Moses Part 21 (Exodus 33-34)

    Quick note: As some of you may have noticed, over the last few posts, I have been slowly switching to the ESV. I like the ESV for its preciseness in translating and from now on, that will be my default version. Just a heads up on that.

    After the Golden Calf incident, Yahveh decides that it is time to leave Sinai and head on to Canaan. He will drive out the inhabitants before them but Yahveh himself will not be among the Israelites. He is planning on removing himself from them, which is a sad switch from wishing to dwell among them. Yahveh says this because he realizes how screwed up the Israelites were and didn't want to "consume" them.

    This news crushes the Israelites. The Bible calls it a "disastrous word." Yahveh, who had up to this point been so close and trying to get closer to his people, was now going to be removed, inaccessible. And, stupid as they could be, the Israelites clearly did not want that. They went into mourning, removing their jewelry, which they did not put back on, as Yahveh considered what to do with them.

    This is all background to the real story I want to focus on. I am sure that there are some points that could be drawn from these few verse, but the real meat is what comes next.

    At some point, Moses had set up a "tent of meeting" which eventually was replaced by the Tabernacle, when it was built. The Tent of Meeting is exactly what it sounds like: it was a tent Moses set up outside the camp where he would go and meet with Yahveh. If someone wished to inquire of Yahveh, they would head off to the tent. What they would do there is unclear but as for Moses, he would go in and speak with Yahveh face to face as one speaks with a friend. When he did this, the pillar of cloud would descend on the tent and everyone else in the camp would stand at the entrances of their tents and worship.

    Anyway, after Yahveh tells Moses that he'll help the Israelites get into Canaan but that they're on their own after that, he goes to the Tent of Meeting and has a talk with Yahveh. He tells Yahveh, "See, you say to me, 'Bring up this people,' but you have not let me knew whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, 'I know you by name (I know your identity, the core of who you are) and you have also found favor in my sight.' Now there for, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people."

    "My presence will go with you," Yahveh answers, "and I will give you rest."

    "If your presences will not go with me, do not bring us up from here," Moses replies. "For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?"

    Moses is interceding on behalf of the Israelites, practically begging Yahveh to come with them, but on a more personal level, he is saying to Yahveh, "Our relationship as it currently stands isn't good enough. I want to know you more. You say you know me, but I don't know you. I want to know what it is that makes you tick so that I can please you. Please, stay with me and teach me how to be what you want me to be. I need your presence in my life."

    That is a prayer that all of us should pray. Often in today's society we are told to just be ourselves and not let anyone dictate who we should be. "Don't be a people pleaser," we are told. And for the most part, this is sound advice; we shouldn't let other people bend us into being who they want us to be.

    When it comes to Yahveh, however, that advice should be tossed aside. We should bend our personalities, our goals, our values to his. This is called submission, something that people, particularly in our western, American culture, don't like to do. It's scary and sounds manipulative but in truth, it's the best possible thing. Remember that Yahveh made us; he knows our name, our identity, the essence of who we are far better than we know ourselves. He knows what we're capable of and how to get the best out of us. In submitting ourselves to Yahveh, we don't lose ourselves, but in the end are shown how truly awesome we can be.

    Back to the story, Yahveh gives Moses his assurance that he isn't going to leave Moses alone. He will be there for Moses because Moses has "found favor" in Yahveh's sight. Then Moses makes a bold request.

    "Please show me your glory," he asks.

    In English, that doesn't sound like much. But that is an epic request nonetheless. In Hebrew, the word for glory is the word kavod, which also means weight or heaviness. The idea is that a person's "glory" is directly related to the full force or weight of their being. Moses wants to see Yahveh's full weight on display, unfettered and uncloaked

    What makes this request even more incredible is that this just after Yahveh had told Moses that if he went with the Israelites, his presence might consume them almost by accident. Yet Moses is willing to risk that just to get the most intimate look at his friend he possibly can.

    Yahveh surprisingly assents to the request, which shows that Yahveh tends to favor those who make bold requests of him. He tells Moses that he is going to have all of his "goodness" pass by and then he would proclaim his name.

    Admittedly this sounds weird. When we think of glory, we think of bright flashing lights, maybe some thunder and lightning and probably a smoke machine just for good measure. In a sense, I suppose this is understandable as we are very visual beings.

    But that is not what glory means to Yahveh. For him it is his name, which is the definition of his identity. And his identity, his definition is in his goodness. For Yahveh, it is about his character, his substance of being, the very things that makes him Yahveh. It is that that he shows to Moses.

    Again, we don't think of it as a big deal because all that is just words on a page. It isn't the bright, loud, flashy explosion of fireworks that we tend to associate with glory. But revealing that character is apparently so powerful, so intense that Yahveh could not allow Moses to see his face, only his "back," otherwise the experience would incinerate Moses. By the way, the word in Hebrew, atah, is the preposition that means behind or after used here as a noun. So in other words, Yahveh could be saying that all Moses can see is his "after" or wake. That's how powerful Yahveh's character is.

    So Yahveh takes Moses and places him in a cleft in the mountain and causes his glory to pass by. Yahveh proclaims, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and fourth generation." Moses saw that and worshipped.

