Exodus
29 – 32
Verse 29:37 explains the reasoning behind the purification
of the altar:
For seven days you
must purify the altar and consecrate it. As a result of these rituals it
will be most holy and anything that touches the altar will become holy.
Through much of the reading we get a feel
for the details God gave to his people for honoring Him. Today we look at this
as a bunch of ceremony that often seems unnecessary. It obviously was important
to do since God required it. The only question that I have is we to take our
relationship with God a bit more reverent?
Think about this for a moment. I think of a moment in
Crocodile Dundee where Mick is asked about God, he said “me and God are mates”.
This implies that his relationship with the almighty is like any drinking
buddy. I wonder if our casualness with God is ruining our relationship with
Him. Maybe we should approach God with a bit more reverence than we tend to
today. Although David’s prayers were sometimes out of shear frustration, he came
to God with total respect and dignity.
Now as we read each chapter we see procedures for dress,
procedures, materials, altars, Sabbath laws and blending anointing oils and
incense. Notice is verse 30:33 has a definite warning:
Whoever makes a
similar blend or anoints anyone who is not ordained as a priest will be cut off
from the community.
Today I believe we can go to any
“Christian” book store and purchase the recipe for anointing oil and incense,
even though each recipe has this warning. Why is this? Is this ok with God?
What if I were to purchase this or make it and then anoint someone? Would I be
“cut off” from God? Do we just consider this OT and ignore it? Understand I
don’t know the answer now, but do know the answer then and feel maybe we should
take this more serious that just mixing and making a buck.
I love reading these chapters because
interspersed with God’s Commandments and Laws are history lessons on what was
going on at the time. Chapter 32 is the famous story of the “golden calf” which
most believe is the reason Israel was not allowed into the Promised Land. No
God just killed a bunch as an example. Verse 32:19 shows Moses as not some cool
dude:
As soon as Moses
arrived at the camp, he saw the calf and the revelry around it. His anger
flared, and he hurled down the stone tablets and they shattered at the
foot of the mountain.
His anger is something he has been working
on all his life. Think about how he was in exile for 40 years after murdering
an Egyptian. He has anger issues, which one could say was righteous
indignation, in this instance caused him to shatter the tablets God inscribe
the Law on. These were not just some rocks he had, but rather something made
before him by God!! The people had no clue the significance of these tablets
and just assume Moses lost it again. We must all learn to control our wrath,
let God’s furry deal with things and not ours. Although God lost it just as
much as Moses earlier, so maybe “righteous indignation” is ok.