Reading for September 14th

 Read Exodus 32.15-35. In verse 15: On the two tablets of the covenant, see comment on 31.18. In verse 17: Joshua is Moses' young assistant (23.13). In verse 19: Moses broke the stone tablets on which God had written the Ten Commandments (vv. 15-16). The act dramatized Israel's severe disobedience, which broke the formal relationship between God and the people. In verses 21-23; In contrasts to Moses, who takes responsibility and pleads with God on behalf of the people, Aaron blames the  people in order to escape his own responsibility for the rebellion. In verse 24: Aaron's version of the story suggests that the golden calf emerged by itself miraculously out of the fire. The earlier account clearly tells the real story: Aaron himself was the one responsible for making the golden calf (v. 4; see vv. 25, 35). In verses 26-29: the members of the tribe of Levi obey Moses. Thus Moses ordained or set them apart for the service of the Lord as priests. The ordination of the Levites occurs in Num 8. Numbers 16-18 suggests that the Levites will be subordinate to Aaron and the priests in his line. In verse 34: The Lord promises to send my angel, a subordinate divine messenger and commander, to lead Israel to Canaan (23.20, 23). This question will become whether, in addition to the angel, God's own divine presence will go in the midst of Israel to lead them (33.2-3). Comments or  Questions..