1/11/2021 0 Comments Exodus CommentaryMoses continues in this Season 2 of the saga of Israel, God's covenant people. The throne of Egypt exchanges hands multiple times through dynasties that come and go. In 1525 BC, the year when Moses is born, Egypt is in the full bloom of its youth, a formidable world superpower to be reckoned with. The Egyptian memory of Joseph, the Hebrew slave who became the saviour of Egypt, is all but a distant legend. Exodus 1
Israel is seen for the first time as a distinct nation within a nation due to their non-conformity to pagan Egyptian culture. The king of Egypt broadcasts mass propaganda to paint them as a national security threat, and the Egyptians are easily persuaded to hate Israel. Hard times fall on Israel, and they enter into forced slavery. At the same time, God continually fulfills the Abrahamic blessing in His people: unrelenting growth in population. Greater the persecution, greater the blessing. Although their host nation has turned hostile against them, the Israelites, who are faithful to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, remain unperturbed by the sudden change in their circumstance. They have been expecting persecution, because God already warned them [Ge 15:13,14]. The chief midwives' conscience is bound to the law of the King of kings. If any earthly power oversteps their boundary, and violate the moral law of God (e.g. mandate the murder of infants), then they should be disregarded. The midwives are specially blessed by God for their faithfulness to God. It is utmost note-worthy that God knows the midwives by name (Shiphrah and Puah), while the king of Egypt is not even named; only the people who are granted a place in God's heavenly kingdom are known by name. Exodus 2 God chooses Moses from birth for a role to play in Israel's history. It is likely Moses was taught much about his heritage while growing up with his mother before he is handed over to be the adopted son of the Egyptian princess. When he is an adult, Moses decides to completely part ways with his Egyptian imperial comforts of life, and he itches to demonstrate his solidarity with his suffering Hebrew brothers. His witnessing his fellow Hebrew receiving a brutal treatment from an Egyptian is just the occasion he needs to assassinate the Egyptian and declare himself as the saviour of Israel. He pridefully may have thought his place of prominence in Egypt would afford him a strategic position to help his brothers: it would hide his Hebrew identity, and it would allow him to continue his clandestine vigilantism. His crime is soon discovered, and his mask comes off. His guilt makes him fear the capital punishment. All his foolish plans to use his position for the good of Israel are shattered. However, what ultimately pushes him to the conclusion that he has nothing useful to do but flee to save his own life is the fact that his own people do not accept him as their own. Moses might have thought of leading an open revolt as his Plan B if his Plan A (i.e. his clandestine operation of assassinating Egyptian taskmasters) became known, but his own people remain uninspired by him. After he flees to Midian, Moses meets a scenario of men bullying some shepherdesses. His protective instinct is triggered again, and helps the women. His effort of defending the shepherdesses from some boring bumpkins -- which may have been too insignificant for him -- is met with much gratitude, and he is given a hero's welcome. Moses feels validated and accepted in this humble neck of the woods, and he starts a family. He plans to live in Midian for life. God keeps His schedule in regard to His people's next saga. Their suffering has fulfilled its season, and God moves them to their next phase in His timetable. Exodus 3 Moses, a disgraced ex-Egyptian prince, abandons all hope of effecting a difference for his people Israel, and settles into a simple farm life. Moses, under no compulsion to put on a facade any longer, is free to show his true contempt for all Egyptian sensibilities by becoming a shepherd, which to Egyptians is the lowest of the low occupations [Ge 46:34]. It is also a way to show his contempt toward himself for not even being able to share the suffering of his enslaved people. It has been more than 400 years of silence from God [Ge 15:13]. Now, on a particular mountain called Horeb (also called Sinai; ref. Ex 19:11), God appears to Moses in the form of a miraculous, self-sustaining fire. For the past 40 years in Midian, Moses has consciously and painfully suppressed every remembrance of his people, because he was convinced their slavery is beyond any human help (and he was right). When God finds him, Moses is a dejected man, tired and full of wounds (but this is how God humbled him, so that the world would give credit to God alone for Israel's deliverance from Egypt). The only proper response to God's presence is to immediately declare your unworthiness to be in His presence. Thus, Moses removes his sandals from his feet and lowers his gaze. God lays out His immediate future plan for Israel before Moses, and commissions him to be His undershepherd to lead His people out of Egypt. God identifies Himself to Moses as self-existent ("I am who I am") who exists outside time and space, and as the God who has entered into a unilateral covenant with Israel's forefathers (the fulfilling of the covenant rests on His unconditional promise alone, not on man's effort). His predetermined decree of judgment against tyrannical Egypt and of salvation of enslaved Israel is now ready to be executed. God has promised to give Israel the land of Canaan, and is now fulfilling it. As a guarantee of this ultimate promise, God makes a promise to Moses that he and the freed people of Israel will safely come to the very mountain in which he is standing to pledge their allegiance to God; when God brings them all to Mount Horeb as a fulfillment of His smaller promise, then they will be assured that God will also fulfill His bigger promise and bring them to Canaan. Moses hoped to leave all memories of Egypt behind, and naturally is resistant to the idea of having to revisit Egypt, the place of his embarrassment. Exodus 4 Moses raises all kinds of objections to God in hopes of not going back to Egypt. God has more than sufficient resources for His chosen man to carry out His will, as He proves to Moses through 3 miracles (Moses' shepherd staff turning into a snake, Moses' hands becoming leprous and restored, and the water of the Nile turning to blood when poured on the ground). The miracle of the staff symbolizes that Egypt's power rises and falls by God's hand. The miracle of leprosy symbolizes God's absolute control over the lives of men. The miracle of the Nile (which God promises to do in Egypt) symbolizes God's vengeance for all the blood shed by state-enforced infanticide. While the 40-year period of humiliation has burned away every confidence in his own ability, it also has greatly atrophied Moses' strength of will to venture to do anything outside of his status quo. God brings him his older brother Aaron all the way from Egypt to meet with him at Mount Horeb and give him much needed encouragement. God controls exactly how history plays out, including the detail of every sinful choice of each person, and yet each person will bear the full blame for their own sinful choices [Ex 4:21-23]. The paradox remains unsolved, and it should make any person truly be in fearful awe of the God who has already factored in their folly in His plan for them, and this fearful awe should make solemn their attitude toward God. God declares that the nation of Israel is His "firstborn," a lingo that the Pharaoh would have understood to mean that God has given Israel the pre-eminence above all the world's nations. The Egyptians believed the firstborn was sacred to the gods, and Pharaoh would have understood that this Israel belongs to no one but Him. When the Pharaoh insists on standing in the way of God's firstborn receiving His rightful inheritance, God will show Pharaoh how powerless he is by killing his firstborn son [Ex 4:24]. On his way back to Egypt, Moses is found to have not identified his family with the sign of Abrahamic Covenant by circumcising all his sons [Ge 17:11], and God sharpens His knife threateningly against Moses for this disobedience (figuratively speaking, but it was evident enough somehow to Moses' wife Zipporah that he was in mortal danger). Zipporah apparently feels discombobulated enough by God's intrusive calling on her family, and performing this violent rite of circumcision on threat of death on her family sends her over the tipping point. Israel, the firstborn of God, the nation chosen to receive both privilege and responsibility of being the true theocracy, responds with grateful reverence to God's compassion toward them. Exodus 5 The I AM, the God of Israel, demands Pharaoh to release Israel from slavery, based on His claim of ownership of Israel. The time for Israel to be freed from slavery so that they may worship God has come. This is a picture of what happens every sinner who is freed from their fear of judgment by virtue of their faith in the true God [Heb 2:15]; and if the saved sinner does not render their worship to God, then God promises to severely chasten them [Ex 5:3]. If God deals such a harsh discipline against His own people if they dishonour God, certainly there will be a severer judgment for the idolatrous unbeliever who dares distract His people from worshipping God. Pharaoh mockingly treats the God of Israel as non-existent, as a superstition. Not only does Pharaoh refuse freedom for God's people, he makes their slavery worse. His intention is to keep the slaves anxiously and constantly preoccupied with the threat of punishment from Pharaoh, not from God. In effect, Pharaoh tries to destroy their faith in God and their hope for freedom [Ex 5:9], and he succeeds [Ex 4:31; 6:9]. Pursuit of freedom to worship God always intensifies persecution from the world; pursuit of sanctification always intensifies temptation. The temptation is to give up the pursuit of freedom in God, and to even start to view your cruel taskmaster as your benefactor when he eases off some of his abuse. The immediate adverse outcome makes the Hebrew foremen (i.e. the ones who bear the blame before their taskmasters for failing to complete their daily tasks, and consequently get beaten up) curse Moses and Aaron; they believe this was surely the end for them, and that this was not part of God's plan. Their burn-out, although it could be attributed to their failure to meet their taskmasters' impossible expectations, is actually caused by their own erroneous understanding of God's plan; the path to their freedom was not going the way they expected. The more naive expectations one has about God's course of action, the more disillusioned they get when the events do not pan out as expected, and the more vulnerable they become to discouragement, consequently temptation. Moses makes his first intercession for Israel as a leader, and God responds [Ex 5:22-6:1]. As an ordinary man, given an extraordinary responsibility, Moses frequently must be reminded of his utter inability to effect anything apart from God, and assumes the posture of total dependency on God's will. God allows Pharaoh a short interval to laugh off the fact that the God of the universe is visiting Egypt, and to further harass His people. But it is necessary for Pharaoh to be a given a fair chance of surrender before God wages war against him. It is also a necessary suffering for His people, so that they may truly celebrate God's powerful hand for their deliverance [Ex 5:1]. And it is also necessary for Moses, as a leader, to learn to seek the praise of God, rather than the applause of men. Exodus 6 Here, God finally stands up to the full height of His stature, and unsheathes His sword as He looks across the battlefield. The air is electrified with anticipation and activity, like the air before the commencement of war. God declares again who He is: the God of all power, who has made His covenant with the forefathers of Israel, and who fulfills all His covenant promises. God reminds Israel of His compassionate attention to all their sufferings, reaffirms His promise to "redeem" (this is a familiar language of purchasing a slave's freedom) Israel "with great judgments" against the Egyptians, and bring them to the promised land of Canaan. His covenant promise is now in full motion of being fulfilled after 400 years of slavery, so that they may know the true God in a far greater way than their forefathers ever did, and consequently offer greater worship. The awesome war drums of heaven are slowly thundering their way closer and closer, completely independent of human aid. This is all the more gloriously contrasted by the fact that Israel has lost all hope of liberation [Ex 6:9], that Moses himself is drowning in the sea of discouragement around him and begins to blame himself for his inability to make things better [Ex 6:12]. But God wants obedience rather than results. It seems Moses has forgotten that Pharaoh remains obstinate because his obstinacy is decreed by God, and not because Moses failed to persuade him, a task which was never given to him. Just in case any reader thinks otherwise, Moses, in a very self-conscious way, reflects on the ordinary genealogy of himself and of his brother/accomplice Aaron; they are just two ordinary men, lacking any special abilities, plucked out to be a mouthpiece for God. Exodus 7 God causes the king of Egypt to become obstinate so that he will refuse to obey God's command to let Israel go free. God has absolute control over the will of man. God can keep people from sinning, or allow them to sin in a very specific way which fits His purpose. His purpose here is to declare to every nation in the world for all time that the true and living God had visited a world's superpower nation with miraculous judgments, and to tell them where this God could be found -- in the nation of Israel. Pharaoh is given a clear command by God. Pharaoh responds with refusal to obey God. Then God declares His verdict on Pharaoh, and sends His judgment. This cycle of warning, refusal, and punishment continues predictably so that Pharaoh can expect the consequence of his obstinacy and know that God is the one who is meting out these judgments. Only the third (gnats), sixth (boils), and the ninth (a three-day pitch black darkness) judgment is given without a warning. Pharaoh is shown a clear miracle by God through the staff of Moses turning into a snake. But such is the obstinance of the sinner in rebellion that he still refuses to acknowledge God. Instead, he calls upon his ready-made reserve of advisors who will tell him the folly that he wants to hear: there is no I AM. His obstinance in the face of a miracle is sad evidence of a long history of having been indoctrinated by his fathers to guard the Egyptian political and religious system at all cost, and of having suppressed the basic knowledge of God's character since his youth. His mind will not yield to the truth, because his mind cannot yield to the truth. Then God turns all the drinkable water in Egypt, wherever they are, into blood for seven days. It seems each judgment is given with enough time in between for the Egyptians as well as the Pharaoh to repent of their idolatry and acknowledge the I AM. Exodus 8 The Lord sends a frog infestation. Pharaoh feigns surrender so that the plague might be reversed, only to later refuse surrender. The Lord sends out gnats without a warning, and Pharaoh remains obstinate. The advisors were able to counterfeit to some degree the miracles thus far. But being unable to perform an act of creating life out of non-life, a true admission is uttered involuntarily by the advisors: a living God is at work here. However, Pharaoh is determined to challenge God, with or without the advisors' encouragement. The Lord sends out swarms of flies. God shields Goshen, Israel's region, from this judgment so they will not be affected also; this meant that if anyone wanted to escape the judgment, they would have to flee to Goshen and associate with God's covenant people. It has to be assumed that Israel was also spared from the other judgments. Pharaoh wants to keep Israel as his slaves, so he tries to dictate the conditions of Israel's worship. But Moses refuses to allow the whims of a sinner to dictate the extent of Israel's obedience to God. If Moses ever compromised Israel's commitment to fully obey God, the world would think the I AM is not powerful enough to break Pharaoh's resistance and secure all reverence for Himself. Compromise would also have left Israel in a constant state of danger since the Egyptians would be outraged at the sight of their sacred animals being sacrificed. In any case, God did not ordain death by persecution as Israel's destiny; God has made Canaan their destiny. Exodus 9 God sends out the fifth plague of livestock massacre after a period of one day in which to surrender; Pharaoh refuses. God sends out the sixth plague of painful sores on all Egyptians. Even the advisors of Egypt, the supposed experts in the spiritual powers, are without remedy to help themselves. Pharaoh refuses surrender. God mercifully announces a severe weather warning prior to the seventh plague of hailstorm, and