Tablets of Stone

Chapter Four
The Ten Commandments
Are A "Legal" Covenant

The Tablets of Stone, upon which were written the Ten Commandments, were not only a distinct covenant, they were the specific legal covenant that established Israel as a special nation before God at Mt Sinai. The Ark of the Covenant forever establishes the fact that the Ten Commandments were the specific document that constituted the legal covenant terms that was the basis of God's special relationship with the nation of Israel. The Ten Commandments were the actual "words of the covenant" that God made with Israel at Sinai. This fact is clearly stated in Ex 34:27,28; Dt 4:13, etc. The Ten Commandments were kept in the Ark of the Covenant only because they were the actual covenant document that established and maintained Israel's special status before God.

The very name of the box that housed the Ten Commandments and the special care given to that box clearly shows the true significance of the Tablets of Covenant, or Ten Commandments. No where does the Word of God even hint that the significance of the Ark of the Covenant was that it housed the so called "eternal unchanging moral law of God." It housed the Old Covenant that established Israel as a special nation before God and spelled out the terms (the Ten Commandments) of that relationship, or covenant. That box was not the "Ark of the Moral Law." It was the "Ark of the Covenant," and the terms of the covenant was the Ten Commandments written on the Tablets of Stone and kept in the Ark. What can be more clear and simple?

The importance that Scripture attaches to the Ten Commandments is always, without a single exception, connected with Israel's special status before God as a unique nation.

Several verses of Scripture bring out this point clearly. One of the most important sections of Scripture in any discussion of the Ten Commandments is Exodus 19 through 24. Exodus 19 gives the preamble to the actual giving of the Ten Commandments in Ex 20. Exodus 24 sets forth the official ratification of the "Book of the Covenant" with the sealing of blood. Many preachers and writers will emphasize the "grace" shown by God in delivering Israel from bondage in Egypt (Ex 19:3,4) but totally ignore the next two verses (Ex 19:5,6). While it is true that God showed special favor to the Jews in their redemption from Egypt, that was only a physical redemption. Most of those Israelites were still hard hearted sinners that needed to be convinced of their lost estate. God did not give the Ten Commandments to a "redeemed [regenerate] people for their sanctification." Such a view is not possible simply because those people were not regenerate believers. God gave the Ten Commandments as a legal covenant of life and death to a nation of proud sinners as a means of driving them to faith in the Gospel preached to Abraham.

As we shall see later, the function and goal of the Old Covenant (Ten Commandments) was a ministry of death by convicting the conscience of guilt.

We must not confuse the gracious purpose of God in giving the covenant at Sinai with the nature of the covenant itself. There was not an ounce of grace in the covenant itself but it was very gracious of God to give the covenant to Israel. It was the necessary instrument to bring conviction of sin and lead them to be saved by faith in the gospel preached to Abraham. The Tablets of Stone functioned in the conscience as a ministration of death by convicting of sin, and it could only do this if it had the status of a covenant with the power of life and death. Sinai was indeed the handmaid of the gospel of grace but it must not be confused with the gospel of grace itself. And it must also be seen that it cannot perform the handmaid function of preparation unless it has the power of life and death.

John Owen, the greatest theologian among the English Puritans, is the exception to most writers. He saw clearly that the Ten Commandments constituted a legal covenant that was totally devoid of grace. He is one of the few writers (John Bunyan is another one) that knew how to separate law and grace. The following quotation is Owen's explanation of the meaning of the word "law." It is taken from a sermon on Rom 6:14 entitled "You are not under the law, but under grace:"

The law is taken two ways:--1. For the whole revelation of God in the Old Testament. In this sense it had grace in it, and so did give both life, and light, and strength against sin, as the Psalmist declares, Ps. 19:7-9. In this sense it contained not only the law of precepts, but the promise also and strength unto the church. In this sense it is not spoken of here, nor is anywhere opposed to grace. 2. For the covenant rule of perfect obedience: "Do this, and live." In this sense men are said to be "under it," in opposition unto being "under grace." They are under its power, rule, conditions, and authority, as a covenant. ⁷

