of the people (Exo. 25ff); but the tables were not put in the ark
until the completion and dedication of the tabernacle Exo. 40. But here as elsewhere
(compare the Deu_9:1 note) Moses connects transactions closely related to each
other and to his purpose without regard to the order of occurrence.
CLARKE, "Hew thee two tables of stone - See the notes on Exo_34:1.
GILL, "At that time the Lord said unto me,.... On the fortieth day, mentioned
in the preceding chapter, as Aben Ezra, or at the end of forty days, as Jarchi; not of
the first forty, for then were given him the first two tables of stone, with the law
written on them, which he broke when he came down; but at the end of the second
forty days, as some think, when he had fallen before the Lord, and entreated him for
the people, and, as a token of his reconciliation to them, gave the following order:
hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, &c. Of the same sort of stone,
of the same size and form with those God gave him in the mount the first time he was
there, and which he broke in his descent from thence; they were the work of God, but
these were to be hewed by Moses: the order seems to be given between the request
Moses made to see the glory of the Lord, and the proclamation made of it, see Exo_
34:1, and come up unto me into the mount; Mount Sinai; this was certainly the third
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time of his going up there, and where he continued forty days and nights; but
whether he continued there so long the second time may be a matter of question,
though he certainly did the third time; see Exo_32:30.
and make thee an ark of wood; Jarchi thinks this was not the ark Bezaleel made,
but made after, and is that which went out to battle; and some take it to be a
temporary ark, made for the present purpose till that was finished; but Aben Ezra is
of opinion it is the same that Bezaleel made: and it may be said to be made by Moses,
because he was not only ordered to make it, but it was by his orders and the direction
he gave to Bezaleel that it was made; and this seems the more probable, because
there the tables remained, Deu_10:5.
HENRY 1-5, "There were four things in and by which God showed himself
reconciled to Israel and made them truly great and happy, and in which God's
goodness took occasion from their badness to make him the more illustrious: -
I. He gave them his law, gave it to them in writing, as a standing pledge of his
favour. Though the tables that were first written were broken, because Israel had
broken the commandments, and God might justly break the covenant, yet when his
anger was turned away the tables were renewed, Deu_10:1, Deu_10:2. Note, God's
putting his law in our reconciliation to God and the best earnest of our happiness in
him. Moses is told to hew the tables; for the law prepares the heart by conviction and
humiliation for the grace of God, but it is only that grace that then writes the law in
it. Moses made an ark of shittim-wood (Deu_10:3), a plain chest, the same, I
suppose, in which the tables were afterwards preserved: but Bezaleel is said to make
it (Exo_37:1), because he afterwards finished it up and overlaid it with gold. Or
Moses is said to make it because, when he went up the second time into the mount,
he ordered it to be made by Bezaleel against he came down. And it is observable that
for this reason the ark was the first thing that God gave orders about, Exo_25:10.
And this left an earnest to the congregation that the tables should not miscarry this
second time, as they had done the first. God will send his law and gospel to those
whose hearts are prepared as arks to receive them. Christ is the ark in which now our
salvation is kept safely, that it may not be lost as it was in the first Adam, when he
had it in his own hand. Observe, 1. What it was that God wrote on the two tables, the
ten commandments (Deu_10:4), or ten words, intimating in how little a compass
they were contained: they were not ten volumes, but ten words: it was the same with
the first writing, and both the same that he spoke in the mount. The second edition
needed no correction nor amendment, nor did what he wrote differ form what he
spoke. The written word is as truly the word of God as that which he spoke to his
servants the prophets. 2. What care was taken of it. These two tables, thus engraven,
were faithfully laid up in the ark. And there they be, said Moses, pointing it is
probable towards the sanctuary, Deu_10:5. That good thing which was committed to
him he transmitted to them, and left it pure and entire in their hands; now let them
look to it at their peril. Thus we may say to the rising generation, “God has entrusted
us with Bibles, sabbaths, sacraments, etc., as tokens of his presence and favour, and
there they be; we lodge them with you,” 2Ti_1:13, 2Ti_1:14.
JAMISON, “Deu_10:1-22. God’s mercy in restoring the two Tables.
At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like
unto the first — It was when God had been pacified through the intercessions of
Moses with the people who had so greatly offended Him by the worship of the golden
calf. The obedient leader executed the orders he had received as to the preparation
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both of the hewn stones, and the ark or chest in which those sacred archives were to
be laid.
CALVIN, “1.At that time the Lord said unto me He had had intercourse with the
people for some time, before he returned into the mount with the second tables;
and therefore he now begins to relate more fully what he had already mentioned
in the inverted order of time, i.e., that he stayed in the mount forty days to make
entreaty for them. And this also the repetition in the 10th verse more clearly
demonstrates, where he says, that he stayed in the mount “according (393) to the
first days.” But, although he there says that he was hearkened to when he
interceded in the mount, still he includes the prayers which he had previously
offered when he heard of the people’s revolt, and after he had broken the tables
and taken away God’s tabernacle, in which he prayed apart to obtain pardon for
their sin. What is also here said respecting the ark is not in its proper place; for it
was a part of the tabernacle, as we have elsewhere seen. It is, therefore, exacting
too much to require that the things which are related together, should be
referred to the same instant of time.
COFFMAN, “"The paramount event in these words is that Moses' intercession
prevailed. God gave commandment to hew out other tables and wrote upon them
the ten commandments."[1] Since the tabernacle and all of its elaborate
furniture had not at this time been erected, some scholars have trouble with the
mention here of that ark, into which Moses was to place the tables. Several
plausible explanations of this are available, as follows:
(a) Alexander supposed that the placing of the tables in the ark did not occur
until LATER, after the tabernacle and its furnishing had been completed. He
wrote: "But, as all those things were closely connected, Moses mentions them
here together without regard to the chronology."[2] This is indeed a logical and
reasonable view, and it could certainly be correct.
(b) Jamieson, however, thought than in anticipation of the event of receiving the
new tables, Moses instructed Bezaleel to make the ark and have it ready when he
returned from the mount. "Most probably Moses gave these instructions to
Bezaleel BEFORE he ascended the mount, that upon his descent the ark might
be ready to receive the precious deposit."[3] This also is an adequate and
reasonable explanation. No one can prove that this is not exactly what happened.
(c) However, it appears to us that a better explanation is that this ark which
Moses individually himself prepared was a TEMPORARY ARK which served
until the more elaborate gold-crowned ark could be prepared later. The fact of
Moses being commanded directly, not merely to hew the tables, but to make the
ark (Deuteronomy 10:1) tells us that Moses himself, not Bezaleel, was to make
this one. It will be remembered that Moses' dwelling place, "his tent," was the
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substitute for the real "tent of meeting" during this period when the covenant
was broken and had not been renewed. Significantly, it stood outside the camp of
Israel, and not within it. (See Exodus 33:7ff and my comments in Vol. 2 of this
series of commentaries). Since the Scriptures declare plainly that Moses made
this ark, and that Bezaleel made the other one. This writer believes that there
were indeed two arks, this one mentioned here being a SUBSTITUTE until the
glorious one might be prepared later. It is mandatory to remember in
researching questions of this type that the Word of God gives only a summary of
all that was done, and that many of the details are hidden forever. Certainly, we
are justified in rejecting the arbitrary conclusions of critics who promptly make
a contradiction out of these verses, and from this, declare that "Deuteronomy
and Exodus are by `different authors,' Exodus by `P' and Deuteronomy by
`JE.'"[4]
"The purpose of these first five verses is, "To state in a comprehensive and
general way that God had mercifully reaffirmed the covenant with the rebellious
vassals, and Moses included the matter of the ark as a familiar and integral
element in the standard ratification procedure."[5] This very important
consideration is missed altogether by earlier writers. Wright, for example, could
see nothing in this except a purpose "to freshen the peoples' historical
memory."[6] The correspondence of this with "contemporary international
suzerainty treaties, the same being in accordance with the legal customs of that
era, etc."[7] is of very great significance, because it is also the basis of clearing up
the mystery of Deuteronomy 10:6,7, which have troubled scholars for a century.
ELLICOTT, “(1) At that time the Lord said unto me.—The forty days of
intercession alluded to in the previous chapter followed this command (Exodus
34:28).
Hew thee two tables of stone . . . and make thee an ark.—The command to make
the ark was given in the former period of forty days (Exodus 25:10); the
command to hew the two tables was given after Moses had seen the glory of God
(Exodus 33) from the cleft in the rock, but before the forty days spent in
intercession. Rashi, the Jewish commentator, thinks there were two arks: one to
go out to war, and the other to remain in the tabernacle. But there is no
foundation for this statement. There may, of course, have been a temporary
receptacle for the tables made by Moses (like the temporary tabernacle
mentioned in Exodus 33:7), to receive them until the completion of the ark which
Bezaleel was to make. This was not put in hand until after Moses descended with
the second pair of tables. (See Exodus 35 &c.)
CONSTABLE, Verses 1-11, “God renewed the broken covenant with Israel
because of Moses' intercession, not because Israel deserved it. Moses made the
ark (Deuteronomy 10:3) in the sense that he directed Bezalel to make it (cf.
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Exodus 25:10; Exodus 37:1). "Ark" was a common English word for box, chest,
or basket in seventeenth-century England, and most modern English translations
still use this old word. Other evidences of God's grace were His appointment of
another high priest when Aaron died (Deuteronomy 10:6) and His provision of
water in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 10:7). Moserah (Deuteronomy 10:6;
Numbers 33:31) may be another name for Mt. Hor (Numbers 33:38), the district
in which Mt. Hor stood, or Moserah may not be a place name at all but a
common noun (Heb. mosera, "chastisement") indicating the reason for Aaron's
death rather than the site. [Note: See R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old
Testament, p. 511.] God also set apart the tribe of Levi as priests even though the
nation had failed in its calling as a kingdom of priests (Deuteronomy 10:8-9).
Furthermore He permitted the disobedient people to proceed on to the Promised
Land (Deuteronomy 10:11). Again the order of events is logical rather than
chronological.
