It seems on the surface that Scripture distinguishes between the actual covenant document (the tablets of stone) and all of the additional laws that make up the law given at Sinai and in Moab. It is clear from the Old Testament Scriptures cited thus far and passages like Hebrews 9:4, 5 that the ‘first, or Old Covenant,’ was considered to be the tables of the covenant, or the Ten Commandments. In the first edition of this book, I insisted that we could view the phrases ‘Old Covenant’ and ‘first covenant’ as equivalent to the term ‘the tables of stone.’ In other words, in addition to the five terms listed in chapter 1, we could add “first covenant’ and “Old Covenant’ to the list of synonymous terms. I now believe I was wrong in that conclusion. It is true, as noted, that some texts of Scripture clearly equate the Old Covenant with the Ten Commandments (Exod. 34:28, Deut. 4:13, Heb. 9:4 and others). If these were the only texts that spoke to the subject, there would be no doubt that ‘Old Covenant’ and ‘Ten Commandments’ would be interchangeable terms. However, other Scripture passages indicate that much more than just the tables of stone were considered part of the actual Old Covenant. 

Until recently, I would have maintained a total dichotomy between the “tablets of the covenant” and the “book of the covenant,” saying that the “tablets of the covenant,” in and of themselves, actually constituted the totality of the ‘Old Covenant.’^[1] I can no longer do that. It is true that they are clearly viewed as two distinct documents; only the stone tablets were put inside the ark, while the book of the covenant was put ‘along side of the ark.’ However, it is just as clear that everything contained in the book of the covenant; the Ten Commandments as well as other laws, including those whose sole function was to govern ceremonies, were considered part of the Old Covenant and possessed equal covenant authority with the tablets of the covenant in the ark. It is clear that the Old Testament prophets viewed the laws that governed ceremonies and civil transactions as part of the Old Covenant demands on Israel. Here are two examples:

Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. (Jer. 34:13-14)

It is clear from this text that the law concerning slavery was a part of the Old Covenant. Likewise, Passover, a ceremonial feast, was a part of the Old Covenant.

And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. (2 Kings 23:21)

I think the New Testament Scriptures also teach this fact. I do not believe that 2 Corinthians 3:14 can be referring to the Ten Commandments. 

But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. (2 Cor. 3:14-15 NIV)

I would agree with the classical Covenant Theology tenet that the Jews did not understand the true import of the Ten Commandments, but that is not all that Paul is talking about in this text. Although Paul has referred to the tables of stone earlier in this letter to the Corinthians (3:3, 7), the record in Acts 13:15 indicates that what was commonly read to the Jews in the synagogue was the “Law and the Prophets.” This is further supported by Paul’s practice in Rome, recorded in Acts 28:23: “…From morning till evening he explained and declared to them [the leaders of the Jews] the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets” (NIV). The result in Acts is strikingly similar to what Paul describes in Corinthians; some refused to believe because they could not see or hear Christ in either the Law or Prophets (Acts 28:24-27). Paul obviously means the Old Testament Scriptures when he speaks of ‘the Old Covenant.’ We could substitute the words ‘Law and/or Prophets’ and it would still mean the same thing. The thing about which the unregenerate Jew was blind was the truth of the Messiah pictured in the ceremonies, sacrifices, and holy days of the Old Covenant. We must remember that it was in these ways the gospel was most clearly preached.

This comprehensive view of the Old Covenant does not mean that any of the laws that were added to the ethical terms written on the stone tables in any way changed those terms. Nor does it mean that the Ten Commandments, viewed as covenant terms, could not furnish sufficient terms to be a covenant in their own right. It simply means that the book of the covenant, as an interpretation and application of the terms written on the stone tablets to specific situations, is a part, along with the tables of the covenant in the box, of that which is called the Old Covenant. Texts like Jeremiah 34:13-20 make it very clear that even what have been called ‘civil and ceremonial laws’ were considered part of the law of Moses, or the “Old Covenant.”

I no longer say that the Ten Commandments/tablets of stone are, one on one, the Old, or first, Covenant. I now say that the Ten Commandments/tables of stone are the summary document of the Old Covenant. This summary sets forth the basic covenant terms of Israel’s special relationship to God. These basic covenant terms were expanded to finally include the whole Mosaic law. All of the laws of the theocracy, regardless of their type or nature, became part of the law of Moses, or ‘the Old Covenant.’ It was the book of the covenant (Exodus 24:8), not the tablets of stone, to which Moses referred when he sprinkled the people with blood, saying, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.” At that point, the Ten Commandments had been given verbally and were recorded with all the rest of the laws that God spoke to Moses (Exod.20:1-24:4). They were not yet written as a separate document on tables of stone.

