The symbol for this day is a tablet of the ten commandments. Ours is a felt circle with felt tablets glued on.
At first glance, it might seem like God broke His promise to the Israelites when He called what appears to be a new group of people “chosen,” “a royal priesthood,” and “a holy nation.”
The truth is that God DOES keep His promises, AND that God’s promises have always been to the faithful. There are conditions stated in Exodus 19:5 right before God’s promises to the Israelites: “if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then…”
Deuteronomy 7:9-10 reiterates this concept:
“Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.”
This is consistent of God’s character, as He stated it in the Ten Commandments:
“for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”
Exodus 20:5-6
God is a just God and a jealous God. He keeps on loving those who obey Him, generation after generation. He is also quick to discipline those who do not obey Him.
Deuteronomy 7:9-10 does not imply that a thousand generations of unfaithful family members who were born after a faithful man will receive the same blessings as him. That would go against God’s just and jealous character.
People of God have been instructed to obey and listen to Him from the start. It’s fun to search through the Bible for these two words: “obey” and “listen.” Guess who obeyed and listened to God? Some examples are: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses–the faithful..
Jesus, Who was God in the flesh, came to fulfill the law. Again, to be chosen, people needed to listen to God’s voice (through Jesus) and obey Him. And so, the Old Testament story of God’s chosen people–the faithful–continued on–with Jesus Christ fulfilling the Law.
Ornament Ideas