Excessive self-reliance (ch. 8) and self-importance (Deuteronomy 9:1 to
Deuteronomy 10:11) would erode Israel's proper concept of God. The people
would regard God as less than He was. This is a violation of the third
commandment (Deuteronomy 5:11) that aims at keeping man's view of God's
reputation (name) consistent with His character.
LANGE, “1At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like
unto the first, and come up into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood 2 And
I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou
brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark 3 And I made an ark of shittim
[acacia] wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into
the mount, having [and] the two tables in mine hand 4 And he wrote on the
tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments [words] which the
Lord spake unto you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in [at] the day of
the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me 5 And I turned myself and came
down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there
they be, as the Lord commanded me 6 And the children of Israel took their
journey from Beeroth [the wells] of the children of Jaakan to Mosera: there
Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the
priest’s office [became priest] in his stead 7 From thence they journeyed unto
Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters 8 At that
time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the
Lord, to stand before [the face of] the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in
his name, unto this day 9 Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his
brethren; the Lord [he] is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God
promised him 10 And I stayed [stood] in the mount, according to the first time
[as the first days] forty days and forty nights; and the Lord hearkened unto me
at that time also, and [omit and] the Lord would not destroy thee 11 And the
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Lord said unto me, Arise, take thy journey [go to depart] before the people, that
they may go in and possess the land which I sware unto their fathers to give unto
them 12 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but [than
only] to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to
serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart [with thy whole heart], and with all thy
soul 13 To keep the commandments [commandment] of the Lord, and his
statutes, which I command thee this day for 14 thy good? Behold,[FN1] the
heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth also [omit
also], with all that therein is. [Still] 15Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers
to love them, and he [omit he] chose their seed after them, 16even you above [out
of] all people, as it is this day. Circumcise therefore [And so circumcise] the
foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked 17 For the Lord your God is
God of gods [he is the God of gods] and [the] Lord of lords, a great God [the
God, the great] a [the] mighty, and a [the] terrible, which regardeth not persons,
nor taketh reward: 18He doth execute the judgment[FN2] of the fatherless and
widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving [to give] him food and raiment 19 Love
ye therefore [And so love ye] the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of
Egypt 20 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him 21
shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. He is thy praise, and he is thy God,
that hath done for thee these great and terrible things [deeds] which thine eyes
have seen 22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with three-score and ten persons
[with seventy souls]; and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of
heaven for multitude.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Deuteronomy 10:1-5. At that time ( Deuteronomy 10:1) is generally to be
understood of the time at Horeb, which is the fundamental reference in this
section ( Deuteronomy 9:8). This more general interpretation corresponds to the
whole method of the discourse, which is not chronological, but rhetorical, and
pre-supposes with respect to the more exact chronological sequences the
narrative in Exodus. According to this, the time fixed falls before the beginning
of the forty days and nights ( Exodus 34:1) thus before Deuteronomy 9:25;
Deuteronomy 9:18. All that lies between, was briefly hinted in Deuteronomy
9:19, since all there depends upon the close of the intercession of Moses, the
renewing of the covenant, the new tables of the law, and indeed as the result of
the Mosaic intercession. (That with the forty days the time, first below in the
camp, at last above on the mount, is intended (Knobel); as a round number
(Schultz), is as unnecessary as it is to explain in that time by the intercessory
prayer. Keil). The mention of the ark, whose preparation had been commanded,
Exodus 25:10, indeed before the first tables, declares already according to the
actual connection here, the grace to Israel in reference to the erection of the
sanctuary, as one enduring and realizing itself in the dwelling of Jehovah with
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Israel. Thus also in Deuteronomy 10:2, with which comp. Exodus 34:1. The
carrying out of that which was commanded, Exodus 25, and here merely
renewed with respect to the ark, Deuteronomy 10:3, involves no difficulty, for
Exodus 37:1 does not exclude the idea that Bezaleel applied himself to the
complicated work immediately upon the declaration of Moses. [And if this were
not Song of Solomon, the apparent diversities between the account in Exodus
and the statement here are all easily and naturally explained upon the
supposition that Moses groups events here with reference to the impression he
wished to make, and without reference to the order of time in which they
occurred. These very differences may be fairly urged as proofs of the Mosaic
authorship.—A. G.] Deuteronomy 10:4. Comp. Deuteronomy 9:10. Deuteronomy
10:5 as Deuteronomy 9:15. And put, sq. ( Exodus 40:20), parallel to the solemn
utterance
PETT, “Introductory.
Part 1 of the commentary contained the first speech of Moses which proclaimed
the recent history of Israel under the hand of Yahweh, demonstrating why they
had reason to be grateful to Him, and finishing with a reminder of how
gloriously and fearsomely the covenant had been given and an exhortation to
keep the covenant requirements and remember Who had given them. From
Deuteronomy 4:44 to Deuteronomy 29:1 this is followed by the central renewal of
the covenant in Moses’ second speech, commencing with a renewed description
of the giving of the covenant (Deuteronomy 5), followed by the basic principles
lying behind the covenant (chapters 5-11), more detailed regulations (chapters
12-26), the requirement that the covenant be recorded in writing at Shechem
(where Abraham first built an altar when entering the land and received his first
theophany in the land) as confirmed by all the elders (Deuteronomy 27:1-8), the
acknowledgement of it by the priesthood along with Moses as witnesses to it
(Deuteronomy 27:9-10), and the applying to it of curses and blessings (chapters
Deuteronomy 27:11 to Deuteronomy 29:1).
This section of the commentary will cover chapters 5-11, but these chapters must
be seen as part of the greater whole to Deuteronomy 29:1, as incorporated in the
whole book.
The Covenant Stipulations - the Basic Underlying Principles (chapters
Deuteronomy 4:45 to Deuteronomy 11:32).
This introductory section begins the second section of the book which consists
mainly of a proclamation of general basic principles related to the fulfilment of
the covenant (chapters 5-11). This is then followed by a detailed review of the
statutes and ordinances which have been spoken of previously, but with special
reference to their applicability to the people and mainly ignoring priestly activity
(chapters 12-26). It is ‘popular’ Law. In this second section Moses once again
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makes clear the demands that Yahweh is making on His people as a response to
what He has done for them. But he will begin it by repeating, with minor
alterations, the covenant made at Horeb, at Mount Sinai. Thus he declares that
covenant in chapter 5 almost word for word, although slightly revised in order to
bring out new emphases. This is then followed chapter by chapter by the
requirements that Yahweh is laying on them as a response to His covenant love.
In 6-11 he first deals with the basic principles involved, and then in chapters
12-26 moves on to the specific detailed requirements. This is a pattern typical of
ancient treaty covenants.
Central to all the chapters are the ideas of how they must obey His
commandment, His statutes and His ordinances that He might bless them in all
they do (Deuteronomy 5:1; Deuteronomy 5:29; Deuteronomy 5:31-33;
Deuteronomy 6:1-3; Deuteronomy 6:6-8; Deuteronomy 6:17-18; Deuteronomy
6:24-25; Deuteronomy 7:11-12; Deuteronomy 8:1; Deuteronomy 8:6;
Deuteronomy 8:11; Deuteronomy 10:13; Deuteronomy 11:1; Deuteronomy 11:8;
Deuteronomy 11:13; Deuteronomy 11:22; Deuteronomy 11:27; Deuteronomy
11:32); of how the reason that they are being blessed is not for their own sakes,
but because of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Deuteronomy 6:10;
Deuteronomy 11:9); of how they must remember Yahweh their God Who has
mightily delivered them from Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:6; Deuteronomy 5:15;
Deuteronomy 6:12; Deuteronomy 6:21-23; Deuteronomy 7:8; Deuteronomy 7:15;
Deuteronomy 7:18; Deuteronomy 8:14; Deuteronomy 9:26); of how He is
bringing them into a good and prosperous land where they will enjoy great
blessings (Deuteronomy 6:10-11; Deuteronomy 6:18; Deuteronomy 7:13-16;
Deuteronomy 8:7-10; Deuteronomy 8:12-13; Deuteronomy 11:10-12;
Deuteronomy 11:14-15), and of how they must then beware of turning to false
gods and false religion once they enter the land, and must rather totally destroy
them (Deuteronomy 5:8-9; Deuteronomy 6:14-15; Deuteronomy 7:4-5;
Deuteronomy 7:25-26; Deuteronomy 8:19; Deuteronomy 9:12; Deuteronomy
9:16; Deuteronomy 11:16; Deuteronomy 11:28).
These are the general emphases, but each chapter also has a particular emphasis.
· Deuteronomy 6 stresses their need to love Yahweh, their covenant
Overlord, with all their beings (Deuteronomy 6:5), to fear Him (Deuteronomy
6:2; Deuteronomy 6:13; Deuteronomy 6:24), and to teach their children His
instruction, and warns them that when they are prospering in the land they must
not forget what He has done for them. Their Overlord is calling His subjects to
love and obedience.
· Deuteronomy 7 confirms Yahweh’s elective covenant love for them
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(Deuteronomy 7:7-8; Deuteronomy 7:13) as His holy people, chosen and
treasured (Deuteronomy 7:6), and promises them that because of that love He
will bless them wonderfully, delivering the promised land into their hands. Here
He reveals why they should love Him and respond to Him, because He has first
loved them, and chosen them to be the recipients of His love with all its great
benefits.
· Deuteronomy 8 reminds them of how they must remember and not forget
the past (Deuteronomy 8:2; Deuteronomy 8:5; Deuteronomy 8:11; Deuteronomy
8:14; Deuteronomy 8:18), especially how He has looked after them in the
wilderness, with the promise that He is bringing them to a good and prosperous
land, and that once He has done so they must beware of self-glorification. Here
the details of His watch over them are laid out demonstrating the practicality of
His love.
· Deuteronomy 9 exhorts them on this basis to go forward and cross the
Jordan knowing that Yahweh goes before them, while reminding them that their
success will not be because of their own righteousness, a fact which he then
demonstrates from their past history, reminding them how right from the very
beginning they had broken God’s covenant that He had made with them. Here
He emphasises how gracious He has been to them even though they had not been
fully faithful to His covenant. While they do not deserve His goodness, He is
pouring it on them anyway.
