341 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Hew for thyself two tables of stone like the first, and I have written on the tables the words which were on the first tables which thou hast broken; 2 and be prepared at morning, and thou hast come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and hast stood before Me there, on the top of the mount, 3 and no man cometh up with thee, and also no man is seen in all the mount, also the flock and the herd do not feed over-against that mount.' 4 And he heweth two tables of stone like the first, and Moses riseth early in the morning, and goeth up unto mount Sinai, as Jehovah commanded him, and he taketh in his hand two tables of stone.
5 And Jehovah cometh down in a cloud, and stationeth Himself with him there, and calleth in the Name of Jehovah, 6 and Jehovah passeth over before his face, and calleth: 'Jehovah, Jehovah God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness and truth, 7 keeping kindness for thousands, taking away iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and not entirely acquitting, charging iniquity of fathers on children, and on children's children, on a third 'generation', and on a fourth.' 8 And Moses hasteth, and boweth to the earth, and doth obeisance, 9 and saith, 'If, I pray Thee, I have found grace in Thine eyes, O my Lord, let my Lord, I pray Thee, go in our midst (for it 'is' a stiff-necked people), and thou hast forgiven our iniquity and our sin, and hast inherited us.'
10 And He saith, 'Lo, I am making a covenant: before all thy people I do wonders, which have not been done in all the earth, or in any nation, and all the people in whose midst thou 'art' have seen the work of Jehovah, for it 'is' fearful that which I am doing with thee.
11 'Observe for thyself that which I am commanding thee to-day: lo, I am casting out from before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite; 12 take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land into which thou art going, lest it become a snare in thy midst; 13 for their altars ye break down, and their standing pillars ye shiver, and its shrines ye cut down; 14 for ye do not bow yourselves to another god—for Jehovah, whose name 'is' Zealous, is a zealous God. 15 'Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and they have gone a-whoring after their gods, and have sacrificed to their gods, and 'one' hath called to thee, and thou hast eaten of his sacrifice, 16 and thou hast taken of their daughters to thy sons, and their daughters have gone a-whoring after their gods, and have caused thy sons to go a-whoring after their gods; 17 a molten god thou dost not make to thyself.
18 'The feast of unleavened things thou dost keep; seven days thou dost eat unleavened things, as I have commanded thee, at an appointed time, the month of Abib: for in the month of Abib thou didst come out from Egypt. 19 'All opening a womb 'are' Mine, and every firstling of thy cattle born a male, ox or sheep; 20 and the firstling of an ass thou dost ransom with a lamb; and if thou dost not ransom, then thou hast beheaded it; every first-born of thy sons thou dost ransom, and they do not appear before Me empty. 21 'Six days thou dost work, and on the seventh day thou dost rest; in ploughing-time and in harvest thou dost rest. 22 'And a feast of weeks thou dost observe for thyself; first-fruits of wheat-harvest; and the feast of in-gathering, at the revolution of the year. 23 'Three times in a year do all thy males appear before the Lord Jehovah, God of Israel; 24 for I dispossess nations from before thee, and have enlarged thy border, and no man doth desire thy land in thy going up to appear before Jehovah thy God three times in a year. 25 'Thou dost not slaughter with a fermented thing the blood of My sacrifice; and the sacrifice of the feast of the passover doth not remain till morning: 26 the first of the first-fruits of the land thou dost bring into the house of Jehovah thy God; thou dost not boil a kid in its mother's milk.'
27 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Write for thyself these words, for, according to the tenor of these words I have made with thee a covenant, and with Israel.'
