![\"No](\"https:\/\/scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net\/v\/t1.0-9\/31697392_10155261196996968_2032802815696437248_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=de3280799a5b8bc8b1b1705a7a8bc512&oe=5B50B2AE\")
<\/p>\nPete Vere pointed this out to me.\u00a0 It\u2019s the interesting structure of the Noah narrative:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The reason it interests me is that the sacred author uses a similar technique in Exodus.\u00a0 It has the effect of placing what the author want you to see (in this case, the core lesson that God did not forget Noah and the rest of his creation) within a sort of nesting set of parentheses which parallel each other before and after the central point.<\/p>\n
In Exodus, you get a long and entertaining narrative about the oppression in Egypt, the ten plagues, the Passover, the escape from Egypt, and the giving of the Ten Commandments.<\/p>\n
And then everything stops and get super boring as chapter after chapter crawls by with long elaborate instructions how to build the tabernacle, and make the Ark of the Covenant, and Aaron\u2019s priestly robes.\u00a0 Then, the story kicks back in and you get the narrative of the Golden Calf.\u00a0 Then, it returns to telling you that \u201cwe made the Tabernacle, the Ark, and Aaron\u2019s robes just the way God told us to do it.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s where it ends.\u00a0 What gives?<\/p>\n
The point is the same as the structure of the Noah account.\u00a0 The instructions about the cult sacrificial furniture, Ark, and priestly garments are the first set of nesting parentheses. The account of the making of all these things is the second set of nesting parentheses.\u00a0 And in the middle?\u00a0 The story of the sin of the Golden Calf.\u00a0 What the Fall of Man is in Christian theology is something like what the sin of the Golden Calf is in the theology of Exodus.\u00a0 The great primal sin of Israel, and the emblematic and archetypal betrayal of God by his people.\u00a0 The whole priestly system prescribed for Israel and surrounding that massive sin is there as a reminder of that sin\u2013and of God\u2019s provision to forgiven and care for Israel despite that sin.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pete Vere pointed this out to me.\u00a0 It\u2019s the interesting structure of the Noah narrative: The reason it interests me is that the sacred author uses a similar technique in Exodus.\u00a0 It has the effect of placing what the author want you to see (in this case, the core lesson that God did not forget […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[306],"class_list":["post-103703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-scripture"],"yoast_head":"\n