Without The Camp

Without the Camp

Exodus 33:1-11

The Children of Israel had just committed a grievous sin by worshiping the golden calf, which was total apostacy. Instead of accepting Yahweh’s invitation to be a special people unto Himself, they had chosen to worship other gods, just like the other nations. Were it not for the intercession of Moses, the LORD might well have destroyed them all. Nevertheless, severe judgment ensued, and three thousand died,

One of the consequences for Israel’s actions can be found in the text we just read from Exodus 33:1-11. The LORD would fulfill His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give their descendants the land of Canaan. But instead of leading them directly, he would instead send an angel. The repeated offenses of Israel continuously provoked the LORD and violated His holiness. He could not dwell any longer in the camp. Originally the Tabernacle was located in the very midst of the camp with three tribes on each side. The LORD made his presence in the midst of the congregation. This is not to say that the LORD is omnipresent. He is indeed everywhere, but His presence was specially among His people. The LORD distanced Himself, lest they be consumed in His wrath.

The people were grieved at the news. They cast off their ornaments as an act of repentance. They had given ornaments of gold to make the golden calf. Moses had the calf burnt and ground to powder. The people had been forced to eat the golden dust. They had to eat their sin. The very gold they plundered from the Egyptians had become a snare. Their sin had been openly portrayed when they danced naked before the golden calf. Their ornamental covering had undone them. They would need to find another covering for their nakedness.

the text tells us that Moses pitched the tabernacle without the camp, as the King James Version puts it. Moses would go there to meet the LORD in His the tent which Moses had pitched to meet the LORD. Everyone who wanted to meet the LORD had to travel without the camp, When Moses would leave the camp to come to the tent of meeting, the people watched from the doors of their tents. They saw Moses enter that tent, and then the pillar of cloud descended upon the place, and the people worshiped the LORD. When Moses had left speaking face to face with the LORD, he would return to the camp and the people. He would bring whatever message the LORD had unto the people.

What is interesting is that Joshua, the son of Nun, would remain in the tent continually, even after Moses left. He would bask in the presence of the LORD. Joshua would later lead the Children of Israel into the conquest of Canaan.

It is too bad that the preaching lectionaries which select passages of Scripture to be preached and taught from week to week skip over this wonderful passage. Yes, the passage on the golden calf is important. And the next text which follows the golden calf for the next week if one preaches from the Old Testament selection for the week is important also. It talks about Moses wanting to see the glory of the LORD. He was told he could not see Yahweh directly, but He would hide Moses in the cleft of the rock with His hand while he passed by. Moses could then see Him from the back. But this passage has a lot to teach us as well, and I feel it would be useful to see the important message this passage brings.

We read in Leviticus about another incident which happened without the camp in Leviticus 16:20-22:

Leviticus 16:20–22 NKJV

“And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

This refers to what is called “Yom Kippur” or the “Day of Atonement” which was celebrated a couple of weeks earlier. It was a day of afflicting the soul and fasting. It was a day in which two goats were presented before the High Priest. One of these goats was sacrificed. The other goat. called the “scapegoat” had the sins of the people confessed over it. These sins were transferred to the goat which was then taken without the camp and released. In this way the sin was removed and expiated from the people.