Exodus

Exodus for me was very entertaining but also very different from what I had learned from going to church all my life. Growing up I had heard all these great stories about Moses showing up the Egyptians and leading the Israelites victoriously out of Egypt. But in all reality Aaron did most of the work. I mean just imagine this, so God comes down and speaks to Moses, and tells him how to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. But Moses claims that he doesn't speak well and that nobody will believe him. So God instead of telling him to just man up and do it says, ok we'll just use your brother Aaron to say what needs to be said. Next Moses and Aaron proceed to tell Pharaoh to "let my people go". Here is where the problem comes in. Let's say that you are Pharaoh and this guy comes up to you and says, "Hi I'm Aaron. So my God, who isn't your God, told Moses here to tell me to tell you that you need to let our people go." If I were Pharaoh I wouldn't believe that either, I mean he thought he was just calling their bluff. Unfortunately for him it was the wrong choice. We all know that Moses and Aaron despite having little proof of what they claimed would be backed up by God. Thus the Egyptians were ravaged by the plagues.

The second half of Exodus (from 20-40) was just as interesting if not more so than the first half. The part that really intrigued me was the rules for the making of the Ark of the Covenant and the tabernacle. My question is why are there so many regulations as far as on how it should be made and what should be done? What are the purposes for making sure that the curtain is the exact right length? I know that this part was probably written by the Priestly author, but still, how do the priests of the time come up with such regulations? And why are they relevant?

Also it's been a while since I read Exodus so I don't really remember all the stuff I wanted to talk about, and that's why this post is so short. In the future maybe I'll start blogging right after I read these things.