At that time Yahweh said to me, “Cut two stone tablets like the first, and come up to me onto the mountain, and make an ark of wood.
Parallel Translations
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At that time Yahweh said to me, “Cut two stone tablets like the first, and come up to me onto the mountain, and make an ark of wood.
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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.
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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.
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 10:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 34:1-2 Yahweh said to Moses, “Chisel two stone tablets like the first. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.
- Exodus 25:10-15 “They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height. You shall overlay it with pure gold. You shall overlay it inside and outside, and you shall make a gold molding around it. You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four feet. Two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it.
- Exodus 34:4 He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first; then Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets.
- Deuteronomy 10:3-4 So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two stone tablets like the first, and went up onto the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand. He wrote on the tablets, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which Yahweh spoke to you on the mountain out of the middle of the fire in the day of the assembly; and Yahweh gave them to me.
- Hebrews 9:4 having a golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Deu 10:1 At that time the LORD said unto…
Deu 10:1 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.
Ver. 1. Like unto the first.] Which Moses had broken; to show how we in our nature had broken the law, and could not be saved by the keeping of it. This Christ, our true Moses, repairs again, writing the law, not in tables of stone, but in the heart of believers, and enabling them in some good measure to keep it, {Joh 1:17} walking, as Luther phraseth it, in the heaven of the promise, but in the earth of the law; that in respect of believing, this of obeying.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain At that time, When God was newly appeased by…
At that time, When God was newly appeased by my intercession. An ark of wood; either a temporary ark for this use, till the other was finished; or the famous ark, as may seem by comparing this with Deu 10:5. It is not evident in what order these things were done, nor is it strange if Moses in this short and general relation neglect the order of time, as being nothing to his present purpose.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain There were four things in and by which God…
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," Ti2 1:13, Ti2 1:14.
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II. He led them forward towards Canaan, though they in their hearts turned back towards Egypt, and he might justly have chosen their delusions, Deu 10:6, Deu 10:7. He brought them to a land of rivers of waters, out of a dry and barren wilderness. Sometimes God supplied their wants by the ordinary course of nature: when that failed, then by miracles; and yet after this, when they were brought into a little distress, we find them distrusting God and murmuring, Num 20:3, Num 20:4.
III. He appointed a standing ministry among them, to deal for them in holy things. At that time when Moses went up a second time to the mount, or soon after, he had orders to separate the tribe of Levi to God, and to his immediate service, they having distinguished themselves by their zeal against the worshippers of the golden calf, Deu 10:8, Deu 10:9. The Kohathites carried the ark; they and the other Levites stood before the Lord, to minister to him in all the offices of the tabernacle; and the priests, who were of that tribe, were to bless the people. This was a standing ordinance, which had now continued almost forty years, even unto this day; and provision was made for the perpetuating of it by the settled maintenance of that tribe, which was such as gave them great encouragement in their work, and no diversion from it. The Lord is his inheritance. Note, A settled ministry is a great blessing to a people, and a special token of God's favour. And, since the particular priests could not continue by reason of death, God showed his care of the people in securing a succession, which Moses takes notice of here, Deu 10:6. When Aaron died, the priesthood did not die with him, but Eleazar his son ministered in his stead, and took care of the ark, in which the tables of stone, those precious stones, were deposited, that they should suffer no damage; there they be, and he has the custody of them. Under the law, a succession in the ministry was kept up, by an entail of the office on a certain tribe and family. But now, under the gospel, when the effusion of the Spirit is more plentiful and powerful, the succession is kept up by the Spirit's operation on men's hearts, qualifying men for, and inclining men to, that work, some in every age, that the name of Israel may not be blotted out.
IV. He accepted Moses as an advocate or intercessor for them, and therefore constituted him their prince and leader (Deu 10:10, Deu 10:11): The Lord hearkened to me and said, Arise, go before the people. It was a mercy to them that they had such a friend, so faithful both to him that appointed him and to those for whom he was appointed. It was fit that he who had saved them from ruin, by his intercession with heaven, should have the conduct and command of them. And herein he was a type of Christ, who, as he ever lives making intercession for us, so he has all power both in heaven and in earth.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain At that time the Lord said unto me,.... On…
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 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.
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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.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain God's mercy, in renewing the two tables, ver. 1-5.…
God's mercy, in renewing the two tables, ver. 1-5. In leading Israel forward, and chusing the tribe of Levi for his own, ver. 6-9. In accepting the intercession as Moses, ver. 10-11. An exhortation to fear, love, and serve God, ver. 12-22.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Moses is commanded to make a second set of…
CHAPTER X
Moses is commanded to make a second set of tables, 1, 2.
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He makes an ark, prepares the two tables, God writes on them the
ten commandments, and Moses lays them up in the ark, 3-5.
The Israelites journey from Beeroth to Mosera, where Aaron
dies, 6;
and from thence to Gudgodah and Jotbath, 7.
At that time God separated the tribe of Levi for the service of
the sanctuary, 8, 9.
How long Moses stayed the second time in the mount, 10, 11.
What God requires of the Israelites, 12-15.
Their heart must be circumcised, 16.
God's character and conduct, 17, 18.
They are commanded to love the stranger, 19;
to fear, love, and serve God, 20,
because he had done such great things for them and their fathers,
21, 22.
NOTES ON CHAP. X
Verse 1. Hew thee two tables of stone] See Clarke on Ex 34:1.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain These verses are closely connected with the preceding chapter,…
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.
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Deu 10:6
There Aaron died - i. e., while the people were encamped in Mosera or Moseroth. In Deu 32:50; as well as in Num 20:25 ff Mount Hor is assigned as the place of Aaron’s death. It is plain then that Moserah was in the neighborhood of Mount Hor. The appointment of Eleazar to minister in place of Aaron, is referred to as a proof of the completeness and fulness of the reconciliation effected between God and the people by Moses. Though Aaron was sentenced to die in the wilderness for his sin at Meribah, yet God provided for the perpetuation of the high priesthood, so that the people would not suffer. Compare Deu 9:20 and note.
Deu 10:8
At that time - i. e., that of the encampment at Sinai, as the words also import in Deu 10:1. Throughout the passage the time of the important events at Sinai is kept in view; it is reverted to as each incident is brought forward by Moses, alluded to sufficiently for his purpose, and dismissed.
Moses is evidently here speaking of the election by God of the tribe of Levi at large, priests and others also, for His own service.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Wood. Moses had received this injunction, before he ascended…
Wood. Moses had received this injunction, before he ascended the mount the second time, Exodus xxv. 10. But he executed it only after he had received the second tables of the law, Exodus xxxvii. 1. (Menochius) --- Some pretend that the made an ark of setim-wood, to contain the tables, till Beseleel should have completed his, which was covered with gold, and inclosed the former. (Drusius) --- But this seems unnecessary. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain 1At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew…
Deu_10:1-22
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. 2And 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. 3And 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. 4And 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. 5And 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. 6And 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. 7From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters. 8At 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. 9Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord [he] is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God promised him. 10And 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. 11And the 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. 12And 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. 13To keep the commandments [commandment] of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for 14thy good? Behold,1 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. 17For 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 judgment2 of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving [to give] him food and raiment. 19Love ye therefore [And so love ye] the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him 21shalt 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. 22Thy 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.
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EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Deu_10:1-5. At that time (Deu_10:1) is generally to be understood of the time at Horeb, which is the fundamental reference in this section (Deu_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 (Exo_34:1) thus before Deu_9:25; Deu_9:18. All that lies between, was briefly hinted in Deu_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, Exo_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 Israel. Thus also in Deu_10:2, with which comp. Exo_34:1. The carrying out of that which was commanded, Exodus 25, and here merely renewed with respect to the ark, Deu_10:3, involves no difficulty, for Exo_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 so, 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.] Deu_10:4. Comp. Deu_9:10. Deu_10:5 as Deu_9:15. And put, sq. (Exo_40:20), parallel to the solemn utterance
Deu_10:3—In my two handsבְּיָדִי).