· Deuteronomy 10 stresses that God then graciously renewed that covenant
which they had broken so quickly, and goes on to describe the greatness and
uniqueness of Yahweh their covenant God and Overlord. They must recognise
how good He has been to His erring subjects and take note of the fullness of His
glory, lest they again break His covenant with them.
· Deuteronomy 11 urges them to learn from the past and go forward on the
basis of it, repeats the promises and warnings of the previous chapters,
constrains them to remember His words, and bear them about with them and
teach them to their children, and promises the good things to come, and the
certainty of their possession of the land because Yahweh is with them. It finally
concludes the section with the reminder of the blessings and cursings, which will
be solemnly applied on Mounts Gerizim and Ebal, which are by the oaks of
Moreh, that is, at Shechem, and says that which of these will come on them will
depend on whether they faithfully respond to His covenant or not. This
conclusion prepares the way for Deuteronomy 27, although meanwhile being
first of all preceded by the detailed stipulations of chapters 12-26.
So throughout these chapters the covenant is constantly stressed, a covenant
which is the result of His love for their fathers and for them and is their
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guarantee of the future as long as their response to it is full and complete.
Chapter 10 The Renewing of the Covenant and The Priesthood and the Servants
of the Tabernacle.
The covenant having been broken we come now to the renewing of the broken
covenant, followed by the renewal of the priesthood and the replacing of the
firstborn sons of failed Israel with the Levites who had proved their worth. The
first part of the chapter is a miscellany of different activities importantly
involved in the renewing of the broken covenant and the provision for its
protection once renewed. It includes the renewing of the priesthood and the
appointment of the Levites, put together in no particular chronological order in
a typical speech approach. The purpose was to indicate that the renewed
covenant was finally prepared, sealed, delivered and put under the direct
protection of Yahweh with the priesthood renewed and new servants appointed
for the Tabernacle. he is concerned with what happened, not the order in which
it happened.
These activities had involved the command to cut two tablets of stone like the
first which had been broken; the command to make the Ark for the purpose of
receiving the covenant so that it was under Yahweh’s watchful eye; the fulfilling
of these commands; Moses’ entry into ‘the Mount’ (which was how Mount Sinai
was now spoken of); Yahweh rewriting ‘the ten words’ of the covenant; and
Moses return to Israel and the placing of the tablets in the Ark. This was then
followed by the dedication of Eliezer to minister before it and the appointment of
the Levites as its protectors. As a result of these things all would now be secure
for the future. It was the factual fulfilment which was important. The chronology
of when these things took place was irrelevant.
The total disregard for chronology comes out in that in verse 1 the command to
make the ark comes after the entry into the mount while in Deuteronomy 10:3 it
comes before, and in Deuteronomy 10:5 Moses returns from the Mount while in
verse 10 he is still there. This is typical of a speech when information from
various sources is being briefly amassed because of its content, and commented
on, when it is the total picture that matters. This is then followed by an
exhortation, which includes a call to prepare their hearts and a description of the
greatness of Yahweh.
It will immediately be noted that in Deuteronomy 10:1-3 certain extracts from
Exodus 32:1-4 are included, some cited exactly, and some paraphrased, with
additional comments made as Moses now felt appropriate so as to introduce the
fact of the Ark. Exodus 32:1 reads as follows, with the words cited here in
Deuteronomy in italics. ‘Cut yourself two tablets of stone like to the first, and I
will write on the tablets the words which were on the first tablets which you
broke --- and come up in the morning into Mount Sinai ---and he cut two tablets
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of stone like to the first --- and he went up into Mount Sinai --- and he took in his
hand two tablets of stone.’ (The words in italics are cited exactly in
Deuteronomy, but with change of person between he and I in the last phrases).
Verses 1-5
Chapter 10 The Renewing of the Covenant and The Priesthood and the Servants
of the Tabernacle.
The covenant having been broken we come now to the renewing of the broken
covenant, followed by the renewal of the priesthood and the replacing of the
firstborn sons of failed Israel with the Levites who had proved their worth. The
first part of the chapter is a miscellany of different activities importantly
involved in the renewing of the broken covenant and the provision for its
protection once renewed. It includes the renewing of the priesthood and the
appointment of the Levites, put together in no particular chronological order in
a typical speech approach. The purpose was to indicate that the renewed
covenant was finally prepared, sealed, delivered and put under the direct
protection of Yahweh with the priesthood renewed and new servants appointed
for the Tabernacle. he is concerned with what happened, not the order in which
it happened.
These activities had involved the command to cut two tablets of stone like the
first which had been broken; the command to make the Ark for the purpose of
receiving the covenant so that it was under Yahweh’s watchful eye; the fulfilling
of these commands; Moses’ entry into ‘the Mount’ (which was how Mount Sinai
was now spoken of); Yahweh rewriting ‘the ten words’ of the covenant; and
Moses return to Israel and the placing of the tablets in the Ark. This was then
followed by the dedication of Eliezer to minister before it and the appointment of
the Levites as its protectors. As a result of these things all would now be secure
for the future. It was the factual fulfilment which was important. The chronology
of when these things took place was irrelevant.
The total disregard for chronology comes out in that in Deuteronomy 10:1 the
command to make the ark comes after the entry into the mount while in
Deuteronomy 10:3 it comes before, and in Deuteronomy 10:5 Moses returns from
the Mount while in Deuteronomy 10:10 he is still there. This is typical of a speech
when information from various sources is being briefly amassed because of its
content, and commented on, when it is the total picture that matters. This is then
followed by an exhortation, which includes a call to prepare their hearts and a
description of the greatness of Yahweh.
It will immediately be noted that in Deuteronomy 10:1-3 certain extracts from
Exodus 32:1-4 are included, some cited exactly, and some paraphrased, with
additional comments made as Moses now felt appropriate so as to introduce the
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fact of the Ark. Exodus 32:1 reads as follows, with the words cited here in
Deuteronomy in italics. ‘Cut yourself two tablets of stone like to the first, and I
will write on the tablets the words which were on the first tablets which you
broke --- and come up in the morning into Mount Sinai ---and he cut two tablets
of stone like to the first --- and he went up into Mount Sinai --- and he took in his
hand two tablets of stone.’ (The words in italics are cited exactly in
Deuteronomy, but with change of person between he and I in the last phrases).
The Re-establishing of the Covenant (Deuteronomy 10:1-5).
We may analyse this in the words of Moses as follows:
a At that time Yahweh said to me, “Cut yourself two tablets of stone like to
the first, and come up to Me into the mount, and make yourself an ark of wood
(Deuteronomy 10:1).
b And I will write on the tablets the words which were on the first tablets
which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark (Deuteronomy 10:2).
c So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two tablets of stone like to the
first,
c And I went up into the mount, having the two tablets in my hand
(Deuteronomy 10:3).
b And He wrote on the tablets, in accordance with the first writing, the ten
commandments, which Yahweh spoke to you all in the mount out of the midst of
the fire in the day of the gathering, and Yahweh gave them to me (Deuteronomy
10:4).
a And I turned and came down from the mount, and put the tablets in the
ark which I had made, and there they are as Yahweh commanded me
(Deuteronomy 10:5).
Note that in ‘a’ he makes two tablets and a wooden chest as Yahweh tells him to,
and goes up into the Mount, and in the parallel he comes down from the Mount
and puts the tablets in the chest as Yahweh had commanded. In ‘b’ Yahweh says
that He will write on the tablets what was on the first tablets, and in the parallel
He does so. In ‘c’ he makes the chest and the two tablets, and in the parallel he
takes the two tablets which he has made up into the Mount.
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Deuteronomy 10:1-2
‘At that time Yahweh said to me, “Cut yourself two tablets of stone like to the
first, and come up to me into the mount, and make yourself an ark of wood. And
I will write on the tablets the words which were on the first tablets which you
broke, and you shall put them in the ark.’
Moses describes how Yahweh told him (at two different times here conjoined to
prevent the need for complicated explanations) to cut two tablets of stone
(Exodus 32:1) and to make an ark (chest) of wood (Exodus 25:10). This was so
that He might rewrite the ten words on the tablets, and so that Moses might put
them in the ark. In response to Moses’ intercession Yahweh was re-establishing
the covenant, and was writing it Himself as a personal assurance to both Moses
and Israel. Treaties that were made were always put in a sanctuary, often in a
chest, in order that they might be watched over by the gods. Here the covenant
was to be watched over by the cherubim.
PULPIT, "At that time. When Moses thus interceded, God commanded him to
prepare two new tables of stone, and to construct an ark in which to keep them
(cf. Exodus 34:1, etc.). Directions had been given for the construction of the ark
before the apostasy of the people, and it was not made till after the tabernacle
had been erected, nor were the tables placed in it till the tabernacle had been
consecrated (cf. Exodus 25:10, etc.; Exodus 40:20). But as the things themselves
were closely connected, Moses mentions them here together, without regard to
chronological order.
PULPIT 1-5, "HOMILETICS
Deuteronomy 10:1-5, Deuteronomy 10:10, Deuteronomy 10:11
The results of the intercessory prayer of Moses.
In these verses we have a very brief statement of the results of the pleading of
Moses for Israel with God, which can only be duly appreciated when set side by
side with the fuller account in Exodus 33:1-23; Exodus 34:1-35. It is clear, even
from the few words here given us, that the Lord's wrath was turned away, that
the covenant and the covenant promise were again renewed. But we must at least
indicate the points of detail ere we can gather up the sublime teachings of the
whole.
I. THE RESULTS OF THE INTERCESSION OF MOSES.
1. Generally. "The Lord repented," etc. (Exodus 32:14). The passage in Numbers
23:19 is by no means contrary to this. It means that there is no fickleness nor
falseness in the Divine promises, and that the fulfillment of them is not subject to
human caprice; which is gloriously true, and in perfect harmony with the before-
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named words. These do not denote a change in the mind of God, but rather a
change in the Divine acts. God's promises are, in an important sense, conditional,
and his threatenings too. If we reject the promise and fail to rely upon it, it will
not be fulfilled in our case; so, if we repent and turn from sin, the threatenings
will cease to apply to us. The virtual withdrawal of promise or threatening is
called "repenting," not because God changes his will, but because he varies his
action. God may plan and effect a change without ever changing a plan.
