Tablets of Stone
Chapter One
The Necessity Of Using Biblical Terminology
Before we can state what the Bible means, we must first understand what it says. In this present study it is essential that we understand what the Word of God itself says about the Ten Commandments. We should always begin the study of any Biblical doctrine with a clear understanding of the terminology used by the Holy Spirit. Thus we will first look up the meaning of the words "Ten Commandments" in all the texts of Scripture where those words are used. We will then look at the synonyms that are used for the Ten Commandments. This will give us a clear Biblical picture of the words which God wrote on stone tables at Mt Sinai.
Where do the words the "Ten Commandments" first appear in the Bible?
The first occurrences of these words are in Exodus 34:28 when the Ten Commandments were written on the tablets of stone and given to the nation of Israel. Here is the verse and context:
And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. 1 Ex 34:27,28
The significance of the words "Ten Commandments" occurring for the first time in Scripture at Sinai will be made clear as we proceed with this study. For now, we can say that the first time in Scripture we are introduced to the words "Ten Commandments," we are told the following things:
1.The Ten Commandments were written on Tablets of Stone by God Himself.
2.This event occurred at Mt Sinai when God entered a special and unique covenant relationship with the nation of Israel.
3.The Ten Commandments were the specific terms, or "words of the covenant" that were written on the Tables of Stone at My Sinai: "He wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments."
4.The Ten Commandments, or covenant, was made only with the nation of Israel: "I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel."
These four things are always associated with the words "Ten Commandments" when those words, or their synonyms, are used in the Bible. The Ten Commandments equals the "words of the covenant," and this covenant is always associated with the Tables of Stone given to Israel at Sinai. This is the uniform and consistent teaching of the Word of God. Neither the Old Testament Scriptures nor the New Testament Scriptures will ever change what is said about the Ten Commandments in this text. The nature and function of the Ten Commandments will always be consistent with the first mention of them in the Bible.
It is essential that we remember these Biblical four facts as set forth in the verse that first introduces us to the words "Ten Commandments." We should tattoo on our brain that "Israel," "Ten Commandments," "Mt Sinai," "Tablets of Stone" and "words of the covenant," are phrases that always go together in the Word of God. Any discussion of the Ten Commandments that in any way separates them from the "words of the covenant" written on the Tables of Stone and given to Israel at Sinai is not following Scripture. All we need to do is to read this verse and to listen to what is being said and we will be well on our way to understanding the nature and function of the Ten Commandments in the history of redemption.
How common is the use of the words "Ten Commandments" in the Bible?
The words "Ten Commandments" are used only three times in the whole Bible. They are used in Ex 34:28 (quoted above), Dt 4:13 and Dt 10:4:
And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. Dt 4:13
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..... Dt 10:4
These texts repeat the same facts given in Ex 34:28. Dt 4:13 is even more emphatic than Ex 34 concerning the nature of the Ten Commandments. The verse starts with God "declaring his covenant" and then specifically emphasizes, by using the word "even," that the covenant made with Israel was the Ten Commandments.
The NT Scriptures never once use the words "Ten Commandments," nor do any of the OT prophets use these words in any of their teaching, rebukes, or exhortations. The writers of the Psalms have much to say about "law" and "commandments" but none of them, including the author of Psalm 119, ever use the words "the Ten Commandments."
As can be seen, the only references in the whole Bible to the "Ten Commandments" as a unit, or a specific document, are the three verses connected with Israel at Mt Sinai when the Ten Commandments were written with the finger of God on the Tablets of Stone and given to Israel as the terms of a covenant. It is essential that the words "The Ten Commandments" always be thought of as a single unit or document. The individual commandments continue in force, as individual and specific commandments, long after the Tables of Stone end as a covenant. We will say more about this fact later.
Are there other terms used in the Bible that are synonymous and interchangeable with the words "Ten Commandments?"
