A holy people

Exodus 19 ¹ In the third month, on the very day they had left Egypt, the Israelites arrived in the Sinai desert. ² They had moved on from Rephidim and entered the Sinai desert. There the Israelites set up camp near the mountain.

³ Moses went up the mountain to God. YHWH called to him from the mountain, saying, "Tell the people of Jacob, let the children of Israel know: ⁴ "You have seen how I dealt with Egypt, and how I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you here to me. ⁵ If you will listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my treasured possession among all the nations, for all the earth is mine. ⁶ You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." Tell these words to the Israelites.

⁷Moses returned, summoned the elders of the people, and told them everything that Yahweh had commanded him. ⁸And all the people answered with one voice, "We will do everything that Yahweh has said."

Moses conveyed the people's response to YHWH, ⁹ whereupon YHWH said to him, "I will come to you in a dark cloud, so that everyone can hear when I speak to you and they will trust you forever." When Moses told YHWH what the people had answered, ¹⁰ YHWH also said to him, "Go back to the people and make sure they sanctify themselves today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.

(...) ¹⁴ Moses went down to the people again. He told them to sanctify themselves and wash their clothes. ¹⁵"Make sure you are ready within three days," he said, "and do not have sexual relations with a woman in the meantime."

The journey was agonizingly slow. Step by step, the Israelites—the children and the elderly, the livestock and the household goods—made their way through the desert. They broke camp and rebuilt it. At every resting place where there was water, they looked for food for the animals and rest for the weak, time for stories and resolving disputes. They slaughtered some animals and prepared the meat for the day and for the journey. For Moses wanted to continue.

After all, God had spoken to Moses in the burning senah: "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you have led the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this mountain."

"And then?" asked Zipporah.

"I don't know," said Moses.

Exactly two months after the exodus, the people arrived at Mount Sinai. Moses and Zipporah went up the mountain to the place where YHWH had spoken to Moses. The rocks were red in the evening sun. In the distance, they saw an eagle's nest where the young birds were clumsily trying to fly away and were brought back to the nest by their parents. They sat there and listened.

            "A people of love and faithfulness," she said.

            "A holy people," said Moses, "a kingdom of priests."

            "A people of justice and righteousness. With fair laws that they themselves choose."

"But are they ready?" he asked.

"Give them today and tomorrow, let them wash their clothes and devote themselves to God."

When Moses addressed the people, everyone agreed wholeheartedly. "We want to do what God has said."

            "And no sexual intercourse," Moses added. 

The covenant with the people

Exodus 19 ¹⁶ On the third day, at dawn, there was thunder and lightning, a threatening cloud hung over the mountain, and the sound of a ram's horn resounded very loudly. Everyone in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God. They stopped at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Sinai was completely shrouded in smoke, for YHWH had descended upon it in fire. The smoke rose like the smoke from a smelting furnace, and the mountain shook violently. ¹⁹ The sound of the ram's horn grew louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered with a mighty voice. ²⁰YHWH had descended  upon the top of Sinai. He asked Moses to come to Him, and Moses went up.  (…) ²⁴ YHWH said, "Go down, and come back together with Aaron. But the priests and the people must not come any closer; they must not go up the mountain, or my wrath will break out against them." (…)

24 ³Moses told the people all the commands and rules that YHWH had given, and the people all said, "We'll do everything YHWH has said."  ⁴After this^, Moses wrote down everything that YHWH had said. The next morning, he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve memorial stones, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵He instructed a number of young Israelites to bring burnt offerings to YHWH and to slaughter bulls for a peace offering. ⁶Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and poured the other half against the altar. ⁷Then he took the book of the covenant and read it to the people, and they said, "We will do everything that YHWH has said and take it to heart." ⁸Then Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people. "With this blood," he said, "the covenant that YHWH has made with you by giving you all these commandments is ratified."

⁹ After this, Moses went up the mountain, together with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of the people, ¹⁰ and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. ¹¹These prominent Israelites were not killed by God: they saw him, and they ate and drank.

There was a storm in the desert, water was flowing everywhere. The top of Mount Sinai was hidden behind threatening clouds. Lightning lit up the clouds and thunder sounded like a thousand ram's horns. Moses went up the mountain alone; Zipporah was not allowed to accompany him. After a few hours, he returned soaking wet and elated.

"Aaron," he cried, "where is Aaron?"

