Soil from Stone

Multiple Chiasms and Parallelisms in Exodus 33

God made us so good at spotting patterns that sometimes we see them when they aren't there. I have to wonder if this might be one of those times. Although the presence of patterns in this passage is certain, I am less confident that I have diagrammed them correctly.

A Chiasm in Exodus 33:7

And Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it outside the camp, far off from the camp.

And he called it the tabernacle of the congregation.

And it happened that everyone seeking Jehovah went to the tabernacle of the congregation which was outside the camp.

A Chiasm in Exodus 33:8

And it happened as Moses went to the tabernacle,

the people all rose and stood, each one at the door of his tent.

And they looked after Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle.

A Parallelism in Exodus 33:9-11a

And it happened as Moses went into the tabernacle,

the pillar of cloud would come down and stand at the door of the tabernacle.

And He spoke with Moses.

And all the people would see the pillar of the cloud standing at the door of the tabernacle.

And all the people rose and bowed themselves, each one at the door of his tent.

And Jehovah would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

A Chiasm in Exodus 33:11b-12a

And he would return to the camp. And his attendant, Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the middle of the tabernacle.

And Moses said to Jehovah, Behold,
You are saying to me, Cause this people to go up.

And You, You have not told me whom You will send with me.

A Chiasm in Exodus 33:12b-17

And yet You have said, I know you by name, and

also you have found favor in My eyes. And now, if I have found favor in Your eyes, please make me see Your ways, and let me know You, so that I may find favor in Your eyes; and consider that this nation is Your people.

And He said, My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.
And they said to Him, If Your presence does not go, do not cause us to go up from here.

And now by what can it be known that I and Your people have found favor in Your eyes? Is it not in Your going with us? And we are distinguished, I and Your people, from all the nations which are on the face of the earth? And Jehovah said to Moses, This thing which you have spoken I will do. For you have found favor in My eyes, and

I know you by name.

A Chiasm in Exodus 33:18-23

And he said, I pray, let me see Your glory.

And He said, I will cause all My goodness to pass before your face. And I will call out the name of Jehovah before your face.

And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.

And He said, You are not able to see My face; for no man can see Me and live. And Jehovah said, Behold, a place by Me! And you shall stand on a rock.

And as My glory is passing it will be that I will put you in a cleft of the rock; and I will cover My hand over you during My passing. And I will remove My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face cannot be seen.

Jacob's Divided Camp

On the whole, division weakens a people, but not always. Jacob showed wisdom in dividing his camp before Esau in Genesis 32-33
►Many small good deeds can be more powerful than one great favor. It's easy to forget something that happens once, no matter how good it is. "Repetition is the mother of learning," they say.
►Esau wasn't a future-thinker. Jacob's servile abasement appealed to his pride & impetuousness. Once again, Jacob got what he wanted by giving Esau what he wanted. Nevermind that Esau would regret it many years later.
►A gentle answer turns away wrath. Esau expected anger, but found love instead. How do you respond to someone who answers your threats with gifts and a hug?
►In the face of a superior enemy, divide your forces. This is an oft-used guerilla tactic. If your amassed forces stand no chance, divide them up. Smaller groups are more mobile and force the enemy to expend more resources for every meaningless victory. In doing this, Jacob hoped and worked for peace, but prepared for war.

A Chiasm Centered on the Deception of Isaac

A: V18 – Who are you?
B: V19 – I am Esau
  C: Your firstborn
      D: I’ve done what you asked
          E: Get up and eat so you can give me your blessing
              F: V20 – God granted success
                  G: V21-22 – Parallelism, part 1
                          1. Come near
                          2. Isaac feels Jacob’s hands
                      H: V23-25 – Isaac believes the lie

G: V26-27 – Parallelism, part 2

1. Come near

2. Isaac smells Jacob’s clothes

F: V28-29 – Isaac blessed Jacob

E: V31 – Get up and eat so you can give me your blessing

D: I am your son

C: Your firstborn

B: Esau

A: V32 – Who are you?

Words Are Just Labels

Sometimes when people start getting back into Scripture, they discover things they never knew were there, they get convicted, they get excited... And sometimes they get a little carried away by things they read or hear without considering the greater context. For example, in Exodus 23:13, God said "Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips."

Years ago, when I was first getting really serious about trying to obey God, I thought this meant we needed to stop using "Tuesday" and "January" because they were named for pagan gods.

Some people take that even further and say we shouldn't use words like "lord" and "god" because the True God shouldn't be made to share his titles with false gods.

But then there's this:

For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. Isaiah 54:5

We all know this is talking about YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (The all-caps LORD always means that the original Hebrew read "YHWH".) There's absolutely no question about it. Isaiah is relaying a message from God about Himself to the people of Israel. Did you also know that the Hebrew word God used to describe himself as a "husband" is ba'al, the exact same word used as to refer to the chief Canaanite god? It can be translated as husband, master, lord, etc.
In other places, God YHWH calls himself El and Adonai, which translate almost exactly to god and lord, respectively.

All words and sounds are abused and co-opted at times for sinful purposes, but there is no such thing as a "pagan" word or sound any more than there can be a pagan hammer or a pagan screwdriver. Words are just tools used to convey information, and, just like hammers, they can be misused.

Some nouns carry more information than others, but in the end they're just labels. God, lord, ba'al... these are generic nouns that are sometimes used as proper nouns, just like Father, Doctor, or President. The chief Canaanite god was often called Ba'al, but YHWH also called himself ba'al.

If pagans worship a god of the trees and they call it Tree, are we then forbidden to use the word "tree" ever again? Of course not. Even if there was a real being masquerading as the god of the trees, that word doesn't belong to him, and it's not really his name.

When God said "Don't let the names of false gods pass your lips" in Exodus 23:13, he didn't mean, "Don't speak the phonetic equivalents of their names and don't ever use those nouns again." No. What he meant was, "Don't call on false gods. Don't swear by their names, don't honor them by talking about them in a favorable manner, don't pray to them, don't act in their names, and don't speak for them."

Words are just tools to represent information through speech and writing. Don't confuse the labels for the realities, and don't let the world dictate your speech.

The Law, Rightfully Used

Making Torah (aka the Law) the object of our lives leads inevitably to failure. We ought never to keep God’s Law for the sake of the Law itself nor for the sake of the veneer of righteousness that it provides, but for the sake of the Lawgiver who gave us His Torah out of love for us and a desire to see us succeed as children of God and citizens of His Kingdom. Torah is a blessing and a guide to those who keep it out of love for our Creator and Redeemer. It is a curse and an obstacle to those who attempt to keep it pridefully. (Romans 9:30-32)

A Toldot Playlist on Youtube:

Yeshua Is More Real than Caesar

99.9% of all history is based on documentary evidence. You cannot reasonably claim to believe in a historical Julius Caesar based on historical documents and claim to disbelieve in a historical Jesus based on a lack of historical documents. There is more documentary historical evidence for the physical existence of Yeshua than for that of Julius Caesar, Senacharib, or Plato.