After reading chapter 20:
*Unfortunately, we are not done with the story of the Levite and the concubine. After the
Levite sent the pieces of the concubine to all the tribes of Israel, "all" the Israelites assembled before Yahweh in Mizpah. There were 400,000 soldiers armed with swords, another nice round number. Except it wasn't ALL the Israelites; the Benjaminites were not there. And surely the surrounding lands were not completely emptied of Israelites for the time it took the gathering to take place. Remember, these people mostly travelled on foot. Not only that, wasn't assembling before Yahweh supposed to be done in Shiloh?
*At the assembly, the Israelites asked the Levite to tell his story. (The bible calls him a husband but calls the woman a concubine, which is not the same thing as a wife.) The Levite tells the story slightly differently than we read in the last chapter. Now, he says the men of Gibeah were wanting to kill him, instead of have sex with him, but maybe to him that was equivalent to death. He skips over the part where he hands his concubine over to the men and goes straight to the rape. He also neglects to tell how he found her and how he had expected her to just get up off the ground and go home. Instead he says he cut her up and sent the pieces to the tribes of Israel, because of the "lewd and disgraceful" act that had been committed. No mention of how he had allowed it to happen.
*Apparently the assembly cast lots to determine what the will of Yahweh was in this situation. (Verse 9) The men, um Yahweh, decided that ten percent of the soldiers would be responsible for getting provisions for the army. (Which usually meant taking what they needed from the people of the surrounding countryside.) Then the whole army would march on the Benjaminites in Gibeah and give them what they deserved. First, however, they sent men through the tribe of Benjamin, asking them to hand over the perpetrators. They refused. Then the Benjaminites gathered 26,000 swordsman of their own, 700 of them from Gibeah. There were also 700 left handed, stone slinging experts. They could "sling a stone at a hair and not miss."
*Next, before the battle, the Israelites (All 400,000?)went to Bethel to ask God a question. Why couldn't they have asked him the question in Mizpah? It makes more sense when you know that Beth-el means "house of God." This is the place Jacob supposedly had his vision of God on top of a ladder to heaven. Apparently, the ark of the covenant was now in Bethel (verse 27), along with an altar for burnt offerings, which I find confusing. Then what is at Shiloh? And why was such a big deal made of Shiloh earlier in the book of Joshua? Shiloh is where lots were cast "in the presence of Yahweh" to determine the distribution of the promised land. The presence of Yahweh appears to be mobile.
*We are also, told in verse 28, that Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the grandson of Aaron, was the high priest ministering in front of the ark. Either this story takes place out of historical sequence in the book of Judges, or Phineas is a couple of hundred years old. Phineas was alive when Moses was still around back in Numbers 25.
*For what question did the Israelites go to Bethel to ask Yahweh? Why, which tribe gets to fight first, of course. Yahweh picked Judah. Lots again? Or priestly declaration? We will never know. The next morning, positions were taken and the battle began. 22,000 Israelites were mowed down. Next, they simultaneously took up their positions of the day before and went to weep before Yahweh in Bethel. They asked Yahweh if they should keep fighting. He said yes. The next day, the Benjaminites cut down 18,000 Israelites with the sword. The Israelites went crying back to Yahweh. They fasted, made burnt offerings and groveled. They again asked Yahweh if they should keep fighting. He said yes.
Showing posts with label ark of the covenant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ark of the covenant. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Joshua chapter 6
After reading chapter 6:
*Jericho was tightly shut up, "No one went in, no one came out." Great story line. Yahweh told Joshua that the conquest of Jericho was a sure thing, with his help. Since we haven't done that yet, let's read about Jericho here. In spite of multiple periods of civilization, Jericho does not appear to have been inhabited at our supposed time of the Biblical story, about 1297 B.C.E. This presents a problem doesn't it? Keep in mind, there is also a history of earthquakes in the area.
*Now we have the famous tale: Yahweh told Joshua to tell the armed men of Israel (approx. 600,000) to march around the city once a day for six days, with seven priests blowing ram's horn trumpets in front of the ark of the covenant. On the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times, while the priests blew the trumpets. Then the priests would blow one long blast and all the people were to shout as loud as they could. Consequently, the walls of Jericho would fall down and the armed forces could enter the city.
