Introduction: What comes after the broken tablets?

In the last chapter we saw that Moses threw the original two tablets (containing the ten commandments) on the ground and shattered them before Israel's eyes. We saw that that was not a temper tantrum. It was a prophetic sign that Israel had broken the covenant. But that raises a question. What comes after the broken tablets? Satan would love us to think, "That's it. That's the end. It's hopeless for us."

Once a covenant has been violated so willfully and so openly, can fellowship ever be restored? Some people think not, and they think that 1 John 1:9 can no longer apply to them. But that is an unchangeable promise - "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." So the question I addressed previously was this: "Can the King whose law has been despised remain Israel's King? Or must the story end with broken stone, divine wrath, and a nation blotted out from under heaven?"

Well, chapter 9 told us what stood between Israel and destruction. Moses fell down before Yehowah and interceded. And every reason he gave in his prayer was based on God's provision, not ours. He appealed to God's promises, God's ownership of His people, God's redemptive work, and God's reputation among the nations. Israel did not survive because its sin was small. Israel survived because God listened to the mediation of Moses - who was a type (or foreshadowing) of Jesus.

And now chapter 10 shows us God's answer to that intercession. It comes in the form of two new tablets and an ark of acacia wood. That may sound almost anticlimactic. After forty days of desperate intercession, perhaps we might expect thunder, a dramatic speech, or some extraordinary spectacle. Instead God says, in effect, “Cut two more stones and make a wooden chest.”

But those objects preach what the New Testament calls "the Gospel of the kingdom." The kingdom was symbolized by the fact that this ark was elsewhere called the throne of God. The Gospel is symbolized by the mercy seat that restores people to their king and (interestingly) to the laws of that kingdom. The new tablets tell us that God's law remains unchanged. The ark tells us that the law belongs beneath the throne of the invisible King. In other words, even though it is a kingdom of grace, God's law remains unchanged. And the mercy seat that would cover the ark tells us that covenant-breakers can live in the presence of that holy, holy, holy, King only through God's provision of atonement. And that's why there is blood sprinkled on top of the mercy seat - on top of the throne. That in a nutshell is the Gospel of the kingdom. And I could stop preaching at this point, and some of you would get the point. But this is such a misunderstood Gospel, I want to look into it in more detail. Let's look at each verse.

Grace replaced the broken tablets; it did not replace the Law (vv. 1-2)

Verse 1 begins:

“At that time the LORD said to me, ‘Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain, and make yourself an ark of wood.’”

The opening words matter: verse 1 says, “At that time.” And what time was that? Well, it was at the time Moses that had been pleading that God would niot destroy Israel. It was at the time that Aaron had been exposed as deserving of judgment. It was at the time that Israel had no righteousness whatsoever to offer to God and had no excuses that it could make to God. It was at that time that God commanded Moses to make this symbol of the Gospel of the kingdom.

And that Gospel (interestingly) includes a reiteration of the law. The new tablets were therefore part of God's answer to intercession. God had not cast His laws away or forgotten their sin. This is the mystery of the Gospel of the kingdom.

First, Moses reminds Israel of “the first tablets which you broke.” The first tablets remain part of the story. Grace does not require Israel to pretend that sin never happened. God does not airbrush the golden calf out of the family portrait. From this point onward, the very existence of the second tablets would remind Israel of two facts at the same time: We broke covenant, and God restored us. When we use our past sins as excuses for not believing God's forgiveness, we are missing this portion of the Gospel message.

It's not good to remember the guilt of our sin in a morbid way that has no good news (which is what the word "Gospel" means - which has no good news) in the story. There is a morbid memory that keeps digging up guilt that Christ has buried. That dishonors the sufficiency of His atonement. But there is also a sanctified memory that says, “I know what I was. I know what I deserved. I know who preserved me. Therefore I will boast only in grace.” Paul never forgot that he had persecuted the church, but he remembered it as a forgiven man amazed that he had obtained mercy.

