WMM Bible Study: Acts 2

Really only one person showed up for the Bible Study this week and that one person, Irene Goodman, is no longer a member of WMM but was visiting for the Quarterly Meeting. It was great having her though and our conversation about Acts 2 was wonderful.

The questions we were considering were considering were about the experience of the Holy Spirit that apostles had at the Festival of Weeks meeting they had 50 days after the death and resurrection of Christ. It was a traditional gathering of Jews called "shavu'ot" or the Festival of Weeks, a harvest festival and celebration of the giving of the Law to Moses. When they gather in the upper room of a house, they experience a powerful wind from heaven that is reminiscent of Ezekiel's vision. As in Ezekiel's vision, they too experience tongues of fire that emanate from the wind above them and they seem to be speaking in every known language, so that everyone in Jerusalem can hear them speaking in their own tongue. We talked about this "speaking in tongues" story and wondered if it was perhaps different from what today's Evangelicals mean when they talk about it. It may have meant to the writer - Luke - that the message they were receiving from the Spirit of God was one that was meant to go out to all and that it was understandable to all. We liked that approach better, but it is clear from other letters of Paul that the early Christian community did have "glossolalia" in their meetings and he was concerned that it not be overemphasized or done without translation.

The next question had to do with the core elements of Peter's message, the first public teaching of the apostles about Jesus:

• The "glossolalia" was seen as a sign that the words of the prophet Joel were being fulfilled and that the Spirit of God was now being "poured out on ALL" - make, female, Jew, Gentile, slave and free.
• The miracles Jesus performed were signs that God was working through him.
• God raised Jesus to life because he could not be held by the power of death.
• God's oath to King David, that one of his descendants would head God's kingdom is made good in Christ's resurrection; this "risen Christ" is meant to be both Lord and King.
• All who enter the community must be baptized - a sign of repentance - in order to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We talked about this baptism - whether it really needed to be a physical baptism. While we agreed that it probably was for early Christians, the key thing was the repentance and intention to be part of the community.
• The essentials mentioned by the author were to be faithful to the teaching of the apostles, faithfulness to the "brotherhood" - care of others in the community - and faithfulness to the practices of breaking bread together and praying constantly.

 The community that arose grew rapidly and was noteworthy especially for its concern for all and the giving up of property to the community. That was a hard one to continue over time. 

We will probably go on to Chapter 3 and 4 next time and we'll look again at the details of what the early apostles thought was KEY in the building of the community, and the beginnings of the time of trials they had to endure. 

The following quote from William Penn's No Cross, No Crown is very pertinent to the spirit of repentance early Friends shared with early Christians:

“ . . .we were made to see him whom we had pierced, and to mourn for it. A day of humiliation overtook us, and we fainted to that pleasure and delight we once loved. Now our works went beforehand to judgment, a thorough search was made, and the words of the prophet became well understood by us; ‘Who can abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appears. . . . . .the terrors of the Lord took such hold upon us, because we had long, under a profession of religion, grieved God’s Holy Spirit, which reproved us in secret for our disobedience; that as we abhorred to think of continuing in our old sins, so we feared to use lawful things, lest we should use them unlawfully” (Penn 104-105)

WMM Bible Study: Acts of the Apostles

Today we got started on the new year of scripture study at Westbury Monthly Meeting. This year we will be starting with Acts of the Apostles. Up until 150 AD, Acts was part of one longer work that included the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles. The author is the same and you will find places where knowing that is helpful. One of the reasons we are doing this "book" is because early Quakers believed strongly that the Christian Church/es had fallen into what they called an apostasy very early - before Constantine. Somehow they had gotten caught up in errors that would lead them away from the powerful spiritual message Friends thought Jesus tried to bring. So we thought by reading a very early history of the church, we might uncover what the original message was.

We started today with psalm 42 - suggested to us by one of our members. It was beautiful: "As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for you, the living God" (42:1-2). I think I felt that thirst among all present.