2. In detail.
(a), Exodus 33:7; the tabernacle of Moses, where he would hear the causes of the
people, and maintain the mediatorship, was removed from within the camp to
the outside of it. Still, mercy and judgment were blended, for the pillar of cloud
did not forsake them.
(b), Exodus 32:34, Exodus 32:35; this is very obscure; but it at least means that,
though they were forgiven, yet they were chastised. In after times, the Jews were
wont to say that never any trouble came upon them without an ounce of the dust
of the golden calf in it. The intercession of Moses, though it secured inestimable
blessings, yet did not avail to remove all reminders of their sin, or to make things
as though it had not been.
(a) They should not be consumed, still, only an angel should go with them
(Exodus 33:2, Exodus 33:3).
(b) The Divine presence should go with them (Exodus 32:12-14).
(a) Though the tabernacle is out of the camp, yet communication with Jehovah is
still maintained (Exodus 33:9).
(b) The old promise is renewed (Exodus 33:12-14). "Rest!" Rest in God. What
less, what more, could they desire?
(c) There was a formal renewal of the covenant (Deuteronomy 10:1-5).
(d) Jehovah grants a new disclosure of his glory. The recent exhibition of the
frailty of man might well have crushed Moses if he had not been sustained by a
new vision of God. And what a vision! What a declaration! Nowhere else on
earth had a Name so glorious then been proclaimed (Exodus 34:6-9).
(e) The long-continued communion with God illumed the face of Moses (Exodus
34:29-35). Was this supernatural or miraculous? Supernatural? Yes.
Miraculous? No. We believe intensely in the religion of the face (see Acts 6:15;
vide a lecture by Joseph Cook, of Boston, on 'The Solar Light'). Moses was full of
the Holy Ghost. The luster without was but the index of the light within. He had
gone in unto God to plead for others, and he was rewarded openly, by bringing
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down from the mount a radiance that told with whom he had been! If our faces
were oftener directed towards God in intercessory prayer, they would certainly
beam with new light, and men would take knowledge of us that we had been with
Jesus.
II. THE LESSONS TAUGHT BY THIS NARRATIVE.
1. We see here the abounding mercy of God—how slow he is to anger, how ready
to forgive. We can imagine, indeed, an objector interposing here, and saying,
"Precisely the reverse. The fact of the severity of God's judgments being abated,
removed, and even exchanged for mercy, just in response to the intercession of
Moses, seems to make Moses appear more merciful than God." Perhaps it seems
so at first, but it only seems. And even the seeming ceases when we look all
round. For was it not the same God whom Israel had offended, who had given
them Moses, who taught him to pray, and who sustained his pleading power? So
that the lines of judgment and of mercy have a common meeting-point in the
same hand. Besides, we must never forget that the Great Father adapts himself
in the methods of his teaching to the capacities of the child in learning. And even
the severity of the judicial sentence comes out of mercy. When will men learn the
profound truth in Psalms 62:12? The greatest mercy which can be. shown to a
people is to educate them in righteousness. How constantly are men making the
mistake of regarding suffering as the grievance rather than sin! as if it were not
the sin which is the people's bane, and the suffering consequent on it which is
really their guard, that they may learn to dread the sin which brings such sorrow
with it. And if the Great Lord, over and above the merciful threatenings which
show the evil of sin in his sight, provides Israel with such an intercessor as
Moses, and if by virtue of his pleas will withhold the dreaded stroke, and for the
uplifted arm of justice will show the directing and sheltering hand,—both the
one act and the other are joint illustrations of that glorious Name, the Lord thy
God! There is no schism in the manifestation of that Name. The terror and the
kindness perfectly accord, and it is only our defective sight which makes them
appear inharmonious in hue. The very God who guards Law by the holiest
sanctions, has provided also in his government for the efficacy of interceding
prayer! "He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy."
2. This mediatorship of Moses is but one illustration of the working of a
permanent law, that God wills to be approached by his saints in prayer on behalf
of others. It were well if some were to collate the intercessory prayers in the
Bible, and the passages which bear on the theme of pleading for others. The
Apostle Paul understood the blessedness of intercessory prayer. He himself rose
to a glorious height in this sublime act, and yet he declares his own dependence
on and appreciation of the prayers of the saints. Nor do we at all understand the
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priesthood of believers, till we regard this as one of its special privileges,
functions, and duties. Let those who "profess and call themselves Christians" see
to this. Let them rise to this high and holy service. Let them enter into their
closets, fall on their knees, and pour out before God petitions for all. We
sometimes ask whether the yearning spirit of intercession is dying out amongst
us (Joel 2:16-18).
3. This Divine law, of the power of intercession, has its supreme illustration in a
greater than Moses (Hebrews 7:25), even in him, of whom in so many respects
Moses was a type. Human mediation may achieve much, but ah! even the men
who plead most with God for others do feel most their need of One to plead for
them! There, there, at the Father's throne, is One who, having given himself a
ransom for many, does present his own work as the ground on which the coming
sinner may be forgiven, accepted, and saved.
4. There are three things which no intercession, either of saints on earth or of a
Savior in heaven, can secure. Why? Because in the nature of things they are
impossible, and therefore for them no holy one can intercede.
BI, "Two tables of stone.
The tables of stone-What do they symbolise
These were made before any part of the tabernacle furniture. Their history heralds
forth their transcendant importance. No compend of moral truth may pretend to
compare with them, for glory and grandeur of origin; for simplicity and completeness
of adaptation to man’s necessities, or for sublime exhibitions of the Divine
perfections. Such an illustrious transcript of the moral attributes of God and His
claims upon the supreme adoration of men, and of their obligations to one another,
is sought for in vain among the records of human wisdom. Who but Jehovah Himself
can reveal the perfections of His own being? Whose right is it to dictate law to the
moral universe, if not its Author? But Jehovah exists as the Elohim—the plurality of
persons in the essential unity. Has the issuance of these ten words any special
reference to this personality? Certainly; the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy. All that man knows truly of the Divine perfections, he knows through the
teachings of the second person in the Elohim—the Divine Loges, by whom the world
was made and without whom was not anything made that was made. It was the voice
of the Word, afterwards made flesh—the same Word which said Let there be light,
and there was light, that thundered from the summit of the burning mountain these
ten words, and afterwards delivered them to Moses along the ranks of angels. This
will be evident upon a comparison of a few Scriptures (Psa_68:17-18; Psa_68:20;
Eph_4:1-32; Deu_33:2). The entire system of ceremonial observances is
evangelical—all relate to the Gospel scheme of salvation. “For unto us,” says Paul
(Heb_4:2) “was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them.” As to the kind of stone
used, we are left even more in the dark than as to the wood, and therefore infer it to
be a matter of no consequence. Only this is plain, that they were fragile, being
shattered to pieces when thrown from Moses’ hands. Nor have we anything specific
as to their size, unless it be that Moses seems to have carried them down the mount
(Exo_32:19), in his own hands, whence we may infer they were not very thick, and
they could not have been more than forty-two or three inches long, and twenty-six
wide. The first suggestion of a symbolical meaning is durability. Engraving on stone
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intimates permanency. Job, in his sorrows, exclaims (Job_19:23), “Oh, that my
words were now written! oh, that they were printed in a book! that they were graven
with an iron pen and laid in the rock forever.” Then he proceeds to express his faith
in the living Redeemer, and his hope in a glorious resurrection: truths these, which
he wished to perpetuate forever. The first tables represented the law of God as
written in the heart of man at his creation: or, we may say, human race—Adam, with
the law created in him. The breaking of the tables sets forth the fall of man and the
utter defacement of God’s law and image. The replacement of the tables by Moses,
and the rewriting of the law upon them, by the power of the great Redeemer, forcibly
illustrates His entire work of restoring man to the full dominion of the holy law, or, in
other words, the restoration of the law to its ruling power over him; or may we not
say the second Adam, the pattern of all the redeemed. The bringing of man under the
power of law, the protection of the law from violence and profanation, and the
security of its rightful dominion, is the grand idea herein set forth. All around it is
encased within its golden enclosure. The casket indeed is precious, costly, and
beautiful, but the jewels it contains are the priceless treasure. In connection,
however, with the remarks above, that the ceremonial ordinances are Gospel
ordinances, it is important to distinguish them from the legal matter of the old
covenant. The ten words and the various applications of their principles throughout
the Pentateuch, are quite different from the sacrifices, the lustrations, the incense
burnings, the cities of refuge, etc. The former are legal, and whenever separated from
the latter become a law of works—the very covenant made with Adam. But the latter,
coalescing with and qualifying and pointing out the way of fulfilling the former,
transmute the whole into the new covenant, or true Gospel, which was revealed to
Adam before his expulsion from Paradise. (George Juntem, D. D.)
The new tables
I. The breaking of the tables. The tables themselves were in every respect most
remarkable. Mark, first, that they were “the tables of the covenant.” God said: “These
are My commands, keep them, and I am your God, I will be a glory in the midst of
you, and a wall of fire round about you; break My commands, disobey My will, there
is an infraction of the covenant, and the safety is departed, the glory gone.” Sin was
the violation of the covenant; sin was the overturning and the breaking to pieces of
the covenant. The sin being committed, the transgression having taken place, the
covenant was at an end. This is indicated by God in the fact that Moses breaks the
tables of the law, because Moses in this matter acts as mediator for God; he is
invested with the Divine authority, and ordered to do what he did in that capacity
and in God’s name. It is said that he was in great anger, his anger waxed hot; but it
was a holy and a justifiable anger, caused by great and elevated zeal for truth and for
God, and so no censure is pronounced upon it. This act of breaking the tables
resembled figurative actions performed by Hebrew prophets in later times. It is like
Jeremiah breaking the bottle, and saying to the elders of the Jews, “Even so shall this
people and this city be broken.” Or when he is commanded to take a girdle, and to go
with it to the river Euphrates, and to put it in a damp place until it becomes rotten
and worthless: then it is—“After that manner you shall be carried captive into
Babylon.” Ezekiel, in like manner, is ordered to take the goods of his house, his
“stuff,” and to remove it upon his shoulders from one dwelling to another afar off—a
figurative action, indicative of the same truth, that there was to be a removal of the
people far away. And we have one instance in the New Testament where Paul’s girdle
is taken: “Thus shall the man be bound,” it was said by Agabus, “that owneth this
girdle.” It was a customary mode of instruction, ordained on the part of God to be
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used by His prophets and the teachers of the Hebrew people; and I suppose this act
of Moses breaking the tables is the most striking and exemplary instance, as it stands
at the head and is apparently the first. The breaking of the tables by God’s mediator
signifies to the people on God’s part the abrogation of the covenant, and that, so far
as He is concerned, He is not their God any longer, and will hide His face from them.
