DEUTERONOMY 10

The Two Tablets of Stone Restored

1 At that time Yahweh said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone [ shnei luchot avanim] like unto the first, and come up unto Me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood [aron etz].

The original tables were provided by Yahweh

And the tables were the work of Elohim, and the writing was the writing of Elohim, graven upon the tables.Exod. 32: 16.

Tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments, described as "the tables of the covenant" (Heb. 9:4), were ultimately placed in the Ark of the covenant. The wording of this chapter suggests that the Ark was planned or partially constructed at this time. It may have been completed later when the artistry of Bezaleel was used to that end - Exod. 25:10; 37:1. It is referred to in this place because the placing of the tablets of stone in the Ark completed the covenant.*

2 And I will write on the tables the words [luchot the devarim] that were in the first tables [haluchot harishonim] which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark [aron].

The Ten Commmandments will remain the basis of acceptable living for mortals in the Kingdom...*

Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments - Mal 4: 4

3 And I made an ark [aron][ of [sheetim] wood, and hewed two tables of stone [shnei luchot avanim] like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables [shnei luchot]in mine hand.

In this statement it would appear the Ark was constructed before Moses ascended the mount the second time. ... it is the first piece of Tabernacle furniture described - Exod 25:10.

...Before the Lord ascended into heaven, he had figuratively constructed an Ark of salvation. But the completion of the "greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say not of this building" [Heb. 9:11], awaits his return as the construction of the mercy seat, cherubim and rest of the old tabernacle awaited the return of Moses.

Christ, as the antitype of Moses shall gather all his materials together, and so bring to a completion that which he initiated before he ascended into heaven.

Foreshadowing the work of Christ, Moses ascended the Mount with the two tablets of stone in his hands, and the confirmation of the covenant that they represented was established by the writing of God thereon. The antitype is fulfilled in

"that the Lord entered into the holy place not made with hands which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" - Heb. 9: 24.

His presence in heaven, "confirmed the promises made unto the fathers" - Rom. 15: 8.*

4 And He wrote [in Hebrew!] on the tables [ luchot], according to the first writing, the ten commandments [Aseres HaDibros], which Yahweh spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire [eish] in the day of the assembly [Yom HaKahal]: and Yahweh gave them unto me. 

...the covenant referred to in Deut. 5:3, relates to that made at Horeb with the old generation. It was a covenant made with the nation of Israel, and not a particular section of it. The word "assembly" is from the Hebrew qahal signifying "ecclesia".

... the ecclesia was gathered together to hearken to the voice of Yahweh - Heb. 12:18-24.*

*The Christadelphian Expositor

6 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.

 when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel - Num 20: 29.

Eleazar - El is a Helper*.

7 From thence they journeyed unto [Gudgodah]; and from [Gudgodah to Yotvatah], a land [eretz] of rivers of waters.

Yotvatah...generally identified with Yotvata, about 50 km. (30 m.) from Eilat. It is a place of pleasantness and goodness, alike for its scenery, and its plenteous supply of water.

Today, there is a kibbutz established there, with large dairy herds, whilst springs of waters still gush forth abundantly, and provide the main source of Eilat's water supply. Remains of a Solomonic fortress have been discovered here on top of an ancient spring. It guarded the access to some of the most important copper and iron mines in nearby Timnath, which were extensively exploited by King Solomon, and it commanded the main highway on the west side of the Arabah rift, to and from its chief seaport.*

*The Christadelphian Expositor 

8 At that time Yahweh separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, to stand before Yahweh to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.

9 Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; Yahweh is his inheritance, according as Yahweh thy Elohim promised him.

10 And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights; and Yahweh hearkened unto me at that time also, and Yahweh would not destroy thee.

11 And Yahweh 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.

12 And now, Israel, what doth Yahweh thy Elohim require of thee, but to fear Yahweh thy Elohim, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Yahweh thy Elohim with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 

See the same question asked by Micah, and his very significant reply (Mic. 6:8). Yahweh desires His people

"to do justly, to love mercy, and to humble themselves to walk with their Elohim".

Moses provides a similar answer. He lists five requirements of grace:

"But to fear Yahweh thy Elohim" — First requirement. Reverence or awe at the majesty and glory of Yahweh is a first essential to true worship (Prov. 1:7).

"To walk in all His ways" — Second requirement. This requires the application of principles in action. Fear, or reverence, should motivate action (James 1:22).

"And to love Him" — Third requirement. Love manifests a readiness to sacrifice self-interest in the performance of Yahweh's will. It is a necessary addition to both fear and walk (2 John 6).

"And to serve Yahweh thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul" — Fourth

requirement. To serve is to submit to the status of a servant; that is, to acknowledge the authority and right of God as Master.

A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith Yahweh Tsvaot unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? - Mal. 1:6

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear - Heb. 12:28.

The Christadelphian Expositor

13 To keep [be shomer] the commandments [mitzvot] of Yahweh, and his statutes [His chukkot], which I command thee this day for thy good?

THE EXCELLENCE OF THE LA W

"THE Law", said Paul, "is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good" (Rom. 7 : 12).

How truly he spoke, we have had ample reason to see. None can disagree with his verdict after the researches and discoveries which we have made thus far. We have seen the Law perform to perfection its wonderful work of educating Israel in the things of God. We have watched literal and symbolical ordinances alike make plain to them that the goal of their national existence was absolute "Holiness to the Lord".

