The Covenant Signed in Stone Text: Leviticus 26:46
Introduction: God's Constitution
We come this morning to the end of a significant section in the book of Leviticus. For many modern Christians, Leviticus is a dusty attic, full of strange furniture and artifacts we don't quite know what to do with. We wander through its chapters on skin diseases, bodily discharges, and intricate sacrifices, and we are tempted to think that this has very little to do with us. We are New Covenant believers, after all. We have grace, not law. We have the Spirit, not stone tablets. But this kind of thinking is a profound mistake. It is an attempt to build a house without a foundation, to understand a story by starting on page 300.
The entire Bible is one book, one story, about one God and His one plan of redemption through one Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this book of Leviticus is not an irrelevant detour; it is the constitutional bedrock of God's kingdom on earth. It reveals the very character of the God with whom we have to do. He is a holy God, and He will not be trifled with. He desires to dwell with His people, but He will only do so on His own terms. Leviticus is the book that lays out those terms. It is the house rules for living in the presence of a holy God.
Chapter 26, which we have just walked through, is the great chapter of covenantal sanctions. It sets before Israel the two ways: the way of blessing for obedience and the way of curses for disobedience. This is not some arbitrary system of rewards and punishments. It is the organic reality of living in a world created and sustained by a righteous God. Walk with the grain of His universe, and you will find life, fruitfulness, and peace. Walk against the grain, and you will find splinters, futility, and ruin. This is not just true for ancient Israel; it is true for all nations, at all times. The principles are abiding.
Our text today is the concluding summary of this entire legal corpus. It is the signature at the bottom of the contract. It is the final stamp of divine authority on the laws that have been laid out. And in this simple, declarative sentence, we find the origin, the nature, the authority, and the mediator of God's law. To misunderstand this verse is to misunderstand the very structure of God's dealings with mankind.
The Text
"These are the statutes and judgments and laws which Yahweh has given to be between Himself and the sons of Israel by the hand of Moses at Mount Sinai." (Leviticus 26:46)
The Tripartite Law (v. 46a)
Let us begin by looking at the description of the law itself.
"These are the statutes and judgments and laws..."
The text uses three distinct terms to describe the body of legislation given here: statutes, judgments, and laws. This is not mere repetition for rhetorical effect. While the terms overlap, they each carry a specific emphasis that helps us understand the comprehensive nature of God's rule. Our Puritan forefathers rightly saw in this kind of language a division of the Mosaic law into three categories: the ceremonial, the civil, and the moral. And while we must be careful not to impose a rigid grid where the text does not, this is a wonderfully helpful framework.
"Statutes" often refers to the ceremonial and ritual laws. These are the positive commands of God that are not inherently right or wrong but are made so by divine institution. Think of the sacrificial system, the dietary laws, the priesthood, and the festival calendar. These were the object lessons, the living dioramas, that pointed forward to the person and work of Jesus Christ. They were the shadows, and Christ was the substance (Col. 2:17). With the coming of Christ, their purpose was fulfilled, and they are no longer binding upon the church. We don't sacrifice lambs because the Lamb of God has been sacrificed once for all.
"Judgments" typically refers to the civil or judicial laws. These were the case laws that governed Israel as a political nation, a theocracy. They dealt with matters of property, crime, and social order. For example, what to do when your ox gores your neighbor's ox. These laws were the application of God's perfect justice to a specific people in a specific time and place. While the exact applications are not binding on modern nations, the general equity, the underlying principle of justice, most certainly is. A righteous God still hates theft, murder, and partiality in judgment, and a just nation will reflect that in its own laws.
"Laws," or torah, is the most general term, but it often points to the moral law, summarized for us in the Ten Commandments. This is the law that is written on the heart of every man (Rom. 2:15). It is the transcript of God's own character. It reflects what is eternally right and wrong. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. These are not temporary statutes for one nation; they are the permanent, universal standard of righteousness for all people in all times. Jesus did not come to abolish this law, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17), and He writes it on the hearts of His people by the Holy Spirit.
So we see the comprehensive nature of God's rule. He governs our worship (statutes), our public life (judgments), and our personal morality (laws). There is no area of life that is outside of His jurisdiction. There is no square inch in all of creation over which Christ, who is sovereign, does not cry, "Mine!"
The Covenantal Framework (v. 46b)
Next, notice the context in which this law is given.
"...which Yahweh has given to be between Himself and the sons of Israel..."
This is crucial. The law was not given in a vacuum. It was not a standalone code of ethics dropped from the sky for individuals to follow in order to earn their way to heaven. That is the fundamental error of legalism. The law was given within a pre-existing covenant relationship. The grammar is "between Himself and the sons of Israel." This is relational language. This is treaty language.
Remember the sequence of events. God did not appear to the Israelites in Egypt and say, "If you keep all these laws, then I will rescue you from Pharaoh." No. He rescued them first. He redeemed them by His sovereign grace, He brought them out of bondage through the blood of the Passover lamb, and only then, after He had saved them, did He bring them to Sinai and give them the law. The law was given to a people who were already redeemed. It was not a ladder to climb up to God; it was the instruction manual for how to live as the people of God, in fellowship with Him.
This is the pattern of grace. God always takes the initiative. He establishes the relationship, and then He lays out the terms of that relationship. This is why the Ten Commandments begin with, "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Ex. 20:2). That's the gospel. That's the indicative of grace. And only after that do you get the imperatives of law: "You shall have no other gods before me." The law is for the redeemed. It is the guide for our gratitude.
The Mediator and the Mountain (v. 46c)
Finally, the text specifies the mediator and the location of this covenant transaction.
"...by the hand of Moses at Mount Sinai."
The law was not given to every Israelite individually in some sort of mystical free-for-all. It was given "by the hand of Moses." Moses was the covenant mediator. When the people saw the fire and smoke and heard the thunder and the trumpet blast at Sinai, they were terrified, and they told Moses to go speak to God on their behalf (Ex. 20:19). This establishes a foundational principle: sinful man cannot approach a holy God directly. A mediator is required.
Moses was a type, a forerunner, of the one true Mediator to come. The book of Hebrews makes this comparison explicit. Moses was faithful as a servant in God's house, but Christ is faithful as a Son over God's house (Heb. 3:5-6). The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). The old covenant, mediated by Moses, was glorious. But the new covenant, mediated by Jesus, has a glory that surpasses it. This is not because the law was bad, but because the new covenant comes with a better Mediator, a better sacrifice, and better promises.
And where was this law given? "At Mount Sinai." This was the mountain of fire and terror. It was the place that revealed the awesome, unapproachable holiness of God. It was the place that made the people tremble and recognize their need for a mediator. The New Testament believer, however, has not come to this mountain. "For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest... But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Heb. 12:18, 22). We come not to the mountain of law and terror, but to the mountain of grace and fellowship, all because of the work of our great Mediator, Jesus.
Conclusion: The Law in the Heart
So what does this concluding verse mean for us today? It means that God's law is not an artifact for a museum. It is the revelation of His unchanging character and His righteous will. It is a gift. The Psalmist says, "Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day" (Ps. 119:97). For the unregenerate man, the law is a stench of death. It condemns, it crushes, it reveals sin for what it is. It is a ministry of condemnation (2 Cor. 3:9). And that is a good thing. The law is a mirror that shows us our filth so that we will be driven to the fountain to be cleansed.
But for the believer, for the one who has been redeemed by grace, the law is transformed. It is no longer an external code that accuses us, because our Mediator has fulfilled all its demands on our behalf and paid its penalty for us. Through the new covenant, God does something remarkable. He takes the law that was written on stone at Sinai, and He writes it on the fleshy tablets of our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Jer. 31:33). Our relationship to the law changes from one of slavish fear to one of filial love. We obey not in order to be saved, but because we are saved.
This verse reminds us that our God is a God of order, a God of justice, and a God of covenant. He has not left us to wander in the dark. He has given us His Word, His statutes, His judgments, and His laws. And He has given us His Son, the perfect Mediator, who is the embodiment of that law and the fulfillment of that covenant. Therefore, let us not despise the law of God, but delight in it. Let us study it, meditate on it, and pray that God would write it ever more deeply on our hearts, so that we might walk in the blessings of obedience, all for His glory.