The Israelites declared:
All that the Lord hath spoken we will do…Exodus 19:8
They were responding to the thundering words they had just heard from Mount Sinai. From out of the smoke and the fire the people heard the commands of God and they promised to obey.
When God first gave His ten commandments He spoke them audibly so that everyone could hear. God wanted everyone to understand. He didn’t want anyone to be confused. But God also didn’t want them to forget. In order that the people of God throughout all generations would know what His commandments were God did something very special. Please turn with me in your bibles to Exodus 24. After God had spoken His instructions to the people He called the leaders of Israel to come up and worship Him in the mount. Exodus 24:9 says:
9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. Exodus 24:9,10
At this point we need to pause for a moment. The bible tells us that after coming up into the mountain to worship God Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and the seventy elders of Israel saw God. Isn’t that amazing? They saw the God of Israel. But that’s not all. They saw that under his feet was a paved work of sapphire stone. Now what color is sapphire? That’s right, it is blue. That’s probably the reason why it was compared to the body of heaven in clearness.This sapphire stone is blue like an azure sky. But did you also notice that the Bible says that this blue sapphire stone was beneath God’s feet. What does that mean? Turn with me to Ezekiel 1:26. In this scripture the prophet Ezekiel is in vision. The bible says that as Ezekiel looked up he was given a view of heaven. The bible says that he looked:
And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. Ezekiel 1:26
When Ezekiel looked up above the firmament or above the sky he saw a throne and that throne had the appearance of a sapphire stone. That’s very similar to what we read in Exodus isn’t it? According to Ezekiel God’s throne is made up of blue sapphire stone. This tells us that when the leaders of Israel came up into Mount Sinai to worship and they saw God they saw Him on His blue sapphire throne. Can you imagine that? Have you ever pictured God’s throne as blue? It must be beautiful. But it’s more than just beautiful. God’s throne stands for something. Please turn back with me in your bibles to Exodus 24. Let’s look at Exodus 24:12,13:
12 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. 13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God. Exodus 24:12,13
Now it seems from this text that God called Moses even farther up the Mount for a special purpose. According to verse 12 God called Moses up to give him tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which He had written. In other words God called Moses up the mountain to give him the ten commandments. But I want you to notice something else. God first says that He wants to give Moses tables of stone. That seems pretty clear, but there is a small word that for some reason the translators did not include. A word that is very much in the original language and a word that I believe adds a connection that is not apparent without the word. In the original language we find the following words with the missing word in parenthesis.
And I will give thee tables of (the) stone…
In Hebrew the word (the) just as in English is a definitive article. That means that God gave Moses tables of THE stone. The stone is not just any stone it is a particular stone. And the context implies that Moses was aware of what stone this was. I believe that we are too. Just a few verses earlier the Bible said:
10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a SAPPHIRE STONE, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. Exodus 24:10
And then two verses later we read:
And I will give thee tables of THE stone…
The context is pretty clear that THE stone was the paved work of sapphire stone that was under God’s feet. That mean’s that God was going to give Moses the ten commandments that God wrote with His own finger from the paved work of sapphire stone that was under His feet. That means, if we take Ezekiel’s vision into account, God was going to give Moses the ten commandments from the blue sapphire stone that makes up His throne. Isn’t that unbelievable?
God gave Moses the ten commandments from the foundation of His throne. That means that the ten commandments aren’t just figuratively the foundation of God’s throne, they are literally the foundation of His throne. Isn’t that it incredible?
