the making and re-making of the 10 Commandments

I gained a number of insights in today's reading of Deuteronomy Chapters 8 - 11 of "Your Daily Walk" by Brace H. Wilkinson. 

The dramatic turn of events that culminated to the writing of the 10 Commandments is widely known, as well as the disappointing behaviour of the Israelites whom in Moses's absence (and under the watch of Aaron), quickly forgot their God and made golden idols to worship. However, it might be not as widely known that

1A) in addition to the forty days and nights that Moses spent with God writing the first edition of the 10 Commandments, he spent an additional forty days and nights pleading with God not to destroy the undeserving Israelites. 

1B) the version of the 10 Commandments that was finally placed in (the newly made) ark is the second edition because Moses broke the first edition in his burning anger against the Israelites.

1C) when God's people such as Moses intercedes and prays for God to listen, He does. I personally interpret this demonstration of faith and God's granting of Moses's prayers as firstly, active two-way and opening communication, and secondly, that prayers (even today) are not in vain and that sometimes, things happen because God responds to our prayers.

Deuteronomy 9

¹⁶ When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. ¹⁷ So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.¹⁸ Then once again I fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. ¹⁹ I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me. ²⁰ And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.

Deuteronomy 10
At that time the Lord said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark.² I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the ark.”

2) although it might seem harsh that God waits for an unbelieving generation to die out in the 40 years of wilderness before the Israelites approach the promised land, it should not be overlooked that in those 40 years, the nomadic people were provided for continuously and did not suffer from destitution. 

Deuteronomy 8
² Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³ He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. ⁴ Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. ⁵ Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 

3) Deuteronomy 10 ends with the reference to Jacob's family's migration from a world in famine to a prosperous Egypt under Joseph's watch without referring to Joseph's name. (Verse 22: Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.)

Genesis 46

²⁶ All those who went to Egypt with Jacob—those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons’ wives—numbered sixty-six persons. ²⁷ With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all.

²⁸ Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, ²⁹ Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time.

I'm pretty proud of myself for being able to make the cross-reference from Deuteronomy 10 to Genesis 46 based the familiarity with the Old Testament thus far - encouragement to press on with regular devotion.