Chapter 16

Please read Exodus, chapter 34.

Exodus 34:1 “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 tablets, which you broke.”

A thousand times Israel may break the laws that, twice, God wrote in stone. Yet, those laws were in force until they had been fulfilled in full. A Jew, by the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the son of Mary, the son of man, spoke these words:

Matthew 5:17 “Do NOT think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have NOT come to abolish them but to FULFILL them.

v.18 “ I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law, UNTIL EVERYTHING IS ACCOMPLISHED.”

There never was one other Jew who could accomplish the whole of the Law in full. The Man Jesus Christ, He could and He did.

I do not like repeating. But now I must. For ages many who are now the Church of the Lord Jesus have been misled. When I was still young my parents and I were attending a church; morning and evening, Every Sunday, the pastor would begin the service by reading out the Ten Commandments. Hundreds of pastors would do the same. Their congregations never learned the truth. Many Christians became confused. In our youth group we had a couple of teen-age sisters. Much against the ideas of their dad they were present, every week. In their home you would not find a single photo. Dad would not allow for that. He was taught to observe the Law of God, given to Israel, through Moses, ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything’ (Exodus 20:3). My dear mother was not allowed to do any knitting on Sunday, because she was to remember the Sabbath day’ and had ‘six days for labor and do all her work’ (Exodus 20:8). A dear elderly man was the blacksmith in the township His relatives lived in a nearby town. On Saturday afternoon he would step on his push-bike to go and visit them. In the evening, halfway back home, in the distance, he could hear the large town clock, twelve o’clock midnight. The good man was sure to step off his bike, to walk the other halfway home. Twelve o’clock midnight meant the Sabbath had begun and you must not do any work on the Sabbath day (Exodus 20:8). As far as heaven is from earth so large is the difference between the seventh day and the first day of our week, Saturday the Jewish Sabbath and the Lord’s Day, our Sunday.

God never, ever gave those commandments to any one else but the nation of Israel (Psalm 147:19,20). Israel was hideously rebellious. The Lord never expected them not to vandalize His commandments. They were meant to convict them of their sinfulness. But Israel used them as a yardstick of their imagined righteousness

While the Lord and Moses had a face to face conversation, while the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance of the tent, the Israelites stood at the entrances of their tents and . . . worshipped (v.10). Their repentance had been profound! God’s very serious judgment had been effective and now His anger, once again gave way to loving grace in forgiveness. Sin had been atoned for, to facilitate reconciliation. Israel’s most Holy God would now again communicate with His people.