Precisely the same in essence, I think, it is with another memorable instance
recorded in the New Testament. When Christ died, when He said upon the Cross, “It
is finished,” “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom,” and
God said, “Let us go hence; this is no longer My house; this people is no longer My
people.” As there had been violation of the covenant by sin, there is repudiation of
the covenant on the part of God. Finally, I think it intimates that the covenant upon
the same principle should never be renewed, for the tables were broken in pieces. It
was not simply in two pieces; they were probably smashed together in Moses’ hand
before they were dashed upon the ground; they were broken into shivers, so that the
parts could not be brought together again. It was one offence which occasioned the
expulsion from the garden—it is one offence which occasions the breaking of the
tables of the covenant; and if there be one transgression in any moral agent,
innocence is gone, guilt is come, and justification by the law is henceforth and forever
an utter and profound impossibility.
II. The renewing of the tables. I suppose there is a mystery in it—that there is more
intended than first meets the eye. Moses, you observe, is commanded to prepare
fresh tables, and to come up to the mount with them in his hand. He is represented
as doing this according to the Divine commandment; and, that you may understand
the mystery and see the point distinctly which I am attempting to open to you, will
you mark first the things that preceded the writing of the Ten Commandments again
upon the tables which Moses brought. They were these. The sin of the people was
forgiven; Moses interceded on their behalf, and God said, “I have pardoned them at
thy word.” Before the law is rewritten God takes the tables out of Moses’ hand to do
that work; He forgives the iniquity of His people; and I suppose that act of
indemnity, that forgiveness on the part of God, was in connection with the ulterior
and remoter sacrifice to be made for sin by the Son of God, when He should come in
the flesh; and when He did come in the flesh He is said to have declared the justice of
Deity, in the remission of sin. The Hebrew believers are especially said to have
received the redemption of the antecedent ages, the forgiveness of their
transgressions which they had committed under the old covenant, when Christ died,
and they became established in the everlasting inheritance in consequence of that
great truth and principle: and so sin, I think, has ever been remitted of God. God
affirms His sovereign right—His right to condemn the guilty, His right to reprieve
them according to His own infinite and glorious will. Here is forgiveness of sin and
the affirmation of grace. Here is the promise of His presence. Moses said, “If Thy
presence go not with us, carry us not up hence”; God says, “My presence shall go with
thee, and I will give thee rest.” You will find this in the chapter which precedes the
account of the rewriting of the law by the Divine finger upon the tables of stone. Then
there is the showing of Godhead. Moses said, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy face”;
and that remarkable vision in the cleft of the rock, Moses being put into it by God,
and God passing by, him, I think the same may be said of it as was said in after ages
respecting Isaiah’s vision in, the sixth chapter of his prophecy—“These things said
Moses, when he saw Christ’s glory and spake of Him.” Then there is the proclamation
of the Divine name—“The Lord, the Lord God, pardoning iniquity, transgression, and
sin”; and when that announcement is made it is said, “Moses bowed down and
worshipped.” Then, will you mark, here is the forgiveness of sin, affirmation of the
Divine grace, promise of the Divine presence, showing of Christ’s glory, proclamation
of that amazing name, antecedently to the rewriting of the tables?—which proves, I
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think, that the rewriting of the law was not the going back to the old covenant, or
making a second trial of that principle in relation to the Israelites, but that it was
upon altogether different principles—the principles which are enumerated—free
forgiveness, revelation of Christ, His presence in the midst of His people, His name
full of mercy and love. And see the effect of this: He writes the law a second time; and
upon these principles it is said, “Well, go and be obedient.” For it strikes me that that
is the great truth which comes out in the Gospel revelation and economy—not that
we are to obey the law, and then make our appeal to God’s grace and mercy, but that
God, manifesting His grace and mercy in a free and overflowing salvation, then says,
“Let My law be rewritten; go and obey it.” Secondly, what was done with the second
tables? The commands were unaltered; what was written on the tables was exactly
the same; but what was done with the second tables? They were not exalted, like the
brazen serpent, upon a pole: they were not used as a banner, floating before the eyes
of the people as they advanced to their respective encampments—they were not, as
Job desired his words might be, “written with an iron pen, and graven upon a rock
forever”; none of these things was done, and nothing resembling them: they were put
into the ark, the chest of which we read so much, and which was, I suppose, the very
first article prepared by Moses under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. That chest
represented, I think, Christ. The law, never kept by angels, never kept by man in his
innocence, nor by man in his restoration, nor by any moral beings in the universe, as
the law was kept by God’s own Son; the law, then, was put into the ark. Christ obeyed
not only for Himself in person, but as the Surety and Representative of His people;
“He is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.” As I put the
finger of faith on His person and on His life, I feel that He obeyed the law and kept
the law for me. The law is in Christ fulfilled, and fulfilled for them whose cause He
espoused and whose interests He had undertaken. Mark another thing. The lid upon
that sacred chest was a plate of pure gold, upon which the blood of the sacrifice was
to be sprinkled according to the Divine command. In order to the fulfilment of law,
the rendering to law and justice everything that can be required, there are but two
things. The first is, perfect obedience. If there be perfect obedience, the law is
satisfied; but if the law be broken, the next thing is the penalty; and if the penalty is
fulfilled, the law is satisfied and asks no more. Penalty and obedience, the only two
things with which the law is conversant. We say that in Christ the penalty was paid:
we say that the iniquities of man were transferred to Christ, and that He suffered for
him—that “we have redemption through His blood.” So I come to the blood of Christ
for the expiation of my sins, put the finger of faith on His sacrifice, and feel that I am
secure. Mark once more: upon this lid was the mercy seat—or, it constituted the
mercy seat; and God said to Moses, “Come to the Mercy seat,” and to all the people,
“Come to the Mercy seat.” Through that every communication was made from them
to God, and from God to them; and from that hour to this—or to the clays of Daniel
and the captivity—they turned their faces when they prayed towards God’s presence,
exalted and enthroned in grace and in mercy there. It betokened the great principle—
“faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”;
answering prayer in the exercise of consummate rectitude and justice, as well as of
clemency, condescension, mercy, and grace. One thing more I notice; and that is, that
upon either end of this plate of pure gold was the cherubic figure, in reference to
which the Apostle Peter says, “which things the angels desire to look into, to the
intent that to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places may be made
manifest by the Church the manifold wisdom of God.” I infer, from all I have said,
that the renewal of the writing of the tables is not the renewal of the old covenant,
but a representation of God’s mercy and grace in Christ Jesus, as antecedent to the
law being rewritten, and written upon the hearts and upon the consciences of men. I
only note, further, what followed. After the rewriting by God’s own finger Moses
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came down. How did he come down? With the glory upon his face, so that they could
not steadfastly look upon him; and the apostle says it intimated that there were
things intended which the Jews had not the capacity at that time to understand. It
was not proper that they should know them. The veiling of Moses’ face intimated the
veiling of certain profound principles which were to have a future and after
manifestation. Thus in the same way, I think, the breaking of the tables and the
renewing of them intimates that the law never would be fulfilled but in Christ, and
that it could not be safely enforced upon man—at least, it could produce nothing but
condemnation—irrespectively of Christ and the obedience which He has already
rendered. But what followed besides? The completion of the tabernacle in all its parts
and proportions, the ordination of priests, the crossing the Jordan, the entering into
the promised land—of which things we cannot now speak; but it comes out, I think,
in most beautiful conclusion, that if these matters preceded the rewriting of the
tables, and the tables then written were placed in the peculiar circumstances which
the passage represents, and if such things transpired when this was done, then it is
not the old covenant of works, but the new covenant of grace, mercy, and salvation by
our Lord Jesus Christ; and so “the law is a schoolmaster, bringing unto Christ.” (J.
Stratten.)
The tables of the law
1. In the next verse it is said that Moses “made an ark of shittim wood” before
going up into the mount with the two tables in his hand; whereas, according to
the Book of Exodus (Exo_37:1), Bezaleel is said to have made the ark. Those who
seek to trace contradictions in the Scriptures, or variety of authorship, of course,
point out this “discrepancy.” The obvious remark that one may be said to do what
he directs another to do is probably a sufficient reply to this difficulty.
2. It is not, however, with the ark, but with the tables of the law, we are now
concerned.
3. The delivery of the law, on the fiftieth day, according to the Jews, after the
Exodus—an event celebrated by the Feast of Pentecost—reminds us of the
contrast between the circumstances under which the old and the new law were
promulgated. The thick cloud, the darkness, the thunder, the lightning, filled the
Israelites with alarm. How very different are the approaches to God in the New
Testament! (Heb_12:18-24.) But the same moral law is binding in both; and it is
to this fact, God’s condescension in writing a second time the words of the
Decalogue, our thoughts are invited in the lesson. Let us consider some reasons
for keeping the Ten Commandments; and then, how we are to obey them.