Here is a short recap of chapter 1:  

Luke starts his account of what happened after Jesus the “taken up to heaven” (1:2). “For forty days after his death he appeared to [his apostles] many times in ways that proved beyond doubt that he was alive They saw him, and he talked with them about the Kingdom of God” (1:3).We talked about what we thought these experiences of "the risen Christ" may have been in those days and also how we had experienced God's presence in our lives. We went back and took a look at Luke's account of Jesus' resurrection and the common presence in his accounts of the "two men dressed in white" [see Luke 24 and Acts 1:10].

The two men in white robes appear, and they ask the apostles why they are staring up toward heaven, that Jesus will come back to them in the same way at some point in time (1:11). There is a reference in Book of Daniel, chapter 7:13 of clouds bringing the one who is like a Son of Man. We talked also about the deep Old Testament context that surrounded everything written of Jesus.

The apostles return to Jerusalem and go to an upstairs room where they stayed and prayed—Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas the son of James and certain women, including his mother and his brothers too. Peter stands up among a crowd of about 120 and addresses them. The tenor of his address is that the betrayal of Jesus by Judas was a fulfillment of Scripture. As an aside he relates that Judas ended badly in the field he had bought with the dirty money he got for his betrayal. Psalms made reference to here are 69 and 109, both Davidic psalms reflecting cries by David for divine justice against enemies that have plagued him. They want to name a replacement for him, someone who can witness to everything Jesus did from his baptism to his ascension. Joseph, Barsabbas, (or Justus) and Matthias are proposed. They pray and ask the Lord for guidance. They cast lots and Matthias is picked (1:26). It is interesting to consider that it is really Paul who will be named the replacement apostle by God. Could it have been that this might have been the beginning of the "apostasy" - assuming that the authority structure they were setting up could replace the work of the Holy Spirit amongst them? 

For next time we agreed to try to read through chapter 2 before coming next month. Here are a few questions to consider:

1. What is it that happens to the apostles and disciples at what is called "pentecost"? What does it mean to you?

2. What are the core elements of Peter's message, the first public teaching of the apostles about Jesus?

3. What is the significance of the Old Testament references made by Peter?

4. What kind of community arose?

WMM Bible Reading - Questions to Consider for Exodus 21-40

Here are some questions and comments on the many chapters we are going to try to cover when we meet on Sunday, May 27th at 10 AM (if you can make it). If you have thoughts about any of this and can't make it, feel free to leave a comment. And if you have a request for where we should go next, please let me know.

Exodus Questions (21-40)

Exodus 21

We begin here to get the “details” of the covenant Moses brings to the people from the Elohist tradition. Here are some sources if you want to check out what this is and how the tradition has different names for God.

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11305-names-of-god  

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5705-elohist#

Anything pop out to you in the list of laws that you read about here?

Exodus 22

The problems dealt with here are more complicated, at least to begin with – again, anything pop out?

Exodus 23

I find the laws here interesting, especially the following

Temptation in siding with “the majority”

Favoring the poor?

Policies towards the poor

Pilgrim feasts

Association of wealth and success with doing the Lord’s will (?)

Exodus 24

The difference between Moses and all the rest – what do you think?

Exodus 25

Specifications as to the building of the Ark of the Covenant, also called the Covenant Box in some versions: do you see anything interesting in the details?

Exodus 26

Again, great detail in describing the tent in which the Ark will be kept and the details of the inner sanctuary.

Exodus 27

The altar

Exodus 28

Priestly vestments – some of the detail resonates in the apocalyptic books of Daniel and later in Revelation.

Exodus 29

Consecration of priests and sacrifices that will accompany it.

Exodus 30

The incense altar

The census – why are they considered so bad?

Exodus 31

The choosing of artisans to do all the work described.

Exodus 32

OK, things start to get interesting here again. Moses goes back up the mountain to confer with God and the people get Aaron to “make a god” for them. What is important and interesting about this part of the story?

What is the difference between God’s response to what the people do and Moses’?

What do you think about Aaron?

What about the penalty??

Exodus 33

What do you think of what the Lord says to Moses about what he will do for the people? How does Moses feel about it?

What do you think about what Moses is permitted to “see” in God?

Exodus 34

What are your thoughts about verses 6-7?

How do you deal with the fact that the “Ten” the Lord gives to Moses this second time are different??

Exodus 35

Back to details of the law on the Sabbath and materials that need to be collected.

Exodus 36

Pretty much a continuation.

