Deuteronomy 10:1-2 "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. (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."
There is something significant about the first and the second. The first
set of tables was given to Moses to keep and carry back down the mountain. We
remember Moses broke them by casting them to the ground. In our study of Hebrews,
we were reminded often about the first and second covenants. I pray I can
express what I see in these two accounts of receiving the tables of
stone. Moses could not keep the first set of commandments that were
given. You and I are not able to perfectly keep those commands that were
written in stone. Yes, we are to strive toward that end, but sin in us hinders
us from being able to keep the commands to holiness. The writer of Hebrews
tells us, "For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no
place have been sought for the second." (Hebrews 8:7) The fault was
not in the commands; rather, the fault was in man.
This is the second time Moses has gone into the presence of the Lord in the
mountain. The first time, God had written the commandments in stone and
handed them to Moses. This second time, God tells Moses to hew out the
stones himself, but only God could write the commandments in the stone. This
second time, God commanded Moses to make an ark in which the commandments, the
law, were to be kept. Moses could not keep them. The Priests could not
keep them. The Scribes could not keep them. You could not keep them. I could
not keep them. So, we read about the true ark of God coming into the world. We
just celebrated His birth. "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he
saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
me." (Hebrews 10:5) Yes, Jesus came into the world to be that perfect
sacrfice that was demanded by the law of God.
What did that sacrifice do? "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy
will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second."
(Hebrews 10:9) How did Jesus take away that first? Moses took them
away by throwing them down and breaking them. Jesus took them away by
being the PERFECT sacrifice Who had absolutely kept every "jot and
tittle" of the law. He kept every aspect of the law; yet, He
subjected Himself to the penalty of the law for your and my sake. Death was the
penalty demanded by the law. Jesus was the only One who has, or ever
shall, walk in perfection on the face of the earth. He did not deserve to die;
yet He took away the penalty of that first covenant that you and I can live in
the blessings of the second covenant. "By so much was Jesus made a
surety of a better testament." (Hebrews 7:22)
What are the blessings of that better testament or covenant? We call it
grace. The Lord gave to Jesus that which you and I deserved and He gave to us
that which we did not deserve. By that, I mean Jesus took the death I
deserved and gave me life that I did not deserve. How can we know we are
beneficiaries of that better testament? "For this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I
will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be
to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." (Hebrews 8:10) God
has written His laws into our minds and hearts. When we sin against the
Lord, we often speak of having a guilty conscience. The truth of the
matter is that for the child of God our transgressions against the Lord are so
contrary to those laws written into us that the inner battle wages. But you and
I have been given the sure testimony that Jesus Christ is the surety, or fixed
position, in which we are secured by His shed blood. We belong to Him!
He is that perfect ark in which the commands of God have been placed. We
are in Him; therefore, we are safe and secure.