I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the ark."- Deuteronomy 10:2

Today's Scripture Reading (February 26, 2025): Deuteronomy 10

Leadership is a strange thing. And there are very few real leaders who walk among us. Part of the reason is that leadership is difficult and often unfair. Not only does the leader set the path for those who follow, but they also take the blame when things go wrong. It is that second part that is hard and unfair. Most of us would love to set the path for people, to have the ability to say "do this" or "don't do that." Setting the agenda and watching as people actually do what we say is the fun part of leadership. But when everything falls apart, even if it is because people don't follow the path we have set for them, a true leader is willing to say, "That's okay; that is my fault." This is the part of leadership that is less fun. And yet, for a leader, that is part of the job.

Moses went up on the mountain to talk with God. The rest of the nation has been left at the bottom of the mountain. How long Moses spent on Mount Sinai is not revealed, but it was long enough that the people began to wonder if maybe their leader had died on the mountain and was never coming back. They didn't go and try to find him; they couldn't; they had been prohibited from even stepping on the mountain's base. So, they created a new God at the base of the mountain. They made a golden calf and called the calf God; they created an idol, an act that violated the very covenant that God was giving to Moses on the mountain. 

As Moses descends from the mountain, he sees the calf and the people of whom he was the leader worshiping the calf. As a result, in his anger, he breaks the tablet God gave him with the law written on it. It was a moment of great symbolism; the tablets contained God's law and the requirements that defined the behavior he expected from his people. As the people broke the expectations listed on the tablet, Moses broke the tablets. This leads to a conversation between Moses and the people and the destruction of the golden calf before Moses ascends the mountain one more time for a conversation with God. 

God reminds Moses of two things. The first is that Moses broke the tablets. Moses couldn't deny what he had done. Moses broke the tablets on which the writing of God had been placed, but he also took responsibility for the people's breaking of the covenant when they created the golden calf. This is the hard part of leadership. Moses was their leader, and he had learned to take responsibility for his followers' wrongdoings. 

The second significant reaction was that God was willing to replace the broken tablets. Remaking the tablets was an act of grace. It represented a second chance both for Moses and Israel. It was the do-over that Israel needed and the one that we need as well.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 11

Personal Note: Happy Birthday to my now teen-age granddaughter, Emilina.