28 And he is there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; bread he hath not eaten, and water he hath not drunk; and he writeth on the tables the matters of the covenant—the ten matters. 29 And it cometh to pass, when Moses is coming down from mount Sinai (and the two tables of the testimony 'are' in the hand of Moses in his coming down from the mount), that Moses hath not known that the skin of his face hath shone in His speaking with him, 30 and Aaron seeth—all the sons of Israel also—Moses, and lo, the skin of his face hath shone, and they are afraid of coming nigh unto him. 31 And Moses calleth unto them, and Aaron and all the princes in the company return unto him, and Moses speaketh unto them; 32 and afterwards have all the sons of Israel come nigh, and he chargeth them with all that Jehovah hath spoken with him in mount Sinai. 33 And Moses finisheth speaking with them, and putteth on his face a vail; 34 and in the going in of Moses before Jehovah to speak with Him, he turneth aside the vail until his coming out; and he hath come out and hath spoken unto the sons of Israel that which he is commanded; 35 and the sons of Israel have seen the face of Moses that the skin of the face of Moses hath shone, and Moses hath put back the vail on his face until his going in to speak with Him.
351 And Moses assembleth all the company of the sons of Israel, and saith unto them, 'These 'are' the things which Jehovah hath commanded—to do them: 2 Six days is work done, and on the seventh day there is to you a holy 'day', a sabbath of rest to Jehovah; any who doeth work in it is put to death; 3 ye do not burn a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath-day.'
4 And Moses speaketh unto all the company of the sons of Israel, saying, 'This 'is' the thing which Jehovah hath commanded, saying, 5 Take ye from among you a heave-offering to Jehovah; every one whose heart 'is' willing doth bring it,—the heave-offering of Jehovah,—gold, and silver, and brass, 6 and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and linen, and goats' 'hair', 7 and rams' skins made red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, 8 and oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the spice perfume, 9 and shoham stones, and stones for settings, for an ephod, and for a breastplate.
10 'And all the wise-hearted among you come in, and make all that Jehovah hath commanded: 11 'The tabernacle, its tent, and its covering, its hooks, and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets, 12 'The ark and its staves, the mercy-seat, and the vail of the covering, 13 'The table and its staves, and all its vessels, and the bread of the presence, 14 'And the candlestick for the light, and its vessels, and its lamps, and the oil for the light, 15 'And the altar of perfume, and its staves, and the anointing oil, and the spice perfume, and the covering of the opening at the opening of the tabernacle, 16 'The altar of burnt-offering and the brazen grate which it hath, its staves, and all its vessels, the laver and its base, 17 'The hangings of the court, its pillars, and their sockets, and the covering of the gate of the court, 18 'The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords, 19 'The coloured garments, to do service in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons to act as priest in.'
20 And all the company of the sons of Israel go out from the presence of Moses, 21 and they come in—every man whom his heart hath lifted up, and every one whom his spirit hath made willing—they have brought in the heave-offering of Jehovah for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 And they come in—the men with the women—every willing-hearted one—they have brought in nose-ring, and ear-ring, and seal-ring, and necklace, all golden goods, even every one who hath waved a wave-offering of gold to Jehovah. 23 And every man with whom hath been found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and linen, and goats' 'hair', and rams' skins made red, and badgers' skins, have brought 'them' in; 24 every one lifting up a heave-offering of silver and brass have brought in the heave-offering of Jehovah; and every one with whom hath been found shittim wood for any work of the service brought 'it' in. 25 And every wise-hearted woman hath spun with her hands, and they bring in yarn, the blue, and the purple, the scarlet, and the linen; 26 and all the women whose heart hath lifted them up in wisdom, have spun the goats' 'hair'. 27 And the princes have brought in the shoham stones, and the stones for settings, for the ephod, and for the breastplate, 28 and the spices, and the oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the spice perfume; 29 every man and woman (whom their heart hath made willing to bring in for all the work which Jehovah commanded to be done by the hand of Moses) 'of' the sons of Israel brought in a willing-offering to Jehovah.
30 And Moses saith unto the sons of Israel, 'See, Jehovah hath called by name Bezaleel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31 and He doth fill him 'with' the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all work, 32 even to devise devices to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 33 and in graving of stones for settings, and in graving of wood to work in any work of design. 34 'And to direct He hath put in his heart, he and Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; 35 He hath filled them with wisdom of heart to do every work, of engraver, and designer, and embroiderer (in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in linen), and weaver, who do any work, and of designers of designs.
