Some commentators accuse this chapter of ending on a note of anticlimax. The anticipation builds and builds, and then peters out with a whimper, a speech by Moses rather than a glorious, awe-inspiring revelation of God Almighty. Those commentators have missed the basic plot of the chapter, which is this: Israel arrives at Sinai, spends two days getting ready to meet God, literally marches out of camp to the foot of the mountain, only to have God tell Moses in no uncertain terms that the meeting is canceled. This is paralleled by the scene with which Exodus closes: the Tabernacle gets all built, the priests are ready to move in and start worshiping in the Levitical way, and then the glory of God descends on the Tabernacle and denies them all entry. What is the deal? Why does God seemingly jerk His people around like this? God jerks His people around like this to teach them that He is holy, and to tell them that they don't understand holiness. Let's look at the story in more detail to see how this is so. The anticlimax is real enough. It is the stress of being canceled at the last second. This is preparation for the Ten Commandments; this is how God signals that our conceptions of holiness are way too shallow.
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Caleb Nelson grew up in Ft. Collins, CO. Born into a Christian home, where he eventually became the eldest of 11 children, he has been a lifelong Presbyterian. He professed faith at the age of six, and was homeschooled through high school. He then attended Patrick Henry College...