There are at least seven other words or phrases that are used to refer to the Ten Commandments, or "words of the covenant". We will list them one at a time and give a sample of the references. The first reference for each phrase will usually be the first reference in Scripture where the phrase is found. The same will be true of the last reference for each phrase. It will greatly help us to understand the nature, purpose and function of the Ten Commandments if we realize that we can substitute any of the following terms in place of the words "Ten Commandments." All seven phrases mean exactly the same thing when used in the Bible.
1. The Tables of Stone: This is the most common way that the Bible refers to the Ten Commandments. This usually surprises people who have never carefully looked at how the Holy Spirit refers to the words written with God's finger at Sinai. Let us look at some specific texts of Scripture:
And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. Ex 24:12
And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. Dt 4:13
And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. Dt 9:10
There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. I Kings 8:9
Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. II Cor 3:3
Again, we note that every reference in the Bible to "the Tables of Stone," like the synonymous words "the Ten Commandments," is connected to Mt Sinai when the commandments were written on the Tables of Stone and given to Israel as a covenant. This is the uniform meaning that the Holy Spirit gives to the Ten Commandments when they are spoken of as a unit regardless of which particular term is used. The "Ten Commandments" and the "Tables of Stone" are one and the same thing. From now on in this book we will follow the practice of the writers of Scripture and freely interchange the words "Tables of Stone," or any of the other synonyms, when referring to the words "Ten Commandments."
2. The Tables of Testimony: This term is only used twice and is found both times in the Book of Exodus. Again, both references refer to Sinai when the "Tables of Testimony" (Ten Commandments) were given as a written record of the covenant conditions that would be used as the legal "testimony" against Israel if they broke the covenant. We do not ever remember this Biblical term being applied to the Ten Commandments by any preacher or writer. Such an omission is most unfortunate. Here are the two textual references:
And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. Ex 31:18
When Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tablets of Testimony in his hand, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. Ex 34:29
The term "Tables of Testimony," like the preceding two terms, is always connected with God's dealing with the nation of Israel at Mt Sinai when He entered into the special covenant relationship with them. The "Ten Commandments," the "Tables of Stone," and the "Tables of Testimony" are one and the same thing in the Scriptures.
3. The Testimony: The word "Testimony" is used in two verses to describe the Ten Commandments. The first instance is when God gave Moses instructions concerning building the Ark of the Covenant to house the "Testimony," or the Ten Commandments. The other time is when the Ark was finished and the Ten Commandments were put into the Ark. Here are the texts:
The spokes are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. Ex 25:15,16.
He took the Testimony and placed it in the ark .......... Ex 40:20
It is significant that the word "Testimony" is singular even though there were "Ten" commandments written on the tablets. It confirms that the Ten Commandments are considered to be one single document, and the document is the covenant, or "Testimony," between God and Israel. We could read the above verses and substitute either the word "Covenant" or the words "Ten Commandments" for "Testimony" since they all mean exactly the same thing.
4. The First Covenant: The fourth term which used as a synonym of the "Ten Commandments" is the words "First Covenant." This phrase is used in the Bible only twice but it is implied in other places where the New Covenant is contrasted to the Old, or first, Covenant that it replaced. The covenant described in the words "the covenant I made with their fathers" in passages like Jer 31:33 and Heb 8 through 10 is clearly the "first" covenant, or Ten Commandments, that was given at Sinai on the tables of stone. Here are the texts:
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second [covenant]. Heb 8:7
Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2 Heb 9:1
Again, as in all of the other instances, the references connect the "First Covenant" with the giving of the Ten Commandments on the Tables of Stone to the nation of Israel at Mt Sinai as a covenant. The "Ten Commandments," the "Tables of Stone," the "Tables of Testimony" and the "First Covenant" are one and the same in the Scriptures.
