Title: The Law in Christ’s
Hand
Text: Exodus 34: 1-11
Date: Oct 25, 2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
God made with Abraham an everlasting covenant
of grace. There were no conditions for
Abraham to keep. There were no laws for
Abraham to fulfill in order to be saved.
It was an everlasting covenant of grace.
We see a type of it in
God’s dealings with the children of Israel from Egypt to Sinai. God came to them freely—no cause in them. He loved his elect among them. They were the least of all nations and God
simply loved them because he would (Deut 7: 7-8). God freed them through the blood of the Passover
lamb—a type of Christ our Passover. He
led them by the Cloud and Pillar of Fire—and that was Christ our Shepherd. God provided Manna from heaven—Christ our
Bread. He provided water out of the Rock—Paul
said, “That Rock was Christ.” (1 Cor 10: 4).
Then in Exodus 19: 5
God brings the children of Israel under the Mosaic covenant of works. From then on conditions were included. It was a law stating, “This do and live.” God said,
Exodus 19: 5: 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
the earth is Mine. 6: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy
nation.
Of course the
children of Israel were dead in sins when God gave them those conditions. So the children of Israel failed. In fact God gave the law to show them (and
us) our sin in Adam. All the sons of
Adam became guilty sinners by one transgression. We all came forth guilty sinners unable to
establish the law by our deeds.
But Christ came and fulfilled
the law for his people. He established
the law on behalf of God’s chosen, spiritual Israel. Now, Christ sends the Spirit and builds us up
into a living temple as spiritual stones—rather than the stone temple of that
carnal covenant. He makes us his spiritual
priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices accepted by him. That
is what Peter said. Notice in verse 9 that
by Christ’s righteousness and holiness we are what God promised to Israel in
Exodus 19:5. It is not an “if ye will
then ye shall”. It is Christ has done it
therefore you are.
1 Peter 2: 4: To whom
coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God, and precious,…5: Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a
spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ….9: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Christ fulfilled the
whole covenant of works. As Gentiles we
were never under that old covenant. But Christ
also redeemed us from the curse of Adam.
He took away all our sins. Christ
took away that unbearable yoke. Now by
his Spirit in us we have been freed from “the law of sin and death” and are under the “law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus.” So that by
his Spirit leading us we, now we live unto God our Savior who loved us and gave
himself for us.
Back in Exodus 34, we behold God giving the covenant of
works at Sinai.
Proposition:
God not only gives the law to shut our mouths and declare us guilty, he also
shows us shadows and types of Christ who established the law for us.
John declared “the law came by Moses but grace and
truth came by our Lord Jesus Christ.”
So let’s see a shadow of Christ in Moses.
Exodus 34: 1: And the
LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I
will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables,
which thou brakest. 2: And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning
unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. 3: And
no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the
mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount. 4: And he hewed
two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the
morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took
in his hand the two tables of stone.
THE LAW IN CHRIST’S
HANDS
Exodus 34: 1: And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two
tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables
the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
In establishing the old covenant of works the first thing
the LORD God did was look to Moses. In
that we see a shadow of Christ. God our
Father put the work of establishing the law in the hands of his only begotten
Son, Christ Jesus.
“And the LORD said unto Moses…” This was the very first work of establishing
the old covenant of works—the LORD looked to Moses. The LORD told Moses his mind and purpose
concerning how he would establish that covenant of works.
So it was, in establishing the everlasting covenant of
grace. The first thing God the Father did
was look to his Son, Christ Jesus. God
the Father and God the Son entered into covenant in eternity, the Father making
known to his Son the end from the beginning.
Psalm 89: 19: Then
thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one
that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
Hebrews 2:11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are
sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them
brethren,
The LORD put the work of hewing the tables into Moses
hands and no one else—"Hew thee two tables of stone…And no man shall
come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither
let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.”
Like as God looked to Moses and no other man, God the
Father put the work of fulfilling the law and bringing in the new covenant of
grace in Christ’s hands—no man but Christ the GodMan established the law.
Psalm 14: 2: The LORD looked down from heaven upon the
children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3:
They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none
that doeth good, no, not one.
Isaiah 63:5: And I looked, and there was none to help;
and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought
salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
God said that “No man can even be seen throughout all
the mount”—Christ alone worked the works of God. God said, “not even the herds and flocks
can feed before this mount”—not even Christ’s own elect sheep can find food
and life in Mt Sinai, in the law. Christ
is our Shepherd who feeds us from Mt Zion with the gospel of his saving covenant
of grace not from Sinai with law.
GREAT DIFFERENCES
There are some great differences between Moses and
Christ.
One, Moses could not be a true mediator because Moses was
only a man; Moses being a man could only represent men; Moses was not God so he
could not represent God.
Galatians 3: 19: Wherefore
then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed
should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the
hand of a mediator. 20: Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is
one.
The Mediator had to be able to represent both parties. He had to be both God and Man. Moses was only a man, and a sinful man at that. But the Lord Jesus Christ is the GodMan,
Mediator. He is the Daysman who can lay
his hands on both God and his elect men.
