Exodus Recap

Well there we have it, the Israelites break from their cruel Egyptian masters by the clever leadership of the great Moses with the help of their all seeing god.A god that is so wise he leads them to a land that although green at times is fairly equatorial thus prone to drought and therefore famine. Ok it is a bit further but why didn't he lead them to somewhere with a bit more ambient climate. Instead of hanging around in the desert for fourty years they could have trekked vaguely northwards to almost anywhere vaguely European which although greatly increases your chances of meeting the french has got to be better than the continual strife....then again de lard said they were his chosen people ....just not what for.

Or not........We started with the "miraculous" saving of the baby Moses which so happens to be almost Identical to the divine saving of Sargon the great, the founder of the Akkadian city state empire of approximately 1,000 years earlier.
As a young man Moses allegedly raised as a prince commits manslaughter in dubious circumstances and goes on the lam.

If he was part of the royal household as the bible states I doubt he would have much to fear from prosecution unless the person he killed was of a higher social rank than himself. This begs the question, What was his social status ? (as he seems a bit backward and seems to be treated as a royal toy)

While on the lam he meets a young woman at the local watering hole. Her father, a Midianite priest seems happy to marry his daughter off to this fugitive.After which when Moses is alone god appears in the form of a burning bush. It is noteworthy that the text makes a point of Moses being alone. Upon receiving instructions from de lawd Moses goes back to Egypt.
Again begging the questions Would he not still have the same (if any ) repercussions from his crime ?
If he had no crime to answer for why did he run in the first place ?
but mostly, Why is the great all powerful creator of the universe choosing to work through a gullible half wit.

We then return to Egypt where Moses engages in a series of cheap parlour tricks with the court magician to try to extract the "poor slave israelite nation".

This fails so the god of love brings about a series of natural disasters causing suffering and death to millions of Egyptians but pharoah remains unconvinced to "letz de peeplz goez ! "
Eventually with the tenth and final "plague" Pharoah relents and these "poor slaves" gather all their belongings and herds ???? and set about leaving.
Pharoah, then inexplicably changes his mind (you would have thought the collapse of his civilization a bit more pressing) and decides to go after the "millions" of Israelites with 600 chariots.

De lawd again comes to the rescue not by relocating the Israelites or just causing the chariots to get lost/ lose wheels/not see the Isrealites butin another repeat of the Sargon legend and by showing his love and mercy, by drowning fucking the lot.

You would now imagine that Moses would be public enemy no.1, but he seems to slip out of the egyptian conciousness and then manages to get lost in the desert.

His father in-law finds him when no-one not even moses knows where he is,and after a point is made of Jethro leaving again, three days later, god amazingly appears "with fire smoke and thunder"
How long would it take a few obedient men to prepare a smoke screen?

Moses thens has a big pow- wow with the omnipotent one. Who for some reason seems to need to relieve the ex- slaves of all their gold and finery to make a box, some furniture and a fancy tent.

It seems patently obvious to me that Jethro, Moses father In-law was the guiding force behind Moses's actions. I also wonder whether Jethro and Aaron, Moses brother were one and the same ?
I also suspect this account was written long after the facts and the facts merged to become entertaining stories, then myth and later religion.

Exodus 40

Exodus 40

¹And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

²On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.

³And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail.

Is it covered so the people that have these laws imposed on them cannot see it was constructed by breaking at least one of the commandments. Or that it was constructed using far less gold than was given taken.

⁴And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof.

⁵And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle.

⁶And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.

⁷And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein.

A laver is apparently a bowl.

⁸And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate.

⁹And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy.

¹⁰And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy.

¹¹And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it.

¹²And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water.

This still gives me visions of Cher.

¹³And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

¹⁴And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats:

¹⁵And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office: for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.

¹⁶Thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him, so did he.

¹⁷And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.

¹⁸And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars.

I mentioned Ikea flatpack altars way back in Genesis nice to know they haven't folded.

¹⁹And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as the LORD commanded Moses.

²⁰And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:

²¹And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses.

²²And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the vail.

²³And he set the bread in order upon it before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Because Jethro like Jacob many years ago likes his sammiches.

²⁴And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward.

²⁵And he lighted the lamps before the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.

²⁶And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail:

²⁷And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the LORD commanded Moses.

²⁸And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle.