gives them a clear instruction on how to survive it. The Egyptians, whose conscience God graciously awakens to the fear of God, heed the warning and save their servants from death. The Egyptians, who ignore the warning, make their servants pass into eternal perdition. Before this seventh plague that decide life or death for many Egyptians, God again takes the opportunity to put things into perspective for Pharaoh: the I AM is the God of the powerless slaves. Pharaoh is alive only because God allows him to live; and the reason God allows him to challenge God is so that God may humiliate him, and broadcast to all the world that the God of Israel is the only true God. It is terrifying to hear the Judge declare His disapproving observation of Pharaoh's willful obstinacy and to realize paradoxically it is God who destines Pharaoh to destruction; this is one reason for every person to make haste in fearing or revering God (i.e. dread His sovereignty, acknowledge His justice, depend on His mercy, surrender to His will, and extol His supremacy), a sure proof that they are destined for life rather than death. Pharaoh again tries to ameliorate the current crisis by declaring surrender, to which he knows God must mercifully respond with a ceasefire. But Moses is aware of his scheme; his surrender is not coming from a fear of God, but is coerced out of him by duress. The Pharaoh would have said anything if it would only stop the plague. Despite the mounting evidences, Pharaoh refuses to believe the I AM, a fictitious saviour god concocted by wishful thinking of lazy slaves, is the supreme God of the universe, and that this God has taken interest in the freedom of nameless slaves. Exodus 10 The Lord reminds Moses that His primary purpose in these judgments is for evangelism; not only must the story of Egypt be broadcasted to all the other nations, but it must also be passed on perpetually to the next generations of Israelite children, so that they all may believe in the true God. The advisors of Pharaoh have finally begun to understand that God is a relentless force to be reckoned with. If they thought they could manipulate God by feigning surrender so as to stop the plague every time it starts (and never let Israel go free), they realize now that the joke is on them; each plague is leaving a more lasting devastation on Egypt than the previous one. Egypt will be reduced to nothing before God runs out of creative ways to punish. When Moses gives Pharaoh and his advisors a deadpan warning of the next plague (i.e. the swarm of locust), the sensible advisors plead with Pharaoh to let Israel go and cut his losses. But when Mr. Obstinate hears Moses lay out his absurd terms of surrender (i.e. Israel's complete exodus from Egypt with all their possessions, never to return), he responds with sarcasm. With the advent of the eighth plague of locusts, Pharaoh quickly declares surrender. However, like an unrepentant child who only wants to rescind an immediate punishment, Pharaoh asks for forgiveness "one last time." When the punishment passes over, he returns to his folly. The ninth plague of pitch black darkness comes without a warning. For three days, God terrorizes the Egyptians into self-confinement. The darkness has such a traumatic effect on the Pharaoh, that he calls for Moses to negotiate the terms of surrender even after the plague is over. He grudgingly reaches the utmost level of his generosity by yielding to most of the terms, but he still has trouble understanding that he is in no position to negotiate with God. God does not ask for Pharaoh's generosity, as if God is at his mercy. The earthen creature's only choice is complete surrender or face judgment. When Moses reminds him how completely powerless he is to change God's terms, Pharaoh angrily ends the negotiation, utters an empty death threat on Moses, and seals the fate of Egypt. Moses, having grown confident in God's plan, returns the death threat on Pharaoh. Exodus 11 The obstinate Pharaoh is a reflection of every sinner who thinks their willpower is strong enough to successfully resist God's will, that is, His will to receive what belongs to Him. What belongs to Him is fear, not only from Israel, but also from every people and person. And every knee that does not voluntarily bow before God to give Him His due, God will smash in order to receive it. From what man He does not receive fear in the form of reverential worship, God will receive from him in the form of abject terror. And the greatest cause of the fear of God is not the fact that all power belongs to Him (although it does), but it is that His sovereignty is so encompassing that even the sinner's rebellion is part of His predetermined plan; what the sinner will believe, feel, and how they will behave has not only been factored in, but also they all have been inexplicably predetermined for His own purpose. The fallen humanity will never successfully rebel and change one iota of how the pre-written history unfolds and ends. Having already suffered so many humiliating defeats, Pharaoh has nothing left to show for his power other than to utter empty death threats on Moses, and by extension, on God for whom Moses is only a messenger. But even his claim to have the authority to take the life of his adversary will be denied him. God will force Egypt to acknowledge who truly has the authority, and receive His due. God paints a vivid image for Egypt in His announcement of the final plague: that very midnight, God will traverse through the land of Egypt without Pharaoh's permission, and trespass into every family's home without their permission, and kill the firstborn, both man and livestock. To the Egyptians, the firstborn symbolized the future of Egypt, a tangible sign of their devotion to the gods and the sacred reward for their lifelong religious and moral effort to maintain the cosmic balance. Through all the plagues, God has been trampling on all the religious beliefs of the Egyptians, and traumatically violating their sense of security in their gods; this last plague would, in effect, be the final nail in the coffin of all the Egyptian gods who are proven to be powerless to shield them. In doing so, God will accomplish His purpose: the proclamation to the entire world the fear of His name, and evangelism of those destined to hear of Him and worship Him. Exodus 12 Two weeks prior to the eve of Israel's liberation, God marks the time as the beginning of a new calendar year for Israel. According to His predetermined schedule, God is about to free Israel from her 430-year long slavery [ref. Ge 15:13]. So pivotal are the next few days of Israel's history, that God will forever etch into the nation's memory the date of his birth; then, by virtue of how Israel reckons their days and months, they will always be reminded of God's saving power on their behalf, so that they may always fear and obey God. God institutes the first commemoration of the Passover and Unleavened Bread, which is to be observed every following year on the 14th day of the first month, the same day of their freedom from slavery, until the 21st day. The first Passover is a ritual in which every household sacrifices the life of a lamb; in doing so, God will pass them over and not kill anyone in the household. God gives detailed instructions on how the Passover is to be observed, and each instruction is rich with symbolic meaning. It is obvious that God intends the Passover to serve as an object lesson; there is absolutely no intrinsic power within the animal that can be harvested in order to ward off God's divine judgment. God institutes the Passover in order to teach Israel a deeper reality: 1. God's final plague is coming upon the entire land, and not one household is safe. The basis on which God spares a household is neither their ethnicity, nor their social status, nor their moral standard, nor any other thing. The only basis is the Passover sacrifice. In order to escape God's judgment, the household must respond with obedience to God's instruction in regard to the Passover Sacrifice. This symbolizes all sinners' need for a Substitute who will take their place and receive the judgment which was originally meant for them. 2. The lamb is to be chosen on the 10th and to remain with the household until the 14th day. This would naturally build a growing tension within the household, as the day of the sacrifice draws near for the animal that they nourished and cared for. This symbolizes the sorrowful sympathy that God has for the necessary Sacrifice and the infinite worth that God attaches to the Substitute, who nevertheless must die to save His people from judgment. 3. If the household is too small to eat an entire lamb, they are allowed to invite their neighbours, so that there is exactly the right number of people to each have their fill of the lamb. This symbolizes the Substitute will gather to Himself the complete number of sinners that God has chosen, and not one will be left out. 4. The sacrificial lamb must be a one-year-old unblemished male, taken either from sheep or goats. This symbolizes that the Substitute will be a man, and perfectly pleasing to God by virtue of His perfect righteousness. 5. The lambs are sacrificed at sunset, and the households are to take shelter behind the closed doors of their homes until sunrise. This is to symbolize the Substitute's timely arrival to save His people prior to the onset of God's judgment, and also the need for sinners to forever identify themselves with the Substitute in order to be safe. 6. The blood of the lamb is smeared outside the entrance of the home, so that God would see it and pass over. This is to symbolize the need for the sinners to be identified with the Substitute in two aspects in order to be saved; God sees that the Substitute's perfect righteousness is credited to the sinner's account, and God sees that the Substitute paid the penalty of sin on behalf of the sinner. 7. After its blood is extracted, the entire lamb is roasted in fire, with all its head, organs, legs, and with none of its bones broken. This is to symbolize that the Substitute makes a voluntary choice -- free of external coercion -- to become the Substitutionary Sacrifice, being fully aware of the horror of God's judgment. Also, His emotions are not gutted out of Him as if His act of sacrifice was impersonal; His emotions are fully engaged; He is fully motivated by reverence for God and compassion for His people. 8. The lamb is to be eaten; each bite of the lamb is to serve as a reminder to the frightful household that the lamb had indeed been sacrificed, and that its blood -- which they cannot see from the inside -- remains smeared outside their doors. This is to symbolize the redeemed sinners' need to constantly assure themselves that they are forever safe from God's judgment -- the status which cannot be verified by physical senses -- through their daily appreciation of the Sacrifice. 9. Any leftover from the lamb is burned up at dawn. This symbolizes that the sinners must appreciate the Sacrifice for who He is in His entirety; no part of His identity shall be dishonoured. 10. Each household is to partake in the feast of the Passover in haste, while fully prepared for their imminent exodus from Egypt. This symbolizes that a life of obedience to God begins immediately after the sinner's freedom from sin. 11. From the 14th to 21st day of the first month, each household is to thoroughly decontaminate themselves from leaven, and eat only unleavened bread. So serious is this instruction, that if disobeyed, results in the person's permanent banishment from the nation of Israel. Leaven symbolizes the previous life of slavery to sin, and cleaning it out means the redeemed sinners have committed themselves to fearing God and to living in humble obedience to His word. This commitment to represent God as His people is the mark of every true believer, and disobedience is the mark of anyone who does not belong in the believing community. 12. They are to bracket the seven-day period of Unleavened Bread with a national assembly on the 14th and the 21st. Non-Israelites are allowed to participate in the celebration of the Passover and Unleavened Bread, only if they will identify with Israel through the rite of Abraham's circumcision. This identification with Israel and consequent participation in the Passover symbolize the unity of all true believers regardless of their ethnicity, and that the same salvation from God's judgment is offered to all who put their trust in the God of Israel and in the Substitutionary Sacrifice. It also means that there is only one way of salvation for all people. When the I AM displays His supremacy above all the Egyptian gods by the final plague, Pharaoh finally admits defeat and accepts all the terms of surrender. The alive Egyptians, while admiring Israel for the righteousness of their cause, becomes deathly afraid for their own safety; they follow suit, and grant whatever requests Israelites make of them, whether it be for clothing or precious metals, just to be rid of the God of Israel from their lives. Such is a sinner's natural condition, that when confronted with the unequivocal truth of God's supremacy, they will banish it far from them, so as to maintain their status quo. The sinner values their life of sin and of comforts far above a life of honour and everlasting worth, and inevitably designs a religion to justify all their sins and to barricade themselves from the truth. Exodus 13 The remembrance of the Passover is not isolated to only a week of the first month in their calendar year. Israel is to never forget the great day of their salvation so that they may always fear God and rejoice in His mercy, and to pass on the knowledge of their history to the next generation. For this purpose, God institutes a consecration ritual for all the firstborn males; when the livestock give birth to their first male offspring, the offspring's life must be offered up to God in sacrifice (except the donkey's offspring which can be substituted with a lamb); and when women give birth to their first son, the son's life must be redeemed (i.e. purchased back) from the God of vengeance by offering up a lamb in his place. This ritual is to commemorate God's graciously having spared the life of the firstborn son of every obedient Israelite household in Egypt through the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. Spiritually, this object lesson is to symbolize that every sinner, from firstborn to last-born, is a debtor to God who should pay with their life for the penalty for their sins; and if it were not for God's gracious provision of a Substitute who pays their debt with His own life, their life would be forfeit. This symbolic act of redemption (i.e. the purchasing back of the sinner's life from judgment) teaches that forgiveness of sins is secured only at immense cost to God, and freely given to all who put their trust in the Substitute. God leads Israel in a visible form of a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day, a constant reminder of God's protective presence over Israel. Israel may be free from the tyranny of Egypt, but they are now exposed to the dangers of the world all around them. Until the exodus, they have known nothing but a life of utter dependence on Egypt to shield them from external threats. Israel is now a new and inexperienced nation that has no army of trained warriors with which to protect themselves from massacre. However, there is one factor that tips the scale of power by a landslide: the God of the universe is for Israel. God has sworn an unconditional oath to Israel's ancestors that He will safely bring their children to the promised land of Canaan [Ge 15:13,14]. Joseph, who was used by God to bring about the immigration of Israel to Egypt 400 years ago, had believed in the fulfillment of God's promise. Joseph's coffin, now being carried out among them to Canaan, serves as an encouraging testimony to God's trustworthiness and His faithfulness in keeping His promise [Ge 50:24,25]. If that is not enough to encourage Israel to trust in God and settle all their worries for their destiny, God goes before them in a visible and awesome form in order to assure them that He is with them every step of their journey. The only thing that Israel needs to do in order to secure their safe journey to Canaan is to simply follow God who trail-blazes before them. Nevertheless, God, in His compassion for the particularly frightened Israel, leads them away from any possibility of battle with other nations. Symbolically, Israel's journey to Canaan represents every believer's journey to God's eternal paradise. Every redeemed sinner's ultimate destiny of entering the paradise is secured by virtue of God's irrevocable promise. Thus, the fulfillment of God's promise depends entirely on God's sovereign power; the sinner was neither freed from slavery to sin nor saved from judgment by their own righteousness, nor will they enter God's paradise by their own effort. Even when the entire world tries to assert dominance over the believer with persecution and death threats and tries to prevent them from reaching their destination, God's power will prove to be stronger still. Paradoxically, the only path to the paradise is a path of obedience; unless they believe and follow to the end, they will not enter. Fear