After dictating the principles of the renewed covenant, the LORD commanded Moses to write down everything He had said concerning the renewed covenant. Moses did not eat or drink during the forty days and nights in the LORD’s presence. The tablets were also inscribed with the Ten Commandments.
Through stating the precepts in verses 10 – 26, the LORD had reestablished the covenant with Moses. Now it was time for all of this to be recorded. So, the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” The Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, and the renewed Mosaic Covenant needed to be written down so the people could remember to obey it.
To summarize the account of the renewal of the Mosaic Covenant, it was stated that Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. A person can go for weeks without food but only a few days without water. For Moses to neither eat nor drink for forty days and forty nights and remain healthy was nothing short of a miracle of the LORD. Note also that he was with the LORD for this time, another indication of the close relationship between the LORD and Moses.
The parallel in the New Testament was the forty days and nights Jesus fasted when led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:2). Jesus was the second Moses, in fulfillment of the prophecy given by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15.
The LORD sustained Moses during His time with him, preventing starvation or dehydration. Finally, the LORD wrote on the tablets brought by Moses the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. These tablets contained the sum of the principles of the Law and were to be the sign of the renewed covenant. These tablets were intended to be placed into the Ark of the Covenant, to be preserved and revered.
Biblical Text:
27Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
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