²⁹And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering; as the LORD commanded Moses.

³⁰And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal.

³¹And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet there at:

³²When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses.

³³And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.

³⁴Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

After the "appearance of god" on the mountain I am very suspicious of clouds and smoke especially when it involves more manifestations of the alleged almighty. It could well be smoke or some chemical combination giving off a thick vapour.

³⁵And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Especially if Moses or anyone else was unable to enter.

³⁶And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys:

Perhaps they were just fumigating the Big Tent.

³⁷But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.

³⁸For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
Or maybe they are just hiding the breaking of the no fire rule on chilly sabbaths.

I don't know if I am being overly skeptical, I mean coincindences do happen. I have already pointed out similarities with various other myths from the middle and near east, Sargon ,Adapa and others and here I go again the Enuma Elish also contains tablets given from (a)god(ess) to man

Exodus 36 to 39

Exodus 36
This again is just a reiteration of the Tent making so much so there is no point in posting it here if however you cannot live without it go here

Exodus 37,38and 39 are just going on about the construction again they are all here
I will continue with the final chapter later today.

Exodus 35

Sorry for the delay been away partying

Exodus 35

¹And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the LORD hath commanded, that ye should do them.

²Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.

All us people that work on the sabbath are fucked then !

³Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

No fire..... yeah right ! That's fine if you live a short bus journey from the equator, but the rest of us need a bit more than gods love to keep us warm. Up to the usual standard of foresight then.

⁴And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying,

Hey I feel a flashback coming on or was it a flash forward in chapter 28

So what follows is the fleecing of the former slaves former riches to make the Ark, its ancillaries and the big tent, it is just a summary of chapter 28 so I shall move on..........

⁵Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,

⁶And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,

⁷And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,

⁸And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,

⁹And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.

¹⁰And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded;

¹¹The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets,

¹²The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering,

¹³The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread,

¹⁴The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,

¹⁵And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle,

¹⁶The altar of burnt offering, with his brasen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,

¹⁷The hangings of the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court,

¹⁸The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,

¹⁹The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office.

²⁰And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.

²¹And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.

²²And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD.

²³And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them.

²⁴Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the LORD's offering: and every man, with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service, brought it.

²⁵And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.

²⁶And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair.

²⁷And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate;

²⁸And spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.

²⁹The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.

³⁰And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;

³¹And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;

³²And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,

³³And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.

³⁴And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.

³⁵Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.

Exodus 32

Exodus 32

¹And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

Okay! Now I am confused, the last few chapters have not happened they are god saying what will happen, a Dallas moment if you please.

²And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

But it seems Aaron is thinking like Jethro god.

³And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

Good boy you learnt your lessons well, that's right start small fleece them of their earrings first.

⁴And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

⁵And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

Same name.....different effigy calf or a box would it really matter to something that was truly divine ?

⁶And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

⁷And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

⁸They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

⁹And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff necked people:

¹⁰Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

¹¹And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

¹²Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

¹³Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

¹⁴And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

Is it just me? Or would you not expect god to be above such petty emotions, especially that any inadequacies man shows can only be attributed to his design.

¹⁵And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

¹⁶And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

¹⁷And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

¹⁸And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

¹⁹And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

He's angry not because of the calf but because they are daring to be happy and party without permission.

²⁰And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

Mmmm! Gold water (goldwasser is a very nice polish liqueur)

²¹And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

²²And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.

That's it Aaron prove you're part of the family, pass the buck, deny all responsibility.

²³For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

²⁴And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

Goddidit! Honest bruv.

²⁵And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)

Wow! A REAL Party.

²⁶Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

²⁷And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.

To prove god is love........ Go kill any fucker caught enjoying themselves or any fucker that looks like they might enjoy themselves given half a chance.

²⁸And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

²⁹For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

³⁰And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

³¹And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.

³²Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

³³And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

³⁴Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.

³⁵And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
They made the calf which Aaron made......Guilt by association

Tell me again about gods wisdom..

Exodus 31

Exodus 31

¹And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

²See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

³And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,

⁴To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,

⁵And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

Didn't he outlaw all these things in the 10 commandments, just before he had people break the commandment by making the ark ?

⁶And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;

⁷The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle,

⁸And the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense,

⁹And the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot,

¹⁰And the cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office,

¹¹And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.

Obsessing about his furniture and perfume........... No, not gay at all !