5. The Old Covenant: The fifth term used to refer to the Ten Commandments written on stone is "the Old Covenant." The term is clearly implied in Heb 8:6 where three distinct contrasts are made. There is a contrast between the following things:
1. the ministries of Aaron and Christ;
2. the two covenants upon which the two ministries are based; and
3. the superiority of the "better promises" upon which the New Covenant is established. The Old Covenant said "do and live/disobey and die" but the New says "it is finished/believe."
Notice how these three comparisons are set forth in the argument developed by the writer of Hebrews:
But the [1] ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as [2] the covenant of which he is mediator is to the old [covenant] one, and it is founded on [3] better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would been sought for another [covenant]. Heb 8:6,7 NIV
It is the obvious result of these comparisons that demonstrates why the Old Covenant written on the Tablets of Stone had to be replaced by the "new and better" covenant. The same truth is found in Heb 8:13:
In that he saith, a new covenant, he hath made the first [covenant] old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. Heb 8:13 NIV
The NIV correctly translates the Greek with "covenant" in II Cor 3:14 instead of "testament" as in the KJV:
But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. II Cor 3:14
As in all of the previous instances, the term "Old Covenant" is always a reference to the Ten Commandments written on the Tablets of Stone and given to Israel at Sinai as a covenant. If II Cor 3:14 is referring to the Old Testament Scriptures, it is the exception. However, the context is comparing two different ministries based on two different kinds of covenants. It is not comparing two different kinds of Scriptures. The "Ten Commandments," the "Tables of Stone," the "Tables of Testimony," the "First Covenant," and the "Old Covenant" are one and the same thing in the Scriptures.
Some theologians do not understand that the "Old Covenant" refers to the covenant that God made with Israel at Mt Sinai. They thus deny that Christ replaced the Old Covenant with a "new and better" covenant. They insist on trying to push the Old Covenant back into the garden of Eden. Professor John Murray, one of the greatest theologians in this century, is the rare exception. He not only says that the Old Covenant is the Sinaitic, Professor Murray also chides those who try to connect it with a supposed "covenant of works" with Adam. His statement of the case is clear:
This administration [Adamic] has often been denoted the Covenant of Works....It is not designated a covenant in Scripture. Hosea 6:7 may be interpreted otherwise and does not provide the basis for such a construction of the Adamic economy....It should never be confused with what the Scripture calls the old covenant or first covenant (cf. Jer. 31:31-34; 2 Cor. 3:14; Heb.8:7,13). The first or old covenant is the Sinaitic. And not only must this confusion in denotation be avoided, but also any attempt to interpret the Mosaic covenant in terms of the Adamic institution. The latter could only apply to the state of innocency, and to Adam alone as a representative head. The view that in the Mosaic covenant there is a repetition of the so-called covenant of works, current among covenant theologians, is a grave misconception and involves an erroneous conception of the Mosaic covenant.... 3
6. The Words of the Covenant: The sixth synonym used by the Holy Spirit for "the Ten Commandments" is the phrase "the words of the Covenant." These words establish beyond question that the Ten Commandments are the covenant document that established Israel as a nation, or body politic, at Mt Sinai. The Ten Commandments are expressly called "the words of the covenant." Notice this fact in the following text:
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. Ex 34:28
And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. Dt 4:13
Again, as in the previous five cases, the text references the "words of the covenant" back to Mt Sinai when God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel as a covenant. This fact is inescapable in these texts. They explicitly state that the "words of the covenant" were the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments, the "Tables of Stone," the "Tables of Testimony," the "First Covenant," the "Old Covenant" and the "words of the covenant" are all one and the same in the Scriptures. They are all interchangeable terms.
7. The Tables of the Covenant. The seventh phrase that the Bible uses as a synonym for the Ten Commandments is the "Tables of the Covenant." Moses used this phrase at the second giving of the law in Deut. It is very obvious that Moses wanted to impress the word "covenant" on Israel's mind when he reminds them of God giving the Ten Commandments as the terms of the covenant written on the Tables of the Covenant. It is not possible to read the following instructions of Moses without seeing that the Tables of the Covenant are the exact same thing as the Ten Commandments:
When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water: And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant. Deut 9:9-11
The subject of the message given by Moses on this occasion concerns God, at Sinai, giving the Tablets of the covenant upon which was written Ten Commandments.