    In a way, it is kind of anticlimactic. No flashing lights, not lightning and thunder, no fire and smoke. Just a list of attributes, almost like some guy randomly boasting.

    The truth is, we don't know what Moses actually saw. Whatever it was, it was something so powerful, so awesome that it would've destroyed him had Moses seen it full on. It was as if he was looking into the heart of pure goodness, the source from which all good things flow and to a sinful mind, that is something so foreign, so strange, so alien that the only way he could've described it was through listing Yahveh's characteristics. It was the only way he could get his head around it.

    That kind of experience changes you. It certainly changed Moses to the point that when he came down off the mountain, he glowed. Not the "I'm in love" glow or the "we're having a baby" glow, but a literal, actual, I'm a glow stick glow. It freaked the Israelites out to the point they made him stick a bag over his head.

    A couple of years ago, I wrote a post touching on this same subject and passage titled "Radiance." One of the questions I ask is "Do we glow?" Being with Yahveh changes us, it makes us stand out as different, like we're glowing in a dark room. Jesus himself in the Sermon on the Mount made a comment similar to this in Matthew 5:14-16.

    "You are the light of the world," he says. "A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to the whole house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

    Later, in Acts 4:13, the Jewish ruling council, when trying Peter and John, were amazed by the power of their words, despite being uneducated and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

    The point is that being with Yahveh changes you. With a character and essence so strong that if you saw it full on it would destroy, how could being him not change you?

    Have you seen Yahveh's glory? Do you pursue a friendship with Yahveh like Moses did? Have your friends, family, coworkers, or classmates taken note that you have been with Jesus?

    Do you glow?

Moses Part 20 (Exodus 32b)

Where we left off was with Moses interceding on behalf of the Israelites. For those who are reading along at home, you will have noticed that we skipped the gap between Moses's intercessions. This is where we come back to the Israelites.

After his talk with Yahveh, Moses comes back down from the mountain with his aide Joshua (he of the Amalekite battle) and the two tables of stone with the Commandments written on them. As they get closer to the camp, they started hearing the sounds of the celebration wafting up to them. Being the soldier, Joshua immediately assumes that someone is attacking the camp. But Moses, who already knew what was going on, told Joshua that there was party going on.

Up to this point, Moses seems like the coolest head among all the characters in the story. The Israelites had panicked when Moses hadn't returned, Aaron caved under pressure, Yahveh had wanted to eradicate the Israelites, and Joshua was ready to fight a war.

But when he walks into the camp and sees the Israelites dancing around the Golden Calf, he goes bananas. The Bible says that his anger "burned hot." Moses slammed tables of stone against the rocky ground, shattering the 10 Commandments. He then took the Golden Calf, ground it into powder, and tossed it into the water, forcing the people to drink their god.

He wasn't done yet. He rounded on Aaron, demanding what the people had done to him to make him cave. Aaron, in typical spineless fashion, immediately threw the people under the bus, saying that they had forced him and all he had done was to throw their gold in the fire and the calf just magically appeared. Moses didn't really buy it.

Finally Moses begins the executions. He asks the Israelites who is for Yahveh and the Levites volunteer. Moses orders them to strap on their swords and go through the camp, executing anyone who led out in the idolatry. Three thousand Israelites were killed, earing the Levites a commendation for their loyalty.

What is going on here? Doesn't this seem a bit dichotic? I mean just a few verses earlier, Moses was begging Yahveh not to go nuclear on the Israelites and now he flips out on them. And doesn't this seem like a bit of an overreaction too? I mean making them drink the gold water and executing thee thousand Israelites just after pleading for their lives. Why is Moses doing this?

The answer is because he cares. This may seem simplistic, but think about it. Moses cares about Yahveh. Yahveh is Moses's friend, best friend. So when Moses sees his people dancing around an idol, it was like he walked in on his best friend's wife cheating on him. And there was no one sticking up for Yahveh. Needless to say, it made him mad.

Essentially Moses came to the defense of his friend. He was not going to stand Yahveh getting insulted like that. And so he got mad.

But more than getting mad, he did something about it. He didn't just sit there and stew; he called the Israelites out on what they were doing. Admittedly, it was a bit violent, but he did not just let Yahveh's name get trashed. Moses cared.

We live in a world that very casual about how it treats Yahveh and his laws. Popular media and many non-religious people openly mock Yahveh, treating him with dismissal and disdain. The society we live in is almost as flippant towards Yahveh, if not more so, than Moses's Israelites of three and a half millennia ago.

And we do nothing. Now I'm not advocating that we go to the measures that Moses went to. It could be argued that he was a little extreme, although I personally don't think so. But at the same time, we don't stand up for Yahveh and say, "Hey, back off! Treat the God of the Universe with a little respect." Why?

Some of you may point out that if Yahveh is the almighty God of the Universe, then no amount of mocking or derision is going to affect him. That would be like the ant scorning the boot that steps on him. And to a degree, you would be right; we are so beneath Yahveh that we can't truly insult him.

But that's also not the point. This isn't about Yahveh per se; it's about us. What do we do when Yahveh is mocked? Because what we do reflects how much we care about him.

