When Moses descended Mt. Sinai with the "replacement" stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments, there was something different about him which everyone noticed. His face was shining. The word used to describe him meant radiant. What did he look like? What did it mean? How did the people react to it? Was it a one-time thing, or an on-going phenomenon? Has anyone else in the Bible been described that way? Hear the answers during this new podcast!

Exodus chapters 39 and 40 are the "As God commanded Moses" chapters which describe the completion of the Tabernacle. Notice how the people's attitude has changed from the time of the golden calf incident. See how the work was not heavy labor or a burden for the workers, rather it gave them joy. Rejoice as the glory of the Lord enters the Tabernacle, something that was repeated later in Jerusalem at the completion of the Temple and will happen again someday when the glory of the Lord enters the Temple during the Millenium!

The Lord replaced the stone tablets for the Ten Commandments after Moses broke the originals when he threw them on the ground as part of his reaction to the golden calf incident. The replacement tablets were similar to the first ones, but not exactly the same. What kind of message did these new tablets send to Moses and the Israelites? And when Moses was in the cleft of the rock as God passed by, what did Moses actually see?

Moses is upset. God has informed him that He can no longer lead the people to the Promised Land because of their stubborn hearts. God says He will lose His patience and strike them with His wrath. Moses appeals to the Lord, making it clear that they want God and no other "substitute guide" will do. Moses asks God to reconsider and, in essence, wants God to prove that He loves Moses. How will God respond?

Bluegrass gospel about a cross on a hill that leads me back to my old home in West Virginia where the cold Coal River and hand-cranked ice cream awaits. Another cross on a different hill leads me like a lighthouse on a stormy sea.

As Moses and the people recover from the golden calf incident, God begins to distance Himself from the Israelites. God uses the language of distancing as Exodus chapter 33 opens. Did God mean what He said, or was He testing the people? How did they react? We also learn what happened to all of that gold which the Israelites received when they left Egypt. And we find out more about another person who will become very important later, a man named Joshua.

Moses had heard and seen what the people were doing as they worshipped the golden calf, and he made sure they suffered certain consequences. He also held Aaron responsible for his part in making the calf. In the midst of these things, the Levites were set apart as the priestly tribe. Eventually, Moses went back to the top of Mt. Sinai with a different perspective about how God might view these people because of their sinfulness!

Everyone knows that the Ten Commandments were written on two stone tablets. If nothing else, most of us have seen Charlton Heston as Moses descending Mt. Sinai with those stone tablets in his hands! The question is: "Why two tablets?" If you review some classical art and re-watch the movie, you might think that each stone tablet had five Commandments each. But that is not it. Both tablets had all ten. Why were there two exact copies? And what kind of punishment did Moses mete out to the people who were worshipping the gold calf? Yuck!