36. B.C. 1491 to 1490

B.C. 1491 to 1490

Chapter III

Egyptian Calf-Idol

1. During his absence, Moses left the charge of the people to Aaron and Hur. After long waiting, they gave him up for lost, and ceased to expect his return. The salutary restraint of his presence being thus withdrawn, the infatuated Israelites clamored to Aaron for a sensible image or similitude of the God they worshipped, such as other nations had, that it might go before them, and be always among them. This was contrary to the very first law which the people had lately heard delivered from amidst the thunders of Sinai. From the prevalent danger of idolatry, they had been strictly enjoined not only to worship other gods, but not to make any figure or similitude or symbol of the true God for the purpose of worship. But, heedless of this, the people persisted in their demand, and Aaron weakly yielded; and of the ornaments which they contributed, he caused to be mule a golden calf—probably because under the form of a calf or young bull, the Egyptians worshipped their most popular god, Osiris. No sooner was the golden calf completed than Aaron proclaimed a feast to the Lord, which the people celebrated with dances and heathenish sports, before the degrading symbol of his presence which they had set up.

2. Meanwhile, Moses was dismissed from his high conference with God on the clouded mountain top; and in his descent, with the tables of the law in his hands, was joined by the faithful Joshua, who had remained below. As they proceeded, they arrived at a point which commanded a view of the camp and the proceedings there. No sooner did the Prophet behold the people abandoning themselves to heathenish merriment before their idol, than he was seized with vehement indignation, and cast from him the tables of the law with such force that they were broken in pieces. He hastened forward, and his presence struck the crowd with dismay. He broke down and destroyed their image; and after reproving Aaron, called around him the men of his own tribe, the Levites, and ordered them to execute judgment on the revolters. Three thousand men fell in the slaughter which they made. After this, Moses was commanded to prepare two new tablets of stone, which he took up to the Mount, where they received the words which had been graven on the broken tables. When he came down from the Mount on this occasion, it was found that his countenance had become so radiant that the people were not able to look steadfastly at his face; and hence he covered his head with a veil.

3. Order being restored, Moses proceeded to execute the commands which he had received during his long stay in the Mount; and the recent exhibition which the people had made of their tendency to sensible symbols and material idols, only the more evinced the necessity for the measures which were taken. A purely spiritual worship of an invisible God, and a true allegiance to an invisible King, were beyond the reach of their understanding, and their condition. Therefore, in so far as his ineffable greatness could stoop to the littleness of man, he determined to make his presence among them felt by sensible manifestations, by ministers, officers, and ceremonies. He was their King; and he determined as such to dwell among them, and to connect with the requisitions of his peculiar and political character, such religious observances as would constantly remind them that he who stooped to be their King, was also their God, and the Lord of the universe.

4. In the first place, they were to provide for him a palace-temple, containing all things meet for the state of a Divine King; a throne, a table, an incense altar, a superb candelabrum—all formed of, or overlaid with, the finest gold. The throne was the ark, the table that of showbread. The dwelling itself, the Tabernacle, was necessarily so made as to be taken to pieces, and carried from place to place as occasion required. When standing it was an oblong structure fifty-five feet in length, by eighteen in breadth and in height, formed of acacia wood overlaid with plates of gold, and the whole overhung with rich palls and curtains. In the enclosure in front was erected a large but portable brazen-altar, on which were to be offered daily and occasional sacrifices; and here also was an immense basin or laver of the same metal, in which the ministers of the Divine King were to perform their ablutions. When the sacred edifice was completed and set up, the pillar of cloud, which has already been mentioned, moved from its previous station, and rested upon it; and a wondrous resplendence called the Shechinah, or “glory of God,” filled the place, and ultimately concentrated over the ark, where it became the appropriate and abiding symbol of the Divine presence.