The NIV, in one instance adds the word "stone" to this phrase and the Ten Commandments are called the "stone tables of the covenant." This occurs in Hebrews:
..........which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Heb 9:4
The ninth chapter of the Book of Hebrews contrasts the ministry of Aaron in the earthly Tabernacle in the midst of Israel with the ministry of Christ in the true Tabernacle in Heaven itself. The word "covenant" is again the recurring theme in this chapter. Verse 4 tells us that the stone Tables of the Covenant were kept in the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place behind the veil. We remember that not only the Ark but the whole Tabernacle was designed in reference to the Tables of the Covenant. All of the sacrifices and all of the ministry of the priests centered around the Ten Commandment in the Ark. The whole system illustrated the truth that they was no approach to God until the terms of the covenant in Ark had been met:
The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. Heb 9:8,9
The inability of all of the ministries connected with the Old Covenant to "cleanse the conscience" is always, as in this verse, connected with "the way into the Most Holy Place" being closed off.
The writer of Hebrews shows that the "once for all" sacrifice of Christ overcame this inability and forever opened up the way into the Most Holy Place. This truth is shown by contrasting the great effect of the better sacrifice of Christ with the sacrifice of animals. The key verse if 15. It tells us the specific reason for the need of the New Covenant to be established in nothing less than the shed blood of the Son of God Himself:
For this reason [to effect what the Old Covenant could not] Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal [not just one year] inheritance--now that he has died [under the curse of the covenant in the Ark] as a ransom to set them free [Gal 4:4-6) from the sins committed under the first covenant. Heb 9:15
None of the sins against the Old Covenant were truly atoned for until the actual death of Christ on Calvary. It is the atoning work of Christ that gave Him the right to send the gift of the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was the heart of the promise in the Old Testament Scriptures. However, that promise could not be fulfilled as long as the Tabernacle was still standing, and the Tabernacle must stand as long as the Old Covenant (Ten Commandments) in the Ark of the Covenant were in force as the covenant foundation of God's relationship to Israel. It all stands or falls together.
As in the other six examples, we see again that the same ingredients always go together when the Ten Commandments or one of their synonyms are used. The "Ten Commandments," the "Tables of Stone," "the Tables of the Testimony", the "Testimony," The "First Covenant," the "Old Covenant," the "words of the covenant" and the "stone Tables of the Covenant" all mean exactly the same thing in the Bible. All eight of these terms are interchangeable. We doubt that anyone can look at the preceding verses and question what has been said. As we will see later, some people may have difficulty with applying this truth to theology. For instance, if a person says, "I believe the Ten Commandments are the rule of life for a Christian today," that person should realize that he is also saying, "I believe the stone Tablets of the Covenant kept in the Ark of the Covenant are the Christian's rule of life for today." Both statement mean exactly the same thing according to the Bible.
The first time we listed on a chalk board the preceding seven terms that are synonymous with the words "the Ten Commandments," a man asked, "Why did you not list some of the verses in the Bible that speak of `the moral law' when referring to the Ten Commandments?" He was quite surprised when we replied, "No such references were listed simply because there are none!" The Bible does not even use the term "moral law" let alone equate such a term with the Ten Commandments.
We may be jumping ahead a bit, but it might be well to mention the fact that the term "moral law" is a theological term developed in the Middle Ages and is not a Biblical term in any sense whatsoever. The term may, or may not, be a correct and useful term if it can be proven to be Scripturally correct. However, the term would first have to be established with texts of Scripture that clearly prove the doctrine implied or stated in the term. We have never seen this attempted with the term "moral law." We will discuss the term later. At this point we are only interested in what the Word of God itself says and not in non-Biblical terms developed by theologians as the essential means necessary to teach their particular system of theology. Our question is this: How does God Himself want us to think and speak about the words "the Ten Commandments?" The answer is simple if we follow the Holy Spirit's example in the Bible and use the terminology that He has inspired. We will always think "covenant."