of God and enduring obedience is the mark of a true believer. Exodus 14 God of Israel shows how greatly to be feared He truly is. For all nations to know that the God of Israel is the true God, there can be no way for anyone to offer any plausible explanation for Israel's liberation from Egypt, except to say that the God of the universe has paid a visit to the powerful oppressor in favour of some powerless slaves. This act of sealing His reputation once and for all as the true God of gods who has chosen the Hebrew slaves as His nation requires, unfortunately for Egypt, the annihilation of the Hebrews' greatest enemy. God makes it known that Israel is not emancipated due to the generous charity of the Egyptians; God makes it known that Israel is liberated despite everything that Egypt had done to keep them subjugated. Thus, God plans to display Egypt's maximal strength on the world stage, so that God may humiliate it by washing it clean off the face of the earth in a single tide. God is greatly to be feared. God has no respect for the privacy of any soul. There is not one innermost part in the mind of sinners that God will not invade so that He may receive His due honour. Every soul will give proper honour to God in one way or another. The most terrifying thing to ever happen to a sinner happens to the obstinate Pharaoh, the archetype of all the sinners who will walk the earth after him. God -- the Judge of all the earth who only does what is right -- invades the sinful soul of the Pharaoh, and inexplicably manipulates him so that he is emboldened to challenge God in a grand finale. The Pharaoh has feigned surrender every time in order to escape immediate punishment, but when the moment of urgency passes, he repeats his folly like a dog returns to its vomit. His basic nature is to seek to be recognized as the most powerful king whose rule should not be disrespected. Upon the exodus of Israel, the Pharaoh's sense of superiority was bruised. When God's wrath against Egypt seems to subside, he finds the luxury to plot evil once again, and he seeks to re-assert his tyranny over God's people. And God sends him a messenger who informs him of the whereabout of his former slaves, because God seeks to be recognized as the most powerful King whose rule should not be disrespected. God baits the Pharaoh into chasing after Israel by dangling Israel before him as an easy prey to hunt down and catch. It appears to the Pharaoh as though his former slaves have no sense of direction and is completely trapped by a seashore. Israel, roaming about as a free people, has been a humiliation to Egypt's sovereignty. The Pharaoh cannot resist his natural ambition, and mobilizes the elite army of Egypt for the quest of repossessing Israel. When the Pharaoh and his advancing army loom on the horizon, it exactly affirms in the mind of Israel what they believed ever since the beginning of Moses' re-appearance in Egypt as God's prophet, that it is better to remain servile to an idolatrous nation and have a meagre existence than to serve the true God and become a public enemy of the entire world. Israel's final analysis of their situation would indeed have been reasonable if God had not continually demonstrated His compassion for Israel thus far. Truly, it is impossible for an unbeliever to renounce all their idols, be ostracized from the ungodly culture, and follow God unless they see that God's surpassing value far outweighs their world's entire value, and that a life of unshakable dignity is far better than a life of ignoble bondage. Over all the cries of mortal fear and despair, the leader Moses raises his voice and exhorts Israel to stop fretting and simply watch on as God fights for His people, as God had already done time and time again. At God's command, Moses stretches out his hand over the sea, now almost a trademark gesture of Moses' entreating for God's help. Moses proves himself to be a trustworthy leader who humbly understands that he is a prophet, a sheep dog of God; his role is to encourage the minds of God's people to be in line with the truth about God, that is, His immeasurable power and His compassion for His people, and to deliver God's word and encourage them to follow their Shepherd's voice to His green pastures. The foreboding pillar of darkness and fire moves behind Israel to face off with the advancing Egyptian army. Thus, the Egyptians, unable to make contact with Israel even for negotiation, sets up camp for the night, opposite God's pillar. God paints a beautiful picture of Himself as a Shepherd who not only leads the way to the green pasture, but also will stand between His flock and the wolves. Over the same night, God creates a way for His people where once there was no possible way: a dry passage through the middle of a sea. God will lead His people to their promised land, and not even the natural topography of the lands can offer a challenging obstacle, much less mortal men from Egypt. Israel's enemy takes up the pursuit once again, and chases after Israel, partaking in the miraculous experience of traversing through the dry floor of a sea. However, God has not meant this awesome experience of walking between two towering walls of seawater to be enjoyed by the Egyptians who are actively seeking to harm His people. It is a natural ambition for one nation to fight for domination over another nation in service of their own prosperity. However, it is entirely a unique level of offence to God when He sees that Egypt insists on harassing Israel even after He has already declared Israel as His own people through miraculous judgments. What exacerbates their guilt is the fact that, out of heinous irreverence, Egypt pursues Israel right in the obvious presence of God's intimidating pillar. God, who is not shy about demonstrating His sovereign power over every small detail of His universe, scrambles the steering wheels of the Egyptian chariot force. The Egyptians realize too late that it was a bad idea to chase after God's special possession. Moses stretches out his hand toward God once again, and the crushing force of an entire sea falls down on the heads of the foolish Egyptian army. This dead army serves as a warning to all proud unbelievers that their obstinate unbelief will only result in God's eternal wrath falling down upon them, and that they will forever give honour to God by confessing their folly of ever challenging Him. The triumphant Israel, standing safe on the other side of the sea, sees their foes washed ashore, dead and prostrate. Israel witnesses God's power and His compassion on display once again, and they have all the more reason to fear the I AM, whose plans do not go unfulfilled. Israel honours God by fearing Him, trusting in His goodness, and respecting the leadership of His prophet Moses. This is the behaviour of every soul on whom God has compassion and whom He chooses for His kingdom. Exodus 15 Singing songs was very much an ingrained habit of life for Israel, who had to scrounge for any way to stir up their will to survive despite their degrading enslavement to the Egyptians. In light of the awesome salvation from the Egyptian tyranny they have just experienced, never to be subjugated again, they take up a new song. Unlike all the previous songs which had congealed into various undiluted forms of wry humour about death, slavery, and wholesale miseries of life, their new song is celebratory. As Israel composes songs of new melody, their one and only subject is God their Saviour. Israel is not redeemed from being slaves of the Egyptians so that they may now live for themselves, but so that they may become slaves of God. Thus, the slaves compose songs in commemoration of their new life under the God of the universe who is their new Master. Just as the Pharaoh undeservedly claimed the right to be acknowledged in every aspect of life by every single person living within his domain, God rightfully possesses the right to be acknowledged in every aspect of life by every single person and people, for the universe is His domain. Thus, honouring the King of kings by living according to His laws is not only the most righteous thing to do, but it is also the most dignified way to live. Every believer, redeemed from sin and judgment, is an ambassador of the King who, with their words and moral virtues, proclaims to all peoples that they all must honour the King. In this instance, Israel honours God by offering up their anthem of praise. The song begins with the acknowledgement that singing this song of praise is the only right reaction to experiencing God's deliverance from their deadly foe. The song ends with the declaration that everyone owes their allegiance to their King who reigns for all eternity. The content of the song enclosed within is then divided into five points of praise. The first point is that the I AM is a Saviour [Ex 15:2]. God gives life to all, and determines when and how each life ends. God has determined that Israel will not be killed by the Egyptians. Israel rightfully recognizes their very life is inseparable with the will of God itself. When Israel was displayed as a free buffet of weary sheep for the wolves to devour, God revealed to them who really sustains their life. There is not one mechanism that sustains life that is not sourced from God. Israel learns that they live for as long as God chooses, and God alone. Thus, they praise God "my strength and song," and "my salvation." The second point is that the I AM is a Warrior [Ex 15:3-10,12]. Using expressive language, Israel illustrates graphic images of the elite Egyptian army arrogantly challenging God's ability to protect Israel and of God single-handedly punishing them for their arrogance. The third point is that the I AM is altogether a unique God [Ex 15:11]. The I AM sets Himself apart by His infinitely heavy glory; He alone is self-existent; He alone is worthy of fear; He alone is worthy of praise; He alone works supernatural wonders for the good of His people. The fourth point is that all potential threat to Israel is neutralized [Ex 15:14-16]. God, by the force of His reputation, intimidates all power nations into steering clear of Israel's track to their inheritance. The mighty warriors of the nearby nations, who would normally pose a threat to weaker nations -- especially a nation of ex-slaves -- become frozen with a fear of God. The fifth and final point is that God is faithful in keeping all His promises [Ex 15:2,13,17]. God has made a promise to the forefathers of Israel that He will bring Israel to His own dwelling place. He will bring His promise to pass, not only physically but spiritually. This promise is distinctly for the ethnic Israel; it will be partially fulfilled in the near future when God brings them to the land of Canaan, and it will be ultimately fulfilled some day when a future generation of Israel is all saved from sin and judgment and ushered into the eternal Canaan, never to be harassed by their enemies again (no other ethnic people has such guarantee from God, that their lineage will be preserved throughout history and that one day, a future living generation of their children will all be saved). Until the promised day of Israel's salvation comes, not every individual Israelite is guaranteed to be saved. The promise also includes any individual non-Israelite who fears God. All who put their trust in the God of Israel will be guaranteed entry into God's eternal kingdom, whether they are from Israel or non-Israel. Miriam, the sister of Moses, leads the female choir to respond antiphonally to Moses-led male choir. The women participate fully with men in worshipping God, and complements men's part of the praise. After three days of traversing through the wilderness of Shur without having any water to drink, Israel finally finds a body of water. Rushing toward it for a drink, they find that it is undrinkable. Severely disappointed and incredibly thirsty, they corner Moses and grumble, "What are we going to drink?" Moses intercedes for his people. God instructs him to throw in a tree. Moses obeys, and God makes the water drinkable. Despite having seen God's miraculous salvation only three days prior, Israel again defaults to acting like frightened orphans left to fend for themselves, and completely disregards God's ability and will to care for them. Nevertheless, God demonstrates His compassion toward His people once again through His supernatural power, and provides for their need. Israel has only started their long and difficult journey in the wilderness, and God gives them a fair warning in order to prepare their mind. This journey will be for testing each Israelite so that they may have an opportunity to demonstrate where their allegiance lies. He instructs Israel to trust and follow Him; Israel is now a slave to God, and loyalty and obedience to God is the law under which they are expected to submit. If they do not follow God, they would be proving themselves as no different from the unredeemed Egyptians, and God warns that He would curse them with the same plagues that He cursed the Egyptians. Once again, as proof of His trustworthiness, after only a few more steps ahead, the I AM brings them to Elim, an oasis, for their rejuvenation. Israel needed not worry about their physiological need; God knows what they need, and He always provides in His perfect timing. By virtue of their journey with God through the wilderness, they have entered a school in which they will learn one important lesson: they remain for as long as their Master chooses. Exodus 16 After leaving the wilderness of Shur, Israel enters the wilderness of Sin. Israel has seen again and again that the Lord can warp reality to His will. But now that He is invisible to their naked eye, they again default to their faithlessness. All they can see before them is Moses, a man with a questionable sense of direction. They had no choice but to follow Moses ever since their being evicted from Egypt, and they become resentful. Despite their physical freedom from Egypt, they remain spiritual slaves to their own selfish desires. They should have been grateful to God for all that He is and all that He has done, and responded with their trust and loyalty. Rather, like petulant children, they grumble over their empty stomachs which demand immediate gratification. Ungrateful Israel expresses an utterly cruel opinion to Moses: "We would have been better off dead along with the Egyptians with a full stomach than to die with you in this desolate place due to starvation." They are more content to have external restrictions that pose no threat to their internal idolatry, than to have internal restrictions in regards to whom they should live and die for. Moses reminds Israel that it is not man who leads them, and that they are in fact grumbling against God. The seemingly harmless grumbling displeases God. God considers grumbling a very serious offence, because grumbling means that they find a fundamental flaw in God and are discontent with following Him. And discontentment is the seed of rebellion. However, it is not for lack of God's trustworthiness that Israel grumbles. God has already proven Himself to be a compassionate and powerful God who cares for Israel. Israel grumbles because they fundamentally misunderstand who they are and who God is. God is Lord, not Servant. God is indeed a Saviour, but He is also a Master who rules and instructs. Israel exists because God has a purpose for them, but God does not exist to satisfy Israel's selfish desires. Rather than demeaning themselves by acting like simple beasts that only exist to be fed, Israel should have honoured God by embracing their dignified identity: the slaves of God who serves a greater purpose, and who has no need in life to worry about since they live for as long as their Lord chooses. God does not ignore the grumblings of Israel. Rather, He gathers them together into a solemn assembly in order to let them all know that their grumbling has been heard. Once again, God mercifully assures Israel that He knows their needs, and appears to them in a visible form of a glorious cloud as a reminder of His imminent presence. As always, according to His perfect timing, God provides for the needs of His people, albeit thanklessly. God lays out His menu schedule for Israel during their journey in the wilderness. In the morning, God will serve extraordinary, flour-like, sweet-tasting seeds (which they called manna, which means "What"). In the evening, God will serve quails. God gives them three instructions: collect manna from the ground each early morning according to each household's portion for that day, collect twice as much on the sixth day so that they may rest on the seventh day (called the Sabbath, which means "Rest"), and do not store any manna for the next day except for the Sabbath. For the next 40 years in the wilderness, the manna and the quail would provide all the nutrients that they would ever need. As a memento, God instructs Moses to keep a small jar of manna, to be stored in the eventual Ark of the Testimony, so that it may serve as a remembrance of God's compassion for Israel in the wilderness. God trains Israel to be better slaves. Some wayward households do not follow God's simple instructions, showing no fear for God. When instructed not to store any manna for the next day except for the Sabbath, they store