Two Tablets of Sinai

What’s Carved in the Stone Tablets? Part One

It’s not what you think

This question perplexed me as I began to study deeper into His Word. I grew up in Western Christianity, knew the doctrine by rote, could easily repeat all the same things that are taught every week in most churches by every line-toeing preacher still today. I watched “The Ten Commandments” every Easter weekend on TV. If anyone asked me this question, my answer — years in my middle-age — would have been: The Ten Commandments, duh. Moses brought them down from the top of Mount Sinai in Egypt and broke them on the statue of the golden calf the Israelites had crafted while he was up there.

Property of MGM

Here’s the problem

That is not what Scripture actually says. It made for a great movie and has been around long enough to become churchianity doctrine, but it simply isn’t true.

ADVISORY

I’ve written lessons before wherein I warn readers first that if you are stuck in man-made doctrine, dogma, and tradition, you will not accept this lesson. I advise you to read only the next two points, then move on before you risk learning something that challenges your cemented doctrine. But first, allow me to tease those that will be leaving with these two simple tidbits:

1) Even just in Exodus 20:1–17 there are not 10 commandments. There are either 9 or 13, depending on whether you count statute or ordinance.

And 2) Those mitzvot (commands) are not what are carved into the two stone tablets.

Interested? Stick around.

Stuck in doctrine? Shalom and see you later.

Part One: A review of the “10” Commandments

I will break this lesson into parts because it is so long.

We need to establish one thing first: the instructions that begin in Exodus chapter 20 were not the first commandments (instructions) given by YHVH. In Exodus 12, He gave the commandments pertaining to the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread and established them as a permanent ordinance.

Exodus 12:14 — “And this day shall become to you a remembrance. And you shall celebrate it as a festival to יהוה throughout your generations — celebrate it as a festival, an everlasting law.”

→ (How long is everlasting? Forever? Permanent? Just asking…)

There are other commandments given prior to Chapter 20, but let’s save that for another time.

Exodus 20:1–17 (in segments) — 1) And Elohim spoke all these Words, saying, 2) “I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim {Egypt}, out of the house of slavery.

Right out of the gate you may have learned something brand new. Reread verse 1 again. YHVH SPOKE these original instructions aloud, Himself, to the people gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai (in Saudi Arabia [1]). Have any of your teachers ever taught you that Elohim SPOKE aloud the initial instructions? In case you are wondering, this is why the first group of instructions are separated from the remaining instructions, but we’ll get to that. Continuing:

… 3) “You have no other mighty ones against My face.

Don’t bring the names, the images, the stories, the worship of, any other gods before Him. Do not put any other person, place, or thing before Him. The spiritual application of this is that nothing else in the world should be more important than He. Not TV, social media apps, or spouse, or family, or your children. This does not mean that other things cannot be important, simply nothing should EVER take His place as your only focus of worship. He is first in everything you do and say, He is how you live your life His Way. He’s #1 and nothing else takes His place. That is the first step in how we show our love for Him.

… 4) “You do not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of that which is in the heavens above, or which is [on] the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth, 5) you do not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, יהוה your Elohim am a jealous Ěl, visiting the crookedness of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6) but showing loving-commitment to [the thousandth generation], to those who love Me and guard My commands.

His loving commitment is not shown to “everyone.” Here it is in black and white: God’s loving commitment — His ongoing love, blessings, protections, promises — is extended to those that love Him AND guard His commands. Loving Him requires belief: belief in the One who created us, gave us life, provided for us this planet to live on, food to eat, air to breathe, water to drink. It also requires belief in the atonement and redemption that He gave in the form of His Son, Yeshua Messiah, one time and for all men who will accept. This is called belief.

To guard His commands means to LIVE His Way, in His set apart (holy) lifestyle that identifies us as His and not of the world. This is called following Him.

Loving Him is a two-step process: belief (because you cannot love anything you do not believe) AND obedience. Look back in the 2nd part of verse 5 to learn how He deals with those that hate Him. He defines how we demonstrate hate for Him: bowing down to other gods/idols, then contrasts it to how we show Him we love Him in verse 6.

To hate Him means to consider His things unimportant, old, outdated (abolished by the doctrine of man). And to those peoples who hate Him, what’s His response? Does He still love them and invite them to come live with Him when they die?

Oh, uncle Jim’s in a better place now that he’s dead. He drank and smoked and slept around and abused his kids, but when he was 13, he gave his life to Jesus, so he’s in heaven now that he’s died.

Is that even what Scripture says?

No, but that’s another lesson entirely.

Continuing:

… 7) “You do not bring the Name of יהוה your Elohim to naught, for יהוה does not leave the one unpunished who brings His Name to naught.

Using His name in vain does not mean saying, “Oh, my god!” First, that isn’t His name. The Father has a name and it ISN’T The Lord or God. In the proper written grammar of “oh my god,” the “G” is lowercase, however, it can be used in reference to the Father, as in, “Oh! My God!” as a beseeching cry for Him.