¹²And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

¹³Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.

¹⁴Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

You got that!

All of us that have to work on the sabbath are fucked, all utility and service industries, fucked. Farmworkers,Doctors ,Nurses. For that matter Who doesn't work saturdays sometimes ? I am all for having a day or two off work a week but it shows a lack of the alleged foresight to stamp it down on a certain day of the week.

¹⁵Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

C,mon then which of you god botherin bastards wants to come and take me out.

¹⁶Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

We all know how jewellers are always shut on saturdays.

¹⁷It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

He was refreshed by his mum bringing him his dinner.Shame he made such a stupid law........... he could've gone down the pub.

¹⁸And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

Exodus 30

Exodus 30

¹And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.

So the peasants are still hard at it,slaving away furnishing the big tent. No wonder they want to burn some incense. The smell coming from the peasants encampment must be rank !

²A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.

³And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.

⁴And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.

⁵And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

No expense spared, would it be as extravagent if Moses and family had to pay for it ?

⁶And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.

⁷And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.

Yup that'll mask the stench alright.

⁸And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

⁹Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.

Otherwise they might have to clean it themselves, or worse still pay someone else to do it.

¹⁰And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.

¹¹And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

¹²When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.

Which is to say "count the survivors so we can convince future generations none really died in egypt"

¹³This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD.

They must have run out of gold and jewellery.

¹⁴Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD.

Because we live in a lush forest full of shittim trees and shekel bushes. Not in a desert,at the foot of some mountain.

¹⁵The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.

Fleece the poor till thier last shekel is gone then they can sell themselves into slavery for the lawd, Hally-fuckin'-loo-bastard -yah.

¹⁶And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.

Because, de lawd, creator of the universe, needs gold and is incapable of making any.

¹⁷And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

¹⁸Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.

¹⁹For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:

Class tent that... Now with bathroom !

²⁰When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:

²¹So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

Because as we all know not washing your hands and feet will prove to be fatal

²²Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

²³Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,

²⁴And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin:

²⁵And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.

Because we don't want to be going round smelling like commoners now do we ?

²⁶And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony,

²⁷And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense,

²⁸And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot.

²⁹And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.

Does this actually mean "only the holy may touch it, no grubby peasants to touch the precious things, it's a holy tent for holy people"

nd if it does , does that also mean that the word holy, which we think of as meaning spiritual, and in some way better , actually means possessed by selfish,spiteful thieves who should not be trusted with anything ever?

³⁰And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.

³¹And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.

³²Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.

³³Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.

³⁴And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:

³⁵And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:

³⁶And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.

³⁷And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.

³⁸Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

Do you not find it strange ? That we are forever being told that god hates fags/poofs/gays and yet throughout genesis, god and many of the so-called patriarchs were shagging each other silly. Now gods tent has everything "just so",ultra clean and smells like a tarts boudoir, hey, fundy boys and girls I got some news for you...........YOUR GOD MAKES ELTON JOHN LOOK BUTCH !

Exodus 29

Exodus 29

¹And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest's office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish,

Having fleeced them all, of their finery, I'll bet you're thinking Ah! he's not such a bad old tyrant he's gonna throw a barbecue party.Unless you're a gay welshman then you may have different thoughts about the rams.

²And unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shalt thou make them.

Sounds like the beginnings of a first class feast.

³And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams.

⁴And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water.

Why am I thinking this is yet another con ?

⁵And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod:

⁶And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre.

Yep gotta look you best when you're conning someone.

⁷Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.

⁸And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them.

⁹And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them: and the priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock.

Bullock..... Bullocks indeed.

¹¹And thou shalt kill the bullock before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

¹²And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.

¹³And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar.

¹⁴But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.

¹⁵Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.

¹⁶And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar.

¹⁷And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head.

¹⁸And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

¹⁹And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.

²⁰Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.

²¹And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him.

²²Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration:

²³And one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the LORD:

²⁴And thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the LORD.

²⁵And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before the LORD: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

²⁶And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD: and it shall be thy part.

²⁷And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons:

²⁸And it shall be Aaron's and his sons' by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the LORD.

I have to admit I am stumped by this "Heave" offering. Heave to me means to pull,lift or vomit there are other meanings but are mostly variations on a theme so does it mean it's lifted up or thrown up ? I should add that, to get to the bottom of this I read several different translations they all gave the translation "heave" except for, that is, no doubt for a perfectly good reason the New Living Testament gave the translation as "Peace" offering.

