Alright, we're reading just Exodus
32, verse 15 and verse 16, and my subject is the writings of
God, or divine inscription. Look at these two verses. And
Moses turned, went down from the mount with the two tables
of the testimony in his hand. These tables were written on
both sides On the one side and on the other were they written,
and the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the
writing of God graven upon the tables." Now you see there we
have an idea of where we are going. Did you ever think that
Moses went and, as God told him, wrote down, took down what he
said? No. The Scripture said these
are the very writings of God. First of all, let's begin by
looking at the importance of the names of the Old Testament
books, particularly of the first five, or the book of Moses. The first book in the Scripture
bears the name of Genesis, for it is a book of beginnings, and
Genesis actually means the beginning. So the name of the first book
is borrowed from the Greek, so says Matthew-Henry, and carries
for us the meaning, the original, the beginning generation. That's the meaning of the word
Genesis. Now the second book of the Bible
is the book of Exodus, and this is the history of departure,
the going out of the children of Israel, the leaving out of
Egypt, the exodus of God's people out of their bondage. It also
seems to be a Greek term, or borrowed from the Greek, and
literally means the great departure. So the book of Exodus tells of
the great departure. In fact, we have this word twice. in the New Testament. But both
times that we have the word, it is rendered in the New Testament
by the word deceased, having the meaning, however, of exodus
or of departure, going out. And it means, of course, by death. Luke 9 and verse 31, the Lord
appeared in glory on the Mount of Transfiguration and spoke
of His deceased. or literally, of his exodus,
which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. You have it again
in 2 Peter 1 and 15. Peter speaks of his decease. Literally, my exodus is the meaning
of the word. Thus, the book of Exodus gets
its name from those events in the first few chapters of the
book, the Exodus, or the Great Departure, or the going out from
the land of Egypt. Now if you look at the book of
Exodus, you will find that it is divided into two very large
sections as we look at it. The first division, chapter 1
through chapter 19, finds Moses before Pharaoh a type of the
great Deliverer, the Lord Jesus He is, a type of Christ coming
to deliver and accomplish the freedom of His people. Matthew
Henry notes here that there are more types of Christ perhaps
in the book of Exodus than in any other of the writings of
Moses. Now, the second division of the
book of Exodus in chapter 20 through verse 31, is a record,
and a long one, of Moses' experience with God in Mount Sinai. It is a type of the one who is
the only mediator between God and man. And it is the one who
is welcome in the presence of God, and the one who brings the
mind and the revelation, and the law, and the Word of God
down, and gives them unto the people." So we see how John 1,
17, the law was given by Moses. Also John 7 and verse 19. And so often called the law of
Moses, even in the New Testament. Now, our first instance today
of the writings of God has to do with Moses going into the
mount in the presence of God and receiving on the tables of
stone the divine commandments of God which are to be brought
down unto the people. Our text here in verse 15 and
verse 16 where Moses had the stones, notice in verse 16, which
were the work of God And the writing was the writing of God
graven upon the tables, or the stones that Moses had brought
into the presence of the Lord. Now this sends us back to the
last verse of chapter 31. And he gave unto Moses, when
he had made an end of commuting with him upon Mount Sinai, two
tables of testimony Tables of stone written with the finger
of God. Especially notice the last part
of that verse. Written with the finger of God. Or written by the finger of God. Gill said this is given by way
of transition to what is recorded here in the next chapter of this
book of the Old Testament. The inspired historian, which
we know to be Moses, wrote the first five books, sometimes called
the Books of Moses, sometimes called Moses, and sometimes called
the Law, breaks in here that he might show the rebellion of
the people in the camp below while Moses was in the mount
with the God of heaven. They made, you remember, chapter
32, a golden calf while He was in the mount. Then they ascribed
deity unto that dead thing. They danced about it, naked of
their shame, and they praised their Deliverer, Him as being
the Deliverer. Chapter 32, verses 1 through
8. And the Scripture said they corrupted
themselves, verse 8. And this caused Moses to become
exceedingly angry when he came down from the mount and heard
the jubilation that was in the camp. And he threw down, if you
