I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 39-40.

The other day I wrote that I was not sure when the Tabernacle replaced the tent that Moses had been using as the “Tent of Meeting”, well in today’s passage you can see that I have never before noticed the existence of a “Tent of Meeting” before the Tabernacle because it tells us that the Tabernacle became the Tent of Meeting when it was first set up.  Now I find the initial setting up of the Tabernacle interesting.  The passage tells us that Moses set up the Tabernacle, but we know that he had to have help to do so (there is no way that one person set up the Tabernacle by themselves as described).  What makes that interesting is that a little later we have detailed descriptions of how the people who set up the various parts of the Tabernacle each time it was moved needed to be consecrated.  Yet, at this point, no one had been consecrated, except Moses (who was a special case).  Of course, at this point, the Tabernacle and its furnishings had not yet been consecrated either.  The point being that everyone needs to start their journey to righteousness from where they are now, not from where someone thinks they ought to be.

I did not expect this to go in this direction when I began writing this today.  Sometimes I find it kind of interesting to see where I end up when I write these.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 36-38.

I have said this a few times over the last couple of days, but my eyes start to glaze over when I read these detailed descriptions of the design and building of the Tabernacle.  I want to take a moment to say that I know people who react differently to these passages, people who read this description and are awestruck by the splendor of what is being described.  I admire those who have that reaction.  Having said the above, there is something even I can get out of this passage.  The people of Israel gave so much towards the building of the Tabernacle that Moses had to order them to stop donating.  Think about that, a people who had only a short time before had left a land where their ancestors had lived for over 200 years while being chased by an army, donated so much that they had to be told to stop donating.  But, there’s more to it than that, those who were working on the Tabernacle could have kept taking what they gave and used it for their own uses.  They could have even justified it as recompense for the work they were doing on behalf of the rest of the people.  They didn’t.  They went to Moses and asked him to tell people to stop giving.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 33-35.

We generally use the terms “Tent of Meeting” and “Tabernacle” interchangeably.  Yet, in this passage, the Tent of Meeting is described as existing before the Tabernacle was built.  However, we also know that later the Tabernacle was often referred to as the Tent of Meeting.  To the best of my knowledge it is never made clear when the Tabernacle replaced the tent which Moses initially used as the Tent of Meeting.  The change may have taken place as soon as the Tabernacle was consecrated, but I suspect that it happened after Moses began delegating the bulk of the task of judging disputes to others.

Whenever Moses spoke with God it caused his face to become radiant for some time period afterwards.  In fact, the radiance caused the people to be afraid to come near him.  As a result, Moses wore a veil over his face except when he went in to speak with God and while he was telling the people what God had told him.  I see a lesson here which I am striving to figure out how to express.  When we discuss what we perceive to be God’s message to people, we should do so face to face, with no disguises and nothing hidden.  However, when we find ourselves among those whose lifestyles we disapprove, we should not be constantly expressing our disapproval.  I really wish I could express that better.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 30-32.

There are some interesting points about the account of the golden calf and its aftermath.  First, Aaron and the people referred to it in the plural, even though there was only one calf.  Some scholars have suggested that the reference to the calf in the plural was a later addition to make sure people connected this incident with the calves which Jeroboam had made when he rebelled against King Rehoboam.  Personally I believe that they referred to it in the plural because they wanted to have a pantheon like the nations around them rather than just one God.

Second, the account tells us that Moses ground up the statue, mixed it with water, and made the people drink it before he calls the Levites to kill those who were committing idolatry.  There are several other aspects of the story which do not quite fit together.  To me it reads like the account was compiled from what several different people remembered.  The different people did not know where what they remembered fit in with what the others remembered.  So, the author of this stitched their stories together as best he could.  The camp would have been very large, so it would make sense that people only remembered portions of  what happened and did not know how they tied together with things which happened in other parts of the camp.  Another explanation for the way the account is constructed is possible. This also works logically because the camp was very large and people in one part would not have been fully aware of what was going on elsewhere.  This explanation goes like this: Moses ground up the calf and made those who had been celebrating and worshiping it near it drink it.  However, elsewhere in the camp were those celebrating and worshiping the calf who were unaware of what was going on there.  Moses sent the Levites to settle things down and they killed those who refused to give up their new “gods”.