So there is a sense in which the second tablets were scars in Israel's history. A scar says both, “There was a wound,” and, “There was healing.” Israel must never look at these tablets and boast in its righteousness. The very existence of the law testified that Israel had to live by grace.

But notice exactly what God promised to write upon them:

“I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.”

The Gospel of the Kingdom does not contain a new and easier law. No. God replaced the tablets, but He did not replace the law.

He did not say, “Apparently the laws on the first tablets were a little bit too demanding. So let's revise them and allow for one carefully regulated golden calf.” No. He did not lower the standard to accommodate Israel's weakness. That's not the Gospel. He wrote the same words.

That is enormously important for understanding grace. Forgiveness changes our standing before God, but it does not somehow change evil into good; it does not change the definition of justice. Grace does not make God less holy. It does not change God into a different God who now values a different law. Instead, it amazingly brings sinners into fellowship with the same holy God who still values the same holy law. That's the amazing thing!

This exposes the false choice that is often presented between law and grace. Some speak as if reverence for God's law must be legalism, while grace means that God now lowers His standards. But legalism is not taking God's law too seriously. Legalism is either adding to the law or misusing the law as a means of self-justification. And by the way, if you think you are too sinful to be forgiven, you are still approaching the law as a self-centered legalist. Israel could never be justified by the tablets. The broken first set of tablets proved that. Yet the justified and forgiven people still needed the second writing of the same laws to teach them how their Redeemer wanted them to live.

Any gospel that delivers us from God's authority rather than restoring us back to God's authority is a false gospel. And there are a lot of false Gospels being preached in the churches of today. The false Gospel effectively says, “You may now define good and evil for yourself.” But that is the original temptation of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. It is also a violation of the first commandment because it enthrones the self as god.

God's grace says something far better. It says, “I forgive you of your treason, I receive you, and I restore you to the good rule you foolishly rejected.” Gospel and law cannot be separated. Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom, not a Gospel that rejects the righteous rule of the King.

Grace calls us to submit to God's revealed order (v. 3)

Verse 3 says:

“So I made an ark of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand.”

The most obvious feature of this verse is Moses' obedience. God commanded an ark; Moses made an ark. God commanded two tablets; Moses cut two tablets. God commanded him to ascend the mountain; Moses ascended the mountain. Later God would command him to place the tablets in the ark, and Moses would place them in the ark.

That careful obedience deliberately contrasts with the golden calf. Israel had grown impatient with God's appointed order. They decided that they needed a visible representation. Aaron listened to the people, gathered their gold, fashioned the calf, built an altar, and announced a feast. And let me assure you that the worship at that false feast was energetic, creative, beautiful, popular, expensive - but it was still completely rebellious.

Moses does not ask what might appeal to the congregation at the foot of the mountain. He does not hold a survey about the preferred shape of the ark. He does not improve upon God's instructions. He simply does what God said.

There is a profound contrast between manufactured religion and revealed religion - what we call the Regulative Principle of Worship. Manufactured religion begins with us: it begins with our felt needs, our preferences, our fears, and our imagination. Revealed religion begins with God: it begins with His character, His Word, His appointed Mediator, and His commanded means of grace.

And people who reject the Regulative Principle of Worship say that God just looks at the sincerity of their hearts. Sincerity cannot sanctify what God has forbidden. Israel was sincere enough to hold a feast. They were enthusiastic enough to dance. They were sacrificial enough to surrender their gold. But their sacrificial and creative zeal was not according to knowledge. Moses' plain obedience was far more spiritual than all their religious excitement. God could care less about beautiful worship teams, with beautiful music, with fog machines, and hands lifted up to heaven - when those hands ignore His instructions.

This obviously applies to worship, but it extends far beyond public worship. Chapters 6–11 are expounding the first commandment and applying it to all of life. The issue is always, “Who gets the final word?” In family life, education, business, medicine, science, civil government, and ethics, are we receiving God's interpretation of reality, or are we constructing a calf that reflects the reigning desires of our age?