²⁹And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them.

³⁰And that son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place.

³¹And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place.

³²And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

³³And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.

³⁴And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them.

³⁶And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.

³⁷Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.

³⁸Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually.

³⁹The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even:

⁴⁰And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering.

⁴¹And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

⁴²This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.

⁴³And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.

⁴⁴And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest's office.

⁴⁵And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.

⁴⁶And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the LORD their God.

If you ask me they are taking the piss, I could understand the building of the ark and it's "temple" on the grounds of inspiring community and duty, not to mention just occupying the people but c'mon what is the point of all this apart from to say to the subdued masses we're in charge and we can do what we want. You are now the slave class you thought you were back in egypt.

Exodus 28

Exodus 28

In saying that, it seems that the whole family is invited to the "big" tent.

¹And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.

²And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.

I am beginning to wonder.... Is Brothers the proper title for Moses and Aarons relationship ? In all my life I have never worried about how my brother dresses himself, but my lover's well !

³And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

Yet another bible verse no doubt used by catholic priests and lately in an alarming but inceasing fashion, baptist ministers. To lure the young and innocent.

⁴And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

⁵And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.

⁶And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work.

⁷It shall have the two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together.

⁸And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

⁹And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:

¹⁰Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.

¹¹With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.

¹²And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial.

¹³And thou shalt make ouches of gold;

¹⁴And two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathen work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches.

¹⁵And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.

¹⁶Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.

¹⁷And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row.

¹⁸And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.

¹⁹And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.

²⁰And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings.

²¹And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

²²And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold.

²³And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

²⁴And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate.

²⁵And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod before it.

²⁶And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward.

²⁷And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod.

²⁸And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.

²⁹And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually.

³⁰And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.

³¹And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.

³²And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent.

³³And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:

³⁴A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.

³⁵And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not.

³⁶And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

³⁷And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be.

³⁸And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

³⁹And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework.

⁴⁰And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.

⁴¹And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.

⁴²And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:

Heyy! Magic underpants....... with the magical power of stopping dangly bits dangling.

⁴³And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

If god is
All-knowing
All- seeing
All- powerful, and he apparently has such a gold fetish.
Why did he not make more of it ?

Exodus 27

Moses gets them to put a nice fence round Jethro's house

¹And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.

²And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.

³And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass.

⁴And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof.

⁵And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.

⁶And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.

⁷And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.

⁸Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

⁹And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side:

¹⁰And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.

¹¹And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

¹²And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.

¹³And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.

¹⁴The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.

¹⁵And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.

¹⁶And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.

¹⁷All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.

¹⁸The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.

¹⁹All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.

²⁰And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.

²¹In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
I so want to ridicule this but I can't . Yes I have no doubt that either Moses, Aaron or Jethro benefited immensely from this endeavour, but I also accept It would have helped focus the Israelites, giving them a common cause and at its completion communal ownership and a focal point.

Exodus 26

Moses makes the Israelites knit a temple tent for the Ark

¹Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

²The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and every one of the curtains shall have one measure.

What ? That's an awful lot of curtain. 28 cubits long, Noahs ark was only 30 cubits high. And they are making ten of them, OK finding them something to do is one thing but this is just taking the piss !

³The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another.

⁴And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling; and likewise shalt thou make in the uttermost edge of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.

⁵Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that is in the coupling of the second; that the loops may take hold one of another.

⁶And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches: and it shall be one tabernacle.

⁷And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make.

⁸The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and the eleven curtains shall be all of one measure.

⁹And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle.

¹⁰And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops in the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.

¹¹And thou shalt make fifty taches of brass, and put the taches into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one.

¹²And the remnant that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth, shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle.

¹³And a cubit on the one side, and a cubit on the other side of that which remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent, it shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side, to cover it.

¹⁴And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers' skins.

¹⁵And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up.

¹⁶Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board.

¹⁷Two tenons shall there be in one board, set in order one against another: thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

¹⁸And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southward.

¹⁹And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.

²⁰And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side there shall be twenty boards:

²¹And their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

²²And for the sides of the tabernacle westward thou shalt make six boards.

²³And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.