Exodus 37

More building details

Exodus 38

More building details

Exodus 39

Schocken editors point out the similarities between this conclusion of all the work people need to do and the work God does in the creation. Did you notice?

Exodus 40

Anything interesting here?

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 40

Exodus 40 – Everything is ready to be assembled (40:18) and anointed by Moses.  Aaron and his sons are anointed.  “Then the cloud covered the meeting tent, and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling.  Moses could not enter the meeting tent, because the cloud settled down upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling.  Whenever the cloud rose from the Dwelling, the Israelites would set out on their journey.  But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward; only when it lifted did they go forward.  In the daytime the cloud of the Lord was seen over the Dwelling; whereas at night, fire was seen in the cloud by the whole house of Israel in all the stages of their journey” (40:34-38).

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 39

Exodus 39 – The vestments made and the work presented to Moses for his blessing are here described. The colors of everything are specified including even the color of the thread to be used (gold). The names of the twelve tribes are engraved on a dark reddish gem mounted into gold. All the various garments  are described in great detail and all are decorated with gems and gold. “The Israelites did all the work just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Moses examined everything and saw that they had made it all just as the Lord had commanded. So Moses blessed them” (39:43). The Schocken editors point out the extent to which the completion of the work is marked by terms that equate it with God’s completion of the work of creation in Genesis.

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 38

Exodus 38 – The altar of holocausts or “burnt offerings” is described in great detail along with all the tools necessary. The bronze basin and enclosure needed for the Tent of the Lord’s Presence is also described. The gold and silver dedicated to the Temple is based on the census done.

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 37

Exodus 37 – The ark or “covenant box” is to be made out of acacia wood and the dimensions are to be 45” by 27” by 27”. It is to be covered with gold inside and out and carried with poles of gold-covered acacia wood that are slipped through rings along the sides of the box. The top of the case is covered with a lid with hammered golden winged creatures facing each other and protecting the contents.

The table for the offered bread is made with similar precision and then the lamp stand and altar of incense. Everything is beautifully decorated. 

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 36

Exodus 36 – The work proceeds communally according to how people’s hearts are moved to make them come and take part in the work (36:2). More is contributed than is needed, so people are told to stop making contributions.

The most skilled men work on the “Tent of the Lord’s presence” (36:8). It is to be made of “ten pieces of fine linen woven [14 yards by 2 yards] with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with figures of winged creatures” (36:9).  Directions and descriptions follow for all the parts that make up the Tent or “Dwelling” follow. 

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 35

Exodus 35 – Sabbath regulations: penalty for violation is death.  No work is to be done. “You shall not even light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day” (35:3).

Then the chapter turns to collection of materials again, and the call for artisans and contributions for everyone “all as their heart prompted” (35:22).  The particular God-given “skills,” “understandings,” and “abilities” of individuals are recognized.

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 34

Exodus 34 - The Lord tells Moses to bring Him two new stones on which to re-write the “words” He gave him.  Moses climbs the mountain again alone, and the Lord passes before him, crying out, “The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for their fathers’ wickedness!” (34:6-7) The two attributes—the Lord’s kindness and His justice—are the two things we can know about Him, the two things we must know about Him. Moses, in response, renews his request to have the Lord accompany them on their journey. The Lord promises to work marvels (34:10) among the people; but in return they must “keep the commandments I am giving you today” (34:11). 

This list of commandments, the post-apostacy set—called The Ten but clearly a different set from what Moses received in Exodus 20--is framed not by a reminder of the salvation from Egypt, but by a prospective view of the victories and challenges their entry into the Promised Land will bring.  Perhaps this story entered into the text after the Israelites had been a people in the Promised Land for a while, and had been unfaithful AGAIN—worshipping the golden calves of the Canaanite religion--and needed this particular temptation to be added to the Exodus story.

Preface: The Lord will drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites; but the Israelites must tear down the altars and smash their sacred pillars and poles. 

1.     They are to make no covenant (nor enter into marriages) with these people or the Israelites will end up ensnared in their forms of worship.