The Father’s name, represented in Hebrew using the Tetragamaton — יהוה — reads right to left, yod-hey-vav-hey — was replaced by Yehudim scribes with Adonai in the Septuagint [2] to prevent the goyim (Gentiles) from profaning His set apart Name. Adon means father (dad), adult male, leader of a family (patriarch). However, Adonai has a single usage in Hebrew, it is the TITLE of the Heavenly Father. Jews today also replace His name using the title haShem (the Name), thus in English translations, when the phrase, “the Name,” or “My Name,” is written in reference to Elohim, the word Name should be capitalized. But these are not the Father’s Name. It is by His Name that we are saved (that’s not a phrase from the apostolic writings, just quoted there).

Acts 2:21 — 21) ‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the Name of יהוה shall be saved.’

Joel 2:32 — 32) “And it shall be that everyone who calls on the Name of יהוה shall be delivered [3].

Romans 10:13 — 13) For “everyone who calls on the Name of יהוה shall be saved.”

Who’s Name?

By Which Name shall we be saved? Don’t misinterpret me here: Yeshua Messiah is the perfect Passover Lamb offered for the sins of mankind. He is Messiah and savior — although even Shaul says “Elohim our savior,” but since Messiah IS Elohim and His name contains the Father’s name (Yeho’shua)…

The importance of His Name is lost when it is replaced over 7,800 times in Scripture. We call Him by a title that is unrelated to I Am (ehYah-asher-ehYah), separating the practice of a faith with no contextual knowledge of the origin of it from the One who gave it.

Continuing:

… 8) “Remember the Sabbath day, to set it apart. 9) “Six days you labor, and shall do all your work, 10) but the seventh day is a Sabbath of יהוה your Elohim. You do not do any work — you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. {There are 7 other High Sabbaths, but this is the weekly Sabbath.} 11) “For in six days יהוה made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, יהוה blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart.

Christians claim they follow the “10” commandments. Here is evidence they do not.

I have heard it said that Christians live by a relatively solid 9 commandments. Since Shabbat is several lessons alone, I will leave this one alone here.

Continuing:

… 12) “Respect your father and your mother, so that your days are prolonged upon the soil which יהוה your Elohim is giving you.

This instruction comes with a promise. This is also when the initial commands change from teaching how to love Elohim to how to love others.

Mark 12:29–31 (Matt 22:37–40) — 29) And יהושע answered him, “The first of all the commands is, ‘Hear, O Yisra’ĕl, יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one. <Deut 6:4> 30) ‘And you shall love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ <Deut 6:5> This is the first command. 31)“And the second, like it, is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ <Lev 19:18> There is no other command greater than these.”

Messiah did not make this up on the spot. He quoted Torah <references included>. Essentially, He used Torah to delineate all 613 mitzvot (commands) into 2 categories: How to love Elohim and how to love other people. It is at Exodus 20:12 that Elohim shifted from how to love Him, to how to love others. There are many more love Him instructions later, but YHVH moved into the foundations of loving man.

Continuing:

… 13) “You do not murder. 14)“You do not commit adultery. 15) “You do not steal. 16) “You do not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17) “You do not covet your neighbor’s house, you do not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, or whatever belongs to your neighbor.”

Here we reach what churchianity claims is the end of the instructions — commandments — from Elohim. But have you ever read on in chapter 20? Why did Elohim stop speaking at this point? Was He done?

Read on:

… 18) And all the people saw the thunders, the lightning flashes, [heard] the voice of the shofar, and [saw] the mountain smoking. And the people saw it, and they trembled and stood at a distance, 19) and said to Moshe, “You speak with us and we hear, but let not Elohim speak with us, lest we die.”

The Israelites have realized one of two things:

Talmudic tradition says that the immortal souls of the people were attempting to leave their bodies to be with the Creator at the top of Sinai.

However, I think the second school of thought more aligns with what has already happened up to chapter 20. They realized they were already doomed, that they could not even get past these first few given instructions without facing death (the “lest we die,” comment). So, they asked for a mediator, a go between, who would do the talking with Elohim and bring back to them what He said. The other task of a mediator is to take what they petitioned to Elohim.

Sound like someone else?

This is what is called a type and shadow, or a shadow picture. These are clues within the original text that point directly to Messiah, the redemption process, and the role He would assume after the redemption. There are literally dozens just within the book of Exodus, an interesting study by itself.

