10612. 'As Jehovah had commanded him' means that such a thing should be done because of their insistence. This is clear from the meaning of 'Jehovah had commanded' - when the subject is the kind of outward form the Word takes on account of the Israelite nation, meant by 'the two tablets of stone' hewn by Moses - as that such a thing should be done because of their insistence. Various places in the Word which refer to the Israelite nation and the representative worship established among them state that Jehovah commanded this or that. But His good pleasure is not meant by His commanding it, only His permission that such a thing should be done because of their insistence; for they were insistent that they should be led into the land of Canaan and that Jehovah should reside with them, consequently that the Church should be established among them. Regarding that insistence, see 10430, 10535. Take for instance their presentation on altars of burnt offerings, sacrifices, minchahs, and drink offerings, regarding which very many laws were laid down and which also Jehovah is said to have commanded; these were not in fact commanded or decreed, only permitted, as may be recognized from the places quoted from the Word in 2180. The like applies to their being allowed to have a number of wives and to give a certificate of divorce for any reason whatever; Jehovah did not in fact command this, although it says that He did, but only permitted it on account of their hardness of heart, Matthew 19:7-8. The same is so with very many other things that Jehovah is said to have commanded.

10430. 'And you, let Me alone' means that they should not be so stubbornly insistent. This is clear from the meaning of 'letting alone', when said by Jehovah regarding that nation, as that they should not be so stubbornly insistent. For that nation was not chosen by the Lord but accepted by Him because they stubbornly insisted on it, see 4290, 4293, 7051, 7439. For that nation more than all others throughout the whole world was capable of fasting, prostrating themselves, rolling in ashes, and lamenting for days on end, and of not leaving off till they got what they wanted. But they behaved in that stubborn way solely for the sake of themselves, that is to say, because they were inflamed by the most fiery self-love and love of the world, and not for the sake of what was God's. People who go on like this are indeed heard; but even so they do not receive anything of heaven and the Church within themselves, only such things as belong to the world, provided that they adhere to statutes and laws in the outward form they take. This is why in the next life they are among those in hell, except for some who have been governed by what is good, and except for their young children. From all this it is evident that 'you, let Me alone' means that they should not be so stubbornly insistent.

Deuteronomy 31:19.