some. When instructed not to collect manna on the Sabbath, they go out on the Sabbath to look for manna, wondering why there is none on the ground. Therefore, God performs two miracles to teach them that there are consequences for disobedience. Firstly, God sends out worms to destroy any unlawfully stored manna and gives the manna a stench that stinks to high heaven. If they did not want to be tortured with a foul smell, they would have to get in the habit of trusting God to provide their sustenance for each day since they would have no food reserves left at the end of a day; God so trains Israel to help them learn that they only live at the mercy of God. The stench would also send a signal to all the neighbours of the guilty party that they should hold each other accountable if they do not want to be punished collectively. Secondly, God vaporizes all manna from the ground at the end of early morning so that no more collection could be done. If they did not want to go hungry all day, they would have to collect the manna in the period designated by God (i.e. the early morning of the first six days in a week). God performs yet one more miracle in order to train Israel to trust Him. When Israel is instructed to collect only about an omer (a measurement of weight that equals to about 1 kilogram) of manna for each person, some collect more and some collect less. However, God leaves each person with precisely one omer of manna for the day, regardless of how much manna they gathered. They all would have to trust that the omer is sufficient for each of their need for the day, and it would indeed turn out to be sufficient whether they expend more energy more or less. Exodus 17 On the outskirts of the wilderness of Sin, Israel arrives at Rephidim. God allows Israel to thirst for water once again so that He may train them for their own good. Israel must learn that they live for God and not for themselves. They do not dictate whether they live or die; God does. They must learn not to chase after a mere existence; they must fully embrace their God-given purpose and trust that God will sustain them until the completion of their service. However, the majority of Israel remains unmoved by God's acts of compassion thus far. No matter how much God proves that He alone is the God worthy of fear, the One whose way is life itself, Israel remains committed to their ignoble existence of being nothing more than grumbling mouths to be fed. In fact, their selfishness has metastasized. They threaten to form a mutiny if their selfish demands are not immediately gratified. Rather than striving to prove themselves to be worthy of God's approval, they challenge God to prove Himself once again they He is worthy of their approval. God, in His magnanimous mercy, responds to their challenge by miraculously providing water from a rock. However, before providing the water, God first instructs Moses to strike the rock, in order to symbolize that God gives them mercy in return for their irreverence. Despite Israel's failure to trust God thus far, Israel's next lesson will not wait. Israel must learn that God is the One who sustains them not only through water and food, created Exodus nihilo if necessary, but also through military victories over hostile nations. For Israel, there is truly no excuse to not believe that they are completely at the mercy of God their Lord. Amalekites, the descendants of Esau the brother of forefather Jacob, the distant cousins of Israelites, make their debut in the life of Israel. At Rephidim, they, like hyenas, strategically attack the rear of the Israeli camp, targeting the most vulnerable [Dt 25:17-19]. Moses charges his young confidante Hoshea (which means "Salvation," whom Moses names Joshua, "I AM saves"; ref. Nu 13:16) with leading a counterattack against Amalek. On top of a hill near the battle, Moses raises his hand with the staff, a well-known gesture of entreating God for His intervention. During the course of the battle, when Moses' hand is toward heaven, Joshua's army dominates the Amalekites; but when his hand falls due to fatigue, Joshua's army becomes overwhelmed by the Amalekites. So hilariously, Aaron the brother of Moses and Hur the son of Caleb and grandfather of Bezalel the tabernacle artisan [ref. Ex 31:2; 1Ch 2:19,20] plop Moses down on a rock, and hold both of his hands up to guarantee victory for Israel. By the time the sun sets, Joshua and his men neutralizes the enemy threat. God is so incensed at Amalek's irreverence toward Him that He swears by Himself that He will thoroughly exterminate the lineage of Amalek. Amalek has dared attack His nation, thinking they could destroy Israel when Israel was particularly weary. To worsen their guilt, Amalekites sadistically delighted in picking off the most vulnerable from the rear of their convoy [Dt 25:18]. God wants Moses to write down His curse on Amalek as a permanent record, so that Joshua and all Israel may know what dignity He bestows on Israel by virtue of their covenant relationship with Him; if anyone attacks Israel, it is as if they are attacking God Himself. Moses builds an altar to offer up a blood sacrifice, by which he memorializes God as the Banner of Israel which shall never be broken in defeat and shall always stand high and triumphant. Exodus 18 After leaving Rephidim, Israel enters the wilderness of Sinai, and arrives at the foot of the Mount Horeb, as God had promised Moses that they would when He first commissioned Moses. Moses sends to Midian his wife Zipporah and his two sons Gershom and Eliezer to bring the good news to his father-in-law Jethro of how God delivered Israel his people from slavery by a strong hand. Jethro, who is called the priest of Midian, dwells in a land where people have not heard of the I AM and have all turned to idolatry [Nu 25:17,18]. Although Moses, during his early days in Midian, might have explained to his father-in-law his faith in the God of Abraham, whether Jethro the Midian (also a descendant of Abraham; ref. Ge 25:1,2) had been worshiping the true God or a local idol remains unknown. However, it is clear that Jethro had a yearning to know who the true God is, and when God encounters him through first-hand witnesses of His power, he immediately departs with Moses' family for Israel's camp near Mount Horeb, so that he may inquire more of this living God. When Moses meets his father-in-law, Moses confirms Zipporah's testimony of how God had destroyed Egypt for Israel's freedom and how God provided for all their needs on the way. Jethro has never heard of such a god in his entire Gentile (non-Israelite) life that has so indisputably shown His power, and he responds by giving his allegiance to the I AM. As a demonstration of his faith, he offers a blood sacrifice in the presence of Aaron and the elders of Israel. To symbolize their brotherhood by virtue of their common faith in the I AM, they all break bread together. This is to symbolize that regardless of one's ethnic origins, one can become God's true worshipper by pledging allegiance to God. The day after the wonderful celebration of having discovered the true God of the universe, Jethro sees a crowd of people line up from dawn till dusk for a chance to consult Moses about God's word in regard to their cases of social dispute. Jethro counsels Moses to establish a delegation system and share his load for time efficiency. Jethro's wise proposition is to choose men of a certain quality, that is, who are captivated by the fear for God (and who therefore loves truth and hates bribes) and train them to understand God's laws so that they may be able to instruct others also. Jethro, at the same time, humbly adds the disclaimer that his counsel should only be taken if God so instructs Moses the same. Moses establishes Jethro's model in Israel's justice system after they receive God's laws at Mount Horeb, so Jethro's wisdom is vindicated as having come from God [Dt 1:9-15]. Exodus 19 In the wilderness of Shur, God has given them a negative incentive for allegiance [Ex 15:26]: follow God or you will end up like the Egyptians. God has the right to demand allegiance, and He did so through intimidation. Here in Sinai, God gives a positive incentive: if you obey God's commandments as they are laid out in the covenant with God that you are about to enter into, then God will regard you as worthy of special privileges that no other nations in the world has (the privileges which God has paradoxically guaranteed Israel through an earlier covenant with their forefather Abraham; ref. Ge 15:18). They will become a witness nation -- "a kingdom of priests" -- a channel through which God will bring other nations to commune with the true and living God. The incentives, both negative and positive, for loyal obedience make sense in light of the great underlying reason: God saved you from Egypt's tyranny by a mighty hand and takes care of you in all your dangers, hunger, and thirst. This taste of God's kindness becomes the basis in which Israel should have every motivation to enter into the covenant with God. Whether motivated by fear of judgment or by desire for special privileges, there is a basic moral obligation to respond obediently to God's call to enter into the covenant with Him, which is the condition for becoming God's people and receiving Abrahamic covenant blessing, simply because God is who He is: a powerful and compassionate God. God appoints Moses to act as a mediator between God and Israel in the making of this covenant of allegiance at Mount Horeb. Moses brings God's message to the elders, the representatives of Israel, and he brings back to God their unanimous and eager agreement to enter into a covenant with God. In order to authenticate Moses' role as a mediator, God promises to grant him permission to approach Mount Horeb unharmed when God's otherworldly presence will descend upon it, while everyone else is warned to keep a reverent distance. God tells Moses to prepare the people of Israel for His arrival on the Mount Horeb through the ritual of consecration, that is, abstaining from any sexual activity for two days and washing their garments clean. This ritual of consecration symbolizes that they must present themselves before God in humility, reverence, and decorum. This ritual is as far removed as possible in semblance to the pagan rituals prior to communing with their gods which always involve some form of sexual deviance. God also tells Moses to set a boundary around the mountain which the people should not cross. It becomes the symbolic throne of God for the time that His visible presence is over it. If any animal or human breaches the boundary of God's throne, then they must be killed without being touched (i.e. from a distance by shooting an arrow or stone), symbolic of the fact that the profane becomes wholly devoted to God -- either for destruction or for special purpose -- when the profane comes in contact with the holy. On the third day, morning arrives. Instead of warm light from the sun and a calm stillness, Israel is greeted with thick darkness caused by heavy thunderstorm clouds and an earthquake and a supernatural siren trumpet calling for their solemn assembly. God's purifying presence descends upon Mount Horeb and incinerates it, transforming it into a smouldering furnace. Moses brings the people of Israel right to the border of the Mount Horeb. God and Moses speak to each other in the hearing of Israel, leaving the people no excuse to doubt Moses' role as a mediator who secures communication between God and them. Then, after briefly meeting with God on the Mount, Moses comes down to the people to warn them the second time not to approach the Mount, and to keep themselves pure; God is so merciful that He warns Israel twice not to be irreverent in His presence, for which His holy nature would necessarily demand deadly vengeance. The covenant is inaugurated by instilling great fear in Israel, so that the people may know that it is not a light thing to enter into a covenant with God and that violating the terms of the covenant comes with the penalty of destruction. This hellish landscape of Mount Horeb also symbolizes that all sinners who dare approach God on their own merit, without a Mediator (and Moses serves only as a symbol of the true Mediator), will be destroyed; the sinner needs a Mediator who secures eternal peace between the holy God and profane sinners if they want to be accepted by God. And it is God who graciously appoints the Mediator of eternal reconciliation. Exodus 20 The God of thunder and fire introduces Himself to Israel as the I AM (i.e. "Yahweh" in Hebrew), the very Liberator who freed Israel from slavery. On the basis of their deliverance from slavery, Yahweh gives them ten commandments which Israel as God's people is expected to follow with gratitude and fear. The ten commandments are broad and encompassing moral codes that restrict not only external behaviour but also the spirit of the behaviour (i.e. the thoughts and inner intentions). They branch out from under one great commandment: Love Yahweh with all your mind, soul, and strength [Dt 6:5; 10:12,13]. Sub-categorized under this great commandment is a commandment from which flows the last six of the ten commandments: love your neighbour as yourself [Lv 19:18,34]. These ten delineations of love are personal and direct commands from Yahweh to every individual given as a condition that they must keep if they want to maintain their citizenship in God's covenant nation. None of the terms of the covenant at Mount Horeb are given arbitrarily, but they are the very reflections of God's own moral character, displaying what He values or what He abhors. Thus, through one's obedience to the terms of the covenant, one fulfills his existential duty to bear the image of God. The first commandment is: have no objects of fear or worship in your mind other than Yahweh God. The worship of Yahweh the only true God is not compatible with the worship of any other gods. To consider something or someone else as your god is a direct challenge to Yahweh's supremacy and His ownership of the entire universe. God alone is the King of kings, and God alone is the Benefactor who is the direct and providential source of all goodness. Therefore, God alone is worthy of all adoration, reverence, and allegiance. The second commandment is: do not carve out an idol in order to represent Yahweh with it and worship it. The worship of the uncontainable and invisible God cannot be done without in accordance with God's instruction on how to properly offer Him worship. Honest ignorance is better than arrogant presumption. As a people who has not yet been given the details of what constitute proper worship, God expects Israel to await His instructions. However, what God does not tolerate is worship offered according to their own fancies, either in the absence of any instruction or in direct violation of known instructions. And the worship of a carved image in lieu of the true God is the most self-evident act of arrogant presumption that defies all reason. It is simply another form of worship of a false god, for God's infinite nature cannot ever be appreciated when it is demeaned into a caricature. God is invisible [Dt 4:15], and to worship a visible icon in His place is to hate the true God. God is infinitely zealous of His holiness (i.e. His infinite nature and absolute distinctiveness from all creation), and burns with holy wrath against the blasphemy of His name. God warns that if a generation starts a culture of idolatrous worship, then their children will imbibe and also pass on the pervasive influence to the next generation. The sins of the fathers will become the sins of many sons, and the fathers will also become responsible for multi-generational misery and eternal perdition. This cycle of generational idolatry will continue until God Himself puts an end to it, either through merciful granting of repentance or through judgment. The third commandment is: do not bear the name of Yahweh God in vain. To honour God's name is to represent Him perfectly in all that He is. To bear His name in vain is to mischaracterize Him and bring disrepute upon His name. This commandment certainly condemns belittling the name of Yahweh by using His name in a frivolous, cavalier way for one's own deceptive and selfish goal [Lv 19:12], but more comprehensively condemns misrepresentation of any kind. God warns that all who bear His name in vain will be held guilty. Certainly, this means every person in the world bears the guilt before God, for everyone has the duty to perfectly represent God's moral character by virtue of being made in God's image and fails because of their sins. But to be more precise, the greater guilt which is in view here is in regard to the name of Yahweh, which narrows the pool of people who can commit this sin as those who distinctly identify as the worshipers of Yahweh. God warns Israel that if their lives do not honour God's name by reflecting His moral character and honouring His infinite supremacy over all, then this irreverence toward Yahweh and this blatant hypocrisy would earn them scorn from the pagans and God's vowed vengeance. The fourth commandment is: set apart the seventh day of the week (called "Sabbath," meaning "to cease") as a day of complete rest. As former slaves, Israel had never known a day in which they