Jesus Isn't Decaf (By Naomi Meyers)

With an inaudible sigh, he gathered his strength, picked up his heavy burden, and set out for the foot of the mountain. It was going to be an arduous hike. The second one of its kind. Already he had climbed this mountain to commune with God. Already he had carried two heavy tablets of stone down steep slopes, over clear-cut trails, rocky paths, and grassy flats. At 80 years old, he never imagined this would be his life. Yet here he was, schlepping up and down mountains carrying rocks. His tired body told him hiking was a young man’s sport. His heart told him God was calling. He had to climb that mountain again. The future of his people rested on it. 

They were the reason he was making this second trek. His people. Coming off the mountain with the first set of sacred script, Moses surely hoped this gift from God would turn their straying hearts to heavenly things. He knew he’d been gone a long time. He was aware the people had grown bored and weary of waiting. He was not uninformed of their recent choices and current situation. But how could they not be amazed and astonished to see the man who had left empty-handed come back carrying stone tablets neatly etched by the finger of God? Never had something like this been seen before. Never had anyone else climbed a mountain, conversed with God, and returned with physical proof of His existence. Never again would anyone be able to argue the origin of God’s commands. It was all right here. A special gift for God’s own special people. It would surely be enough to make them change their ways. (Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 14:2)

Except they never got to see them. Moses never took them into the camp at all. How could he? The camp was in unapologetic disarray. Supposing he had ever truly had it in the beginning, Aaron had lost control of the entire group. Overcome by the constant whining and wailing, begging and moaning, fuming and fussing over Moses’ long absence, he fell prey to the pressure. Calling the people together, Aaron asked for their earrings. Every earring in the camp. There must have been a lot of them. Enough to form an idol for their straying hearts to worship. A golden calf. A form of god. A direct disobedience to the law they should already know by heart. (Exodus 20:1-5)

It remains unclear which act incited Moses’ anger the most. The direct defiance of both the first and second commands. The idol itself. The abject dearth of leadership Aaron exhibited. The fickle hearts of the people. Perhaps it was the whole scene. A tableau of disrespect, defiance, defilement, and debauchery. Perhaps it was the fact that everyone in the camp knew God’s requirements, had heard them, learned them, pledged to follow them, yet reneged on their word at the first sign of discomfort. (Exodus 24:3)

This was not the first time Moses had seen this type of behavior from the people he led. He was well acquainted with their lack of mettle. Upon deliverance from Egypt, they had longed to return. Frustrated and angry over the lack of readily available water, the type of food God provided, and the leadership of Moses, their history of complaining, whining, acting up, and acting out was well established. Time and again Moses had interceded on their behalf for water, food, and healing from self-inflicted punishments. He’d put up with their disrespect and defiance. Just now, up on that mountain, as God swore to destroy them for their atrocious insolence, Moses again pleaded for mercy. He begged God to remember his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He asked God to stay His anger, extend His grace, and grant His people yet another opportunity to succeed. And God chose to stay His hand. (Exodus 15,16; Numbers 12:1-3, 14:2; Deuteronomy 9:25-29; Numbers 21:6-9) 

But Moses was also human. That trek down the mountain afforded plenty of thinking time. He must have been seething when he reached the bottom of Mount Sinai. His anger was not assuaged when his eyes fell on the blasphemous mess the camp had become. Overcome with rage that the people would betray the God who had rescued them from bondage, led them safely through the wilderness, dropped food from the sky, and sprayed water from rocks, Moses hurled the sacred tablets to shatter against nearby rocks. The people would never read them. They would never see this visible proof of their invisible God. 

How desperately they would need that proof! How deeply God wanted them to have it. So great was His desire to give these Heavenly etched tablets to the people that he called tired and aged Moses to cut slabs from nearby rocks, lace up his sandals, gather his strength, and climb Mount Sinai a second time. He wanted the people to have the words to read when their minds were tempted to argue. He wanted them to have the proof. Proof of His existence. Proof of His commands. God wanted His people to know the truth. Truth that refuted the claims of the pagan nations around them. Truth that would keep them following God so long as they adhered to it. Positive proof for posterity to follow the only path that would lead them to the one true God. 

So Moses makes the second journey. He trudges up the mountain toting heavy slabs of stone. Gingerly descends the mountain transporting sacred text. Carefully stows them in the ark of acacia wood for safekeeping. But he doesn’t quit talking about them. Not the stone slabs or the multiple journeys up a mountainside. No. Moses keeps talking about their words. He knows what the people have yet to realize. Simply having a copy of God’s laws is not enough.  Committing them to memory wouldn’t carry them through. The only way they would find themselves fully committed to keeping the commandments of God, the only way they would remain unconfused by the various religions of the pagan nations around them, was to allow God to indelibly etch those very laws on the unbreakable tablets of their hearts. (Deuteronomy 6:1-9, 10:1-5, 11:18-20; Proverbs 7:3; Exodus 13:9,16, 31:18-34:28)

Their travels and conquests would take them among so many different people. They would encounter a plethora of different belief systems. Without a firm foundation in the paths of God, they would find themselves distracted, intrigued, confused by idols and practices that created space between themselves and the God they had sworn to follow. Their feckless hearts would turn aside in fascination. Some for a time. Some for all time. Why? Because the laws of God were filed in the recesses of their minds, but never etched on the tablets of their hearts. It would never be enough. Not for them in their days. Not for us in ours. 

Daily we are pressed and pressured to alter God’s laws. Make exceptions. Make changes. Use creative license in their interpretation. The arguments are convincingly presented. At first blush, the rhetoric appears to have some validity. It is so easy to fall prey to pretty-sounding words. It is so easy to be drawn aside into a way of thinking that runs contrary, if only slightly, to God’s commands. It is so easy to be drawn aside with every new current of doctrine unless the laws of God are indelibly etched on the walls of our hearts. (Ephesians 4:14; Isaiah 5:20; Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18-19) 

 It is imperative that they be there. If you read the Old Testament accounts of the Israelites after they left Egypt, you will see the commands weren’t in their hearts. Over and over again they fell prey to the doctrines and practices of the pagans around them. So frequently they were drawn aside. So often they grieved the heart of God. So many times they endured hardships and horrors that could have been avoided had they simply remembered and followed the laws of God. How different their story would be if they had only allowed God to etch His commands in their hearts. 

So will yours. Your life will look different. Your story will read differently. Your eternity will end differently if the walls of your heart hold etchings from God. Having a Bible on the shelf makes no difference. Hanging the Ten Commandments on the wall changes nothing. Memorizing the Pentateuch will have little effect on the choices you make when you are tempted to glibly go along with the crowd. Only having Heavenly laws inscribed by the finger of God etched on the walls of your heart will keep you steady in an unsteady world of complacency and compromise. (Psalm 37:31, 119:9-11; II Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:8-9;   

The etching will take effort. It will take time devoted to communication with God. Time shut alone with Him. Reading His Word. Praying. Listening. Learning what He has to say about His laws and the things the world is proposing. Time to decide which path you will follow. I hope you choose to follow God. I hope you lean into His Word, His laws, His heart. I hope you trust the plans He has for you enough to stand alone in following Him if necessary. And I hope, as the pressure mounts and the heat is on, you will choose to stand firm in the laws of God. 

Will you? As the world is trying with all its power to turn your soul aside, where will your heart lead you? Were the things inscribed there, the laws by which you live your life, etched by the finger of God or scribbled by human hands? (Romans 12:2; Deuteronomy 30:19; Matthew 10:32-42; I Corinthians 16:13)