How does Deuteronomy 10:4 connect with Exodus 34:1-4 regarding the Ten Commandments? Setting the Scene at Sinai • Israel has just broken covenant by worshiping the golden calf (Exodus 32). • Moses shattered the first tablets (Exodus 32:19) as a symbol of that breach. • God’s desire is restoration, not abandonment (Exodus 34:6-7). Re-Writing the Covenant – Exodus 34:1-4 “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.” (Exodus 34:1) • God commands Moses to supply new tablets, underscoring human responsibility. • God Himself will again inscribe the very same words, underscoring divine initiative and mercy. • The isolation of Moses (vv. 2-3) highlights the holiness of the event; no mediator but the chosen mediator. • Moses’ early-morning obedience (v. 4) models quick, reverent response to God’s commands. Looking Back – Deuteronomy 10:4 “And the LORD wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Commandments that He had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. And the LORD gave them to me.” • Moses recounts the same episode forty years later, emphasizing continuity: same God, same words, same covenant. • The phrase “what had been written previously” confirms the commandments were not updated or amended. • “The LORD gave them to me” stresses divine origin and authority—Moses is the recipient, not the author. Key Connections between the Passages • Same Author: In both texts God Himself writes the commandments (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10). • Same Content: “Ten Commandments” (“Ten Words,” Exodus 34:28) unchanged despite Israel’s sin. • Covenant Renewal: Exodus records the act; Deuteronomy interprets it for a new generation, urging covenant faithfulness (Deuteronomy 10:12-13). • Mercy After Judgment: Breaking of tablets vs. rewriting—judgment followed by restoration (Psalm 103:8-10). • Human-Divine Partnership: Moses hews stone (human effort), God writes (divine grace), pictured in both accounts. Theological Implications • God’s Word is immutable—sin cannot nullify divine revelation (Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 5:18). • Restoration is grounded in God’s initiative; He rewrites what we have broken (Jeremiah 31:33). • Obedience flows from grace received: God renews covenant first, then calls Israel to fear and love Him (Deuteronomy 10:12-16). Living It Out Today • Receive Scripture as God-inscribed, authoritative, and unchanging. • Respond quickly, like Moses, to opportunities for renewal. • Rely on God’s mercy to rewrite broken places in our lives while upholding the same holy standard (1 John 1:9). |
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