The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablet, which you broke.” (Exodus 34:1)

The Ten commandments are the backbone of the nation of Israel. They were God’s tool for forming a slave population into a nation of laws of their own. The Ten Commandments etched in stone were carried in the ark of the Covenant, and occupied the most holy place, first in the Tabernacle, and later in the Temple.

Those stone tablets, though, were the second edition of God’s word. The first edition had been shattered by Moses when he saw the calf idol being worshiped by God’s people, including Aaron, Moses’ own brother. In spite of such an egregious departure, the Lord ordered the stones to be replaced exactly as they were written first. He didn’t change a word of the first stones. The transgressions of the people did not change God’s purpose or His saving plan for them. It was perhaps the first inkling to Moses and the people, of God’s constancy and perseverance which would one day lead to the cross of Christ

God didn’t instruct one of His gifted craftsmen to carve the Commandments, but He wrote them Himself—twice. The second set was the one that was finally placed into the ark. The second set of tablets proved God’s immutable decision to be committed to His people, the all powerful God committed to a barely emerging nation.

When everyone except Moses, and perhaps Joshua, perceived God as merely one God among many, God remained constant in delivering the ten commandments. These, along with “The Greatest commandment,” were the glue that held the nation together : Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength. ( Deuteronomy 6:5)

In a way, Jesus is like the second set. He revealed the second message of God’s constancy in the midst of humanity’s sins, and he sealed it with his blood. The author of Hebrews wrote, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) Jesus, as his Father God, is eternally committed to his people.

Love in Him,

Prue