Moses' obedience also illustrates the proper relationship between divine grace and human responsibility. Moses cuts the stone, but God writes the words. Moses builds the ark, but God assigns its meaning. Moses carries the tablets, but God supplies their authority. So it's not as if Moses didn't do anything; he did.

But God's servants are custodians of revelation, not authors of revelation. A mail carrier does not have the authority to open a letter addressed to you and revise the parts he thinks you may find offensive. His responsibility is to deliver the message faithfully. In the same way, ministers and shepherding elders are not editors of God's Word. We are called to teach it, apply it, carry it, and preserve it, but we may not rewrite it. That's the point.

And that should humble everyone who handles Scripture. Our task is not to make the Bible acceptable to the spirit of the age. Our task is to bring every spirit of the age into submission to Scripture.

But there is another little detail that I want you to notice, and that is that the ark was supposed to be made of acacia wood. Acacia wood was not a highly prized wood like cedar, oak, or olive wood. Desert acacias were highly branched and contorted, making a twisted and irregular grain that was very difficult to work with; difficult to plane; difficult to make smooth. There was nothing wonderful about acacia. Its significance came from God's appointment, not man's desire. And thus it was a beautiful symbol of Jesus. Isaiah 53:2 describes Jesus as "a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him."

And this is how God frequently works. He takes ordinary water and assigns it a sacramental use in baptism. He takes ordinary bread and wine and appoints those two ordinary things as signs and seals at His Table that strengthen us and give us grace - or when wrongly partaken of, which bring supernatural discipline. He takes the ordinary voice of a preacher (nothing special) and uses it to announce the extraordinary Gospel. The power does not lie in human materials or craftsmanship. It lies in God's Word and blessing. God loves to use weak vessels like us in order to magnify His grace.

So verse 3 calls us to the simplicity of faith: hear what God has said, believe what God has promised, and do what God has commanded. Don't try to make Christianity appealing to man. Accept it as it is given in the Bible. The Gospel comes to us through the ordinary acacia wood.

Grace restores the authoritative Testimony of the King (v. 4)

Verse 4 says:

“And He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the LORD had spoken to you in the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the LORD gave them to me.”

Moses piles up phrases to emphasize the authority and continuity of the law.

It says that God wrote on the second pair of tablets “according to the first writing.” And they are called the same. These are still called “the Ten Commandments.” These are the same words that Yehowah spoke “from the midst of the fire.” He had spoken them publicly “in the day of the assembly.” And Yehowah gave the finished tablets to Moses.

These were not Moses' best recollection of the original speech. Moses did not climb the mountain with two blank stones and a chisel so that he could reconstruct what he sort of remembered. God Himself wrote the words. The authority of the commandments came from their Author.

The phrase “from the midst of the fire” takes Israel back to the terrifying majesty of God displayed at Horeb. The people had seen the mountain burn. They had heard the voice of God. The fire showed that the Lawgiver was holy and that His Word was not to be handled casually.

We sometimes treat the commandments as though they emerged from a committee meeting in which various human interests had to be balanced. Yes, there are some things that are on the outer circles of belief, liberty, and mutual respect (even though we should value even those outer circles), but the ten commandments are central. These were written on stone. These are not things that God is going to backtrack on. The Ten Commandments came from the fire. We do not sit in judgment upon them. They sit in judgment upon us.

Likewise, the phrase, “the day of the assembly” also reminds us that this was a public covenant transaction. God did not whisper private suggestions to Moses that could be accepted or rejected according to personal preference. He spoke to the covenant nation. These commandments ordered Israel's corporate life as well as their individual conduct.

That is important because modern man tries to confine God's authority to private spirituality. Some people think that its OK to have your own religious values, but that we should not bring them into education, law, economics, medicine, or public policy. Yet the God who spoke from the fire did not present Himself as only interested in Israel's private devotional life. He was their King. His law governed their whole covenant order.

The tablets were also called “the Testimony.” That word is significant. They testified to the covenant relationship itself. They testified to Yehowah's sovereign authority. They testified to Israel's obligations. They testified to the righteousness of God's judgments. And after the golden calf, they testified to Israel's guilt.