remember, the tables or tablets of stone upon the ground, and
they were broken." Exodus 32 and verse 19. For now, let's
concentrate upon the writing. In Exodus 31 and 18 again, written
with the finger of God. In Exodus 32 and verse 16, and
the writing was the writing of God. We want to establish two
points in connection with this event or fact. Number one, that
God was indeed the writer as well as the author of this most
sacred inscription or writing. They are of God. Number two,
the contents or the implication of the writing that God has written. First of all, that God is the
writer. This is twice emphasized here
in Exodus 31.18 and 32 and verse 15. But Moses at other times in his
ministry emphasizes that God also is the sacred author. Moses ascribes this same writing
unto God. In Deuteronomy 4, verse 13, and
he wrote them upon two tables of stone. Exodus, or rather,
Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 22. He did write them on two
tables of stone, and delivered them unto Me, says Moses." Speaking
to the people of God. Deuteronomy 9 and verse 10. And the Lord, He says again,
"...delivered them unto Me, two tables of stone, written with
the finger of God, and on them was written according unto the
words which the Lord God spake with you in the mount out of
the midst of the fire in the day of assembly." He's talking
about the assembly at Mount Sinai. And he repeats there in verse
11, "...the Lord gave me the two tables of stone." Now let's
note something. In the last text from Deuteronomy,
Moses is speaking in the first person. God gave them unto me. God did not only write the law
upon the tables of stone, but God gave them to me. God put
them in my possession to bring down to the people to deliver
unto you. This is why, I guess, the New
Testament makes references to the law that came by Moses. John writes that. in the first
chapter of his Gospel. The law came by Moses, but grace
and truth by Jesus Christ. So we declare that what was written
was written by the finger of God, not Moses. And in the very
words of God given to Moses for the people, even by the finger
of God, the Scripture said, That is, by God personally, they proceeded
directly and immediately from God and were inscribed upon the
tables of stone. We are to understand Moses' words,
written by the finger of God, for God is not a man. Therefore, how are we to understand? God has no corporal body, no
corporal form. No form as men have. God is Spirit, and His essence
is Spirit. And He possesses His essence
in an eternal, uncreated Spirit. So how is it that God has written
by the finger of God? This expression first appears
back in Exodus 8 and verse 19. And it was spoken not by a servant
of God in that place, but by the magicians of Pharaoh down
in the land of Egypt, when they could not duplicate the works
of Moses and of Aaron, the miracles and the works, either by actually
doing it or by giving the illusion that they might have performed
it. Thus they said, either of the plagues or their failure
to remove them or to duplicate them. Finally, in desperation,
they said, this is the finger of God. It was more than they
could understand or duplicate, meaning a supreme power, greater
than themselves, someone more excellent than they. a superior
power able to withstand the power and the efforts of men, and to
overcome them and to frustrate them. Thus, these writings that
we have in our text were the direct writings of God. Again, I emphasize, not even
Moses, under inspiration, did write those things that were
upon the tables of stone. God caused the writing to appear
or to be there. It was the work of God. We see the description in Exodus
32, 15 and 16 again, which says, there were two tables. They were
written on both sides, front and back, and they were the Word
of God and were written by God Himself. So now we inquire, In
the second place, what were the contents of these tables of stone
that Moses received and brought down? What did they say? What
was the message? What did God write upon these
tables that Moses carried before Him? In Exodus 31 and verse 18
refers to them as two tables of testimony. In other words,
they are a testimony from God and they are unto man. In Deuteronomy
5 and verse 22, and again in Deuteronomy 9 and verse 10, it
says that they were words which God spake unto them at Mount
Sinai. In fact, in Deuteronomy 9 and
verse 10, it says in part that it was a committing unto writing
upon stone. What they heard in that great
thunder that scared and frightened them, they saw the fiery, smoking
mount and the thunder and all of that from quaking Sinai as
they stood there, and Terah. In Deuteronomy 9, verse 10, the
last part, on them was written according to the words which
the Lord spoke unto you in the midst out of the fire in the
day of assembly." Now, you have that in Exodus 19. There is a