*The instructions of Joshua, uh, Yahweh, were followed, each day for six days. On the seventh day, they got up bright and early and marched around the city seven times. After the seventh time, the priests blew the trumpets and Joshua commanded the people to shout, reminding them that Rahab and her family were to be spared. Plus, the Israelites were not to touch any objects used in the worship of the city's gods, or they would bring about their own destruction. Besides, all the valuable objects made of metals belonged to the priests, I mean Yahweh. They must go into Yahweh's treasury. Though what he wants with them is anybody's guess.
*When the people shouted, the walls collapsed. The men charged in and destroyed every living thing: all the people, including women and children, and the animals. Joshua told the two spies from chapter 2 to get Rahab and her family to safety. They were put in a place outside the camp of the Israelites. The city was burned to the ground. The precious metal objects were saved for Yahweh. Rahab and her family live with the Israelites " to this day." Last of all, Joshua put a curse on the city of Jericho and any one who might try to rebuild it. (The study bible says the curse was fulfilled in the days of King AhabAhab, which probably means that this book was written after that.) Any way, the city of Jericho has continued to exist in many forms down through the ages, and still exists today.
For more interesting information, read: The Battle of Jericho. There we see that the historicity of the Jericho story is non- existant.
*Jericho was tightly shut up, "No one went in, no one came out." Great story line. Yahweh told Joshua that the conquest of Jericho was a sure thing, with his help. Since we haven't done that yet, let's read about Jericho here. In spite of multiple periods of civilization, Jericho does not appear to have been inhabited at our supposed time of the Biblical story, about 1297 B.C.E. This presents a problem doesn't it? Keep in mind, there is also a history of earthquakes in the area.
*Now we have the famous tale: Yahweh told Joshua to tell the armed men of Israel (approx. 600,000) to march around the city once a day for six days, with seven priests blowing ram's horn trumpets in front of the ark of the covenant. On the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times, while the priests blew the trumpets. Then the priests would blow one long blast and all the people were to shout as loud as they could. Consequently, the walls of Jericho would fall down and the armed forces could enter the city.
*The instructions of Joshua, uh, Yahweh, were followed, each day for six days. On the seventh day, they got up bright and early and marched around the city seven times. After the seventh time, the priests blew the trumpets and Joshua commanded the people to shout, reminding them that Rahab and her family were to be spared. Plus, the Israelites were not to touch any objects used in the worship of the city's gods, or they would bring about their own destruction. Besides, all the valuable objects made of metals belonged to the priests, I mean Yahweh. They must go into Yahweh's treasury. Though what he wants with them is anybody's guess.
*When the people shouted, the walls collapsed. The men charged in and destroyed every living thing: all the people, including women and children, and the animals. Joshua told the two spies from chapter 2 to get Rahab and her family to safety. They were put in a place outside the camp of the Israelites. The city was burned to the ground. The precious metal objects were saved for Yahweh. Rahab and her family live with the Israelites " to this day." Last of all, Joshua put a curse on the city of Jericho and any one who might try to rebuild it. (The study bible says the curse was fulfilled in the days of King AhabAhab, which probably means that this book was written after that.) Any way, the city of Jericho has continued to exist in many forms down through the ages, and still exists today.
For more interesting information, read: The Battle of Jericho. There we see that the historicity of the Jericho story is non- existant.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Joshua chapter 4
After reading chapter 4:
*The whole nation of Israel has finished crossing the Jordan and they are again told to pick twelve men, one from each tribe. This time they are told why. The men are commanded to go back to the middle of the river, where the priests are still standing with the ark, and each pick up a large stone. They are to bring the stones back to their camp. The stones are to be a memorial of the river crossing. Joshua took the stones and set them up. Supposedly, they were still there at the writing of this book, which would have been hundreds of years later.
*The priests stayed in the middle of the river till all the Israelites were out. Then they took the ark to the other side while everyone was watching. As an aside we are told that 40,000 armed men of the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Mannasseh had also crossed. Plus, Yahweh exalted Joshua and he became just as revered to the Israelites as Moses had been. Do you remember that Moses had been downright hated at times? The author of Joshua doesn't seem to remember.
*Again, we are told that the priests came out of the river with the ark. There are so many redundancies in scriptures, many in odd places, that it is becoming easy to understand why many scholars think that they were composed by multiple authors and kind of smooshed together. Anyway, as soon as the priests set their feet on dry ground (Wait. We had been told that the river bed was dry ground while the priests had the ark there. ) the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, at flood stage as before. Except now, the floods should have raged out of control after being held up for long enough to let hundreds of thousands of people pass. Apparently this was a peaceful flood.
