So here we have the famous story of the calf. Notice how it is made and how it is presented. The calf was likely supposed to be a kind of throne that the deity would sit upon; it becomes a representation of the deity itself. "Here is Yahweh, the one who brought you out of Egypt," Aaron says.
Notice God's reaction and how Moses persuades him to not destroy the people. What are his arguments? Instead Moses metes out his own form of justice and a plague falls on all those who become sick after drinking the water.
The covenant being broken, Moses now meets with God out away from the camp, and the questions becomes, "Will God be with Israel of not?" by chapter 33. Again we see the covenant and promise in danger. Will God rescue this relationship?
In the end God renews the covenant in chapter 35 and re-issues the commandments given earlier. The covenant is reestablished and the people bring gifts to build the tabernacle, whose prose-blueprint we read last week. Now we get a re-description of the work, showing that all was done "as the Lord commanded" (chapter 39 - 40). In the end God's glory once again comes upon the tabernacle.
Leviticus
Leviticus is a book of rules. Specifically it is a set of instructions on how to run things in the tabernacle. There are clearly several hands in the writing of the book. It is broken up into two main sections. The first is the section on running the temple and the various sacrifices that were done as signs of thanksgiving, of incorporation in to the community and for purification. The second section is what is often called the "Holiness Code." It describes the various things that might occur to a person or that they might do that would make them impure and in need of re-incorporation with the community.
Find out more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviticus
Some things to notice about the offerings:
- There is usually some economic scale regarding animals. A poor person could offer birds instead of a bull (remember Jesus' family did this, which shows their economic status)
- A person laid one hand on the animal. This was not an act to convey their sins on the animal so that it's death would then appease God, the sins having been "paid for." That is an alien concept to these sacrifices. The hand was laid upon it as an act to show that this animal belonged to that person (imagine thousands of people coming to sacrifice; you wanted to keep things as orderly as possible).
- Again we see the dashing of blood. This was seen as an a kind of spiritual detergent which purified the tabernacle. For certain sins (see chapter 4) they penetrated at different levels and thus the blood was sprinkled in different places.
These are the sacrifices:
- Burnt offering: stands out because none of it is eaten (ch. 1)
- Grain offering: likely a substitute for an animal for the very poor (ch. 2)
- Well-Being offering: Also sometimes called a Thank offering. These would have been most common and the typical offering given when eating meat. (ch. 3)
- Sin offering: Also called purification offering. Impurity polluted the tabernacle which must be cleansed. Chapter 5 gives more details about this offering (ch. 4-5)
Chapter 6-7 reprises each of the offerings, adding details, likely for the priests themselves.
Chapter 8-10 regards the consecration of the sanctuary and priests.
Mark
In Mark we have a similar movement as in Matthew. Jesus calls the twelve, then he is rejected by his family and hometown, accused of working for Satan, and begins teaching in parables.
Chapter 4 is the famous sower parable. Notice that Jesus continues his conflict with Satan even here.
They cross the sea for the first time in Mark, and Jesus casts out demons and raises a girl from the dead. This must have been quite a week for the disciples!
Jesus then commissions the twelve and we hear of John's execution. Right after this story we again have the feeding of the 5000 in the wilderness. As I mentioned before, outside of the passion, this is the miracle story that occurs in each of the Gospels. The same order is found in Matthew.
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