Exodus 34 - 40 - Leviticus

The Children of Israel

Exodus 34

A New Copy of the Ten Commandments

Then the LORD told Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones. I will write on them the same words that were on the tablets of stone you broke. Be ready in the morning to climb up Mount Sinai and present yourself to me on the top of the mountain. No one else may come with you. In fact, no one is to appear anywhere on the mountain. Do not even let the flocks or herds graze near the mountain.”

So Moses chiseled out two tablets of stone like the first ones. Early in the morning he climbed Mount Sinai as the LORD had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.

Then the LORD came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he proclaimed the name of the LORD, The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out,

·     “The LORD! The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and filled with goodness and truth. I keep mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected, even children to the third and fourth generations.” Later it was stated that the one who sinned would die (see Ezekiel 18) at bottom of page.

Moses immediately threw himself to the ground and worshiped. And he said, “O Lord, if it is true that I have found grace in your sight, then please travel with us. Yes, this is a stiffnecked people, but please forgive our iniquity and our sins, and take us for your inheritance.”

The LORD replied, “Behold, I will make a covenant with you in the presence of all your people. I will perform miracles that have never been performed anywhere in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people around you will see the work of the LORD, it will be an awesome thing that I do for you.”

“But watch and listen to everything I command you today. Behold, I will go ahead of you and drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Be very careful never to make a covenant with the people who live in the land where you are going, it could become a trap to you.”

“Instead, you shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves. For you shall worship no other gods, for the LORD, whose very name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”

“You shall not make a covenant of any kind with the people living in the land. For they lust after their gods, and offer sacrifices to them. They will invite you to join them to eat of their sacrifice, and you will go with them. Then you will accept their daughters, who sacrifice to their gods, as wives for your sons. And they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against me by worshiping their gods.”

“You must not make any gods of molten metal for yourselves.”

“You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, just as I commanded you, in the month of Abib, for in that month was the time of your departure from Egypt.”

“All firstborn of the womb are mine (see Luke 2:23).

Luke 2:23, “(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord)"

The firstborn male of every cattle, whether it be ox or sheep are mine. A firstborn donkey shall be redeemed with a lamb. But if you do not redeem him, you shall break its neck. However, you shall redeem every firstborn son. No one may appear before me without an offering.”

“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, even during the seasons of plowing and harvest.”

“You shall observe the Feast of Weeks with the first crop of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.”

“Three times each year every male child in Israel shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. For I will drive out the other nations ahead of you and expand your borders, so no one will desire and conquer your land while you appear before the Lord your God three times each year.”

“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven. And neither shall the sacrifice of the Passover be left until the next morning.”

“As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

Then the LORD told Moses, “Write down all these instructions, for they represent the terms of the covenant I am making with you and with Israel.”

Moses remained there on the mountain with the LORD forty days and forty nights. In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water. And the LORD wrote the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments, on the stone tablets.

When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets of testimony, he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the LORD. So when Aaron and all the Children of Israel saw the radiance of Moses’ face, they were afraid to come near him.

But Moses called out to them and asked Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation to come over, and he talked with them. Then all the Children of Israel approached him, and Moses gave them all the commandments the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.

When Moses finished speaking with them, he covered his face with a veil. But whenever he went in to speak with the LORD, he would remove the veil until he came out again. Then he would give the people whatever commandments the LORD had given him, and the Children of Israel would see the radiant glow of his face. So Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he returned to speak with the LORD.

The Greater Glory of the New Covenant (see 2 Corinthians 3)

Exodus 35

Instructions for the Sabbath (1 - 3)

Offerings for the Tabernacle (verses 3 – 35)

And Moses spoke to the children of Israel and told them the LORD commanded that everyone of a willing heart was to bring an offering to the LORD for the Tabernacle.

And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred, and everyone that was willing brought the LORD’S offering to the work of the Tabernacle of the congregation, for all the services, and for all the holy garments.