2. Deu_10:6-11. The notices contained in Deu_10:6 sq. follow here not without design on the part of Moses (comp. Deu_10:9, thy God)—the children of Israel in the third person, and while apparently disconnected, are in fact individually and as a whole, especially through the ruling idea, inwoven closely in the connection of this section. The conclusion with the ark (Deu_10:5) leads to the bearers of the ark (Deu_10:8). The purpose, to close with the residence at Horeb introduces the remark as to the removing of the children of Israel (Deu_10:6-7). The result of the intercession of Moses for Aaron, so expressly mentioned in Deu_9:20, could not remain without notice when the renewal of the covenant with the people in consequence of that Mosaic intercession was mentioned. But it is still more significant for the connection, since even Moses did not reach Canaan, when still in the critical moment at Horeb his intercession is such, that it alone appeared for all, for the people and Aaron, that Moses should be able to point to this, that his intercession and mediation at that time maintained an official determining character for the time when he could no more appear for Israel. This is truly deuteronomic. We have seen already in the introduction that Deuteronomy provides for the time when Moses should no longer be with Israel, in that it emphasizes those official activities which are crowded into the one peculiar personality of Moses. If therefore Moses’ prayer for Aaron had personally this result, that he should not die until the fortieth year of the wandering, at Mosera, so it had officially provided for the enduring high-priesthood, mediating with God for Israel, since at the death of Aaron Eleazar became priest in his stead. The ruling idea in this whole section is the intercession of Moses heard and answered, and indeed in its deeper connection with the second command, which is positively explained for us. If the second command in distinction from the first, relates to the true honoring of Jehovah, the true worship of God, so it is essentially conditioned, indeed given, through the Aaronic priesthood. The symbolical cultus connected with it, is the right way, the calf-worship the apostacy to heathenism. What is not found in the latter is symbolized and really exists in the former; holiness and love, righteousness and the grace of God. It is therefore correct (as already Clericus) when Hengstenberg says: “Moses reminds the people that the Lord had remained the same in His grace notwithstanding all their sins. He gave to them the ark of the covenant with the new tables of the law, Deu_10:1-5. In the continuance of His grace He institutes the high-priesthood,” etc. The given nexus between this institution and the intercession of Moses, according to which he, speaking as a dying man, indeed as if already dead, to Israel, has only in view the matter about which it treats, the mediation of the people with God after his death, produces this perceptible objective character of the discourse, altogether fitting here, and should not permit any thought of an interpolated gloss by a later hand. [The division of the chapters here is unfortunate. Deu_10:1-11 is closely connected with the 9th chapter. Moses is there guarding the people against self-righteous tendencies. Their blessedness is not due to them. On the contrary, they were characteristically a rebellious people. The favors conferred upon them originally by the grace and sovereign choice of God were forfeited by their sin at Horeb. It was only at Moses’ intercession, and in the great mercy of God, which endured even when they had been disobedient, that they were now reinstated in these privileges. Then the tables were renewed, the ark of the covenant was provided, and the tables placed in it, the priesthood of Aaron was continued in Eleazar, the Levites were set apart to minister in the tabernacle (an appointment which could scarcely have been passed over here when the transactions at Horeb were dwelt upon), and they were permitted to march onward. So complete was the reconciliation between God and His people, through the intercession of Moses; every allusion is in place, if we regard the speaker’s purpose. Even the geographical statements and the setting apart of Levi show that there is no gloss.—A. G]—Beeroth, sq., wells=Bene Jaakan, Num_33:31. A camping-place of one of the Horite tribes mentioned in Gen_36:24, where the wells occur. Mosera, the same as Moseroth, only that is the plural. Since Aaron (Deu_32:50) died upon Mount Hor, Mosera must have been at its foot. Comp. Num_20:22 sq.; Num_33:37-38. Deu_10:7. Gudgodah, the same as Hor Hagidgad, Num_33:32, where are the caves or a narrow pass. Jotbath as in Num_33:33, only that the place, not now geographically known, was there referred to in the second, here in the fortieth year (Hengstenberg, Auth. II., p. 431 sq.). The symbolical character of the whole quotation excludes any possibility of a contradiction to the record in Num. The mention of the rivers of waters seems to designate even the external blessings accompanying the renewed covenant relation. These little traits of a direct local knowledge, and an actual experience in the journeyings, would be without any significance in a mere later gloss. Deu_10:8. At that time, parallel with Deu_10:1, and connecting with Deu_10:5, as the discourse there is of the bearers of the ark. The time the same with Deu_10:1, and it is defined also in Deu_10:10. Thus in no way after Aaron’s death. As in Deu_10:6 the high-priesthood is expressly brought into prominence, in connection with Aaron and Eleazar, and particularly in this, that it passed from Aaron to his sons, and the family of Aaron is pointed out as the specifically priestly family, so there comes out here unmistakably the one peculiar deuteronomic feature, which permits the one family of the tribe to retire behind the tribe as such (comp. Introd. § 4, I. 22). Although Moses has not repeated in Deu_9:17 or Deu_9:21 the narrative in Exo_32:26 sq., still the here-mentioned separation of the tribe of Levi (Num_1:49 sq. (Deu_3:4); Deu_8:6 sq.) pre-supposes it, and at the same time finds its ground in his concise style here. Besides the intercession of Moses, that of the Levites also has preserved Aaron alive. Thus the levitical function of bearing the ark may be regarded as a priestly function, as it actually happened on solemn occasions; and thus also the standing before the Lord can be said of the whole tribe, although it was literally peculiar to the priests (Deu_21:5; Num_6:23 sq). That the distinction between the priests and Levites is not thus destroyed is evident from Deu_10:9, quoted from Num_18:20; Num_18:24, in which chapter the distinction in question is expressly treated. In connection with this character of Levi, important for all Israel (Introd. § 4, I. 22), the transition from this tribe to the people as a whole, Deu_10:10, is in the highest degree fitting. Resuming the thought of Deu_9:18; Deuteronomy 19, 25. So truly is the intercession and its answer the soul of this section. With the renewing of the covenant connects itself anew the reference to the covenant-land (Schultz). Hence the command to Moses, Deu_10:11. Arise up, see Deu_9:12. לְמַסַּע (Num_10:2). Moses should go before the people upon the further journeyings, as their leader, secure their removal, and guide them in the way.
3. Deu_10:12-22. In a similar apostrophe to that in Deu_6:4; Deu_9:1, after such an apostacy and upon the basis of such a forgiveness, follow now, Deu_10:12, the earnest exhortations. The interrogative form is more pathetic than if it was a simple requisition. God demands only that which Israel must freely of itself concede. Comp. Deu_5:26; Deu_6:2; Deu_6:13; Deu_6:24. Fear the beginning, to walk, sq., this is the progress, and love (Deu_6:5) as it reveals itself in the most inward and the most entire service of God (Deu_6:13) is the completion. Connected with fear and love through the וְ the service of God with all the heart and with all the soul, is added as is entirely fitting to the second command. As the walk is subordinated to the fear, so the keeping the commandments, Deu_10:13, appears to be subordinated to the serving of God. (Comp. upon Deu_4:2; Deu_6:24.) As Deu_10:12 appeals to the self-consideration, so Deu_10:14 to the direct immediate beholding. Behold, the heaven of heavens, rhetorical, to the highest heaven of all, what may be called heaven. (1Ki_8:27; Psa_148:4; Psa_68:33). This high and lofty one, who needs nothing, since all belongs to Him, to whom all therefore, even according to such mere general relations are under obligation, has still, Deu_10:15, entered into special relations with the patriarchs, and with them only, Deu_7:7; Deu_7:6. Inclination, love, choice, the three stages from the innermost impulse, to the historic act, Deu_8:18. Hence the claim upon Israel, Deu_10:16, especially of a priestly consecration to Jehovah (Deu_7:6) for a distinction from all nations. In any case circumcision has this distinguishing character (comp. Lange, Genesis, p. 424 sq). Then, too, it is involved in the act in question, and the time appointed for it; that the sanctification represented through it, concerns the human nature in its source and origin, thereupon from childhood, and hence the genuine deuteronomic extension and application of the symbol to the heart claimed as the seat and source of the natural life; and thereupon he passes to Israel the peculiarly stiff-necked, (Deu_9:6; Deu_9:13; Deu_9:27), Lev_26:41. That which is here a demand, elsewhere appears intelligibly as a gift of God, a grace, Deu_30:6. A similar relation to that between conversion and the new-birth. No more, viz., and especially as at Horeb. Therefore in assigning the reasons (Deu_10:17) he lays hold at first upon this. God of gods, Exo_32:1; Exo_32:4; Exo_32:23; i.e., not merely the highest God, and Lord over them all, who should be so named and honored, but he who with them can alone be intended, of whom they are at best particular representations, symbols, images, (Exo_20:4) who himself is their complex and total idea. A fitting explanation of the name Elohim. Then further, as a general foundation on which the required change of nature on the part of Israel rests, he holds up before Israel the exalted nature of Jehovah raised above all heathen religions; a great God, sq. It corresponds with this, that His choice of Israel indicates no partiality אשׂר לא־ישׂא פניםwhich regardeth not persons, Lev_19:15; Gen_32:20; Gen_19:21 (Deuter. Deu_1:17). His predilection for them is not the particularism of a national God, made by men. As Israel cannot withstand his fearful almighty power and greatness, so neither can he take any false refuge in His love, which as especially manifest to him, will at the same time reveal itself to be holy and righteous (Gen_18:25). Impartial, He is also incorruptible. Reward, perhaps, with a retrospect to Exo_32:2-3; Exo_32:24. Comp. Mic_3:11. Deu_10:18 carries out this judicial majesty of Jehovah still more definitely, preparatory to Deu_10:19. Fatherless and Widow, not barely as for the most part overlooked by human unrighteousness, or indeed downtrodden, but because without help among men, and assigned to God, they appear as the objects of His compassionate love, which therefore was immediately and expressly said also with regard to the stranger. (Comp. Deu_1:16). The warning, Deu_10:19, to love the stranger, is drawn as a direct result from the foregoing. Ye cannot indeed do otherwise if ye are circumcised in heart, etc. (according to Deu_10:16), for consecrated as priests to Jehovah, ye must imitate Him, especially as ye know from your own bitter experience the lot of strangers. (Exo_22:21 sq.). A wonderful passage in this connection. Although power over all is first asserted of God (Deu_10:14; Deu_10:17) and His love beyond Israel manifested only in the gifts of “food and raiment,” while for Israel it is revealed in an altogether peculiar way, (Deu_10:14), still Israel has already the problem, as much as is in its power, ethically to introduce that doctrine, “God has so loved the world.” The warning is neither formally nor essentially “an offshoot from the course of thought,” Knobel, but rather a nearly New Testament (1Jn_3:10; 1Jn_3:17) foresight into the divine nature, which was now again summed up as Jehovah thy God, for the worship as it lies in the second command. Fear before, the beginning (Deu_10:12) which includes all, as Deu_4:10. Then the service. Comp. upon Deu_10:12. Then to this the true cleaving (upon Deu_4:4) instead of love. Lastly the confession of the mouth (comp. upon Deu_6:13) and indeed Deu_10:21 without כִּי, in a method which, as if uttering the contents of the name Jehovah, rises solemnly above the common day of the ordinary life with its to swear, up to the throne of Jehovah, Psa_22:3. Thy praise explained through, that hath done for [lit. with] thee, sq. Exo_15:2 sq.; Psalms 106. Thy God illustrates Deu_10:22. Comp. Gen_46:26-27; Exo_1:5; Deu_1:10, and upon Deu_7:7.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. That the two tables of the law were twice written, and that in Deuteronomy the second writing finds such an emphatic mention, may truly be symbolical for the repetition which the earlier law-giving has received in this book, (Intro., § 1). The distinction between the second and the first tables here treated of, is that while the latter, with the entire law given at Sinai, is both as to its contents and form, the work of God, the deuteronomic law-giving, as the second tables of the covenant, bears designedly the form of Moses. This time the tables are his work, are hewn by him, although the contents of Deuteronomy are according to all that the Lord commanded, e.g., Deu_1:3 sq. Schultz rightly reminds us “that the mediatorial activity of Moses was necessary for the people, but is acknowledged by the Lord;” the Mosaic hewing of the tables holds inwardly the same character as his intercession. We may say that as the mediatorial activity of Christ is one priestly and royal, so that of Moses is a prophetico-priestly.
2. The mediating office and work of Moses appears already with the earlier law-giving. (Introduction, § 1). it is בְּיַד־משֶׁה, Exo_32:15, בְּיָדוֹ with reference to the first tables. But it is not without significance that Moses says, in this chap., Deu_10:3, of the second tables, בְּיָדִי, after he had said, Deu_9:15, of the first, עַל שְׁתֵּי יָדָי. If in the first law-giving the mediating activity of Moses appears more prominently with reference to God, God has so ordained, so now its aspect with reference to the people is made availing, that Israel, humanity, needs a mediation before God. This necessity was therefore also expressed through the priesthood. Comp. Exegetical explanations. Correspondingly, the first and second forty days and nights upon the mount.
3. One may ask whether this agency of Moses in the second tables, and the deuteronomic law-giving with them, designates a lower or a higher stage of the covenant? Should we look upon the human corruption which made the second tables necessary; or should we regard this, that at least this was the law in the hearts of men, that the human heart became its table, it would appear, in the first case, a lower stage, but in the last a higher, and one full of promise. But in any case it will be better to say, that deuteronomy, as the second tables, is an advance, truly, in the way in which God, through His condescension, makes us great. Psa_18:35. (“Ubicunque enim majestatem Dei, ibi et humilitatem ejus descriptam videbis, Isa_57:15,” Bechai).
