-Sermon on July 30, 2007 during the 39th International Bible Conference     Moses who broke the tablets of stone   Let us read Exodus chapter 32.   Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." And Aaron said to them, "Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!" So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD." Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. And the LORD said to Moses, "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!'" And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation." Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: "LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, 'He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people. And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp." But he said: "It is not the noise of the shout of victory, Nor the noise of the cry of defeat, But the sound of singing I hear." So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses' anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?" So Aaron said, "Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, 'Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' And I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out." Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on the LORD's side-come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. And he said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'" So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother." Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin-but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." And the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin." So the LORD plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.   You probably have seen the content of Exodus chapter 32 in movies based on the Bible. I remember seeing the above content made into a movie as well. However, we often read through this chapter simply as a story and move on. We tend not to think about it carefully. Many churches teach children about Joseph, often teaching how bright and wise he was, but overlooking the true meaning contained in the story. Of course, I agree that it is not necessary to forcefully teach children that Joseph is the shadow of Jesus and so forth. I only hope they will be able to naturally discover these things on their own while they learn. However, since we are gathered here to study the Bible together, it is good for us to consider the deeper meaning contained in this chapter. In this chapter, there is an incident that makes us wonder.   Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. (Exodus 32:16)   It says God made the tablets, and He Himself engraved on the tablets. Let's say that God made something and gave it to you. Were the tablets made by a bolt of lightning as depicted in movies? People make such movies using their imagination, but we need not imagine whether God wrote with His fingers or used a pencil. It is certain that the tablets were the work of God. However, even though they were broken by Moses, God never asked him, "Why did you break the tablets I had made for you?" Why is that? How disappointed would you feel if you made a present for someone, and the person broke it because they were angry? Yet, God did not rebuke Moses saying that he had done something wrong. What does this mean? How can such behavior not be a problem? Koreans who believe in superstitions do not think it is wrong for shamans to perform exorcisms. However, if someone breaks something in anger, people will say, "That person sure has a temper." This was not the case in the Bible. Why were the tablets broken?     The relationship between the two covenants Let us read from Exodus chapter 34, verse 1.   And the LORD said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain. And no man shall come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain; let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain. (Exodus 34:1-3)   This time, God tells Moses to cut the tablets and bring them to Mount Sinai. This is very odd. In Exodus chapter 32, verse 16, regarding the first tablets it says, "Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets." However, regarding the second tablets, God commands Moses to cut the tablets and bring them to Mount Sinai. Why is that? If you read the Bible thoroughly from the very beginning, you will notice a recurring pattern. Jesus also said, "Truly, truly, I say to you" (John 5:19, NASB), repeating "truly" twice. Why? After God made Adam, He commanded him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and Eve was in the body of Adam who received the commandment. Although Eve did not receive the commandment directly, she was in the body of Adam. After Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam also ate it in order to have the same destiny as the woman whose mind was stolen and deceived by Satan. Of course, the Bible does not say this, but when we consider the image of Jesus described in this verse, "Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come" (Romans 5:14), we can assume that Adam bore the image of Jesus. That is why Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil given by the woman who he described as, "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" (Genesis 2:23). Then God talked about the seed of the serpent and the Seed of the woman, and said, "He shall bruise your head" (Genesis 3:15). Following this is the story of the two sons who are born between Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel are the shadows of two images. Cain represents those destined to have their offerings rejected by God as they offer things harvested with their own hands. There are also verses in Romans and Galatians of the New Testament regarding the law of a fleshly commandment, such as, "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). This is also explained in detail in Hebrews. What about Abel? The Bible says, "Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering" (Genesis 4:4). Regarding Abel, the Bible refers to another law that transcends the law. In Romans, this is referred to as "the law of the Spirit of life" (Romans 8:2). Also, as Jesus said to the Jews, "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20), the Bible proclaims the need for something new that exceeds the requirement of the law. The story of Sarah and Hagar comes later. Hagar is a bondwoman Abraham brought from Egypt. God clearly told Abraham, "One who will come from your own body shall be your heir" (Genesis 15:4). Sarah gave her maidservant, Hagar, to her husband to bear a child, and Abraham listened to his wife and bore a child through Hagar. However, God tells Abraham, "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him" (Genesis 17:19), and talks about the son of promise, not the son of a servant. As promised, a son, Isaac, is born through Sarah. Hagar, the bondwoman through whom Ishmael was born, represents the first covenant. She represents the law written in the Old Testament. Sarah, who gave birth to the son of promise, is the shadow of the new covenant as it says in the Bible, "But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all" (Galatians 4:26). Isaac, who was born according to the covenant, had two sons, Esau and Jacob. They were twins, and Esau was a man of the field while Jacob dwelt in tents (see Genesis 25:24-27). While Esau was hunting in the fields to receive blessings from his father, Jacob went to the father and received all the blessings. Esau, thus, lost his chance to receive the blessings. Through this event, we can see the image of the Israelites who were bound by the law and wandered about not knowing where to go. However, Jacob who dwelt in tents and who did not do any work received all the blessings (see Genesis chapter 27) from the father. Afterwards, Jacob's name was changed to Israel, and Israel is the shadow of the Church. This relationship is a little complicated. In the history of Israel this pattern of events occurs repeatedly. We can also see two different images through Jonah. Jonah once disobeyed God's command and as a consequence, he was in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights. Only after this incident did he obey God's command and save many souls. In the image of this one person, Jonah, we can see God's plan for salvation embedded throughout the whole Bible. The relationship of the two tablets that appear in Exodus is exactly the same as in the case of Jonah. How does this relationship appear in New Testament times? Jesus once did something very significant.   But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." (John 8:1-11)   When we read this passage, we are likely to associate ourselves with this woman. The woman was caught in the act of adultery and brought to Jesus. No matter how hard we try to live in a righteous manner, we realize through the Bible that nothing but evil pours out from within us. At that time, we meet Jesus Christ who is in the word. When Jesus says, "Neither do I condemn you," and, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out" (John 6:37), we accept the merciful Jesus as our Savior in our hearts. This is how we understand the passage on a personal level. But if we think about from a wider scope, this woman who was caught in the act of adultery is the image of Israel. When we carefully read the books of the Old Testament such as Jeremiah or Ezekiel, a woman, who signifies Israel, comes into view. A woman also appears in the book of Hosea. God commanded Hosea, "Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the LORD" (Hosea 1:2). God gave this command to Hosea to explain the state of the Israelites. Now, when Jesus came to this world, the woman who committed adultery was to stand in front of Him. The scribes and Pharisees brought this woman before Jesus and asked Him, "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what d

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