2.     No molten images are to be made.

3.     They shall keep the Passover.

4.     They shall dedicate to God all first-born.

5.     They shall keep the Sabbath.

6.     They shall keep the feast of Weeks and the feast of the Fruit Harvest

7.     Three times a year all the men shall come to worship the Lord

8.     They shall not offer the blood of sacrifice with leavened bread.

9.     They shall bring to the House of the Lord the first grains that are harvested

10.  They hall not boil a young sheep or goat in its mother’s milk (34:14-26). 

      

Moses stays another 40 days and nights; when he comes down “he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant (karan) while he conversed with the Lord. Later, in the Latin translation, the word ‘karan’ was rendered as ‘horned’—hence Michelangelo’s horned statue of Moses at the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli. It is very surprising to me that the connection to Jesus’s transfiguration was not made. This first “transfiguration” is certainly the backdrop against which Jesus’ is to be interpreted in Mark 9:2-3; Mt 17:2 and Luke 9:29. This radiance terrifies Aaron and others.  He puts a veil over his face, and thereafter takes it off only when he enters the Tent of Meeting to “converse” with the Lord (34:34). Paul refers to this in 2 Corinthians 17 when he interprets the veil as something that prevents the Jews from seeing in Christ a fulfillment of the Mosaic ‘ministration’ as Fox would call it.

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 33

Exodus 33 – The Lord promises to send the people into the land He swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and He will send His angel before them.  But He says He will not accompany them Himself because they “are a stiff-necked people; [and He] might exterminate [them] on the way” (33:4). In repentance, the Israelites lay aside their ornaments (33:6).

The Meeting Tent or “Tent of the Lord’s Presence,” is pitched outside of camp “at some distance.” When Moses entered the Tent, the people saw a column of cloud outside the entrance “while the Lord spoke with Moses” (33:9).  This was a cue for everyone to worship at the entrances to their own tents.  Joshua would stay in the Tent of Meeting even when Moses returned from it.

Moses convinces God that He really must come along with them, that He must accept them as His people: “For how can it be known that we, your people and I, have found favor with you, except by your going with us?” (33:16) The Lord tells Moses “I myself  [note indicates the word literally is ‘my face,’ that is ‘my presence’] will go along, to give you rest.” This passage precedes Moses’ argument to God, but it seems to me to be a response.  Schocken’s translation is better, I think, making it a question: “If my presence were to go (with you), would I cause you to rest easy? (33:14).  Moses then tells YHWH if He will not come, then He should not bring them up from here; for only through that presence that they can become a distinct people at all.

Moses asks to see the Lord’s “glory” and God assures Moses He will permit him to see His “beauty,” but the Lord’s “face” he cannot see “for no man sees me and still lives” (33:20).  He places Moses “in the cleft of the rock” and screens his vision until He passes, but He permits Moses to see His “back” (33:23). The note suggests that God’s “back” is reflected in the creation.

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 32

Exodus 32 – Moses takes a long time conferring with God on the mountain (40 days) and the people become restless and anxious.  It is man’s nature to be endlessly restless when it comes to God.  Throughout the wilderness journey, they express the same anxieties.  Back on earth, down the mountain, life is full of human frailty (440). So they go to Aaron and ask him to “make us a god who will be our leader” (32:1).  The calf they make, at Aaron’s suggestion, is not meant to be a different god from the one who led them out of Egypt, but a figure of that God (32:4).  Nevertheless, one of the commandments is specifically NOT to make any such representation.  The Lord, seeing what is going on, tells Moses “Go down at once to your people, [not his any more, note] for they have become depraved” (32:7).

God threatens to “consume them” but Moses pleads with Him on their behalf—this is his other “hat” or role as a prophet—a pleader for his people. The prophet not only represents God’s voice to the people.  He represents the people to God.  He is a two way intermediary.  Moses reasons with God as he might with some proud potentate and tries to get Him to see how the fate of His people ultimately reflects on Him.  He reminds God of the promise he made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and exhorts Him to the faithfulness He swore to them on more than one occasion. I guess we all need to be reminded once and a while.

