Deuteronomy 10:4, commentary and pictures

God Himself wrote the Ten Commandments a second time with His own finger on the stone tables Moses hewed, repeating the same words He had spoken to the people from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly, and gave them to Moses. They were placed in the ark of wood as their appointed depository, to be hidden, preserved and kept as a lasting witness. That law in the ark represents God Himself and His revealed will, and its presence symbolized His presence as the glory and strength of Israel. The preserved commandments remain binding as the standard of righteousness, to be obeyed in the greatest direction and in what may seem least. At the final judgment they will be displayed before the obedient and the disobedient to justify the obedient and leave transgressors with no answer, convicting all the wicked.

Writing and Preservation of Law

God Himself with His own finger wrote the Ten Commandments a second time on two tables of stone that Moses had hewed after breaking the first, repeating according to the first writing the same words He had spoken to the people at Mount Sinai out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly, and gave them to Moses. The second writing preserved the first with indelible permanence, keeping the commandments spoken amid fire at the mountain assembly.

The tablets were put in the ark of wood, the ark of God and of the testimony, a sacred chest made to be their depository where the Lord commanded them to be. There they were hidden, preserved, and kept as a lasting record and witness. That law in the ark represents God Himself and is His revealed will, and its presence symbolized His presence. The ark holding it was the glory and strength of Israel, and the token of the Divine Presence rested upon it day and night.

When Jerusalem was about to be destroyed by the Chaldeans, righteous men still in the city who understood God's purpose took the ark and with mourning and sadness hid it in a cave to place it beyond the reach of ruthless hands. Because of the sins of Israel and Judah it was hidden from them and was never to be restored to them, and it remains hidden there undisturbed to this day. Israel later had the law written publicly on memorial stones and heard it read aloud, so everyone could know the covenant conditions for possessing Canaan and affirm acceptance of its terms, including the blessings for obedience and the curses for neglect.

The tablets placed in the ark later appear in the opened heavenly temple as a testimony to the truth and binding claims of God's law.

Binding Authority and Final Judgment

The preserved commandments remain binding as the standard of righteousness, to be understood and carefully obeyed from the greatest direction to what may seem least. Loyalty to the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to God's government and to every principle of the Decalogue. Departure from its right principles blinds the understanding to truth.

The commandments are God's counsel and revealed will, kept in the ark as a lasting record, and families and individuals are accountable for whether they follow it even when temporal business presses upon them. The law's presence in the ark symbolized God's presence, but the ark itself had no power to protect people who despised the commandments. God's people need to obey the law.

Leaders are urged to read these chapters for instruction about God's dealings with His people. His promises are repeated again and again as blessings of obedience and warnings against disobedience. More teaching is required on transgression and disobedience.

The law was hidden and preserved to justify the obedient and condemn the disobedient, so that those who choose to disobey will surely receive sentence according to their works. People are judged by it as God's standard in the judgment, while the record of their deeds determines whether their sentence is for good or evil.

At the final judgment the commandments written by God's own finger and placed in the ark, where they remain a witness, will be displayed before the world, before the obedient and the disobedient. Transgressors will be left with no answer to the charge against them, and all the wicked will be convicted. They will see that their actions came from depraved character, that their course carried on the rebellion begun in the heavenly courts, and that all cruelty and wickedness dishonored their Creator and brought the wretchedness that fills the world.

The disobeyed law was their life. Obedience would have made their characters as fine gold and their principles as the golden wedge of Ophir, kept them in happiness and peace, borne fruit in sanctified love and beauty of character, and filled the world with holiness and purity. Those tables, traced by the finger of God with indelible permanence, are now in the ark, kept to be brought forth in the great day when sentence will be pronounced against every evil, seducing science produced by the father of lies.