Ep. 41. Exodus 40 | Year One
EPISODE 41
YEAR ONE: EXODUS 40
With this post, we bring Exodus to a close, though we will certainly come back to it as we visit various texts from both the Old and New Testaments. I have found it helpful in my studies and in the notes I make in my Bibles to keep track of the timeline of the Exodus (and later the captivity) by jotting down the day, month, and year when those details are given to me. For example, we know the people left Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month in the first year of their exodus or 15-1-1. That occurred for us in Exodus 12. Now, here we are in Exodus 40 on the first day of the first month in the second year, or 1-1-2. That means that two weeks less than one year has passed in 28 chapters. That may come as a surprise, especially if you read all the way through the measurements of the tabernacle twice in Exodus. It probably feels as though a decade has passed, but it has not. By the way, understanding the timeline of the Bible goes a long way to helping to understand the different narratives found therein.
Now, we ought to pay attention to the months as outlined during the flood, and we see that each of them lasts 30 days. (don't assume our 365-day calendar) We know the people of God will wander in the wilderness for forty years. Here is the basic breakdown of that timeline.
Exodus 12-40: Almost one year. (let's call it a year to make it easier)
Leviticus 1-27: 8-14 days (I'll explain this a little bit in a coming video)
Numbers 1-13: five months (Also Numbers starts in chapter 7)
Numbers 14-20: 38 Years!
Numbers 21-36: Five months
Deuteronomy 1-33: 30 Days
Deuteronomy 34: 30 Days
Joshua 1-4: a couple weeks
I don't expect you to just believe me on this, but I'll point it out as we get to each of these places. I just thought you might appreciate having a cheat sheet before we got into the nitty gritty of it all.
Here is what we have so far in Exodus. It took the people three months to reach Mount Sinai. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and then another forty days. That takes us roughly six months into the exodus. Presumably, the next six months will be spent building the things for the tabernacle. Then, on the first day of the first month of the second year, the tabernacle was erected, and the consecration of Aaron and his sons began. I adore the details, and though I don't expect you'll geek out on them as I do, I do hope they will give you greater insight and understanding of the flow of Scripture. To my fellow detail geeks, we are just getting started.
ADDITIONAL READING: Leviticus 8; Hebrews 9:4; Exodus 25:9,40; 2 Chronicles 7:1-3
