In Exodus, up until the nation arrived at Sinai, the presence of God was with the camp. The evidence of this was as a pillar of fire by night or a cloud by day. After the Ten Commandments things changed. Going forward from Sinai the presence of God was in the Tabernacle. The visible evidence was still the fire or the cloud, but the location was over the Tabernacle rather than simply being out in the open. What changed, and what are the implications for human liberty?
In the aftermath of the golden calf, there was quite a bit of back and forth between God and Moses about how God would relate to Israel. This is a bit difficult to follow because the narrative in Exodus does not appear to be chronological. Biblical Hebrew often organizes the telling of a set of events into a chiasm (the rabbis call this an atbash pattern):
A
B
C
D
C’
B’
A’
In this style the matching elements, e.g. A and A’, are either direct repetitions or the same subject in different words. In the chiasm, the most important point or climax would be D.
This is in contrast to how an English speaker would write:
A, A’
B, B’
C, C’
D
In other words, English speakers typically lay out the background or evidence first and then place the conclusion at the end. They also tend to write chronologically, or when they don’t, they give the reader clues that the time sequence has been interrupted: “Meanwhile, back at the ranch…”
The chapters from Exodus 24 to Exodus 40 do form a chiasm:
Moses goes up mountain to get stone tablets Ex 24:15
Specification of the tabernacle Ex 25 – 31:11
First set of tablets
Shabbat Ex 31:12
Golden Calf Ex 32
Broken Tablets Ex 32:19
Tent of Meeting Ex 33
Shabbat Ex 34:21
Second set of tablets Ex 34:29
Shabbat Ex 35
Building the Tabernacle Ex 35:4 – 40
In light of the above, it seems unlikely that that biblical narrative is chronological. The sequence of events was almost certainly:
Moses goes up mountain to get first set of stone tablets Ex 24:15
Golden Calf Ex 32
Broken Tablets Ex 32:19
Tent of Meeting Ex 33
Moses makes second set of tablets and goes up the Mountain Ex 34:29
God gives Moses the specifications for the Tabernacle
Moses returns with the second tablets and the plans for the tabernacle
Israel constructs the Tabernacle
In this sequence, the negotiation between God and Moses recounted in Exodus 32 probably took place in the tent of meeting. The essence of the negotiation was that God told Moses that He would not accompany Israel lest He destroy the people because of their behavior. God said that He would send an angel instead. Moses responded that if God was not going with them, neither was he. He said that were God not to be in the midst of the camp, the nations would get the wrong impression. God relented and agreed to accompany Israel the rest of the way.
That sequence points to an answer to the question of what changed in God’s relationship with Israel in that He was no longer willing to accompany them as before – in a pillar of fire or a cloud out in the open in the center of the camp. Before the golden calf their grumblings and failures to obey might have been counted as a growing and learning process. That was no longer the case afterwards.
The Tabernacle with all of its formal rules does not seem to have been God’s original intention for Israel. He had tried to speak directly into her heart and so make her a nation of priests. As mentioned earlier, the stone tablets were a metaphor for stone hearts, but the content of the message did not change. However, when the “bride” turned and went after another god during the forty days Moses was on the mountain, the relationship changed again. Now it was no longer safe for God even to be in the camp.
Thus, the specification of the Tabernacle makes perfect sense. The Tabernacle was to be a cordoned off area in the midst of the camp which was serviced by highly trained specialists. Although it did serve a liturgical purpose, it also had the perhaps equally important function of protecting the Israelites from inadvertently getting too close to God and perishing. Perhaps to emphasize that point, two of Aaron’s sons died when they violated the Tabernacle protocols which had been given by Moses. (Lev 10:1-2)
The liturgy of the Tabernacle seems to have been an integral part of its safety function rather than the primary purpose. Looking backwards to the way that God related to the Patriarchs we see much less formality.
