I love this picture! Old Chuck Heston. As time went by, I'm pretty sure he thought he was Moses!In the classic film The Ten Commandments we encounter the life of Moses. We get a window into his tests and trials, along with the amazing feats he is able to perform under the guiding hand of God. But I wonder, is the story about Moses or about God? When I read the REAL 10 Commandments in Exodus 20, I can't help but to focus on the first words:
"I am the LORD your God."
The remainder of the text plays like a film of God's righteousness, His holiness. From His name, to His days, from His gifts to His regulations we see a being who is definitely NOT us! Psalm 19 begins with these words:
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork." the heavens do not declare the glory of man - like Moses, or any of us - but the glory of God! David goes on in this psalm to meditate on the perfect law of God, His sure testimony and right precepts, His pure commandment and true rule. The Law of God cannot and does not give us a path to God! Instead it is a picture of the ever living and everlasting - a film clip of the works of the Father and a trailer to the coming of the Son! Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to God - seeing Holiness as His gracious and merciful quality of love!
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Did you know that Charlton Heston also protrayed Adam, and Eve, and the serpent in the garden? He also did Abraham and Isaac and Joseph and Jesus and even God. In 1997, he did a 4 hour TV special called "Charlton Heston Presents the Bible". There were 4 parts: Genesis, Moses, Jesus, The Passion. This special is on DVD now too if you can find it. He went to Egypt, Sinai, and Israel and basically read stories from the Bible. I found it an interesting and inspirational presentation from a man that not only portrayed Moses but also was a committed Christian in real life.
Matthew 5:17
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Hebrews 10:1
For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
In Psalm 19, David extols the virtues of the law: it revives the soul, it makes wise the simple, it makes the heart rejoice, it enlightens the eyes, it endures forever, it is righteous altogether, it is more desired than gold and sweeter than honey.
And yet the Gospels & Hebrews tell us that the law is but a shadow of the true form, Jesus. No matter how wonderful the law is, no matter what superlatives are used to describe it, it remains a shadow that cannot redeem, cannot impart live. If the law is wonderful, Jesus is much more. “For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.” (2Cor 3:9)
David ends Psalm 19 by saying “O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” To know our Redeemer, we look not to commandments written in stone but to love written in our hearts. As Paul says in 2Cor 3:3: “And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”
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