Towards, unto, into and in Theos

We have seen so far that it was to be a sign that Yahweh would be with Mosheh when he returned with the people to this mountain (Horeb). That is, that the circular, or return, journey which Mosheh would be performing would be only a return journey for him and for Yahweh and would therefore be intimately bound up with their kerubic relationship (unto/unto or face to face) and would have the enriching effect of creating a people unto Yahweh and would be intrinsically linked with the meaning of his name (I will be to them for ‘elohym and they shall be to me for a people). Mosheh and the kerubic relationship he enjoys with ‘elohym is the basis for the revelation of the covenantal name which allows for the creation of the people. He is the conduit through which that revelation of the words of the covenant will be transmitted to the people in order for them to draw near to, and become one with, ‘elohym. This is the basis for that covenant, that agreement between two parties, ‘elohym and Mosheh, through which the agreement can be established with the people. The agreement relies on keeping to the terms of the covenant, something which Mosheh largely accomplishes and the people do not, despite their protestations.

This forerunner of a pattern is replicated, but to a greater extent, when Theos makes a covenant with Iesous, sealed by his obedience, and by it extended to his people who are faithful in following their archetype.

So, when we arrive in Exodus 19 we see the beginning of this realisation.

And Mosheh went up unto the ‘elohym, and Yahweh called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shall thou say to the house of Ya’aqob, and tell to the children of Yisra’el; Ye have seen what I did unto the Mitsraym, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. (Ex.19.3,4)

At the point at which these words are spoken and the people have arrived at Horeb it is as though they have arrived at Yahweh, reached the destination that is him. They have, as it were, come face to face with him but through the face (and voice) of Mosheh. From here we see the signs of his angelic revelation atop the mount and the people’s reaction. We then have the ten commandments as discussed above; various more particular commandments followed by the pattern of the tabernacle (and, critically, the kaporeth and ark of the covenant), all of which we have discussed in detail in the previous post.

Of course, this is the pattern, the design or blueprint, not the finished article. Following on from the various items of furniture and the construction of the infrastructure we move on to the ministry of the priests and, in particular, ‘Aharon and his sons, their clothing and the anointing oil for their consecration and the incense for offering in the holy and holy of holies.

Following on from this we encounter the two men chosen out to be the workmen who will enact the pattern and create the realisation of this dwelling of ‘elohym with man on the earth. We are then reacquainted with the sign of the sabbath and keeping it as a token of the ‘olam (age) covenant with Yisra’el:

Wherefore the children of Yisra’el shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for an ‘olam covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Yisra’el for ‘olam: for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. (Ex.31.16,17)

This is an act of anticipatory manifestation. That is, the seventh day is akin to the ‘olam (the age, derived from a word meaning ‘to hide’, so a hidden period) and the covenant is an ‘olam covenant. Observing the rest of the seventh day looks back at the rest of ‘elohym at the conclusion of the creation and looks forward to the rest from labour that the faithful (who will also be called ‘elohym) will enjoy at that time when they are joined in covenant with him.

Of course, all this revelation is happening to Mosheh with Yehoshua’ his minister with him while he is still in the mountain during his 40 day spell there. As he comes down from the mountain with the two tables of stone he comes across the sorry state of affairs the children of Yisra’el have gotten into and the presence of the golden calf ‘Aharon made for them and their singing, dancing and nakedness. He breaks the tables of stone, the commandments at the centre of the covenant he has made with Yisra’el and calls on the people to cull out the offenders and then Mosheh pleads for the forgiveness of the people.

At this point we come to the pivot of the narrative. Since arriving at Horeb it is as though the journey has stagnated. There has been a pause while the people have received the covenant: the commandments and the pattern of the tabernacle. However, in this pause they have atrophied and fallen away. Now is the time to renew the journey but, in order to renew this journey, there must be a renewal of the covenant and the revelation of the name as it is that teaching of the name – a journey to a destination – which is intimately bound up with their pilgrimage.

