So it turns out that the Ten Commandments were written twice! I learned something today! After Moses came down from the mountain with God, the people had built a golden calf to worship. So, Moses threw the tablets of the Ten Commandments down and they shattered into pieces. It seems like that was a metaphor for how the people broke their covenant with God.
I am interested in why they would so quickly turn away from God and worship something that they knew they created. I know that calves were a symbol of deity in Egypt (Apis), and so in a way they were turning back to their captivity, back to their bondage. Why? I don't know. Why would they be in the presence of God one day and then the next day say, "Hey! Let's melt some gold, make it into a cow, and then worship that!" Perhaps they were struggling in the way that I do much of time. They wanted something tangible. They wanted to see God and touch God, they wanted to see his face and be able to know with certainty that he was with them, but they could not. God was not a thing. God was not an object. God, as I see it here, is a promise, is a commitment, is a mighty and powerful force. He was the anti-thesis to materialism. He was "who will be". God was not a permanent thing. Who he is depends on who we are and how we relate to him. This is the God of the object relation theorists. Who we are, then, depends entirely on him. This dialogical relationship seems to pervade this section of Scripture.
So, after meeting with God and pleading for the people God tells Moses that he will meet him and redo the covenant. In chapter 33 verses 12 to 23, God tells Moses about how he will meet with him. I love when Moses says, "Now show me your glory." That's pretty bold.
Chapter 34 describes how the LORD met with Moses to redo the covenant. God writes the covenant on two new stone tablets. He meets with Moses, but this time he does not show Moses his face. He hid his glory. Why? My guess is that it was almost like a lesson. When sin separates him from God, he cannot see the face of God.
After meeting with God, Moses' face was "radiant". I don't know if that means he was smiling uncontrollably or if that meant that it was luminescent. I think it implies the latter. It was so radiant that they made a veil for him that covered his face whenever he was with the people. He took the veil off only to meet with God. Moses' veil seems to mirror God's hand in 33:22 when God uses his hand to hide his glory from Moses.
The rest of the reading is more detail about the priests and the construction of the tabernacle.
I feel tired today. I don't really feel like I learned any great truth today. Today feels like a lesson in discipline and perseverance. I think I'm distracted too. Steph and I are taking our engagement photos with our photographer today. We also have a big family supper for Thanksgiving, so my mind is sort of focused on that too.
1810 pages to go!
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