January 27, 2022: Day 21 – Exodus 33-38

Most of these chapters may seem like a repeat to you of the chapters before these that described what had to be done in order to make the tabernacle the way that God wanted it.  So the description has now switched to praxis and Bezalel and Oholiab put the commands of the Lord to work and created the tabernacle as it was commanded.  A few other things that we should lift up here in these chapters as well.

In 33 we find God commanding Moses to enter the promised land but tells him that as he makes his way through the hostile nations God will not be by his side, but feel free to go up anyway.  As you can imagine Moses was not a big fan of going solo without God by his side so he beseeches God to change his mind and accompany the people and Moses as they made their way through the hostile lands towards the promised land.  Moses is able to be in the real presence of God in a way that no other person is able to do.  

In 34 we find Moses being given the tables with the 10 commandments again.  A curious thing about this chapter is that we see Moses’ face shining when he comes down from the mountain and after every appearance that he has with God.  In art history, and in Hebrew, the word “shining” can also mean “horns” so there was a tradition that Moses had horns after he encountered God and so as a result put a veil over his face to cover his horns.  You will find below one of the more famous depictions of this which is in the Vatican today and was done by none other Michelangelo himself.  The youth and adult going on the Italy Mission Trip will be able to see this in person!