The One Year Bible: The OT God

 

"Are you satisfied with the life you're living?

We know where we're going
We know where we're from. . .

Exodus, all right! movement of jah people!"

                                             --Bob Marley, "Exodus"

This week we dive deep into the heart of the Old Testament God.  Thunder flashing from Mt. Sinai, His wrath breaking forth among His people.  The jealous God.  It can be deeply discomfiting reading.  There's Jesus, the gentle shepherd and then there's this fiery Deity.  Can they even be the same God? I believe they are, but as a Christian I have to believe we--and Moses--are looking through a glass darkly.  What Moses saw may not accurately reflect the heart of God.  But there are hints, and even here among the fire and smoke, is one of my favorite stories in the whole Bible--a tender and intimate moment between God and a human being-a palpable sense of longing on both sides to be closer to each other.

Highlights from Exodus 13-34

• The Crossing of the Red Sea
• Wilderness Wandering--The People Complain, God Provides, Rinse & Repeat
• The Ten Commandments
• The Ten Commandments: The Fine Print
• Detailed Plans for the Tabernacle Presented
• The Golden Calf
• Moses on the Mountain

Fun Facts

• Did you know Moses was a workaholic? Early into the Exodus, Moses was already working himself to an early grave, trying to do everything and be all things to everyone.  His father-in-law had to have a sit-down with him and encourage him to delegate. "You've got capable people on your staff, Moses.  Empower them, so you can focus on the big picture!" (Exodus 18:14-27)

• Did you know God planned for the Israelites to gradually conquer the land of Canaan so that it would remain inhabitable.  Specifically, so that the wild animals wouldn't become too much for them. (Exodus 23:29-30)  The whole idea of the conquest of Canaan is uncomfortable for me, but we'll have plenty of opportunity to reflect on that later in our reading when the conquering actually begins.

• Did you know that the leadership of Israel got to see God's feet? Exodus 24:9-11 has this fascinating description of an unforgettable meal shared by the Hebrew leadership team in God's presence:  "Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of the Israel climbed the mountain.  There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself.  And though these nobles gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence." (NLT) The reason I assume they didn't see all of God, perhaps just His feet even though the text doesn't specify this is because later on God asserts that it's not possible for anyone to see His face and live.

• Did you know that Aaron made up some insane story about the golden calf to avoid getting in trouble? The people of Israel had gotten busted worshiping the golden calf (which by the way, they had designated as God himself.  They were over the weird invisible God unrepresented by any image--so different from basically everyone else in the world at that time.  So the calf was to represent God to them. Apparently the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night was not sufficient).  In Exodus 32:21-24 Moses confronts his brother about how this came about and Aaron comes back with:  "Come on Mo, you now how these people are.  They're awful. . " You can almost hear the whine in his voice.  "So I asked them for any gold they might have and I threw it into the fire and out came this calf."  Out. Came. This. Calf.  Smh.  Like a middle schooler caught in the act making up a lie. I find it remarkable that Aaron wasn't included in the punishment for the Golden Calf Incident.

What Stood Out to Me

Good Principles, Harsh Punishments

I found much of Exodus 23 interesting.  You get a good sense of what matters to God--and these are themes we'll see repeated throughout the Bible.  God desires to see a fair and impartial system of justice that favors neither rich nor poor. God does not want innocent animals to suffer simply because they belong to someone who hates you. God is concerned with the fate of the poor and the struggles of the foreigner. It appears from Exodus 23:12 that part of the reason for the Sabbath rest is so that those that never get the privilege of choosing rest--their livestock, their slaves, and those not a part of the tight-knit community of God's people--have a chance to "be refreshed."  These themes--impartially in justice, good treatment for immigrants, and keeping the Sabbath pop up repeatedly in the book of Exodus.

Exodus 21-22 has some other finer points of the ten commandments as well--all mentioned in what seems a random order.  What's notable is the harsh punishments for violating so many of these comments.  Death is the punishment for everything from  striking your parents to kidnapping to murder to breaking the Sabbath. Capital punishment is called for in cases of sorcery, bestiality, sacrificing to other gods, oppressing immigrants.  The punishments seem awfully severe.

The Blood of the Lamb

This is a minor thing, but it really stuck in my brain. As I read about the amount of blood involved in the sacrificial system God was setting up--the bloodletting, the blood sprinkling around the sanctuary and on the garments of the priests, I couldn't help wondering how long it was until the priestly garments were all stained a rusty red.  There's no mention of how or if these garments (or any other parts of the tabernacle) were to be cleaned.

Restless

One of my favorite passages in the Bible comes in Exodus 33-34. God and Moses are communing on just after the Golden Calf Incident.  God is suggesting he might just let the people make their own way to the promised land--He's just so frustrated with them and worries that He might end up wiping them all out.  "Look, I'll send one of My deputies ahead to drive out the Canaanites for you, but I'm out."  Moses responds with an impassioned appeal to what he knows of God's character, boldly reminding God of who He claims to be and suggesting God will ruin His own reputation if He abandons His people.  To me it's clear, that God is not really considering abandoning or destroying people.  This is about drawing out Moses' own character and knowledge of the kind of God he served. I can just see God smiling to himself as Moses passes the test with flying colors.

And then my favorite part in Exodus 33:14-23.  I love this entire exchange between God and Moses.  I sense such a longing on their parts to be closer.  Moses asking to see God's glory and God jury-rigging together this plan that will allow Moses to at least see His back. He places Moses in a crevice and covers him with His Hand as He "walks" by, removing His hand after He has passed so Moses can see His back.  In the midst of all the blood and fire and smoke and death, all those things that make it hard to see--here is this glimpse of a God who is restless to be close to His people--and at least one person, who wants the same.

"He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock 

that shadows a dry, thirsty land.

He hideth my life in the depths of his love,

and covers me there with his hand,

and covers me there with his hand."

                                --Fanny J. Crosby, "He Hideth My Soul"