20140103 Friday, January 3 2014
Deuteronomy 10: Who Broke The Law?

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"As soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount"

The first written copy of The Ten Commandments existed for only about a month. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai (see Exodus 19: Arrival At Mount Sinai and Exodus 20: The Ten Commandments), he found many of the Israelites running wild in idolatry and heathen behavior (see Exodus 32: The Mount Sinai Riot). In response to their breaking the Law, Moses broke the tables of stone upon which the Law was first written.

"32:15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. 32:16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

32:17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

32:18 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount." (Exodus 32:15-19 KJV)

Moses later returned onto Mount Sinai where the LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ - see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God) gave him the second copy of The Ten Commandments. The Word of God was the same on both sets; the LORD wrote both of them. The only difference was that the LORD carved the first set of stone tables, while Moses was required to carve second set - which makes it very likely that the craftsmanship of the first set was of much greater quality (although Moses also likely had help in the skill that was needed for the work e.g. see Exodus 31: The Spirit Of Creation).

"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. 10:2 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.

10:3 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. 10:4 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. 10:5 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." (Deuteronomy 10:1-5 KJV)

The Holy Bible often has inset chapters that provide collateral information when it is most relevant.

"10:6 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 [see Numbers 17: Aaron's Almond Rod, Why Did Jesus Christ Choose Aaron? and From Moses And Aaron To Joshua and Eleazar].

10:7 From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters [see Paul's Geography Lessonand Numbers 10: North To The Promised Land].

10:8 At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, 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, unto this day [see Numbers 4: The Levite Clans and Numbers 3: When Were The Levites Set Apart?]. 10:9 Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance [see Numbers 18: The Inheritance Of The Levites], according as the LORD thy God promised him." (Deuteronomy 10:6-9 KJV)

The heathen riot at Mount Sinai was not the event that caused the LORD to reject that generation from entry into the Promised Land - thanks again to Moses, who pleaded for their forgiveness (see Exodus 33: Why Did Moses Pitch A Tabernacle Outside The Camp?).

"10:10 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. 10:11 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." (Deuteronomy 10:10-11 KJV)

The elder generation of the Israelites nevertheless continued in their rebellion, more and more, until it culminated in their refusal to enter the Promised Land (see Numbers 13: The Exploration Of The Promised Land and Numbers 14: Why 40 Years In The Sinai?). The offer of salvation and deliverance was then transferred to their children and grandchildren, some of whom were not even yet born at the time of the Exodus or the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai (see Deuteronomy 1: Why A Book Of Deuteronomy In The Bible?, Deuteronomy 5: The Ten Commandments - Forty Years Later and Deuteronomy 2: The Israelite Wanderland).

"10:12 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, 10:13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

10:14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. 10:15 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. 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. 10:17 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: 10:18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 10:19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. 10:20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. 10:21 He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen. 10:22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude." (Deuteronomy 10:12-22 KJV)

Fact Finder: What did the tables of stone upon which The Ten Commandments were written actually look like? Why is it that if they were fastened to a wall (as they are popularly portrayed) that only half of the Commandments could be read?
See Turning The Tables