THUS the Covenant was formally ratified, and the nation solemnly devoted itself to the service of the God of Israel. Further revelations, however, awaited Moses, and after committing the charge of the people to Aaron and Hur (Ex. xxiv. 14), he again went up into the mount accompanied only by Joshua, his minister and attendant. After an interval of six days the voice of God summoned him to ascend alone yet higher into the midst of the cloud that still overhung the mount, and for forty days and forty nights he there remained in mysterious converse with Jehovah. During this period the Lord showed him in vision a representation of the sanctuary (Heb. viii. 5), which He required should be the solemn place of meeting between Him and the people, and gave him the necessary instructions for its erection (Ex. xxv.–xxviii.), together with full particulars respecting the order of its services and ritual (Ex. xxix. xxx.), as also the names of the two men who were to be employed in building it, viz. Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah, and Aholiab of the tribe of Dan (Ex. xxxi. 1–11). At the same time Moses received two tables of stone, on which the Ten Commandments had been written by the finger of God.
While, however, the Israelitish leader had been engaged in solemn converse with the Supreme, a far different scene had been going on in the plain below. His prolonged absence had filled the Israelites with doubt and perplexity. When the glory of the Lord descended upon Sinai, they had, indeed, felt the mountain quake, they had heard the thunder roar, they had seen the lightning flash, but of Jehovah Himself they had beheld no form or similitude. Now to believe in One who did not, like the gods of every other nation round about, reveal Himself under any palpable figure, was not easy for men who had so long lived amidst the fascinations of the idolatrous rites of Pagan Egypt. As weeks therefore passed away, and still no sign appeared of the return of their leader, the people began to lose their trust in Him whom they had promised to obey. They wished to break up their long encampment; but who would go before them, and guide them in the way? Yearning therefore for some visible representative of Jehovah, and possibly yielding to the suggestions of some of the Egyptians amongst the mixed multitude in the camp, they gathered themselves together before Aaron, with the petition that he would make them gods to go before them, for as for Moses, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, they knew not what was become of him. Unable to stem the popular clamour, and taking refuge in an unworthy expediency, Aaron bade them bring him the golden earrings of their wives, their sons, and their daughters, and of these he fashioned a calf, probably according to the well-known form of the Egyptian Apis or Mnevis, whose worship the people must often have witnessed during their sojourn in the Nile Valley. Then building an altar he proclaimed a three days’ festival to Jehovah. Accordingly, with the earliest dawn of the following day, the people arose, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the image, exclaiming, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and concluded the ceremony with one of those licentious orgies, accompanied by song and dance, which were so common amongst heathen nations (Ex. xxxii. 4; 1 Cor. x. 7).
It was while they were in the very act of celebrating this idolatrous festival that Moses, accompanied by Joshua, returned from the presence of the nation’s invisible King. He had already received Divine intimation of the apostasy of the people, and in his capacity of Mediator had already interceded in their behalf. Now with the two tables of the Law in his hands he descended the Mount. To the ear of his companion the noise of the host, as it ascended upwards from the valley below, sounded like the noise of war in the camp. But Moses knew otherwise. It is not the noise of them that shout for the mastery, he replied, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing do I hear. Then as he drew near the camp, and beheld with his own eyes the heathenish orgies that were going on, his feelings overmastered him; his anger waxed hot, and he cast the Tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the Mount. Next advancing towards the senseless image, he seized it, burnt it with fire, reduced it to powder72, strewed the ashes on the neighbouring brook of Horeb, and compelled the people to drink thereof. Then after sternly rebuking his brother for conniving at so heinous a sin, he stationed himself at the entrance of the camp, and bade all, who still remained faithful to Jehovah, gird on their swords, and without regard to family tie or private friendship, slay the offenders from gate to gate with the edge of the sword. It was a severe but necessary test of the fidelity of the people, and the sons of Levi were found faithful. With a zeal very dissimilar from that which had animated their forefather at Shechem (Gen. xxxiv. 25, 26), instead of siding with Aaron, though their tribal leader, they arose and slew about 3000 of the offenders, thus effacing the blot on the memory of their tribe, and qualifying themselves for high functions in the sanctuary (Ex. xxxii. 25–29).