4. It is a fine remark of Schultz, that “the miracle of the second tables is as certainly greater than that of the first, as that the divine entering into human activity is always more wonderful, although not easily made apparent, than the purely creative work.” We thereby gain an apologetic rule or measure for the outwardly unmiraculous, but inwardly more richly miraculous time of the present economy of the Holy Spirit. The miracle of redemption greater than that of the creation, and that of sanctification greater still (Joh_14:12). The more human the love of God, the more wonderful is it, even than His omnipotence. From the “wells” (Deu_10:6) to the “streams of water” (Deu_10:7).
5. This description of Jehovah, Deu_10:14; Deu_10:17—as truly the name “Elohim”—lets the universalism shine through the background, in which the motives for obedience are set, which the particularism in the choice and leading of Israel from Genesis on, does not deny. Comp. Exeget. and Doct. upon Deu_1:6 to Deu_4:40, Deu_4:8.
6. [Bib. Com.: “Circumcision was designed to set forth the truth which lies at the very basis of revealed religion, that man is by nature very far gone from original righteousness, and in a state of enmity to God. The peremptory requirement of circumcision as the sacrament of admission to the privileges of the chosen people, denoted that this opposition must be taken away ere man could enter into covenant with God. The peculiar nature of the rite confirms this view of its meaning. Now Moses fitly follows this command with circumcise your heart, i.e., take away, lay aside that obduracy and perverseness towards God, which is essential to your covenant, standing and privileges, Deu_30:10; Lev_26:41; Jer_4:4; Eze_44:9; Act_7:51.—A. G.].
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Deu_10:1-2. The historical and typical in the second tables of the covenant, in their distinction from the first, in their similarity, and their occasion and cause (Deu_10:2). Wurt. Bib. “See here the type of our lost or broken strength, and of its renewing and completion through the Holy Spirit, who writes the ten commandments upon our hearts with His own finger, that we may war against lust, and regulate our lives in obedience to them. Jer_31:33.” Deu_10:3; Deu_10:5. The importance of the ark for these tables of the law. With the renewed covenant, as it is now continually renewed upon the intercession and out of the mercy of God, especially in Christ, it can never be true, as it was with the first covenant, that the cover of the ark should conceal the tables. Deu_10:6-7. They go from strength to strength, every one appeareth before God in Zion, Psa_84:7. Aaron is dead and buried, but Eleazar, i.e., God helps; is priest in His room. Yes, how gloriously God helps the meek, Psa_149:4, since Christ also was dead, but is risen, and sits at the right hand of God, and intercedes for His people (Rom_8:34).—Richter: “Aaron died many years after that sin, in a different place, from other causes, and in local and temporal circumstances full of honor. God moreover leads His people by steps from the wells to the waters.” “The geographical notices are thus gracious proofs, as on the contrary in Deu_9:22, witnesses of sins and anger.”—Cramer: “The word of God remains forever, and must be preached and preserved through men. Isa_40:8; Mat_28:19. Deu_10:8. The priestly tribe of Levi, a type for all Israel, indeed for the whole world: 1) the great problem to bear henceforth the name of the Lord; 2) the solemn duty of service before His face; 3) the blessed fruits, to be a blessing to all the world. Deu_10:9. The joyful world and self-denial of a priestly man, joyful because the Lord is his inheritance.” Tub. Bib.: “God is the believer’s portion, Psa_73:26; Rom_8:17. Who will compute His glory and riches? A great consolation for the pious and true preacher, Mat_19:29.” Deu_10:11. Richter: “If Moses goes again before Israel to the land of promise, He gives the flock their shepherd.” Baumgarten: “With this he puts his seal upon all.”
Deu_10:12. Cramer: “The law commands nothing which nature does not require, and which all experience does not prove to be most useful and desirable.” Berl. Bib.: “Reverential fear belongs to His supreme authority and highest majesty, Mal_1:6. It is as the door into the palace of the great king.” J. Gerhard: “Fear with love; love without fear grows slack, fear without love makes slaves, and fills with distrust.” Berl. Bib.: “In all his ways; chiefly three, of His commandments, Psa_119:1; of faith in Christ, Joh_14:6, and of love, 1Co_12:31; 1Co_13:1.
Deu_10:13. Berl. Bib.: “For thy good, not that the Lord has need of thee or of thine. This obedience to the commands of God in true love, embraces ourselves also, and what can truly be easier than love thyself even.” Deu_10:14-15. The God of Israel, the Lord of heaven and earth, a lover of Israel. How heaven and earth meet in God: in love. Deu_10:16. The circumcision of the heart not first a New Testament demand, (Rom_2:29; Col_2:11), as stiff-neckedness is not merely an Old Testament sin. Deu_10:17-18. What makes God the proper Judge of the world? His majesty, His righteousness, His mercy. Tub. Bib.: “Even in the Old Testament the way to God was open to those not Israelites.” Luther: “Thus the Lord loves the stranger. Who will now rely upon his home or paternal inheritance, although it is not to be despised! But if one must wander in exile and in foreign lands, let him not doubt, or be less trustful than if he were at home and in his father’s house.” Deu_10:19. Baumgarten: “Jehovah has proved to Israel, that He has no respect to any mere external distinction and glory, since He Himself has mercy upon the forsaken stranger in Egypt, and upon the sinner in the wilderness.” Deu_10:22. The great with the small, the many out of the few, that is the way of God.
Footnotes:
[1][Deu_10:14. Lo, to Jehovah thy God, the heavens, etc.—A. G.]
[2][Deu_10:18. Doing judgment, and loving, the participle in both cases.—A. G.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1, 2. At that time — After he interceded…
1, 2. At that time — After he interceded for the people Moses was directed to prepare two tables of stone like unto the first. Exo_34:1.
Make thee an ark of wood — The order to make the ark is given in Exo_25:10. It is evident that Moses does not observe a strict chronological order, for it appears that this direction was given before the apostasy of the people in the making and worship of the golden calf, and before the breaking of the first tables. But the ark was not made till after the tabernacle was built, and the tables were not placed in the ark till the tabernacle was consecrated. Exodus 11:20.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1. Hew thee two tables of stone like unto…
1. Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first] So Exo_34:1 a, JE.
and come up unto me into the mount] So probably in the original E; J has, come up in the morning unto Mt Sinai and present thyself to me, etc., followed by a command to keep the Mount free of men and cattle, Exo_34:2-3.
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and make thee an ark of wood] Almost certainly from the original E; see general note above. Ark or chest, so in Assyr. and Arabic, cp. 2Ki_12:9 f., a chest for the temple-offerings, a money box; in Phoen. a coffin or sarcophagus, and so in Gen_50:26. Of wood, in P, Exo_25:10-16, of acacia wood (as below in Deu_10:3) with the dimensions 2½ x 1½ x 1½ cubits, to be overlaid, in and out, with pure gold, with a moulding and rings of gold, and staves of acacia wood likewise overlaid with gold. A great contrast to the very simple statement of D.! Further, according to P, the divine direction is not that Moses shall make the Ark, but that they shall make it.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) At that time the Lord said unto me.—The…
X.
(1) At that time the Lord said unto me.—The forty days of intercession alluded to in the previous chapter followed this command (Exo_34:28).
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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 (Exo_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 Exo_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.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain Deuteronomy 10
Deuteronomy 10
"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.)
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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, 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." (Phil. 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 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 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 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." Mal. 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. (Num. 20: 24.) Why was Levi blessed? Because of his reverent obedience at the foot of mount Horeb. (Ex. 32.) Why are both grouped together in Deuteronomy 10? 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 divine authority, for the comfort of our hearts, and the guidance of our path, amid all the darkness and confusion of this scene through which we are passing home to glory.}
Jehovah would accomplish His promise to the fathers, spite of every hindrance. He would put Israel in full possession of the land concerning which He had sworn to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give it to their seed for an everlasting inheritance.
"And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but 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 and with all thy soul. To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day, for thy good." It was all for their real good, their deep, full blessing to walk in the way of the divine commandments. The path of whole-hearted obedience is the only path of true happiness; and blessed be God, this path can always be trodden by those who love the Lord.
This is an unspeakable comfort, at all times. God has given us His precious word, the perfect revelation of His mind; and He has given as what Israel had not, even His Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts whereby we can understand and appreciate His word. Hence our obligations are vastly higher than were Israel’s. We are bound to a life of obedience by every argument that could be brought to bear on the heart and understanding.
And surely it is for our good to be obedient. There is indeed "great reward" in keeping the commandments of our loving Father. Every thought of Him and of His gracious ways, every reference to His marvellous dealings with us - His loving ministry, His tender care, His thoughtful love - all should bind our hearts in affectionate devotion to Him, and quicken our steps in treading the path of loving obedience to Him. Wherever we turn our eyes we are met by the most powerful evidences of His claim upon our heart’s affections and upon all the energies of our ransomed being. And, blessed be His Name, the more fully we are enabled by His grace to respond to His most precious claims, the brighter and happier our path must he. There is nothing in all this world more deeply blessed than the path and portion of an obedient soul. "Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them." The lowly disciple, who finds his meat and his drink in doing the will of his beloved Lord and Master, possesses a peace which the world can neither give nor take away. True, he may be misunderstood and misinterpreted; he may be dubbed narrow and bigoted, and such-like; but none-of these things move him. One approving smile from his Lord is more than ample recompense for all the reproach that men can heap upon him. He knows how to estimate at their proper worth the thoughts of men; they are to him as the chaff which the wind driveth away. The deep utterance of his heart, as he moves steadily along the sacred path of obedience, is
"Let me my feebleness recline
On that eternal love of Thine,
And human thoughts forget;
Child-like attend what Thou wilt say
Go forth and serve Thee while ’tis day,
Nor leave Thy sweet retreat."
In the closing verses, of our chapter, the lawgiver seems to rise higher and higher in his presentation of moral motives for obedience, and to come closer and closer to the hearts of the people. "Behold," he says, "the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day." What a marvellous privilege to be chosen and loved by the Possessor of heaven and earth! What an honour to be called to serve and obey Him! Surely nothing in all this world could be higher or better. To be identified and associated with the Most High God, to have His Name called upon them, to be His peculiar people, His special possession, the people of His choice, to be set apart from all the nations of the earth to be the servants of Jehovah and His witnesses. What, we may ask, could exceed this, except it be that to which the church of God, and the individual believer are called?
