Advanced Level, Block 4—Wilderness
Week 34
The Breaking of the Tablets of the Law (1)
Point to Emphasize: We must realize and admit that we break God’s law.
Reference Reading: Exodus 19:1-3; 20:1-21, footnotes 11, 121; 24:12; 32:1-6, 15-19, footnotes 11, 191
Memory Verse: Therefore keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, walking in His ways and fearing Him. (Deuteronomy 8:6)
Story Sample
Today, we will talk about the three outcomes from the forty days that Moses stayed in the presence of God: (1) Moses was given the plan for the tabernacle, (2) the children of Israel made the golden calf, and (3) they broke the law.
Moses had been on Mount Sinai with God for forty days. He received the detailed plan of the tabernacle from God. God also gave him the two tablets of stone with the law that God Himself had written with His own finger (Exodus 31:18). The children of Israel had already heard Jehovah speak the law to them. But now Jehovah wanted to have these stone tablets of the law put within the tabernacle.
When Moses went down the mountain, he could hear the sound of the people as they shouted. At first, he thought that it was the sound of war in the camp but as he got closer he heard the sound of singing. As he drew near to the camp, he saw the golden calf and the people dancing. His anger burned, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. Then he took the calf and burned it with fire and ground it to powder.
Moses was so angry because the people had already broken the first three commandments that God inscribed on the stone tablets. In making the golden calf and in singing and dancing around it they had sinned against God, breaking His law. It is a sin to break God’s law. And as a consequence, 3,000 died that day. [If the children want to know more, tell them to go over this story with their parents.] It is a serious thing to sin, to break God’s law. We must never think it is okay to break the law of God.
Now, let’s see the first five commandments written on the stone tablets:
- “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
- “You shall not make for yourself an idol.”
- “You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain.”
- “Remember the Sabbath day so as to sanctify it.”
- “Honor your father and your mother.”
These five commandments are easy to memorize and we should know them. Now, here is a hard question: who among us has not broken any of these five laws this week? Let’s review them together.
The first two commandments go together. We should not worship anyone except God. But today, people have all kinds of idols. They idolize sport’s figures, singers, and people in entertainment. Many would be SOO thrilled to meet them in person and get their pictures and autographs. This shows that people have forgotten God and let themselves have these people as their idols. Then some people have turned certain activities into “idols.” These ones must play soccer all weekend. And others who must spend the weekend dirt biking or skateboarding. And what about the ones who must have the latest video games? And they spend hours each weekend playing on their phone or tablet. Are any of us like this?
And what about saying the Lord’s name in vain? You can hear this everywhere. When someone says, “Oh, my God,” they are taking the Lord’s name in vain. If any of us have said that before, we have sinned. If you have done this, you have broken God’s Law. It is a serious thing.
Then we come to honoring our parents. Whoever yelled at their mom or dad this week broke this law. Maybe, you only yelled, “I don’t want to”, when your mom asked you to stop playing that online game and do your homework. Don’t take it so lightly! To yell at your mom or dad is to break God’s law; it is a sin.
When we break the law and sin, we should feel bad. None of us should feel fine about doing this. After our talk today, if you realize that you have broken God’s law, you should admit it to God and tell Him you are sorry. If you have yelled at your parents, you can go to your parents and apologize and admit that it was wrong to do that. You must not be like the children of Israel, who broke God’s law and thought nothing of it.