THE PEOPLE REBEL AGAINST MOSES AND WORSHIP THE GOLDEN CALF. MOSES, COMING DOWN FROM THE MOUNT, BREAKS THE TWO TABLES OF STONE. THE LEVITES SLAY THREE THOUSAND MEN. GOD WRITES THE COMMANDMENTS ON TWO NEW TABLES. THE TABERNACLE. IS MADE AND SET UP. THE CLOUD RESTS UPON IT AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD FILLS IT.
NOW all the time that God had been talking to Moses, and telling him of the things that were to be made, Moses was on mount Sinai; he stayed there, as we have read, forty days and forty nights. But the children of Israel were in their camp at the foot of the mount. And when they saw that Moses stayed so long, they grew impatient, and came to Aaron and said, As for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of Egypt, we know not what has become of him. And they asked Aaron to make idols for them, such as the heathen nations worshipped. Aaron said, Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, and of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me. So the people brought them, and Aaron took them and put them into the fire, and melted them, and made an idol in the shape of a calf.
Then the people said that the calf was their god that had brought them up out of Egypt. And Aaron built an altar before it, and told them that the next day they would hold a feast. And early in the morning they rose up and offered burnt offerings to the calf, instead of to the Lord, and they had a feast and ate and drank before the idol. While they were doing these things Moses was still on the mount. He could not see them, but the Lord saw them, and told him to go down, because his people had done wickedly. They have made a calf, the Lord said, and worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and called it their god.
And Moses turned and went down mount Sinai, with the two tables of stone in his hand. Joshua, his servant, was with him, and as they came near the camp he heard the noise of the people shouting, and Joshua said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. Moses answered that it was not the noise of war, but the noise of singing, he heard. When they came nearer, Moses saw the golden calf and the people dancing before it. Then he was in great anger, and threw the two tables of stone out of his hands, and they were broken in pieces as they fell down below the mount.
And Moses took the calf and burned it in the fire, and ground it up into very small pieces, like powder, or dust. Then he strewed the dust on the water that they drank, and made the children of Israel drink of the water. And he asked Aaron why he had helped them to do this great sin. Then Aaron tried to excuse himself, saying, that the people were determined to do wickedly, and they asked him to make an idol for them, and brought him their gold, and when he put it into the fire, it came out in the shape of a calf. But it would not have come out so, unless Aaron had given it that shape. And when the people asked him to make them an idol, he, who was to be their high priest, should have told them how wicked it would be, instead of helping them to do it.
And Moses stood at the gate of the camp, and said that all the men who were on the Lord's side should come to him. Then all the men who were the descendants of Levi, one of Joseph's brethren, came to him. And he told them that God commanded each one of them, to take his sword and go through the camp from one end of it to the other, and to slay every man he should meet, In this way God would punish the people for their wickedness. And the Levites did as Moses told them, and they slew that day about three thousand men of the children of Israel.
The next day Moses spoke to the people, and said, that although they had done a great sin, he would go and pray to the Lord for them, perhaps their sin might be forgiven. And he went and prayed to the Lord, saying, O, this people have sinned a great sin, and made an idol of gold. And he begged that God would forgive them. But God said he would punish those who had sinned against him, and that he would not go with them in the cloud, as he had gone before, to show them the way to Canaan. Then Moses prayed very earnestly that he would go, and the Lord heard his prayer, and promised that he would still go with the children of Israel.
And God told Moses to make two tables of stone, like those he had broken. God said he would write on these new tables the same words that were written on the first tables. And he commanded Moses to be ready in the morning, and come up to the top of the mount. But no man was to come with him, or to be anywhere on the mount, and no flocks or herds were to feed there. So Moses cut out of the rock two tables, like those he had broken, and he rose early in the morning and went up on mount Sinai, with the tables in his hand. And the Lord came down in the cloud and passed by before him, so that Moses could hear his voice. Then Moses made haste, and bowed down to the earth and worshipped. And he prayed that the Lord would forgive the children of Israel, and take them to be his people again. And the Lord heard his prayer, and took them to be his people again, and promised that he would do wonderful things for them, and would drive out. the wicked nations of Canaan, to make room in that land for the children of Israel.
And the Lord told Moses that he must be careful, when he should come into Canaan, not to make friends of those wicked nations. He must throw down the altars which they had built for their idols, and break those idols in pieces, because the children of Israel were not to worship idols, but the Lord. And Moses stayed on mount Sinai forty days and forty nights. In all that time, and in the forty days and forty nights that he spent there before, he did neither eat bread nor drink water. And the Lord wrote on the two tables of stone which Moses brought, the words of the Ten Commandments.
After the forty days and forty nights were ended, Moses came down with the tables in his hand. And the skin of his face was bright and shining, because he had been so near to the Lord, though Moses did not know that his face shone. When Aaron and all the children of Israel saw his face shine, they were afraid to come near him, but he called them to him. Then they came, and he told them the words that the Lord had spoken. But while he was speaking with them, he put a veil on his face that it might not dazzle them.
