Day 040- The Bible Recap

Again the details can be overwhelming but God continued to be precise. These details continued to be for their protection as they made atonement for their sin. God is sovereign and holy and being in His presence should NOT be taken lightly. 30:9 Verse 10 told us that the altar is "most holy to the LORD."

The census tax was to remind the people they owned their lives to the LORD 30:16

Aaron and his sons were instructed to wash their hands and feet in the bronze basin because where they were entering was holy ground...God was protecting them! The anointing oil consecrated all the elements in the tabernacle to the point that anything that touched them would also become holy. 30:29 It couldn't be used on ordinary people or replicated in anyway, as the perpetrator would be cut off from his people. 30:33

God appointed specific artisans to help with the design and craftsmanship of the tabernacle. He filled them with the abilities to complete their tasks.

God then again (maybe they needed reminding) appointed the seventh day of the week to be dedicated to rest. It followed God's plan when He created the world and rested on the seventh day. If God believed rest was important enough for Him to partake in, then it should also be important to us. 

God gave Moses the two stone tablets which had the ten commandments which were "written by the finger of God." 31:18 That last part was fascinating to me and I don't know if I've noticed that before.

The Israelites became impatient waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain (in total he would have been gone 40 days and nights). The people, again forgetting God's faithfulness and with a tone of complaint, came before Aaron with a proposal to make a god they could see, a golden calf. And Aaron went along with it and even built an altar before it (clearly showing us why God chose Moses as leader).

The Lord's wrath burned hot against the Israelites. Moses asked the LORD to consider Abraham, Isaac and Israel, your servants, whom you made a covenant with. The Lord relented. 32:10-14

Moses burned the calf and made the people drink it! I was thinking how we learned a couple of days ago the metals became more precious the closer you got to the Most Holy... so the Israelites equated the golden calf to be as precious as the LORD Himself!

When Moses confronted Aaron he lied and tried to say the calf just popped out of the fire but Aaron both crafted it with a carving tool AND built an altar for it!

Moses asked, "who is on the LORD's side?" 3,000 men were killed that day because they chose not to follow. 32:28 And then God sent a plague on the rest of the people, which He warned them He would do back in 15:26 if they didn't keep His commandments.

The events we read about today are even further proof as to why the tabernacle was necessary. The Israelites were prone to breaking their covenant with God and needed a more permanent place to worship Him and be reminded of His goodness.

~Ann Mays