Exodus 30 - 32
In chapter 30, the Lord lays out for Moses the plans for the Incense Altar, the Washbasin, the Anointing Oil, and the Incense.
He also tells Moses how the Tabernacle is to be supported. Once each year, anyone who has reached their twentieth birthday was required to give a sacred offering of half a shekel (described as a small piece of silver) to the Lord. Even the poorest of the poor had to give this offering: “the rich must not give more than the specified amount, and the poor must not give less… It will bring the Israelites to the Lord’s attention, and it will purify your lives.”
The formulas for the incense and anointing oil were never to be made and used by the people. It was “reserved for the Lord, and you must treat it as holy.”
In chapter 31, we see that God chose two special men to build the tabernacle, etc.: Bezalel of the tribe of Judah and Bezalel’s assistant, Oholiab of the tribe of Dan. Have you known folks like these two guys, someone who could put their hand to almost anything?
Bezalel was described as “filled with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts…a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze … skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood… a master at every craft.” In fact, God gave special skill to all the gifted craftsmen.
They had to craft:
- The Tabernacle
- The Ark of the Covenant
- The Ark’s cover – the place of atonement
- The table and its utensils
- The pure gold lampstand with all its accessories
- The incense altar
- The altar of burnt offering with all its utensils
- The washbasin with its stand
- The sacred garments for the priests
- The anointing oil
- The fragrant incense fo the Holy Place
We find out here that the Sabbath day was to be kept because it is a sign of the covenant between God and Israel from generation to generation. Anyone who desecrated the Sabbath or worked on the Sabbath was to be put to death.
After the Lord finishes speaking, He gives Moses the two stone tablets on which the terms of the covenant were outlined, written by the finger of God.
In the meanwhile, while Moses spent the forty days and nights on Mt Sinai, the people demanded that Aaron make them some gods who could lead them. No more than forty days before, Israel had promised not to call on the name of any other gods or even speak their names (see Exodus 23:13 and Exodus 24:3 and 24:7) One must wonder how they thought that a “god” made by human hands could be of any benefit to them.
Good old Aaron goes right along with them and melts down the gold rings they give him into something shaped like a calf. The people shout: O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” The next day they compound their sin by offering burnt offerings and peace offerings to this golden monstrosity and “engaging in pagan revelry.”
When Moses hears the Lord’s intentions to destroy the Israelites and make of Moses a great nation, Moses pleads with God to turn away from His fierce anger and remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to whom God was bound by an oath.
Carrying the stone tablets upon which the finger of God wrote, Moses goes down into the camp, gets very angry, and smashes the tablets at the foot of the mountain. He burns the calf, grinds it into powder, throws it into the water and forces the people to drink.
Imagine: stone tablets with the actual writing of God, destroyed in anger by Moses, but who can blame him?
Tomorrow, it’s Exodus 33 - 35.
See you on the Bus
To help save the economy, the Government will announce next month that the Immigration Department will start deporting seniors (instead of illegal’s) in order to lower Social Security and Medicare costs.
Older people are easier to catch and will not remember how to get back home.
I started to cry when I thought of you.
Then it dawned on me ... oh, shoot...
I'll see you on the bus!
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