were allowed to rest from labour. In their new economy, rest is a God-given mandate for every person living in Israel, both Hebrews and sojourners, as well as the working animals. Not only must they take their minds off of their labour, but they are to keep it as a holy day (from which the modern English vernacular "holiday" originates), that is, as a day of remembrance of Yahweh God. The Sabbath serves as two kinds of remembrance: God's work of creation, and God's work of liberation. Firstly, the pattern of six work-days and one Sabbath day is directly copied from God's six days of creation and the seventh day of ceasing; thus, the Sabbath is a day of celebrating Yahweh's ownership of the entire universe. Secondly, the Sabbath is a day of celebrating God's liberating Israel from their slavery; the mandated day of rest would remind them that they are no longer slaves in Egypt but slaves of Yahweh. But most significantly, the Sabbath symbolizes rest from spiritual slavery; it serves as an anticipatory celebration of the coming Mediator who will liberate all true worshipers throughout all history from their slavery to sin and judgment [Col 2:16,17]. When the Mediator comes to accomplish spiritual rest for His people, He will fulfill the spiritual reality of which the Sabbath was only a symbol, and hence nullify this Sabbath law. The fifth commandment is: ascribe weightiness to your father and your mother. The two people to whom you owe your very existence, who has nurtured and cared for you from birth when you were unable to care for yourself, rightly is owed your solemn respect. The parents shall always have a heavy presence in the minds of their children, and concern for the parents' well-being and their reputation in the community shall always serve as a factor in the child's decisions. God promises that the child who so honours their parents will be blessed with the realization of their full potential in life. The love and respect in the familial relationship is important to God, because it serves as a picture of the perfect relationship within the Triune Godhead: the eternal Son loves and honours His eternal Father [Jn 5:19; 8:49]; thus the family serves as a direct reflection of the fellowship within the divine nature, and to not reflect God properly is to simply misrepresent God. Granted, the human parents have many faults and weaknesses, and may be absolutely deplorable; but the child must still regard his parents with esteem even when disagreeing with them. At the same time, those to whom God has given the responsibility to rule over others according to His way are accountable to God, who is the perfect Father of the nation Israel whom He has birthed (Israel itself serving as a picture of every true worshiper of Yahweh, the ones who are given spiritual birth; ref. Jn 1:12,13). The sixth commandment is: do not murder. Taking someone else's life without a God-approved cause is an unjust killing. To kill unjustly is to dishonour the One who gave life to the victim, by usurping His authority to give and take away life. What God forbids here is not simply the act of murder, but also the internal fantasizing of committing the act, for the Creator has jurisdiction over the spirit as well as the body. The seventh commandment is: do not commit adultery. God forbids both the act of unfaithfulness to one's marriage partner and the internal fantasizing of being unfaithful. The lifelong covenant of marriage made between a man and a woman is a picture of God's own eternal covenant with Israel [Ge 12:2,3; 15:8; Dt 32:8,9; Hos 3:1-5; 11:7-12]. Yahweh chose Israel alone to be His nation (to the exclusion of all other nations), and Israel accepts to serve Yahweh her King (to the exclusion of all other gods). God is an eternally faithful God, and He never betrays His people's confidence in His promises. Accordingly, the promises one makes to the other when entering a marriage -- the promises to share marital intimacy (i.e. intellectual, emotional, sexual intimacy shared between husband and wife) with no other except with his own wife or her own husband -- are morally binding and enforced, not by a human institution but by God Himself. The eighth commandment is: do not steal. God is the true owner of all things in the universe, since He is the Creator. And God has given to each person a responsibility to manage his own God-given possessions (i.e. a stewardship; and it consists of his relationships, his material assets, his skillset, and his own life; ref. Lk 14:26-35), and to use them for what honours God. Thus, the idea of private ownership reflects how God Himself operates, and is a foundational principle of all civilization. However, to dishonestly acquire someone else's possessions is to destroy civilization, and what is infinitely worse, to disrespect God who has given to each person the right to private ownership. The ninth commandment is: do not bear false witness against any other person. God is a God of perfect knowledge and truth, and He considers presumption and falsehood as an abomination [i.e. as a thing so ugly that it is only fit for destruction; ref. Pr 6:16-19], because it is a violation of His nature. God forbids making an ignorant and presumptuous claim about someone or knowingly bringing a false testimony about a person, either to excuse or accuse or otherwise damage the reputation of the person. To understand the pervasive destruction a lying tongue can unleash, one only needs to learn about how the serpent has catapulted the entire mankind to misery and death by slandering God's character. The tenth commandment is a prohibition of the evil desire (and by implication, all evil desires), a mother of multiple evil behaviours: do not covet anyone's possessions. This is a clear indication that all external evils spring from the internal evils, which themselves spring from the incurable evil core (what Paul calls, "the law of sin"; ref. Ro 7:23) that pollutes all thought, emotion, and will. What God demands of Israel is for them to do the impossible: to think, feel and act contrary to their own sinful nature. Covetousness is greed (desire for a forbidden thing), is envy (violent grudge against someone who has what we selfishly want for ourselves, and unreasonable hatred of everything that is associated with them), is irreverence (rejection of God's authority to determine each person's stewardship), is laziness (unwillingness to focus on fulfilling our own service to God, and refusal to work with others in a teamwork for the greater mission of bringing honour to God), is idolatry (seeking after our own vain glory rather than acknowledging that all love and honour belongs to God). The people of Israel are absolutely terrified at the sight of God's hellish presence and do not need much convincing to respect the boundary of the throne of God. So deathly shy (and rightly so) are they of God's holy presence, that they all too agreeably thrust Moses into the mediator role. Through the work of a mediator, they are spared from having direct communication with God and being obliterated due to their unworthiness. However, Moses assures the mortally afraid Israel that God does not mean them harm, but means to instill in them the sanctifying fear of the true God and protect them from disobedience (which would ultimately prove futile in overcoming the power of sin within the sinner; ref. Ro 7:5,8; 8:3). As the mediator, Moses enters the thick darkness of Mount Horeb, and therein receives the rest of God's terms of the covenant on behalf of Israel. As instructed by God, Moses brings Aaron with him to the Mount, as Aaron also will be appointed to a mediatory role in the theocracy of Israel (i.e. to the role of the high priest; ref. Ex 28:1-3; Lv 21:10; Heb 5:1-4) who secures fellowship between God and Israel. God then begins to instruct Moses regarding the details of the covenant, starting with a solemn reminder to not engage in idolatry and worship of false gods (which is the pagan practice), especially now that Israel has heard for themselves the invisible God speak to them from heaven. Besides the altar of the tabernacle (which would be crafted according to God's design in order to teach Israel their need for a Mediator to bring them to God, to teach them that God's people are God's people because a Substitute will be sacrificed to atone for (i.e. cover over, propitiate for, appease for) all their sins [Ex 27:1-8]), God expects people to build other altars to offer up worship to Him and memorialize the special events in which God acts in His compassion; these altars are to be built with natural elements in their raw state as they are found and without any hint of artificial craftsmanship (i.e. no chiseling of stone, no molding of metals, etc.), or "you will profane it." God is an uncontainable God, who is infinitely worthy of worship and who cannot ever adequately be worshipped by infinitely unworthy man [ref. Is 66:1,2]. Trying to manufacture the altar according to your artistic fancies would mean that you believe that, by the power of your own profane hands, you can offer up to the holy God a perfect worship; it would in effect mean that God is in need of you to be the mediator who will reconcile God back to you (when in fact, you are the one in need of God to be the Mediator to reconcile you back to God). And instead of worship, you will be offering up a blasphemy. God also prohibits the building of any elevating steps toward the altar (which would allow the worshippers more maneuver around the altar, but would expose their lower part of the body) in order to completely distinguish the worship of Yahweh as an act of humility, reverence, and decorum [ref. Ex 28:42,43]. Exodus 21 God gives the details of the covenant which further branch out from under the overarching commandment of love for one's neighbour into the more granular aspects of everyday life in Israel. Much of these details are in the form of statutory laws which start with an "If..." These hypothetical scenarios (virtually all of which are undesirable and grievous, but acknowledged as inevitable evil to be encountered in a fallen world) are presented as pre-existent conditions, the outcomes and the internal affairs of which God then dictates. In these laws, it is obvious that God does not condone or approve of these scenarios, but He means to curb the decadence of society. His responses to these scenarios display His pervasive jurisdiction over the small details of human affairs and His intimate involvement in the life of man. Also, these laws, by default, use the masculine pronoun (i.e. "he") to refer to either the guilty or the victim. However, unless these laws specify the gender of the persons involved, the same law applies to both man and woman (to see how the masculine pronoun refers to both genders, ref. Ge 1:27; Ex 21:20,26). 1) - If you purchase a Semitic man (this is not a fellow Israelite; ref. Lv 25:39-46; "Hebrew" could be understood as any descendant of Eber; Ge 11:16; 39:14) for his service as a slave, then he shall serve for a maximum of six years, after which you shall release him from service and from any debt to you. All who have entered the service with him in the beginning shall also leave with him. - However, if the master provides him a wife so that they create a family, the wife and children shall remain as slaves. If the slave chooses to continue serving his master and be with his family, then the master shall allow him to make a solemn oath before God that he shall be, of his own volition, a lifelong slave; and the master shall pierce his ear by the front door as a sign of his volitional servitude. 2) - If a man sells his daughter to another man, then the daughter shall remain as a lifelong slave in her master's house. If the master decides to betroth her to his son, then the slave shall no longer be a slave but a daughter-in-law. If he marries her himself, then she shall be entitled to all her marriage rights (food, clothing, etc.) as a wife. - If the treacherous husband marries a second woman, then he still shall respect the marriage rights of his first wife (the ex-slave). If he does not provide for his first wife, then she shall be released free without any debt to him. - If the treacherous husband, for whatever reason of his wife's undesirability, decides to divorce her (the ex-slave), then he shall allow her to be redeemed by her kin; he has no right to sell her to a foreigner. 3) He who kills another man with malicious intent (i.e. murder) shall receive the death penalty. 4) He who accidentally kills another man with no malicious intent (i.e. manslaughter), then he shall flee from vengeful kins of the victim to an appointed place of refuge. 5) He who physically assaults his father or his mother shall receive the death penalty. 6) He who kidnaps another man (i.e. force the victim into slavery against his will), even if the guilty has yet to profit from the kidnapping, shall receive the death penalty. 7) He who speaks in an insulting, dishonouring, disrespectful manner against his father or his mother shall receive the death penalty. 8) If one causes injury to another in a brawl, then the guilty shall pay for the victim's loss of time from work and his medical expenses until full recovery. 9) - If a master applies discipline to his male or female slave to the point which causes their death, then he shall be vulnerable to the vengeance of the victim's kin. The law shall not protect him. - If the disciplined slave survives for some time after the discipline, then the master shall not suffer any vengeance; the death of the slave must be ruled as an unintended result of a discipline, not as an act of homicide, especially since the slaves are the master's own investment and the slave's death is the master's own loss. - If the slave receives a permanent injury (e.g. loss of an eye, loss of a tooth) from the master, then the master shall release them from all service and debt. 10) - If a man strikes a pregnant woman so that she gives premature birth, then her husband shall bring the guilty before the court where they will decide the fine to be exacted from the guilty. - If there is found to be any injury on the mother or her child, then the guilty shall receive exactly the same injury, eye for an eye. If the child dies, then the guilty shall die also. 11) - If an ox gores a person to death, then the animal shall be killed by being stoned. The owner shall not be punished. - If it is found that the owner was aware that the guilty ox had a previous habit of violence but did not properly confine it, then the animal shall be stoned and the guilty owner shall receive the death penalty. - If the victim's kin chooses to demand from the guilty owner a ransom price rather than his death, then the owner shall redeem himself from death by paying the ransom to the kin. If a slave is gored, then the ransom price is thirty shekels of silver. The ox shall still be stoned. 12) If a man digs a pit and an animal falls into it, then he shall pay the owner of the animal its full price, and shall keep the dead animal. 13) - If one man's ox gores another man's ox, then the owners shall sell the live ox and equally divide up its price, and also divide up the dead animal. - If it is found that the owner of the live ox was aware of his ox's goring habits but did not properly confine it, then he shall pay the owner of the dead ox its full price, and shall keep the dead animal. Exodus 22 14) - If a man steals another man's ox or sheep and sells it or otherwise kills it, then he shall pay the owner in restitution fivefold for the original price of the ox and fourfold for the original price of the sheep. - If the thief has not sold the stolen thing and has kept it alive, then he shall pay the owner in restitution twofold for the original price of the thing. 15) - If a thief is killed while he is invading into a man's home under cover of darkness, then the owner shall be free from the thief's blood (i.e. not punished for his death). The thief's real intent in the home invasion at dark cannot be readily ascertained, and there is no way to know if he intends to do bodily harm. Thus, the owner's killing him would be ruled as an act of self-defence. - However, if the thief is killed in the daytime, then the owner shall be guilty of his blood. 16) - If an animal grazes in a field or vineyard, the owner of the animal shall make restitution to the owner of the field from the best of his own field as well as the best of his vineyard. - If a fire destroys a man's field or his produce, the one who started the fire shall make full restitution. 