I. Reasons for keeping the commandments.
1. They come from God. This may be said of the whole law, ceremonial and
judiciary, as well as moral. But surely there is a difference. Not only were the Ten
Commandments promulgated, as a French writer says, “avec eclat,” and the
people warned to prepare for the solemn event (Exo_19:10; Exo_19:15), but they
were given directly by God. The first tables were “the work of God, and the
writing was the writing of God, graven on the tables.” The second tables were the
work of man, but the writing was still the writing of God (Exo_34:1). They stand
above the ceremonial law, as an abridgment of the duties of man, and are of
lasting obligation.
2. They agree with the law written in man’s heart. They are in full accord with our
moral intuitions. The Divine Law was not a brand new code of ethics, but it was
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necessary, if man was to attain to a supernatural end. Moreover, man’s moral
sense was liable to be tampered with and impaired, so as at last to give an
uncertain judgment: neither was it able to discern clearly always between good
and evil; nor did it reach into the sphere of thought and motive. If man had been
entirely dependent upon a written law, its promulgation would not have been
delayed till the time of Moses. It is altogether a mistake to suppose that the
Decalogue made murder, theft, adultery, and the like sinful. It forbade them
because they were sinful. It fixed man’s moral intuitions so that they could not be
dragged down by human passion and selfishness. It made them clearer and more
distinct. It clothed them with a new sanction and authority.
3. We find, when we examine the period before the law was given, a sense of the
evil of the actions which it forbids. “Jacob said, Put away the strange gods that
are among you.” This is an anticipation of the First Commandment. Perhaps the
previous observance of the Sabbath may be gathered from Exo_16:23. So the
Sixth Commandment was already in force (Gen_9:6). Sins against purity were
abhorred (Gen_34:31; Gen_38:24), showing that the Seventh Commandment
was no novelty. Joseph’s brethren were shocked at being charged with stealing
the cup (Gen_44:7). The sin of coveting “thy neighbour’s wife” was evidently
recognised by Abimelech as “a great sin” with regard to Sarah (Gen_20:9). All
these statements—and there are others before the giving of the law—are
witnesses to the moral light which God has given to man, irrespective of external
guidance or enactment.
4. The moral law did not make sin to be sin, though it added to its malice; but it
clearly revealed the amount of human transgression, which was veiled in a mist
before. It was like a clinical thermometer which measures the height of the fever,
which might have been unknown before. It reveals the temperature of the patient,
and so the seriousness or lightness of the case. “By the law,” says the apostle, “is
the knowledge of sin” (Rom_3:20).
5. Further, obedience to the moral law of God is necessary for salvation. “If thou
wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Mat_19:16-17). St. Paul declares
the same (Rom_13:8-9). Again, “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is
nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God” (1Co_7:19) St John the
same (1Jn_3:22; 1Jn_3:24).
II. How are we to keep the commandments?
1. With the help of Divine grace. The law cast light upon the sinful principle in
man, and by his inability to overcome it, aroused the sense of need and longing
for a Saviour. Moses gave the law without the Spirit, says a commentator, but
Christ gave both. Whilst on the one hand we realise that we can do nothing
without grace; on the other, we must remember that we can do everything with it.
2. We have to keep all the commandments. Not nine out of ten. The
commandments are not isolated precepts, so that the violation of one does not
touch another. They form, if I may say so, an organic body of moral truth, as the
Creed an organic body of dogmatic truth. “Whosoever shall keep the whole law,
and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (Jas_2:10).
3. Christians have to read the commandments in the light of “the Sermon on the
Mount,” and so to see how deeply they cut. They not only touch the outward
action, but thought and motive.
III. Lessons:
1. To seek by meditation upon the law of God to know how much that law
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demands of us as Christians.
2. To examine the conscience by the Ten Commandments, so as to discover, by
the help of the Holy Spirit, wherein we have broken them—in thought, word,
deed, or omission.
3. They are the way of life. (Canon Hutchings, M. A.)
K&D 1-5, "In Deu_10:1-5 Moses briefly relates the success of his earnest
intercession. “At that time,” of his intercession, God commanded him to hew out new
tables, and prepare an ark in which to keep them (cf. Exo_34:1.). Here again Moses
links together such things as were substantially connected, without strictly confining
himself to the chronological order, which was already well known from the historical
account, inasmuch as this was not required by the general object of his address. God
had already given directions for the preparation of the ark of the covenant, before the
apostasy of the nation (Exo_25:10.); but it was not made till after the tabernacle had
been built, and the tables were only deposited in the ark when the tabernacle was
consecrated (Exo_40:20).
SIMEON, "THE REPLACING OF THE TWO TABLES OF THE COVENANT
Deuteronomy 10:1-2. At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of
stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark
of wood: and I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which
thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.
THOSE to whom the modes of communication which are common in eastern
countries are but little known, feel a jealousy respecting every thing that is figurative
and emblematical. But even in the New Testament there is much that is hidden under
figures. The whole life of our blessed Saviour is justly considered as an example: but
it is rarely considered that in all its principal events it was also emblematical of what
is spiritually experienced in the heart of the believer: the circumcision of Christ
representing the circumcision of our hearts; the baptism, also, and the crucifixion,
and the resurrection of Christ, marking our death unto sin, and our new birth unto
righteousness. If then in the New Testament, where truth is exhibited so plainly,
there are many things revealed in shadows, we may well expect to find much that is
figurative in the Old Testament, where the whole system of religion was veiled under
types and figures. The circumstances before us, we do not hesitate to say, have a
hidden meaning, which, when brought forth, will be highly instructive. But in
exploring the mysteries that are hid under these shadows, there is need of the utmost
sobriety, that we impose not on Scripture any other sense than that which God
himself designed it to convey. However some may gratify themselves with exercising
their ingenuity on the sacred writings, and please themselves with their own fanciful
interpretations of God’s blessed word, I dare not proceed in that unhallowed course:
I would “put off my shoes, when I come upon this holy ground;” and be content to
leave untouched what I do not understand, and what God has not enabled me to
explain, with a good hope at least that I express only “the mind of his Spirit.” With
this reverential awe upon my mind, I will endeavour, as God shall help me, to set
before you what I conceive to be contained in the passage which we have just read. In
it we notice,
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I. The breaking of the two tables of the law—
God, after he had published by an audible voice the law of the Ten Commandments,
wrote them upon two tables of stone, and gave them to Moses upon Mount Horeb,
that they might serve as a memorial of what all who entered into covenant with him
were bound to perform. But when Moses, on descending from the mount, found that
the whole people of Israel were worshipping the golden calf, he was filled with
righteous indignation, and “brake the two tables in pieces before their eyes [Note:
Deuteronomy 9:10; Deuteronomy 9:15-17.].” Now this action of his imported,
1. That the covenant which God had made with them was utterly dissolved—
[Repeatedly are the two tables called “the tables of the covenant [Note: Deuteronomy
9:9; Deuteronomy 9:11; Deuteronomy 9:15.];” because they contained the terms on
which the Israelites were ultimately to find acceptance before God. But their idolatry
was a direct violation of the very first precept of the decalogue, or rather an utter
subversion of the whole: and as they had thus broken the covenant on their part,
Moses by breaking the two tables declared it to be annulled on God’s part. God now
disclaimed all connexion with them; and by calling them “thy people,” that is, Moses’
people, he disowned them for his; and threatened to “blot out their name from under
heaven.” All this was intimated, I say, by Moses, in this significant action. A similar
mode of expressing the same idea was adopted by Jehovah in the days of the Prophet
Zechariah. He took two staves, one to represent the tribes of Judah and Benjamin;
and the other, the ten tribes. These he brake, the one after the other, in order to shew
that as they were disjoined from each other, so they should henceforth be separated
from him also, and that “his covenant with them” both was dissolved [Note:
Zechariah 11:7; Zechariah 11:10; Zechariah 11:14.]. Thus far then, we apprehend, the
import of this expressive action is clear.
The further light which I shall endeavour to throw upon it, though not so clear to a
superficial observer, will to a well-instructed mind approve itself to be both just and
important.]
It further imports then,
2. That that mode of covenanting with God was from that time for ever closed—
[This, I grant, does not at first sight appear; though it may be inferred from the very
circumstance of the same law being afterwards given in a different way. This mode of
conveying such instruction repeatedly occurs in the Holy Scriptures. The Prophet
Jeremiah tells the Jews that God would “make a new covenant with them;” from
whence St. Paul infers that the covenant under which they lived, was old, and “ready
to vanish away [Note: Jeremiah 31:31 with Hebrews 8:13.].” The Prophet Haggai
speaks of God “shaking once more the heavens and the earth:” and this St. Paul
interprets as an utter removal of the Jewish dispensation, that “the things which
could not be shaken,” the Christian dispensation, “might remain [Note: Haggai 2:6
with Hebrews 12:26-27.].” Now if these apparently incidental words conveyed so
much, what must have been intended by that action, an action which, in point of
singularity, yields not to any within the whole compass of the sacred records?
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But is this view of the subject confirmed by any further evidence? I answer, Yes; it is
agreeable to the whole scope of the inspired volume. Throughout the New Testament
we have this truth continually and most forcibly inculcated, that the law, having been
once broken, can never justify: that, whilst under it, we are, and ever must be, under
a curse: and therefore we must be dead to it, and renounce all hope of acceptance by
it. And the breaking of the tables before their eyes was in effect like the driving of our
first parents out of Paradise, and the preventing of their return to it by the menaces
of a flaming sword. The tree of life which was to them in their state of innocence a
pledge of eternal life, was no longer such when they had fallen: and therefore God in
mercy prohibited their access to it, in order that they might be shut up to that way of
reconciliation which God had provided for them in the promised seed. And thus did
Moses by this significant action cut off from the Jews all hope of return to God by
that covenant which they had broken, and shut them up to that other, and better,
covenant, which God was about to shadow forth to them.]
But the chief mystery lies in,
II. The manner in which they were replaced—
Moses, having by his intercession obtained forgiveness for the people, was ordered to
prepare tables of stone similar to those which he had broken, and to carry them up to
the mount, that God might write upon them with his own finger a fresh copy of the
law. He was ordered also to make an ark, in which to deposit the tables when so
inscribed. Now what was the scope and intent of these directions? Truly they were of
pre-eminent importance, and were intended to convey the most valuable instruction.
