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 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 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 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.

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. 

Exodus 21

So, here is the standard entry I will post each day - five days a week. That should get us to the end of Exodus by the next time we meet. Doing a little daily will give us a chance to notice things that we should discuss in greater depth.

Exodus 21 – Now we get into some of the details of the Mosaic Law, details that my Jerusalem Bible called the “Book of the Covenant” and notes come from the “Elohistic” tradition. This division of Old Testament texts into Jahwist, Elohist, Priestly and Deuteronomist traditions was very well established in the 20^th century, but more recent biblical study seems to have left it a bit undermined. Modern scholars seem to think the process of bringing these traditions together was more gradual and redacted than previously thought.

The chapter goes into much greater detail on a variety of things modern Quakers will likely find disturbing: rules concerning slaves, women who are sold into marriage and the treatment of those who break the commandment on killing. Like most modern “states,” the community here does not feel that the Mosaic commandment against killing applies to them. The death penalty is freely exercised in a multitude of cases: intentional murders, cases against those who strike at their father or mother or even curse their father or mother. The author goes through a whole array of case types that seem very “common law” -- based on specific cases that must have come before the judges of the community. The approach seems very similar to the Code of Hammurabi, which dates back to the 18^th c. BCE. The famous principle “eye for eye” appears in 21:23-25:

“. . .if harm should occur, then you are to give life in place of life—eye in place of eye, tooth in place of tooth, hand in place of hand, foot in place of foot, burnt-scar in place of burnt-scar, wound in place of wound, bruise in place of bruise.”

If the eye put out belongs to a serf, however, the penalty will be his freedom.  The law also deals with mischief done by animals - mischief done by animals not properly contained. Irresponsibility to the community is punishable, and many misdeeds are to be penalized by money fines.