It seems clear from passages like 2 Corinthians 3:14 and Hebrews 8:13 that the Old Covenant that was viewed as ‘passing away’ was far more than just the tables of the covenant, or the Ten Commandments. It was the entire Old Covenant and its administration. It was the whole law of Moses. The ‘Old Covenant’ that is read with blinded eyes surely has more reference to the great predictions of the Messiah than it does to only the Ten Commandments.

In re-thinking this section, I came to accept the following:

The Ten Commandments were first spoken to Moses and written in the book of the covenant before they were actually written on the tables of stone. A careful reading of Exodus 20-24 will clearly show this fact.

Exodus 19:3-6 records Moses’ first trip up the mountain. After reminding Moses of his mercy in redeeming them from Egypt, God instructs Moses to tell Israel that if they will obey his covenant they will be his special people; a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Moses delivers God’s message to Israel (v.7) and they promise to do everything God commands. In verse 8, Moses goes back up the mountain a second time and reports to God the promise of the Israelites. God then tells Moses that he will speak to him and all the people will hear the voice of God and consequently believe that Moses truly represents God (v.9). Moses is told to go down, consecrate the people, and warn them not to come near the mountain or they will perish. Moses goes down, consecrates them, and delivers the warning (v.14). Three days later, God descends to the mountain and Moses again goes up to meet him (vv.16-20). The warning is repeated, and Moses is instructed to return to the foot of the mountain in anticipation of yet another trip up, this time with Aaron (vv.21-24). Moses returns once more to the foot of the mountain, as instructed, and repeats God’s warning not to approach the mountain (v.25). It is at this point that God himself speaks (20:1), while Moses and the people are at a distance from the mountain (20:18-19).

Chapter 20 states, “God spoke all these words, saying …” and then records the Ten Commandments. There is no mention of tables of stone yet. The Ten Commandments were spoken in Israel’s hearing before they were written on stone. In verse 19, the people express their fear of God and ask Moses to speak to them. Moses then goes into the darkness surrounding the mountain (v.21) and God gives him more laws. God repeats the warning against idolatry and gives instructions to build an altar (vv.22-26). Ex. 21:2 through to the end of chapter 23 records a list of the laws that God then gave to Moses. Moses is instructed to get Aaron and certain others and to then return (24:1-2). When he returns as instructed, Moses repeats to Israel all the laws God has given him, including the Ten Commandments (24:3). Again, the Israelites verbally commit themselves to obey every word God has spoken. Moses then writes down everything God has spoken (v.4); we assume this includes the Ten Commandments, and calls all of it the book of the covenant (v.7). After building the altar as previously instructed, Moses takes the blood of the animals just sacrificed and sprinkles half of the blood on the altar (v.6). He then reads the book of covenant and the people again vow to keep everything commanded therein. Moses sprinkles the rest of the blood on the people and says, “Behold the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words” (v.7, 8). 

At this point, God has entered into a formal covenant with Israel. The Ten Commandments are part of that covenant; they were first given verbally and then written in the book of the covenant. After meeting with Aaron and the others, God tells Moses to come back up into the mountain and promises to give him “tables of stone, the law and commandments which I have written” (Exodus 24:12). Moses then returns up the mountain taking Joshua with him and they are there for forty days and forty nights. God gives Moses instructions concerning the tabernacle, the priesthood, the offerings, etc. This is chronicled in chapters 25 through 31. In 31:18, we read, “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” 

The “tables of stone” were promised in Exodus 24:12, but not actually written until 31:18. We must see the distinction between the book of the covenant, which would include all that was recorded in Exodus 20-23, and the tables of the covenant, which include only the Ten Commandments. Exodus 34:27, 28 explicitly state that the terms of the covenant God made with Israel were the Ten Commandments. Exodus 24:3-8 states just as explicitly that the book of the covenant, which included but was not limited to the Ten Commandments, was the covenant document. Deuteronomy 31:24-26 is a key passage:

And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.