And they all brought things and made things for the construction of the Tabernacle.

Exodus 36

Building the Tabernacle

Exodus 37

Building the Ark of the Covenant (1 – 9)

Building the Table (10 – 16)

Building the Candlestick and Stand (17 – 24)

Building the Incense Altar (25 – 29)

Exodus 38

Building the Altar of Burnt Offering (1 – 7)

Building the Washbasin (verse 8)

Building the Courtyard (9 – 20)

Inventory of Materials (21 – 31)

Exodus 39

Clothing for the Priests (verse 1)

Making the Ephod (2 – 7)

Making the Breastplate (8 – 21)

Additional Clothing for the Priests (22 – 31)

Moses Inspects the Work

At last all the work of the Tabernacle of the congregation was finished. The children of Israel done everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses. And they brought the entire Tabernacle to Moses.

Then Moses inspected all their work. When he found it had been done just as the LORD had commanded him, he blessed them.

Exodus 40

The Tabernacle Completed

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Set up the Tabernacle on the first day of the new year.

·     Place the Ark of the Covenant inside, and cover the Ark with a veil.

·     Then bring in the table, and arrange the utensils on it. And bring in the candlesticks, and light up the lamps.

·     Place the gold incense altar in front of the Ark of the Covenant. Then hang the curtain at the door of the Tabernacle.

·     Place the altar of burnt offering before the door of the Tabernacle.

·     Set the washbasin between the Tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water. 

·     Then set up the courtyard around the outside of the tent, and hang the curtain for the courtyard entrance.

·     Take the anointing oil and anoint the Tabernacle, all its furnishings, and all its vessels to consecrate them, and they shall be holy.

·     Anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels, and sanctify the altar, and it shall be an altar most holy.

·     Next anoint the washbasin and its stand, and sanctify it.

·     Present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and wash them with water. Dress Aaron with the sacred garments and anoint him, and sanctify him that he may minister to me in the priest’s office.

·     Then present his sons and dress them in their coats. Anoint them as you did their father, so they may also serve me as priests. With their anointing, Aaron’s descendants are set apart for the priesthood forever, throughout their generations.

Moses proceeded to do everything just as the LORD had commanded him.  So the Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year.

·     Moses erected the Tabernacle by setting down its bases, inserting the frames, attaching the crossbars, and setting up the posts.

·     Then he spread the coverings over the Tabernacle framework and put on the protective layers, just as the LORD had commanded him.

·     He took the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant (the Ten Commandments) and placed them inside the Ark. Then he attached the carrying poles to the Ark, and he set the Mercy Seat on top of it.

·     Then he brought the Ark of the Covenant into the Tabernacle and hung the inner curtain to shield it from view, just as the LORD had commanded him.

·     Next Moses placed the table in the Tabernacle, along the north side without the veil. And he arranged the Bread on the table before the Lord, just as the LORD had commanded him.

·     He set the candlestick in the Tabernacle across from the table on the south side. Then he lit the lamps before the Lord, just as the LORD had commanded him.

·     He also placed the gold incense altar in the Tabernacle, before the veil. On it he burned the sweet incense, just as the LORD had commanded him.

·     He hung the curtain at the door of the Tabernacle, and he placed the altar of burnt offering near the Tabernacle door. On it he offered a burnt offering and the meat offering, just as the LORD had commanded him.

·     Next Moses placed the washbasin between the Tabernacle and the altar. He filled it with water so the priests could wash themselves. Moses and Aaron and Aaron’s sons used water from it to wash their hands and feet. Whenever they entered the Tabernacle and approached the altar, they washed themselves, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

·     Then he hung the curtains forming the courtyard around the Tabernacle and the altar. And he set up the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard.

So at last Moses finished the work.

The LORD’S Glory fills the Tabernacle

Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle. Moses could no longer enter the tent of the congregation because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle.

Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the children of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. But if the cloud did not rise, they remained where they were until it lifted. For the cloud of the LORD hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and at night fire glowed inside the cloud so that all the house of Israel could see it, throughout all their journeys.

Leviticus 1 – 27

Laws for the Children of Israel

(Often called the Levitical Laws)

Ezekiel 18 (paraphrased by me)

The Soul That Sins Shall Die

The word of the LORD that came to Ezekiel, saying: 

“What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:

‘The parents eat sour grapes,

    and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?”

“As surely as I live,” declares the LORD GOD, “you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For all souls (father, mother, children) belong to me, the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son, they are all mine. The soul who sins it shall die.”

Þ “But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right,

Þ and does not eat at the mountain shrines,

Þ or look to the idols of Israel,

Þ and does not defile his neighbor’s wife.

Þ He does not oppress anyone,

Þ but returns what he took in pledge for a loan.

Þ He does not commit robbery

Þ but gives food to the hungry

Þ and provides clothing for the poor.

Þ He does not lend to them at interest

Þ or take a profit from them.

Þ He withholds his hand from doing wrong

Þ and judges fairly between two parties.

Þ He follows my statutes

Þ and faithfully keeps my laws.

Þ That man is righteous,

Þ he shall surely live,”

Þ declares the LORD GOD.

But if he has a violent son, who commits robbery, and sheds blood, or does any of these other things:

à     He eats at the mountain shrines.

à     He defiles his neighbor’s wife.

à     He oppresses the poor and needy.

à     He commits robbery.

à     He does not return what he took in pledge.

à     He looks to the idols.

à     He commits abominations. 

à     He lends at interest and takes a profit.

Shall he then live? He shall not live! Because he has done all these detestable things, he shall surely die, his blood will be on his own head.

But if he has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things:

Þ He does not eat at the mountain shrines

Þ or look to the idols of Israel.

Þ He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.

Þ He does not oppress anyone

Þ or require a pledge for a loan.

Þ He does not commit robbery

Þ but gives food to the hungry

Þ and provides clothing for the poor.

Þ He withholds his hand from mistreating the poor

Þ and takes no interest or profit from them.

Þ He keeps my laws and follows my commands.

Þ He shall not die for his father’s sins, he shall surely live!

But as for his father, he shall die in his sins, because he mistreated the poor, robbed his brother, and did that which was not good among his own people.

Yet you ask, “Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?” Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all of my instructions, he shall surely live.

The soul that sins, it shall die. The children will not share the guilt of the parents, nor will the parents share the guilt of the children. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.

But if the wicked will turn from all their sins, which they have committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, they shall surely live, they will not die. None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them, but because of the righteous things they have done, they shall live. 

“Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” declares the LORD GOD. “Rather, am I not pleased when they return from their ways and live?”

But when the righteous turn away from their righteousness, and commit sin, and do all the detestable things that the wicked people do, shall they live? None of the righteous things that they have done will be remembered, because of the trespasses they are guilty of, and because of the sins they have committed, in them they shall die.

Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Are not your ways unequal?”

When a righteous person turns away from their righteousness and commits sin, and dies in them, for those sins that he committed he shall die. But again, if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed, and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their soul alive.

Because they consider all the offenses that they have committed, and turned away from them, they shall surely live, they shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is not equal.” Are my ways equal, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unequal?

“Therefore, house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to your own ways,” declares the LORD GOD. “Repent! Turn away from all your offenses, and then sin shall not be your ruin. Cast away sin, and rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed, and make you a new heart and a new spirit.”

“Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone that dies,” declares the LORD GOD. “Repent and live!”

*     Scriptures do not mean to live or die in the physical sense but to live or die spiritually.

*     Once we are reborn we are offered eternal life.

*     If we live just and do what is right, spiritually we will live, we will save our soul alive and live in heaven forever.

*     But, if we live unjust and do not what is right, spiritually we will die, and our soul will be eternally damned and destroyed in hell.