Written In Stone

April 24, 2021

So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.

~Deuteronomy 4:13~

When something is written in stone it is permanently fixed or firmly established. It is incapable of being changed. The Father established His commandments on two tablets of stone. He fashioned His major covenant and rules. He laid the foundation for moral law. There was no longer excuse for His children to lie, cheat, steal, disobey or covet. It was officially known why these things are not acceptable.

"Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets." (Exodus 32:16)

More proof for His children to see that it was done by Himself, that He was Sovereign and Jealous. "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."

(Deuteronomy 4:24)

What happened as Moses was receiving the ten commandments? The Israelites became impatient and began to break one of the very first commandments, which wasn't even seen yet; "You shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:3)

They began to carve their own image out of gold. A calf to bow down to and worship.

"So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain." (Exodus 32:19)

Moses was feeling the anger of the Lord as he watched his people committing this sin and disrespecting the Father who He just came down from speaking to. Once we truely know God and come to speak with Him in intimate setting, we will naturally take His commandments just as serious and find ourselves becoming rather defensive for Him. I have been there personally, it is a fire which burns inside unable to kindle without the peace of Jesus. "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." (II Peter 1:2)

I can imagine what went through Moses' mind. God's Ten Commandments were written down for every generation to grasp and carry in their hearts. To follow as a sign of understanding and purity. Moral law is always set in stone. Jesus didn't come to remove them all together, He came to be an atonement for us when we do break one of these commandments. We can repent to Him and His Body was already the sacrifice for all. "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (I John 4:10)

Jesus gave understanding of the commandments when asked, "what the greatest commandment is."

"Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

(Matthew 22:37‭-‬40)

If we take a look at God's Ten Commandments the first five are directed towards complete reverence to the Father and the last five are directed towards respecting others as you would yourself.

Jesus summed up all Ten by breaking them in half and showing the importance behind all. It is our moral duty as humans and especially as Christians to take these commandments very seriously and for our children to as well. In case we have forgotten any, I will list them all here for our own meditation in God's perfect law.

1.you shall have no other gods before Me.

2.you shall not make any carved images for yourself

3.you shall not take the Name of the Lord in vain.

4.remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5.honor your father and your mother.

6.you shall not murder.

7.you shall not commit adultery

8.you shall not steal.

9.you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10.you shall not covet.

Honestly, God could of added more then ten, but He chose to be reasonable and firm with what could speak for the rest of everything evil. If we are serious enough to follow these ten, we will be serious enough to shun all evil.

"Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1:8)

This is how we should push to stand for the Lord, just as Job stood fearing Him and shunning evil. No matter how hard it got for him, he stayed faithful. We can be so grateful understanding the very idea we have all broke at least one of these commandments in our life but that Jesus' forgiveness makes atonement for us as we repent genuinely for what we may have done to anger God at any point in our life. Once we are forgiven we are free. "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."

(John 8:36 )

Again, we should be taking them just as serious as the Israelites took them before Jesus came. We have no need to sacrifice animals for each sin, however, we are to still have fear of God and to love our neighbors, just as Jesus instructed. If we can't we may be breaking more then we think. Let us praise the King for His mercy and forgiveness. Let us strive to lead Godly pure lives as we post these Ten Commandments in our hearts.

Prayer:

Gracious God, thank you for Your great mercy as You continuously forgive us for breaking Your commands. I pray that if there is anything I do against Your law that You will shake me instantly to stop. I want to please You in all things I say and do. I pray to be a good example to all around me; my children, family and friends. I pray it brings more people to be reverent towards You. Great is Your faithfulness and sacrifice for us to be free. I choose to follow all that You are. Cleanse my spirit and cause me to see all evil as evil and good as good. I give myself to You today for a tool in the Kingdom to love my God and my neighbors with all of my heart. May honor and praise be given to You, for I could not live this way on my own. I would be constantly breaking the commandments and not understanding. I am grateful for the knowledge You bring forth and I receive all that You have for me today. In Jesus Mighty Name I pray. Amen.