And Yahweh said unto Mosheh, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou has brought up out of the land of Mitsraym, unto the land which I sware to ‘Abraham, to Yitshaq, and to Ya’aqob, saying, To thy seed will I give it: And I will send an angel before thee (literally ‘to thy face’); and I will drive out the Kana’any, the ‘Amory, and the Hitty, and the Perizzy, the Hiwy, and theYebusy: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not (לא) go up in the midst of thee; for thou are a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. (Ex.33.1-3)

So we can see the resumption of the journey, signified in speech unto Mosheh and with the destination being unto the land of promise, that which was promised to the fathers, as we saw in Exodus 3 when the meaning of Yahweh’s name was first revealed. However, there is now a question mark over the creation of the people who have shown themselves to be stiffnecked, disobedient and among whom Yahweh will no longer walk. At this point it is evidenced to us that the pattern of the tabernacle has been constructed as Mosheh takes the tabernacle out of the midst of the camp and separates Yahweh’s dwelling from the people in whom he is supposed to dwell according to the figure and pattern of the tabernacle. Now Mosheh and Yehoshua’ must minister from afar.

As we progress it is becoming evident that there are two parts to the covenantal revelation and, as it were, two peoples created. As an outcome of what happened in Exodus 32 when Mosheh descended from the mountain:

And Yahweh said unto Mosheh, Whosoever has sinned to me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken to thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. (Ex.32.33,34)

So he has promised a visitation upon that people. Presumably which happened when they refused to enter the land when the ten spies returned with their evil report at Kadesh in Numbers 13 and they were prevented from entering the land because of their unbelief and had to wander in the wilderness until all that generation, over 20 years old, died there. In a sense we can see that the first people were not to inherit the promises associated with the fulfilment of the name. The land inheritance – the figurative, or anticipatory, arrival at the destination that is Yahweh – would have to wait for a second generation or people. There is a consistent refrain of a second covenant, a second revelation of the name, a second people and a second inheritance, brought about by the second minister, Yehoshua’.

With Mosheh’s ascent into the mountain again and his receipt of the second set of tables of stone upon which were to be written the commandments we see, as it were, the second covenant and the creation of a second people in prospect. This process is then associated with the calling of Yahweh’s name in the mountain, anticipating the revelation of his name in Iesous.

And Mosheh said unto Yahweh, See, thou say unto me, Bring up this people: and thou has not (לא) let me know whom thou will send with me. Yet thou has said, I know thee in name, and thou has also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. (Ex.33.12,13)

Mosheh is involved in Kerubic interaction with Yahweh. At the point of the separation of Yahweh from his people and the ensuing movement of the tabernacle away from them Mosheh is at the centre of Yahweh’s purpose and with it the possibility of reconciliation.

And Yahweh spoke unto Mosheh faces unto faces, as a man speaks unto his neighbour. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Yehoshua’, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. (Ex.33.11)

Mosheh is clearly in a kaporeth like relationship – faces unto faces – and he is in a speech based relationship ‘man unto his neighbour’, very similar to the ‘man unto his brother’ of the kaporeth. It is this reciprocal relationship that will form the basis of the prospect of reconciliation with his people as Yahweh will instruct Mosheh how it will come to pass.

Mosheh seems to be reliving some of the discussion in Exodus 3. There he asks, Who am I that I should go? Here, in verse 12, he asks, Who will you send with me? The answer in the end is similar. It is Yahweh in him, Yahweh with him that will go, that has caused him to find grace in his eyes, that will lead this people unto the land. The fact that Mosheh is fulfilling the name, that he is in this kerubic relationship with him, this is the reason he is able to do these things because he is becoming Yahweh. If the people also do the same they are ‘with him’. Mosheh asks Yahweh to show him his way which becomes synonymous with the calling of his name. Mosheh is known in name and he wishes to know Yahweh in name. This reciprocal knowledge is what the name is about for Mosheh and for a faithful people. Yahweh, however, will make a distinction with a sinful people.

And Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and called in name Yahweh. And Yahweh passed by before him, and called, Yahweh, Yahweh ‘el, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means acquit the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. (Ex.34.5-7)

The answer to Mosheh’s question is right here: the one who will stand with him in that place (there) is Yahweh (the one who is Yahweh i.e. an angel – see Ex.32.34; 33.2) and who calls the name and passes by. This is his way, his journey, which we witness, his passing by and calling his name: the qualities of who he is and will be and what he requires to be in those he seeks to make covenant with, so that they also take this journey and come to the place where he is and has set his name there. At this fundamental point in the exposition of the journey being at the heart of the meaning of his name he uses the title ‘el (אל) which of course is homographically ‘unto’. Yahweh appends his name to a word describing direction.

Following on from this incident Yahweh renews the covenant with Mosheh and with the people through him. He writes the ten commandments on the two new tables and gives various other commandments to Mosheh during another 40 day and night period before descending from the mountain, not knowing his face shone so brightly it was difficult for the people to tolerate.

Following on from this Mosheh speaks to the children of Yisra’el and gives them some commandments. He has turned from being the receiving kerub in the kaporeth, as it were, and now becomes the giving, or mediating, kerub. He then reiterates the pattern of the tabernacle but now it is in the language of performing the figure and creating the work in substantive form. At the end of the process Yahweh commands Mosheh to raise up the tabernacle.

On the first day of the first month shall thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. And thou shall put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail. (Ex.40.1,2)

The culmination of this return, or circular, journey is the raising up of the tabernacle. The Hebrew word translated as ‘set up’ (qum – קום) is often translated as ‘arise’ and is the word used by Iesous when he raises the little girl from the dead and says ‘Talitha cumi’ (Markos 5.41). Mosheh then proceeds, under instruction from Yahweh, to anoint the tabernacle with oil along with the high priest and his sons. Anointing also being linked with resurrection (Hebrews 1.9)

And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up…And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the kaporeth above upon the ark: And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as Yahweh commanded Mosheh. (Ex.40.17,20,21)

Mosheh finishes all the work of the tabernacle and:

Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle. And Mosheh was not (לא) able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Yisra’el went onward in all their journeys: (Ex.40.34-36)

So, at the beginning of this second year, this second era, the tabernacle, the dwelling of ‘elohym among man, is raised up, resurrected from its component parts that lie on the ground. Within this resurrected dwelling will now dwell the ark with the tables of stone within and the kaporeth on top. The outcome of its resurrection is the glory of Yahweh filling it so completely that Mosheh is unable to enter. In these figures we can see an anticipation of the resurrection of Iesous, a dwelling place of ‘elohym among man, and the dwelling of Yahweh in him being so full that it excludes the Mosaic era, the very era and ordinances that are anticipating, in figure, the true. This resurrection creates a new people and allows them to continue in a journey following in the steps of the journeying ark, kaporeth and tabernacle unto the land of promise. We can also see the tabernacle as the figure for the resurrected body of believing people in Iesous after their resurrection leading a second people unto the final destination of the setting of Yahweh in the place he has chosen. This process being understood in the idea of the name.

So, in conclusion, we have seen an overarching journey with micro journeys within it. Primarily, the return journey is one which Mosheh engages in, as does the Lord Iesous after him. This journey is one of revelation; it is one symbolised by the kaporeth, that is, that as the priests march forward to their destination, beneath the paroketh (the vail) the kaporeth is a kerub facing a kerub. The journey is enabled by the reciprocal kerubic relationship of ‘elohym to man where the man is firstly Mosheh and, latterly, Iesous. Because the people are created by him, firstly Mosheh latterly Iesous, then the onward journey that proceeds from the first intimate covenantal conversations is theirs and results in them, the faithful followers, the second generation, ending up at the true and final destination. Of course that destination, ultimately, must have ‘Abraham, Yitshaq and Ya’aqob there because Yahweh’s name is named upon them. His final identity is premised on those people who have engaged in kerubic relationship with him being with him where he shall be and thus completing their return journey, greatly enriched and enlarged than at the beginning of their pilgrimage.