Two stone tablets stood in the Holy of Holies of the little Judean temple at Arad. (See http://bigbible.org/israel/arad/)

This reflection focuses on two things from this reading, the significance of calling Israel (in the context of making a covenant) a priestly kingdom and a holy nation, and how we should read/understand the ten commandments. (For that part it may help to listen to some of the podcasts here, in particular Casuistic and apodictic: part 1: What the terms mean.) We’ll also end by realising what it means to say Yahweh is a jealous God, and very briefly start thinking about what that jealousy means.