That evening, Moses and Aaron gathered the people and told them the laws of God. YHWH had given them ten promises for a peace covenant with God: one God, no idols, the holy name and the holy day of rest, respect for father and mother, no murder, no adultery, no theft, no lying to others or jealousy among themselves. In addition, Moses proposed to establish the laws that Zipporah had described in recent weeks. He then wrote everything down in a single treaty text.

The next morning, Moses built an altar and erected twelve stones for the tribes of Israel. At noon, the bulls were slaughtered and the altar was consecrated with half of their blood. Then he read the book of the covenant to the people. They gave their consent, and Moses had them sprinkled with the other half of the bull's blood. Then the people were allowed to celebrate the covenant.

Aaron and his two eldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, went up the mountain to prepare the meal for the elders of Israel. Perhaps they chose a spot near a newly formed mountain lake that reflected the blue sky. Perhaps also the sun, as it set in the west. And they saw Him. They ate and drank and saw Him. The God of Israel.

Moses retreats on the mountain

Exodus 24 ¹² YHWH said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and wait there, and I will give you the stone tablets on which I have written the laws and commandments to teach the people." ¹³ Moses went up the mountain of God with his servant Joshua. ¹⁴ He said to the elders, "Wait here until we return. Aaron and Hur will stay with you. If anyone has a dispute, he can go to them."

¹⁵While Moses was going up the mountain, it was covered by a cloud: ¹⁶the majesty of YHWH rested on Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain. On the seventh day, YHWH called to Moses from within the cloud. ¹⁷ And while the Israelites saw the majesty of YHWH, like a blazing fire on the top of the mountain, ¹⁸ Moses entered the cloud and climbed further up. He remained on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

25 ¹ YHWH said to Moses: (...) ⁸ The Israelites must make a sanctuary for Me, so that I can dwell among them. ⁹ I will show you a design of the tabernacle and of all the objects that belong to this tent; adhere to it precisely.

28 ¹ Bring your brother Aaron and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar to you. I have chosen them from among the Israelites to serve Me as priests.

"Why can't I go with you?" she asked.

Moses looked at Zipporah and said nothing. It was true, he thought, that he would rather not take her up the mountain. Israel was now God's chosen people, not Edom's Amalekites or Midian's Kenites. He wanted God to dwell among the people of Israel. Only then, he thought, would we occupy a special place among the nations that inhabit the earth. He wanted a larger tabernacle than that of her father Reuel, an even more impressive sacrificial service, and even better laws. He wanted a holy people to take possession of the land of Abraham. The children of Israel had now been freed from slavery in Egypt, but they also needed to be freed inwardly, free to do good voluntarily in the knowledge that the holy would dwell so visibly among them.

"I will take Joshua with me," Moses replied, "he knows what it is like to hear God's voice in the tent of meeting, he will help me. I want to ask YHWH how the tabernacle should be furnished."

"What about Gershom, your eldest son? Isn't he supposed to become a priest in the sanctuary later? No one has as much talent for metalwork as he does."

Moses was silent. He knew what they said about Gershom: the stranger. And how could he blame the Israelites? He himself had given him that painful name.

            "Shall I then sit in judgement in your place, as I did for my father?"

            Moses looked at her and said, "My dear, no one knows the laws as well as you, but you are a woman, and a Midianite at that. My brother Aaron and Hur, my brother-in-law, will judge in my absence."

            Zipporah looked at him defiantly. "A 'foreigner'? And what will our sons be?" she asked. "Midianites, half-Israelites?"

The golden calf

Adapted from Exodus 32.

 When the people noticed that Moses had not come down from the mountain for almost forty days, they crowded around Aaron.

            "Make us a god who can go before us, for Moses is gone and we will perish in this desert," they said.

  Aaron replied, "Bring me your gold jewelry." 

Without hesitation, all the Israelites took off their gold earrings and gave them to Aaron. He put everything they brought him into the melting furnace of the sanctuary. He cast an image in the form of a calf, as the Egyptians did: the manifestation of the heavenly God in our world.

"This is our God, who brought us out of Egypt!" someone shouted, and others echoed him.

Aaron heard it and built an altar for the statue at the foot of the mountain. "Tomorrow is the feast for YHWH!" he cried.

They sacrificed their animals on the altar. They ate and drank and danced and sang. They became lewd and adulterous.

Moses and Joshua came down from the mountain with two stone tablets, inscribed by the finger of God.

 "I hear battle cries in the camp!" said Joshua.

 "That is not cheering or wailing, it is shouting and singing."

