Voice from Heaven
The Gift of God — The New Covenant • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. 4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away,
Now, that which is written on the tablets of stone, is the letter that kills, which ministers death.
Now, we began to examine “the tablets of stone”, that tablet is not in isolation, it is not just a stand alone document, rather, it is part of the “First Covenant”, when we say “First Covenant”, we are referring to the Covenant that God had with Israel.
Let us study it more;
3 And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
Notice the words here, “obey my voice”, “keep My covenant”. Now, why did the Lord say this to them?
Verse 4 is crucial; I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
So, they are not first of all encountering God or knowing him, he called their minds back to his act of mercy and grace, “I bore you and brought you to Myself”.
This is the basis of the covenant, the obedience is a response to a God whose grace and mercy you have seen.
So, the basis of their relationship with God, was God has delievered from Egypt, and brought them to himself. The basis of the covenant rests solely on God, nothing qualified Israel for God’s grace.
“Keep My Covenant” — Yahweh seek to make the covenant with the people, and here, he is saying, “keep my covenant”. That is, that which he commands within the covenant, they should do.
Now, as we read on, it makes sense what follows;
7 So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him.
Now, when we continue the study, it becomes much clearer;
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. 11 And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
He will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people, so Yahweh was to come to all the people, and they all heard his voice, not some, all of them, and what he said to them, were the “Ten words”.
1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
They all heard the words! Not some, all of them.
Look at verse 18-21
18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” 20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.
When they heard the voice of God, what they said was;
“LET NOT GOD SPEAK WITH US, LEST WE DIE”.
So, first of all, THEY ALL HEARD THE VOICE FROM HEAVEN, not only Moses. What is the response to that voice? God, don’t speak with us!
Notice something, they had no issue with “what was said”, infact, they said “we will hear”, “we will do it”. But, God, “DO NOT SPEAK WITH US”. This is the rejection of God.
1 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. 4 The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire.
Is Exodus 20, the first time they rejected God? No. They have always done it, let me show you two places.
6 Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. 7 “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 8 Also in Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was angry enough with you to have destroyed you.
Since you left Egypt, you have been rebellious against the LORD.
So, before the voice from heaven, they were rebellious, always turning from the Lord, in Exodus 20, they also rejected God and also afterwards;
22 “Also at Taberah and Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath. 23 Likewise, when the Lord sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and you did not believe Him nor obey His voice. 24 You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.
So, whilst in Exodus 20, we see them rejecting the voice from Heaven, “God not speaking to them”, it shows that they have always not fear God, not believe him, nor obey his voice.
So, you will notice, they didn’t “reject what he said”— Infact, what they said about his words were “we would do it”., what they always rejected was the person “God, do not speak with us”.
So, when we hear they rejected his voice, it is not the rejection of the words he said, rather, the rejection of himself speaking to them. They will not heed his voice! They don’t want God speaking to them.
But the twist is, only a heart of faith in God (that loves the lord), can truly do his word. Why? Because the commandments themselves begin with loving God.
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? 14 Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. 15 The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.
Notice, the words, “what he requires of you is this”
Fear the Lord, walk in His ways and to love Him.
Serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart.
When we consider that what the Lord is seeking isn’t external “doing” of the commandment alone, it has to be from a heart that fear, a heart that wants to walk with him, a heart that loves him and that fear the Lord, Moses would then admonish them, circumcise the foreskin of your heart, be stiff-necked no longer.
Meaning, consider all that God has done (delight in our fathers, and chose their descendants after them), and then turn to him, love him, and walk in his ways!
So, Israel had the wrong heart in that, they will not heed God, they will always rebel against the LORD.
So, God entered into a covenant, with a people, that have always rejected him.
Hence, When we describe the first covenant, participation was possible, without the right heart, infact, the people the covenant was made with, didn’t have the right heart. ISRAEL CAN BE IN THE COVENANT, AND THEY DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT HEART.
Is that God’s wish?
Is that God’s wish?
No. God didn’t design that their should be people without the right heart. He always wanted them to have it! Yet, they will rebel, they will turn from God, they will harden their own heart.
