[CatherineTorpey]

Hi Bibliophiles!

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We will be treated to a sermon on “Mountain Top Moments” by Jacqui Lewis. Her text is Exodus 24:12-18.

The book of Exodus is the second of the five “Books of Moses,” also called the Torah (Hebrew word for “law”) or Pentateuch (Greek word for “five books”). It was written in Hebrew.

So, with this scripture, we get to look at one of the greatest moments in Biblical history – Moses going up to the mountain to receive the Torah (law) from Yahweh (the LORD), the God of the Hebrew people. Moses ascends the “mountain of God,” which in the tradition of the Southern Kingdom (dominated by the tribe of Judah) is called Mount Sinai, and in the tradition of the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom is called Mount Horeb. Moses goes up there and gets the tablets of the 10 Commandments, plus so much more.

As we see from the people who built a golden calf while Moses is on the mountain, the Hebrews had not really known Yahweh; they were dedicated to the religions they’d encountered in Egypt. So the moment when Moses receives the Law marks the beginning of the religion we now call Judaism. It was quite different in those days from Judaism as we know it. It began as a priestly religion, organized around animal sacrifice at the Tabernacle/Temple.

The chapters which follow our reading contain a whole lot of instructions about how the Tabernacle should look and function. The Tabernacle is the desert version of what would later be the Temple. The Tabernacle was a tent which could be disassembled for a nomadic people. Once the Hebrews settled in Canaan, a permanent Temple was built and the Tabernacle was retired.

Here is a good article about the Tabernacle, including an artist’s rendering: https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-tabernacle-in-its-ancient-near-eastern-context

Here is a “Virtual Reality Tour of the Biblical Tabernacle”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5jnu61UYaQ The video will give you some idea of what the Tabernacle looked like, though it was certainly not as shiny and Hollywood as this depiction. First you’ll see the courtyard. The big fire is where the sacrifices were made – the size of the fire makes it appear that we’re seeing a “holocaust” – a whole burnt offering, where the animal was not eaten, but was fully burnt. Then, you go into the tent. The first area is the Holy, where there’s the Menorah and the table of Showbread. Only priests entered this area. Then, you go into the Holy of Holies, where you see the Ark of the Covenant. Only the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. This shows the scroll of the Law (Torah) and the tablets of the 10 Commandments outside the ark, but they would have been kept inside of it. The Ark was considered God’s throne, and the light you see depicted is actually God’s presence.

Aaron (Moses’ brother) is considered the first high priest. Here is an artist’s rendering of priestly garb, based on the instructions given to Moses: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-ancient-hebrew-priests-11255186.html

If you would like a look at the historicity of Moses, I’ve recently discovered this excellent YouTube channel, and here’s the video entitled “Did Moses exist?” https://youtu.be/ptYz-Vu0dxY The guy who makes the video is a Jew and he isn’t trying to “prove” Moses did not exist, but he is looking at the historical record, which ain’t so good if it’s important to you that we be able to prove Moses’ historicity. I like how he explains how we can know about historical figures.

See you tomorrow!

Hugs,
Catherine

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