In order to make an atonement for the people’s sin, Moses, on the next day, re-ascended the mount, and solemnly interceded with the Almighty on their behalf. Standing in the gap (Ps. cvi. 23) between a justly offended God and an erring nation, he offered, if no other way of forgiveness was possible, freely to surrender his own life, and to suffer the blotting out of his own name from God’s Book. Eventually his intercession prevailed. The Almighty promised that the nation should not be cut off, and that He would send His Angel before them, who should lead them into the land promised to their forefathers. But further punishment certainly awaited them; in the day of His visitation, He would visit their sin upon them, an earnest of which they speedily experienced in the shape of plagues (Ex. xxxii. 35), with which the Lord plagued the people, because of their sin in turning His glory into the similitude of a calf that eateth hay (Ps. cvi. 20).
The announcement of Moses that their journey into the Promised Land was not to be suspended, but that Jehovah would not go up in their midst, was received by the people with much lamentation (Ex. xxxiii. 4). Their sorrow was accepted as a sign of repentance, and Moses caused his own tent to be pitched at a long distance without the camp, and named it the Tent, or Tabernacle of Meeting (Ex. xxxiii. 7). Then, accompanied only by Joshua, he passed through the long line of the people’s tents, at the doors of which they stood and watched him, and, as he entered his own, the Cloudy Pillar, which hitherto had rested on the top of Sinai, descended, and stood before it, and amidst the joyful reverence of the watching host, the Lord conversed with Moses, face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend (Ex. xxxiii. 11). The descent of the Cloudy Pillar, and its position at the entrance of the tent of Israel’s leader, though at a distance from the people, was a sign that his intercession had prevailed. In spite of their recent sin, Jehovah had not forgotten to be gracious, He would fulfil His promise, and the nation should be led into the land assured to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and every one, who sought the Lord, might draw nigh, and consult Him through His servant Moses in the appointed place of meeting.
Emboldened by this measure of success, Moses expressed a desire, since he was the ordained leader of the people, and had found grace in the sight of God, that he might be permitted to behold the essential Glory of Him, with whom he was privileged to speak face to face (Ex. xxxiii. 13). He asked for more than he, or any other finite creature, could endure. The Face—the essential Majesty—of Jehovah no man could see and live. But if he ascended the mount on the morrow, and took precautions that no man or beast appeared in sight, and brought with him two fresh tables of stone hewn out of the rock, the Lord promised that he should see so much of His Glory as mortal eye could bear. Accordingly on the morrow with two fresh-hewn tables he ascended, and awaited the mysterious revelation. Every precaution had been taken; no man was allowed to be seen throughout all the mount, no flock or herd was suffered to feed before it (Ex. xxxiv. 3). Alone, unattended even by the faithful Joshua, the accepted mediator between the people and their invisible King stood in a cleft of the rock. And while he stood “covered with Jehovah’s hand,” the Lord passed by and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and fourth generation. As Moses listened to this proclamation of the incommunicable attributes of the Most High—“Justice and Mercy, Truth and Love”—like Elijah after him in a cleft of the same jagged rocks (1 K. xix. 9–13), he bowed his head towards the earth and worshipped, and interceded for a more complete renewal of the broken covenant between Jehovah and His people. His prayer was heard. The Covenant was once more renewed, and for a second period of forty days and forty nights Moses remained in the Divine Presence, and received fresh instructions respecting the moral and ceremonial laws of the Theocracy.
At the close of this period, with the two fresh Tables, inscribed with the Ten Words, he again returned to the people. On this occasion, he retained more permanent marks of the awful converse he had been permitted to hold. Aaron and the elders of the people were afraid to approach him, for the skin of his face shone with a celestial radiance, and the reflection of Jehovah’s glory gilded his brow. The lawgiver himself, not aware of the change that had come over his features, called unto them, and at length emboldened to approach, they heard at his mouth all the commands of God. But the unearthly splendour was not permanent. Lest, therefore, the people should behold the fading away of this visible credential of his interview with the Supreme, Moses was in the habit of placing a veil upon his face whenever he departed from them (Comp. 2 Cor. iii. 13)73, but removed it as often as he was permitted to behold the presence of the Lord, and receive fresh renewals of the celestial radiance.
THE encampment of the Israelites before Sinai continued for more than a year (Num. i. 1). At this point, then, it will be convenient to group together and consider the most important of those ordinances which they now received, and the chief features of the constitution under which they were called to live.
The purpose for which the Jewish nation was raised up was of the most momentous character. In the midst of surrounding idolatry and moral degeneracy, they were called to preserve intact the doctrine of the Unity of God, to be the guardians of His gracious promises of Redemption, and to exhibit to the world holiness (See Rom. ix. 4, 5).
