Tag: ark of the covenant

A God Of Minute Detail

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Joshua Chapters 3 & 4

God loves unnecessary details. It’s time for Joshua to lead Israel across the Jordan, and this is no small task. It involves the Levites carrying the ark of the covenant to the center of the River so that God can dry it up. Then stones have to laid in specific spots, them the people can finally cross. The reason it takes two chapters is because most of the first one is describing how it needs to be done, then the rest is the action being carried out in the same detail.

I understand this repetition in oral tradition, but is it necessary in written form? I suppose it’s hard to change early on, much like, early TV dramas in the 50s. The actors still played their parts as if they were on a stage or the radio. the Bible is oral tradition written down directly. It’s also from sources that were songs or lyric poetry.

Anyway, the twelve stones that were taken by each of the tribes were laid on land to explain this crossing. I guess Joshua couldn’t just outstretch his arms and part the Jordan like Moses did in Exodus.

Deuteronomy Chapter 31

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Moses is now 120 years old and can’t get around much anymore. I wonder if a mobility scooter would help? He tells Israel not to be afraid because God is going to precede them into the promised land and destroy the nations that are there. We get another reminder that he did the same in earlier chapters to other kings. Also, he reminds Israel that he will not be crossing with them because way back when he hit a rock with his staff and that was an affront to God. Talk about holding grudges. Then he announces, again, that Joshua will be leading them across the Jordan.

So, after announcing that there will be bloodshed and violence and a new guy at the helm, it only makes sense to talk about the law again. Every seven years, at the festival of booths, all of the people will be brought together and the law will be read in its entirety. This is so that the people will hear it and fear God. I really hope that they have the law written down in an easy-to-read place instead of having to go through these past four books where the laws are just carelessly strewn about.

God calls Moses and Joshua, the new guy, to the tent of meeting to tell them that after Moses dies, which will be soon, that the Israelites will start turning to other gods and they will notice that God isn’t there defending them. So, like any 1980’s afterschool special, Moses is told to write a song and teach it to the people so that they won’t forget.

24When Moses had finished writing down in a book the words of this law to the very end, 25Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD…”

Bibles, Harper . NRSV Bible with the Apocrypha (p. 492). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

OK, good news: there is a book of laws. Bad news: it’s with the Ark of the Covenant which likely doesn’t exist, or it’s in a secret government warehouse. Anyway, he tells the Levites that they’re stubborn and rebellious and that he is going to teach him the new song he just wrote. I read ahead, it’s no Lennon and McCartney collab, it’s more like something Jim Steiman would write. Just picture it sung by Meatloaf.

Exodus Chapters 25 through 31

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I’m not gonna lie, these seven chapters sound like the set design notes for the first Indiana Jones movie. This is basically a long section describing how to make up the offerings for the tabernacle, build the ark of the covenant, how to build and present the table for the bread of the presence, the lampstand, how to make the tabernacle itself, the framework for the aforementioned tabernacle, the curtain, the altar for burnt offerings, the court and hangings for the tabernacle, the oil for the lamp, the vestments, and so on and so forth. I’m not going to go through the details because I’m not running a how-to blog over here.

This is apparently God telling his people how to worship him and what he likes. Go back to my comments on Chapter 23 and read the third paragraph because I really don’t want to repeat myself. I might as well make it the subtitle for this blog. This is the words of men trying to control people and get them to build some pretty stuff.

At one point, God appoints two men to make all of the stuff in the previous chapters. After that, it’s a review of everything that was said in the previous chapters. Finally, God talks about the sabbath laws and tells Moses to tell the Israelites. At the end of all of these laws, God gives Moses all of these laws written on two tablets in God’s finger.