Think of it this way. Has someone ever talked smack, as they say, about a family member or close friend of yours? Unless you have no friends, probably. What did you do? Did you just sit that and say nothing? Join in the jokes? Or did you come to that person's defense?

If you're like most decent human beings, you came to your friend or family's defense. Why? Because you love them and care about them and that is what you do when you care about someone; you defend them even if you know that they'll never hear this critics or really be affected in anyway by it. That smack that has been talked makes you angry and you're going to do something about it.

So why don't we do anything when Yahveh's name is on the line? Could it be that we don't care about him nearly as much as we think or say we do? Could it be that we'd rather sell him out for the sake of our mortal acquaintances then stand up for the person who saved the universe?

The title of this blog is God Likes Us. If you go way back in posts to one of the first ones, I explain a bit about what that means. It means that God (Yahveh) likes us, meaning he enjoys our company and desires our friendship. He wants so badly that he had the Israelites build him a tent so that he could live among them. Yahveh even went so far as to exchange immortal perfection for mortal humanity and then die in our place so that we could live forever with him, if we so chose.

And how do we return this friendship? Often by selling him out or throwing him under the bus. It is sad but true and forces us to think about how much we really do care about Yahveh, the best friend a person could ever wish for. How much we do care and how much we should care.

So next time you hear Yahveh mocked or defied (and there will be a next time), think about Moses. He cared enough to stand up for Yahveh. Do you? Will you?

Moses Part 19 (Exodus 32A)

    Sincere apologies for the delay on this post. The excavation and then getting back to the US have made my life rather hectic the last two months but things are starting to slow down and so hopefully I can be more prolific with these posts.

    Once again we are skipping several chapters. Exodus 25-31 generally deals with the things that Moses and Yahveh discussed while on the mountain, typically pertaining to the sanctuary. Now I am not diminishing in any way from the value of those chapters; they are sensational chapters with a great deal to offer any student of Yahveh's word. But they are not events in Moses's life and as this is a character study, more or less, they are not relevant to this particular discussion. Therefore any examination of the sanctuary and its contents at this time would only prove to be a disservice.

    Also, because there is so much in this episode, like others, we are going to deal with it in two parts. The first part is going to focus on Moses while the second part is going to deal with the Israelites.

    Where we last left off, Yahveh had called Moses up to the mountain and told him that he wanted the Israelites to build him a sanctuary so that he could "tabernacle" or dwell with them. He then details specifically how this sanctuary is going to look and how the services are going to be conducted. All in all it's pretty cool.

    The only problem with all of this is that Moses is up there for a very long time, 40 days to be exact. Down below, the Israelites are getting antsy, wondering where on earth Moses is. Admittedly, 40 days is a long time. I mean, imagine how we'd react if the President dropped off the face of the earth for 40 days. We'd probably declare the President dead and elevate the VP to the big job.

    That, more or less, is what the Israelites did. They figured Moses was either dead or not coming back and gave up on him. Simultaneously elevating Aaron to fill Moses shoes, they give up on Yahveh and demand that Aaron make them gods to go before them. Aaron, who, as we shall see has the backbone of an octopus, capitulates.

    He takes the peoples donation of jewelry and fashions it into the infamous golden calf, probably combining Yahveh with El, the chief Canaanite deity with whom Yahveh has often been confused. El's symbol is the cow. After making the calf, Aaron declares that the following day will be a celebration, to which the people heartily approve.

    Meanwhile on the mountain, these recent developments have not escaped the eyes of the all-knowing Yahveh. Understandably Yahveh is furious when he sees the Israelites, people who had just the previous month sworn to serve him and obey his commands, so quickly jump ship. While 40 days to us may seem like a long time, when you put it in perspective, is it really worth ditching everything over? You couldn't just sit tight for a little longer?

    Apparently not and Yahveh has had enough. Their grumblings and complaints about every little thing were bad enough, but this was outright rebellion against his commands. And if there is one thing Yahveh has little patience for, it is outright rebellion.

    Yahveh's reaction is swift and severe. "Go down," he tells Moses, "for your people who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. (An aside here: I love how the Israelites are suddenly Moses's people. Kind of like when the kid screws up and the mom says to the dad, "Look at what your kid did). They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, 'These are the gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!' I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you."

    Before we judge Yahveh's answer as a harsh overreaction, we have to understand what the Israelites switching gods meant. They had basically signed a treaty saying that they were under Yahveh's rule; essentially they were his vassals. Now, a scant 40 days later, they were breaking that treaty and going into open rebellion against Yahveh.

    To contextualize it in our terms, what the Israelites did was essentially the same thing as what the South did just prior to the American Civil War. They declared themselves independent from the rest of the United States and set up a new president for themselves, Jefferson Davis. The reaction by Abraham Lincoln and the rest of the "Union" was equally swift and harsh as was Yahveh's, albeit far more inept.

    With this context in mind, Moses has a choice. He could step aside and let Yahveh do his thing and turn the Israelites into ashes, as they richly deserved. I doubt any of us would've faulted Moses for taking this option. After all we've discussed in this study about the awesome majesty and power of Yahveh, we can all understand that an angry Yahveh is not someone that any of us want to deal with.

    Or Moses could step in and plead on behalf of the Israelites. There is great risk here. First, he doesn't have a case; they have been caught in the act. It would be like trying to plead the case of someone who was observed committing murder by a bunch of cops. You aren't going to get that person off.    Secondly, he risks putting himself in their camp, which if he fails could have some very unpleasant consequences.     

    Yet this is the option that Moses chooses. For all the griefs that the Israelites have given the prophet since he helped free them from the Egyptians, he still stands in their place (sometimes I wonder if he ever regretted that decision. Probably not).

    "Oh LORD," he said, "why does your wrath burn hot against your people (he's putting them back on Yahveh), whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth?' Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit forever.'"

    Surprisingly enough, this works. Yahveh relents and doesn't wipe the Israelites out. Moses goes back down and then flips out himself when he sees the Israelites dancing around the golden calf but that is something that will be dealt with in the following post.

    After Moses personally deals with the Israelites, he tells them that he will try to make atonement for them before Yahveh. Then he does something truly remarkable.

    "Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold," Moses laments to Yahveh, "But now, if your will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written."

    At first, this doesn't make sense. What book? Moses is referring to the Book of Life, the book that records all of those who have been saved by Jesus grace. And Moses is offering to have his name erased if it will it will eternally save the Israelites.

    Think about that for a minute. Moses is volunteering for eternal damnation to forgive the sins of the Israelites. And you thought Katniss was brave! This is arguably the bravest statement ever uttered by man.

    Yahveh's response is that it doesn't work like that; Moses cannot take their place. Yahveh punishes only the guilty, not the innocent. He will not destroy the Israelites, but their day is coming and they will pay for their crime. But that is the topic of the next post.

    There was, of course, one major exception to that policy. That exception was Jesus Christ. Jesus, who was the definition of innocent, volunteered for damnation, suffering the second death for all mankind so that no one else had to.

    You see, we have all rebelled against Yahveh in ways that are sometimes worse than even what the Israelites did. Our race has become a blight, a poison in the universe, polluting the holiness of Yahveh's creation. We deserved eradication for our crimes, just as the Israelites did.

    Yet someone took the risk to step in between us and God, just as Moses did. Jesus, although in very nature God himself, surrendered that to become man. And then as a man, surrendered even that to take the full wrath of God's holiness, suffering the penalty that we all should have born, letting his name be blotted out of the book in place of ours.

    I don't know how much the Israelites knew of what Moses offered to save them. Even if they did, I doubt they fully comprehended the full weight of what that offer entailed or how close they came to death that day.

    Neither, for that matter, do we. We live so much of our lives in blissful ignorance in the great awesomeness of Jesus grace. We don't fully comprehend what he sacrificed for us or how close we are to death.

    Perhaps that is the point; Christ suffered and understood it so that we don't have to. But at the same time, we often are prone to treat his gift of grace and salvation with flippancy or even sometimes disdain. We are apt to treat Jesus's grace lightly, forgetting how much that sacrifice cost and how much it gained.

    But then we read stories like this and the veil that shields us from the Great Controversy is pulled back, just slightly, and we begin to realize the power of the cross. Christ stood between us and annihilation, offering himself in our place. We stand alive with the hope of eternity because of that.

    That is why the cross matters. That is what it means. It signifies the moment that someone stood between a race and utter destruction and absorbing it into himself. That is why we worship Jesus today.

Moses Part 18 (Exodus 25:1-9)

    Sorry for the long delay but this last week has been hectic. But I'm back and hopefully will be back to at least two updates a week. No promises as I have a very busy schedule but that's my goal.

    Anyway, where we last left off, Israel had confirmed the covenant and eaten in the presence of Yahveh to seal the deal. Then Moses disappeared into the cloud on the mountain with Yahveh. Now we go into what happened on the mountain.

    A lot happens on the mountain, much of it we won't go into because that, like the 10 Commandments, is a topic in and of themselves. So instead we are going to discuss the epicness of the first 9 verses of chapter 25.

    Moses gets to the top of Mount Sinai and immediately Yahveh tells him to take up a collection of valuable items from the Israelites. Why this sudden tax? So that they can use those items to build Yahveh a tabernacle.

    This raises all sorts of questions, chiefly, what is a tabernacle? The word tabernacle, or sanctuary in some cases, comes from the word mishkan, which literally means "dwelling place." The word mishkan itself is a participle of the verb shakan, which means "to dwell or reside." Yahveh is asking the Israelites to provide him a dwelling place so that he may dwell among them.

    Just stop and think about that for a moment: Yahveh, the almighty creator and sustainer of the universe, wants to live with the people of Israel. He wants them to make him a tent so that he can be close to them without obliterating them. That is huge.

    But it also begs the question why? Why would the lord of the universe want to connect with pitiful, rebellious mortals like us? Wouldn't he want to keep his distance? Apparently not, but why?

    The answer is in the title of this blog: God likes us, meaning he actually enjoys our company. We know that Yahveh loves us; the Bible says so often enough, but we often don't realize that Yahveh actually likes us.

    Now you may be wondering what the difference between love and like is and let me assure you, there is a difference. That difference is outlined in another blog post titled "Love versus Like" and we don't really have the space or time to go into that here. To put it simply, love and like are two separate things: love is a relationship we have with another person, one that goes one way where we would do anything to secure another's well-being. Like is an attitude we have towards something: things we like bring us pleasure and joy, things we don't do not.

    With that in mind, there is apparently something about our company and presence that brings Yahveh joy and pleasure. He wants something from us that makes him happy. That something is our friendship.

    This is a theme that is repeated again and again throughout the Bible, from Adam and Eve to Abraham to the Israelites to the Disciples to the end of time. I could go on and on about this, but that too has been covered in another post. The point is that Yahveh wants our friendship. He wants to be with us.

    Many of our discussions through this Moses study have hit on the awesomeness, power, and sovereignty of Yahveh. Of course there is a lot of truth to that: Yahveh is awesome and powerful and sovereign. But that is not all he is and it is important for us to keep the whole picture in mind when it comes to Yahveh.

    There is a side to Yahveh that longs for friendship and communion with his creations. That is why he wanted them to build him a dwelling place, so that he could be with his people. The same phrase is used in John to describe the Incarnation: the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Again in Revelation, at the end of this age and beginning of the next, the Bible says that "now the dwelling of God is with men."

    We are Yahveh's servants, his subordinates, no doubt. There is a difference between us and him. Yet with all of that, we are still to be more than just his servants: we are to be his friends too. This is not an either/or but a both/and. We are his servants and his friends.

    Will you be more than just a servant of Yahveh? Will you take the time and effort to let him dwell with you? Will you accept his offered hand of friendship? Will you like him back?

Moses Part 17 (Exodus 24)

    As you've undoubtedly noticed, we're skipping a few chapters here. This is because what we are doing is a character study on Moses through the events of his life rather than on the book of Exodus. The intervening chapters are a bunch of laws regulating Israelite behavior, which are an interesting study in their own right but not of particular interest here.

    Chapter 24 is titled in my Bible "The Covenant Confirmed" which is a bit of an interesting title. What happens in chapter 24 is even more interesting.

    Moses has been up on the mountain conversing with Yahveh and receiving the law of Israel. He has now come back down and relayed the law to the Israelites. The Israelites respond by saying that they will do everything Yahveh has said, which Moses then writes down.

    So far, fairly normal and what we would expect. But now is when things start getting weird, at least from our point of view. Moses sets up an altar at the foot of the mountain and surrounds it with twelve pillars, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. He then sacrifices a bunch of young bulls as fellowship offerings to Yahveh. Half of the blood he sprinkles on the altar and the other half he puts in bowls.

    Again Moses reads the laws from the book he just wrote, called the Book of the Covenant and again the people declare that they will obey. Then Moses takes the blood from the bowls and throws it on everyone, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words." Promptly thereafter, Moses, Aaron and his sons, and the 70 elders all sit down and have a meal in the presence of Yahveh, who they see.

    From our 21^st century, western point of view, this whole thing is very weird. What is going on here? What is up with the blood and then having a meal in the presence of Yahveh?

    To understand what is going on, we must first understand what a covenant is. A covenant is basically a contract between two entities. It could be a simple as a work contract between two people or as grand as an alliance between two world powers.

    Although there are records of "covenants" between individuals in the ancient Near East, most often it is used in the sense of two nations reaching an agreement. The most poignant examples of this are various Hittite treaties from the early 2^nd millennium BC between the Hittite Empire and vassal states, which neatly parallel the covenant between Yahveh and the Israelites.

    In the Hittite examples, a book of the covenant was written which essentially outlined the treaty between the Hittite overlord and whichever vassal state was surrendering. Now these books followed a set formula, where the overlord was introduced with titles, then came a historical recapping of what brought everyone to that point, then came the stipulations or what was expected of the vassal state, followed by a preservation of the text, then a signing of witnesses, and finally there was a section of blessings and curses; blessings for following the covenant and curses for breaking it. The book of Deuteronomy (which we will touch on later) essentially follows this exact pattern. It is the book of the covenant.

    So essentially what we have here is a treaty that establishes Yahveh as the overlord of the people of Israel, who become his vassal state. Now when one nation becomes the vassal state of another, there is a special ceremony that accompanies the sealing of the treaty. That we understand; most of us have seen treaty signings for various things on TV after all.

    However, the ancient Near East did treaty signings slightly different than we do. They often killed animals as sacrifices to seal a treaty (examples of this are at Mari and Alalakh). The Hebrew word for covenant, "berı̂yth" comes from the Hebrew word for cutting, like bisecting. In Genesis, when Yahveh establishes his covenant with Abraham, he has Abraham cut several animals in half and then they walk through them. The idea is that if I break this agreement, I will become like one of those animals. Admittedly a bit hyperbolic, but I suppose it gets the point across.

    In this case, they simply sacrifice bulls and sprinkle the blood on the people. Covenants were sealed with blood. Then, after all of this, they ate a meal in the presence of Yahveh. This too carries great significance in the ancient Near East.

    To us, meals are something rather innocuous. We enjoy food no doubt (our obesity rate speaks to that) but we don't take meals seriously. In our microwave society, we want our food quick and easy so that we can move on to the next part of our schedule.

    But even today in the Middle East (the ancient Near East), meals are of central significance. Mealtime is where friendships are established and family ties are confirmed. If you eat with someone, you are family to them in that culture. Sharing a meal is a symbol of close friendship.

    This is the significance of the meal between the elders of Israel and Yahveh. In that act, they were declaring themselves part of Yahveh's family, under his leadership and wing.

    When you understand Exodus 24 in its cultural context, it is huge. Yahveh is taking a people and making them essentially citizens of heaven. He is bringing them under his care and his rule. Through Israel, Yahveh is trying to bring a piece of heaven to earth.

    What does this mean for us? Most of us aren't Jewish and even if we were, that Israel no longer exists. So how do we relate to what happened at a desert mountain 3500 years ago?

    What happened in Exodus 24 sounds an awful lot like Paul's description of salvation in Romans 10, where he defines being saved as confessing with our mouths that "Jesus is Lord" and believing in our hearts that God raised him from the dead. This is how we become a part of Yahveh's kingdom.

    We are offered the chance to join the kingdom of heaven by accepting Christ as our overlord, much like Israel did. What that means is that we learn to live, as Israel was to, by the code of heaven. We adopt heaven's mindset and culture and live by her laws. This is not salvation by works, but rather works by salvation. We obey Christ because being saved means accepting him as our lord. Remember heaven is not a democracy.

    This new covenant with Christ has been sealed with blood, but not the blood of a bull, but Jesus's own blood on the cross shed for you and me. We don't have to do anything but simply say, as Israel did, "We will do everything Christ has said; we will obey." And then we can eat in the presence of Yahveh.

    This is significance of communion, something that has probably been lost as our cultures have changed. It is the reaffirmation of our relationship with Yahveh by sharing a meal essentially with him. We are confirming our service and fealty to him while receiving the blessing of his salvation anew.

    Israel didn't have to accept the covenant and neither do you. It's your choice to serve Yahveh as a vassal. But contrary to what Satan said, it is better to serve in heaven than rule in hell. So I urge you to claim Christ as your lord and then raise your glass to the Maker of the Universe.

(Source note: My information on covenants and treaties from the ancient Near East is from Richard Hess's Israelite Religion's, 2007. If you are interested in more information on the topic, I highly recommend his work which has fascinating information on Israelite religion. Always give credit where do.)

Moses Part 16 (Exodus 20)

    We have at last come to the famous 10 Commandments, one of the most important passages in all the Bible. These 10 rules lay down the basic principles for morality and righteous living and are so widely regarded that they are still prominently displayed at courthouses around the United States. Many still hold them in high esteem.

    Despite their importance, in fact because of it, I'm not going to spend a great deal of time on them. An entire series could be spent (and might be in the future) dissecting each of the commandments for their deeper meaning. But because that is not the purpose of this series, I will not focus on them for fear of shortchanging them.

    This series is about people, specifically Moses and his relationship with Yahveh although much of Israel's relationship with Yahveh has been discussed. So instead of focusing with the commandments themselves, we're going to talk about the giving of the commandments.

    Where we left of last time was Moses leading the Israelites to the foot of Mount Sinai where they are going to meet with Yahveh. The mountain is going nuts and the people are freaking out. Yahveh gives Moses some last minute instructions and Moses goes back down to the people.

    Exodus 20 opens with these words: "And God spoke all of these words:"

    Think about that for a second. Who is Yahveh talking to? It's not Moses; Moses is back with the people. Is Yahveh talking to himself? Unlikely. So who is he talking to?

    Verse 2 goes on, "I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

    Again, who is Yahveh talking to? Well, who did he bring out of Egypt? Moses? Again, no. Yahveh sent Moses to Egypt.

    No, Yahveh is talking to the Israelites, all of them. Think about that for a minute. Yahveh was talking, audibly, to the entire assembly of Israel. The god of the universe personally addresses a group of people and we have what is simply one of the most amazing events in history.

    None of us have ever experienced this. At least I haven't ever gone to church and literally heard Yahveh give the sermon. Now we talk about how Yahveh spoke to us through the preacher or the music or the prayer or something like that, but this is wasn't what the Israelites experienced. They didn't hear Yahveh metaphorically; they literally heard the voice of God.

    That must have been a tremendous experience. It was certainly a terrifying one. The Israelites, who were already on edge from the thunder and lightning earlier, were now in full panic mode. After Yahveh had finished giving the commandments, they told Moses to speak to Yahveh for them but not to have Yahveh speak to them directly, otherwise they believed they would die (the fact that they'd just listen to Yahveh and were still alive apparently didn't occur to them).

    Moses internal reaction had to be something along the lines of, "Gee, thanks guys. Just offer me up as your sacrificial lamb." Instead he told them to chill out, that Yahveh was testing them so that they wouldn't break the 10 Commandments (which they did, but that's another story). And then the story ends with Moses walking into the thick darkness where Yahveh was while the people stood behind, watching in fear.

    This begs a question for me: what was the difference between Moses and the Israelites? How was it that they were peeing their freshly washed pants while Moses seemed so calm about meeting Yahveh face to face? Was he an idiot? Did he just not understand how terrifying Yahveh is?

    The answer is quite the opposite. Moses understood far better than the Israelites exactly who he was dealing with and that is why he wasn't afraid.