Owen believed that while grace can be found in the Old Testament Scriptures, there was no grace in the Old Covenant because it was a legal/works covenant. The Tablets of the Covenant said, "Do and live, disobey and die without mercy" (Heb 10:28). Israel was "under the law" as a covenant of life and death in the sense of Owen's second definition of "the law." He calls it "The covenant rule of perfect obedience." Owen is following Paul when he shows the clear contrast between the covenant given to Israel and the covenant given to the Church. This comes out clear in the last two sentences of the above quotation. Israel was "under law" as opposed to "under grace." They were under the Tablets of Stone as a covenant, and that means, as Owen shows, that they were "under its power, rule, conditions, and authority, as a covenant."

Owen boldly states that there was not an ounce of grace in the law when it is viewed as the legal covenant given to the nation of Israel at Sinai:

Fourthly, Christ is not in the Law; he is not proposed in it, not communicated by it,--we are not made partakers of him thereby. This is the work of grace, of the gospel. In it is Christ revealed; by it he is proposed and exhibited unto us...." ⁸

If this statement either shocks or confuses us, we have not yet understood the Biblical doctrine of law and grace. We have not understood the nature, purpose, and function of the Ten Commandments. We have failed to see that the Tablets of Stone were given to Israel as a ministration of death. They were meant to push men to faith in the Gospel preached to Abraham. However, neither Christ nor the Gospel are found in the terms of "Do and live, disobey and die." And these were the specific covenant terms set forth at Sinai on the Tablets of Stone. It was these terms that Israel pledged themselves to obey. It was these disobedience to these covenant terms that caused their captivities.

We must emphasize the gracious act of God in physically redeeming Israel out of Egypt and, at the same time not neglect the fact that God immediately put Israel under a conditional legal covenant at Sinai. Especially when this is so clear in the Scripture. Notice how clearly the following texts of Scripture show this truth in the "if" and "then" nature of this conditional covenant:

Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, IF ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, THEN ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. Ex 19:4-6

It seems impossible to make the "if/then" relationship in this text to be anything other than a legal covenant promising certain blessings as a reward for obeying the covenant. The special nationhood status of Israel was based on the Ten Commandments as a covenant. This covenant was conditional because it a was legal/works covenant that promised life and threatened death. Israel failed to earn the blessings promised in the covenant. But under the New Covenant, the Church becomes the Israel of God and all her members kings and priests (a kingdom of priests). Christ, as our covenant Surety (Heb 7:22), has kept the Old Covenant for us and earned every blessing it promised.

Even a cursory comparison of Ex 19:5,6 with I Pet 2:9 will show that both texts use the identical words. ⁹ Ex 19 gives a list of the specific blessings that were promised IF Israel would keep the covenant (the Ten Commandments). Israel never obeyed the terms of the covenant and therefore never received these blessings. She was finally cast off and lost her special national privileges. I Pet 2:9 shows the Church inheriting those very blessings only because Christ has kept of the Old Covenant for us. Notice the word for word comparison of Ex and I Pet:

Both the beginning and the ending of Israel's special national standing and privileges are connected with their keeping or breaking the Ten Commandments, or covenant.

The passage quoted above (Ex 19:5,6) certainly proves this point as to the founding of the nation. The ending of Israel's special national status proves the same thing. Israel's special national standing and privileges ended when the covenant ended that had established them as a nation. The most important verse in the NT Scriptures from either a dispensational or covenantal point of view is Mt 27:51. The New Covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ the moment Christ died on the cross. At that instant the veil of the temple was rent from top to bottom by the finger of God. The way into the Most Holy place is now open to all believers twenty four hours a day. The same God that wrote that first covenant in stone with His finger now writes the new message with the same fingers as he tears the veil and opens up His immediate presence to "all who come." The First Covenant said, "Do not come near or even touch this mountain or you die," but the New Covenant that takes its place says, "Come and welcome, the door is wide open." It was the change of covenants that makes the difference in the following texts:

The Lord said to Moses, "Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die..." Lev 17:2

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way.... Let us come boldly.... Heb 10:19

At the very moment that the veil was rent, Israel's national status and privileges were ended ¹⁰ and everything that was connected to that special covenant relationship was also ended. The ministry of Aaron was finished, the sacrifices were fulfilled, the Tabernacle was no longer "holy," and the Tables of the Covenant (Ten Commandments) in the Ark of the Covenant were no longer in force as the covenant foundation of God's relationship to His people. A "better covenant" that was based on "better promises" (Heb 8:6) has taken the place of the Tablets of Stone. The "moment" described by Matthew is the exact moment that the decisive historical shift from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant took place.