* On the tenth day of the first month (the day the passover lamb was to be selected, Exodus 12:3) the people went up from the Jordan. They had to go up because the Jordan is in a Rift Valley. They camped at Gilgal on the east side of Jericho. The Wikipedia article on Gilgal is very interesting. Essentially, it is not clear where this may have been. Again we are told Joshua set up the twelve stones, but now it appears they were set up at Gilgal. Again, the Israelites are told what the stones mean: Yahweh did to the Jordan what he did to the Red Sea. According to the Gilgal article, this story may be the author's attempt to explain a Neolithic stone circle.
*The whole nation of Israel has finished crossing the Jordan and they are again told to pick twelve men, one from each tribe. This time they are told why. The men are commanded to go back to the middle of the river, where the priests are still standing with the ark, and each pick up a large stone. They are to bring the stones back to their camp. The stones are to be a memorial of the river crossing. Joshua took the stones and set them up. Supposedly, they were still there at the writing of this book, which would have been hundreds of years later.
*The priests stayed in the middle of the river till all the Israelites were out. Then they took the ark to the other side while everyone was watching. As an aside we are told that 40,000 armed men of the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Mannasseh had also crossed. Plus, Yahweh exalted Joshua and he became just as revered to the Israelites as Moses had been. Do you remember that Moses had been downright hated at times? The author of Joshua doesn't seem to remember.
*Again, we are told that the priests came out of the river with the ark. There are so many redundancies in scriptures, many in odd places, that it is becoming easy to understand why many scholars think that they were composed by multiple authors and kind of smooshed together. Anyway, as soon as the priests set their feet on dry ground (Wait. We had been told that the river bed was dry ground while the priests had the ark there. ) the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, at flood stage as before. Except now, the floods should have raged out of control after being held up for long enough to let hundreds of thousands of people pass. Apparently this was a peaceful flood.
* On the tenth day of the first month (the day the passover lamb was to be selected, Exodus 12:3) the people went up from the Jordan. They had to go up because the Jordan is in a Rift Valley. They camped at Gilgal on the east side of Jericho. The Wikipedia article on Gilgal is very interesting. Essentially, it is not clear where this may have been. Again we are told Joshua set up the twelve stones, but now it appears they were set up at Gilgal. Again, the Israelites are told what the stones mean: Yahweh did to the Jordan what he did to the Red Sea. According to the Gilgal article, this story may be the author's attempt to explain a Neolithic stone circle.
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Joshua chapter 3
After reading chapter 3:
*The morning after the spies reported to Joshua, the Israelites that were going to cross the Jordon moved to camp by the Jordan river. Remember, we are talking about at least a million people. After they had been camped for three days, Joshua walked among the people giving them instructions. When they saw the priests carrying the ark of the covenant they were to follow in a proscribed order, probably that given back in Numbers chapter 2. However, they were to stay 2,000 cubits back from the ark, which is about half a mile! Think about it. How easy is it to see people half a mile away? Can you see what they are carrying or doing, hear what they are saying? It would partly depend on the terrain and the vegetation, wouldn't it? You can read about the geography surrounding the Jordan River here and here. As far as I can determine, the Jordon River itself is currently a little over half a mile wide at its widest point and could have been up to a mile wide in antiquity. The river is in a depression in the Jordon Rift Valley.
*Joshua promises that Yahweh will do amazing things. Then he tells the priests to take the ark, go to the river and stand in the water. After that, he tells the Israelites they will know God is with them when they are able to drive the previous inhabitants out of the land. Then they are told to choose twelve men, one from each tribe, but we are not told why. As soon as the priests with the ark will set foot in the water, the flow will cease and the water will pile up in a heap.
*The priests and the people did what Joshua said. Supposedly, the river was at flood stage, but as soon as the priest's feet touched the water, it stopped flowing and piled up in a heap "a great distance away" near Zarethan, which was apparently about 30 miles away from the crossing near Jericho. All those people then crossed over on dry ground while the priests with the ark stood firmly in the middle of dry river bed. So how did the all the people cross and maintain the required half mile distance from the ark? How did the river bed dry so quickly? However they did it, we are told everyone got across safely. By that time the heap of flood waters near Zarethan must have reached incredible hieghts. I wonder if anyone in that vicinity noticed?
*Can you see the resemblance of this story to the crossing of the Red Sea back in Exodus 14? This time, however, they are not being chased, they are on the attack. The two crossings are like bookends to the time in the desert.