    This seems to be contradictory to the previous post about how Yahveh is this all-powerful untamed entity that could wipe out the universe with a single thought. But now we see the flipside of that.

    Consider how Yahveh begins his delivery of the 10 Commandments: "I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

    Now there are a million ways Yahveh could've begun that. He could've said, "I am the God who hammered Egypt into the desert." Or he could've said, "I'm the guy who drowned the entirety of Pharaoh's army." Or he simply could've said, "See all this thunder and lightning? Yeah, I'm that guy." But no, he says, "I am the God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." Why that opening?

    He did it to remind them that he is the god who rescued them from the land of oppression and misery; to remind them that he loves them.

    You see Yahveh went through all of this production to show the people who he is. He is power on an infinite scale yes, but he is also love. Yahveh opens his commandments, which are a declaration of his character (that is a long discussion), with a statement of love and care. This is who Yahveh is.

    It is easy to read these stories and get a picture of a powerful and vengeful god who doesn't hesitate to bring the smack down on people who step out of line. We see the plagues raining down on Egypt, the Red Sea massacre, and sound and light show at Sinai. These are the events we focus on because they're epic and memorable.

    But what we miss is the manna in the desert, the water from the rock, and the rescue from Egypt. We miss a Yahveh who tracked down Moses tending sheep in the desert so that his people would have a deliver. These are not the acts of a vengeful god, but rather a god of love and kindness. This is who Yahveh is. That is what he wanted his people to remember. It is in that context that he framed the 10 Commandments: love and compassion.

    This is not to deny the just side of Yahveh's character; we've expounded at length on that. Rather this is to more fully round out his character. It is easy to focus, like the Israelites, on frightening parts of who Yahveh is and miss the love and goodness that is our God.

    And that is the difference between Moses and the Israelites. The Israelites couldn't see past the smoke and thunder and lightning. But Moses knew Yahveh. It wasn't that he didn't see Yahveh's power; he had seen Yahveh's power in ways that even the Israelites couldn't comprehend.

    Rather it was that Moses saw all of Yahveh's character. He saw the goodness that defines Yahveh (or rather, the goodness that is defined by Yahveh). He knew, as we have said time and time again, that while Yahveh isn't safe, he is good. And because of that goodness, Moses boldly walked into the presence of Yahveh.

    Last time, we talked about how reverence is knowing where we stand in relation to Yahveh. This is the next part of that. Moses knew that he was accepted by Yahveh, failures and all. He trusted (faith again) that acceptance and so could stand calmly in the presence of Yahveh.

    This is where faith and reverence meet. Reverence is understanding who we are in relation to Yahveh. Faith is trusting the word of Yahveh as being true and sure. The next step is to come into Yahveh's presence knowing who he is and trusting his promise to accept us as we are. This point is where a real, genuine relationship with Yahveh happens.

    Often people live their lives away from this point. Either they live like the Israelites did, quivering in fear and not daring to trust Yahveh's acceptance to get close to him or they live like Pharaoh did: arrogant and cocky, believing themselves to be on the same level as Yahveh.

    Moses lived his life at the point where faith and reverence meet. That is why his relationship with Yahveh was so honest, so deep, and so genuine. As we continue to explore the interactions between these two, the realness of their relationship will continue to inspire and astound me. I hope it will you. It is because Moses lived where reverence and faith meet.

    You may be asking how to find this point. That is a good question. How did Moses find it? He spent time with Yahveh. He took the leap to get to know him for who he is on his own terms. That is my challenge to you. Take the leap and get to know Yahveh on his terms for who he is.

Moses Part 15 (Exodus 19:9-25)

    Now that Yahveh has laid out his vision for Israel, he gives Moses specific instructions for one of the most central events in the entire Bible: Yahveh giving the 10 Commandments. What makes this event so huge, so central is that Yahveh gave these commandments (or some of them anyway) in person to the entire assembly of Israel. Think about that for a moment; the god of the universe personally talked with a group of people. That is epic.

    Of course this will be dealt with in more detail in the following post, which will sort of be on the Commandments. For now we are going to discuss the instructions that Yahveh gave.

    "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow," Yahveh ordered everybody through Moses. "Have them wash their cloths, and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, 'Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on him. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live. Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain.'"

    Whoa. That raises a lot of questions, such as isn't Yahveh kind of touchy? I'm all for hygiene but commanding that everybody spend the next couple of days doing laundry seems a bit excessive (although it does raise the question of clean clothes in Late Bronze Age Israel. Maybe some things are better left unknown). Did they have enough water for everyone to do laundry? What if someone couldn't get their laundry done? All I know is that whoever sold detergent made bank.

    And then what's this about putting up limits around the mountain? If anyone goes close to Yahveh when he is on the mountain, he's going to be executed on the spot? This seems to be taking personal space to a bit of an extreme. What about the loving God who became human and lived among us in the person of Jesus Christ? He had no problem touching people of all kinds. So what's up with Yahveh being so finicky? While we're on the subject, would you go anywhere near that mountain ever, even after the all-clear had been sounded? I know you couldn't pay me enough.

    Oh, and for good measure Moses throws in a "Don't have sex for the next three days," zinger, which had to drive more than one person nuts. To quote Brian Regan, it was as if Moses threw in, "And no more happiness."