The doctrine of the Divine Unity was the kernel of the Mosaic law, and as such was defended by the sternest and most rigorous enactments. The Israelites were forbidden even to mention the names of the gods of the Canaanite nations (Ex. xxiii. 13); they were commanded to burn or destroy their images, their altars, their sacred groves (Ex. xxiii. 24; xxxiv. 13); they were to deem accursed the precious metals of which their idols were composed (Deut. vii. 25), and on no pretence whatever were they to conclude any treaty or make any marriage with them (Deut. vii. 2, 3). Relapse into idolatry was to be regarded as the greatest crime, and whether committed by a city or an individual was to be punished with unrelenting severity. In the latter case, death by stoning was the inevitable penalty; in the former, all the inhabitants were to be put to the sword, the whole spoil was to be collected into a heap and burnt, and a solemn curse was to be pronounced against any one who attempted to rebuild it (Deut. xiii. 6–18). No less vigorous were the enactments against the construction of any representation of the true God under any form or similitude, whether of man or animal, of bird or fish or star.
But while all idolatrous forms of worship were thus rigorously forbidden, the Almighty condescended to make known to His people the way in which He was willing to receive their adoration. Stooping to the infirmities of a nation just delivered from degrading bondage, He took them by the hand, and provided for the wants of their religious nature in a way marvellously adapted to their native genius and character, as also to their previous habits and modes of thought.
And first, that the Israelites might have a visible assurance of the Divine presence in their midst, a sanctuary was to be erected, not according to any model suggested by the people themselves, but according to a Divine pattern shown to Moses in the Mount (Ex. xxv. 9; Heb. viii. 5). The Patriarchs had their pillars of stone (Gen. xxviii. 18, 19), or the shade of the consecrated grove (Gen. xxi. 33). The Egyptian had his huge colossal temples, built of vast granite blocks, or hewn out of the solid rock. Not such was to be the sanctuary of Jehovah amongst a people journeying through a wilderness to a Promised Land. As the nomad chief had his tent in the midst of his tribe, so Jehovah, as the Head of the Hebrew pilgrim-nation, ordained that a Tent or Tabernacle should be erected for Him, where He might meet and speak unto His people, and they might draw nigh to Him. I will sanctify, said God, the Tabernacle of meeting, ... there will I meet with ... and will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God, and they shall know that I am the Lord their God (Ex. xxix. 42–46; xxx. 6, 36).
In the erection of this Pavilion-Temple every member of the nation was invited to take a part, and to contribute either the gold and jewels of which the Egyptians had been spoiled, or the arts which, as we have seen, many of the Israelites had learnt from them. While, therefore, the superintendence of the work was entrusted to two skilful artificers, Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah, and Aholiab of the tribe of Dan (Ex. xxxi. 2, 6; xxxv. 34), many of the congregation contributed offerings of gold and silver and brass, of blue and red and crimson, of fine linen, and goat-skins, and ram-skins dyed red. Others were despatched in different directions throughout the fertile valley where they were encamped, to fell the Shittah or Acacia tree, which grew abundantly in the neighbourhood of Sinai, and was exactly adapted by its durability and lightness for the construction of a moveable tent, and while the workmen prepared it for its different purposes, the women employed themselves diligently in weaving and spinning blue and crimson hangings, thus consecrating the arts which they had learnt, while serving as bondslaves in the houses of the princes of Egypt (Ex. xxxv. 20–35).
(A) The Area, or Court, within which the Tabernacle stood, was an oblong square, 100 cubits74 in length by 50 in breadth, formed by curtains of fine linen 5 cubits in height, hanging from pillars of wood with capitals overlaid with silver and furnished with sockets of brass. These pillars, 20 on each longer side and 10 on each shorter, were held together by means of silver rods attached by silver hooks, and were fastened into the ground by means of pegs of brass. The entrance75 was from the east, so as to catch the rays of the rising sun. Here the curtains extended only 15 cubits from each corner, and the intervening space with its 4 pillars formed the entrance, and was overhung with curtains of fine twined linen, of the richest and most brilliant colours, blue and purple and scarlet.
In a line with the Entrance and the Tabernacle itself stood (a) The Altar of Burnt-sacrifice, and (b) The great Laver for purification.