Mark,
1. The renewing of the tables which had been broken—
[This intimated that God was reconciled towards them, and was still willing to take
them as his people, and to give himself to them as their God. The very first words of
the Law thus given said to them, “I am the Lord thy God.” So that on this part of the
subject it is unnecessary to dwell.]
2. The putting of them, when so renewed, into an ark—
[Christ is that ark into which the law was put. To him it was committed, in order that
he might fulfil it for us. He was made under the law for this express end [Note:
Galatians 4:4-5.]: and he has fulfilled it in all its parts; enduring all its penalties, and
obeying all its precepts [Note: Galatians 3:13-14; Philippians 2:8.]. This he was
appointed of God to do: the law was put into his heart on purpose that he might do it
[Note: Psalms 40:8.]: and having done it, he is “the end of the law for righteousness
to every one that believeth [Note: Romans 10:4.].” Hence we are enabled to view the
law without fear, and to hear it without trembling. Now we can contemplate its
utmost requirements, and see that it has been satisfied in its highest demands. We
can now even found our hopes upon it; not as obeyed by us; but as obeyed by our
surety and substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ; by whose obedience it has been more
magnified than it has ever been dishonoured by our disobedience. It is no longer now
a “ministration of death and condemnation [Note: 2 Corinthians 3:7; 2 Corinthians
3:9.],” but a source of life to those who plead the sacrifice and obedience of Jesus
24

Christ. In this view the law itself, no less than the prophets, bears, testimony to
Christ [Note: Romans 3:21-22.], and declares that, through his righteousness, God
can be “a just God, and yet a Saviour [Note: Isaiah 45:21.],” “just, and yet the justifier
of all them that believe [Note: Romans 3:26.].” This is the great mystery which the
angels so much admire, and which they are ever endeavouring to look into [Note:
Carefully compare Exodus 25:17-20 with 1 Peter 1:12.].
If it appear strange that so much should be intimated in so small a matter, let us only
consider what we know assuredly to have been intimated in an occurrence equally
insignificant, which took place at the very same time. When Moses came down with
these tables in his hand, his face shined so bright that the people were unable to
approach him; and he was constrained to put a vail upon his face in order that they
might have access to him to hear his instructions [Note: Exodus 34:29-35.]. This
denoted their incapacity to comprehend the law, till Christ should come to remove
the veil from their hearts [Note: 2 Corinthians 3:13-16.]. And precisely in the same
manner the putting of the law into the ark denoted the incapacity of man to receive it
at it is in itself, and the necessity of viewing it only as fulfilled in Christ. “Through the
law” itself which denounces such curses [Note: Galatians 2:19.], and “through the
body of Christ” which sustained those curses [Note: Romans 7:4.], we must be “dead
to the law,” and have no hope whatever towards God but in the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ [Note: Galatians 2:15-16; Philippians 3:9.], who, in consequence of
obeying its precepts and enduring its penalties, is to be called by every child of man,
“The Lord our Righteousness.”]
3. The preparing the tables on which the law was written—
[The first tables were prepared by God himself: but, when they were broken, and to
be renewed, Moses was ordered to prepare the tables, and carry them up to the
mount, that they might there have the law inscribed upon them by God himself.
Commentators have suggested that this was intended to intimate, that though God
alone could write the law on the heart, means were to be used for that end by people
for themselves, and by ministers in their behalf. But I rather gather from it a deeper
and more important lesson, namely, that notwithstanding the law was fulfilled for us
by Christ, we must seek to have it inscribed on our stony hearts; and that, if we go up
with them to the mount of God from time to time for that end, God will write his law
there. I the rather believe this to be the true meaning, because our deadness to the
law as a covenant of works is continually associated with a delight in it as a rule of life
[Note: See Galatians 2:19 and Romans 7:4 before cited.]; and because the writing of
the law upon our hearts is the great distinguishing promise of the New Covenant
[Note: Jeremiah 31:31-33 with Hebrews 8:8-10.]. In this view the direction
respecting the tables is very instructive, seeing that it unites what can never be
separated, a “hope in Christ” as the only Saviour of the world, and a “purifying of the
heart as he is pure [Note: 1 John 3:3.].”]
Improvement—
1. Let us be thankful that the law is given to us in this mitigated form—
[The law is the same as ever: not a jot or tittle of it was altered, or ever can be: it is as
immutable as God himself [Note: Matthew 5:17-18.]. But as given on Mount Sinai, it
was “a fiery law;” and so terrible, that the people could not endure it; and “even
25

Moses himself said, I exceedingly fear and quake [Note: Hebrews 12:19-21.].” But in
the ark, Christ Jesus, its terrors are abated: yea, to those who believe in him, it has no
terror at all: its demands are satisfied in their behalf, and its penalties sustained: and,
on it, as fulfilled in him, they found their claims of everlasting life [Note: Isaiah
45:24.]. It must never be forgotten, that the mercy-seat was of the same dimensions
with the ark; and to all who are in Christ Jesus does the mercy of God extend [Note:
Exodus 25:10; Exodus 25:21-22. Mark the promise in ver. 22.]. If we look to the law
as fulfilled in and by the Lord Jesus Christ, we have nothing to fear: “we are no
longer under the law, but under grace [Note: Romans 6:14.]:” and “there is no
condemnation to us [Note: Romans 8:1.].” “Only let us rely on him as having effected
every thing for us [Note: Romans 8:34.], and all that he possesses shall be ours
[Note: 1 Corinthians 3:21-23.].”]
2. Let us seek to have it visibly written upon our hearts—
[None but God can write it there: our stony hearts are harder than adamant.
Nevertheless, if we go up to God in the holy mount, “he will take away from us the
heart of stone, and give us a heart of flesh [Note: Ezekiel 36:26.]:” and then “on the
fleshly tables of our heart” will he write his perfect law [Note: 2 Corinthians 3:2-3.].
O blessed privilege! Beloved Brethren, let us covet it, and seek it night and day. Only
think, what a change will take place in you when this is wrought! What a lustre will
be diffused over your very countenance [Note: Exodus 34:29-30.]! Yes verily, all who
then behold you shall “take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus,” and
“confess, that God is with you of a truth.” Despair not, any of you: though ye have
turned from God to the basest idolatry, yet has your great Advocate and Intercessor
prevailed for you to remove the curses of the broken law, and to restore you to the
favour of your offended God. Bring me up, says God, your hearts of stone, and I will
so inscribe my law upon them, that “ye shall never more depart from me, nor will I
ever more depart from you [Note: Jeremiah 32:38-41.].” Brethren, obey the call
without delay: lose not a single hour. Hasten into the presence of your God; and
there abide with him, till he has granted your request. So shall “ye be God’s people,
and he shall be your God, for ever and ever [Note: Jeremiah 32:38-41.].”]
C. H. MACKINTOSH, "Verses 1-22
"At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first,
and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood: and I will write
on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brokest, and thou
shalt put them in the ark. And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables
of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine
hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten
commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the
fire, in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned
myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had
made? and there they be, as the Lord commanded me." (Vers. 1-5.)
The beloved and revered servant of God seemed never to weary of rehearsing in the
ears of the people, the interesting, momentous and significant sentences of the past.
To him they were ever fresh, ever precious. His heart delighted in them. They could
never lose their charm in his eyes; he found in them an exhaustless treasury for his
own heart, and a mighty moral lever wherewith to move the heart of Israel.
We are constantly reminded, in these powerful and deeply affecting addresses, of the
inspired apostle's words to his beloved Philippians, "To write the same things to you,
26

to me is not grievous, but for you it is safe. "The poor restless, fickle, vagrant heart
might long for some new theme; but the faithful apostle found his deep and unfailing
delight in unfolding and dwelling upon those precious subjects which clustered, in
rich luxuriance, around the Person and the cross of his adorable Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. He had found in Christ all he needed, for time and eternity. The glory of
His Person had completely eclipsed all the glories of earth and of nature. He could
say, "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless,
and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung,
that I may win Christ." (Philippians 3:7-8.)
This is the language of a true Christian, of one who had found a perfectly absorbing
and commanding object in Christ. What could the world offer to such an one? What
could it do for him? Did he want its riches, its honours, its distinctions, its pleasures?
He counted them all as dung. How was this? Because he had found Christ. He had
seen an object in Him which so riveted his heart that to win Him, and know more of
Him, and be found in Him was the one ruling desire of his soul. If any one had talked
to Paul about something new, what would have been his answer? If any one had
suggested to him the thought of getting on in the world or of seeking to make money,
what would have been his reply? simply this, " I have found my ALL in Christ; I want
no more. I have found in Him 'unsearchable riches' — 'durable riches and
righteousness.' In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. What do I
want of this world's riches, its wisdom or its learning? These things all pass away like
the vapours of the morning; and even while they last, are wholly inadequate to satisfy
the desires and aspirations of an immortal spirit. Christ is an eternal object, heaven's
centre, the delight of the heart of God; He shall satisfy me throughout the countless
ages of that bright eternity which is before me; and surely if He can satisfy me for
ever, He can satisfy me now. Shall I turn to the wretched rubbish of this world, its
pursuits, its pleasures, its amusements, its theatres, its concerts, its riches or its
honours to supplement my portion in Christ? God forbid! All such things would be
simply an intolerable nuisance to me. Christ is my all, and in all, now and for ever!"
Such, we may well believe, would have been the distinctly pronounced reply of the
blessed apostle; such was the distinct reply of his whole life; and such, beloved
Christian reader, should be ours also. How truly deplorable, how deeply humbling to
find a Christian turning to the world for enjoyment, recreation or pastime! It simply
proves that he has not found a satisfying portion in Christ. We may set it down as a
fixed principle that the heart which is filled with Christ has no room for ought beside.
It is not a question of the right or the wrong of things; the heart does not want them,
would not have them; it has found its present and everlasting portion and rest in that
blessed One that fills the heart of God, and will fill the vast universe with the beams
of His glory, throughout the everlasting ages.
