"Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets" (Ex. 32:16).
The authority with which Moses brought the Israelites the Law of God was not his own, but God’s. When he left God’s presence and went down the mountain, he took the two tablets of testimony. The text emphasizes that these two tablets, engraved on both sides, were the “work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.” This emphasis is put here to remind us that revelation is based on God’s authority, it comes from God Himself, and though men are the bearers of that revelation, it ultimately has a divine origin.
The Christian religion is based on God’s revelation of Himself and His requirements for man. This revelation teaches man what he needs to know about God and His will, about true worship, and about man’s need of redemption in Christ. No one would be able to relate to God on a personal level unless God first made Himself known through revelation. This was certainly true for the Israelites. Their minds were blinded by their own idolatry, and by their own suppression of the truth. It was only through God’s revelation of Himself that they were able to come into a personal relationship with Him. This was what made their sin such an abomination. Even after God had revealed His will for them through the thunderings from the mountain and from the cloud that never left their sight, the people still sought after idols and displaced the revelation of God with their own notions as the foundation for worship.
The Israelites had the tablets of stone written by the finger of God. Today, we have the entire sixty-six books of the Bible. These books, which comprise God’s special revelation, are sufficient for our growth in grace. We do not need to look to the world for spiritual guidance, we do not need to come up with man-centered ideas about how to worship the Lord, we do not need the philosophies of the world to inform us about salvation. All we need to live a life of godliness is in the Bible. The Scriptures are God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16–17), are written for our edification and instruction (Rom. 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:15–17), and are of a divine origin (1 Peter 1:10–12; 2 Peter 1:21). God has given us, by His authority, the whole Bible to inform our whole lives.
Stop and consider that the book we often treat so casually is the very Word of God. It is His revelation of Himself and His will for your life. If you struggle to know God’s will, do you look to the Scriptures for answers, or do you flounder because you neglect His Word? Thank God for revealing Himself in the Bible.