Assuredly, our privileges are higher, inasmuch as we know God in a higher, deeper, nearer, more intimate manner than the nation of Israel ever did. We know Him as the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as our God and Father. We have the Holy Ghost dwelling in us, shedding abroad the love of God in our hearts, and leading us to cry, Abba, Father. All this is far beyond anything that God’s earthly people ever knew or could know; and, inasmuch as our privileges are higher, His claims upon our hearty and unreserved obedience are also higher. Every appeal to the heart of Israel should come home, with augmented force to our hearts, beloved Christian reader; every exhortation addressed to them should speak, far more powerfully to us. We occupy the very highest ground on which any creature could stand. Neither the seed of Abraham on earth, nor the angels of God in heaven could say what we can say, or know what we know. We are linked and eternally associated with the risen and glorified Son of God. We can adopt as our own the wondrous language of? John 4.17, and say, "As he is so are we in this world." What can exceed this, as to privilege and dignity? Surely nothing save to be, in body, soul and spirit, conformed to His adorable image, as we shall be, ere long, through the abounding grace of God.
Well then let us ever bear in mind - yea, let us have it deep, deep, down in our hearts, that according to our privileges are our obligations. Let us not refuse the wholesome word " obligation" as though it had a legal ring about it. Far from it; it would be utterly impossible to conceive anything further removed from all thought of legality than the obligations which flow out of the Christian’s position. It is a very serious mistake to be continually raising the cry of "Legal! Legal!" whenever the holy responsibilities of our position are pressed upon us. We believe that every truly pious Christian will delight in all the appeals and exhortations which the Holy Ghost addresses to us as to our obligations, seeing they are all grounded upon privileges conferred upon us by the sovereign grace of God, through the precious blood of Christ, and made good to us by the mighty ministry of the Holy Ghost.
But let us hearken still further to the stirring appeals of Moses. They are truly profitable for us, with all our higher light, knowledge and privilege.
"Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiff-necked. For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward. He doth execute the judgement of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment."
Here Moses speaks not merely of God’s doings and dealings and ways, but of Himself, of what He is. He is high over all, the great, the mighty and the terrible. But He has a heart for the widow and the fatherless - those helpless objects deprived of all earthly and natural props, the poor bereaved and broken-hearted widow, and the desolate orphan. God thinks of, and cares for such, in a very special way; they have a claim upon His loving heart and mighty hand. " A Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widow is God in his holy habitation." "She that is a widow indeed and desolate trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day." "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me."
What a rich provision is here for widows and orphans! How wondrous God’s care of such! How many widows are much better off than when they had their husbands! How many orphans are better cared and provided for than when they had their parents! God looks after them! This is enough. Thousands of husbands and thousands of parents are worse by far than none; but God never fails those who are cast upon Him. He is ever true to His own Name, whatever relationship He takes. Let all widows and orphans remember this for their comfort and encouragement.
And then the poor stranger! He is not forgotten. "He loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment." How precious is this! Our God cares for all those who are bereft of earthly props, human hopes, and creature confidences. All such have a special claim upon Him to which He will, most surely, respond according to all the love of His heart. The widow, the fatherless and the stranger are the special objects of His tender care, and as such have but to look to Him, and draw upon His exhaustless resources in all their varied need.
But then He must be known in order to be trusted. "They that know thy name will put their trust in thee; for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee." Those who do not know God would vastly prefer an insurance policy or a government annuity to His promise. But the true believer finds in that promise the unfailing stay of his heart, because he knows, and trusts, and loves the Promiser. He delights in the thought of being absolutely shut up to God, wholly dependent upon Him. He would not, for worlds, be in any other position. The very thing which would almost drive an unbeliever out of his senses is to the Christian - the man of faith, the very deepest joy of his heart. The language of such an one will ever be, "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock." Blessed position! Precious portion! May the reader know it as a divine reality, a living power, in his heart, by the mighty ministry of the Holy Ghost! Then will he be able to sit loose to earthly things. He will be able to tell the world that he is independent of it, having found all he wants, for time and eternity, in the living God and His Christ.
"Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
More than all in Thee I find."
But let us specially note the provision which God makes for the stranger. It is very simple - "food and raiment." This is enough for a true stranger, as the blessed apostle says to his son Timothy, "We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content."
Christian reader, let as ponder this. What a cure for restless ambition is here! What an antidote against covetousness! What a blessed deliverance from the feverish excitement of commercial life, the grasping spirit of the age in which our lot is cast! If we were only content with the divinely appointed provision for the stranger, what a different tale we should have to tell! How calm and even would be the current of our daily life! How simple our habits and tastes! How unworldly our spirit and style! What moral elevation above the self-indulgence and luxury so prevalent amongst professing Christians! We should simply eat and drink to the glory of God, and to keep the body in proper working order. To go beyond this, either in eating or drinking, is to indulge in "fleshly lusts which war against the soul."
Alas! alas! how much of this there is, specially in reference to drink! It is perfectly appalling to think of the consumption of intoxicating drink amongst professing Christians. It is our thorough conviction that the devil has succeeded in ruining the testimony of hundreds, and in causing them to make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, by the use of stimulants. Thousands ruin their fortunes, ruin their families, ruin their health, ruin their souls through the senseless, vile and cursed desire for stimulants.
We are not going to preach a crusade against stimulants or narcotics. The wrong is not in the things themselves but in our inordinate and sinful use of them. It not infrequently happens that persons who fall under the horrible dominion of drink seek to lay the blame on their medical adviser; but surely no proper medical man would ever advise his patient to indulge in the use of stimulants. He may prescribe the use of "a little wine, for the stomach’s sake and frequent infirmities," and he has the very highest authority for so doing; but why should this lead any one to become a drunkard? Each one is responsible to walk in the fear of God in reference to both eating and drinking. If a doctor prescribes a little nourishing food for his patient, is he to be blamed if that patient becomes a glutton? Surely not; the evil is not in the doctor’s prescription, or in the stimulant, or in the nourishment, but in the wretched lust of the heart.
Here, we are persuaded, lies the root of the evil; and the remedy is found in that precious grace of God which while it bringeth salvation unto all men, teacheth those who are saved "to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world." And be it remembered that " to live soberly" means a great deal more than temperance in eating and drinking; it means this most surely, but it takes in also the whole range of inward self-government - the government of the thoughts, the government of the temper, the government of the tongue. The grace that saves us not only tells us how to live, but teaches how to do it, and if we follow its teachings we shall be well content with God’s provision for the stranger.
It is, at once, interesting and edifying to notice the way in which Moses sets the divine example before the people as their model. Jehovah "loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." This is very touching. They were not only to keep before their eyes the divine model, but also to remember their own past history and experience, in order that their hearts might be drawn out in sympathy and compassion toward the poor homeless stranger. It was the bounden duty and high privilege of the Israel of God to place themselves in the circumstances and enter into the feelings of others. They were to be the moral representatives of that blessed One whose people they were, and whose Name was called upon them. They were to imitate Him in meeting the wants and gladdening the hearts of the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger. And if God’s earthly people were called to this lovely course of action, how much more are we who are "blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus." May we abide more in His presence, and drink more into His Spirit, that so we may more faithfully reflect His moral glories upon all with whom we come in contact!
The closing lines of our chapter give us a very fine summing up of the practical teaching which has been engaging our attention. "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him 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, which thine eyes have seen. Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the Lord hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude." Vers. 20-22.
How thoroughly bracing is all this to the moral being! This binding of the heart to the Lord Himself by means of all that He is and all His wondrous actings and gracious ways, is unspeakably precious. It is, we may truly say, the secret spring of all true devotedness. God grant that the writer and the reader may abidingly realise its motive power!
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 1-11. Mosesintercession and its results.
RENEWED EXHORTATIONS TO OBEDIENCE.
Vers. 1-11. Mosesintercession and its results.
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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. Exo_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. Exo_25:10, etc.; Exo_40:20) But as the things themselves were closely connected, Moses mentions them here together, without regard to chronological order.
Vers. 1-5, 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 Ex 33 Ex 34. 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.. (Exo_32:14) The passage Num_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-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.
(1) There were two manifest tokens of the Divine displeasure.
Exo_33:7; the tabernacle of Moses, where he would hear thecauses 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.
Exo_32:34, Exo_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.
(2) Dire threatenings were removed one by one.
(a) They should not be consumed, still, only an angel should go with them. (Exo_33:2, Exo_33:3)
(b) The Divine presence should go with them (vers. 12-14).
(3) Abounding mercy is vouchsafed. The mercy is gradually brought out more and more fully, as Moses pleads more and more persistently.
(a) Though the tabernacle is out of the camp, yet communication with Jehovah is still maintained. (Exo_33:9)
(b) The old promise is renewed. (Exo_33:12-14) "Rest!" Rest in God. What less, what more, could they desire?
(c) There was a formal renewal of the covenant. (Deu_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. (Exo_34:6-9)
(e) The long-continued communion with God illumed the face of Moses. (Exo_34:29-35) Was this supernatural or miraculous? Supernatural? Yes. Miraculous? No. We believe intensely in the religion of the face. (see Act_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 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. (We have passed very rapidly over these details, as they have been dealt with separately in the Book of the Exodus, for the purpose of devoting somewhat more space to gathering up the lessons taught us thereby.)
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 Psa_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.
1. 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 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. (Joe_2:16-18)
2. This Divine law, of the power of intercession, has its supreme illustration in a greater than Moses, (Heb_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.
3. 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.
(1) No intercession can secure men against either the inward smart or physical consequence of committed sin, even though it may have been repented of and forgiven. There is nothing in the freeness of Divine grace to afford the slightest encouragement to men in playing or parleying with sin. "In the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them," is as irrevocable a law as any other. It is quite true that if the worldling, or the drunkard, or the fornicator, repents, he will obtain mercy; quite true that he will be a child of God, and will be trained for the Father"s house. But the enfeebled will, the sapped strength, the deteriorated judgment, the haunted and haunting memory of evil, will abide with him, and will cast their shade over all his remaining days. The bitter taste of committed sin will come up into the soul a thousand times; and though it is true that even that will be sanctified, and will prompt new prayers for restraining and renewing grace, yet, oh, how far more peaceful would life be, if such nausea had not been made an enforced part of its experience! While no penitent need despair of mercy, yet, for all that, he may well dread the sins which, even after forgiveness, will "bite like a serpent, and sting like an adder"!
(2) No intercession can secure pardon for sin which is not repented of and forsaken. Hence, whoever there may be who is valuing the prayers of others on his own behalf (and few, surely, would be so indifferent as to set no value on a father"s, mother"s, brother"s, sister"s prayers), let us remind such a one that, unless he repents of sin, those petitions will avert no sorrow, no judgment, no ruin. No; not even the atonement of Christ was ever intended to save people in sin, but from it. "God commandeth all men everywhere to repent.
