The children. s pictorial Bible, an abridgment of the Old and New Testaments ...

beneath the mount. And 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.

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

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

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

And 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.

And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

And 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.

And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

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

And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: and I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite: unto a land flowing with milk and honey for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people lest I consume thee in the way.

And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on his ornaments. For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.

And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.

Questions and Explanations.

Question.-Why did the Israelites make a golden

calf? Answer.—Although they had promised to obey the Lord, they were so weak and wicked that they could not wait patiently for the return of Moses from the mount, and Aaron was more weak and wicked than they, for he had seen the glory of the Lord, and knew His power and faithfulness. The weakness of Aaron is shown in the poor excuse he made to Moses. The Egyptians worshipped the ox, and many of the Israelites seem to have remembered that idolatry, and to have turned from the God of Israel to put their trust in a figure like that before which the Egyptians worshipped, and even to believe that it had brought them out of Egypt. It is distinctly stated in other parts of the Bible that while in bondage the Israelites yielded to the idolatry of the Egyptians. The Lord spoke of them as "stiffnecked," that is, a hardened, obstinate people, and threatened to destroy those who had turned to idolatry, while remembering His promise to make a great nation of Moses and those who with him remained faithful.

Q-How were the Commandments written on the tables of stone?

A.-On both their sides, meaning on two opposite slabs,
like the facing pages of a book.

Q-Why did Moses break the stones on which the
Commandments were written?

A.-The act was not perhaps intentional. We read that
when he came near the camp, he saw the people dancing
wildly, like heathen savages, having even thrown aside
their clothing, and he was very angry. In his haste to
destroy the golden calf, he may have thrown down the
heavy stones he was carrying, and so broke them.
Q.-Were not the idolaters terribly punished?

A. Yes. Moses first asked who was on the Lord's side;
and the tribe of Levi, to which he himself belonged,
came to him. They had remained faithful, and to them
was entrusted the duty of punishing the others. They
were to spare none, even of their own nearest relations,
who had insulted and defied the Lord. It would seem
that the three thousand slain were those who had led
others astray, men, perhaps, of importance; for on the
following day Moses prayed the Lord to forgive the rest
of the people, to blot them out of His book, that is, to
hold their sin no more in remembrance.

MOSES SEES THE GLORY OF THE LORD.

AND Moses took the tabernacle, and

pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.

And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.

And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.

And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.

And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

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. 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.

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

And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. 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.

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.

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

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. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock 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: and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

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. 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. 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.

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.

And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him,

and proclaimed The LORD, The LoRa God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. 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.

And Moses made haste, and bowed his head towards the earth, and worshipped. And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, 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.

And he said, Behold, I make a covenant before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thec.

Observe thou that which I command thee this day behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:

But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, cut down their groves: for thou shalt worship no other god for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go after their gods and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; and thou take of their daugh ters unto thy sons, and their daughters go after their gods, and make thy sons go after their gods. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.

The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt

eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.

Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest. And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.

Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.

Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.

The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did

neither eat bread nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

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.

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.

And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. 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.

And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. 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. 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.

Questions and Explanations.

Question.-What tabernacle did Moses pitch without the camp

Answer. The great tabernacle was not yet built; that mentioned, therefore, was probably an ordinary tent, very likely Moses' own, to serve as a place of worship until the erection of the other. The Lord accepted it, for His presence was made known by the cloudy pillar at the door.

Q.-Did Moses see all the glory of God?

4.-No. The Lord told him that no man could see His glory and live. We must, therefore, suppose that when it was said that Moses and Aaron and the seventy elders saw the Lord, they only saw the light which surrounded the Divine presence, and not the Lord Himself. Those who are saved by faith will, in heaven, "see him as he is."

Q.-The Israelites were commanded "to cut down

the groves" of the heathen nations. What was meant by that?

A. Some of the idolatrous people set up images in groves or woods, to which the worshippers went and acted abominably. They are referred to in other parts of Scripture.

Q-Is the name Jealous" given to the Lord in any other part of the Bible?

A.-No; but in the Commandments He describes Himself as a "jealous God," not permitting worship to be given to any other name.

Q. Why did the face of Moses shine? A.-The Lord permitted some of His own glory to be reflected upon the face of Moses. Painters frequently represent Moses with rays of light coming from his head, almost like horns, but this does not perfectly convey the meaning of the passage.

THE BUILDING OF THE TABERNACLE.

ND all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.

And 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. And 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. And 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.

Every 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.

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

And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; and spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.

The 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.

And 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; and he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; and to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.

And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. Them 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 fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.

Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the LORD put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD had commanded.

And Moses Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: and they received of Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.

And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made; and they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make.

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