(a) The Altar of Burnt-offering76 (called in Malachi i. 7, 12, the table of the Lord) was in form a square, 5 cubits long, 5 broad, and 3 high, and was constructed of hollow boards of acacia-wood overlaid with brass (Ex. xxvii. 4, 5). So long as the Tabernacle was stationed in any one place, these were probably filled with earth, which thus formed the upper side or surface, on which the sacrifices were offered. Each corner of the altar was furnished with horns of acacia-wood overlaid with brass; to these the victims were fastened, and on them their blood was sprinkled at the consecration of the priests, and the sacrifice of the sin-offering (Ps. cxviii. 27; Ex. xxix. 12; Levit. iv. 7, 18, 25). From each side projected a horizontal ledge, to the outer edge of which was attached a perpendicular grating of brass, resting like the Altar upon the ground, for the purpose of catching any portions of the sacrifice or the fuel that might fall. The ledge, on which the priests officiated, was approached by a slope of earth, for the Law forbade the construction of steps leading up to the altar (Ex. xx. 26). The implements used in the sacrifices, such as pans and shovels for collecting and removing the ashes, basins for receiving the blood, fleshhooks for turning the pieces of flesh, were all of brass (Ex. xxvii. 3; see 1 Sam. ii. 13, 14).
(b) The great Laver for purification stood between the Altar of Burnt-offering and the Tabernacle. It was made of the brass from the metal mirrors belonging to the women who served at the door of the Tabernacle (Ex. xxxviii. 8), and was probably of a circular form standing on a basis or foot. In it the flesh of the victims was washed, as also the hands and feet of the priests, before they performed any holy function (Ex. xxx. 18–21).
(B) The Tabernacle itself was entered, at its eastern side, through a magnificent curtain, 10 cubits in width, supported on five pillars (Ex. xxvi.). Its dimensions inside were 30 cubits in length, 10 in breadth, and 10 in height. It was formed of planks of acacia-wood overlaid with gold, fixed into the ground by means of two tenons, each fitting into a socket of silver, resembling the sharp end of a spear. At the top they were united by bars of acacia-wood, 5 bars to each piece, passing through golden rings. The roof was formed of several sets of curtains; the innermost, 10 in number, formed of fine twined linen of various colours, and adorned with cherubic figures of curious workmanship; next to these were 11 curtains of goats’ hair; then one of rams’ skins with the wool on dyed red; and lastly, another of badgers’, or, more probably, seals’ skins77.
The Tabernacle consisted of two portions, (a) The Holy Place, and (b) The Holy of Holies (Ex. xxvi. 33, 34: and comp. Heb. ix. 2, 3).
(a) The Holy Place, 20 cubits in length and 10 in height and width, was divided from the Holy of Holies by a veil of the most costly materials and the most splendid colours. Without any opening to admit the light from above, it was illumined only by a Golden Lamp or Candlestick, with seven lights, fed with pure olive oil, kept burning day and night, and trimmed each morning by a priest with golden snuffers, who carried away the snuff in golden dishes. From the base, on which the lamp rested, rose a shaft dividing itself on either side into three branches, so that it had seven arms, each adorned with calyxes of almond flowers, apples, and buds of pomegranates or lilies (Ex. xxv. 31; xxxvii. 17–25; Heb. ix. 2).
Opposite the Golden Lamp was the Table of Shewbread (Ex. xxv. 23–29), made of acacia-wood, overlaid with gold, 2 cubits in length, 1 in breadth, and 1½ in height, and standing on 4 feet. It had a border to prevent the loaves from falling off, and was furnished with rings and staves for removal. Belonging to it were cups or spoons for incense, bowls for wine, dishes for bringing and removing the loaves, all of gold. These loaves, called also bread of the face, being set before the face of the Lord (Levit. xxiv. 5–9), were twelve in number, according to the number of the tribes. Baked of the finest meal, flat and thin, they were placed every Sabbath on the Table in 2 rows, 6 in each, and sprinkled with incense, and accompanied with libations of wine in the golden bowls. Here they remained till the next Sabbath, when they were taken away and replaced by twelve fresh loaves, and eaten by the priests78 in the Holy Place, out of which they might not be carried, the frankincense having been burnt as an oblation on the Altar of Sacrifice.
Between the Table of Shewbread and the Golden Lamp and immediately before79 the veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was the Golden Altar of Incense (Ex. xxx. 1–11). Made of acacia-wood, in shape a square, 1 cubit in length and breadth and 2 in height, and ornamented round the middle with a golden wreath, it was furnished, like the Altar of Burnt-offering, with horns, rings, and staves; but unlike it was wholly overlaid with gold. On it incense, carefully prepared of four different ingredients (Ex. xxx. 34–38), was placed by the officiating priest morning and evening, with live coals taken from the Altar of Burnt-offering, that the smoke of the incense might perpetually ascend before the Lord. Once a year its horns were sprinkled with the blood of the sin-offering of the Atonement, and on no other occasion, except when a sin-offering was presented for the High-priest or the congregation.