Did you know that according to the oral traditions teachings of Judaism God did indeed make His commandments out of sapphire stone. But again not just any sapphire stone, God made the commandments out of the sapphire stone that makes up His throne. This truth elevates God’s ten commandments even higher than ever before. The bible says in Isaiah 42:21:
The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake;
He will magnify the law, and make it honourable. Isaiah 42:21
And then in Isaiah 55:8,9 we read:
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are my ways higher than your ways,
And my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8,9
Do these passages take on new meaning for you when you realize that God’s law literally comes from the blue sapphire of His throne in heaven? God’s ways are spiritually and literally higher than our ways. And God wants His law to be elevated. This is why Jesus said in the New Testament:
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matthew 5:17,18
Jesus is literally saying that He came not to destroy the law but to magnify the law. Jesus didn’t come to lower the law but to elevate the law. And Jesus uses as evidence of this that the law could no more pass away than heaven and earth could pass away. That makes even more sense when we know that the ten commandments come from a part of God’s sapphire blue throne. If God were to do away with the ten commandments He would have to do away with His throne and the foundation of His government.
And so Jesus instead of lessening the claims of the law magnifies the law. The law meant so much to Jesus that He said in Matthew 5:19:
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19
Jesus would go on to explain His exalted view of the law saying:
21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Matthew 5:21,22
In other words Jesus was saying that not only does the law condemn you for murdering someone it also condemns you for being angry with your brother without a cause: for hating him in your heart. God’s conception of the law was even broader than the pharisees who claimed to teach it. The bible says in Psalm 119:96:
…thy commandment is exceeding broad. Psalm 119:96
Ellen White says in Christ’s Object Lessons page 391:
Christ does not lessen the claims of the law. In unmistakable language He presents obedience to it as the condition of eternal life—the same condition that was required of Adam before his fall. The Lord expects no less of the soul now than He expected of man in Paradise, perfect obedience, unblemished righteousness. The requirement under the covenant of grace is just as broad as the requirement made in Eden—harmony with God's law, which is holy, just, and good. Christ’s Object Lessons p, 391.
When we return to our story of the Israelites we see that after hearing the words of this law they promised to obey the law. But instead of keeping God’s eternal law they continually broke His covenant. The bible explains in 2 Kings 17:18,19
18…the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. 19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. 2 Kings 17:18,19
Despite the promises that they made at the foot of Mount Sinai they did not keep God’s laws and worshipped other Gods. And even though the pharisees taught and claimed to keep God’s law they too fell short. Jesus said:
6 …ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:6,-9
Instead of honoring God’s commandments the Pharisees had allowed their own traditions and the traditions of men to supersede God’s commandments and to make them of none effect. So what went wrong? Why didn’t the Israelites of old and the Pharisees at the time of Christ keep God’s commandments? And are we doomed to make the same mistakes? After all the Bible tells us that:
…all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
The answer to both of those questions is found in Hebrews 4:1-3. The apostle Paul explains:
1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.. Hebrews 4:1,2
The ancient Israelites and the pharisees had the gospel preached to them as it has been preached to us. But they fell short because they did not respond in faith. But their choices don’t have to be our choices. Paul tells us that:
…we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Hebrews 4:3
In fact not only can we enter in to the rest of God, if we believe in His promises we can have peace. The bible says in Psalm 119:165:
Great peace have they which love thy law:
And nothing shall offend them. Psalm 119:165
We can rest in God if we believe His promises. And we can have peace by loving His law. Someday very soon we will be taken to heaven and I believe there God will in a sense put back the piece of His throne that He used to make the ten commandments. Not literally of course because Moses broke those very commandments when He returned from receiving them to find a wayward people. But I believe that once again God’s people will be keeping God’s law, because the Bible says:
31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
That I will make a new covenant
With the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
In the day that I took them by the hand
To bring them out of the land of Egypt;
Which my covenant they brake,
Although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel;
After those days, saith the Lord,
I will put my law in their inward parts,
And write it in their hearts;
And will be their God,
And they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord:
For they shall all know me,
From the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord:
For I will forgive their iniquity,
And I will remember their sin no more. Jeremiah 31:31-34.
I’m looking forward to that day. Are you? I hope so. Until then let’s remember God’s blue sapphire commandments and let Him write that beautiful law in our hearts. Amen.
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