Moses meets up again with Joshua and returns to the camp with the stones, but when he sees himself what they have done, his anger flares up so much [he does have a temper---remember 11:8] he throws the tablets down and breaks them.  He takes the golden calf, melts it down, grinds up the gold, throws it on the water and makes the people drink it.  Then he turns to Aaron, appropriately enough, and asks him an unexpected question—not what have you done? Or even what have my people done? but “What did this people ever do to you that you should lead them into so grave a sin?” (32:21) 

Aaron, of course, blames the people—he was just their pawn or he just did what he did to keep them from doing something even worse.  “I told them, ‘Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off,’ They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.” [Is this supposed to be funny??]  Moses, seeing what he is confronted with, takes charge.  He has those who are “for the Lord” come to him.  Only the Levites rally to him, and he instructs them to slay their kinsmen—about 3000 [a stylized number often used in the bible] are slain. And this becomes the basis for their being seen as dedicated to the Lord in a special way!!

The next day, Moses leaves them again and returns to the mountain to “make atonement” for them (32:30). Only when he is there do we see him as a pleader for his people once again.

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 31

Exodus 31 – Artisans are chosen to make everything, artisans “filled. . with a divine spirit—or breath--of skill and understanding and knowledge in [their] craft[s]” (31:3).  And then they are admonished to keep the Sabbath sacred “as a token” of the covenant between God and his people. Schocken’s translation “for in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day he ceased and paused-for-breath” (31:17) is good, especially when we remember breath and spirit are the same.  The anthropomorphism of the image is appealing. 

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 30

Exodus 30 – The incense altar (not previously mentioned—possibly an addition) is 18” long and 18” wide and 36” high (using the Today’s English Version so as to get away from cubits). It has “projections,” rings  and poles to make it moveable.  And it is placed “outside the curtain which hangs in front of the Covenant Box” (30:6).

There shall be incense burned morning and evening for all time to come.  No holocausts or cereal offerings or libations shall be made on it, but once a year Aaron shall perform the “atonement rite” on its horns (30:10).  This “altar is most sacred to the Lord.”

When they have a census (seen here as in other places as threatening.  Schocken says, that it seemed people thought if you could be counted, you could be controlled—an early argument against government interference in people’s lives), each Israelite (age 20+ which was the age for military service) shall give the lord “a forfeit for his life, so that no plague may come upon them for being registered” (30:12), It is a half-shekel offering. This tax shall go to keeping up the meeting tent “that there it may be the Israelites’ reminder before the Lord, of the forfeit paid for their lives” (30:16).

A wash-bowl is to be placed between the meeting tent and the altar for the priests to wash their hands and feet whenever they enter or approach the altar to offer an oblation.

Anointing oil shall be made of the finest spices—myrrh, cinnamon, cane, cassia—and oil. Everything shall be anointed with it and the priests as well.  There are directions for the incense as well.

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 29

Exodus 29 – The consecration of priests shall be accompanied by appropriate sacrifices—a young bull and two unblemished rams; also unleavened wheat cakes and wafers.  Then the priest, in this case Aaron and his sons, should be dressed in their priestly garments.  The bull should be slaughtered and some blood placed on the horns of the altar, the fat burned on the altar.  The rest of the animal should be burned up outside the camp as a sin offering.

Then the rams: with the first, its blood should be splashed on the altar and the entire ram burned there as a holocaust, a sweet-smelling oblation.  With the second, some of its blood should be placed on the tip of Aaron’s right ear (and then his sons likewise), and on their right thumbs and toes.  The fat from this ram and its inner organs shall become a “wave offering” (or, as Schocken editors call it, an elevation offering) together with some of the bread and oil.  Then this too shall be burned on the altar.  The meat of the ram shall be boiled and the priests given it to eat—anything left over is to be burned since it is sacred (29:34).

Seven days are allotted for ordination, making atonement for the altar and consecrating it–two yearling lambs each day—one morning, one evening. 

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 28

Exodus 28 – The vestments shall have breast-pieces, ephods, robes, brocaded tunic, miter and sash. Onyx stones—one for each of the sons of Israel—engraved with the names in order of birth, shall be set in the shoulder strap of the ephod.  The breastplate “of decision” made with various precious stones (the names of which seem to vary with each English translation)—12 different ones: carnelian, topaz, emerald—garnet, sapphire, beryl—jacinth, agate, amethyst—chrysolite, onyx, jasper (NAB). 