(3) If repentance be delayed, there may come a point beyond which no intercession will avail, because the "day of visitation" is past. (see Jer_7:16) There is a limit beyond which not even the vine-dresser dares to ask for further postponement of the sentence (Luk_13:9; see Luk_19:41-44; Rev_2:21) "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation" (cf. Isa_5:3-6) And if after all the blended judgment and mercy in the way of providence; if after all the teachings, prayers, and intercessions as means of grace; if after all the striving of God"s Spirit with men, there is a steady, stout, obstinate resistance to all, then, such is the view of the holy ones on earth and in heaven, such theview of our Great Intercessor, of the evil of sin and the honor of God, that not from one pleader, however powerful or however tender, can there come even one more request for any further arrest or delay of the judgments of God. In the treatment of every sinner, love, justice, mercy, forbearance, will all have played their part, and if, after all the patience of a God and the entreaties of man, impenitent he still remains, all heaven will acquiesce in the justice of the verdict his blood shall be upon his own head!
HOMILIES BY J. ORR. Vers. 1-12. Tokens of mercy.
Various pledges of his forgiveness were given by God to the people.
I THE RENEWAL OF THE TABLES. (Vers. 1-5.)
1. Reconciliation to God is only possible through return to obedience. God cannot but require that we accept his commands, and make them the rule of our life (Mat_5:19, Mat_5:20; Rom_6:13-23) Such return to obedience is involved in gospel faith. (Rom_7:4) "Repent ye". (Mar_1:15)
1. The Law is one and unalterable (ver. 4). We must change; God cannot.
2. The Law underlies the mercy-seat (ver. 2). A testimony against sins, yet the foundation of the covenant. In redemption, the covenant obligation is not annulled, but fulfilled representatively in the spiritual Head Christ. In receiving Christ, the Law"s Fulfiller, we bind ourselves to be fulfillers of it also, as no longer servants of sin, but of righteousness. (Ro 6) Our justification is in him; his Spirit of life is in us (Rom_8:1, Rom_8:2; Heb_10:16)
II THE SETTLEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF RELIGION. (Vers. 6-10.) The renewal of the high priesthood in the person of Eleazar (ver. 6); the separation of the tribe of Levi for the service of the sanctuary (vers. 8, 9). The existence of ordinances is a proof of continued mercy. God punishes unfaithfulness by removing the candlestick out of its place. (Rev_2:5) The gospel ministry is Christ"s gift to his Church. (Eph_4:11) Means of grace end with the close of the day of (Mat_28:20; 2Co_6:1, 2Co_6:2) and the removal of the individual from their midst ends the day of grace to him. (Heb_9:27)
III THE COMMANDMENT TO GO FORWARD. (Vers. 7, 11.) We also are commanded to go forward to advance to the conquest of the world to press to heaven. So long as that command stands unrepealed, so long may sinners be assured that the day of grace lasts, and that they are warranted in believing in the mercy of God towards them. J.O.
HOMILIES BY D. DAVIES Vers. 1-5. The Law deposited in the ark.
The first attempt to convey God"s Law to man in a written form had proved a failure. The human links in the system had snapped. Moses had overrated the people"s loyalty. The people had overrated their own strength of purpose. So far, the Law had been to them a ministration of death. But knowledge grew out of experience.
I WE SEE THE HUMAN FACTOR IN DIVINE REVELATION. The conceptions that dwell in God"s mind are incomprehensible until they are put into human mold. This introduction of a human element implies limitation, but does not imply error. The prophet becomes the channelthrough which Divine communications flow; but the prophet needs great subjective preparation to receive the message. He must leave the throng and bustle of men, ascend above the low cares of earth, and spend forty days in communion with heavenly realities, before he is competent to receive the gift of Divine Law. Such absorption of mind in Divine fellowship will make us also susceptible of larger revelation. Obedience likewise to Divine command fits us for this fellowship.
II WE SEE THE PERMANENCY OF GOD"S LAW.
1. The words that were written on these second tablets were the same as were written on the first were the same as were spoken in the flame. Though man may violate and break his Law, God does not modify nor reduce his claims.
2. They were recorded on stone, on the granite stone of Sinai. There is significance to be found in the material chosen. In many respects stone tablets would involve inconvenience, but the impression to be made on men"s minds was of the first importance, and God does nothing without reason.
3. They were to be preserved in a chest. Thus they would be handed down from age to age as the unchanging will of God.
III WE SEE THE SUCCINCTNESS OF GOD"S COMMANDS. These cardinal precepts were but ten, which might easily be laid up in memory, and recited by aid of the fingers. In the absence of writings, this natural aid to memory would be in common use. Yet, though few in number, these ten words were pregnant with meaning were living seeds of truth, which, planted in the soul, would yield a copious harvest. The two stone tablets may have been ordered to correspond with the two hands, or to embrace man"s twofold relationship Godward and manward.
IV THE CONSERVATION OF THE LAW IN THE ARK IS HIGHLY SUGGESTIVE.
1. It is suggestive of mystery. Since the human mind cannot measure the universe, mystery is necessary mystery is wholesome discipline.
2. It is suggestive of protection. The stony tablets needed protection against the ebullitions of Moses" anger. They needed to be hid to prevent their becoming an object of idolatry.
3. It is suggestive of value. They had both an extrinsic and an intrinsic worth. They would be valued as rare and unique. They ought to have been valued more highly still as the records of God"s will.
4. It is suggestive of the use men should make of them. This hidden deposit is symbolical. As the material temple is the symbol of the human soul, in which God most of all prefers to reside, so the word of God is required to be enshrined within. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart." The word is the true forerunner, which prepares the way for the entrance of the Living God. D.
HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR
Vers. 1-5. The covenant renewed.
The severe intercession of Moses succeeds at last, and he is directed to get two tables like unto the first, and to bring them up to God for his inscription upon them. He was also directed to make an ark for their reception. There was thus provided the tables of the testimony, and a place in which to keep them.
And here we have to notice
I MAN IS ASKED TO PROVIDE THE TABLES. God loves the cooperation of his people as far as possible. "Fellow-workers with God" is our highest honor. Just as when Christ was raising Lazarus he allowed men to roll away the stone, (Joh_11:39-41) so when he would write the Decalogue anew, he directs Moses to provide the tables. This is better than to encourage man"s indolence by God doing all.
In the very same way it is upon "the fleshy tables of the heart" God writes his Law. (2Co_3:3) Man, so to speak, provides the material, offers his heart for the sacred inscription, and thus becomes a living epistle, known and read of all men.
II GOD"S WILL IS UNCHANGING. The two new tables received the same words as the first which were broken. The second edition of the Decalogue was identical with the first. God"s will may be stereotyped, it is so perfect and changeless. Man may be wayward; but God will not alter his standard to suit man"s low ideal. The Divine plan is to keep before man the unchanging Law, and bring him by easy stages up to it. There is no depreciation of the Divine requirements.
III THE ARK WAS PRIMARILY INTENDED AS A DEPOSITORY OF THE LAW. This chest of shittim wood, made strong and beautiful, was evidently meant as a "safe," where this precious deposit, this oracle of God, should be placed. There was nothing so precious in the keeping of Israel. It was their great riches. What advantage had the Jew? "Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
And this ark not only typified the care taken of the canon, but also it would seem Christ himself, who, as the Ark, kept the Law in its entirety; it was the expression of his own will, and it was the deposit within him. "Think not that I am come, to destroy the Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill". (Mat_5:17)
IV SANCTIFIED MEN ARE SIMILARLY TO BE DEPOSITORIES OF GOD"S HOLY WILL. Those who are regenerated hide God"s Law in their hearts, as Christ says prophetically he did. (Psa_40:8) The preservation of the sacred books has been wonderful but better is it to have truth settled in the soul and manifested through the life. The blessedness of him who makes God"s Law his meditation day and night is great indeed. (Psa_1:2) "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more". (Heb_10:16, Heb_10:17)
When God"s word and will are so deposited; when human hearts receive, like Lydia"s the truth, then is it carried not only through the wilderness of life, but out into "the undiscovered lands." The ark of shittim wood, so strong and precious, only faintly images the more precious receptacle of the human heart, rendered by Divine grace strong and true, which accepts of God"s word of promise, and becomes thereby partaker of the Divine nature and escapes the corruption of the world. R.M.E. (2Pe_1:4)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Two tables of stone.
Deu_10:1
Two tables of stone.
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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 mans 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 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 Gods 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 Gods 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 Pauls 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 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 Gods mediator signifies to the people on Gods 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 Isaiahs vision in, the sixth chapter of his prophecy--These things said Moses, when he saw Christs 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 Christs glory, proclamation of that amazing name, antecedently to the rewriting of the tables?--which proves, I 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 Gods 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 Gods 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 Gods 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 Gods 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 Gods own finger Moses 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, Gods 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 mans heart. They are in full accord with our moral intuitions. The Divine Law was not a brand new code of ethics, but it was necessary, if man was to attain to a supernatural end. Moreover, mans 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 mans 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. Josephs brethren were shocked at being charged with stealing the cup (Gen_44:7). The sin of coveting thy neighbours 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 (Jam_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 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.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Deu_10:1. That time. The order for the ark was…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Deu_10:1. That time. The order for the ark was given before the apostasy of the people, cf. Exodus 25, and the tables were put into it after the dedication of the tabernacle. But Moses connects events related to each other for his own purpose without strict chronological order. Hew, cut with an axe, to shape. Tables, blocks or tablets.
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Deu_10:3. Shittim. Acacia tree, Exo_25:5.
Deu_10:5. There they be. “Another minute but important circumstance, the public mention of which at the time attests the veracity of the sacred historian.”
Deu_10:6. Beeroth. Identical with Benejaakan of Num_33:31. Mosera and Moseroth (plu.), in the vicinity of mount Hor (Num_33:31); as Aaron died there, Eleazar ministered—was installed priest, Exo_23:25; Exo_28:1.
Deu_10:7. Gudgodah. Hor-hagidgad (mount of thunder, Num_33:32). Jotbath—Jotbathah of Num_33:33.
Deu_10:8. That time. Of encampment at Sinai thirty-eight years since. The tribe of Levi separated from other tribes. Stand. Exclusively the business of priests, Num_6:23. Non-priestly family of Kohath carried the ark, Num_4:15.
Deu_10:9. Cf. Num_18:20-24; Deu_18:1 -Ver. 2.
Deu_10:10. Moses resumes his address and sums up the results of his in ercession.
Deu_10:11. “This commandment and promise was a testimony that God now was reconciled unto them by the intercession of Moses” (Ainsworth).
Deu_10:12. Now, i.e., “Since all that thou hast is thus shown to be of mere grace, without desert of thine own.” Require, etc., i.e. understand the spiritual claims of these formal regulations. Fear. Filial fear, pious reverence, existing only with love. Walk. Accept truth, and follow the course prescribed, cf. Gen_18:19; Psa_25:4-5; Act_18:25 -Ver. 26. Serve. The genuine fruit of love, Joh_14:15; Gal_5:13; 1Jn_3:18.