*The morning after the spies reported to Joshua, the Israelites that were going to cross the Jordon moved to camp by the Jordan river. Remember, we are talking about at least a million people. After they had been camped for three days, Joshua walked among the people giving them instructions. When they saw the priests carrying the ark of the covenant they were to follow in a proscribed order, probably that given back in Numbers chapter 2. However, they were to stay 2,000 cubits back from the ark, which is about half a mile! Think about it. How easy is it to see people half a mile away? Can you see what they are carrying or doing, hear what they are saying? It would partly depend on the terrain and the vegetation, wouldn't it? You can read about the geography surrounding the Jordan River here and here. As far as I can determine, the Jordon River itself is currently a little over half a mile wide at its widest point and could have been up to a mile wide in antiquity. The river is in a depression in the Jordon Rift Valley.
*Joshua promises that Yahweh will do amazing things. Then he tells the priests to take the ark, go to the river and stand in the water. After that, he tells the Israelites they will know God is with them when they are able to drive the previous inhabitants out of the land. Then they are told to choose twelve men, one from each tribe, but we are not told why. As soon as the priests with the ark will set foot in the water, the flow will cease and the water will pile up in a heap.
*The priests and the people did what Joshua said. Supposedly, the river was at flood stage, but as soon as the priest's feet touched the water, it stopped flowing and piled up in a heap "a great distance away" near Zarethan, which was apparently about 30 miles away from the crossing near Jericho. All those people then crossed over on dry ground while the priests with the ark stood firmly in the middle of dry river bed. So how did the all the people cross and maintain the required half mile distance from the ark? How did the river bed dry so quickly? However they did it, we are told everyone got across safely. By that time the heap of flood waters near Zarethan must have reached incredible hieghts. I wonder if anyone in that vicinity noticed?
*Can you see the resemblance of this story to the crossing of the Red Sea back in Exodus 14? This time, however, they are not being chased, they are on the attack. The two crossings are like bookends to the time in the desert.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Deuteronomy 31
After reading chapter 31:
*Moses says that he is now 120 years old and Yahweh told him he would not cross the Jordan. Yahweh will cross over the Jordon along with Joshua. Wait a minute, why does Yahweh need to cross the Jordan? Isn't Yahweh an omnipresent god, ruling over the entire earth? Apparently Moses and the authors of Deuteronomy didn't know that. So, the Israelite's God would deliver the people and the land into the hands of the Israelites and it would be their inheritance. They are not to be afraid, yet.
*Moses wrote down the laws and gave them to the Levite priests,to be read at the end of every seven years, during the feast of tabernacles. Everyone, men, women, and children, must hear and learn the law and learn to fear Yahweh as long as they live in the promised land.
*Then Yahweh told Moses his death was imminent. So, Joshua was commissioned at the tabernacle to be the replacement leader. Yahweh appeared over the tent as the pillar of cloud and told Moses it wouldn't be long before the people broke the covenant. Then Yahweh would be angry and the consequences would be bad. (Why was he angry if he already knew this would happen? Of what benefit are emotions in an eternal deity? How does he feel anger without a brain, body, cortisol, and adrenaline?) Moses wrote a song about the coming events of their destruction and taught it to the Israelites. The song appears in the next chapter.
*Again, we are told Moses wrote down the law and gave it to the Levites. They were to put the book of the law beside the Ark of the covenant where it would be a witness against the Israelites because they are so rebellious and provoking. The elders and officials were to be assembled so Moses could tell them how they would deserve what they had coming to them when they broke the covenant. Heaven and earth would also be witnesses. After all two or more witnesses are required in a legal proceeding. Before the Israelites even got to the promised land they were heaped with the guilt of their descendants.
*Moses says that he is now 120 years old and Yahweh told him he would not cross the Jordan. Yahweh will cross over the Jordon along with Joshua. Wait a minute, why does Yahweh need to cross the Jordan? Isn't Yahweh an omnipresent god, ruling over the entire earth? Apparently Moses and the authors of Deuteronomy didn't know that. So, the Israelite's God would deliver the people and the land into the hands of the Israelites and it would be their inheritance. They are not to be afraid, yet.
*Moses wrote down the laws and gave them to the Levite priests,to be read at the end of every seven years, during the feast of tabernacles. Everyone, men, women, and children, must hear and learn the law and learn to fear Yahweh as long as they live in the promised land.