²⁴And they shall be coupled together beneath, and they shall be coupled together above the head of it unto one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners.

²⁵And they shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

²⁶And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

²⁷And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the two sides westward.

²⁸And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end.

²⁹And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars: and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold.

³⁰And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount.

³¹And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:

³²And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.

³³And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.

³⁴And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.

³⁵And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side.

³⁶And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.

³⁷And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.
There's not much to say on this, like the construction of the Ark itself it is overly decadent but for occupying the people and giving them a reason to be, the psychology is sound.
Jethro was a very clever man!

It just so happens that he had a very luxurious tent built for him.

Exodus 25

Exodus 25

¹And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying.

For the purposes of this era feel free of course to substitute the name Jethro for lord unless you can make scheming con artist into the dialogue.

²Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.

³And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,

⁴And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,

⁵And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,

⁶Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,

⁷Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.

⁸And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

A wealth of possessions, especially for former slaves, did they steal them, were they "spoils of war" from the battle with Amelek and his people at Rephidim ?

⁹According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

Now, The text tells us for a change in great detail how they constructed the Ark of the Covenent.

¹⁰And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

¹¹And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.

¹²And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.

¹³And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

¹⁴And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.

¹⁵The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.

Now let us look at the construct from a different point of view.

Make a box from an insulating material.

Cover it inside and out with a conductive material.

Give it fixtures so insulated handles can be attached, so it can be moved without touching it directly.

This, in laymens terms is basically what is now known as a Leyden Jar or its more modern counterpart a capacitor.

You may want to read this

¹⁶And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.

¹⁷And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

¹⁸And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

¹⁹And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.

²⁰And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

²¹And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

²²And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

Strange no mention of two tin cans and a piece of string.

Or perhaps the cherubims are the tin cans and its only the string missing ?

Umm Exodus 20 v4: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."

For that matter what about thou shalt not steal, lie, etc. How many of the ten commandments were broken in the commandeering and building of the ark and ancillaries ?

²³Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

²⁴And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.

²⁵And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.

²⁶And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.

²⁷Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.

Ok, Ok! Enough is enough, the ark body itself I can understand the use of gold( it can be beaten really thin to cover a large surface area) but a chair, table and snuff trays, that is just sheer decadence. For a religion that prides itself (allegedly) for giving hope to the poor why does it need them to be bled dry.

Perhaps once all physical hope is gone you can only turn to the supernatural, fuck these midianite priests could teach modern psychologists a thing or two about mind control, even Scientology comes up a long way behind.

²⁸And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.

²⁹And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them.

³⁰And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.

³¹And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.

³²And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:

³³Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.

³⁴And in the candlesticks shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.

³⁵And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.

³⁶Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.

³⁷And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it.

³⁸And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.

Snuff dishes are not dishes for taking snuff or some other sniffable drug but are for snuffing lamps

³⁹Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.

⁴⁰And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

Great ! The refugees are stuck at the foot of a mountain now having to support a parasitical hierarchy , while Moses and his acolytes are fleecing them of their worldly goods to make a box, a table, some candlesticks and associated tools.
It's probably good psychology to give the otherwise aimless people direction, Just a bonus that it removed valuble commodities from people one question remains to be asked .....Was all given utilised in the constructions or did "god" take his 10% ?

Exodus 24

Exodus 24

¹And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.

Which is to say fuck off peasants, we have some scheming to do.

²And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.

³And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.

⁴And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Still with the erections.

Seriously tho' are we sure yhvh is pronounced jehova or yar wey could it not just as easily been Shiva

⁵And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.

Oh pity the starving millions.

⁶And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

Is he going to make some black pudding ?

⁷And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.

⁸And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.

I thought that was supposed to be a satanic ritual. Have them christians been lying ? Oh no, we haven't been introduced to Satan yet the serpent in Eden was just a serpent.

⁹Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:

¹⁰And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

Some strong hallucinogenic there or a slight stretching of the truth.

¹¹And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

Yay space cake and shrooms washed down with a nice chianti

¹²And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.

¹³And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.

¹⁴And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.

¹⁵And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.

Hey man he's got some serious toking to do if he wants to see god.

¹⁶And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

Honest guv ! Oh and Jethro's nowhere to be seen and again, Honest guv !

¹⁷And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.

¹⁸And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

Carving all those laws must have taken a while no wonder they didn't use vowels.