The Unlikely Material: The Shocking Source of the Stone Tablets 📜
When God called Moses up to Mount Sinai, He gave him two tablets of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments. The shocking detail is not what was written on them, but the likely unholy source of the stone itself.
1. The Divine Writing vs. The Earthly Material
The Bible is specific that the writing was divine: “The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets” (Exodus 32:16). This emphasizes the absolute holiness and divine origin of the Law itself.
However, the material of the stone was simply foundational earthly rock. Specifically, the tablets were likely hewn from the granite or igneous rock of the mountain itself.
2. The Shocking Implication: Sinai’s Uncleanliness
Mount Sinai (Horeb) was not a sanctified, holy place before the Law was given; it was the opposite—a raw, terrifying peak of the wilderness.
- The Bound Mountain: The people were strictly commanded to not touch the mountain or even its border, under penalty of death, because the mountain was, in its natural state, unclean (Exodus 19:12-13). It was covered by the glory of God during the giving of the Law, but its natural substance was common and deadly to touch.
- The Unholy Source: God chose to engrave His perfect, holy, eternal Law onto stone hewn from the very mountain that was under a death curse if it were touched by man.
The shocking paradox is this: The most sacred document in human history was written on the material derived from a mountain that, minutes before and immediately after, was considered too common and dangerous for humanity to approach.
3. The Eschatological Tie
This detail profoundly foreshadows the ultimate work of Christ:
- Law and Sin: God’s perfect Law was written on imperfect, common material (sinful humanity) represented by the mountain’s rock. This demonstrates the Law’s inability to sanctify the common substance upon which it was written. The Law is perfect, but the flesh upon which it is inscribed is weak.
- The Final Work: Christ’s work is not merely to write the Law on common stone (or heart), but to completely transform the material itself through the New Covenant, turning the heart of stone into a heart of flesh. The final, eternal Law will be written on a perfected, sanctified humanity, resolving the paradox of Sinai.
The Return Question
If the tablets were written on stone from a mountain under a death curse, what area of your life are you still treating as “common ground” or “unholy rock” that you believe God cannot fully sanctify, instead of allowing the New Covenant to transform the very material of your being?