You Can Trust the Finger of God

The Ten Commandments won't budge and God has deemed them so important that He has written them on the heart of every man, woman, and child. Ro 2:14,15 remind us of that fact: “ for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) There are still people groups in the world today who know nothing of Ten Commands written in stone by the very finger of God! God deemed it vital to put those commands down in written form, because to rely solely on what one feels in his heart is dangerous ground, As the Bible says in Jer 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” The heart cannot always be trusted, but you can trust the finger of God! The written version of the Ten Commandments were a special gift given to the descendants of Abraham, who would preserve them for all time. Ro 3:1,2 says, “What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. The “How to's” of loving God and neighbor, need not remain buried under the hardened layers of man's heart. Because of Moses and Mt Sinai, the tablets can be placed in front of our very eyes where we can read and heed! In the Book of Genesis, after Babel, by the grace of God, the line of Shem was traced and led to Abraham. God chose to reveal Himself to Abraham, and a nation was formed that eventually had that invisible Law that was written on the heart, codified on Sinai with Moses! What a gift to the world through Israel! The Law written in stone, and coupled with the promise of salvation by grace. All because Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. God chose Israel and gave them the Law in stone. They could see it, read it, be reminded of what is in their heart constantly, their hearts either accusing or excusing them. With the Law in view externally they knew how to respond to the love of God by loving God and their neighbor. What a great advantage right? Well guess what? Even in their case, life happened, other things became more important. Religious instruction was left behind. The Israelites and their kings were being influenced by the world. The Law and promise was being obscured. It was so bad that when Manasseh took over, he and the people utterly turned away from the Lord. Setting up idol worship, sacrificing some of their own children to Molech. His son, Amon, ruled next and we are told that he forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord. These people had the Ten Commandments, written in stone! Where were they? They were literally buried under the junk in the temple. It was under the rule of Josiah, when he decided to repair the breaches in the temple that the Book of the Law (which included the Ten Commandments) was found. When it was read to Josiah, it hit him right here, right where the laws were buried in his own heart, and he tore his clothes and wept! And because the second use of the Law showed him his sin and the sins of the nation, and he was broken, God had mercy on him and the Bible tells us that Josiah went to his grave in peace. Let's stop there for today and leave you with this challenge: Do you want to go to your grave in peace? Then let the Law of God do it's thing. Read the Ten Commandments. See how far short you fall of the perfection demanded by God. Then allow yourself to be broken by your sin, let the Law show you how far you have missed the mark of loving God and loving neighbor, then turn to God for mercy through faith in Jesus Christ and pray: “Lord save me!” This is a prayer that Jesus came to this earth to answer! And He says in Joh 6:37 "the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”