Tablet of stones
Tablet of stones
Now, notice something, in Exodus 20, when God gave them the words of the commandment, THEY ALL HEARD IT! Now, we do not have any account of the words on tablet of stones at this point.
Also, we do not have Moses as a mediator of the law of God. ALL OF THEM HEARD THE VOICE FROM HEAVEN.
Now, when they rejected God and did not hear his voice, what happened was God then told Moses, to come and he will write the law on the tablet of stones.
18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
So, the tablets of stone wasn’t God’s original plan for Israel, what God intended for Israel was that they all hear his voice, and he himself teach them the law, but they rejected him.
35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. 36 Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.
Instruct — יָסַר (yāsar); to teach — to impart skills or knowledge
You will see that word used in very interesting places;
26 For He instructs him in right judgment, His God teaches him.
His God teaches him! Look at Proverbs;
7 I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
If you look at for example Lexham English Bible; it is even more interesting;
7 I will bless Yahweh who advises me; yes, at night my innermost being instructs me.
So, when they heard his voice from heaven, he was there to teach them his law. God’s design for the law wasn’t for it to be on tablets of stone, if Israel had not rejected God, God wanted to teach their heart his law!
They would received the word of God in their heart!
If Israel in Exodus 20, did not reject God, the law would have been in their heart! Hence, in the first covenant, it was possible to have the law on the heart.
8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.”
Why? Because he is a man, who has turned to the Lord, and has belived God. The law therefore was on his heart.
But they rejected God! They rejected his word! They rejected faith! They did not love the Lord their God, even at that, he entered into covenant with them.
Therefore, the law was written on tablets of stone.
22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
Function of law on stones
Function of law on stones
What then became the function of the law on Tablets of stone? Not God’s Original design, why then on stoney tablets?
28 “Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! 30 Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’
Notice the contrast now, Deut 4:36, showed that God wanted to teach them the law himself, but there was a rejection, hence, words were written on Tablets of Stones, and “A MEDIATOR THEREFORE HAD TO TEACH THEM THE LAW”. (Don’t be in a hurry to say we don’t need pastors lol).
What was he teaching them?
Notice, “That they may observe them”. Could they observe them without faith? No. The law starts with Faith in God! You see all of his goodness, then you turn to him, then you observe his law!
Hence, in teaching the law, it has an end goal, FOR ISRAEL TO TURN TO THE LORD. He wasn’t teaching them so that they become “masters of the law”, rather, for them to turn to the Lord and Love God, then, they will receive the right heart, then they will observe his words.
9 So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”
So you can see the progression;
Hear, Learn to fear the Lord your God, then Observe all the words of this law.
The teaching of the law, was to eventually lead them back to God, then to observe his words.
Hence, what you will notice in many of Moses teachings to the people, he concluded in either “Let his word be in your heart” or “circumcise the foreskin of your heart”.
He was always calling them back to God, over and over again.
15 The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 18 He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. 19 Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name. 21 He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.
Notice, in teaching “what the Lord require of them, this was the conclusion” — To circumcise the foreskin of their heart “FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS GOD OF gods AND LORD OF lords”.
Conclusions
Conclusions
The tablets of stone were never God’s original intention; they were given only because Israel rejected His voice, showing that participation in the first covenant was possible without the right heart.
Yet God’s desire was always for a people whose hearts would turn to Him — to love Him, fear Him, and walk in His ways — and the teaching of the law continually called Israel back to that heart.
Hence, the law was their teacher, to God, to have faith in God, to know God, to honor him!
End the Subject of the First Covenant on this note;
So far, in this series we have strived to explain the misconceptions surrounding the first covenant & the law, and also the proper challenges with the first covenant.
Misconception: The Law was given to make people righteous.
Correction: The Law was given to a people God had already redeemed (Exod 20:2).
Righteousness in the Torah flows from faith, not from rule-keeping.
Misconception: Obedience produces the right heart.
Correction: The heart must first turn to God, then obedience flows.
Misconception: The Law itself was too hard to keep
Correction: The heart was the problem, not the Law.
Misconception: The Law was merely a list of regulations.
Correction:Moses taught the Law to lead Israel back to God, not to rules. The Law begins with faith, not with performance.