And when Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, he gave up the spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. Mt 27:50,51 NIV

First century Jewery could not accept the total change of status brought into being by the change of covenants. They wanted to hang on to everything that was distinctive of the Old. This explains their rejection of Christ as the Messiah. The Jewish nation not only rejected the message spoken by Christ, they totally dismissed one of the greatest objects lessons that God ever gave. We do not know if they sewed that old veil back together or made a new one, but regardless, in rehanging that veil they disavowed every promise and earned every judgment that their own prophets had clearly foretold. The times of the Messiah and the Gospel blessing to all people that had been promised in the Abrahamic covenant had finally come. However, the Jewish nation could not accept this truth. "There is no difference" could not penetrate the blind eyes and proud heart of the bigoted Jew.

The rending of the veil not only raised the believing Gentile up to be on an equal basis with a believing Jew as a member of the Body of Christ, it also lowered the status of the unbelieving Jew and put him on the same level as the Gentile "dog." The Holy Place was not the only thing that was finished; there was no longer a Court of Gentiles. The heart of this truth is set forth by Paul in Romans 9:1-11; Eph 2:11-21; Gal 3:19-4-7; and Rom 2 & 3.

The Ten Commandments, or Tablets of Stone, constituted the actual covenant document that established Israel as a Nation.

Many things were added to the Tablets of Stone that explained and applied the covenant. Exodus chapters 20-22 is called the "Book of the Covenant." The "Law of Moses" included everything in the Pentateuch, and as such, was sometimes called "the Law" or "the Covenant." However, the Tablets of Stone, or Ten Commandments, were the specific covenant document that established Israel's nationhood in the same sense that the Constitution of the USA is the covenant document that established the USA as a nation. The acts of Congress, the decisions of the Supreme Court, the rules of the IRS, Food and Health department laws, etc., are all part of the "law of the USA" just as the judicial, ceremonial, social and health laws are all part of the "law of Moses." However, the Constitution is still the specific and separate document upon which all else rests. The same is true of the Tablets of the Covenant, or Ten Commandments.

All of the laws of the various departments in our government grow out of the Constitution. They define and apply specific sections of the Constitution to given situations today. However, the fact remains that the actual covenant document upon which our nationhood was established and by which we are still governed, is the Constitution. In the same sense, the Ten Commandments written on the Tablets of Stone were the "words of the covenant" that constituted the basic covenant foundation of Israel's special nationhood before God. A chart of comparison may help us to understand this point:

Foundational Covenant Document of Israel Nationhood	Foundational Covenant Document USA as a nation
Ten Commandments	The Constitution
General Laws	Congress
Judicial Laws	Supreme Court
Civil and Social Laws	Justice Department
Health Laws	Dept. of Health
Tithing Laws	Dept. of I.R.S.
"The Law of Moses"	"The Law of the USA."

7. The Works of John Owen, Banner of Truth, Vol 7, P 542

8. Owen, p 551

9. We have worked this point out in great detail in a forth coming book entitled The Four Seeds of Abraham. This book examines the basic presuppositions of both Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology as they both relate to the promise of God made to Abraham and his seed." It will be available from Crowne Publications, P.O. Box 688, Southbridge, Mass., 01550

10. We believe the Scripture makes a clear distinction between Israel as a "nation" and Israel as an "ethnic people." The first is finished but the second is not. For a clear presentation of ethnic Israel's hope for the future, see Romans, by John Murray, Vol II, pps XIV, XV.