We learned from Exodus 25:16-21 that the ark was to house the ‘testimony’. Later in Exodus (31:18), this testimony was identified as the “two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” From those verses, we see that the Ten Commandments were considered to be the basic covenant document, since the “ark of the covenant of the Lord” was specially built to house those tables. This passage in Deuteronomy shows that the book of the law, although including the Ten Commandments, is a separate document from the tables of stone. It was placed beside the ark; the Ten Commandments written on tables of stone were already in the ark (Exod.40:20). The reason for placing the book of the covenant along side the ark was to act as a witness to Israel’s sin of covenant breaking. Later, the ‘book of the law’ will be added to by different people, but the Ten Commandments were never changed until our Lord came. The book mentioned in Deuteronomy 31:25 does not appear to be the same book that was sprinkled with blood in Exodus 24:8, yet the later version is still called the book of the covenant. 

I should mention several other points of interest. In Nehemiah 8:1, all the people of Israel command Ezra to bring the “book of the law of Moses,” and in verse 8 we read, “So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God” (NKJV). The book of the law of God and the book of the law of Moses seem to be the same thing. They surely did not take the tablets of the covenant out of the box. Had they done so, they would not have lived to tell about it.

The Scripture speaks of the ‘book of the Law’, ‘the book of the law of Moses’, and ‘this book’. Moses wrote another “book of the law” in Deuteronomy 31:24-26 and instructed that it be placed “along side” of the ark of the covenant. Joshua either wrote a “book of the law” or added to what Moses had written (Josh. 24:26). Samuel wrote a “book of the law” and “laid it before the Lord” (1 Sam. 10:25). Hilkiah found the “book of the law of Moses” in the temple and Shaphan read from it (2 Kings 22:8-10). 

The above ‘books of the law’ could not be the tables of stone, since no one was allowed to even touch the ark, let alone open it and remove the tablets. Those tables were always treated differently. Originally, they formed the basic covenant document and could be equated with the “Old Covenant.” However, the various “books of the law” were also considered as part of “the covenant” made with Israel. The ceremonial system was looked upon as part of the Old Covenant that Israel entered into at Sinai. This is evident from the passage in 2 Kings 23:20-21, when the “book of the law” was discovered during the reign of Josiah, and its reading produced a revival.

And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. 

And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. 

The law of the Passover was considered part of the “book of the covenant.” We know that the law of the Passover was not written on the tables of stone. When Scripture speaks of the teaching of the law of God or the law of Moses, it is doubtful if it ever refers to just the Ten Commandments. The “book of the law” in Galatians 3:10 cannot be equated with the Ten Commandments alone, even though that “book of the law” is given covenantal status with the power to condemn to death for the least infraction. Paul is quoting either Deuteronomy 27:26 or Jeremiah 11:3, which refers back to the Deuteronomy passage. A curse for non-compliance with “the words of this law” comes at the conclusion of a long list of curses for various infractions, some of which are not listed in the Ten Commandments. The list itself is preceded by chapters of instruction, starting in chapter 4 with these words; “Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you…” (NIV). These instructions include the Ten Commandments, but are certainly not limited to them.

The purpose of this chapter has been to show that (1) the Ten Commandments can correctly be called the covenant document, written with the finger of God, that established Israel’s special relationship with God. However, (2) it is just as clear that the totality of all the laws given to Israel also became a part of the Old Covenant. The covenant and the covenant administration merge into one entity.

There are several important things for us to remember about the Ten Commandments, or tables of the covenant. First, they always remained in the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place. They were unchanged in the slightest detail and untouched by human hands. Two, they were always treated in a most unique way. All agree that the Ten Commandments receive radically different treatment than all the other laws, but not everyone agrees as to why they were treated so differently. Never are the tablets of stone viewed as special and different because they are the so-called moral law. Third, the name of the box that housed the Ten Commandments conveys their significance. That box is unique and holy only because of what was in it. It was holy because it housed the tablets of the covenant that established Israel as a nation and furnished the testimony of her covenant breaking and thus the grounds of her rejection. If the Ten Commandments written on the tables of stone were ‘God’s unchanging moral law’ then the ark would have been called the ‘ark of the moral law.’

Summary

The basic covenant document that contained the actual terms of the Old Covenant was the tablets of stone or Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments can also be looked upon as a summary of the whole covenant relationship between God and Israel. When we think of the Old Covenant, there are two ideas, both of which must be held at the same time. (1) We must see that the Ten Commandments are the basic covenant document that established Israel as a theocratic nation. At the same time, (2) we must see that all of the laws, holy days, priesthood and sacrifices became part of the ‘Old Covenant’. Scripture, in Exodus 24:1-8 and other places, clearly makes this distinction. 

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