So my last couple of days worth of readings have brought me from Exodus 22-27. Many times people talk about how the Bible is vague. They say things were left open to interpretation, and talk about gray areas, etc. Not in these chapters! Everything is specific here. God lays down specific laws, blueprints for the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle, punishments for breaking the laws. It’s incredible.
It amazes me when I read this at just how specific God was in the handing down of these decrees. I mean it seems that some things are more vague and open to interpretation like people say, but in these matters he’s on point. In describing the ark God goes so far as to give dimensions, type of wood, what to overlay the wood with, how to carry it, what the top should look like, etc. With the tabernacle He even goes so far as to say what should be embroidered into the curtains! I’m sure there’s a reason everything was so specific, but I don’t know it. It just amazes and confuses me. Why did God care so much? Why did it matter how these things looked? I’m a firm believer in God looking at our hearts, and what’s on the inside now, so why not back then? I’ve never understood that. Maybe as I continue to read, I will.
Now, I don’t want to always just complain about what I don’t understand, and these readings have given me some things I liked. One is the tablets that we all consider to be the ten commandments. Did you realize they had all the laws on them? In Exodus 25 God repeatedly mentions the “tablets of the covenant law” that he is going to give Moses to put into the Ark. Unless I’m misreading that, it means all the laws I’ve been reading were chiseled onto those tablets. I don’t know, but I think that’s pretty cool for some reason. Another thing that stood out to me was how the Israelites described seeing God’s glory on Mount Sinai as looking like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. That sounds like a phenomenal site that I bet would leave an awesome impression. I also love the description of the seventy elders going up the mountain with Moses and seeing God. Under his feet was a blue pavement like substance, blue as the sky, and God allowed them to be there. It points out that God didn’t raise His hand against these men, even though he only allowed Moses to actually approach they all saw God, and ate and drank. That would be a wonderful experience.
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