*Then Yahweh told Moses his death was imminent. So, Joshua was commissioned at the tabernacle to be the replacement leader. Yahweh appeared over the tent as the pillar of cloud and told Moses it wouldn't be long before the people broke the covenant. Then Yahweh would be angry and the consequences would be bad. (Why was he angry if he already knew this would happen? Of what benefit are emotions in an eternal deity? How does he feel anger without a brain, body, cortisol, and adrenaline?) Moses wrote a song about the coming events of their destruction and taught it to the Israelites. The song appears in the next chapter.
*Again, we are told Moses wrote down the law and gave it to the Levites. They were to put the book of the law beside the Ark of the covenant where it would be a witness against the Israelites because they are so rebellious and provoking. The elders and officials were to be assembled so Moses could tell them how they would deserve what they had coming to them when they broke the covenant. Heaven and earth would also be witnesses. After all two or more witnesses are required in a legal proceeding. Before the Israelites even got to the promised land they were heaped with the guilt of their descendants.
Friday, January 15, 2016
Deuteronomy chapter 10
After reading chapter 10:
*Now Moses tells about his chiseling of the second set of stone tablets and his construction of the ark. Even my study bible's footnotes admit that this sequence of events is different than that in Exodus 34-37. There, the ark is not made til after Moses brings the second set of tablets down from the mountain, and then it was made by Bezalel, not Moses. Also, the commands Yahweh gave Moses to put on the second set of the stone tablets in Exodus 34 are very different than the famous "Ten Commandments" mentioned in Deuteronomy. The ones in Deuteronomy say nothing about feasts, sacrifices, or cooking young goats in their mother's milk.
*Then we are told in an aside that the Levite's inheritance is the lord not land and they have the responsibility of caring for the ark with the commandments inside. After the aside, Moses stays on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights, again. Then God tells him to go lead the Israelites to the promised land. Again they are reminded to obey god's commands, for their own good. Again they are told everything belongs to God and God loves them in spite of their obvious flaws (why?).
*Verse 17 is in praise of Yahweh, the lord of lords and God of gods. This is an interesting verse. Does it mean the Israelites believed there were other gods besides Yahweh? If you look at an interlinear translation, you can see that the word "gods" is a form of Elohim, the same word translated as "God" (singular) a great many times in scriptures so far. The verse says God shows no partiality, but he obviously shows partiality to the Israelites. It says he accepts no bribes but we have seen that he expects many many sacrifices. We are told he loves the alien (foreigners) but he plans on destroying the Canaanites. Then the Israelites are told to *love* aliens because they were aliens in Egypt. ???
Well, guess what, they are still aliens in Deuteronomy. They just think they own land that belongs to someone else.
*Lastly, they are told again to fear God and serve him.
I use the Bible Hub website for interlinear translation.
*Now Moses tells about his chiseling of the second set of stone tablets and his construction of the ark. Even my study bible's footnotes admit that this sequence of events is different than that in Exodus 34-37. There, the ark is not made til after Moses brings the second set of tablets down from the mountain, and then it was made by Bezalel, not Moses. Also, the commands Yahweh gave Moses to put on the second set of the stone tablets in Exodus 34 are very different than the famous "Ten Commandments" mentioned in Deuteronomy. The ones in Deuteronomy say nothing about feasts, sacrifices, or cooking young goats in their mother's milk.
*Then we are told in an aside that the Levite's inheritance is the lord not land and they have the responsibility of caring for the ark with the commandments inside. After the aside, Moses stays on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights, again. Then God tells him to go lead the Israelites to the promised land. Again they are reminded to obey god's commands, for their own good. Again they are told everything belongs to God and God loves them in spite of their obvious flaws (why?).
*Verse 17 is in praise of Yahweh, the lord of lords and God of gods. This is an interesting verse. Does it mean the Israelites believed there were other gods besides Yahweh? If you look at an interlinear translation, you can see that the word "gods" is a form of Elohim, the same word translated as "God" (singular) a great many times in scriptures so far. The verse says God shows no partiality, but he obviously shows partiality to the Israelites. It says he accepts no bribes but we have seen that he expects many many sacrifices. We are told he loves the alien (foreigners) but he plans on destroying the Canaanites. Then the Israelites are told to *love* aliens because they were aliens in Egypt. ???
Well, guess what, they are still aliens in Deuteronomy. They just think they own land that belongs to someone else.
*Lastly, they are told again to fear God and serve him.