When Moses saw the golden calf, he smashed the tablets with the word of God. He grabbed the bull statue, threw it into the fire, and pulverized it. He scattered the ashes in the drinking water and made the Israelites drink it.

He said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you that you led them into such sin?

 "Please don't be angry. They gave me their jewelry. I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."

Moses understood that the people had gone astray because Aaron had not intervened. He went to the entrance of the camp where the tents of the Levites were. "Whoever chooses YHWH must come here," he cried. "Gird your sword and strike down everyone you see sinning.

The next morning, Moses cried out to YHWH.

"O YHWH," he said, "this people has sinned greatly: they have made a god of gold. Grant them forgiveness, I beg you. But if you do not want to, then blot me out of the book of the living."

Moses sat dazed in front of their tent, the blood of the dead clinging to him.

"How can God dwell among us if we do not live holy lives?"

            "You must not underestimate God," she replied and sat down beside him.

            He shook his head. "It was as if I had been taken into a heavenly sanctuary, everything was perfect: the tabernacle, the laver, and the altar of incense. There was a holy chest where I had to place the words of the covenant. The golden lid was sheltered by two winged angels, and there I met Him, there I heard His voice."

He didn't dare look at her. Then he said it: "I shattered the stone tablets of the covenant myself, Zipporah."

She crawled closer to him and took his bloodied hand in hers. "We destroy what God gave us, Moses, but He continues to give Himself to us. That is how He is."

She remained seated next to him for a while.

I will not go without You

Exodus 33 ¹ YHWH said to Moses, "Leave this place, with the people you brought out of Egypt, and go to the land I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give to their descendants (...). But I will not go with you, for you are a stubborn people, and I might kill you on the way."

¹² Moses said to YHWH, "You are telling me to lead the people on, but you have not let me know who you will send with me, even though you have said, 'I have chosen you, I am pleased with you.' ¹³ If that is really so, then let me know what your plans are. Then I will know You and be sure that You are pleased with me. Do not forget that these people are Your people."

¹⁴ YHWH replied, "Must I go with you myself to reassure you?"

¹⁵Moses said, "If you do not go with us, do not send us on our way. ¹⁶How will it be known that you are pleased with me and your people unless you go with us? Only then will we be distinguished among all the peoples on the face of the earth."

 ¹⁷ YHWH said to Moses, "I assure you that I will do what you ask, for I am well disposed toward you and I have chosen you."

¹⁸ "Please show me your majesty," said Moses.

(…) ²¹Then YHWH said, "There is a place on the rock where you can stand close to Me. ²² When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. ²³ When I remove My hand, you will see My back; no one may see My face."

34 ¹ YHWH said to Moses, "Cut two stone tablets, like the previous ones. Then I will write on them the words that were on the first ones, which you broke. ² Be ready early tomorrow morning, for then you must go up Mount Sinai. Come there, to the top of the mountain, to Me.

They were sitting in the tent of meeting. Joshua had stoked the fire well, and Moses had offered a burnt offering to YHWH. Moses told God all his concerns and fell silent to listen. And God comforted and encouraged him. But Moses was still not convinced.

"Let me see your majesty," he asked.

Joshua was startled: "But that fire will kill you!"

After a while, Zipporah said, "Take shelter in the rocks and wait until you hear his voice."

Moses nodded.

A new condition added

Exodus 34 ⁴Moses cut two stone tablets, just like the previous ones, and early in the morning he went up Mount Sinai, as YHWH had commanded him. He carried the two stone tablets with him. ⁵YHWH descended in a cloud, stood beside Moses, and called out the name YHWH.

⁶ YHWH passed before him and proclaimed: “YHWH! YHWH! A God who is loving and merciful, patient, faithful, and true, ⁷ who remains faithful to the thousandth generation, who forgives guilt, crime, and sin but does not leave everything unpunished, and who calls the children and grandchildren to account for the sins of their parents, to the third and fourth generation."

(…) ²⁷ YHWH said to Moses, "Write down these commandments, for on the basis of these commandments I will make a covenant with you and the Israelites." ²⁸ Moses remained there with YHWH forforty days and forty nights, without eating or drinking. And YHWH wrote the text of the covenant, the Ten Commandments, on the tablets.

What happened to him during those forty days that Moses was alone on Mount Sinai? God restored the covenant, but for Moses, something had changed because of the golden calf. He realized how easily the people would fall back into slavery to the gods of Egypt. He himself would have to become even holier in order to lead and protect this people. Moses even began to have trouble with the rough stones and poles in the tabernacle of the Midianites. Were they not also idols? And what about that tree in the courtyard of the sanctuary under which they were married? Would Zipporah be willing to give it up?