We have been led into the foregoing line of thought in connection with the
interesting fact of Moses' unwearied rehearsal of all the grand events in Israel's
marvellous history from Egypt to the borders of the promised land. To him they
furnished a perpetual feast; and he not only found his own deep personal delight in
dwelling upon them, but he also felt the immense importance of unfolding them
before the whole congregation. To him, most surely, it was not grievous, but for them
it was safe. How delightful for him, and how good and needful for them, to dwell
upon the facts connected with the two sets of tables — the first set smashed to atoms,
at the foot of the mountain and the second set enclosed in the ark.
What human language could possibly unfold the deep significance and moral weight
of such facts as these? Those broken tables! How impressive! How pregnant with
wholesome instruction for the people. How powerfully suggestive! Will any one
27

presume to say that we have here a mere barren repetition of the facts recorded in
Exodus? Certainly no one who reverently believes in the divine inspiration of the
Pentateuch.
No, reader, the tenth of Deuteronomy fills a niche and does a work entirely its own.
In it the lawgiver holds up to the hearts of the people past scenes and circumstances
in such a way as to rivet them upon the very tablets of the soul. He allows them to
hear the conversation between Jehovah and himself; he tells them what took place
during those mysterious forty days upon that cloud-capped mountain. He lets them
hear Jehovah's reference to the broken tables — the apt and forcible expression of the
utter worthlessness of man's covenant. For why were those tables broken? Because
they had shamefully failed. Those shattered fragments told the humiliating the of
their hopeless ruin on the ground of the law. All was gone. Such was the obvious
meaning of the fact. It was striking, impressive, unmistakable. Like a broken pillar
over a grave which tells, at a glance, that the prop and stay of the family lies
mouldering beneath. There is no need of any inscription, for no human language
could speak with such eloquence to the heart as that most expressive emblem. So the
broken tables were calculated to convey to the heart of Israel the tremendous fact
that, so far as their covenant was concerned, they were utterly ruined, hopelessly
undone; they were complete bankrupts on the score of righteousness.
But then, that second set of tables, what of them? Thank God, they told a different
tale altogether. They were not broken. God took care of them. "I turned myself and
came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and
there they be, as the Lord commanded me."
Blessed fact! "There they be." Yes, covered up in that ark which spoke of Christ, that
blessed One who magnified the law and made it honourable, who established every
jot and tittle of it, to the glory of God and the everlasting blessing of His people.
Thus, while the broken fragments of the first tables told the sad and humbling tale of
Israel's utter failure and ruin, the second tables, shut up intact in the ark set forth the
glorious truth that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.
We do not, of course, mean to say that Israel understood the deep meaning and far-
reaching application of those wonderful facts which Moses rehearsed in their ears. As
a nation, they certainly did not then, though, through-the sovereign mercy of God,
they will, by-and-by. Individuals may, and doubtless did enter into somewhat of their
significance. This is not now the question. It is for us to see and make our own of the
precious truth set forth in those two sets of tables, namely, the failure of everything
in the hands of man, and the eternal stability of God's covenant of grace, ratified by
the blood of Christ, and to be displayed in all its glorious results, in the kingdom, by-
and-by, when the Son of David shall reign from sea to sea, and from the river to the
ends of the earth; when the seed of Abraham shall possess, according to the divine
gift, the land of promise; and when all the nations of the earth shall rejoice under the
beneficent reign of the Prince of peace.
Bright and glorious prospect for the now desolate land of Israel, and this groaning
earth of ours! The King of righteousness and peace will then have it all His own way.
All evil will be put down with a powerful hand. There will be no weakness in that
government. No rebel tongue will be permitted to prate, in accents of insolent
sedition, against the decrees and enactments thereof. No rude and senseless
demagogue will be allowed to disturb the peace of the people, or to insult the majesty
of the throne. Every abuse will be put down, every disturbing element will be
neutralised, every stumbling-block will be removed, and every root of bitterness
eradicated. The poor and the needy shall be well looked after; yea, all shall be divinely
attended to; toil, sorrow, poverty and desolation shall be unknown; the wilderness
28

and the solitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the
rose. "Behold a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgement.
And a man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest;
as rivers of water in a dry place as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
Reader, what glorious scenes are yet to be enacted in this poor sin-stricken, Satan-
enslaved, sorrowful world of ours! How refreshing to think of them! What a relief to
the heart amid all the mental misery, the moral degradation, and physical
wretchedness exhibited around us, on every side! Thank God, the day is rapidly
approaching when the prince of this world shall be hurled from his throne and
consigned to the bottomless pit, and the Prince of heaven, the glorious Emmanuel
shall stretch forth His blessed sceptre over the wide universe of God, and heaven and
earth shall bask in the sunlight of His royal countenance. Well may we cry out, O
Lord, hasten the time!
"And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan
to Mosera; there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered
in the priest's office in his stead. From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and
from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters. At that time the Lord separated
the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant, to stand before the Lord to minister
unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day. Wherefore Levi hath no part nor
inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy
God promised him."
The reader must not allow his mind to be disturbed by any question of historical
sequence in the foregoing passage. It is simply a parenthesis in which the lawgiver
groups together, in a very striking and forcible manner, circumstances culled, with
holy skill, from the history of the people, illustrative, at once, of the government and
grace of God. The death of Aaron exhibits the former; the election and elevation of
Levi, presents the latter. Both are placed together not with a view to chronology, but
for the grand moral end which was ever present to the mind of the lawgiver — an end
which lies far away beyond the range of infidel reason, but which commends itself to
the heart and understanding of the devout student of scripture.
How utterly contemptible are the quibbles of the infidel when looked at in the
brilliant light of divine inspiration! How miserable the condition of a mind which can
occupy itself with chronological hair splittings in order, if possible, to find a flaw in
the divine Volume, instead of grasping the real aim and object of the inspired
writer!
But why does Moses bring in, in this parenthetical and apparently abrupt manner,
those two special events in Israel's history? Simply to move the heart of the people
toward the one grand point of obedience. To this end he culls and groups according
to the wisdom given unto him. Do we expect to find in this divinely taught servant of
God the petty preciseness of a mere copyist? Infidels may affect to do so; but true
Christians know better. A mere scribe could copy events in their chronological order;
a true prophet will bring those events to bear, in a moral way, upon the heart and
conscience. Thus, while the poor deluded infidel is groping amid the shadows of his
own creation, the pious student delights himself in the moral glories of that peerless
Volume which stands like a rock, against which the waves of infidel thought dash
themselves with contemptible impotency.
We do not attempt to dwell upon the circumstances referred to in the above
parenthesis; they have been gone into elsewhere, and therefore we only feel it
needful, in this place, to point out to the reader what we may venture to call the
Deuteronomic bearing of the facts — the use which the lawgiver makes of them to
strengthen the foundation of his final appeal to the heart and conscience of the
people, to give pungency and power to his exhortation, as he urged upon them the
29

absolute necessity of unqualified obedience to the statutes and judgements of their
covenant God. Such was his reason for referring to the solemn fact of the death of
Aaron. They were to remember that, notwithstanding Aaron's high position as the
high priest of Israel, yet he was stripped of his robes and deprived of his life for
disobedience to the word of Jehovah. How important, then, that they should take
heed to themselves! The government of God was not to be trifled with, and the very
fact of Aaron's elevation only rendered it all the more needful that his sin should be
dealt with, in order that others might fear.
And then they were to remember the Lord's dealings with Levi in which grace shines
with such marvellous lustre. The fierce, cruel, self-willed Levi was taken up from the
depths of his moral ruin and brought nigh to God, "to bear the ark of the covenant of
the Lord, to stand before the Lord, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name.
But why should this account of Levi be coupled with the death of Aaron? Simply to
set forth the blessed consequences of obedience. If the death of Aaron displayed the
awful result of disobedience, the elevation of Levi illustrates the precious fruit of
obedience. Hear what the prophet Malachi says on this point. "And ye shall know
that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi,
saith the Lord of hosts. My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them
to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law
of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips; he walked with me
in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity." Malachi 2:4-6.
This is a very remarkable passage, and throws much light upon the subject now
before us. It tells us distinctly that Jehovah gave His covenant of life and peace to
Levi "for the fear wherewith he feared" Him on the terrible occasion of the golden
calf which Aaron (himself a Levite of the very highest order) made. Why was Aaron
judged? Because of his rebellion at the waters of Meribah. (Numbers 20:24.) Why
was Levi blessed? Because of his reverent obedience at the foot of mount Horeb.
(Exodus 32:1-35.) Why are both grouped together in Deuteronomy 10:1-22? In order
to impress upon the heart and conscience of the congregation the urgent necessity of
implicit obedience to the commandments of their covenant God. How perfect is
scripture in all its parts! How beautifully it hangs together! And how plain it is to the
devout reader that the lovely book of Deuteronomy has its own divine niche to fill, its
own distinctive work to do, its own appointed sphere, scope and object! How
manifest it is that the fifth division of the Pentateuch is neither a contradiction nor a
repetition, but a divine application of its divinely inspired predecessors! And, finally,
we cannot help adding — how convincing the evidence that infidel writers know
neither what they say nor whereof they affirm, when they dare to insult the Oracles of
God — yea, that they greatly err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God!*
At verse 10 of our chapter, Moses returns to the subject of his discourse. "And I
stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the
Lord hearkened unto me at that time also, and the Lord would not destroy thee. And
the Lord said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people, that they may go in
and possess the land which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them."
{*We have, in human writings, numerous examples of the same thing that infidels
object to in Deuteronomy 10:6-9. Suppose a man is anxious to call the attention of
the English nation to some great principle of political economy, or some matter of
national importance; he does not hesitate to select facts however widely separated on
the page of history, and group them together in order to illustrate his subject. Do
infidels object to this? No; not when found in the writings of men. It is only when it
occurs in scripture, because they hate the word of God, and cannot bear the idea that
He should give to His creatures a book-revelation of His mind. Blessed be His Name,
He has given it notwithstanding, and we have it in all its infinite preciousness, and
30

Deuteronomy 10 commentary

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Deuteronomy 10 commentary