(b) The Holy of Holies, separated, as we have just said, from the Holy Place by a costly veil supported on a screen of 4 pillars, formed a perfect cube of 10 cubits in length, breadth, and height. While the Holy Place, though never penetrated by the daylight, was illumined by the splendid Golden Lamp, the Holy of Holies was left in utter darkness, symbolical of Him whom no man hath seen, nor can see (1 Tim. vi. 16). Within this most sacred enclosure neither priests nor people as a body, but the High-Priest only, and that but once a year, ever entered. Here stood nothing but the Ark of the Covenant (Ex. xxv. 10–16). This was an oblong chest of acacia-wood overlaid with the purest gold within and without, 2½ cubits in length, 1½ in breadth, 1½ in height. It stood on 4 small feet, which were provided with 4 golden rings, through which staves of acacia-wood overlaid with gold were passed, and which when once inserted were never to be removed. Within it were placed80 the two stone tables, on both sides of which the Decalogue had been inscribed. Round the top ran a crown or wreath of pure gold, and upon it was the Mercy-Seat, of the same dimensions as the Ark, made not of wood overlaid with gold, but entirely of pure gold. At either end of the Mercy-Seat rose two golden Cherubim, with outspread wings and faces turned towards each other, and eyes bent downwards, as though desirous to look into its mysteries (1 Pet. i. 12). Neither their size nor their form are distinctly described. By some they are thought to have been handed down by patriarchal tradition from those which were placed in Paradise (Gen. iii. 24); by others to have resembled Egyptian models; while Josephus (Ant. III. vi. 5) declares that they resembled no figures known to men, and that in his day their form was utterly lost. In Ezekiel (i. 5–13) we find them likened to compound figures with the head of a man, an ox, a lion, and an eagle, with four wings, two serving for flight, two to cover the body, and straight feet inflexible at the knee. It is not improbable that they represented the manifold powers of nature—created life in its highest form—their overshadowing wings meeting as in perfect harmony, their eyes cast downwards towards the Divine Law, over which seemingly so rigid and unbending was the compassion of One forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin81.
Note.
HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE.Such was the Pavilion-Temple which Moses constructed according to the pattern shown him in the Mount. The chief facts connected with its history are as follows.
i. During the wanderings in the wilderness it was the one place, where Jehovah “met His people,” and where from the ineffable glory above the mercy-seat He revealed His Will. There the Spirit came upon the 70 elders and they prophesied (Num. xi. 24, 25); thither Moses and Aaron were summoned on all important occasions, as on that of the rebellion of Miriam (Num. xii. 4), of the unfaithfulness of the spies (xiv. 10), of the rebellion of Korah (xvi. 19), of the sin of Meribah (xx. 6); there on the death of Moses his successor was solemnly appointed (Deut. xxxi. 14).
ii. During the conquest of Canaan it was, probably, moved from place to place, wherever the host of Israel was encamped.
iii. Afterwards it was brought to Shiloh (Josh. ix. 27; xviii. 1; xix. 51), on account, doubtless, of its secluded and central position, and as being within the territory of the powerful tribe of Ephraim, to which Joshua belonged, and here it remained during the entire period of the Judges (comp. Josh. xix. 51; xxii. 12; Judg. xxi. 21).
iv. But in the time of Eli, the licentiousness of his sons stained the sanctity of Shiloh, and degraded the Tabernacle almost to the level of a heathen temple (1 Sam. ii. 22), while the capture of the ark by the Philistines (1 Sam. iv. 22) still further dimmed its glories, and Samuel himself sacrificed at other places, Mizpeh (1 Sam. vii. 9), Ramah (ix. 12; x. 3), Gilgal (x. 8; xi. 15).
v. After this it was for some time settled at Nob (1 Sam. xx. 1–6), and thither also misfortune followed it: Saul murdered the priests (1 Sam. xxii. 11–19), and Abiathar fled with the sacred ephod to David (xxiii. 6).
vi. In the time of David and Solomon we find it at Gibeon (1 Chron. xvi. 39; xxi. 29), but the ark was now removed to Kirjath-jearim, and afterwards, on the capture of Jerusalem, to that city, where a new Tabernacle was constructed to receive it (1 Sam. vi. 17; 1 Chron. xv. 1). Its glory now waned more and more, it became connected with the worship of the high-places (1 Kings iii. 4), retained only the old altar of burnt-offering (1 Chron. xxi. 29), and eventually it seems to have been either taken down, or left to be forgotten and “vanish away82.”