A Deep Dive into Scripture
When a person commits sacrilege by inadvertently misusing any of the Lord’s sacred objects, the wrongdoer shall bring to the Lord as reparation an unblemished ram from the flock, at the established value* in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel, as a reparation offering. (Leviticus 5:15) The sacrificial system in ancient Israel with its differing offerings was … Read more
Tantum ergo SacramentumVeneremur cernui:Et ad antiquum documentumNovo cedat ritui:Præstet fides supplementumSensuum defectui.Genitori, GenitoqueLaus et iubilatio,Salus, honor, virtus quoqueSit et benedictio:Procedenti ab utroqueCompar sit laudatio.Amen. Thomas Aquinas English Translation:Down in adoration falling,Lo! the sacred Host we hail;Lo! o’er ancient forms departing,newer rites of grace prevail;faith for all defects supplying,where the feeble senses fail.To the everlasting Father,and … Read more
When the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for that man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.” … Read more
But Moses begged the Lord His God … Exodus 32:11 Moses had just been dismissed by YHWH with the tablets of stone when he was informed about the scene below in the valley. The covenant was broken even as YHWH was revealing to Moses the details of the Tabernacle. The people were apostate, “corrupted” (32:7, … Read more
Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son, and his brother, that he may bestow upon you this day. Exodus 32:29 The great contrast in these chapters is between the mountain and the valley. Moses the prophet is on the bare heights of Sinai, … Read more
Moses said to the LORD, “See, you are telling me: Lead this people. But you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said: You are my intimate friend; You have found favor with me. Now, if I have found favor with you, please let me know your ways so that, … Read more
The power of this drama, the words and imagery used to describe it, is unsurpassed in all human documentation, timeless, and as close to the Eternal as language can take us. I will never forget, when a sophomore in college, I read it as if it was the first time I ever noticed it, and … Read more
And the Word became flesh and [tabernacle] among us, full of grace (Greek charitas equivalent here to Hebrew ḥesed) and truth (Greek alētheias = Hebrew ′ emet) … John 1:14a A peace had settled down upon the scene at the mountain; Moses had successfully interceded for the people, and judgement was carried out, the consequences … Read more
We are struck with the beauty of the Tabernacle; outside it did not look like much, but inside it was glorious. Its beauty and design were inspired by the vision of its heavenly counterpart revealed to Moses. This makes this sanctuary more than a historic artifact of an antiquated culture, but foundational for worship of … Read more
This is the rite you shall perform in consecrating [Aaron and his sons] as my priests. Exodus 29:1 Up to this point in ancient Israel, we surmise that the firstborn, the primogenitor, functioned as the priest of the family unit in its original semi-nomadic setting (so Hahn). We have no reason to doubt this would … Read more