1 Timothy 2: 5: For there
is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6: Who
gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Another difference is that Moses was called to this work after
the children of Israel had broken the law.
Remember they had already danced around a golden calf. But God called his Son before as yet
Adam had ever broken the law in the garden.
Before sin ever entered in there was a Savior. There was a Savior before there was a sinner. Eternal, sovereign God does nothing as an
afterthought. He chose Christ and chose
his people in Christ and purposed how he would save before he made the first
grain of sand.
The next difference is that the LORD himself wrote the
law of the covenant of works and he wrote it on tablets of stone—"I
will write upon these tables the words.” Christ had the law in his heart. His nature is holy, just and good like the
law he came to fulfill. As for
the everlasting covenant of grace, God the Father gave his Son the honor of
writing the new covenant on fleshly tables of the heart
2 Corinthians 3: 3: 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.
Also, we see a difference in that Moses was only used to
establish one covenant. He was used to
establish it the first time and the second time—"I will write upon these
tables the words that were in the first tables”—but it was still the same
law. The Lord Jesus established the
first covenant which Adam brake redeeming us from that curse (including the law
of Sinai) and he might establish the last, everlasting covenant of grace.
Hebrews 10: 9: Then
said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he
may establish the second. 10 By the
which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all.
Another difference is that Moses broke those stone
tablets himself—"and I will write upon these tables the words that were
in the first tables, which thou brakest.” Moses was a sinner like the children of
Israel that he represented. Christ Jesus came forth Holy. He knew no sin. He said,
John 17:19: And for
their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the
truth.
Hebrews 7: 26: For
such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27: Who needeth not
daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins,
and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. 28:
For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the
oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for
evermore.
The only reason our
Substitute died is because he bore the sin of his people. Death had no claim on him otherwise. He himself knew no sin. Therefore, he bore our sin and having
satisfied justice for us, God could not, would not, suffer his Holy One to see
corruption. He raised him from the grave
because death has no claim on anyone who has no sin. That is how he freed us from death and gave
us the victory over the grave.
CHRIST RISEN
Exodus 34: 2: And be
ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present
thyself there to me in the top of the mount. 4: And he hewed two tables of
stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up
unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two
tables of stone. 5: And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him
there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6: And the LORD passed by before
him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious,
longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7: Keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no
means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8:
And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. 9: And
he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray
thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and
our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. 10: And he said, Behold, I make a
covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done
in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art
shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with
thee. 11 Observe thou that which I
command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the
Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the
Jebusite.
Moses did as the LORD commanded. He rose up early in the morning. When our Lord Jesus came it was the morning,
the new day, the day of grace. Our Lord Jesus was ready, zealous. He said, “I must be about my Father’s
business; the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” At last he cried, “It is finished!”
Therefore, as Moses went up and presented himself to God
so did Christ arise—"And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the
first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as
the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.” Moses did all the LORD commanded. Likewise, the Lord Jesus himself, finished
the work of restoring the law. He is our
Righteousness with God. He now appears
in the presence of God for us. Moses
went up with two tables of stone—Christ ascended having fulfilled all
righteousness!
Notice, when Moses
had done this work and went up to God, that is when God’s glory was seen—"And
the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the
name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD,
The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness
and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third
and to the fourth generation.” When
we look to Christ on the cross crying it is finished; when we look to Christ seated
at God’s right hand; in the face of Christ Jesus we behold the glory of God!
2 Corinthians 4: 6: For
God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ.
Moses interceded for
the children of Israel—"And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward
the earth, and worshipped…O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it
is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for
thine inheritance.” Christ makes
intercession for his people in God’s presence.
Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them.
When the Spirit of
God has made us behold the glory of God in Christ our Victorious Redeemer, he
makes us bow in faith to him as Moses did, then God makes with us a new
covenant—"And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people
I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any
nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD:
for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. Observe thou that which I
command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the
Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the
Jebusite.” We will look more at this
next time. For now understand, this was the
old covenant. When God brings us to
faith in Christ, God makes with us an everlasting covenant of grace. There are no conditions for us to meet as
there was with the old covenant. Christ
finished all.
Like God promised to destroy
all their enemies and deliver them into the land of Canaan, God commands
us rest in Christ promising us all our enemies are conquered and shall be
conquered. He shall conquer, both, the enemies
in our flesh (subdued for now but one day cast off forever) and all our
spiritual enemies. The devil is on
Christ’s leash and he shall bruise Satan under our feet shortly—"before
all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth,
nor in any nation:…behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite,
and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.”
God did it all. He delivered them into the land of Canaan
though they did not fulfill one covenant obligation. Now, we know that since Christ fulfilled all,
Christ shall deliver us into heavenly Canaan.
Romans 8: 31: What
shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? 32 He that spared not his
own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely
give us all things? 33 Who shall lay any
thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness,
or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written,
For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things
we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, 39 Nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen!