Day 27: Exodus 31-33

(The previous post covered God's instructions to Moses concerning the dress of the priesthood, ceremonies, rites, and implements used within the tabernacle. Moses and Joshua went up to the mount with God for forty days and forty nights. The next chapter concluded what God stated during that time and then we will find out what the people did during that same forty days and forty nights.)

Exodus 31
¹ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
² See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

(Bezalel was the craftsman. Bezalel meant "in the shadow (i.e. protection) of God.")

³ and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,

(Bezalel was filled with the Spirit of God.)

⁴ to devise skilful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
⁵ and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of workmanship.

(Bezalel was a master craftsman.)

⁶ And I, behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee:

(Oholiab was Bezalel's chief helper.)

(Verses 7-11: the list of items to be built in the construction of the tabernacle, including its furnishings.)

⁷ the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy-seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the Tent,
⁸ and the table and its vessels, and the pure candlestick with all its vessels, and the altar of incense,
⁹ and the altar of burnt-offering with all its vessels, and the laver and its base,
¹⁰ and the finely wrought garments, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office,
¹¹ and the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.

(Talk about master craftsmen, they made everything.)

(Verses 12-17: the command to respect the Sabbath.)

¹² And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
¹³ Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily ye shall keep my sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am Jehovah who sanctifieth you.

(The Sabbath was a sign to the people to remind them that God had sanctified them. For six days people could be a first cause. People could do what they wanted to do (work) as long as it did not violate God's Laws. On the seventh day, the people were to rest from their work, they were to cease from their occupation of being a first cause, just as God did in Genesis 2:1-3. On the seventh day, they allowed God's Laws to be the first cause and guide their actions. On the Sabbath, a person could only do what God's Laws told him to do.)

¹⁴ Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
¹⁵ Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Jehovah: whosoever doeth any work on the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
¹⁶ Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
¹⁷ It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
¹⁸ And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, the two tables of the testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

(The tables of stone were written by the Finger of God. Next, we will see what the people did during the forty days and forty nights Moses and Joshua were on the mount with God.)




Exodus 32
¹ And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.

(The people asked for idols and wanted to leave Moses.)

² And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
³ And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
⁴ And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf: and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

(Aaron made a golden calf. The people chose that as their god.)

⁵ And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow shall be a feast to Jehovah.
⁶ And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

(The people "rose up to play." Notice, this was work and it was not rest. Paul referenced this verse in 1 Corinthians 10:7.)

⁷ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, that thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
⁸ they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed unto it, and said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

(No wonder God was taking them the long way to the Promised Land. The people were still very immature. They "turned aside quickly," away from God's commands.)

⁹ And Jehovah said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
¹⁰ now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

(God's Will was to wipe them out and make of Moses a great nation. This was because Moses was Just before God; Moses had enough reward/value from Justice to begin a new nation.)

¹¹ And Moses besought Jehovah his God, and said, Jehovah, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, that thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
¹² Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

(Moses approached God by first asking two questions. Then Moses told God to repent of the evil He thought to do, to turn from the destruction God justly wanted to do. Moses did not want to use his reward/value to create a new nation. This was Moses' choice and it was in opposition to God's Will.)

¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
¹⁴ And Jehovah repented of the evil which he said he would do unto his people.

(GOD CHANGED HIS MIND in response to Moses' questions and Moses' request that God remember.)

¹⁵ And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand; tables that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

(The tables were written on both sides.)

¹⁶ And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
¹⁷ And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

(Joshua was with Moses and said he heard sounds of war. Imagine how loud the people must have been for Joshua to think this!)

¹⁸ And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

(Moses said it was not for victory or defeat but singing.)

¹⁹ And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

(When Moses brought the Ten Commandments into the presence of the people, this formally began the 5th Dispensation: The Law. However, Moses then threw the tables and broke them. Moses was on the mount confirming the Covenant with God and then broke the confirmation of that Covenant. This meant he would need a second confirmation of this Covenant if it continued. This was similar to God forming His first Covenant with Abram and then forming the everlasting Covenant with Abraham.)

²⁰ And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

(The Israelites had to drink the golden calf. The gold was ground into powder and strewed (dispersed/mixed) with water. This was done as a punishment for the Israelites in response to their idolatry.)

²¹ And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them?
²² And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on evil.
²³ For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
²⁴ And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off: so they gave it me; and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

(Aaron said a calf just came out of the fire. Aaron lied. Verse 4 showed that Aaron himself "fashioned it with a graving tool." Throughout Genesis, every time someone was proven to be in sin, they admitted it: Adam, Eve, Cain, Judah, etc. However, since the beginning of the Book of Exodus, we see that people can be proven to be in sin and they chose to rationalize their sin instead of admit it. Pharaoh was repeatedly proven wrong and he responded by justifying himself. Here, Aaron justified himself as well.)

²⁵ And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies,)
²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on Jehovah's side, let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

(The sons of Levi sided with Moses.)

²⁷ And he said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.
²⁸ And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

(The 5th Dispensation began with 3000 people dying. Notice, the 6th Dispensation began on Pentecost and Acts 2:41 stated 3000 souls were saved that day. The beginning of the Dispensation of the Law brought death to 3000 people, while the beginning of the Dispensation of Grace brought eternal life to 3000 people.)

²⁹ And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to Jehovah, yea, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
³⁰ And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto Jehovah; peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin.
³¹ And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
³² Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin-; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

(Moses put Aaron's sin on his own head. Moses attempted to spend some of the reward/value that was due him.)

³³ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

(God did not let Moses spend his reward/value for the salvation of others. Salvation is only between God and the individual.)

³⁴ And now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine angel shall go before thee; nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.
³⁵ And Jehovah smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

(God justly smote/plagued the people because of what they did. God did not respond to Aaron as a person but approached Aaron from the perspective of his office.)




Exodus 33
¹ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, Depart, go up hence, thou and the people that thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land of which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:
² and I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:
³ unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiffnecked people, lest I consume thee in the way.
⁴ And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.

(God told Moses the plan. Even though it was a good result, the how (God not being in the midst) and why (people were stiffnecked and would end up dead if God went with them) caused the people to mourn.)

⁵ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people; if I go up into the midst of thee for one moment, I shall consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.
⁶ And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from mount Horeb onward.

(Verses 7-11: Moses led the nation in worship.)

⁷ Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it without the camp, afar off from the camp; and he called it, The tent of meeting. And it came to pass, that every one that sought Jehovah went out unto the tent of meeting, which was without the camp.
⁸ And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the Tent, that all the people rose up, and stood, every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the Tent.
⁹ And it came to pass, when Moses entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, and stood at the door of the Tent: and Jehovah spake with Moses.

(God talked to Moses and everyone was aware of it. Aaron was not involved. Was this a demotion for Aaron?)

¹⁰ And all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the Tent: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man at his tent door.

(All the people worshipped.)

¹¹ And Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his minister Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tent.

(God spoke to Moses face to face as to a friend. Joshua was present. Was this a "promotion" for Joshua?)

¹² And Moses said unto Jehovah, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found favor in my sight.
¹³ Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thy sight, show me now thy ways, that I may know thee, to the end that I may find favor in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

(Although Moses interacted with God as a friend, it was not enough. Moses wanted to know God more.)

¹⁴ And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
¹⁵ And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
¹⁶ For wherein now shall it be known that I have found favor in thy sight, I and thy people? is it not in that thou goest with us, so that we are separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth?
¹⁷ And Jehovah said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken; for thou hast found favor in my sight, and I know thee by name.

(Moses wanted to know God was with him or he did not want to carry out the plan. The Lord agreed to do what Moses had spoken.)

¹⁸ And he said, Show me, I pray thee, thy glory.

(Moses wanted to see God's Glory: His weightiness, power, majesty, splendor, honor, riches, authority. God's Glory becomes manifest as an effect of His agreement. God's Glory is a form of confirmation.)

¹⁹ And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

(Paul referenced this verse in Romans 9:15.)

²⁰ And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for man shall not see me and live.

(Moses did not see God's Face.)

²¹ and Jehovah said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock:
²² and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand until I have passed by:
²³ and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back; but my face shall not be seen.

(Moses did see God's Back.)

(This post covered the conclusion of God's instructions to Moses during the forty days and forty nights Moses and Joshua were on the mount. When Moses returned he found the people were worshipping a golden calf that Aaron had made. God's Will was to destroy the people and make a new nation for Moses. Moses changed God's Mind by approaching God the way God approached others. From that time on, Moses spoke with God as a friend and saw God's Glory.)

Day 28