But unlike human rulers, God is not under a moral standard higher than Himself. His law expresses His own unchanging character. The ten commandments express who God is. Murder is wrong because God is the Lord and giver of life. False witness is wrong because God is truth. Adultery is wrong because God is faithful. Theft is wrong because God assigns stewardship and ownership. Idolatry is wrong because Yehowah alone is God.

That is why the first commandment determines how every other commandment must be understood - and chapters 6-11 are God's exposition of the implications of the first commandment. If man rejects the God of the first commandment, man will eventually redefine murder, marriage, property, truth, authority, and worship. We've seen that happen in our nation. All of those things have been redefined.

Almost everyone says that justice is good, but who has the right to define justice? Only God. Almost everyone says that love is good, but who defines love? Almost everyone claims to oppose oppression, but who defines oppression? If man's autonomous reason has the final word, then man has assumed the throne of God. You cannot embrace the Gospel of the Kingdom without letting the King of the kingdom define those terms. And by the way, this is why you need to be very cautious when you go to dictionaries of Hebrew and Greek terms found in the Bible. Many of those articles in some dictionaries are written by liberal who redefine terms. Just because it is in a dictionary does not mean it is right. Many modern English dictionaries redefine the words “man” and “woman.” And you will see similar faithlessness in Bible dictionaries. See if the dictionary allows the Bible to define its own terms.

The tablets answer the question of final authority. The King who redeemed Israel defines righteousness for Israel. His Word is the standard, and every competing voice must answer to Him.

Grace places the Law beneath the throne of mercy (v. 5)

Verse 5 says:

“Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, just as the LORD commanded me.”

This is the theological climax of the first five verses. The tablets are not merely rewritten; they are given a permanent location. Moses places them inside the ark.

Now, as an interesting side note (and this is controversial), by the time Solomon brought the ark into the temple, 1 Kings 8:9 says that there was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone. That exclusivity underscores their singular importance. At the heart of Israel's land would stand the sanctuary. At the heart of the sanctuary would stand the Holy of Holies. At the heart of the Holy of Holies would stand the ark. And within the ark would rest the covenant testimony of the King.

In other words, law and grace were not pushed to the margins of Israel's worship. They both stood at the center. The priesthood, sacrifices, festivals, and ceremonies did not create an alternative to God's moral demands. They ministered to a sinful people whose guilt was exposed by those demands and who needed cleansing and restoration. So law and gospel remains relevant for us throughout all time.

But the ark was more than a container. Scripture presents it as the throne-footstool of the invisible King. Yehowah is repeatedly described as enthroned above the mercy seat or between the cherubim angels. First Chronicles 28 calls the ark His footstool. God promised to meet Moses and speak with him from above the mercy seat, between the cherubim.

This creates a dramatic contrast with the golden calf. The ark contained no image of Yehowah. No statue of God sat upon it. Israel's King remained invisible. He made His presence known and governed His people through His written Word. And that continues to be true today.

Think about those contrasts. The calf was a visible representation fashioned according to man's imagination. In contrast, the ark was constructed according to God's revelation. The calf allowed Israel to conceive of God on its terms, whereas the ark required Israel to receive God on His terms. The calf embodied human autonomy. The ark testified to divine kingship.

There is an old temptation to prefer a manageable god - a god we can see, carry, redefine, control, and use. That kind of god is much less threatening than the living God who speaks from the fire. Now, it is true that we may not bow down to literal golden calves, but we can construct mental idols. How do we do that? Well, one way is by keeping the attributes of God that comfort us and quietly removing the attributes that confront us and make us uncomfortable. We imagine a god of love who has no holiness, a god of grace who has no law, or a god of personal salvation who has no authority over nations. But that's a false god.

The empty throne above the ark says, “You may not remake God.” And the tablets within the ark say, “The invisible King has spoken, so you don't have to make a god of your own imagination. He has revealed Himself.”