And Moses called all the children of Israel together, and said, that the Lord had told them to keep the Sabbath day holy; and that now, he also told them, to bring gold and silver, and brass and wood, and whatever else was needed to build the tabernacle, Then the people brought whatever they chose to give—bracelets and earrings, ornaments of gold and silver, brass, and fine linen and wood. Some brought precious stones also, for the breast-plate, and oil for the lamp. Both men and women brought offerings, for all the different kinds of work which the Lord had commanded Moses to have made. They did this willingly; and even after enough had been brought, they still kept on bringing more every morning, until Moses sent word through the camp that they should stop bringing. And he gave their offerings to Bezaleel and Aholiab, and the other men, whom the Lord had taught to do the work.
Then these men made curtains of fine linen, of blue and purple and scarlet, for the tabernacle; and curtains of goats' hair, and of goats' skins dyed red, to be spread over the tabernacle for its roof. Also that beautiful curtain of blue and purple and scarlet, called the veil, that was to be hung inside of the tabernacle, to make two rooms there; and the curtain that was to hang down in front, for the door. They made the boards also, covered with gold, which were to be set up and fastened together for the sides of the tabernacle.
And Bezaleel made the ark which God had commanded should be made, first out of wood, afterward he covered it, both on the inside and the outside, with gold. And he made the cover of the ark, called the Mercy-seat. There was no wood in this—it was all of pure gold. And he made two cherubim, or angels, of gold, to be one on the one end of it, and the other on the other end. Their faces were turned toward each other and their wings were spread out.
And he made the table, for the inside of the tabernacle, of wood covered with gold. Around the edge of it was a golden border, like a little fence, or railing. He made dishes and bowls and spoons also, for the table, all of gold. And he made the golden candlestick with six branches out of its sides—three out of one side, and three out of the other. On these branches were shapes of almonds and flowers, worked in the gold. There were seven lamps belonging to the candlestick, to hold oil and burn. And he made the altar of incense, out of wood first, and covered the wood over with gold.
And he made the oil which was to be poured on Aaron's head when he should be anointed as high priest, and the sweet incense that was to be burned on the golden altar. And Bezaleel made the altar of burnt offering, on which the children of Israel were to offer up sacrifices—oxen, lambs, and goats. First it was made of wood, and then covered over with brass. And he made the laver of brass, which was a great basin, or bowl, to hold water, for Aaron and his sons to wash their hands and their feet in; because God commanded them always to wash their hands and their feet before they went into the tabernacle, or came to the altar of burnt offering to offer up a sacrifice there.
And Bezaleel made the posts, or pillars of brass, which were to stand around the tabernacle to make a court, or yard, around it; and he made the curtains that were to hang between those pillars, for a wall, or fence; also, the curtain that was to hang down in front of the court, for its gate.
And Bezaleel and Aholiab made the clothes for Aaron; his linen coat, and the coat called the ephod, of blue, and purple, and scarlet. They took gold and beat it very thin, and cut it into little strips, and worked these strips in among the purple, the blue, and the scarlet, to make this coat more beautiful. And with it they made a belt, or girdle, of the same stuff as the ephod itself. This was to be fastened around Aaron's body, over the ephod. And they made the breastplate with twelve precious stones upon it. Each stone was set in a piece of gold. Aaron was to wear this on his breast. It was to hang there by two chains of gold coming down from his shoulders.
And he made the robe, or coat, which Aaron was to wear underneath the ephod. It was all of blue, and around its lower edge were hung pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet; and between them, the golden bells, which were to ring as Aaron went in and out of the tabernacle. And they made coats of fine linen for Aaron's sons, and linen trowsers also; and the mitre for Aaron's head, with the plate of gold having these words written on it,
So the different parts of the tabernacle were finished, and ready to be put together. And they brought them to Moses, and he looked at all the work, and saw it was done as God had commanded.
And God spoke to him, and told him to set up the tabernacle. Then Moses set up the boards covered with gold, for its sides, and spread over them the curtains which had been made for its roof, and these curtains covered the tabernacle, and hung down on each side of it. And he put the two tables of stone, with the ten commandments written on them, into the ark, and covered the ark with the mercy-seat. Then he brought the ark, with the mercy-seat upon it, into the tabernacle, and hung up the curtain called the veil, so that it made two rooms there, and he left the ark in the innermost room.
And he stood the golden table, and the golden candlestick, and the golden altar, in the other room, and hung up the curtain which was made for a door, in front of the tabernacle. Outside of the door, but not far from it, he stood the altar of burnt offering, and he offered up a sacrifice upon it. He set the laver near to the altar, and put water in it, and Moses and Aaron and his sons, washed their hands and their feet at the laver. And Moses set up the brass pillars around the tabernacle, and hung up the curtains between them for a wall, and made the court around the tabernacle. And he hung up the curtain of blue and purple, and scarlet and fine linen, which had been made for the gate of the court.
So the tabernacle was set up, and the court; and everything was put in its place inside of the court, and of the tabernacle. Then the pillar of cloud that went before the children of Israel to show them the way, came over the tabernacle, and covered it. And the glory of the Lord filled the inside of the tabernacle, so that Moses could not go into it. ate