The Free Thinkers guide to the Bible

Part 2 #3 - The veil of Moses

Revealing the veiled battle for authority

Welcome back to the Free Thinkers guide to the bible. I created this series so that ‘anyone’ can explore and understand the bible. You don’t need to be a biblical scholar; all you need is a desire to see what is written. I will present to you several biblical examples and demonstrate the process of sifting the accounts to reveal the hidden. This process is very similar to archeology, where the layers are excavated and analyzed. Just not the dirty part, though you will be digging up some dirt along the way.

Warning:

The series unfolds like a story in a book. Please study the content in the order it is presented in order to have the best experience.

When reading the bible or listening to a Priest, Rabbi or Pastor, have you heard or read contradictions, peculiarities or repetitions that caused your subconscious mind to pause and attempt to reconcile them? Like myself, You may have told yourself “I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation for this”, or “I will look into that later”… more than likely you never got around to it, or decided like the majority of people, that you would trust those with more experience than yourself.

If you are tired of relying on religious authorities to answer the difficult questions with unsatisfying responses that raise more questions than they answer. If you truly seek answers; continue reading the presentations in this series and I will show you how to easily explore the Bible and answer the hard questions yourself.

In the second part of the series we explore unusual and complex passages that portray Moses and Aaron in diminished or elevated situations. We submit to you that some of these contrasts were deliberately placed in strategic areas to influence the reader.

Before beginning please read Exodus chapter 33:12 – 34:35

The veil of Moses "B" Deuteronomist affiliated writer

Moses diminished

We begin in chapter thirty-three before Moses goes up to the Mount the second time…

Exo 33:12 And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is Thy people.

14 And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

15 And he said unto Him; if Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. 16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.

17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

19 And He said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. 20 And He said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see Me, and live. 21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: 22 And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand while I pass by: 23 And I will take away Mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but My face shall not be seen.

We read that Moses asks the Creator for His “presence” (pâneh - face) to be with the people during their travels. He also asks to see the “glory” (kâbôd - splendor). He is granted both requests.

Moses Makes New Tablets "B" Deuteronomist affiliated writer

Exo 34:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. 2 And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. 3 And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount. 4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. 9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord (אֲדֹנָי - 'ădônây), let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

Moses saw the splendor of the Creator while on the mount. He again asked the Creator to walk among them and pardon their faults and offenses.

The Shining Face of Moses "A" Priestly writers

Exo 34:29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. 31 And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. 32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. 34 But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. 35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Moses came down from the mount having spent forty days and nights of fasting. The writer stated that Moses face shone and Aaron and the people were afraid to come near him. These passages assert that every time Moses went into the Tabernacle of the congregation to meet with the Creator, his face would shine and he would have to veil his face. This account is the only example that state that this occurred.

Note: The Deuteronomy 10 account of this event does not mention that Moses face 'shone'.

Is this a clever addition meant to diminish Moses; or are they the facts as the writer knew them to be? This certainly casts Moses in a peculiar position. Ponder this as we continue our studies.

Please continue the study in Part 2 #4 'The Rebellion of Miriam and Aaron'