Deu_10:14. Heaven of heavens imports all included under the name of heaven. Jehovah is not a local God. His claims cannot be limited, of 1Ki_8:27; Psa_148:4.
Deu_10:15. He was not bound to elect Israel, yet did so of His own free will.
Deu_10:16. Circumcise, therefore be no longer stiffnecked; be not insensible to God’s love, persist no longer in obstinate resistance to God.
Deu_10:17. The demand for surrender is followed by a description of the nature and acts of Jehovah. He is not a local Deity, and though taking special interest in Israel—He is God of gods, i.e., the supreme God, the essence of all that is divine, of all power and might, Psa_136:2. Lord of lords, supreme Ruler of heaven and earth, regardeth, not subject to prejudice, nor perverts justice as human judges, Lev_19:15; 2Ch_19:7.
Deu_10:18-19. He is impartial and uncorruptible, executes, vindicates the rights of the defenceless (orphan and widow) and manifests loving care for the helpless and oppressed (stranger).
Deu_10:19. Love. AS they had been strangers in Egypt. and knew what it was to need help, they were to love the stranger as God loved him, and relieve his wants, Jas_2:15-16; 1Jn_3:10; Deu_3:17.
Deu_10:20-22. Fear. Reverence is due to God in act and life on account of what He is and what He has done. He is the ground of confidence and joy (thy praise), inspiring fear and dread by terrible things done for them.
Deu_10:21 Amongst the mighty acts was one specially to be remembered.
Deu_10:22. Out of 70 persons, notwithstanding cruelty and oppression, had grown a mighty nation’ Gen_46:26; Act_7:14.
THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF PRAYER.—Deu_10:1-11
Through the intercession of Moses God not only spared Israel, but gave them further pledges of His love.
I. The law was renewed. “He wrote on the tables, according to the first writing.” (Deu_10:4.) God refused not a second transcript of his will, but in mercy renewed his covenant with them.
1. The law written with the finger of God. At first a supernatural “voice” was heard, now a supernatural hand writes and repeats the ten words.
2. The law unaltered. The second edition was “like unto the first.” It needed no correction, no amendment. What God wrote differed not from what he spoke. The written word is from God and unchangeable, as the spoken word.
3. The law kept in the ark. “Put the tables in the ark.” (Deu_10:5.) Thus was it perpetuated and transmitted to us. Unto us are “committed the oracles of God.” Let us understand, keep, and spread them.
II. The priesthood was established. The institution was forty years old, but provision was made for a standing order, perpetual succession, and settled maintenance.
1. The high priesthood in the person of Eleazar. Aaron died, but his son succeeded him. God will never want men to carry on His work. The robes of office will never soil. “Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son.”
2. The ordinary priesthood in the tribe of Levi. This tribe was specially chosen for the service of the sanctuary. A settled ministry is the gift of God to the Church. (Eph_4:11.) The continuation of this ministry and the preservation of religious ordinances, betoken God’s favour. God can remove the candlestick (Rev_2:4) and punish sin. Hence need of prayer for ministers. “Brethren, pray for us.”
III. The command to advance was given. Permission to march was gained by prayer. Moses the intercessor must be the leader (Deu_10:11.) Those are only fit to lead who preserve from ruin. God gives a full and unconditional promise of his presence. There can be no guidance and advance in life without Him. He can stop progress at any time and in any department of life. Hence “prayer hinders no journey.” “I forgot to pray this morning,” says Philip Henry, “and the chariot wheels drove heavily along.” The most prayerful ministers and people are the most prosperous and progressive. Unexpected and marvellous things may be witnessed through prayer. “Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.”
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE.—Deu_10:8-9
Moses mentions as a special favour that when Aaron died the high priesthood was renewed in the person of Eleazar, and that the Levites were separated to minister in the tabernacle and perpetuate the ordinary priesthood.
I. The Ministry appointed. The tribe of Levi were most zealous for the honour of the Lord when the golden calf was worshipped at Sinai (Exo_32:26-29). Moses then charged them to consecrate themselves (lit. to fill their hands) to the Lord (Exo_10:29). Independent of the fact that Moses and Aaron belonged to this tribe, there was, therefore, special reason for its selection.
1. It is honourable service. If it be deemed a preferment to minister to an earthly sovereign, how much more to be servant of “the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” “Happy are these Thy servants, which stand continually before Thee.” (2Ch_9:7.)
2. It is holy service, separated and consecrated to the Lord. They had to do with “the most holy things,” and had to be washed, cleansed, and offered for an offering. (Num_8:15.) Holy and pure life must be seen in the service of God.
3. It is responsible service. They had to “minister.” Priests are servants; not “Lords over God’s heritage.” (1Pe_5:3.) No toil so responsible and noble as this. Christ himself came “not to be ministered unto, but to minister.”
4. It is joyful service. “To bless His name.” Levites sang and played on instruments. God’s service is not irksome but joyous, free, and delightful.
II. The introduction to this ministry. Under the Gospel all believers are called into holy service, and raised to the dignity of “sons,” “kings,” and “priests.” But for the Christian ministry there must be:
1. Divine call. “The Lord separated,” the Lord spake, not to sanction some human plan, but to reveal his own. “No man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as Aaron was.”
2. Divine direction. The office is not only created, but its duties minutely specified. To bear the ark, to stand and minister, and to bless the Lord and the people.
3. Divine qualification. Suitable gifts, inward persuasion by the Holy Spirit, and commission to draw nigh. None are meet for holy ministry, but by the grace of God and the sanctification of the Holy Ghost (cf. 2Co_2:16; Gal_1:15.)
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_10:1-3. Tables. First uttered in fire, written on stone, renewed in mercy, and preserved and portable in the ark. Like the first. “Which Moses had broken; to show how we in our nature had broken the law, and could not be saved by the keeping of it. This Christ, our true Moses, repairs again, writing the law not in tables of stone, but in the hearts of believers, and enabling them in some good measure to keep it (Joh_1:17), walking, as Luther phraseth it, in the heaven of the promise, but in the earth of the law; that in respect of believing, this of obeying.—Trapp.
Deu_10:6. The relation between the ordinances of religion and temporal blessings. “The earlier commentators observed the inward connection between the continuation of the high-priesthood and the water brooks. J. Gerhard, for example, observes: “God generally associates material blessings with spiritual; as long as the ministry of the Word and the observance of Divine worship flourish among us, God will also provide for our temporal necessities.”—Keil.
Aaron’s death and Eleazar’s succession. I. The common destiny of men. “It is appointed unto all men once to die.” II. The providence of God in the arrangement of this destiny. All life depends upon God. Aaron died according to a Divine purpose “into Mount Hor at the commandment of the Lord, and died there.” (Num_33:38. III. The mercy of God in appointing successors to the office of the dead. Eleazar immediately, authoritatively, and securely took the place of Aaron. This, an evidence of reconciliation, encouraging to faith and humbling to pride. IV. The pledge of perpetuity to the cause of God. God’s servants die, but the work goes on and ever will do. Aaron’s death.
1. An indication of Divine displeasure.
2. A manifestation of mercy. He was not put to death as a transgressor by fire or plague from heaven; but dies in ease and honour.
3. A significant type. Aaron did not enter Canaan. The Levitical priesthood made nothing perfect. Christ brings in a better hope and an eternal priesthood. (Heb_7:23-25.) Priest’s office. Invested with awful solemnity, Divine authority, and heavenly sanctity. Must not be undertaken lightly, unworthily, but in the fear, and for the glory of God, and the interests of men.
Deu_10:8. Minister service. I. The service of God demands all Levites Every Christian should be a priest, ever ministering in the temple.
1. Burden-bearing. How often Christians murmur about their burdens, as though they were not honoured in being permitted to bear anything for God.
2. Singing. The Levites sang and played on instruments. Sing the song of gratitude and contentment.
3. Studying the law. “Search the Scriptures.”
4. Attendance on the ordinances of the sanctuary. There is a special blessing for those who worship in God’s house. II. God demands this service in our prime; “from twenty and five years old.” We must give God the best we have. III. He demands this service when it can be most easily rendered. God did not ask of the Levites, nor does of us, impossibilities. The very young and the old were exempt from the bearing of the heavier burdens. God suits the burden to the back. All He asks is, that we shall do what we can.—R. A. Griffin.
Deu_10:9. Levi’s inheritance and glory. Not material wealth, such as houses and land. They were not permitted to engage in secular pursuits, but had to employ themselves wholly to God’s service. God has their inheritance in the riches of his grace and the resources of his providence. “I am their inheritance, and ye shall give them no possession in Israel. I am their possession.” (Eze_44:28.)
Deu_10:11. Arise.
1. God has prepared an inheritance for his people. Joy, fruitfulness and power on earth, through faith; rest and heaven hereafter.
2. God’s people should earnestly strive to attain this inheritance. The command to arise supposes neglect, weakness and prostration.
3. God will help His people when they strive to obey Him. He will provide a leader. “Take thy journey before the people.” He will pledge his word to give success; “possess the land, which sware I unto their fathers to give unto them.”
HUMAN OBLIGATION TO DIVINE GOODNESS.—Deu_10:12-22
God having expressed His love and care towards them in their selection, having pardoned their apostasy, preserved their priesthood and privileges, He seeks to persuade them to love Him in return. “And now Israel” (“now that thou hast everything without dessert or worthiness, purely from forgiving grace,” Keil). “What doth the Lord require?” Under what obligation art thou put, but to fear and obey him? We give the sketch of the remaining chapter.
I. Divine Requirements. God’s commands are just and reasonable. Mercies received require some return. “What shall I render?” (Psa_116:12.)
1. To fear and obey God. Be humble, thankful, and no longer refractory. Cherish reverence for the name and will of God. This fear must awaken love, and this love must prompt to active service.
2. To purify the heart and life (Deu_10:16). Circumcision was a symbol of purity and consecration to God. Be not insensible, but holy in heart and life. The heart and will must be renewed, and we must “abstain from fleshly lusts.”
3. To love strangers and practise hospitality (Deu_10:19). We must defend the weak, be kind to strangers, impartial to all, and compassionate to all.
II. The motives to enforce these Requirements. This duty is enforced from many considerations.
1. Personal advantage should prompt it. “For thy good,” (Deu_10:13). Rewards of obedience are abundant in the present life. Our ease, comfort, and happiness are concerned; “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”
2. The divine nature claims it. Jehovah cannot tolerate pride and stiff neckedness towards Himself or towards other persons. In his nature and moral government we find abundant reasons for loving Him. (a) God is supreme (Deu_10:14). His authority is not local nor circumscribed. He fills heaven and earth. (b) God is rich in mercy (Deu_10:15). He chose Israel, not for what He saw in them; of His own free will He delighted in their fathers, and in sovereign mercy He made them “above all people.” (c) God is all powerful (Deu_10:17). Men fear powerful monarchs. God’s omnipotence is always exerted to deliver from danger and do good. Hence, reverence due to His great name. (d) God is no respecter of persons. He is just and upright in nature, impartial and incorruptible in His dealings. Appearances deceive Him not; nor does He regard forms, professions and privileges without reality. “God accepteth no man’s person” (Gal_2:6).