    I'm pretty sure that everyone was thinking what you and I are probably thinking: what is going on? Part of them was thinking that this is stupid while the other part was wondering what epic thing was about to go down and probably a bit apprehensive. I know that's what would be going through my mind.

    They had no idea what was in store for them. For that matter, neither do I. The Biblical description hardly does the even justice in conveying what went down on the third day.

    The people woke up that morning to see Mount Sinai covered in a cloud of smoke, like a furnace, and rocked with thunder, lightning, and an earthquake. The Bible says the mountain "trembled violently." And sounding above all of this was a loud, clear, trumpet blast that blew again and again and again.

    None of us have ever experienced anything remotely close to this so there is no way we can understand what it was like to be there. Part of me wishes I could have been there, while the other part of me is glad that I wasn't. I'm pretty sure I would've wet my freshly washed pants. What I can understand is that the people "trembled" as Moses led them to meet God.

    To meet God. That was what all of this intense preparation was about. The Israelites were going to have as close to a face-to-face meeting with the creator and ruler of the universe as one could ever have and that is not something to be taken lightly.

    The whole picture of Yahveh in Exodus 19 tends to fly in the face of the popular image of Yahveh as some old guy sitting on a cloud somewhere, a picture that is, interestingly enough, very similar to the Canaanite picture of their chief deity El who has often been compared with Yahveh. We often think of Yahveh as this kindly, somewhat senile, old man who dispense with love and gifts to good people.

    Jesus, on the other hand, is the cool kid from down the street. He's the guy driving the cool car that always takes the time to hang out with you. Whoever you are and whatever you do is cool by him and he will always go to bat for you. He is, to use the highly grating metaphor, your homeboy.

    To be fair, there are some aspects of this picture of Yahveh and Christ that are accurate. Christ is pretty cool and Yahveh is loving. But the problem is that these are overly simplistic images that bring the god of the universe down to our level when in reality he is nowhere close to our level. Yahveh is so much more than just that.

    Inaccurate as it may be, that is often the picture of him, consciously or no, that we take with us to church and our personal devotions. As a result, we so often underestimate Yahveh and take meeting with him lightly.

    But as the Israelites learned, that is a rather foolish thing. Yahveh is far beyond any of the simplistic, anthropomorphic images we conjure up. Yahveh is true, pure, unadulterated power on a scale that none of us can comprehend.

    Nature is truly an awesome thing. If you spend much time in, you are quickly made aware of how weak and fragile you are. I know that is my experience. I have stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon, strolled through the mighty redwood forests, had lightning strike less than a hundred yards from me, been attacked by the ocean, hiked through the Alps and the Rocky Mountains, been attacked by the Pacific Ocean, and walked through the aftermath of tornadoes. I don't say these things to brag; rather I tell you this because there is an awesome beauty in these experiences; seeing the raw, untamable power that nature possesses and I understand how helpless I really am.

    But for all that power, it is nothing compared to Yahveh who created nature and controls it. He is the one who formed the mountains, rivers, forests, and fields. It is he who orders the wind and rain and he who commands the ocean. Nature obeys him. And if nature, who is at Yahveh's command, is untamable, how much more so Yahveh himself?

    And that is the whole point. This being of incomprehensible power and strength is who we are meeting every time we go to church, every time we open the Bible, and every time we kneel in prayer. When we realize this, then we approach Yahveh a sense of awe, respect, and even a little fear.

    This sense is called reverence. It is the understanding of who I am in relation to who Yahveh is. Often when we think of reverence, we think of it as not running in church or always talking in whispers and having a straight face all of the time.

    But this isn't what reverence really is. Reverence can be somber of course (believe me, the Israelites were somber that day) but reverence can also be joyful. Reverence can be expressed through song and dance; after all this almighty being against who we've rebelled did die to save us and that is a reason for celebration.

    No, reverence is understanding who I am in relation to Yahveh. It is understanding that I am a helpless, sinful creature while Yahveh is the perfect, omnipotent creator. It is understanding that we are not equal. It is understanding that I am his servant, not he mine.

    This may offend some people especially those of us who have grown up in the West were equality among everyone is a central tenant. But the fact is that we are not equal with Yahveh and if we are truly going to be his followers, we need to understand that.

    That is why Yahveh gave those instructions to the Israelites before he met with them. He wanted them to understand who they were in relation to him; he wanted to give them a sense of reverence so that they would take his words seriously and follow his commands. How much better off would we be if we possessed the same sense of reverence? Would we be so flippant towards meeting with him? Would we be so careless with his words?

    Yahveh is not to be taken lightly. Take time to reflect on who he is and who you are. Wash your clothes to do it if you have to but do not take him lightly.

    I must warn though: if you do this, you will be frightened or at least you ought to be. After all, would you feel no fear in the face of a tornado or lion? And if those things terrify you, how much more the creator of the universe? He cannot be controlled, he cannot be tamed. Yahveh should scare you.

    But remember this: though Yahveh is not tame, he is good (thank you CS Lewis). He is power and majesty, but his also love and goodness. So while he may be far beyond your control, he does love you and will take you under his powerful wing. And that is a comforting thought.