Moses has to chisel out two new tablets of stone, God reminding him that it was Moses who had broken them. However, God would write the commandments on them. The fact that it is God who wrote the commandments stresses their lasting value. We live in a world of extreme relativism, and that is one of the reasons why society is collapsing in many ways. Any society would do well to get back to the ten commandments as its foundation. Only Moses was allowed on the mountain. The Lord appeared to him and declared who He was. He also declared His mercy. We read that God shows mercy to thousands and forgives sins, but also will punish sin and the punishments has effect for three or four generations. We tend to think that this second aspect is at odds with the first, but it is not. We sometimes mistakenly treat the gospel as if it was saying sin does not matter. Sin does matter. In fact in Romans Paul says that part of the purpose of the cross was to demonstrate God's justice.
Moses then bows down to God and pleads with Him to go with His people. See that Moses is dedicated to the people, he does not see his position as a means of self-glorification or self-fulfilment.
God says He is making a covenant with the people. They must obey His commands, then He will do wonders among them and drive out their enemies. They must not make treaties with the peoples, nor bow down to their idols.
They must not intermarry with the other nations, for this will lead them astray. Today this means that a Christian should not marry a non-Christian. (The case where they are already married, and then one gets saved is different). Now sometimes this will lead to the non-Christian getting saved, but it is much more likely to lead to the Christian drifting away from God.
No comments:
Post a Comment