23 In that day there came near to him Sadducees, who are saying there is not a rising again, and they questioned him, saying, 24 'Teacher, Moses said, If any one may die not having children, his brother shall marry his wife, and shall raise up seed to his brother. 25 'And there were with us seven brothers, and the first having married did die, and not having seed, he left his wife to his brother; 26 in like manner also the second, and the third, unto the seventh, 27 and last of all died also the woman; 28 therefore in the rising again, of which of the seven shall she be wife—for all had her?' 29 And Jesus answering said to them, 'Ye go astray, not knowing the Writings, nor the power of God; 30 for in the rising again they do not marry, nor are they given in marriage, but are as messengers of God in heaven. 31 'And concerning the rising again of the dead, did ye not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not a God of dead men, but of living.' 33 And having heard, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching;
34 and the Pharisees, having heard that he did silence the Sadducees, were gathered together unto him; 35 and one of them, a lawyer, did question, tempting him, and saying, 36 'Teacher, which 'is' the great command in the Law?' 37 And Jesus said to him, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thine understanding— 38 this is a first and great command; 39 and the second 'is' like to it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; 40 on these—the two commands—all the law and the prophets do hang.'
41 And the Pharisees having been gathered together, Jesus did question them, 42 saying, 'What do ye think concerning the Christ? of whom is he son?' They say to him, 'Of David.' 43 He saith to them, 'How then doth David in the Spirit call him lord, saying, 44 The Lord said to my lord, Sit at my right hand, till I may make thine enemies thy footstool? 45 If then David doth call him lord, how is he his son?' 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor durst any from that day question him any more.
(Read Matthew 22:23-33)
The doctrines of Christ displeased the infidel Sadducees, as well as the Pharisees and Herodians. He carried the great truths of the resurrection and a future state, further than they had yet been reveled. There is no arguing from the state of things in this world, as to what will take place hereafter. Let truth be set in a clear light, and it appears in full strength. Having thus silenced them, our Lord proceeded to show the truth of the doctrine of the resurrection from the books of Moses. God declared to Moses that he was the God of the patriarchs, who had died long before; this shows that they were then in a state of being, capable of enjoying his favour, and proves that the doctrine of the resurrection is clearly taught in the Old Testament as well as in the New. But this doctrine was kept for a more full revelation, after the resurrection of Christ, who was the first-fruits of them that slept. All errors arise from not knowing the Scriptures and the power of God. In this world death takes away one after another, and so ends all earthly hopes, joys, sorrows, and connexions. How wretched are those who look for nothing better beyond the grave!
(Read Matthew 22:34-40)
An interpreter of the law asked our Lord a question, to try, not so much his knowledge, as his judgment. The love of God is the first and great commandment, and the sum of all the commands of the first table. Our love of God must be sincere, not in word and tongue only. All our love is too little to bestow upon him, therefore all the powers of the soul must be engaged for him, and carried out toward him. To love our neighbour as ourselves, is the second great commandment. There is a self-love which is corrupt, and the root of the greatest sins, and it must be put off and mortified; but there is a self-love which is the rule of the greatest duty: we must have a due concern for the welfare of our own souls and bodies. And we must love our neighbour as truly and sincerely as we love ourselves; in many cases we must deny ourselves for the good of others. By these two commandments let our hearts be formed as by a mould.
(Read Matthew 22:41-46)
When Christ baffled his enemies, he asked what thoughts they had of the promised Messiah? How he could be the Son of David and yet his Lord? He quotes Psalm 110:1. If the Christ was to be a mere man, who would not exist till many ages after David's death, how could his forefather call him Lord? The Pharisees could not answer it. Nor can any solve the difficulty except he allows the Messiah to be the Son of God, and David's Lord equally with the Father. He took upon him human nature, and so became God manifested in the flesh; in this sense he is the Son of man and the Son of David. It behoves us above all things seriously to inquire, "What think we of Christ?" Is he altogether glorious in our eyes, and precious to our hearts? May Christ be our joy, our confidence, our all. May we daily be made more like to him, and more devoted to his service.