3. Divine goodness deserves it. Constant benefits require constant thanks. Partial gratitude and services are worthless. We must have “respect to all the commandments.” “An honest soul would not conceal any debt he was to God,” says Gurnall, “but calls upon itself to give an account for all his benefits. The skipping over one note in a lesson may spoil the grace of the music. Unthankfulness for one mercy disparageth our thanks for the rest.” Reverence is due to God. (a) For His gracious acts for His people (Deu_10:21). Terrible deeds were done for Israel, and great things have been shown to us. “Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things He hath done for you” (1Sa_12:24). (b) For abundant prosperity unto His people (Deu_10:22). Israel’s history and increase had been marvellous. From few, they had become many; from a weak, they had become a mighty nation. They were multiplied as the stars of heaven and blessed beyond degree! What then did they owe to God? Why be obstinate and disobedient?
“O! to grace how great a debtor,
Daily I’m constrained to be.”
GOD’S CLAIMS UPON OUR SERVICE.—Deu_10:12-16
The intercession of Moses secured new blessings. New obedience should therefore be given to God, who bestowed them. The service which God claims is specified in its nature, breadth, and activity.
I The nature of the service claimed. It is summed up and touchingly enforced in few words. “What doth the Lord require?”
1. Willing service. “What require?” The word signifies to ask or request. God in the law of Moses commanded many observances and enforced obedience when required; but love and veneration must be voluntary. God does not rule men like suns and stars, nor like brutes; but appeals to reason and conscience—solicits and requests our service. “Who then is willing this day?” etc. “Will ye be my disciples?” What an attitude for the Omnipotent and Eternal God to assume towards man! How lovingly and beseechingly does he request our obedience. “But to Israel He saith, all day long (i.e., with unwearied patience) I have stretched forth My hands (like a mother calling back her child, in gracious, earnest entreaty) unto a disobedient and gainsaying (refractory, or stubborn) people.” (Rom_10:21.)
2. Practical service. Genuine religion is always practical, not mere feeling and form. It is fear, obedience, and love. (a) To fear the Lord, not with slavish fear—a fear which hath torment, and is opposed to love (1Jn_4:18) but a filial reverence. (b) To love Him. Love and fear go together. Reverence in a child begets true affection. When our feelings, our hearts are right we naturally yield to God our profoundest reverence. (c) To serve him. When love fills our hearts, it will express itself in life. We shall instinctively cleave to God and “walk in all His ways.” We shall fear to offend Him and dread separation from Him. We shall serve God with heart and soul. Our religion will not be in word but in deed. We may suspect our religion, suspect our interest in Christ, if we have no delight in His service, no love for His person. The law must be written in our hearts, as a permanent principle and conserving force of life (Psa_37:31.) Our service must be spiritual; our obedience free and hearty; and our love fervent and sincere.
Not by the terrors of a slave
Do they perform his will;
But with the noblest powers they have,
His sweet commands fulfil.
II. The ground on which the claim is urged. The appeal for future loyalty is made on several grounds. Let us suggest three.
1. It is rational. “What doth the Lord require; anything unreasonable, impossible, or inconsistent? Can God ask less than what is due to him? He does not “bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne.” “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
2. It is enforced by covenant. “The Lord thy God.” Israel was ever reminded of this relationship and the duties which spring from it. Whatever God was in Himself He was to them; all His perfections were enlisted on their behalf. In the covenant with Christ God regards His people as specially His own and bestows upon them greater blessings. As creatures, as property, God has a right to claim us. But if His children, bought with blood, we should love Him with all our heart. If He has made solemn compacts, pledged Himself and all His resources to help, we should make no reserve whatever, but devote ourselves, body, soul and spirit unto Him.
3. It is due from constant mercies. He brought us into being; dignified us with understanding; sustained and redeemed our life from destruction. For us He has given His word, sent His son and opened heaven. Some return is due and should be rendered to Him. Mercies have been great, constant, and multiplied. Special favours demand special service, as those who keep the largest farms pay the most rent. “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God (in providence and grace) that ye present your bodies (i.e. your whole selves) a living sacrifice (in contrast to dead beasts offered under law) holy, acceptable (well pleasing) to God, which is your reasonable (rational) service; i.e. a service befitting a rational being” (Rom_12:1).
III. The needful qualification to render the service. “Circumcise the foreskin of your heart” (Deu_10:16).
1. We are naturally sinful. Circumcision teaches that we are impure, and unfit for God and His service. We must mortify our members which are upon earth (Col_3:5); crucify the affections and lusts of the flesh (Gal_5:24); renounce act of all sin and selfwill and sever ourselves from sensuality. Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter” (Rom_2:28-29).
2. The needed qualification is a circumcised heart. True obedience can only spring from a renewed loving heart. When enmity is subdued and affection planted within us, then God gives filial fear, or the spirit of adoption; then service is not task work. Slavery and selfishness pass away, and duty becomes hearty and enthusiastic. When love reigns in the heart, the whole man will be brought under sway. All our powers will be employed in doing the will, and promoting the glory of God. “Love is the fulfilling of the law.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_10:12-13. Study the clauses of this requirement. God’s exactions, if we be Christians, are our own free will offerings. What God demands is what thankful hearts should gladly give. First of all to fear Him. Not to be terrified, that is the natural man’s religion. Unless taught of God men look upon Him with terror and alarm. Hence religion is a sepulchral and gloomy thing to them. To the Christian all is reverse. He has no alarm; he courts God’s presence and feels that presence to be the inspiration of hope and joy. Next to walk in all his ways. All the ways proceed from one source and terminate in the same again. There are varieties of expression, but one religion. A way of righteousness a way of truth, a way of peace, and a way of pleasantness. All are different paths which God has prescribed for His people; and they that are His people are found walking in them. Walk, not to stand still, in His ways—not your own. Then “to love Him.” If the fear enjoined were terror, it would be impossible to love. Love is the germ in the heart that blossoms and bursts into all the fragrant fruits demanded by God’s holy law. The law, like the imperious taskmaster, says, “Give me fruit,” and you cannot; but love softly, progressively, originates and develops all the fruits of the Spirit. The absence of this love is the absence of Christianity. This love, lost in the fall, regained by the cross, is the result of seeing God’s love for us. The measure and extent is “all your hearts.” Not more than human strength, not less than will fill the heart is required. Think of the equity of the law, and of its greatness. Not cold, calculating preference; but warm, cordial attachment—attachment not blind and unintelligible, but with all the soul. Also to serve him, service in the sense of worship. The word liturgy strictly means service; here service means adore, pray, and praise; worship outwardly, publicly, and privately with all the heart. We learn the essence of all true acceptable worship before God. Not material glory, ritual splendour; but depth of sincerity, intensity of love, the supremacy of God in the heart What is the end of all this? First, God asks this, not for His benefit, but for our good. Is there no benefit in meeting together in the house of God, in unloading the thankful heart in praise? When you give the greatest glory, worship, and homage to God, the reaction of it is showers of blessings, mercies, and privileges upon yourselves. God requires this in His word, in seasons of affliction and prosperity. He requires it that holy effects may be seen, and that men may feel that religion purifies. It is also good for the world. The best evidence that you are Christians is in what you feel, suffer, sacrifice, and do; not as servants obeying for reward, but as sons serving God out of affection.—Dr. Cumming.
Deu_10:13. Keep (shamar) signifies to keep diligently, carefully, faithfully; as watchmen keep the city, soldiers their garrisons, or jailors their prisoners (1Ki_20:39; Job_12:12). God would have His people thus to keep His commandments and statutes, and to do this on account of those high acts of favour and grace that He had shewed them; and what is this but to be a holy people, yea, a very holy people unto the Lord.—Brooks.
Our duty towards God. Consider—I. That we have a duty to perform towards God. A duty of—
1. Holy fear.
2. Perfect obedience.
3. Love.
4. Willing service. II. That this duty is enforced by many considerations.
1. Obedience to God’s commands will be to our own advantage.
2. We have been especially favoured by God; gratitude should impel us to serve Him.
3. The consequences of enmity to Him are fearful in the highest degree.—E. Lockwood.
Deu_10:12-13; Deu_10:19. The sum of human duty. Its nature, basis, and motives. cf. “What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Mic_6:8).
The reasonableness of God’s law. Many think it stern and severe, and impossible for man to obey. If God required more than man can give, this would be opposed to His word, indicate tyranny in His government, and would free man from blame. But God asks for service, not from angelic powers, but service of a nature adapted to our own. His requirements are clear as noonday, and equal as they can be, and the plea cannot be sustained. “O, house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?” etc. (Eze_18:29-30).—A. Barnes.
GOD NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS.—Deu_10:17
In this sublime description of God we have a brief phrase indicating the impartial, incorruptible, and righteous method of His government. “He regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.” He shows no favour, nor is he bribed in judging men. “There is no respect of persons with God” (Rom_2:11).
I. In the laws of Moral Government.—Natural laws make no discrimination, no distinction in their nature, purpose, and penalties. Nature accepts no bribes and regards no tears in her retributive dealings. There is “natural law in the spiritual world,” the same kind of procedure as in the natural world. The Jew has no advantage over the Gentile. Though His chosen people, God will not tolerate sin in them any more than in other nations. Men everywhere have the same wants, are subject to the same diseases, and doomed to the same grave. “The small and the great are there, and the servant is free as his master.” Spiritually “there is no difference (in their relation to God’s righteous government), for all have sinned and come short (failed to attain) the glory of God” (Rom_3:22-23).
II. In the method of Salvation.—If men are equally guilty, none are deserving, and none are saved by their own good works. He “accepteth not the person of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of His hands” (Job_34:19). If saved at all, they are saved “freely by His grace.” Peter could not believe that the gospel must be offered to the Gentiles, and that they stood on the same basis of acceptance as the favoured people. “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Act_10:34).
III. In the accounts of the Judgment Day.—This day will vindicate the righteousness of God in the rewards of the just and the punishment of the unjust. Then will the eternal principles of the Divine government be fully asserted and vindicated. There will be one impartial award, the righteous Judge “will render to every one according to his deeds” (Rom_2:6-11). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2Co_6:10).
LOVE TO THE STRANGER.—Deu_10:19
Strangers were in danger of being treated as foreigners and aliens among the Israelites. But many humane laws were enacted and repeated for their benefit. They were not merely to be tolerated, but to be respected, regarded as members of the Commonwealth—to be put on perfect equality with the Israelites. There are two reasons given for consideration to strangers.