lengthy record of them assembling at the Mount. And in Exodus 20,
verse 1, and God spake all those words to them, saying, I am the
Lord thy God. And then what follows is the
Ten Commandments, or the moral law of God, as we call it. Now that which God wrote upon
the stone was one and the same with that that God spake unto
the people, I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other
gods before me. Thou shalt not bow down, thou
shalt not make any graven image, or take the name of the Lord
thy God in vain." On and on, they were that great law that
God had spoke unto them. But that which is written is
more enduring and is more durable, and must preserve for generation
after generation, written, engraven in stone. that which God spoke
and then later wrote, forbid idolatry. It forbade image worship. It forbade taking God's name
in vain. It forbade murder and adultery
and theft and covetousness and lying and those things thou shalt
not. It required the observance of
the Old Testament economy Sabbath and the honoring of father and
of mother. under that covenant. It is a revelation of the character
of the law. It gives a moral guide unto mankind. This thou shalt do. It was, Paul
said, in Galatians, a schoolmaster unto Christ. It taught us. It
led us. It held us under. And it prepared
us for Christ. And he said again, it was added
because of transgression. Now the spoken law at Sinai terrified
the people as to the manner in which it was given. And they
pleaded for Moses to go and God speak to him and he bring the
message. Let not God speak to us anymore
lest we die. They feared that they might die. Now the written law stands as
a bond upon the human family, and works its wrath and its curses,
yet to so many the Ten Commandments are no more than a dead, lifeless
oracle." They're just like words cold and upon a stone that did
them words. Like words upon a page, lifeless
words that lay in a book upon a table. This is how some people
look at the written Scripture. sometimes posted in a place,
that is, the Ten Commandments, where they can be viewed, but
not in our day, or there will be a suit and they will have
to be taken down. But let's consider another aspect
of the writing of God, where God has written a writing, and
this too might be said to be written by the finger or by the
power or spirit of God. By God's power is there a writing. This being the writing of God
of His law in and upon the nature of man, particularly of the first
man, Adam. To come at this matter, let us
make a dual observation concerning Adam. Number one, that God gave
Adam a positive law in the garden, there can be no question. He
could eat of all the trees of the garden. He could do this,
but he could not do that because it would result in his death.
Secondly, God entered into a covenant with Adam and with him all mankind
as a federal head. Now, did God also write His law
to some degree in Adam's heart and in Adam's nature? The Puritans, many of them, on
some things they're great, on other things not so great, But
they were fond of saying that God did write the moral law in
the heart of Adam, in his nature. God inscribed there this moral
law. Here are some examples that I
found of older Puritan writers and their belief. John Lightfoot
in 1629, the year 1629, wrote, and I quote, Adam had heard as
much in the garden as Israel did at Sinai, but in fewer words
and less thunder. Bavasor Powell said, It is probable
that Adam had written in his nature the substance of the Ten
Commandments. If any disagree and say, it is
enough to say that Adam was made in the image and the likeness
of God, We remind them God's nature is in perfect compliance
with the moral law which he has given. Come to John Gill, Body
of Divinity, page 312, who gives us a Baptist perspective on Adam,
saying, quote, The law of nature, the natural law, given to Adam
was concreated with him, written on his heart, engraved and imprinted
in his nature from the beginning of his existence." Later in the
same page, Gill said, this law that was written on Adam's heart
is one and the same with the Decalogue as to the substance
of it. Thomas Goodwin An old Puritan
reasons that the way the law was in the last Adam Christ shows
the form which the law was originally in in the first Adam, even Adam
himself. In upright Adam, the writing
was bright and it was clear, legible in all, whereby he had
a clear perception of God, what was his duty, what was to be
abstained from, and this was so as long as Adam remained upright."
Now granted, this writing became as much defaced in the fall of
man, but not totally and absolutely obliterated so as to make all
atheists. That did not occur. Yet enough
to make them idolaters. If not enough to make them atheists,
yet enough to make men idolaters. and corrupt their moral judgment
so that no longer can they have a right notion of God without
grace. Imagine a sign or a headstone. We see them all over the place.