God spoke with Abraham on several occasions. In each case Abraham was clearly aware of the status difference between himself and God, but the encounters were conversational rather than formulaic as in liturgy. Abraham offered sacrifices to God, but he also negotiated with Him over the fate of Sodom.
So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” (Ge 18:22-26)
That conversation continued until the number of righteous needed to spare the city got down to ten, but note the tone of the interaction. Abraham was respectful, but he insisted that God follow His own principles.
The same could be said of Jacob’s wrestling match.
And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. (Ge 32:24-29)
At the end of the encounter Jacob refused to quit until he got a blessing. He also named the location Peniel because he had seen the face of God and survived.
The same again can be said of Moses. At the burning bush he fell on his face and removed his shoes, clearly recognizing with whom he was dealing. After that initial obeisance the encounter was conversational as were all the encounters between him and God for the rest of his life.
The tabernacle with its liturgy served to enforce an arm’s length relationship between God and the bulk of the Israelites. Even Aaron was only allowed to come into God’s presence once a year on Yom Kippur.
On the subject of liberty, it is interesting to note that the resources to actually construct the tabernacle were given voluntarily. That included both material and labor. After the embarrassment of the golden calf, the people were eager to do anything to get back into God’s favor.
And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord … and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord. (Ex 35:21-29)
They finally had to be restrained from giving once there was enough.
And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.
(Ex 36:2-7)
Pretty much every religion enforces a distancing between people and the deity. This may include special places of worship, an elite priesthood, seers, oracles, etc. The religions that derive from the Torah are not unique in this. What is unique is that in biblical religions those practices have a definite historical beginning and appear to have arisen as safety measures rather as desire for power by the clergy.
There is an incident in Numbers 11 where God placed His Spirit on seventy leaders. The Spirit also fell on two men not in the group around Moses. When those men began to prophesy, people tried to shut them down.
And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
(Nu 11:27-29)
Moses’ dealings with God were conversational and he clearly wished that that could be the case with everyone else.
That the separation of people from God does result in the rise of a religious elite which tends to use its position for power and wealth is a rather sad side effect. Biblically, by the time of the Babylonian invasion, the Temple itself had become an idol. In Jeremiah 7 God told Judah that having the Temple in the city would not protect them from conquest by the Babylonians. God had once been present in the Temple and had protected Israel from her enemies. That was no longer the case because the nation had fallen into idol worship and those abominable practices that accompany it. At that point, trusting in the Temple was no different that trusting in any other idol, and so God had it destroyed by the Babylonians.
Since the pull of liturgy is powerful, when the Jews returned from Babylon, they rebuilt the Temple and reinstated its liturgy as before. It is surely significant that God’s presence was not in that second Temple. Having seen the pathologies that eventually rise up in formal religions, He seems to have declined to participate. He did arrange for the second Temple’s construction and He did speak to the returning leadership through His prophets. That seems to have been because an intact nation of Israel and its religion were essential to the furtherance of His plans.
So far, the focus has been on the negative side of liturgy, enforcing distance from God and empowering a professional clergy. As with the expulsion from the Garden where God provided clothes for protection and warmth, there is a merciful side of liturgy. By establishing a set of weekly rituals and a yearly cycle of commemorative feasts, God set up a system whereby He was regularly the focus of Israel’s attention. Once they entered the Promised Land, most of the people would be scattered remotely from the Tabernacle. Having a central place for sacrifice and pilgrimage was designed to prevent drifting into the practices of the local pagan population. Historically, that drift did occur repeatedly, but liturgy provided a mechanism for repentance and return.
From a spiritual point of view, there is always the danger that the worshipper will substitute ritual for relationship. The pathology there is the attitude that so long as one keeps up the rituals he can do as He pleases with the rest of his life. That was the attitude that eventually got the Temple destroyed and Israel sent into exile.
In any case, the introduction of liturgy and a group of religious ‘gate keepers’ between the rest of humanity and God served to diminish liberty and the relationships that God desires.