17) - If a man trusts his neighbour with one of his property for safe-keeping during his absence and the property becomes stolen and the thief is caught, then the thief shall pay in restitution double the value of the stolen thing. - If the thief is not caught, then the owner and the neighbour both shall make a solemn oath before God that each of them had no participation in the theft. - If a man's animal dies, gets injured, or becomes lost while under the care of his safe-keeping neighbour, then both parties shall make a solemn oath before Yahweh that each of them had no participation in the animal's death, injury, or loss. - If the safe-kept animal is torn to pieces by a beast, then the safe-keeping neighbour shall bring the torn animal as evidence. - If the judges find no guilt in either party, then the owner shall accept the damages; the owner shall not receive any restitution. - If the judges find one guilty of participating in the tampering with the safe-kept property, then that person (whether it be the original owner or the safe-keeping neighbour) shall pay in restitution double the value of the property to the other person. As one purposes to do in his heart to the other, so it shall be done to him. 18) - If a man hires the service of an animal and the thing gets injured or dies in the absence of its owner, then he shall make full restitution. - If a man hires the service of an animal and the thing gets injured or dies while under the supervision of its owner, then the borrower shall not make any restitution. It is expected that the owner understands the risks of being hired for work. 19) - If a man seduces and lies with a unbetrothed, virgin woman, then he shall pay the dowry (i.e. the bride-price paid to her father in betrothal) and marry her. - If her father absolutely refuses to give her to the man, then the man shall pay a fine equal to the dowry to the father. 20) Anyone who practices magic shall receive the death penalty. 21) Anyone who lies with an animal shall receive the death penalty. 22) Anyone who makes a sacrifice to any god other than Yahweh shall be devoted to Yahweh for destruction (repeated in Ex 23:13). 23) You shall not mistreat or oppress a stranger (repeated in Ex 23:9); you shall treat him as you would want to have been treated when you were living as strangers in Egypt. 24) You shall not oppress any widow or orphan. "If you afflict him and he cries out to Me, I will absolutely hear his cry. Then My wrath will burn against you, and I will kill you so as to make widows out of your wives and orphans out of your children" (notice that there is no mention of intermediary human enforcers of this law of Yahweh; Yahweh takes upon Himself the responsibility of taking vengeance against those who oppress the most vulnerable in society). Yahweh, who resides in the highest heavens, has special compassion for the lowliest of men, but He abhors the arrogance of the oppressor. Yahweh, to whom belongs all power, is the Defender of the defenceless, the Avenger of the weak, the Terror of all who boast in their power to abuse others. 25) "If you lend money to the poor among My people, you shall neither charge him interest nor act as a creditor." Yahweh does not want anyone to take business advantage of the needy, so that their financial situation does not grow worse. 26) If you take from the poor his only cloak (or anything needed for basic survival) as a pledge for his yet-unfulfilled end of a deal, you shall return it to him before sunset so that he has a covering for the cold of the night. "If he cries out to Me in his affliction, I will hear His cry, for I am gracious." 27) You shall neither speak in an insulting, dishonouring, disrespectful manner against the supernatural beings, nor curse (pronounce damnation upon) a human ruler. 28) - You shall not hesitate to offer up the first produce and juices from your harvest. - "You shall offer up your firstborn son to Me" on the eighth day (through the consecration ritual of the Passover; ref. Exodus 13). - You shall also offer up all the firstborn males of your animals on the eighth day (through to the consecration ritual of the Passover; ref. Exodus 13). 29) "You shall be holy (i.e. set apart away from engaging in worthless deeds in order to serve God's purposes) men to Me. Therefore, you shall not eat any animal torn by beasts, but you shall throw it to the dogs to eat." The nation that represents people who are blessed by God must not eat garbage. Exodus 23 30) - You shall not conspire with the wicked to be a false witness. - You shall not be intimidated by or enticed to join an evil crowd in order to conspire to do an evil deed, or pervert justice. - You shall not take a bribe. A bribe blinds the clear-sighted and denies justice due to the one in the right. - You shall not show partiality in executing justice, whether the man is rich or poor. Yahweh warns the judges to have nothing to do with aiding and abetting a false witness. They should remember that they do not determine justice; God determines justice, and their job is to execute it according to the standard of His law. Thus, even if the human judges pervert justice and punish the innocent and the one who is in the right, the Judge of all the earth nevertheless does not pervert His justice. 31) - If you see your enemy's (the one who hates you) animal wandering away, then you shall be a neighbour to him and return the animal to its owner. - If you see your enemy's animal in dire straits, then you shall help it. 32) - Your land shall be farmed for six years. Then on the seventh year, it shall rest. - After you have harvested your produce, you shall allow your needy brothers to glean the leftover from your land. Then after they have gleaned, the beasts of the field can eat what is left. This law applies to all lands, including your vineyard and olive grove. 33) You shall work for six days, and you shall rest from work on the seventh day. Your slaves, the hired strangers, and your animals all shall rest and refresh themselves. 34) You shall not consider other gods as worthy of any attention. 35) All men shall hold a pilgrimage three times a year in order to "celebrate a feast to Me" (men's retreat, so to speak). You shall gather to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a commemoration of their liberation from their slavery in Egypt, and two Thanksgiving feasts called the Feast of the Harvest (also called the Feast of Weeks; ref. Ex 34:22) in order to celebrate the Yahweh's provision of the first fruits in their early harvest and to honour Yahweh's pre-eminence in their lives by offering up the very best of all the first fruits (Ex 23:19; 34:26), and the Feast of the Ingathering (also called the Feast of Booths; ref. Lv 23:34) in order to celebrate the final harvest and God's faithfulness to provide for their needs. 36) You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk or perform any other pagan ritual that would profane the worship of Yahweh. You shall declare that Yahweh is not like any other gods, and that it is impossible to worship Yahweh and also worship pagan idols. The worship of the true God is not compatible with the worship of false gods. Yahweh introduces a mysterious "Messenger" who will stand in His place to be Israel's Guardian and Leader and Warrior. Yahweh commands Israel to take care to honour this Messenger and obey His word to the hilt, because the Messenger possesses the authority to pardon or condemn Israel's disobedience due to the fact that the Messenger possesses within Himself the name of God (i.e. all that Yahweh is in His infinite holiness). If Israel obeys the Messenger as they obey Yahweh -- follow Him, give heed to His human delegate Moses, obliterate the existence of all idolatrous practices from their midst, make no covenant with the nations living in the promised land or with their gods (for God has devoted them all to destruction for their idolatry; ref. Dt 9:4,5), have zero toleration for their existence within the promised land (since they are idolatrous people who will otherwise tempt them to commit idolatry; ref. Dt 20:16-18) -- then Yahweh promises to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant: abundance of food and water, physical health, reproductive vigor, the promised land with specific boundaries (i.e. from the Red Sea to the "sea of the Philistines" or the Mediterranean, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates). Yahweh discloses His plan on how He will start to fulfill His covenant. He will first send ahead a paralyzing terror to all the inhabitants of Canaan and neutralize all their morale; He will throw them into disorder and confusion. He will bring Israel into the land of Canaan, and conquer it little by little so that Israel has time to grow in number and possess it all. Exodus 24 God finishes delivering the foundational terms of His covenant (i.e. the ten commandments and their expansions), and officially seals His covenant with Israel through His mediator. Moses the mediator of the covenant comes down from meeting with Yahweh to the people of Israel, and verbally relays to them the terms of the covenant, to which they again unanimously and eagerly accept. Then Moses writes down all the terms in a book as a permanent record. The next early morning at the foot of the Mount Sinai (i.e. Mount Horeb), Moses builds an altar which represents Yahweh, and twelve pillars in order to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. With the help of the firstborn sons (who acted as family priests), he offers burnt offerings and peace offerings to Yahweh, and collects blood from the sacrifices. Then Moses scatters half of the blood on the altar (and on the book; ref. Heb 9:19). Then he reads aloud the book of the covenant to the people who confirm by responding in the affirmative for the third time [Ex 19:8; 24:3,7]. Then Moses scatters the other half of the blood on the people. This ritual of sloshing the blood of the covenant on the two parties symbolized that they have now officially entered into the covenant. Both Moses and this blood prefigure the true Mediator who is to come, who by the sacrifice of Himself will seal a better covenant with Israel and cleanse them from their violations that they have committed against this covenant of Sinai [Heb 9:15,28]. Yahweh tells Moses to bring Aaron, Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron [Ex 6:23], and the seventy elders of Israel closer to the Mount Sinai past the restricted boundary. They represent the priesthood and the nation Israel, and as such, they must participate in the fellowship meal with Yahweh (a common ritual in which the two covenant-bound parties show their good intention toward one another). They see the God of Israel, yet remain unharmed by their encounter with the holy God. They reverently dare not gaze upon Yahweh anywhere above His feet, and can only recount seeing some kind of a pavement of clear, sky-like sapphire under His feet. The glory of Yahweh, manifested in the form of a consuming fire shrouded in a cloud (i.e. a dangerous and unfathomable force not to be trifled with), rests on the Mount Sinai for six days. On the seventh day, Yahweh calls Moses the mediator (with Joshua his personal assistant) to enter His glory cloud on the Mount so that he may receive the stone tablets on which God has written the official record of the covenant. After instructing the elders of Israel (hence, all Israel) to wait for his return and delegating all legal arbitration to Aaron and Hur, Moses enters the cloud and is on the Mount for forty days and forty nights. This solemn period in which God makes Israel wait for His delivery of the tablets of the covenant impresses upon the people how greatly consequential and pivotal their honouring or dishonouring this covenant will be for their future, either for the better or for the worse. Exodus 25 After sealing the covenant with Israel based on the ten foundational commandments, Yahweh fleshes out the implications of the covenant. Yahweh calls anyone with a willing heart for their contribution of all the materials required for the construction of the sacred throne-room of Yahweh, their central place of worship called the tabernacle (i.e. the dwelling place; ref. Ex 25:9), the sacred place [Ex 25:8], or the tent of meeting [Ex 27:21]. As was the case with the garden of Eden, the tabernacle shows God's desire to dwell among and fellowship with His children. Yahweh designs each furniture that is to be placed within the borders of His abode, and they are to be constructed according to His instructions. Each furniture (the ark, the mercy seat, the table, the lampstand, the coverings, the veil, the entrance curtain, the bronze altar, the curtains for the borders, the altar of incense, and the bronze laver) has a symbolic meaning: - Yahweh designs a rectangular wooden ark, overlaid with pure gold inside and out, to be carried with wooden poles (also overlaid with gold) through the rings on its four feet. The poles shall never be removed. Inside the ark shall be the stone tablets of the covenant, here called the testimony (i.e. a witness and seal of the covenant). The ark shall contain His law which will either bless or curse those who obey or violate it. - Yahweh designs a cover for the ark, made of pure gold, on top of which sits two golden Cherubim (the throne guardians of Yahweh; ref. Ge 3:24), one on each end. The Cherubim shall face each other and downward towards the cover, and they shall spread their wings over the cover. The Cherubim guard His dwelling place from which He will meet with and instruct Israel. Between Yahweh and His law in the ark (which will soon be violated; ref. Ex 32:19) is the ark's cover which He calls the mercy (literally, "ransom") seat. The mercy seat covers over the sins of His people and becomes their ransom price so that they are redeemed from the curse of the law. - Yahweh designs a wooden table, overlaid with pure gold, to be carried with wooden poles (overlaid with gold) through the rings on its four feet. On the table, there shall be utensils (pans, jars, and platters) made of gold with which to pour drink offerings. The Bread of the Face shall be on the table before Yahweh at all times. Yahweh provides the bread and drink for the sustenance of Israel at all times and fellowships with them by eating with them at the fellowship table. - Yahweh designs a lampstand and its utensils (snuffers and trays), all made of pure gold. The lampstand shall have seven lamps in total, three pairs of branches shooting out from the main stem, with three lamps on each side. Yahweh commands Israel to keep supplying the priests (the keepers of His abode) with clear oil of beaten olives so that the priests may light the lampstand at night-times [ref. Ex 27:20,21; Lv 24:1-4]. In the morning, they shall trim the lamps [Ex 30:7]. This is a permanent statute to be kept under this covenant. Yahweh is the all-sufficient source of Israel's life and blessing, and He illumines them at all times. Exodus 26 - Yahweh designs four layers of covering to cover over the tabernacle. The innermost layer shall be coloured linen decorated with Cherubim imagery, which marks the inner chamber as Yahweh's dwelling place. Then the next layers, from the innermost to the outermost, shall be made of goats' hair, rams' skins dyed red, then porpoise skins. Yahweh dwells among Israel -- in the flesh, so to speak. - Yahweh designs a veil, made of coloured linen, decorated with Cherubim imagery, to divide the tabernacle into two places: the holy place and the holy of holies [Ex 26:33]. The ark and the mercy seat shall be in the holy of holies, the most set apart place. And the table and the lampstand shall be in the holy place, on the north and the south side respectively. The throne of Yahweh is founded on perfect righteousness [Ps 89:14], and Israel shall know that they themselves are barred from approaching God's throne. However, the high priest shall be allowed access once a year into the holy of holies to appease, on behalf of Israel and also for himself, God's wrath against their covenant violations. Without the priestly mediator, Israel cannot hope to atone for their sins (Lv 16:17,34). - Yahweh designs a curtain, made of coloured linen, for the entrance of the tabernacle. No profane man shall gaze into the holy abode of Yahweh, unless he is made holy. Exodus 27 - Yahweh designs the largest furniture for His abode, and places it in the courtyard (Ex 40:29): a rectangular wooden altar (a square base of 2.3 meters per side, and 1.4 meters high) with a horn on each corner, overlaid with bronze, to be carried with wooden poles (also overlaid with bronze) through the rings on its two sides. Its grating, its utensils (pails, firepans, forks, shovels, and basins) all shall be made of bronze. Yahweh pushes with His strong horns the sacrifices on the altar, moving them away from profaneness and making them holy; thus the sacrifices make effectual atonement for Israel's sins. The wrath of the holy God must first be quenched before His presence can peacefully dwell among sinful men. - Yahweh sets a rectangular dimension of the courtyard (about 46 meters long, 23 meters wide, and 2.3 meters high) with curtains of linen for its borders, and sets apart His holy place from the rest of the profane land. - Yahweh designs only one entrance into the courtyard, which is screened by coloured linen (9 meters wide), and it is on the east side. There is only one singular way for sinners to enter into the presence of the holy God and be accepted by Him, and it is the way which He Himself graciously provides and which He must clearly show them. Without His gracious instructions, sinners are lost. Exodus 28 Yahweh installs the Aaronic priesthood (named after Aaron from whose bloodline shall come the priests), the order of men who shall be the keepers of His earthly abode. Through their work, Israel shall be able to dwell peacefully with their God. Yahweh designs their clothing and accoutrements to signify their special role, one that is set apart from those of civilians in Israel's economy. Thus, the