The position of the tablets beneath the throne also testified that God's rule is founded upon righteousness. His throne is not arbitrary. He does not govern by changing moods, personal favoritism, bribery, or raw power. His commandments express His holy character.

But if that were all the ark proclaimed, no sinner could safely approach it. Israel had already violated the testimony stored within. The law beneath the throne was not only Israel's guide; it was also a witness against Israel.

This is where the mercy seat becomes so precious. And I want you to understand the symbolism of that mercy seat. Exodus 25 says that the mercy seat was placed on top of the ark. Above it were the cherubim, and from between the cherubim God manifested His throne-presence. On the Day of Atonement the high priest sprinkled sacrificial blood upon that mercy seat.

So just try to imagine the arrangement. It was a three-dimensional theology of redemption. And maybe this picture will help those of you who are more right brain dominant.

The law beneath the throne tells us how righteous the King is. The blood upon the mercy seat tells us how gracious the King is. The presence between the cherubim tells us that this righteous and gracious King has chosen to dwell among His people. Amazing!

We should not picture the mercy seat as though God were hiding the law from Himself or pretending it had never been broken. The tablets remained in the ark. Their testimony remained true. God's justice was not suspended. But God appointed a substitutionary sacrifice through which covenant-breakers could remain in His presence and begin to live out the law.

Legalism looks at the tablets and says, “I will earn my way into God's presence” - or when a legalist is discouraged, he might instead say, "Since I can't earn my way into God's presence I have no hope." Either response is equally unbelieving. In contrast, the blood on the mercy seat says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.” Israel's history already proved that sinners cannot stand before God on the basis of their own righteousness. No one can. If you think you are too sinful for God to forgive you, you are missing the whole point - all of us are too sinful for God to forgive - that is, apart from the blood.

Antinomianism looks at the mercy seat and says, “Since there is grace, the tablets no longer matter.” But the law remained inside the ark. Atonement did not remove God's authority; it restored sinners to fellowship under that authority.

The biblical message is neither law without mercy nor mercy without law. It is atoning grace that restores us to the good rule of our King. Praise God! So this little picture of the Gospel of the Kingdom brings all of that theology together beautifully.

There is even a beautiful connection with the other memorials that were associated with the ark before the time of Solomon. Hebrews 9 associates the ark with the tablets, the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod. The Old Testament speaks of the manna and rod being placed before the Testimony. I'm not sure when in Israel's history the pot of manna and Aaron's rod were taken out, or if they were placed beside it (I'm not sure), but in Hebrews 9, their theological association is clear.

The tablets testified to God's law. The manna testified to God's provision. Aaron's rod testified to God's delegated human authority structure. Together they proclaimed a comprehensive covenant life: submit to God's law, trust God's provision, and honor God's appointed human order.

We often want one of those three things without the others. Some want law without dependence, as though obedience were an achievement of self-sufficient man. Others want God's bountiful provision (symbolized by the pot of manna) without law, as though God's gifts authorized autonomous living. Still others claim devotion to God while rejecting every human authority that He has appointed. They refuse membership in a church; they refuse human accountability; they refuse to be shepherded by the elders. But covenant faithfulness holds all of these together. They are a package deal. The God who commands His people also feeds them, and the God who feeds them orders their life under His authority.

That prepares us for the next passage, where Moses will speak of Aaron, Eleazar, and the separation of the Levites, who would be the ministers of the Gospel. The restored covenant is not left without ministry. God appoints men to carry the ark, stand before Him, serve Him, preach, and bless in His name.

Look beyond the ark to Christ

So hopefully you can see that the ark was a magnificent sermon. But it was not the final reality. It pointed beyond itself to Jesus Christ.

First, Christ is the faithful covenant keeper. Israel heard the law and made a calf. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness in a similar way, and yet He answered Satan's temptation by pointing to Deuteronomy. Where Israel was faithless, Christ remained faithful. He loved the Father with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Second, Christ bore the curse of covenant-breakers. God did not save us by pretending that His law had not been violated. At the cross Jesus bore the judgment due to His people. The curse fell upon the obedient Son so that blessing could come to the disobedient who are united to Him by faith. Our security is only found in Jesus.