Now, let’s count:

I AM the only Elohim, therefore:

• 1) Have no other gods
• 2) Do not make any idols
• 3) Do not bow down \ and worship any idols (false deities, statues, TV, video games, music[ians])
• 4) Protect My Name, don’t waste Its mighty power. Show the terrified awe and reverence My Name requires.
• 5) Remember (keep, protect) the Shabbat day (the weekly Shabbat). Six days you do your labor.
• 6) On the seventh day you rest

- You

- Your children

- Your Servants (employees, laborers)

- Your Livestock (living things that do laborious work, not your dog unless he’s a sled dog)

- Even the sojourner among you (others who live around you)

• 7) Show honor and respect to your parents (elders, leaders, those set over you in authority)
• 8) Do not murder
• 9) Do not commit adultery
• 10) Do not steal
• 11) Do not lie in a legal proceeding against another person

→ Wait… What?

For another lesson…

• 12) Do not covet your neighbor’s house
• 13) Do not covet his wife, servants, or stuff

Okay, what a breakdown, right? Ever seen them this way? A statute is a specific law: speed limit: Do not speed. An ordinance breaks down the statute into the components: limits for; boulevards, streets, school zones, constructions zones, inclement weather,etc… Each ordinance then contains the consequences for violating (fines, DL revocation, arrest and confinement, etc…)

Here’s an interesting tidbit for those who would not break apart coveting (12 & 13):

The Catholic Church has eliminated the 2nd commandment entirely (we know this because they make and bow down to and pray to idols. No point to argue if you disagree with this. A duck is a duck.

Don’t buy that?

Lay your hands on a NAB study Bible and flip to Exodus 20. (The NAB is the American Catholic Bible.) Or find a copy of the basic catechism of the Catholic Church, it’s in there, too. But you actually have to read their doctrinal statements to learn that they get back to 10 by breaking out the coveting commands, as I have above.

Okay, so why does it matter if there are 10 or 13 (or 9 statutes and 13 ordinances)? Because the point is that there are 10 things carved into the stone. Not 9 or 13.

You thought I’d forgotten why we’re here, didn’t ya?

Here’s the meat you’ve NEVER had before. Back to Exodus 20. Verses 18–21 give us the type and shadow of the Messiah as mediator between us and Elohim in the form of Moshe.

But what happens in verse 22?

Continuing:

… 22) And יהוה said to Moshe, “Say this to the children of Yisra’ĕl: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from the heavens. 23) ‘You do not make {other gods} besides Me; mighty ones of silver, and you do not make mighty ones of gold for yourselves. 24) ‘Make a slaughter-place {altar} of earth for Me, and you shall slaughter on it your ascending offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I cause My Name to be remembered I shall come to you and bless you. 25) ‘And if you make Me a slaughter-place of stone, do not build it of cut stone, for if you use your chisel on it, you have profaned it. 26) ‘Nor do you go up by steps to My slaughter-place, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.’

Huh? So, what, right? Here’s the point: the instructions didn’t end, they just got interrupted by the fear of the people. And instead of Elohim continuing to give those instructions Himself aloud to the entire nation, He gave them instead to the appointed and accepted mediator, Moshe.

And notice here that the Father gave more specific instruction on how one is NOT to worship idols, even going into the materials used. AND the Father continues with new, specific commands on building the sacrificial altar.

On your own, now read chapters 21, 22, and 23. The instructions continue for three more chapters!

Here we will FFW>> to chapter 24 –

Exodus 24:3 — 3) And Moshe came and related to the people all the Words of יהוה and all the right-rulings. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the Words which יהוה has spoken we shall do.”

A lot like something that we do when we walk the aisle and say a prayer and commit ourselves to be His, right? A little lip-service CYA, perhaps?

… 4) And Moshe wrote down all the Words of יהוה, and rose up early in the morning, and built a slaughter-place at the foot of the mountain, and twelve standing columns for the twelve tribes of Yisra’ĕl.

SCREEEEEEEECH!!!!

Wait, go back.

… 4) And Moshe wrote down all the Words of יהוה…

Who wrote it down? This is critically important. Moshe wrote it all down, all the instructions that Elohim had given to him to this point. Elohim did not carve them into two stone tablets and hand them to Moshe. Moshe wrote it down!

FFW>> Then Moshe, Aaron, Yeho’shua (Joshua), and elders did some stuff, saw the foot of Elohim. We come to verse 12: Play>

…12) And יהוה said to Moshe, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there, while I give you tablets of stone, and the Torah and the command which I have written, to teach them.”

First mention of the stones. Elohim will give them to Moshe AFTER he comes up to the top of the mountain. I’m going to toss in the next verse and refer you to the lesson, “ Jumpin’ Jehosaphats! What’s in a Name?.”

… 13) And Moshe arose with his assistant Yehoshua, and Moshe went up to the mountain of Elohim.

Now, I’ll bet your eyes are tired and your thinking of clicking next and forgetting this ever happened. Okay, whatever you want.

Or… you can stick around for more of that meat I promised and learn something you’ve never even heard, straight from Scripture.

Here’s the link to Part Two.

(Citations and notes are after part 2)