READ IT! - Introduction to Exodus 32-40

Readings for this week:

Monday: Exodus 32

Tuesday: Exodus 33

Wednesday: Exodus 34

Thursday: Exodus 35

Friday: Exodus 36

Saturday: Exodus 37

Sunday: Exodus 38

Introduction to Exodus 32-40

Chapter 32

At this point in the text, we get back to the narratives and we learn that Moses was hanging out with God on the mountain for a really long time learning about all these new laws.

And Moses was gone for such a long time, that the Israelites began to wonder if he was ever coming back. So they went to Aaron and said they wanted a new god. And Aaron used their gold jewelry to make a calf for them to worship.

While Moses was still on the mountain, God told him what the Israelites were up to. And God said, “I’m going to go destroy them all and then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.” But Moses begged God to change His mind... and He did.

And when Moses came down the mountain, he found the Israelites worshiping the golden calf. And he was so angry that he threw the stone tablets of God's Law to the ground and they broke. Moses then ground the idol up into powder and dumped it in the people’s drinking water. And Aaron lied to Moses about what happened saying the calf just appeared out of nowhere… ‘cause that makes sense.

At this point, the people were out of control. So Moses rallied the Levites to his side, and the Levites went through the camp and killed 3,000 of the rioters.

Chapter 33

Later on, Moses goes back up the mountain and continues to have conversations with God. Moses asks God to teach him His ways. And God promised that His presence will always go with them. One day, Moses asked to see God’s “glory.”

“Then the LORD said, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.’”

Chapter 34

God also commanded Moses to carve out new stone tablets to replace the ones Moses smashed. And God rewrote the Ten Commandments onto Moses’ tablets.

“Then the LORD said: ‘I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you…’”

When Moses returned from the mountaintop, he did not realize that his face was “radiant” from speaking with God. And the people were terrified of him. And Moses gave God’s commands to the people. But after Moses stopped talking, he put a veil over his face. And Moses would remove the veil when he would go and talk with God, and put it back on when he talked to the people.

The New Testament says that Moses wore a veil because he didn’t want the people to watch the glory “fade” from him.

Now if you’ve ever seen some old painting and sculptures of Moses… you may have asked yourself… Why does Moses have horns?

Well… funny thing… when Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, he misinterpreted “the radiance” of Moses to say “the horns” of Moses.

This is why art following this time period portrays Moses with horns.

Chapters 35-40

After these narratives, we start to get back into the law again. The text revisits the structure and layout of the Tabernacle… but then we get to learn about this weird thing called the “Ark” …also known as the “Ark of the Covenant”…which is not to be confused with Noah’s Ark.

Now God gave them specific instructions on how to build it. It is a wooden chest (like Noah’s ark). It is overlaid with gold (unlike Noah’s ark). And there were two golden cherubs on top. God told Moses that “the presence of the LORD” would come to rest between those two cherubs. No one was allowed to touch it. It was stored in The Most Holy Place (or Holy of Holies) in the Tabernacle. Later, God told Moses to keep the 10 Commandments inside the ark.

The text again gives detailed descriptions of the design and construction of the Tabernacle.

Within the intricate design, we see Similarities to Genesis 1…

In Genesis, there are seven commands from God to create the universe.
In Exodus, there are seven commands from God to create the Tabernacle.

In Genesis, God lives in His “house” - the universe.
In Exodus, God lives in His "house" - the Tabernacle.

And the God who fills the whole universe chooses to live in a desert tent... within his people... within us.

“Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”

And the book ends with Moses wanting to go inside the completed Tabernacle… but he can’t… because the holiness of the presence of God is too dangerous for him to go near.