Meet and Greet

Exodus 33: 7-11

So Moses would commonly pitch a tent some distance outside of the camp and called it the "tent of meeting."  If someone had a question for God- this was the place for it.  The text is a little ambiguous about how it worked, but it seems to me that people would bring their questions or requests to Moses and then he would meet with God.

When Moses would approach the tent, everyone would come out of their own tents and watch him until he went inside.  When he went inside, a pillar of cloud would come down and stay outside the entrance while God and Moses talked inside.  In a cartoon, this would be God's ride back into heaven.  Outside of camp, it seems like it served the purpose of a "do not disturb" or an "occupied" sign.  

While the conversation was going on, (when they saw the cloud) they would all stand at the entrances of their own tents and worship.  Moses and the LORD would speak "face to face, as a man speaks with his friend."

This is the part of this short passage that resonates the most with me.  It seems that God has always longed for a relationship with His creation.  Is that our purpose?  Is this the whole point of God creating us in the first place?  So he can come to our tent of meeting and befriend us.

It's interesting to think of God and Moses just chatting.  Sitting down over the Isreali equivalent of a cup of coffee and shooting the breeze while the sounds of worship drift in through the tent.  And maybe this scene can help us understand Moses' tendency to overstep his bounds.  Maybe he felt so at ease with God, so comfortable, so friendly, that he started to forget who we was- and who we was in comparison to his God.

And maybe God wants the same from us.  Not a flippant sense of entitlement, but a relationship so deep, so close, so trusting, that we think of God less as judge and jury, but more as a dear friend, as loving family, as a loved one whose visit warrants celebration.

The section ends noting that Moses' assistant Joshua stayed in the tent after Moses would go back to camp.

Turn and Calf

Exodus 32-33:6

So Moses has been up the mountain talking to God for quite some time and the natives are getting restless.  They approach Aaron and tell him- look- this Moses guy is long gone- I think it's time for some new god to go before us.

And naturally Aaron, Moses' brother, spokesman to Pharaoh, responds with a hearty... sure.  Give me your sons', daughters' and wives' earrings and we'll make us a god.  So they melt down the gold and make the infamous golden calf.  When it's done they proclaim-Israel, here's your god that brought you out of Egypt.

Now Aaron is either feeling a little guilty or trying to straddle the fence- so he announced thatthe  next day would contain a festival for the LORD.  So the people rose early and made sacrifices and then ate, drank and got ready for a night of revelry.  I'm not sure who the sacrifices are for- Aaron says the festival is for the LORD- but God later recounts their sacrificing to idols.

Meanwhile, back on the mountain, God has seen quite enough.  He tells Moses- get back down there.  Your people have fallen hard-core- they're worshipping idols- they're stubborn and I've had enough. In fact, I'm going to destroy them and make a great nation out of you.

It's interesting that God refers to them as Your people, not My people.  Literally, He's right- they've deserted Him, but it also implies a disowning on God's part.  It's like when an angry mother tells the father coming home from work- look what your child did.

And Moses reasons with God.  He says- Why should you be so angry at these people you've done so much for?  The Egyptians will just say that the only reason you saved them was so you could really wipe them out.  Reconsider!  Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel- and remember what you promised them.  And God changed His mind.

This is amazing- Moses changes God's mind.  What implications are there then in our understanding of God and His nature?  Does that mean that if Moses hadn't talked Him out of it, God would have done something He would have come to regret?  Does God act impulsively?  What happens when God gets angry and there's no Moses there to convince Him to change His mind?  

And what did Moses give up for his people?  This is someone who could have become another Abraham- God says he'll be the source of the nation- and later Moses is left on the outside looking into the promised land.  Did he think back on this moment and regret not taking advantage of the words spoken by his angry God?

So Moses goes back down the mountain with his tablets ready to let his people have it.  Joshua hears the wild partying going on and tells Moses- sounds like there's war in the camp.  Moses says that's not victory or defeat I hear... it's singing.

This is an interesting response from Joshua- is he trying to cover up the mess, or is he ready to fight?  

Moses sees the wild party and he's ticked.  So ticked that he takes the tablets which contained "the writing of God" and smashed them on the ground.  I think I would be a little nervius to smash God's autographed law.  I'm a little particular about my baseball from Jake Peavy and  he didn't even sign it- this is God's penmanship... or it was, now it's rubble at Moses' feet.

Is this a forshadowing of Moses' impulsive behavior to come?  Is God pleased with Moses' attempts to get the Israelites back in line... or is he watching from above thinking- OK, I know why you're mad- I am too- but you've overstepped your bounds a bit there Moe.

Moses takes the calf and throws it in the fire.  He melts it down- grinds it into powder- scatters it on the water and makes the Israelites drink it.  This is like the dad catching his kids smoking and making them finish off the carton.  So you like idols?  How do you like to drink them?  Still having fun?

He then turns on Aaron- "What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?"  Moses implies that Aaron is exacting revenge- why else would he do what he did?  It's interesting how easily Aaron went down this path.  I wonder if Moses had an "A-ha" moment, is this why God didn't let Aaron take my place in Egypt? Did he know that Aaron would fold so easily?  

Aaron says "Do not be angry my lord, you know how prone these people are to evil."  Amazing- in one simple sentence Aaron both sucks up to Moses and points the blame elsewhere.

Then things get weird.  Weirder than a eating a golden calf.  Moses sees how out of control everyone is.  He says everyone who is for the LORD gather round.  So the Levites come running.  Moses says- OK, this message comes from God- strap on a sword and go kill your brothers and friends and neighbors.  So they do- killing around 3000 people.  And Moses is pleased.  He tells them "You have been set apart to the LORD today, "  and He has blessed you.

What do you do with a passage like this.?  Find all the sinners and kill them?  Not a good way to win many community awards.  Hard to convert people when they're dead.

Perhaps the important thing is to contrast the lack of mercy here to the tremendous amount of it post Christ.  This harshness continues.

Moses tells the people- you really messed up.  But look- let me see if I can talk to God and make atonement.  So Moses talks to God and says look- we both know these people were knee-deep in some bad stuff with that whole golden god thing and all- but can't you just forgive them?  And if you can't, then just go ahead and cross my name out of your book too.

This is pretty bold talk.  Moses has the perfect alibi.  You can't really hold me responsible, I was with you, God.  Not Guilty.  But instead he casts his lot with his people, at least those who are still alive.

God, perhaps smirking, tells Moses- ummm- I'll block the people out of my book who did the sinning.  Or maybe with subtext- lovely rhetoric Moses, but no dice- I'm in charge, I decide who gets punished and who doesn't.

Oh and by the way, when the time comes... they will pay.

And they do- God strikes them with a plague.

So God then tells Moses to take these people to the land that has been promised to them- He'll send an angel ahead to drive out the inhabitants- but He's not coming along.  You people are stubborn and I might kill you before you get there.

So when Moses told the people this they freaked out.  God told them to take off their ornaments while He figured out what to do with them.

So they did.

Besides the whole mercy comparison, the biggest thing I take from this section is God's jealousy.  He doesn't like to share His people.  We don't see a lot of literal idolatry in our culture.  But maybe the idea is the sharing of allegiance.  When God isn't the center, we've created our own golden calves and we risk alienating ourselves from him.

In theory that's easy for me to understand but what that means practically is a little harder.  I talk to people more than I pray.  I spend more time watching movies than reading the Bible.  I spend more time at work than at church.  But I recognize who's in charge- and I'm at least trying to follow his guidelines and not revel in streets...

and maybe that's what He's looking for.