Aaron will thus “bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastpiece of decision over his heart as a constant reminder before the Lord” (28:29). In the breastpiece shall go the Urim and Thummim (over his heart).  Schocken editors have little to add to explain but note that Urim starts with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and Thummim with the last letter.

Aaron’s robe shall be made of violet material, and all around the hem he shall have gold bells and pomegranates alternating, and he must wear this whenever he is ministering in the sanctuary or else he will die.  On the miter there shall be a plate of gold engraved with “Sacred to the Lord” and this shall hang on his forehead  “Since Aaron bears whatever guilt the Israelites may incur in consecrating their gifts” (28:38). He must always have this plate on.

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 27

Exodus 27 – The altar (5 cubits by 5 cubits and 3 cubits high) and plated in bronze, shall have horns on the corners “springing” from the altar, and poles to carry it around.  There should be pots, shovels, basins, forks and fire pans of bronze—for removing ashes, etc.  It should also have a grate (like a cookout stove) with rings in the corners to go on the ground and come half way up the altar (1.5 cubits high).

The court for the tent made from hangings hung on 20 columns south and north.  The hangings to the west shall be half the length; and at the entrance of the court, the curtain shall be 20 cubits long.

There needs to be oil for the lamps (olive oil) and they are always to be lit.

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 26

Exodus 26 – The dwelling tent shall be made of linen sheets of violet, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim embroidered on the sheets.  Each sheet shall be 28 cubits [length of forearm of a man] high by 4 cubits wide.  Five sheets are to be sewed together and then another five sewed together.  Along the edge of the end sheet there should be loops of violet yarn (50 on each end sheet) and 50 clasps of gold to join the sheets.  On top of this there is also to be another covering of woven goat hair (to protect from weather?)—eleven of them (30 X 4) and sewed (5 to each side) The last one is to double-cover the front.  The loops and clasps (of bronze on the outside) are to fasten the covering.  Inside there are to be walls of acacia wood (each piece of it 10 cubits X 1.5)—each one is to have “arms” to link it to the next piece.  They are to be set up 20 boards to the south with two silver pedestals under each board; 20 on the north side; 6 for the rear—to the west and double boards (2 each) for the rear corners. Amazing detail!

The veil, made of violet, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen with cherubim embroidered on it, is to be hung on 4 columns which shall have hooks of gold and shall rest on four silver pedestals.  They shall sit behind this veil (the west? - side of the tent—the back).  The propitiatory shall rest on the ark behind the veil in the holy of holies.  The table (set on the north side of the tent), lamp-stand (opposite it on the south side of the tent), shall be outside the veil.

Exodus 25

Exodus 25 – The next section deals with the construction of the Ark of the Covenant in great detail.  The cult of animal and grain sacrifices, persisted even to the time of the second Temple’s destruction.  For the Israelites, it meant that the Lord was really in their midst (Ex 17:7).  Schocken editors suggest the building in the context of the Sabbath stricture (six days labor and one day’s rest) replicates the creative work of God (p. 394). 

The interesting thing about this “sanctuary” is that it moves with the people.  It is not affixed to a place—not yet. The presence of God celebrated here is a people-centered presence. Schocken also points out that while the chapters here seem “space” obsessed—how the space should be filled—they are also “time-obsessed”—the structure of times in which things may or may not happen is equally important.  Many attempts have been made to construct the structure described here but with little success.  The instructions are more symbolic—getting more precious with parts coming closer to the godhead, the colors reflecting too a like effect.  The order of building is from most holy—the ark—to the least.  “The establishment of the cult, like that of the system of justice, is . . .viewed as the command of God rather than the result of the need or request of human beings [contrast this with the ‘requested’ monarchy in 1 Sam. 8]” (395).

The Lord directs Moses to gather materials together from the people—free will offerings of all kinds of things necessary to make a sanctuary “that [He] may dwell in their midst”(25:8). The specifications are exact: the ark is to be of acacia wood (2.5 cubits—man’s forearm--long, 1.5 cubits wide and high); it should be plated inside and outside with gold with a molding of gold around the top; four gold rings on the support that poles can pass through to carry it.  The commandments are to be placed in the ark.  A “propitiatory” of the same size is to be made mounted by two cherubim of beaten gold—one on each end, their wings spread to cover it.  Their faces should be directed to the propitiatory, which rests on top of the ark.  He will “meet” Moses “in the ark” and His voice, his commands, shall issue forth from between the cherubim.