Perhaps it would be good to take all the above texts of Scripture that use the seven different terms as synonyms when referring to the Ten Commandments and summarize exactly what the Bible itself says about the Ten Commandments. The following statement is nothing but Bible texts put together into one definitive statement of the way the Bible treats the Tablets of Stone:
God entered into a special and unique covenant relationship with the nation of Israel at Mt Sinai. The terms of that covenant are sometimes called the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are also called The First Covenant, especially when that covenant is contrasted with the New Covenant that replaces it. The First, or Old Covenant was made only with the nation of Israel at Mt Sinai. The actual "words of the Covenant" are the Ten Commandments as they are written on Tables of Stone with the finger of God. This covenant document is also called the Old Covenant. It is also called the Tables of Testimony, or just the Testimony. The terms "Ten Commandments," "Tables of Stone," "Tables of Testimony," "Testimony," "Old Covenant," "First Covenant," "words of the covenant,"and "stone Tablets of the Covenant" are one and the same in the Scriptures. All eight terms mean exactly the same thing and they are all interchangeable with each other.
If this statement causes either confusion in our thinking or problems with our theology, we are not thinking in Biblical terms when we think of the Ten Commandments. If the clear Biblical facts set forth in the verses of Scripture we have previously quoted, and just now summarized in the words of Scripture in the above statement, are totally new to us, then our thinking in reference to the Ten Commandments is not Biblical! We repeat, we must learn to use Biblical terminology. We should start our study of any Bible doctrine with a clear understanding of the actual verses of Scriptures that discuss that specific subject. I have yet to see a discussion of the Ten Commandments that lists and discusses the Biblical references to the Ten Commandments as we have just done.
Most people are amazed that the NT Scriptures never once use the words "Ten Commandments." It is obvious that these people, when they study the subject of the "Ten Commandments," never bother to look up the actual verses in the Bible where God Himself speaks about "the Ten Commandments." Perhaps if they would have done this just once then some of their conclusions, and surely their terminology, would be radically different.
The Bible always relates the Ten Commandments to Israel at Mt Sinai. The Ten Commandments were the "words of the covenant" that were written on the Tables of Stone and put in the Ark of the Covenant. The terms "Ten Commandments," "Tables of Stone," "Tables of Testimony," "First Covenant," "Old Covenant," ""Tables of the Covenant," and "words of the covenant" are all one and the same thing in the Scriptures. They are all interchangeable terms.
We are never told or encouraged to think of "unchanging moral law" when we read the words "Ten Commandments" or any of the synonymous terms. We are to think "covenant." We are to think of a specific code of law (the Ten Commandments) that was made the specific terms of a covenant document. We are to always remember that the Ten Commandments were the specific terms, written on stone tablets, of the covenant that established Israel's special relationship with God. The Ten Commandments, Israel, Sinai, Covenant all go together.
The individual duties commanded in the various commandments are a different story. The Ten Commandments, considered as a covenant document, have been replaced by the New Covenant. The individual commandments stand, fall, or are changed according to their own nature and merit. Nine of them are clearly repeated, with some changes, in the New Testament Scriptures and therefore just as binding today as when given at Sinai.
1. The use of bold letters within a quotation means that I am emphasizing something that the writer being quoted did not emphasize.
2. It is essential that we do not confuse the actual covenant (the Tablets of Stone) with all of the laws and ceremonies that administered the covenant. It is clear from both the OT Scriptures and Heb 9:1-5, that the "First Covenant" was the Tables of the Covenant, or the Ten Commandments, and everything else was part of the services and rituals that administered the covenant.
3. Collected Writings of John Murray, Vol. 4, pg 49,50, Banner of Truth.