Third, Christ is the fulfillment of the mercy seat itself. Romans 3:25 uses the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for the mercy seat when it says that God set forth Christ as a propitiation by His blood. The word ἱλαστήριον was used to translate the mercy seat. So Jesus was the mercy seat. At the cross God publicly demonstrated His righteousness. He showed Himself to be both the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus and the Just One who never lowers the expectations of His law. The law within the ark points to His justice; the mercy seat points to Him as being the justifier. The cross is where justice and mercy meet together and kiss each other without either being compromised. God does not relax His holiness in order to love us. In holy love He provides the sacrifice that His justice requires. And that was all symbolized by the mercy seat.

Fourth, Christ gives us access to the throne of grace. Under the old covenant, only the high priest entered the Holy of Holies, and only once each year, and never without blood. But Christ has entered the true heavenly sanctuary with His own blood. Because our High Priest has been accepted, Hebrews calls us to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Notice what Hebrews calls it: the throne of grace. It remains a throne. God does not cease to be King when He shows mercy. Yet because of Christ, the throne before which sinners should tremble has become the place where believers confidently and boldly seek help.

Finally, Christ writes the law upon our hearts by His Spirit. The second set of tablets were better than shattered tablets, but stones by themselves could not change Israel's stiff neck. Later in this chapter Moses will command Israel to circumcise its heart. Later still he will promise that God Himself will circumcise their hearts so that they will love Him. The new covenant fulfills that promise. God does not merely place His law before us; He works within us so that we increasingly delight to obey His commandments.

That does not mean perfection in this life. But it does mean a new direction. The believer no longer asks, “How much of God's authority can I escape?” Instead, he longs for deeper and deeper fellowship with the God of holiness. The Spirit produces willing subjects of the King. And all five verses summarize what Jesus calls the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Conclusion: Why we can boldly approach the throne of grace

In conclusion, let me try to wrap up what I have said. When Moses descended the first time, he carried tablets that were about to be shattered before a rebellious people. When he descended the second time, he carried restored the tablets that would be deposited beneath the throne of God.

What made the difference? Not Israel's righteousness. Moses has spent all of chapter 9 demolishing that illusion. The difference was God's covenant mercy granted through a mediator. So these verses preach several things to us. • They say, “Your sin is real.” The first tablets were broken • They say, “God's standard has not changed.” The same words were written again • They say, “God remains King.” The tablets were placed beneath His throne-footstool • They say, “Atonement has been provided.” The mercy seat stood above the testimony, and blood was sprinkled there • And they say, “Grace restores us to obedience.” The forgiven nation must now live under the Word of its Redeemer.

So - when Satan accuses you of having broken the tablets, do not claim that the law does not matter. That will never silence Satan and his accusations . Why? Because the law does matter and you have broken it. Point instead to the blood of Jesus. Say, “I agree with the law. The law's testimony against me is true, but its penalty has been borne by Jesus, and I cast my sins on Him. My Mediator has been heard. My High Priest has entered the heavenly sanctuary. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

And when your flesh uses grace as an excuse for sin, do not listen to your flesh. The Christ who covers your guilt remains your King. He did not redeem you so that you could return to the golden calf once again. He redeemed you so that you could live joyfully under His righteous rule.

The law beneath the throne tells us that God is just. The blood at the mercy seat tells us that God is gracious. And the presence above it tells us that the just and gracious God has chosen to dwell with His people.

So look beyond the ark to Christ. In Him the King welcomes covenant-breakers. Praise God! He welcomes us! In Him justice and mercy meet. In Him the guilty are forgiven. And through Him the broken tablets do not have the final word. Please, do not let the broken tablets have the final word. The final word is grace — grace that covers our guilt, that restores us to God's presence, and that empowers us to live beneath the good rule of our King. May we do so with joy.

Amen.