As His Covenant People they were to regard themselves as His representatives on earth, letting their light so shine before men of other nations that these would see their good works and glorify the Lord in heaven. The things of the Spirit were to be their meditation all the day, and oust completely the things of the flesh.

Whatever they did was to be done heartily, as to the Lord, knowing that He beheld all their doings and delighted in their worship of Him in spirit and in truth.

....His choice of them had been made with the express purpose that they should honour those demands and be in fact, as well as in status, a holy and peculiar people. The function of the Law as a whole was to bring that momentous fact urgently home to them, constraining them so to live in purity and holiness that He could rightly and truly dwell among them, they being His People and He their God.

Yet the Law is no more! It has waxed old and long since vanished away. Why should so superlative a code have been abrogated to give place to something else? The question clamours for an answer. But we have not far to look to find it. It is within the Law itself, so much clearer still for us to behold than for those who lived under its jurisdiction, because we have learned of Christ.

Law and Grace Ch 12

14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is Yahweh's thy Elohim, the earth also, with all that therein is.

15 Only [Yet] Yahweh had a delight in thy fathers [Avoteicha] to love them, and he chose their seed [zera] after them, even you above all people [kol ha'amim], as it is this day [yom hazeh].

16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin [arlat] of your heart [lev], and be no more stiffnecked.

Circumcision - The token of the covenant

"This," said God, "is My covenant which ye shall keep, between Me and thee and thy seed after thee: every man-child among you shall be circumcised; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt Me and you, Abraham."

The appointing of this token in their flesh was the establishment of the covenant with Abraham's seed in the time of Isaac and Jacob in their generations. When, therefore, Israelites behold the mark in their flesh it reminds them that they are "the children of the covenant which God made with their fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed" (Acts 3:25); that the land of Canaan, all of it, is promised to them for an everlasting possession; but that an everlasting possession in it can only be attained by belief of things promised in the covenant being counted to them for righteousness in the way of God's appointment.

... It is circumcision of the heart, of which circumcision of the flesh is but the sign of the circumcised heart of Abraham, that confers a title to the land and all its attributes. Before Israel can inherit the land for ever, and so be no more expelled by "the horns of the Gentiles," they must "circumcise the foreskin of their hearts, and be no more stiff-necked;" and "love the Lord (Jesus) their God with all their heart, and with all their soul, that they may live "

...while Moses exhorted them to circumcise the foreskin of their hearts, the Lord says that He will change their hearts Himself; not, however, by "the foolishness of preaching," for that has failed even by the mouth of apostles energized by the spirit: but by means in reserve which will astonish Israel and the world, and of which He has spoken at large in the holy Scriptures.

Elpis Israel 2.2.

He was not to boast in his physical circumcision. It was but a token of his Covenant status (which was enjoyed not on merit but only in the mercy of God) bringing with it an obligation to realize its spiritual meaning in the leading of a life befitting a member of the Covenant People, in which the desires of the flesh were to be consistently disowned.

Law and Grace Ch 3

17 For Yahweh your Elohim is [Elohei HaElohim], and Lord of lords [Adonei HaAdonim], a great El [HaEl HaGadol], a mighty [HaGibbor], and a terrible [v'HaNorah], which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward [shochad (bribe)]:

18 He doth execute the judgment [mishpat] of the fatherless [yatom] and widow [almanah], and loveth the stranger [ger], in giving him food [lechem] and raiment [simlah].

Kindness (Deut. 22 : 1-4), humaneness to both men and animals (Deut. 22: 6-7), chastity (Deut. 22: 13-21), generosity (Deut. 23 : 19; 24: 19-22) - these were the kind of virtues which befitted God's People. Cursed indeed were those who flouted them (Deut. 27 : 11-26). (It was as Moses said,

"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 ?" (Deut. 10 : 12-13).

Israel therefore had no illusions as to what was meant when God declared,

"Ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people that ye should be mine" (Lev. 20 : 26).

And, though that divine wish seems to have been utterly frustrated by Israel's past record, yet fulfil itself it will nevertheless. Like all God's purposes, it will yet translate itself into fact. God's word will not return to Him void, but accomplish that which He pleases, and prosper in the thing whereto He sent it, when finally the time comes for the Deliverer to come out of Zion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

Law and Grace Ch 6

19 Love ye therefore the stranger [ger]: for ye were strangers [gerim] in the land of Egypt [Eretz Mitzrayim].

The Hebrew mind tended to an arrogant, self-satisfied and exclusive smallness and despising of all the rest of the world. We too face the same danger. We have been called out, and told to be separate from, and to have no part in, a world that lies in Godless wickedness.

But we must not become self-centered and thoughtless and indifferent as regards the world. We must let our light shine, that men may see our good works, and this means far, far more than merely preaching the Truth to them.

"God loveth the stranger."

There cannot be a universal brotherhood until there is universal righteousness and truth, but there can-and must-be universal kindness and love.

The Hebrew nation was appointed to be a divine light of guidance and comfort and inspiration in the earth. But they wrapped themselves up in an intolerant and bigoted self-righteousness, justifying themselves by the very Law that was designed to teach them the very opposite characteristics. This can so easily happen to us too.

Bro Growcott - The spirit of Christ in the Law of Moses

20 Thou shalt fear Yahweh thy Elohim; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

21 He is thy praise, and he is thy Elohim, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now Yahweh thy Elohim hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.