I'm going to keep this blog short, as I found the end of Exodus a little dull, given how short it is on narrative and long on instruction (both laws of behaviour and how to build a tabernacle). The closing chapters also focus on what a priest (in this case Aaron) should wear, including the ephod, see below:
Aaron (the older brother of Moses) has a lot to bear on his shoulders, both literally and figuratively, as the first Judeo-Christian priest. I particularly liked the detail of the golden bells and pomegranates which form the hem of his garment. At 29:1, we're told that all this finery is "to hallow" him, or make him holy, and throughout chapter 29 there are details about how to make animal offerings, such as the "ram of consecration" (29:22). Aaron and his sons are also instructed to provide a "continued burnt offering" of two rams per day as an "atonement".
At 30:14, God instructs Moses that he should survey his people and tax everyone over the age of 20 half a shekel each year (in a process that's called the "ransom of souls"). The level of detail is such that God even outlines how a special holy perfume should be made (30:34). God also instills in his people the workmanship to build all that he has planned (31:7-11), and the instructions on how to build the tabernacle are enormously elaborate (and repeated at least once).
The end of Exodus also reveals again the vengeful and jealous nature of the Old Testament God, including the harsh instruction (at 31:14) that those who break Sabbath rule should be killed. I struggle to understand why this is so important. At 32:8, Aaron and the people make a false idol (molten gold calf) so Moses has to go down from communing with God and sort out the situation. God calls his people "stiffnecked" (which translates as stubborn, I think) several times, but then Moses actually makes God repent of his wrath (32:14). His repentance doesn't last long though, with 3,000 men killed by the sons of Levi (32:28) – is this not against the Ten Commandments? Did Moses' act of breaking the two onyx stones make them null?
At 33:11, Moses and God meet face to face in the tabernacle, and one of the interesting things about God in Genesis and Exodus is how often he appears in human form (my concept of God has always been more nebulous). No character so far in the Bible has been as intimate with God as Moses. Then follows an odd passage (33:23) about God only revealing his back parts, which I took to illustrate that humans can only ever have an imperfect knowledge of God.
Chapter 34 involves going over a lot of old ground about rules, and chapters 36-8 get really bogged down in detail about how Bezaleel and others build everything for the tabernacle, but there's a very notable detail at 38:26, when we're told that a population census reveals that there are 603,550 men aged 20+ among this new community of God. If we double that for women, we get to 1.2mn people, and then adding in all the under-20s gets us to at least 2mn people, I reckon. This information really stood out for me as I was imagining a much smaller community of people. At 40:2, God instructs Moses to set up the newly built tabernacle on the first day of every month, and explains (at 40:12) that Aaron should wash every time before his ministering. Exodus then closes with a dramatic finish (40:34-38).
Aaron (the older brother of Moses) has a lot to bear on his shoulders, both literally and figuratively, as the first Judeo-Christian priest. I particularly liked the detail of the golden bells and pomegranates which form the hem of his garment. At 29:1, we're told that all this finery is "to hallow" him, or make him holy, and throughout chapter 29 there are details about how to make animal offerings, such as the "ram of consecration" (29:22). Aaron and his sons are also instructed to provide a "continued burnt offering" of two rams per day as an "atonement".
At 30:14, God instructs Moses that he should survey his people and tax everyone over the age of 20 half a shekel each year (in a process that's called the "ransom of souls"). The level of detail is such that God even outlines how a special holy perfume should be made (30:34). God also instills in his people the workmanship to build all that he has planned (31:7-11), and the instructions on how to build the tabernacle are enormously elaborate (and repeated at least once).
The end of Exodus also reveals again the vengeful and jealous nature of the Old Testament God, including the harsh instruction (at 31:14) that those who break Sabbath rule should be killed. I struggle to understand why this is so important. At 32:8, Aaron and the people make a false idol (molten gold calf) so Moses has to go down from communing with God and sort out the situation. God calls his people "stiffnecked" (which translates as stubborn, I think) several times, but then Moses actually makes God repent of his wrath (32:14). His repentance doesn't last long though, with 3,000 men killed by the sons of Levi (32:28) – is this not against the Ten Commandments? Did Moses' act of breaking the two onyx stones make them null?
At 33:11, Moses and God meet face to face in the tabernacle, and one of the interesting things about God in Genesis and Exodus is how often he appears in human form (my concept of God has always been more nebulous). No character so far in the Bible has been as intimate with God as Moses. Then follows an odd passage (33:23) about God only revealing his back parts, which I took to illustrate that humans can only ever have an imperfect knowledge of God.
Chapter 34 involves going over a lot of old ground about rules, and chapters 36-8 get really bogged down in detail about how Bezaleel and others build everything for the tabernacle, but there's a very notable detail at 38:26, when we're told that a population census reveals that there are 603,550 men aged 20+ among this new community of God. If we double that for women, we get to 1.2mn people, and then adding in all the under-20s gets us to at least 2mn people, I reckon. This information really stood out for me as I was imagining a much smaller community of people. At 40:2, God instructs Moses to set up the newly built tabernacle on the first day of every month, and explains (at 40:12) that Aaron should wash every time before his ministering. Exodus then closes with a dramatic finish (40:34-38).
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