The Spippery Precipice

03.09.09

J.A. Matteson

"I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered." Deuteronomy 10:2

Intimacy between the Lord and His bond-servant can place the servant on the slippery precipice of selfrighteousness. Indignation at sin is a fruit of the Spirit, to hate what God hates is praise worthy; however, assuming the seat of divine judgment is of the flesh, “Moses' anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain” (Exodus 32:19).

It was not due to any inherent worthiness that Israel received the Law, to the contrary, it was due to transgressions, “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions….” (Galatians 3:19). Shattering the tablets before the people may have served as a theatrical visual illustration of their breaking the covenant of the Lord, yet the reality is that as Adam’s progeny their breach of the Law occurred prior to it being written. The Lord did not command Moses to shatter the tablets—he took that bit upon himself. Moses’ display of human anger was raw emotion and it did not further the redemptive purposes of the Lord, “for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God” (James 1:20).

Moses withheld the Law of the Lord from the people due to sin when the Lord intended for them to have it because of their sin. The Word of the Lord to sinners is given by grace and not merit and it serves to: reveal the holy character of God, man’s inability to live up to God’s standard of perfection, and to drive sinners by faith to Christ for eternal salvation. As with Moses the temptation of the Lord’s bond-servant is to withhold the Word of the Lord from the Lord’s people due to transgressions when the Lord would have His Word proclaimed to turn wayward hearts back to Him, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). To be “profitable for” is to be beneficial and helpful; to be administered “for correction” is to bring to light faults contrary to the Word of the Lord.

The manner by which the Word is to be presented is with humiliation lest the Lord’s bond-servant be caught-up in the sin of presumption with regard to his own spiritual condition, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3). Let the ambassador of the Lord proclaim His Word in the darkest places, in the face of ramped degradation and licentiousness, amidst hostile opposition and competing views. It is the Word of the Lord that pierces the secret places and of the heart and reveals the things contrary to it. By it sinners are made righteous by faith and saints grow in grace as Christ if formed in them. It is the Word of the Lord that endures while all else eventually comes to not, it is reflective of His perfect love which does not diminish, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8).

The servant of the Lord may in anger be tempted to withhold God’s Word from his people due to their sin, but to do so is contrary to His will and demonstrates a lack of understanding by the preacher. It is through the agency of the Word as tutor that sinners are brought to repentance by the Spirit. Let not the man of God presume upon the Lord by withholding that which brings life, “… the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63).

The servant of the Lord must once and for all rid his mind of any notion that the dissemination of the Word of the Lord is predicated upon righteous deeds by the saints. They are saints by calling and not merit and it is not the preachers business to withhold their spiritual rations due them, “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2). The man who faithfully labors in plowing and sewing the Word will in due season reap with great joy, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” (Galatians 6:9).

Copyright 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8)