A new condition was added to the words of the covenant:

"Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of Canaan, for that would be your downfall. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and cut down their Asherah poles, for you must not bow down to any other god. YHWH, "the Jealous One," will not tolerate unfaithfulness. And if you choose wives from among their daughters, and those wives devote themselves to their gods, they will also entice you to do so."

He knew what Zipporah had said. That the Kenites did not carve images of God from stone or cut them from trees. That the uncut stones pointed to the Eternal One and the god-given trees to the Living One. That God is both male and female and begets and gives birth to us, like copper from rock. "He is his Asherah," she had once said. But the Israelites would never understand that. He must not let her tempt him anymore. He had to be clear.

A holy glow

Exodus 34 ²⁹Moses descended from Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant in his hands. He did not know that his face was shining because he had spoken with YHWH. ³⁰When Aaron and the other Israelites saw the radiance on Moses' face, they did not dare to approach him, ³¹but Moses called them to him. Aaron and the leaders of the people came to him, and Moses spoke with them. ³² Then the other Israelites came as well. He instructed them to obey everything YHWH had told him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When he had finished speaking, he covered his face with a veil. ³⁴Whenever Moses appeared before Yahweh to speak with Him, he removed the veil until he came out again. When Moses told the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵ they saw how his face shone. Then he covered his face with the veil until he went to speak with Yahweh again.

After this experience, Moses stayed in the meeting tent as much as possible. Not only because he enjoyed God's presence there, but also because he found it increasingly difficult to be among people. The distance between heaven and earth had become too great for him.

Even at mealtimes at home, he withdrew and hardly interacted with the boys. He was the first to go to bed and did not respond when Zipporah lay down beside him. She felt rejected, ugly, and lonely. Dark thoughts filled her heart until she could no longer hear God's voice.

            "What's wrong?" she finally asked. "Tell me, because I can't go on like this."

            Moses turned to her. "It's not you, my love, but I must be holy to meet God."

            That made her furious. "Holy? You promised me your love and faithfulness before God and my whole family! You received two sons on your knees from my womb, whom you don't care about! That's holy!"

            Moses remained silent. How could he respond to that?

            "Why don't you say anything?" she hissed. "Do you really think you can understand God better if you silence us?"

            "No," he said softly, "it is precisely the unspoken reproaches that hinder me the most. I don't know how to lead this people if I also have to be a good father and husband."

            "And so you play father to that Joshua who worships you? How is that not idolatry? You love him more than you love us. How is that not infidelity?"

Moses recoiled and stepped out of bed. He almost hit her. He looked once more at the corner where the boys sat up, wide-eyed.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Then he left their tent.  

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Suggestions for reading groups

• Check in with the group and with yourself, seek stillness/humility.

• First share the story. Moses wants so badly for his community to experience God in a tangible way. Sometimes he succeeds, but sometimes Moses is greatly disappointed in his people (when they worship the golden calf). Moses is willing to do anything to convince the people, even if it comes at the expense of his own family. What did you read?

• Encourage, comfort, inspire. How do you stand in your (faith) community? Have you tried to bring people closer to God? What were the beautiful and difficult moments in that? And when you (or your partner) are completely committed to something, what effect does that have on your role as a partner or parent?

Reflecting on Exodus 19-34, the inner transformation of a people  

In chapters 19-24, the first covenant is made with the people: the Ten Commandments and a first set of social laws are given. In chapters 25-31, the "ritual institutions" are given: instructions for a holy place with consecrated priests who reflect the heavenly sanctuary. The drama with the golden calf in chapter 32 leads to the need to tighten and renew the covenant.

• Encourage, comfort, exhort. How do your social responsibility and communal worship relate to each other? Can they be separated as strongly as seems to be demanded in our time? For years, the daily newspaper Trouw has had the habit of interviewing people about the 10 commandments in their lives, two full pages. Try this format with someone; it can lead to a wonderful conversation. And in the following chapters: which laws strike you or challenge you? What thoughts do the tabernacle and the ordination of priests evoke in you when you see them as a "model" or symbolic representation of heaven.

• Leave room for silence and contemplation. Perhaps you will 'see' or 'hear' something from 'God'. Like Moses and Zipporah, do you dare to enter into conversation with that voice? What answer wells up within you? How do you test that answer?