THE MOSAIC COVENANT
The Mosaic Covenant. Fear of God.
Why two tablets?
Traditionally it was thought that the commands were divided into two sections:
The first to do with commands in relation to God.
The second concerning our relationship to man.
However the tablets were probably duplicates.
Ancient covenant documents were always made in duplicate. One copy was placed in the temple of the subject nation. Thus the gods of both nations would be called on to witness the covenant and to execute justice if it was violated. The two tablets in Israel were both deposited in the Ark in the holiest place in the Tabernacle. God is the divine witness. One tablet is the copy for the people and one tablet symbolically is God’s.
How is it that a ritual command (the Sabbath) is put in the middle of moral commands? Exodus 31:12-17.
The Sabbath is called a sign “between me and the people of Israel”, in the ancient covenants the centre of a treaty would bear the symbol or sign of the King (‘suzerain), which might have been related to his chief god. However, no representation of God could be made in ancient Israel (Exodus 20:4). Therefore the representation would not be a symbol, a picture or an idol, but a unique cycle of life. Only Israel had a seven day cycle of weeks. Hence the whole of the commands are part of a covenant with Israel. So to spurn the Sabbath as a covenant sign was to spurn the covenant.
* Suzerain:- A feudal lord, a supreme or paramount ruler, a sate having supremacy over another but which provided protection for the subject people. Example:- Israel’s covenants with the Gibeonites. Joshua 9.
The seal of the Noachide covenant is a rainbow. Genesis 9:12-17.
The seal of the Abrahamic covenant is circumcision forskin for the Jewish people and hearts for Gentiles. Genesis 17:9-14.
The seal of the Mosaic covenant is the weekly Sabbath. Exodus 31:12-17.
The seal of the New Covenant (Messiah’s covenant) is the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13.
The Feasts of the Lord (YHWH). By Marcia Malthus.