priests shall be held in esteem in Israel. Aaron the leader of all the priests (i.e. the high priest) shall be given a turban, a golden headband, a checkered tunic, a robe, an ephod (i.e. an apron), a breast pouch, a sash (i.e. a belt), and a linen undergarment that covers from the waist to thighs. The golden headband shall be engraved with the words "Holy to Yahweh," and be placed over the turban. Marked with the headband, the high priest shall then be the one to purify the offerings of the Israelites and make them acceptable to Yahweh; he shall bear the punishment in place of the offering giver, and remove the profaneness from the offerings. The robe shall have on its hem golden bells which shall sound his movement; the priest shall not dare set foot on or leave the abode of Yahweh without first sounding either his arrival or his departure, lest he die. Two onyx stones shall be engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel -- six of the tribes on one stone and the remaining six on the second stone. Then the stones shall be strapped to the ephod, one on each shoulder; thus, the high priest shall represent all Israel when he stands before Yahweh. The breast pouch (called the breast pouch of decree; 9 inches by 9 inches) shall bear, at its front, twelve precious stones -- four rows of three -- each engraved with the name of a tribe. Then the breast pouch shall be joined by gold rings to the ephod's shoulder pieces; thus the high priest shall be the resident intercessor for all Israel when he, without fail, continually brings the remembrance of them to Yahweh. The breast pouch of decree shall carry in it the Urim and the Thummim (literally, "lights" and "perfections"), by which the high priest shall inquire of Yahweh and relay His specific guidance to Israel for practical matters (ref. Nu 27:21). As for Aaron's sons, they shall each be given a hat, a tunic, a sash, and a linen undergarment that covers from the waist to thighs. All the priests shall be in their priestly garments when they serve in the tabernacle, lest they die. This is a permanent statute to be kept under this covenant. Exodus 29 Yahweh inaugurates the Aaronic priesthood in Israel through a series of ostentatious ceremonies as a way to validate its special purpose for the life of the nation. It is through the priests' work that a line of communication shall be established between Yahweh and His people Israel; Yahweh shall dwell among them, and Israel shall have the privilege of calling the God of gods as their own King in the most personal sense. However, it is obvious that the entire priesthood system -- with all its furnitures, human actors, and animals -- is meant to serve as a symbolic imagery that points to the need for a true High Priest who alone can atone for sins and secure eternal peace between the holy God and profane sinners. The blood of animals has no power to extinguish God's wrath against humans' sins. Nor can mere mortals mediate between God and men, since they themselves are in need of a mediator. Nor can bits of wood and metal offer up atonement for sins that reaches the heavens. The fact that the components of the priestly infrastructure must all undergo a solemn ceremony of consecration and so be made operational does not mean that they now cease being mere symbolic pictures of the coming Mediator, but simply that God works only through this type of mediatory system in order to forgives sinners. Here is how Yahweh tells Moses to inaugurate the Aaronic priesthood: 1. Bring Aaron and his sons out to the entrance of the tabernacle, and may Yahweh be witness. 2. Wash them with water. 3. Put the priestly garments on them. 4. Anoint Aaron's head with consecrating oil, and make him a channel of Yahweh's special direction. 5. Make them lay their hands on a bull, and transfer their sins. Do the same with two rams. 6. Take the bull's organs and fat and offer them up on the altar as a sin offering. Put some of its blood on the horns of the altar, and pour out the rest on its base. Then anoint the altar with consecrating oil. Burn the rest of the bull outside the camp of Israel (cf. Heb 13:11,12). 7. Cut one ram into pieces, wash its organs and legs, offer them on the altar as a burnt offering. Sprinkle its blood on the altar all around. 8. The second ram is the ram of ordination. Put into the hands of Aaron and his sons its organs, its fat, the right thigh, and some unleavened bread, and make them offer them up as a wave offering; then offer them up on the altar as a burnt offering. Then smear its blood on their right ears, right thumbs, and right big toes. Sprinkle some blood and consecrating oil on Aaron and his sons. 9. Sprinkle the rest of the second ram's blood on the altar all around. 10. Take the breast of the second ram, and offer it up as a wave offering; then it shall be your (i.e. Moses') portion. The breast of the wave offering shall be holy. 11. Take the rest of the second ram, and boil it in a holy place. Then make Aaron and his sons eat it with some unleavened bread by the entrance of the tabernacle. Moses shall burn up any leftover food in the morning with fire. No regular civilian of Israel shall eat these holy things. 12. Repeat the steps in the same manner each day, for a total of seven days. Thus shall the altar and the priests be atoned for and consecrated. Then everything that touches the altar shall be holy to God. When the time comes for Aaron to retire, one of his sons shall replace him as the new high priest. The son shall go through the same seven days of ordination that Aaron had done when he was ordained. As a permanent statute, the right thigh shall be the heave offering given to Aaron and his sons as their portion from all the peace offerings of the sons of Israel. The heave offering shall be holy. The regular sacrifices to be offered every day throughout the generations of Israel on the consecrated altar hereafter are: one yearling lamb in the morning, and a second yearling lamb in the evening. Each lamb shall be offered with two liters of flour, a liter of crushed oil, and a liter of wine, for a soothing smell that rises up to Yahweh. They shall be offered up by fire as a burnt offering. The daily slaughter of the lambs shall never end until their symbolism is fulfilled in the true Lamb of God who takes away the sins of His people. Exodus 30 - Yahweh designs a rectangular wooden altar with a horn on each corner, overlaid with pure gold, to be carried with wooden poles (also overlaid with gold) through the rings on its two sides, to be placed in the holy place before the veil. The high priest shall burn fragrant incense on it every evening (when he goes in to light the lamps) and every morning (when he goes in to trim the lamps). This altar shall be used for offering up nothing except the fragrant incense. Through this altar, the high-priest shall intercede on behalf of all Israel [ref. Ps 141:2; Rev 5:8]. - Yahweh designs a bronze laver for washing. It shall be placed between the tabernacle and the bronze altar. Whenever the priests enter the tabernacle or approach the bronze altar, they shall first wash their hands and their feet in order to purify themselves, lest they die. This washing shall be a permanent statute under this covenant. - Yahweh designs a very particular mix of ingredients for the fragrant incense. This particular mix shall be holy, and thus shall not be used for any other purpose except for offering up to Yahweh in the tabernacle. Whoever in Israel concocts this mix or uses it for their own personal use shall be guilty of profaning the holy, and thus shall be killed. - Yahweh designs a very particular mix of ingredients for the consecrating oil. Through the oil, the tabernacle and all the furnitures (i.e. the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altar of incense, the bronze altar of burnt offering, the bronze laver) shall be consecrated and made holy; then, whatever touches these furnitures shall themselves become holy to Yahweh. Just like the fragrant incense, whoever makes or uses this mix for their own personal use shall be killed. As part of upkeep of the tabernacle, Yahweh sets up a taxation system wherein all males who are 20 years of age and older must each pay half a shekel (based on the standard weight of a shekel kept by the priesthood) as a ransom for their lives, lest a plague be sent among them. This collected money shall be called the atonement money, and shall serve as a remembrance of their need for atonement. Exodus 31 Yahweh appoints Bezalel -- the grandson of Hur and the great-grandson of Caleb -- to be specially directed by His Spirit to design and build the tabernacle and all things pertaining to the Aaronic priesthood. The Spirit also energizes a man named Oholiab and all his workmen who will help execute the plans of Bezalel. Yahweh reminds Israel to observe the Sabbath day as a holy day. This is to identify Israel as the people of the true and living God the Creator and Liberator. Whoever does not observe it shall be killed. After having thus instructed Moses on the Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights, Yahweh concludes His meeting with Moses by giving him the stone tablets of the testimony on which is written the Ten Commandments [ref. Ex 34:28]. Exodus 32 Despite having heard the voice of Yahweh from heaven, having seen His powerful judgments against Egypt as well as His miraculous provision of food in the wilderness, Israel refuses to trust in His goodness and follow Him. The novelty of Yahweh's miracles has not yet faded from memory, but their allegiance to themselves has not been surrendered. Their motive behind their enthusiastic pledge of obedience when they made the covenant with Yahweh was only for the promised blessings. They possess no reverence, no gratitude toward Yahweh who becomes nothing more than a plaything to be manipulated for their self-centered interests. The absence of their mediator Moses becomes a pretext to throw away the laws of the covenant and rewrite the laws altogether as their lust dictates. Moses is assumed dead or gone forever, along with his covenant. In the absence of the mediator, they pressure Aaron the second-in-command into taking charge of their business of creating a god in order to inaugurate another covenant. The unfaithful people prefer to knowingly worship a false god instead of the true God, because they are being inconvenienced. Never mind that a false god cannot lead them anywhere, they would rather exercise their faith in a fantasy than trust the true God and submit to Him, as long as it means that they create the fantasy according to their own fancies. Cowardly Aaron, wanting the people to wait for Moses and yet not wanting to lose further loyalty to his leadership, compromises. He promises to make the idol for the people on the condition that the material to be fashioned into an idol is their own precious jewelries. However, the condition that he hoped would deter the self-centred people from departing from Yahweh becomes the incriminating witness to their complicity in idolatry. Aaron learns that he cannot quell the desires of idolatrous people by appealing to an alternative form of idolatry -- love of their possessions. They will give up anything in their pursuit of idolatry, as long as their god is ultimately themselves. Aaron now finds a heap of golden jewelries arrived at his door, and finds himself completely entrenched in a course of action that he really did not want to take. Aaron, now having no more pretext to deny the people their wish, has to make the choice of either boldly contradicting the people and facing their wrath, or making the idol. After a series of self-justifying rationales, he convinces himself that being a diplomat is the wiser choice, not knowing that true wisdom comes from obedience to Yahweh. Aaron forges the idol in the form of a calf, a well-known symbol of fertility and strength, which is certainly a respectable form of a god from the pagan perspective. Thus, Aaron seals the fate of the people to whatever consequence there will be for their violation of the covenant. When the people see their idol, they immediately ascribe to it the power that delivered them from Egypt so that they may serve a god who not only explains away their miraculous Exodus but also who is a mute puppet that will approve all their self-dictated terms. Aaron the future high priest of Yahweh, wanting to make the best of the situation, makes the situation even worse by directing the people to not forget Yahweh and so holds a worship service for Yahweh the golden calf. Having lost all inhibition, the people sacrifice animals, they eat and drink, and they celebrate their own selves to their hearts' content. And where there is spiritual harlotry, it is always accompanied by sexual immorality [ref. 1Co 10:8; Col 3:5]. Yahweh assumes the role of an impetuous king and adversary of Israel, and tells Moses that His next course of action is to exterminate the entire nation of Israel and rebuild the nation through the line of Moses. Yahweh, due to His holy nature, expresses the same kind of remorse for choosing Israel as His covenant people as He did for creating mankind in the first place [Ge 6:6]. Moses assumes the role of a wise counsellor, and has to remind Yahweh of His irrevocable, unconditional covenant with their forefathers, the fulfillment of which rests on His trustworthiness alone, and how He would violate His own word if He were to wipe out Israel. Also, Moses tells Him how His name would suffer embarrassment among the nations; no one would ever esteem Yahweh as a Saviour God when He so pointlessly rescued a helpless people from slavery only to kill them all in the middle of nowhere. However in reality, Yahweh has not forgotten His covenant with the forefathers [Ge 48:15,16; 49:1-28; Ex 6:2-8], and whatever He decrees does not change [Nu 23:19]. He only allows Moses to participate in such decision-making conversation with the Divine so as to force him into the role of an advocate for Israel and so make him verbalize the reasons why Yahweh cannot annihilate Israel despite their unfaithfulness. Such dynamic conversation typifies the kind of communication between the divine Mediator and God [ref. 1Jn 2:1-2]. After receiving the two stone tablets on which Yahweh Himself wrote the terms of the covenant, Moses goes down to be reunited with Joshua, and they both start down the mountain. As they approach the camp of Israel, they hear clearer and clearer a sound of festivity. When Moses sees the golden calf and the people's dancing around it, he burns with a godly anger and shatters the stone tablets which Israel has proved themselves unworthy to receive. Then he utterly cremates to powders the golden calf and scatters its remains over a nearby water supply; symbolically, as people now drink in the idol-water mix, they will realize that the fate of idolaters is united to the same fate of oblivion as their idol [ref. 2Ch 34:4]. When Moses rightly holds Aaron responsible for letting the people get out of control, sheepish Aaron blames everyone and everything else but himself; he blames the people for being hopelessly evil, he blames Moses for being absent for so long, and he blames the golden calf for popping out of the forge. Israel, even in its early days as a nation, was already bearing witness to the world, and they have dishonoured Yahweh before the watching world by misrepresenting him as one of the cheap idols over which Yahweh had specifically demonstrated His supremacy back in Egypt. Thus, in order to reaffirm Yahweh's holiness among the gods, it was absolutely necessary that a punishment be meted out as a response. If Israel were not chastised for their idolatry, then it would mean that Yahweh is not holy and that Yahweh does not take seriously His own words of the covenant. Moses calls to himself all Israelites who have remained loyal to Yahweh, and they are mostly from the tribe of Levi. From the divine perspective, Yahweh has blessed the people of Moses' tribe and preserved them from judgment as a mercy. From the human perspective, the sons of Levi have remained loyal to Yahweh because Moses was of Levi, and to dishonour Yahweh would have been to dishonour Moses their own blood. Thus, Moses charges them with Yahweh's command to take up the sword of judgment and eradicate the most flagrant idolaters from their camp. Those who ultimately obey Yahweh's command are those who prioritize their relationship with Yahweh as a higher priority than any family ties. As a result, three thousand Israelites are killed. After the slaughter, Moses calls the surviving people to repent and reaffirm their loyalty to Yahweh so that they may not die. Moses intercedes for Israel by asking Yahweh to remove his own name from God's metaphorical book which keeps the names of all those who will ultimately be in His eternal kingdom, if He will not forgive their idolatry. Moses' audacious bargaining for Israel's pardon by asking God to damn him if He will not forgive them is not only motivated by a leader's honour but also because he already knows that it is impossible for God to revoke His covenant promises. Yahweh reassures Moses that He will not destroy Israel, but vows to punish the people for their sin. Thus, more people are killed through Yahweh's plague. Although Moses is the mediator for the covenant, he