I use the Bible Hub website for interlinear translation.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Numbers chapter 17
After reading chapter 17:
*Now, Yahweh tells Moses to get a staff from each of the heads of the twelve tribes. The Levite staff is to be inscribed with Aaron's name. The staffs would be placed in front of the ark of the covenant and the staff of god's chosen person would sprout. So, that was done and the next day, guess whose staff sprouted. Not only had Aaron's staff sprouted, but it had gone through the whole growing cycle in one night, budding, blossoming, and producing almonds! Then Moses came out with all the staffs and showed the leaders of the tribes their staffs.
*Aaron's staff was put back in front of the ark of the covenant as a reminder to the rebellious, so they would not die. I don't know how it would have been a reminder if they couldn't look at it, because that area of the tabernacle was off limits. It surely wasn't put there so they couldn't examine it and maybe see that it wasn't the same staff as the day before. Moses would never do something like switch the staff for a tree branch in the middle of the night.
*The Israelites were in despair. Can you blame them? They were just as much enslaved now as they had been in Egypt, maybe more. Intellectual and emotional enslavement can be just as devastating as physical enslavement.
*Now, Yahweh tells Moses to get a staff from each of the heads of the twelve tribes. The Levite staff is to be inscribed with Aaron's name. The staffs would be placed in front of the ark of the covenant and the staff of god's chosen person would sprout. So, that was done and the next day, guess whose staff sprouted. Not only had Aaron's staff sprouted, but it had gone through the whole growing cycle in one night, budding, blossoming, and producing almonds! Then Moses came out with all the staffs and showed the leaders of the tribes their staffs.
*Aaron's staff was put back in front of the ark of the covenant as a reminder to the rebellious, so they would not die. I don't know how it would have been a reminder if they couldn't look at it, because that area of the tabernacle was off limits. It surely wasn't put there so they couldn't examine it and maybe see that it wasn't the same staff as the day before. Moses would never do something like switch the staff for a tree branch in the middle of the night.
*The Israelites were in despair. Can you blame them? They were just as much enslaved now as they had been in Egypt, maybe more. Intellectual and emotional enslavement can be just as devastating as physical enslavement.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Exodus chapter 25
After reading chapter 25:
*While Moses was on the mountain, Yahweh told him that the Israelites were to make offerings of rich materials that would be used to construct an ephod, a breast-piece, a tabernacle and furnishings.
*Then, instructions were given in how to make a fancy golden chest, with a lid that has one cherub at each end. This chest is called an ark in English, but it just means chest. Inside the chest, something called "The Testimony" was to be placed. When it was closed, Yahweh would be hovering over the top, between the cherubim. So, when God was there, does that mean he was not anywhere else?
* Instructions were also given for the construction of a special golden table and dishes of pure gold. Something called "the bread of the presence" was to be on the table, set in front of Yahweh, who would be over the ark.
*Next, we have instructions for a fancy lamp stand of pure gold, seven oil lamps to put on the stand, and golden wick trimmers and trays, all to be made according to a specific pattern. Pure gold, being a very soft metal, would be very impractical for these uses. but maybe God is more into aesthetics and an appearance of wealth than practicality.
*The question I have is, why? All this stuff seems to be needless, and needlessly complicating god's relationship with the people. An all powerful God certainly wouldn't need these things. If it is just as a test of obedience, that seems rather petty and controlling. It would make more sense if such a display of wealth were the priests' idea. Plus, other ancient gods had similar implements used in their service.
*While Moses was on the mountain, Yahweh told him that the Israelites were to make offerings of rich materials that would be used to construct an ephod, a breast-piece, a tabernacle and furnishings.
*Then, instructions were given in how to make a fancy golden chest, with a lid that has one cherub at each end. This chest is called an ark in English, but it just means chest. Inside the chest, something called "The Testimony" was to be placed. When it was closed, Yahweh would be hovering over the top, between the cherubim. So, when God was there, does that mean he was not anywhere else?
* Instructions were also given for the construction of a special golden table and dishes of pure gold. Something called "the bread of the presence" was to be on the table, set in front of Yahweh, who would be over the ark.
*Next, we have instructions for a fancy lamp stand of pure gold, seven oil lamps to put on the stand, and golden wick trimmers and trays, all to be made according to a specific pattern. Pure gold, being a very soft metal, would be very impractical for these uses. but maybe God is more into aesthetics and an appearance of wealth than practicality.
*The question I have is, why? All this stuff seems to be needless, and needlessly complicating god's relationship with the people. An all powerful God certainly wouldn't need these things. If it is just as a test of obedience, that seems rather petty and controlling. It would make more sense if such a display of wealth were the priests' idea. Plus, other ancient gods had similar implements used in their service.
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