Egypt & Exodus II- Exodus 18-40

Notes
  • Covenant at Sinai
In the covenant at Sinai, we reached a turning point in salvation history. Remember what we’ve been saying all along: When God makes a covenant, He is making a family, He is making people kin to Himself, His sons and daughters.
Remember, too, that the imagery in the Old Testament is rooted in ancient images of the family. In the ancient family, fathers were both "kings" - rulers, lawgivers and protectors of their family - and "priests," leading the family in worship and sacrifice. The "first-born" son was the heir to the authority and the kingly and priestly roles of the father.
Since Adam, He has been looking for a "first-born" son worthy of His calling - to guard and keep creation, to offer Him sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, to be a light to all peoples, to dwell with Him intimately.
  • Golden calf affair
No sooner had Israel ratified its covenant with God, than the people fell into idolatry. Moses goes up to the mountain to receive the elaborate instructions about the building and furnishing of the ark, the dwelling for God (see Exodus 25-31) and the people down below create the golden calf and begin worshipping it.
The ancient rabbis used to say that what the forbidden fruit was to Adam the golden calf was to Israel. It is a second fall from grace. The calf is an image of Apis, the Egyptian fertility God and Israel’s worship of it is a parody of the covenant at Sinai. As Moses did, they build an altar, rise early to offer sacrifices, eat and drink a ritual meal. They also, the Scripture says, "rose up to revel," which is a polite way of saying that they engaged in orgies associated with the cult of Apis (see Exodus 32:1-6).
  • A second law
What the golden calf affair was to the first generation at Sinai, the Baal-Peor episode was to the second generation on the plains of Moab.
Notice that it is a law given by Moses, not God. That’s a big difference between the Law given at Sinai, which is presented as God’s own words, delivered by God directly. Deuteronomy is the law of Moses, and as Jesus will explain, it is a law for hardhearted people (see Matthew 19:8).
Based on their track record since the Exodus, Moses knows the people can’t possibly be expected to live up to the law of Sinai, let alone the standards of holiness set forth for the Levites. Deuteronomy is a law for wayward children. That explains why in Deuteronomy, Moses grants permissions found nowhere else in the Bible, permissions that seem totally at odds with the covenant at Sinai.
Among other things, Moses permits divorce and remarriage (see Deuteronomy 24:1-4); the taking of foreign slave wives (see Deuteronomy 21:10-14), and genocidal warfare against the Canaanites (see Deuteronomy 20:16-17). In every case, these concessions are "lesser evils." For instance, the people are instructed to slay the Canaanites because if don’t they will likely fall into worshipping their gods.
This isn’t God’s holy law, this is Moses’ concessionary legislation, his compromises with a stiff-necked people. As God will later explain through the prophet Ezekiel, "I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances through which they could not live" (see Ezekiel 20:25).
Summary


  • Covenant at Sinai
  • Golden calf affair
  • A second law


Questions

  1. What covenant is God being "mindful" of in delivering Israel from bondage in Egypt?
  2. God selected the nation of Isreal for three roles, name those
  3. Why is the Law(The Ten Commandments) given as a gift?
  4. How did Moses react at the golden calf incident?
  5. How easily do we fall into idolatry?



Bibliography

Nation of Israel

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