Go to an old cemetery, drive down an old country road, and
imagine a sign or a headstone once written clearly and bright
and clear and distinct, but then blasted with weather and time
and the elements now only faintly observed and the outline made
hardly readable anymore, or a document faded, cracked, and brown that
has been long in the shelf or the cabinet, so that all unregenerate
men have some degree of natural revelation, a conscience that
convicts by some sin. and any belief in some supreme
being, that there is a divine being. They will be content with
a false god, sure. They often are. If all were void
of the natural revelation, then all would be atheists rather
than idolaters. They would have no god rather
than a false god. But they do have a god. This
is not to say, as some do, that this amounts to a spark of goodness
or a spark of divinity left over that only needs fanning the flame
a little bit to brightly blaze up again. Again, Puritan Goodwin
wrote that fallen man, as acknowledges that God is not the result of
a residue of any goodness in him, well, what then is it? Some such as Goodwin and William
Strong argue against any remnant of the law remaining in a man's
heart and nature after the fall, saying that man is not born,
some say, with the natural light, but that it is to be ascribed
to a divine hand. A divine hand has written it
there. It is a special writing of God. Let's turn to Romans 2 and 14,
and that passage, is so famous and sometimes make us scratch
our head. But Paul has written something
here about the heathen that is very interesting. It's found
in Romans 2 and verses 14 and verse 15 of that chapter. For when the Gentiles, which
have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law,
these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves, which
show the works of the law written in their heart, their conscience
also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing
or else excusing one another." Notice particularly the statement,
the work of the law written in their heart. What Paul describes
in Gentiles is Gentiles who never formally openly receive the Decalogue. Nevertheless, they have written
a work of the law in evidence and in operation in their judgments
and in their conscience." Goodwin renders the phrase this way,
the written work of the law, not meaning that the law is the
writer, but that what is written is a work of the law. produces
in them, how be it imperfect and incomplete, but it is written
there by the finger of God." What about the text in John 1
and verse 9, speaking of the eternal Christ? It says, "...that
was that true light which lights every man that comes into the
world." Talking about the Lord, which cannot refer to saving
enlightenment, For not every man is so enlightened. He lightens
those who come into the world. Not that such light is born in
them, some would say. Thus there is a writing, there
is an inscription, Calvin calls it the operation, a conjunction
with a conscience, where the slate left blank, and it has
been written by the finger of God Almighty. It had a divine hand, a divine
influence that has written upon the slate of fallen man. The world had been a public stew
and a public hell, and men would be like the beast of the field
had not God put some manner of restraint in them. But now, we
come to the most blessed and sacred of all of the divine writing. The writing of the law, or the
word, or the will of God upon the heart of the intellect in
regeneration. Said the prophet Jeremiah 31-33. The new covenant between God
and men consists in this. Verse 33, quote, I will put my
law in their inward parts, and will write it upon their hearts."
And this being, in effect, a spiritual circumcision of the heart marks
them off as being the children of God. John Gill made this connection,
that the law that was written on Adam's heart is re-inscribed
in Regeneration. It is written in spiritual words
in the will and the affection and reaches all of the inward
parts of the man. Therefore, it lays close upon
the conscience. It is only proper to have the
law written in regeneration for only the renewed man is capable
and able to love God's law and also to obey it. So that the
writing in Romans 2, 14 and 15 Jeremiah 31 and verse 33 are
not one and the same as that one in Romans 2, 14 and 15. It is only unto the natural life
and the natural man there in Romans to give a certain, however
limited, knowledge of right and of wrong, and have a conviction
of that, and be able to pass judgment on right and wrong. while that in Jeremiah 31-33
reaches into the inward part. Somebody said this, giving a
propensity and a delight in the law of God and the honoring of
God's holy law. And this writing never fades. Paul describes it in 2 Corinthians
3, 1-3, written upon the heart. He calls them, that is, the people
of God, the epistle of Christ. He says, you are my epistle. God transcribed the law upon
the heart of the elect when He quickens them and writes that
sacred writing in them. Paul makes an allusion to the
writing of the law on tables of stone. but makes the application
in a spiritual sense there in Corinthians 6-13. For says the apostle, ye are
the epistle of Christ, but the writing is not applied with ink,
but with the Spirit of the living God. Yes, not on stones and hard
rocks, but upon the fleshly tables of the heart. but in the fleshly
tables of the heart of men." It is the Spirit that does this
sacred writing and makes this inscription. Thereby the very
finger of God does the writing. It is God's holy writings that
He makes. And according to Jeremiah 31,
this writing is the law of God in a moral and a spiritual nature. We have been inscribed by God,
brothers and sisters. He has written a holy writing
upon our heart. We have not even discussed the
writing of the sacred scriptures and will not do so because we
do not have time this evening. But they too are divinely inspired
by God so that they are not the words of men but the words of
God. God's holy Sacred writings, how
precious are the inscribings, the inscriptions of God. All right, let's bow our head
together please for prayer.