I. God loves the stranger. Though great and terrible, yet He is kind and affectionate towards the helpless and oppressed. The more defenceless the greater the claim upon His compassion. “A father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows is God, in His holy habitation.” Kindness to the stranger has been considered such a favourite virtue that the gods have been said to disguise themselves to test human hospitality. The Bible and tradition seem to agree on this matter. “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb_13:2). Zeus, “the stranger’s god,” suggests another title for Jehovah. “The poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.” Psa_10:14; Psa_10:17-18; cf. Jer_49:11; Hos_14:3.
II. Israelites themselves have been strangers. “For ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Legislation has protected the orphan and the widow, but not always strangers. They have been considered outcasts and foreigners. Israel had been afflicted and distressed. They knew the bitter experience of persecution, and should therefore sympathise with others in the same condition. Our experience should teach us to regard tenderly all reduced to slavery and treated with inhumanity. “Thou shalt not oppress a stranger; for ye know the heart (the soul, the feeling) of a stranger (by personal experience), seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exo_23:9). If Cicero could say whatever concerned humanity was not foreign to himself, what should be our feelings, when we think of the Divine Nature, the pathetic appeals of the Word, and the incarnation of Jesus Christ? “The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Lev_19:34).
Jove’s special care
Are strangers, poor and friendless.—Odyss.
A NATION’S HONOUR.—Deu_10:20-21
Moses returns to his main subject, and again exhorts to reverence and obedience. God had honoured them, and deserved to be honoured by them. He was worthy in Himself, and worthy on account of what He had done. “He is thy praise and He is thy God—a nation’s honour consists in God’s blessing upon its past history and its present condition.
I. God in its past history. God is in history at all times, over-ruling all events for the accomplishment of His purpose. But few nations were blessed as Israel.
1. In its constant prosperity (Deu_10:22.) Mighty had been the increase of the people. In number, position, and dignity they were like the stars as heaven.
2. In its continual defence. In their deliverance and history “great and terrible things” had been done for them. England should remember her deliverances and defence in the destruction of the Invincible Armada, the defeat of Popish plots, and the establishment of the Protestant religion. “What one nation in the earth is like Thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to Himself, and to make Him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for Thy land, before Thy people, which Thou redeemedst to Thee from Egypt, from the nations and their Gods?” (2Sa_7:23.)
II. God in its present condition. He must still be our God, as well as our father’s God. He must never be forgotten nor forsaken, but abide with us for ever.
1. As the object of worship. “He is thy praise,” the object of praise, and regard. We must not worship our great men, nor bow down to our own nets (Heb_1:1-6). If God be not recognised in public act and private life, our glory will depart.
2. As the ground of dependence. We must put no confidence in the wisdom of our policy, the extent of our empire, the splendour of our arms, and the abundance of our wealth. “Righteousness exalteth a nation.”
3. As the source of prosperity. Our own skill and wisdom are vain. We can never do without God. He gives increase and success in families, churches, and nations (Act_5:38-39). To God we owe everything, and should dedicate everything. “Well may we think our substance due where we owe ourselves” (Bp. Hall). Let us cleave to God, our shield in the past and our hope for the future. “Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things He hath done for you” (1Sa_12:24).
“Without the help of God
All is decay, delusion all,
On which mankind rely:
The firmament itself would fall,
And even Nature die
Beneath annihilation’s nod,
Without the help of God.”—W. Hayley.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu_10:19. Love the stranger.
1. An expression of God’s nature. God is love.
2. An evidence of superior legislation in Israel.
3. A duty enjoined upon us. It is love; not mere pity, but practical benevolence. “Never anything can be amiss, when simpleness and duty tender it” (Shakespeare). “A kind action is never lost.”
Deu_10:20. Four aspects of obedience. Fear, serve, cleave, and swear. Our allegiance must be public, constant and firm. If we own God as our own God He will ever defend us. “Every one that sweareth by Him shall glory.”
Deu_10:21. Thy praise. Thy praised one (Psa_18:3), or thy praiseworthy one. He is also thy chief glory and praise among all nations, who shall admire thy happiness in such a God (Trapp). The friendship of God a personal honour—a constant necessity and an eternal sufficiency. Why be ashamed or afraid of Him? Why not fear Him who can increase or diminish (Deu_10:22), exalt or humble by His infinite power? “Your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings” (Dan_2:47).
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 10
Deu_10:1-5. Tables. God wrote the laws upon stone, and these stones were laid up in the ark of the testimony. But this law He writes now upon the hearts of His people; and God’s will, engraved upon the sensitive and susceptible heart of a Christian, will outlast the Pyramids of Egypt, outlive the stones that came down from Mount Sinai in the hand of Moses, and endure for ever. It is a nobler thing to write the law upon human hearts, and more miraculous, than to write it with His own finger upon the dead and perishing stone.—Dr. Cumming.
Deu_10:6-8. Ministered. A pious lady once amongst a party of gentlemen, by whom the worldly circumstances of ministers were made the topic of conversation, remarks were thrown out of which she could not approve. For some time silent, at last, with a dignified air and a decided tone, she put them all to silence with the words, “Well, you may say what you please concerning the situation of ministers, but let me tell you that a minister of the Gospel holds a more honourable office than a minister of state.”—Whitecross.
Deu_10:12-13. Love. The centripetal force which keeps all the celestial bodies in harmonious motion, each in its appointed orbit. What would ensue could we imagine the force to be withdrawn?—Bowes.
Deu_10:14-17. A great God. Simonides, the philosopher, being requested to describe God, asked a week to think of it, after that a month, and then a year; but, being still unprepared, he declined the task, declaring that the more he thought of such a Being the less he was able to describe Him. It is said that Sir I. Newton and Dr. S. Clarke never mentioned the name of God without solemn pause. “God has two thrones—one in the highest heavens, the other in the lowest hearts” (Isa_57:15).
Deu_10:19. Love the stranger. Mercy hath but its name for misery, and is no other thing than to lay another’s misery to heart (Binning). In aspiring to the throne of power, the angels transgressed and fell; in presuming to come within the oracle of knowledge, man transgressed and fell; but in the pursuit towards the similitude of God’s goodness and love neither man nor spirit ever transgressed or shall transgress (Bacon). How unsuitable is it for us, who live only by kindness (Tit_3:4-7), to be unkind.—Edwards.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain Practical Exhortations (continued)
Practical Exhortations (continued)
1-5. The renewal of the broken covenant: see Exodus 34.
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6-9. These vv are evidently a parenthesis.
The death of Aaron took place thirty-eight years after the departure from Sinai, but previous to the delivery of this discourse: see on Num_20:22-29; The notice of Aaron's death seems to be inserted here to show that the sin of Aaron and the people did not bring the priesthood to a close. The covenant was renewed, and Aaron was spared for nearly forty years to minister as the high priest; and on his death the priesthood was continued in his family. In Num_33:30-33 the same places are mentioned as being visited in a different order. In all probability the children of Israel visited these places twice.
8. At that time] Not at the time of Aaron's death, but during the sojourn at Sinai: see Exo_32:26. The Levites here include the family of Aaron who were specially set apart to the priesthood: see on Numbers 3.
11. In spite of the perversity and rebellion of the people they are permitted by God's grace to continue their journey and possess the land of promise. This verse marks the freeness and fulness of the divine forgiveness. God's covenant of peace is not removed.
12. Notwithstanding all that the people have done God does not demand of them any-thing more than their plain duty, in view of their past experience of His goodness: cp. Mic_6:8.
13. The path of duty is also that of safety and welfare.
14, 15. Although God is Lord of heaven and earth, He has singled out this small nation (Deu_7:7-8) for His special favour.
16. See on Lev_19:23.
17, 18. Great as God is, He cares for the lowly: see Psa_138:6. 'Be ye therefore merciful even as your Father is merciful.'
20. This was our Lord's third answer to the tempter: see Mat_4:10 and on Mat_6:16.
22. This is another ground of gratitude and obedience.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain A Further Recital of Wilderness Events
A Further Recital of Wilderness Events
v. 1. At that time, when Moses was engaged in his earnest intercession for Israel, the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto Me into the mount, Exo 34:1-2, and make thee an ark of wood, Exo 25:10. Moses here, as often, groups events which belong together logically, even though this is not the chronological order.
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v. 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. This was done at the time of the dedication of the Tabernacle, Exo 40:20.
v. 3. And I made an ark of shittim wood, Exo 37:1, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, Exo 34:4, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand, literally, "in both my hands. "
v. 4. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, or, words, 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.
v. 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. The narrative here again shows 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"
v. 6. And the children of Israel took their journey, when the wilderness legislation had been brought to a close, from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera: Both the wells here mentioned and the station of Mosera, or Moseroth, were in the territory of the sons of Jaakan, the latter town being at the foot of Mount Hor. there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar, his son, ministered in the priest’s office in his stead. This was another evidence, of God’s mercy, that He maintained the office of high priest in their midst after the death of Aaron.
v. 7. From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters, Num 33:30-33. Moses mentions these external blessings in this connection as being examples of the special benefits which accompanied the renewal of the covenant relation. God had turned back to His people with His kindness and grace.
v. 8. At that time, while Israel was journeying in the wilderness, while the covenant relation was being reestablished, the Lord separated the tribe of Levi, Num 3:6, to bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, as the congregation journeyed from one station to the next, to stand before the Lord to minister unto Him and to bless in His name unto this day, Numbers 4; Num 18:1-6.
v. 9. Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren, in the form of a separate territory in the land of Canaan, Num 18:20-24; Eze 44:28; the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord, thy God, promised him. The Levites were to devote their entire lives to the service of the Lord, unhindered by special worries of business.
v. 10. And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights, Deu 9:18-25; and the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also, and the Lord would not destroy thee, Deu 9:19.
v. 11. and the Lord said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people, as their leader, that they may go in and possess the land which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them. The covenant relation being now fully established, the children of Israel were to take possession of the covenant land as soon as possible. Cf Exo 34:10-11.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues to remind the people of Israel about what happened in the past.
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At that time
"After I finished praying"
the first
This refers to the first set of tablets that Moses had broken. AT: "the tablets you had before" (See: Ellipsis and Ordinal Numbers)
the mountain
This refers to Mount Sinai.
translationWords
Yahweh
word
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 10:1 The Ark was a gold-plated wooden chest that…
10:1 The Ark was a gold-plated wooden chest that contained the stone tablets; it was kept in the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle or Temple (Exod 25:10). Later, a pot of manna and Aaron’s flowering rod were also placed in the Ark (Heb 9:4). The Ark was the throne upon which the invisible Lord sat on earth among his people (see study notes on Exod 25:22 and Lev 16:2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.