Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

About seven weeks after leaving Egypt, the Israelites finally make it to the wilderness

of Sinai, at the base of Mount Sinai.

We've seen this mountain referred to earlier in Scripture as the Mountain of God, and it's

probably also the same place as Mount Horib.

It seems to be one of God's favorite places.

Here God calls to Moses from out of the mountain, and Moses passes his words along to the people.

These people who, as far as we can tell, seem to complain more than they praise, promise

to do everything God commands of them.

We'll see.

God says he's going to meet the people at Mount Sinai, so they need to consecrate themselves.

This is the same thing he called them to do for the firstborns, and it basically means

set them apart and prepare them to encounter God.

It usually involves a bath and some clean clothes.

And Moses also tells them to abstain from sex during this time, not because women are

evil, but because things like seminal fluids and blood are symbols of life and death.

As far as their laws for cleanliness are concerned, to be depleted of either of those things

points to the depletion of life, which wasn't considered an appropriate way to honor the

presence of the giver of life.

When the people come to meet God, they cannot touch the mountain, or they'll die.

And if someone does touch it, no one is allowed to touch that person.

That would mean the transfer of both the death sentence that person was carrying and the

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