5. For the state of the Great King, ministers and officers were necessary. According to patriarchal usage, there was no distinct order of priesthood—such sacerdotal offices as their simple worship required being discharged by the first-born. In conformity with this, the first-born had, as we have seen, been set apart to the service of God on the departure from Egypt, with a further reference to a commemoration thereby of their preservation, when all the first-born of the Egyptians were destroyed. But now that the Israelites had evinced their need of a more ostensible system of worship, it was deemed proper, for the sake of better organization, that a whole tribe, instead of the first-born of all tribes, should be set apart for this service. The tribe of Levi, to which Moses and Aaron belonged, was therefore chosen for the general service of the theocratical government; and the family of Aaron was selected for the higher and more special services of the priesthood, Aaron himself being the high-priest. All these had peculiar dresses suitable to their service, which they were to use when they officiated: at other times they were dressed like the rest of the community. The dress of the high-priest was very splendid, especially by reason of a breast-plate of gold, in which were set twelve precious stones, on each of which was graven the name of a tribe in Israel. This was called the Urim and Thummim.

6. To support the court and ministers of the Great King which involved also a provision for public worship, it was directed that the Levitical tribe should have one-tenth (tithe), and the first fruits of the produce of the fields and of the flocks. The tithe was what kings were in the habit of exacting for the support of the government, and as a sort of quit-rent for the soil, of which they were regarded the sovereign proprietors; and more than once does the Lord assert this right, as King, to the soil of Palestine. Besides, the tribe of Levi was to have no territorial inheritance; and as their exclusion left more for the other tribes, they had a claim of right to compensation from those tribes; for the few towns which were given to them for residence were no adequate compensation for their foregoing an equal heritage in the soil of the Promised Land.

7. The people worked with ardor, and contributed with liberality and zeal, in giving effect to all those designs and operations; for a gorgeous regality and theocracy, with a splendid court and imposing ritual, were exactly suited to their condition of mind, and gave them a feeling of importance and concentration, which they could not well have realized by any other means. Eight days after the solemn consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, their ministrations commenced by the first burnt-offering upon the altar. On that occasion the Lord was pleased to signify his complacency by the appearance of that “glory” or resplendence, of which we have so often spoken, and from which a fire now darted forth which consumed the burnt-offering that lay upon the altar. At this sign of favor and acceptance the people shouted and fell upon their faces in adoration (Leviticus 9). The fire thus kindled was commanded to be continually kept up (Lev 6:12-13); nor was it lost until the Babylonish captivity. No fire but this was lawful in any ministerial service, as two of the sons of Aaron, called Nadab and Abihu, found to their cost; for when, through carelessness or willful daring, they put common fire in their censers, and offered incense therewith, they were struck dead; a suffocating flame shot through and destroyed them, without injuring their bodies or their garments.

8. During the subsequent stay at Sinai, great pains were taken to organize the vast body which now composed the Hebrew nation. A census was taken, which exhibited nearly the same result as the rough estimate given on quitting Egypt, being rather more than 600,000 men fit to bear arms, which, as we have shown, is usually one-fourth of the entire population (Numbers 1). A particular account of the order by which the marchings and encampments of this vast host was regulated is given in Numbers 2. This regulated movement and orderly disposition must have been very imposing; whilst nothing could be more effective for preventing confusion. The tribes usually encamped so as to form a hollow square, in the center of which was the tabernacle, within a smaller square formed by the tents of the sacerdotal tribe according to the following order.

9. For the idea of another excellent arrangement, Moses was indebted to Jethro, his father-in-law, who came from his home, which was at no great distance, to congratulate the Deliverer of Israel, and to bring to him his wife and two sons. During his stay this old man observed with concern the great labor which Moses had taken upon himself, in hearing the complaints and determining the differences of so great a people; and fearing that he would soon be utterly worn out by such incessant labor, he counselled him to commit the hearing of secondary causes to subordinate officers, some over thousands, some over hundreds, some over fifties, and some over tens-reserving for his own hearing only the weightier causes, and appeals from the inferior tribunals. This counsel being approved, was put into immediate execution, and the order thus established was long after preserved among the Israelites.

10. In the sequestered wilderness of Sinai, nearly a year was spent by the Hebrew people, when, the constitution of their civil and ecclesiastical polity being completed, the removal of the cloudy pillar from off the tabernacle, gave the signal to depart, in the twentieth day of the second month o the second year after the departure from Egypt.