Exodus 34:4-9 (ESV)

So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

We’re all familiar with the typical portrayal of the two tablets. Unfortunately, that image is probably pretty far off.

They are usually depicted as two large stones with round tops. They are often shown with five commandments written on each one – which we’ve already pointed out is wrong.

There’s no indication that they were large – and the rounded tops are unlikely. The Bible doesn’t detail what the tablets looked like; it’s just says that Moses took in his hand two tablets of stone.

In a Hebrew Bible, the Ten Commandments take up a space less than 4 x 4 inches on the page. Even if the finger of God writes in much larger letters, the Ten Commandments would still fit on both sides of a 12x12-inch tablet. Two of those would be plenty heavy. Consider these details.

While God made the first set of stones, this time Moses has to cut them. With primitive tools, this would involve splitting off pieces of shale or some similar rock. These stones would be like flagstones (which are very heavy). If they’re big, they have to be thick, or they’ll break when split off. Smaller ones can be thinner though. Also, rounding the tops would be difficult (not to mention pointless).

So, unless Moses can carry a couple of fifty-pound stones in his hand, they’d have to be small.

Pray for our nation’s leaders. They bear a heavy burden too. If we analyzed the details of how they do their jobs, we’d be overwhelmed.

We live in an age of partisan fervor. This can dissuade us from praying for them. It should be just the opposite; they need our prayers now more than ever.

Yes, they are often frustratingly inept. Who knows, they just might be as sinful as we are! Yes, they did volunteer for this line of work. Yes, yes, yes, lots of things aren’t as they should be.

Ask the LORD to bless our leaders and their families. Ask Him to give them courage, wisdom and peace.

The weekly study guides, which include all six devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies