The Administering (Ministration) of Condemnation

[daq]

There are many topics of discussion which may branch off from this passage. This thread will be an attempt to address and discuss several of the most important, which are multiple, but not necessarily every facet of every branch of every possible discussion. Suffice to say, at this point based on the thread title, that the topic will include Paul's discourse on this passage found in 2 Corinthians 3.

It is important to understand that this passage occurs immediately after the golden calf rebellion and that this is the second time Mosheh goes up into the mountain to receive the second set of tablets with the Ten Words or Ten Sayings contained therein. Some of the words are now going to be different in this renewed set of instructions, and this is no trivial thing, for essentially what one is to understand initially herein is that the Most High has turned the rebellious over to themselves, (Amos 5:21-27, Acts 7:35-43).

Exodus 34:1-35 LSV (Literal Standard Version)
1 And YHWH says to Moses, "Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I have written on the tablets the words which were on the first tablets which you have broken;
2 and be prepared at morning, and you have come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and have stood before Me there, on the top of the mountain,
3 and no man comes up with you, and also no man is seen in all the mountain, also the flock and the herd do not feed toward the front of that mountain."
4 And he hews two tablets of stone like the first, and Moses rises early in the morning, and goes up to Mount Sinai as YHWH commanded him, and takes [the] two tablets of stone in his hand.
5 And YHWH comes down in a cloud, and stations Himself with him there, and calls in the Name of YHWH,
6 and YHWH passes over before his face, and calls: "YHWH, YHWH God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness and truth,
7 keeping kindness for thousands, taking away iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and not entirely acquitting, charging iniquity of fathers on sons and on sons’ sons, on a third and on a fourth [generation]."
8 And Moses hurries, and bows to the earth, and pays respect,
9 and says, "Now if I have found grace in Your eyes, O my Lord, please let my Lord go in our midst (for it [is] a stiff-necked people), and you have forgiven our iniquity and our sin, and have inherited us."
10 And He says, "Behold, I am making a covenant. I do wonders before all your people, which have not been done in all the earth, or in any nation, and all the people in whose midst you [are in] have seen the work of YHWH, for it [is] fearful—that which I am doing with you.
11 Observe for yourself that which I am commanding you today. Behold, I am casting out from before you the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite;
12 take heed to yourself lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land into which you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst;
13 for you break down their altars, and you shatter their standing pillars, and you cut down its Asherim;
14 for you do not bow yourselves to another god—for YHWH, whose Name [is] Zealous, is a zealous God.
15 Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and they have gone whoring after their gods, and have sacrificed to their gods, and [one] has called to you, and you have eaten of his sacrifice,
16 and you have taken of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters have gone whoring after their gods, and have caused your sons to go whoring after their gods;
17 you do not make a molten god for yourself.
18 You keep the Celebration of Unleavened Things; [for] seven days you eat unleavened things, as I have commanded you, at an appointed time, [in] the month of Abib: for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
19 All opening a womb [are] Mine, and every firstling of your livestock born a male, [whether] ox or sheep;
20 and you ransom the firstling of a donkey with a lamb; and if you do not ransom, then you have beheaded it; you ransom every firstborn of your sons, and they do not appear before Me empty.
21 [For] six days you work, and on the seventh day you rest; in plowing-time and in harvest you rest.
22 And you observe [the] Celebration of Weeks for yourself, of [the] first-fruits of wheat-harvest; and the Celebration of Ingathering at the revolution of the year.
23 Three times in a year all your males appear before the Lord YHWH, God of Israel;
24 for I dispossess nations from before you, and have enlarged your border, and no man desires your land in your going up to appear before your God YHWH three times in a year.
25 You do not slaughter the blood of My sacrifice with a fermented thing; and the sacrifice of the Celebration of the Passover does not remain until morning.
26 You bring the first of the first-fruits of the land into the house of your God YHWH. You do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk."
27 And YHWH says to Moses, "Write these words for yourself, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel according to the tenor of these words."
28 And he is there with YHWH forty days and forty nights; he has not eaten bread, and he has not drunk water; and he writes on the tablets the matters of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
29 And it comes to pass, when Moses is coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony [are] in the hand of Moses in his coming down from the mountain), that Moses has not known that the skin of his face has shone in His speaking with him,
30 and Aaron sees—all the sons of Israel also—Moses, and behold, the skin of his face has shone, and they are afraid of coming near to him.
31 And Moses calls to them, and Aaron and all the princes in the congregation return to him, and Moses speaks to them;
32 and afterward all the sons of Israel have come near, and he charges them with all that YHWH has spoken with him in Mount Sinai.
33 And Moses finishes speaking with them, and puts a veil on his face;
34 and in the going in of Moses before YHWH to speak with Him, he turns aside the veil until his coming out; and he has come out and has spoken to the sons of Israel that which he is commanded;
35 and the sons of Israel have seen the face of Moses, that the skin of the face of Moses has shone, and Moses has put back the veil on his face until his going in to speak with Him.

Exodus 34:22-23 is extremely important because herein we read that the feast of Shabuot, (Weeks), and the feast of Ingathering, (Sukkot-Tabernacles), are to be observed "for yourself". This is not the same as what we read before the golden calf rebellion, which passage is recorded in Exodus 23, were the commandment is that the three main feasts are to be observed "unto Me", says the Most High in that passage.

Exodus 23:14-17 LSV
14 You keep a celebration to Me three times in a year:
15 you keep the Celebration of Unleavened Things (you eat unleavened things [for] seven days as I have commanded you, at the time appointed [in] the month of Abib; for in it you have come forth out of Egypt, and you do not appear [in] My presence empty);
16 and the Celebration of Harvest, the first-fruits of your works which you sow in the field; and the Celebration of the Ingathering in the outgoing of the year, in your gathering your works out of the field.
17 Three times in a year all your males appear before [the] face of the Lord YHWH.

Why this critical difference? Think logically and at the same time think with the mind of Meshiah: if you love the Father with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your strength, will you not make "your way" into "His Way" so as to be pleasing unto Him? But if you do not make your way to conform with His Way then your way will surely end up to be detestable and be done away with in the end.

It is indeed a condemnation to any and all who would go their own way and yet imagine themselves to be observing the Torah, and especially those who think they are going to be justified in doing so, but doing so according to their own natural minded outward and physical interpretations and misunderstandings of the Instruction of the Father in His Word.

 

[daq]

As referenced in the OP it is Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, who ties these concepts together: for we see in one of the passages which he quotes from, (Amos 5), the same language, "your feasts", etc., and in this the Prophet refers back to Exodus 34 quoted in the OP above.

Acts 7:35-43 KJV
35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.
38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
40 Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

Amos 5:21-27 KJV
21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.

And we find the same language in Yeshayah the Prophet:

Isaiah 1:10-15 KJV
10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

And again we find the same language in Malachi the Prophet:

Malachi 2:1-8 KJV
1 And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.
4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
5 My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.
6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
7 For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
8 But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.

If it is about giving glory to the name of the Most High, (Mal 2:2), then it surely pertains to observing the Torah, His Word, according to what is pleasing to Him and not what is only pleasing to ourselves. There is therefore a choice to be made, and this choice is warned about also in the Torah, that is, in Dt 30:11-20, (discussed many other places on this board, example here). Moreover, in the same passage from Acts, Stephen also quotes from Isa 66:1-2, which teaches us that man is the true temple of Elohim, not a building made with hands, (Acts 7:44-53). In that passage from the Prophet we are informed precisely what the problem is: it is that choice, the choice which concerns our own view, interpretation, and understanding of the Torah which is spiritual, (Rom 7:14). The wrong choice means the hearer chooses what is pleasing to himself or herself, and not what is pleasing to the Father: which eventually becomes catastrophic if the course is not altered.

Isaiah 66:1-4 KJV
1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
3 He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

All of these catastrophic consequences stem from not understanding Exodus 34 as quoted in the OP, and for choosing incorrectly how to hear, (Luke 8:18), and understand the Torah, which is spiritual, (Rom 7:14), and for choosing their own way and what was pleasing unto themselves rather than forcing their way to conform to the Way of the Father and what is pleasing to Him according to His Word.

 

[daq]

It is fairly clear in the 2 Corinthians 3 passage that Paul is expounding from the LXX-Septuagint, for there are some key indicators in the text, such as that he speaks of the tablets or tables of stone, and when he speaks of the skin of the face of Mosheh which shone, (the Hebrew text basically says only this), he uses word forms for glory, glorified, glorious, etc., (G1391 δόξα doxa, G1392 δοξάζω doxazo), which are only found in the LXX-Septuagint.

Why are these things important and why does he even go so far as to include the stone tablets in his discourse? It is most likely because the LXX contains the following statement in Exodus 34:28 which is not the same as what we now read in the Hebrew text.

Exodus 34:28 Brenton Septuagint Translation
28 And Moses was there before the Lord forty days, and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water; and he wrote upon the tables these words of the covenant, the ten sayings.

This is a huge difference from what we now read in the Hebrew text: the above Greek text says that the words written in the covenant portion of the Exodus 34 passage are what was actually written on the second set of stone tablets. Are these Ten Sayings the same as what was spoken in Exodus 20? No, they are not the same, but they are companion sayings, the Ten Sayings, which expound the Ten Commandments that were first of all spoken, and then written down later by Mosheh in the Torah, in Exodus 20. Do these Ten Sayings in Exodus 34 match up with the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20?

The first commandment with its saying:

Exodus 20:2-3 LSV
2 "I [am] your God YHWH, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants.
3 You have no other Gods before Me.

Exodus 34:12-14 LSV
12 take heed to yourself lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land into which you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst;
13 for you break down their altars, and you shatter their standing pillars, and you cut down its Asherim;
14 for you do not bow yourselves to another god—for YHWH, whose Name [is] Zealous, is a zealous God.

The seventh commandment with its saying:

Exodus 20:14 LSV
14 You do not commit adultery.

Exodus 34:15-16 LSV
15 Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and they have gone whoring after their gods, and have sacrificed to their gods, and [one] has called to you, and you have eaten of his sacrifice,
16 and you have taken of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters have gone whoring after their gods, and have caused your sons to go whoring after their gods;

The second commandment with its saying:

Exodus 20:4-6 LSV
4 You do not make a carved image for yourself, or any likeness which [is] in the heavens above, or which [is] in the earth beneath, or which [is] in the waters under the earth.
5 You do not bow yourself to them, nor serve them: for I, your God YHWH, [am] a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on a third and on a fourth [generation] of those hating Me,
6 and doing kindness to thousands, of those loving Me and keeping My commands.

Exodus 34:17 LSV
17 you do not make a molten god for yourself.

The first portion of the fifth commandment, (honor your Father), with its saying:

Exodus 20:12 LSV
12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days are prolonged on the ground which your God YHWH is giving to you.

Exodus 34:18 LSV
18 You keep the Celebration of Unleavened Things; [for] seven days you eat unleavened things, as I have commanded you, at an appointed time, [in] the month of Abib: for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.

Exodus 12:11 LSV
11 And thus you eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you have eaten it in haste; it is YHWH’s Passover,

The third commandment with its saying:

Exodus 20:7 LSV
7 You do not take up the Name of your God YHWH for a vain thing, for YHWH does not acquit him who takes up His Name for a vain thing.

Exodus 34:19-20 LSV
19 All opening a womb [are] Mine, and every firstling of your livestock born a male, [whether] ox or sheep;
20 and you ransom the firstling of a donkey with a lamb; and if you do not ransom, then you have beheaded it; you ransom every firstborn of your sons, and they do not appear before Me empty.

The fourth commandment with its saying:

Exodus 20:8-11 LSV
8 Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it;
9 six days you labor and have done all your work,
10 and the seventh day [is] a Sabbath to your God YHWH; you do not do any work, you, and your son, and your daughter, your manservant, and your handmaid, and your livestock, and your sojourner who is within your gates—
11 for [in] six days YHWH has made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that [is] in them, and rests in the seventh day; therefore YHWH has blessed the Sabbath day and sanctifies it.

Exodus 34:21 LSV
21 [For] six days you work, and on the seventh day you rest; in plowing-time and in harvest you rest.

The full portion of the fifth commandment with its saying:

Exodus 20:12 LSV
12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days are prolonged on the ground which your God YHWH is giving to you.

Exodus 34:22-23 LSV
22 And you observe [the] Celebration of Weeks for yourself, of [the] first-fruits of wheat-harvest; and the Celebration of Ingathering at the revolution of the year.
23 Three times in a year all your males appear before the Lord YHWH, God of Israel;

The tenth commandment with its saying:

Exodus 20:17 LSV
17 You do not desire the house of your neighbor, you do not desire the wife of your neighbor, or his manservant, or his handmaid, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything which [is] your neighbor’s."

Exodus 34:24 LSV
24 for I dispossess nations from before you, and have enlarged your border, and no man desires your land in your going up to appear before your God YHWH three times in a year.

The sixth commandment with its saying:

Exodus 20:13 LSV
13 You do not murder.

Exodus 34:25 LSV
25 You do not slaughter the blood of My sacrifice with a fermented thing; and the sacrifice of the Celebration of the Passover does not remain until morning.

A fermented thing or leaven, (H2557 חָמֵץ chamets), can also mean extortion and-or malice: "You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice by extortion". Murdering the innocent living soul of a living creature, such as a lamb or a goat, and using its blood as an atoning for your sin, is both extortion and malice: the leaven is the faulty teaching and incorrect understanding, the malice and extortion is the killing and taking of its soul and blood to use for an atonement in your place.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8 KJV
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

The eighth and ninth commandments with their sayings:

Exodus 20:15-16 LSV
15 You do not steal.
16 You do not answer [with] a false testimony against your neighbor.

Exodus 34:26 LSV
26 You bring the first of the first-fruits of the land into the house of your God YHWH. You do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk."

The Ten Sayings of Exodus 34 appear to be Logos flowing from the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.

 

[daq]

I truly believe messianic and SDA readers of 2Cor 3:6-11 are in denial of what those verses are telling us.

It is with heavy heart when I read Messianic and SDA responses concerning what Paul so plainly wrote.

Paul is expounding from Exodus 34.
I have already offered a preliminary overview of my understanding.

The Administering (Ministration) of Condemnation

There are many topics of discussion which may branch off from this passage. This thread will be an attempt to address and discuss several of the most important, which are multiple, but not necessarily every facet of every branch of every possible discussion. Suffice to say, at this point based...

www.christianforums.com

No one responded so I left the thread where it stands as of now.

Basically what this means is that "your way" is what is done away with if "your way" of understanding the Torah is the same as the outward, carnal, physical understandings and teachings of the Sanhedrin, Elders, Chief Priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes in the Gospel accounts.

And that is because their way is what Paul means by the old covenant in 2 Cor 3, their interpretations and teachings in letters of injunctions and dogmas, which were binding on the whole nation, enforcing their interpretations of the Torah upon the people: for that is what it means in the Exo 34 passage from which Paul is expounding.

Exodus 34:10-24 LSV
10 And He says, "Behold, I am making a covenant. I do wonders before all your people, which have not been done in all the earth, or in any nation, and all the people in whose midst you [are in] have seen the work of YHWH, for it [is] fearful—that which I am doing with you.
11 Observe for yourself that which I am commanding you today. Behold, I am casting out from before you the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite;
12 take heed to yourself lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land into which you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst;
13 for you break down their altars, and you shatter their standing pillars, and you cut down its Asherim;
14 for you do not bow yourselves to another god—for YHWH, whose Name [is] Zealous, is a zealous God.
15 Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and they have gone whoring after their gods, and have sacrificed to their gods, and [one] has called to you, and you have eaten of his sacrifice,
16 and you have taken of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters have gone whoring after their gods, and have caused your sons to go whoring after their gods;
17 you do not make a molten god for yourself.
18 You keep the Celebration of Unleavened Things; [for] seven days you eat unleavened things, as I have commanded you, at an appointed time, [in] the month of Abib: for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
19 All opening a womb [are] Mine, and every firstling of your livestock born a male, [whether] ox or sheep;
20 and you ransom the firstling of a donkey with a lamb; and if you do not ransom, then you have beheaded it; you ransom every firstborn of your sons, and they do not appear before Me empty.
21 [For] six days you work, and on the seventh day you rest; in plowing-time and in harvest you rest.
22 And you observe [the] Celebration of Weeks for yourself, of [the] first-fruits of wheat-harvest; and the Celebration of Ingathering at the revolution of the year.
23 Three times in a year all your males appear before the Lord YHWH, God of Israel;
24 for I dispossess nations from before you, and have enlarged your border, and no man desires your land in your going up to appear before your God YHWH three times in a year.

For yourself ... for yourself ... for yourself ...

Amos 5:21-27 KJV
21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.

Isaiah 1:10-15 KJV
10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

 

[daq]

Exodus 20:12 LSV
12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days are prolonged on the ground which your God YHWH is giving to you.

Exodus 34:22-23 LSV
22 And you observe [the] Celebration of Weeks for yourself, of [the] first-fruits of wheat-harvest; and the Celebration of Ingathering at the revolution of the year.
23 Three times in a year all your males appear before the Lord YHWH, God of Israel;

So then, the fifth commandment to honor your father and your mother, with its companion statement and counterpart which is given in Exodus 34:22-23, includes honoring your heavenly Father and Mother, and who is our heavenly Mother according to Paul? That would of course be Yerushalem of above according to his discourse in Gal 4:22-31. Moreover it is clear by the context that this is an allegory for the two covenants, and thus, Yerushalem of above represents the covenant as viewed through the renewed heart, mind, and eyes of those believing, understanding, and walking in the Testimony of the Meshiah whose Testimony is the renewal of the covenant according to the spiritual and supernal Way of the Father who sent him.

Thankfully Paul makes sure to quote from one of the Prophets, so as to make his intention perfectly clear, as regards the identity of Yerushalem of above according to the Yeshayah passage from which he quotes.

Galatians 4:22-27 KJV
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. [Isa 54:1]

When we go to the quoted passage the context makes the meaning of Yerushalem of above very clear, and it surely concerns the Covenant because herein Yerushalem is likened to the Mishkan-Tabernacle of the Torah. One may hardly get more explicit than what follows the quote in that passage.

Isaiah 54:1-3 KJV
1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. [Gal 4:27]
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

No doubt the Prophet herein likens Yerushalem to the Mishkan-Tabernacle with terms such as her Tent, her curtains, her cords, and her stakes, all of which are vessels and articles of the Mishkan, and Paul moreover informs us that this is (an allegory for) Yerushalem of above who is our mother (covenant).

Therefore the understanding of the fifth commandment and its corollary stated in the companion passage, Exo 34:22-23, informs the observant reader and hearer that the fifth commandment includes the commandments regarding the Mishkan-Tabernacle and its services and especially the prescribed appointed times, feasts, festivals, and observances throughout the year. To not observe such things is to dishonor both father and mother, that is, our heavenly Father and our heavenly Mother, Yerushalem of above, our mother-covenant according to Paul.

Fifth Commandment:

Exodus 20:12 LSV
12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days are prolonged on the ground which your God YHWH is giving to you.

Companion statement:

Exodus 34:22-23 LSV
22 And you observe [the] Celebration of Weeks for yourself, of [the] first-fruits of wheat-harvest; and the Celebration of Ingathering at the revolution of the year.
23 Three times in a year all your males appear before the Lord YHWH, God of Israel;

The three feasts mentioned in the above cannot be abolished or sidelined as "ceremonial law" because to do so, (if anyone truly desires to observe the Ten Commandments), is to dishonor both our heavenly Father and our heavenly Mother, Yerushalem of above, our mother-covenant according to Paul.

 

[daq]

It is fairly clear in the 2 Corinthians 3 passage that Paul is expounding from the LXX-Septuagint, for there are some key indicators in the text, such as that he speaks of the tablets or tables of stone, and when he speaks of the skin of the face of Mosheh which shone, (the Hebrew text basically says only this), he uses word forms for glory, glorified, glorious, etc., (G1391 δόξα doxa, G1392 δοξάζω doxazo), which are only found in the LXX-Septuagint.

Why are these things important and why does he even go so far as to include the stone tablets in his discourse? It is most likely because the LXX contains the following statement in Exodus 34:28 which is not the same as what we now read in the Hebrew text.

Exodus 34:28 Brenton Septuagint Translation
28 And Moses was there before the Lord forty days, and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water; and he wrote upon the tables these words of the covenant, the ten sayings.

This is a huge difference from what we now read in the Hebrew text: the above Greek text says that the words written in the covenant portion of the Exodus 34 passage are what was actually written on the second set of stone tablets. Are these Ten Sayings the same as what was spoken in Exodus 20? No, they are not the same, but they are companion sayings, the Ten Sayings, which expound the Ten Commandments that were first of all spoken, and then written down later by Mosheh in the Torah, in Exodus 20. Do these Ten Sayings in Exodus 34 match up with the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20?

As previously mentioned in the above post, it is clear from the 2Cor 3 passage context that Paul is expounding from the LXX-Septuagint, and not from the Hebrew text, and this may be seen by the fact that Paul mentions so much about glory: for there is nothing actually said in the Hebrew text about glory, (H3519 kabowd), except for the statements that the face of Mosheh shone, (H7160 qaran), and that is all that it says about his face, while the Septuagint adds forms of glory, (glorious, glorified), to explain a more complete understanding of the Hebrew word for to shine or shone in this context.

2 Corinthians 3:7-11
7 ει δε η διακονια του θανατου εν γραμμασιν εντετυπωμενη λιθοις εγενηθη εν δοξη ωστε μη δυνασθαι ατενισαι τους υιους ισραηλ εις το προσωπον μωυσεως δια την δοξαν του προσωπου αυτου την καταργουμενην
8 πως ουχι μαλλον η διακονια του πνευματος εσται εν δοξη
9 ει γαρ η διακονια της κατακρισεως δοξα πολλω μαλλον περισσευει η διακονια της δικαιοσυνης δοξη
10 και γαρ ου δεδοξασται το δεδοξασμενον εν τουτω τω μερει εινεκεν της υπερβαλλουσης δοξης
11 ει γαρ το καταργουμενον δια δοξης πολλω μαλλον το μενον εν δοξη

2 Corinthians 3:7-11
7 But if the administering of death in letters engraved in stones came with glory, so that the sons of Yisrael were not able to look steadfastly at the face of Mosheh because of the glory of his face, which was passing away,
8 how shall not the administering of the Spirit be with more glory?
9 For if the administering of condemnation is with glory, much more does the administering of righteousness abound with glory:
10 for not even that which has been glorious has been glorious in this respect, on account of the surpassing glory,
11 for if that which is passing away is by way of glory, much more that which remains is with glory.

Exodus 34:28-35 LSV
28 And he is there with YHWH forty days and forty nights; he has not eaten bread, and he has not drunk water; and he writes on the tablets the matters of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
29 And it comes to pass, when Moses is coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony [are] in the hand of Moses in his coming down from the mountain), that Moses has not known that the skin of his face has shone in His speaking with him,
30 and Aaron sees—all the sons of Israel also—Moses, and behold, the skin of his face has shone, and they are afraid of coming near to him.
31 And Moses calls to them, and Aaron and all the princes in the congregation return to him, and Moses speaks to them;
32 and afterward all the sons of Israel have come near, and he charges them with all that YHWH has spoken with him in Mount Sinai.
33 And Moses finishes speaking with them, and puts a veil on his face;
34 and in the going in of Moses before YHWH to speak with Him, he turns aside the veil until his coming out; and he has come out and has spoken to the sons of Israel that which he is commanded;
35 and the sons of Israel have seen the face of Moses, that the skin of the face of Moses has shone, and Moses has put back the veil on his face until his going in to speak with Him.

Exodus 34:28-35 LXX-Septuagint (Brenton Translation)
28 And Moses was there before the Lord forty days, and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water; and he wrote upon the tables these words of the covenant, the ten sayings.
29 And when Moses went down from the mountain, there were the two tables in the hands of Moses, - as then he went down from the mountain, Moses knew not that the appearance of the skin of his face was glorified, when God spoke to him.
30 And Aaron and all the elders of Israel saw Moses, and the appearance of the skin of his face was made glorious, and they feared to approach him.
31 And Moses called them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the synagogue turned towards him, and Moses spoke to them.
32 And afterwards all the children of Israel came to him, and he commanded them all things, whatsoever the Lord had commanded him in the mount of Sina.
33 And when he ceased speaking to them, he put a veil on his face.
34 And whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak to him, he took off the veil till he went out, and he went forth and spoke to all the children of Israel whatsoever the Lord commanded him.
35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that it was glorified; and Moses put the veil over his face, till he went in to speak with him.

This knowledge, that indeed Paul is expounding from the Greek text, is critical to understand for several reasons, one of which being that, where the Hebrew text may be somewhat limited, the Greek text allows for more explanation just as in the case with glory, glorious, and glorified in the above texts. The next critically important place where this happens is with the Hebrew word dabar, a word or a matter or a saying, etc., but dabar cannot tell us the difference between rhema and logos, which things can really only be understood from the meanings of those Greek words and the contexts wherein they are used. The understanding may be known from within the Hebrew text, but only by the context, for dabar is used in either sense. Because of this the Greek writings of the Apostles teach the meanings of rhema and logos, (if one is not already familiar with the LXX), and when we go back to the LXX-Septuagint we see that the meanings are the same for how the same two words are employed in the Apostolic Writings. By the differences in the meanings of these two words, rhema and logos, we find in the LXX-Septuagint what we would have had a more difficult time seeing or even noticing in the Hebrew text because dabar is rendered with both rhema and logos in the LXX, and this is the case with the "Ten Commandments".

Now then, because of these things, we have a critically important clue from the LXX-Septuagint which helps us to understand what is going on with all of the matters so far addressed in this entire thread, that is, that the first "Ten Words" are Rhema, while the second set of "Ten Words" are Logos.

The first set of the Ten Words: τα δεκα ρηματα

Deuteronomy 4:12-13 OG LXX
12 και ελαλησεν κυριος προς υμας εκ μεσου του πυρος φωνην ρηματων υμεις ηκουσατε και ομοιωμα ουκ ειδετε αλλ η φωνην
13 και ανηγγειλεν υμιν την διαθηκην αυτου ην ενετειλατο υμιν ποιειν τα δεκα ρηματα και εγραψεν αυτα επι δυο πλακας λιθινας

The second set of the Ten Words: τους δεκα λογους

Deuteronomy 10:3-4 OG LXX
3 και εποιησα κιβωτον εκ ξυλων ασηπτων και ελαξευσα τας δυο πλακας τας λιθινας ως αι πρωται και ανεβην εις το ορος και αι δυο πλακες επι ταις χερσιν μου
4 και εγραψεν επι τας πλακας κατα την γραφην την πρωτην τους δεκα λογους ους ελαλησεν κυριος προς υμας εν τω ορει εκ μεσου του πυρος και εδωκεν αυτας κυριος εμοι

Exodus 34:28 OG LXX
28 και ην εκει μωυσης εναντιον κυριου τεσσαρακοντα ημερας και τεσσαρακοντα νυκτας αρτον ουκ εφαγεν και υδωρ ουκ επιεν και εγραψεν τα ρηματα ταυτα επι των πλακων της διαθηκης τους δεκα λογους

 

[daq]

The author of the Epistle of Barnabas agrees that the first covenant given at Sinai is the covenant translated, confirmed, and fulfilled in Meshiah, surely meaning that the author intends that the second covenant, the one from Exodus 34, is the same which Paul calls "the old" in 2Cor 3, as explained thus far in this thread. However the former was never fully expounded until the advent of the Meshiah: for it was never even fully implemented, and Mosheh knew this, and he spoke and prophesied about it in Deut 18:15-22. And although the Prophets and authors of the Writings did receive their different portions, none of them had the understanding of the whole, for the whole understanding was reserved for the Meshiah when he would come. The Testimony of the Meshiah in the Gospel accounts is therefore the only way the veil over the heart and mind may be removed: for the renewed covenant is spiritual and spiritually understood, and cannot be understood by the natural mind, which cannot be subject to the Torah of Elohim, and therefore cannot please Elohim, (Rom 8:4-8)

Barnabas 14 (Kirsopp Lake Translation)
1 So it is. But let us see whether the covenant which he sware to the fathers to give to the people -- whether he has given it. He has given it. But they were not worthy to receive it because of their sins.
2 For the Prophet says, "And Moses was fasting on Mount Sinai, to receive the covenant of the Lord for the people, forty days and forty nights. And Moses received from the Lord the two tables, written by the finger of the hand of the Lord in the Spirit"; and Moses took them, and carried them down to give them to the people.
3 And the Lord said to Moses, "Moses, Moses, go down quickly, for thy people whom thou didst bring out of the land of Egypt have broken the Law. And Moses perceived that they had made themselves again molten images, and he cast them out of his hands, and the tables of the covenant of the Lord were broken."
4 Moses received it, but they were not worthy. But learn how we received it. Moses received it when he was a servant, but the Lord himself gave it to us, as the people of the inheritance, by suffering for our sakes.
5 And it was made manifest both that the tale of their sins should be completed in their sins, and that we through Jesus, the Lord who inherits the covenant, should receive it, for he was prepared for this purpose, that when he appeared he might redeem from darkness our hearts which were already paid over to death, and given over to the iniquity of error, and by his word might make a covenant with us.
6 For it is written that the Father enjoins on him that he should redeem us from darkness and prepare a holy people for himself.
7 The Prophet therefore says, "I the Lord thy God did call thee in righteousness, and I will hold thy hands, and I will give thee strength, and I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light to the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring forth from their fetters those that are bound and those that sit in darkness out of the prison house." We know then whence we have been redeemed.
8 Again the Prophet says, "Lo, I have made thee a light for the Gentiles, to be for salvation unto the ends of the earth, thus saith the Lord the God who did redeem thee."
9 And again the Prophet saith, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the Gospel of grace to the humble, he sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim delivery to the captives, and sight to the blind, to announce a year acceptable to the Lord, and a day of recompense, to comfort all who mourn."

The author of the above text is saying that Mosheh did indeed receive the primary covenant that was promised to Abraham, Yitzhak, and Yakob, but that the golden calf incident caused that covenant to be removed immediately because they had broken it immediately, (which is exactly what happened and that's when the second was given, in Exodus 34). Then, after making that point clear, the author is also saying that the primary covenant was given to us through Meshiah: and we know that the Meshiah says that his Testimony is not his own, but from He who sent him, and therefore surely it is from the Father, spoken through His Son unto us and to anyone willing to hear.