God’s man on fire

“So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes.” Deuteronomy 9:17

Moses didn’t stroll down the Mount with both tablets tucked under his arm like a football. He held one in each hand. This is God’s prophet with God’s law in dual-wield kimbo, weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left.

The people broke faith, shattering the commandments in a swoop. Moses, after the fashion of a prophet, makes a physical display for them. The law they transgressed is cast to the ground and dashed to bits. He threw his soul into the performance too. He had just begged God to stay his anger but, once he saw what they did with his own eyes, he’s a man on fire.

What then is God’s anger against sin? What sinner can stand before him? Only the greater Moses who stood between God and man and absorbed the fury of divine wrath.