Our story today begins with an example of creativity gone bad
– this episode is a mirror image of the previous seven chapters
• it runs parallel to God’s instructions for the sacred tent
◦ only what is produced here is a grotesque distortion
• the resources that were to be used for God’s tent–
◦ including the sacred objects, sacrifices, and service of its artisans and priests
◦ gets hijacked by patchwork cult
– we can explore this episode using a key marker
• when the word “this” is used in a dismissive way
◦ for example, the way the Israelites refer to this Moses in verse 1
◦ “this” creates distance from a person
(like when a mother refers to her child as “this son of yours . . . .”)
• when we come to these markers, they will indicate a change of attitude