ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Monite ‘Epeleli 10, 2023

Breaking the Law, Literally 

Maumau‘i ‘a e Ongo Maka ne hiki ai ‘a e Lao

EXODUS 32:15-16, 19

THEN MOSES TURNED AND WENT DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN WITH THE TWO TABLETS OF THE TESTIMONY IN HIS HAND, TABLETS THAT WERE WRITTEN ON BOTH SIDES; ON THE FRONT AND ON THE BACK THEY WERE WRITTEN. THE TABLETS WERE THE WORK OF GOD, AND THE WRITING WAS THE WRITING OF GOD, ENGRAVED ON THE TABLETS... AND AS SOON AS HE CAME NEAR THE CAMP AND SAW THE CALF AND THE DANCING, MOSES' ANGER BURNED HOT, AND HE THREW THE TABLETS OUT OF HIS HANDS AND BROKE THEM AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN.

‘EKISOTO 32:15-16, 19

15 Pea tafoki ai ‘a Mōsese, ‘o ne ‘alu hifo mei he mo‘unga, ‘oku ne to‘o ‘a e ongo Maka ‘o e Fakamo‘oni; ko e ongo maka na‘e tohi hona ongo fa‘ahi fakatou‘osi, ‘io, na‘e tohi ‘a ē mo ē. 16 Pea ko e ongo maka ko ē ko e ngāue ‘a e ‘Otua, pea ko e tohi nima ‘a e ‘Otua, ‘o tongi ‘i he ongo maka.

19 Pea ‘i he faifai pea na ofi ki he ‘apitanga, na‘a na mamata ki he kafi mo e me‘e; pea puke ‘a e fu‘u ‘ita ‘a Mōsese, ‘o ne pe‘ehi ‘a e ongo maka, ‘o laiki ‘i he lalo mo‘unga. 

Moses didn't simply blow his top and start smashing things. His breaking of the luchot ("tablets") was a calculated, ritualistic act. Israel had broken the covenant, so Moses literally broke the tablets engraved with the covenant. These luchot-which can refer to tablets of stone, boards of wood, or plates of metal-were not massive stones, but smaller slabs, with Hebrew on the front and back. The law now lay in pieces on the ground.

That law, with its unfulfilled demands, would continue to compound a debt that sinners could not pay. But the Messiah could and did. He didn't shatter it on the ground; he "set [that record of debt] aside, nailing it to the cross," where it was paid in full with crimson currency (Col. 2:14).

Forgive us our debts, heavenly Father, and write your love and faithfulness on the tablet of our hearts (Prov. 3:3).