is also a sinful human being who himself requires mercy from God for his own violations of the covenant; Yahweh puts Moses in his place by telling him that he has no bargaining chip with God since it was through sheer mercy that his name is recorded in the book. Yahweh says that those whom He will remove from His book are those who fall away from Him; this language of removing someone from God's metaphorical book of salvation is not to be understood as a rejection of those whose names God has pre-written and predestined for citizenship in His kingdom [ref. Nu 23:19], but only as a way to communicate that those whom God will ultimately reject from His kingdom are idolaters. Exodus 33 After having chastised Israel, Yahweh does what every wise father should do when his child is being stubborn and disobedient: threaten them with estrangement so that they realize the very possible reality of being no longer shielded by the father's resources and thus exposed to the harshness of life. In this way, the father gives the child the opportunity to independently exercise their own valuation and decide what they value more: their relationship with their father or their vice. Yahweh promises Israel that He will indeed fulfill the covenant promises that He has made to their forefathers -- to wipe out the idolatrous Canaanites from their land, and prepare the land for Israel. However, He tells them that they will henceforth be on their own; His wise guidance will not be given them, nor will His presence accompany them to reassure them of safety, nor will He call them His own special people among the nations. Yahweh's presence among such self-willed people cannot but demand their destruction by virtue of His holiness. The people become very grieved as a result, and mourn the consequence of their sin. Yahweh gives them an opportunity to repent; He tells them to remove their jewelry as a sign of their contrition, and wait upon His decision concerning their future with Him. In so doing, Yahweh trains Israel in doing what they had failed to do: wait upon Him. While Israel is being trained, Moses pitches a tent outside Israel's camp where Yahweh would meet with him. The estranged people keeps a close eye on the movement of their mediator Moses; whenever Moses would go out to the tent in order to converse with Yahweh, the people would stand by their tents with respectful attention to his going out; and when Yahweh's cloud pillar comes down to the tent, the people would show reverence by prostrating themselves toward Yahweh. At the tent, Yahweh allows Moses the privilege of knowing Him more intimately. Yahweh shares His more intimate thoughts and concerns with Moses, just as a man would share his personal thoughts with his close friend. Becoming accustomed to the privileged relationship, Moses also expresses his own frustration toward Yahweh about the fact that He has assigned him with the burdensome task of leading Israel to Canaan, yet He is now threatening to abandon them, and that without having introduced at all who the promised "Messenger" is whom He had said He will send to lead them. Moses also reminds Yahweh that at least he himself has earned His approval by virtue of his loyalty to Yahweh; thus, at least he himself should have Yahweh's presence to guide him; Yahweh affirms that Moses has His approval and that His presence will be with him. Being a true mediator, Moses then immediately uses this affirmation as a leverage in order to secure Yahweh's presence with Israel; since Moses has Yahweh's approval, he prays that Yahweh grant his request, that Yahweh's presence stay with Israel. Moses reminds Yahweh again that Israel is His covenant people, and that to abandon Israel would be to dishonour His own covenant; essentially, Moses uses Yahweh's own words (which are infallible) to argue his plea on behalf of the sinful nation of Israel. Yahweh grants Moses' request as a proof of God's approval of his mediatorship. Despite having known Yahweh far more intimate than any other living mortal in his time ever has, Moses feels the discontent of a true follower who yet yearns to know Him even more. Thus, Moses asks Yahweh to allow him to see His glory; and Yahweh graciously grants his prayer. Yahweh instructs Moses to stand in a cleft of the mountain; then Yahweh uses anthropomorphic languages to describe how He will shield Moses from seeing His face so that he does not die; Moses will only see Yahweh's back as He passes by. Thus, Moses asks Yahweh, and Moses receives. However, nobody even seeks after the privilege of knowing God in a secure, intimate relationship unless Yahweh draws his heart to do so. Exodus 34 Yahweh graciously renews the covenant that Israel broke. Yahweh commands Moses to carve out two stone tablets and bring them up to the Mount Sinai, on which He will again write the Ten Commandments. No living creature but the mediator Moses is allowed on or near the Mount. Moses stays on the Mount for another forty days and forty nights, during which period his body supernaturally has no need of water or food. When Moses calls out to Yahweh on the Mount, Yahweh comes down to him in the form of His glory cloud, and, as promised, Yahweh shows Moses the awesome "afterglow" of His glory. However, being able to truly appreciate the glory of God is not only by seeing His visible form of light, but by also understanding His character; the glory of God (i.e. the sum of His attributes) must not only be experienced but also mentally understood in didactic form. Thus, Yahweh teaches Moses about His moral character: - Yahweh is compassionate, as a mother is toward her child. - Yahweh is gracious, and gives special attention to the well-being of those who are in want. - Yahweh is patient and long-suffering in His tolerance of disobedient behaviour, and takes pleasure in the disobedient's repentance rather than in his death. - Yahweh is perfectly true, faithful, and loyally committed to ensuring goodness and rewards for all those who love Him and keep His covenant [ref. Dt 5:10]. - Yahweh is forgiving toward those who repent, and pardons all manner of transgressions [ref. Ex 32:32; 34:9]. - Yahweh is righteous, who demands accountability for all transgressions, and who exacts vengeance on the evildoers who violate the laws of His covenant [ref. Ex 32:34;35]. His judgment will devastate so deeply that it will affect the subsequent generations for decades. Either the future generations will themselves imbibe the same idolatrous ideologies and be judged themselves, or they will grow up in a society so miserably marred by the consequences of their fathers' idolatry. In the face of such great manifestation of unmerited favour, Moses immediately bows low to the ground in reverence. Now even more assured of Yahweh's faithful love toward Israel, Moses prays Yahweh that He act according to His revealed character -- by forgiving their sin of idolatry, and guiding them with His presence. As an affirmative response to Moses' prayer, Yahweh reiterates the laws of His covenant which Israel currently needs most to remember and heed: 1. Make no covenant with the Canaanite tribes. Yahweh makes this a national policy in order to remove all possibility of Israel's becoming friendly with idolatrous peoples who inevitably will insist that Israel acknowledges their gods to be legitimate and participates in their worship. 2. Remove all idolatrous practices from the land of Canaan, for Yahweh is a jealous God. There is only one true and living God, and He must be given the proper reverence. 3. Keep the religious calendar and the prescribed rituals. The holy days of observance strengthen Israel's love for Yahweh and their national brotherhood. Yahweh promises to protect their belongings while they observe the holy days and are occupied with worship, such as in the days of the three pilgrimages. After having spent so much time being with and taught by Yahweh, Moses's face radiates beams of Yahweh's glorious light. This visible spectacle points to the deeper spiritual reality that the more a follower of Yahweh studies Yahweh and heeds His word, the more they will conform to His moral character and better reflect His glory. Moses makes several trips between meeting with Yahweh and relaying Yahweh's commandments to the people. Whenever Moses would finish his sermon, he would cover over his face with a veil until he meets again with Yahweh, at which point he would take off the veil. This behaviour indicates that Moses knew the light from his face was fading away and felt ashamed of having his face seen without the light; so he would hide the fading glory until he can appear before Yahweh and re-energize his face. The fact of Moses' fading glory points to deeper spiritual realities: 1. The covenant of Mount Sinai is unable to give safe access to Yahweh's full glory because of human frailties. The laws demand too much from sinners, and the Aaronic priesthood offers only symbolic gestures that cannot offer real atonement for sin. 2. The mediator Moses is unable to reconcile sinners to Yahweh, because he, a sinful being himself, is barred from seeing Yahweh's full glory. 3. The covenant with its mediator will fade away in glory as a better covenant with its Mediator dawns [ref. 2Co 3:7-18]. The better Mediator will satisfy the laws' demand for perfect conformity, and He will actually atone for His people's sins. Exodus 35 Moses reminds the people of the fourth commandment: keep the Sabbath. Refusing to acknowledge the Sabbath in their economy is the same as refusing to honour Yahweh's place in their lives; this act of selfishness and ingratitude is marked as a serious offence deserving of capital punishment. They shall not even do any preparatory task that helps them work more efficiently, such as kindling a fire. Their minds are to be occupied with the Sabbath, not work. As Yahweh has directed, Moses calls all willing people for their voluntary contributions of the materials (i.e. metal, wood, fabric, leather, etc.) needed for the construction of the tabernacle system. So all the generous people step up to the challenge, and all the wise women of fabric make the various textile materials. Moses also calls for all people of craftsmanship to join the labour force. So all the wise men rally around the two chosen men -- Bezalel of Judah who is made the architect and overseer for all the work, and Oholiab of Dan who is made the second-in-command. Everyone, men and women, participates in the construction, either in giving or labouring. This shows that Yahweh takes delight in involving the people's generous sweat and sacrifice for the accomplishing of His glorious goal, so that they may praise Him for the privilege of their participation and celebrate with Him all the more upon completion of their goal. Exodus 36 Yahweh places the necessary wisdom as well as the willingness to work in the minds of all the men He has chosen to build the tabernacle system. Yahweh fully equips His workers for the work He has given them. The workers report to Moses that they have more than enough materials to complete the tabernacle, yet the people are still producing and bringing more and more materials every morning. So Moses announces to the people that they should stop bringing any more materials. All directed by the Spirit of God, the workers are very careful to follow the blueprints they have been given for all the work. Not one detail is disregarded: the precise measurements, the colours of the fabric, the type of leather used, the number of wooden pillars for each side of the tabernacle, the decorative patterns on the veil, and more. Exodus 37 The construction of the tabernacle system continues. Under the strict supervision of Bezalel, the workers make the ark, the mercy seat, the table of the bread and its utensils, the lamp stand and its utensils, the altar of incense, the fragrant incense compound, and the consecrating oil. Exodus 38 The construction of the tabernacle system continues. The workers make the altar of burnt offering and its utensils, the laver of bronze, the courtyard walls of pillars and curtains of linen, and the screen of coloured linen for the gateway of the courtyard. As part of an accountability system, Moses orders Ithamar the son of Aaron to keep a complete inventory of the precious metals that are used. For gold, they use a total of 29 talents and 730 shekels. For silver, they collect half a shekel from every man of 20 years of age and older, and use a total of 100 talents and 1,775 shekels (which means there are 603,550 men in Israel). For bronze, they use a total of 70 talents and 2,400 shekels. Exodus 39 The construction of the tabernacle system continues. The workers make the priestly garments. They make the ephod with hammered-out gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and linen threads. They also make the shoulder pieces, in like manner as the ephod, for the holding of the two onyx stones which have the names of Israel's tribes engraved on them. They also make the breast pouch, in like manner as the ephod, in the front of which are mounted the twelve precious stones (i.e. ruby, topaz, emerald, turquoise, sapphire, diamond, jacinth, agate, amethyst, beryl, onyx, and jasper), each having the name of a tribe engraved on it. They make the intricate system of gold chains, gold rings, and blue cords to hold the ephod, the shoulder pieces and the breast pouch all together as one unit. They make the blue robe of the ephod with alternating gold bells and pomegranates of blue, purple, scarlet, and linen around on its hem. They make the sashes of blue, purple, scarlet, and linen. They make the tunics and the undergarments of linen. They make the turban of linen for Aaron, and the hats of linen for the sons of Aaron. They make the headband of pure gold on which is engraved "Holy to Yahweh," which is to be fastened to Aaron's turban with a blue cord. The construction of the entire tabernacle system is thus completed. The workers fulfill the blueprints of Moses in their entirety, and present all their work to Moses for the final inspection. Moses examines all the work, and gives his official seal of approval by blessing them all. Exodus 40 It is now the first day of the first month once again. Almost one whole calendar year has passed since their exodus from Egypt (which was on the 15th of the first month). Yahweh has appointed this new year's day as the day in which the tabernacle is to be erected and the priesthood to be inaugurated for the very first time in history. Thus, on the new years' day, as Yahweh has commanded, under the strict guidance of Moses, the workers set up the tabernacle according to its layout, in an eastward direction and starting from the most intimate parts. They erect the tabernacle, and spread the coverings over it. They place the stone tablets of the testimony into the ark, place the mercy seat on top of it, and bring the ark by its poles into the tabernacle. They set up the veil to set apart the holy of holies in which the ark was brought. They place the table on the north side of the holy place, and place its utensils and the Bread of the Presence on the table. They place the lampstand opposite the table on the south side, and light its lamps. They place the gold altar of incense in front of the veil and burn fragrant incense on it. They set up the curtain for the doorway of the tabernacle. They place the bronze altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle and offer the burnt offering and the meal offering. They place the laver between the tabernacle and the bronze altar, and put water in it for washing. They erect the courtyard walls all around, and set up the curtain for the gateway of the courtyard. Then Moses takes the consecrating oil and anoints the tabernacle and everything in it, anoints the bronze altar and its utensils, anoints the laver and its stand, and so consecrate them. He brings Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tabernacle, and performs the consecrating ceremonies in order to qualify them for their priesthood service. The Aaronic priesthood will serve Israel for as long as the covenant of Mount Sinai remains, and it will serve by teaching the people about sin and God's mediatory way of atonement; and the covenant will have fulfilled its purpose (and so fade away) when the true High Priest with His covenant of actual atonement arrives [ref. Gal 3:24; Heb 7:18-19; 8:4-6,13; 9:8-10,15; 10:1]. Yahweh gives His seal of approval to the entire finished work by filling the entire tabernacle with His blazing glory cloud. By the same glory cloud, Yahweh would signal to Israel when it was time to break camp and proceed on their journey to Canaan. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle, Israel would remain in their station; when it was taken up, Israel would break camp. At night, the cloud of Yahweh became a cloud of fire. Thus, the entire nation of Israel was an eyewitness to Yahweh's unfathomable power over the natural realm, and His constant presence in their lives. Day in, day out, Israel was learning that Yahweh is their covenant promise, their Shepherd, their life and blessing.
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CategoriesAll Discourse Doctrines Gospel Humour NT Commentaries OT Commentaries Tactical Life Date
August 2023
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