The table of acacia wood (2 X 1 X 1.5—smaller than the ark) is to be plated with gold and surrounded with a frame a few inches high.  It too shall have rings and poles.  There shall be plates and bowls of gold, and on the table there shall “always” (regularly-says Schocken) be “showbread” (“Bread of the Presence”) (25:30). The lamp-stand with 3 branches on either side with cups shaped like almond blossoms, knobs and petals.  In front of the lamp-stand there are to be 7 lamps to illuminate the space in front of the lamp-stand. 

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 24

Exodus 24 – Moses goes up the mountain again, this time with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu (Aaron’s sons) and 70 elders, but only Moses is permitted to “come close” (24:2).  Moses writes down all that the Lord tells him and in the morning erects an altar and 12 pillars or stones at the foot of the mountain.  He sprinkles blood on the altar and puts half of it in large bowls. The people confirm their allegiance to the covenant and he sprinkles the blood from the bowls on them, saying “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you . . .” (24:8). 

Then Moses and his companions go up and they behold the God of Israel.  Under his feet there appears to be a “pavement of sapphire as blue as the sky” (24:10). Schocken editors translate the phrase “(something) like the work of sapphire tiles, (something) like the substance of the heavens in purity . . . as clear as the sky itself.”  Then, Moses and Joshua, his companion and later successor as leader, go up further.  A cloud covers the mountain for six days.  He enters into the cloud and stays for forty days and forty nights.  But below the people see only a consuming [notice that this fire consumes whereas the fire Moses saw in the bush did not] fire on the mountaintop. The numbers throughout this chapter are all symbolic: 70, 12, 6, 40.

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 23

Exodus 23 – The listing of wrongs continues: Do not spread false rumors; do not side with the majority to the perversion of justice; do NOT favor the poor in a lawsuit when the facts do not support their cause [this is an interesting one]; do not mistreat foreigners; do not accept bribes.  What to do if you find lost property; caring for animals—even if they belong to people who hate you and your help will indirectly help your enemy; do not deny the needy their rights; avoiding dishonesty of every kind; not condemning the innocent man to death; not sparing the guilty man.

Then readers are reminded about not tilling the soil each 7^th year so “that the poor among you may eat of it and the beast of the field may eat what the poor leave”; the Sabbath rest; celebration of the pilgrim feasts—Passover, Pentecost  (Shavu’ot or Weeks—wheat harvest and first fruits in early June) and booths (final grape harvest in late September or early October—called Sukkot or Huts); offerings; not boiling a kid in its mother’s milk.

God is sending his angel “to guard you. . . and bring you to the place I have prepared.  Be attentive to him and heed his voice.” The Lord promises his blessings on those who are faithful—fertility, health, fullness of life (23:25). The victory over those in the land will not be quick but little by little (23:30).

WMM Bible Reading: Exodus 22

Exodus 22 – More laws are presented that give us a perspective on how the Mosaic law dealt with morally complex cases: thefts of animals by those who can pay fines and by those who can’t; cattle that “wander” away from grazing lands and into crop-lands where they do damage to others; fires that are started for proper reasons but that get out of control; injuries to animals in the custody of people who are not their owners; seduction of virgin girls who are engaged to someone and those who are not engaged; sorcery practiced by women – especially worrisome, I guess; cases of bestiality; mistreatment of sojourners, widows, orphans; money lending; cursing leaders and speaking evil of God; etc. One of the crimes mentioned caught my interest – “If a thief is caught breaking into a house at night and is killed, the one who killed him is not guilty of murder. But if it happens during the day, he is guilty of murder” (22:4).

It reminded me of the Florida case in the early to mid-2000s where a man who shot an invader of his home was convicted of murder or manslaughter because the law at that time forbade people from using deadly force unless the invader had a weapon. I think the case angered people and had a role in passage of the now controversial “Stand Your Ground” law that is involved in the case of Trayvon Martin. I can’t find the case, but it deals with some of the very complicated legal situations that can arise – similar to the ones described in Exodus.