A Direct Encounter with Yhovah

In the 19th Chapter of the Exodus, the people experience a prolonged encounter with a great craft about two weeks after the food miracle and the warding off an unsuccessful attack by Amalek, the chief of an Idumean tribe. at Rephidim. (The defeat of Amalek is a miracle in itself, and involves what seems to be Moses using some form of psychokenesis. Exodus 17:10-12) Yhovah demands that a strict perimeter be established around mount Sinai, where the vehicle is about to land, and the people are warned that breaching that perimeter could cause death to humans and animals. The craft is so huge, it causes the million-plus people witnessing it to tremble at the bright lights and terrible sounds coming from it. Moses goes up the mountain and into the vehicle, and Yhovah reinforces his warning about the deadly perimeter. Moses goes back down the mountain, warns the people, and Yhovah begins to speak directly to them, giving his commandments from the vehicle.

These commandments continue from the 20th through the 23rd chapters of Exodus. In the 24th chapter, after the vehicle has been on the mountain for 6 days, Yhovah calls Moses back up into the vehicle, where he remains for 40 days, receiving instructions for a mobile tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, and other items from models Moses sees in the vehicle (verse 40). Yhovah gives minute details of everything in the tabernacle, and the rituals and restrictions to be performed in it, and personally writes it all down on stone tablets with his own hand.

Moses is Transformed and the Long Journey Begins

While Moses is gone, the attention span of the people proves to be very short, and they build a pagan altar, which Moses breaks in anger. After this discretion is dealt with, Moses returns to the vehicle and Yhovah makes him rewrite the edicts and he brings these new tablets to the people. Moses' face is glowing so intensely after the prolonged meeting with Yhovah that the people are afraid to come near him, and he is forced to cover his face with a veil. Moses oversees the building of the tabernacle and the ark and the vehicle leads the Hebrew nation through the wilderness for the next 40 years.

Descriptions Verify a Flying Vehicle was Guiding the Exodus: • The escort that accompanies the travelers is called a "pillar of a cloud" by day and a "a pillar of fire" by night. The word pillar is translated from `ammuwd, pronounced, am-mood; a column as standing; also a stand, i.e. platform. This means that this could either be a column or a platform that had the appearance of a cloud in the daylight and, when the sun went down, it was illuminated. And, it was staying close to the people, in other words, hovering. When considered, in light of the many other descriptions, replacing the word platform where pillar appears seems a more logical choice.

• The platform comes directly between the Hebrews and the pursuing Egyptian army. (Exodus 14:19)

• The platform harassed the Egyptian army. (Exodus 14:24)

• The "glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud" that leads the Hebrews. (Exodus 16:10)

• The Lord ascended on Mount Sinai, with great lights beaming into the night sky, shaking the mountain greatly, and broadcasting very loud sounds, with increasing volume. (Exodus 19:18 -20, 20:18)

A Direct Encounter with Yhovah

• People were fearful of the vehicle. (Exodus 20:18)

• The platform/cloud descended and hovered. (Exodus 33:9, 34:5, Numbers 12:5)

• The platform/cloud ascended. (Exodus 40:36)

• God broadcasts his voice from the platform/cloud. (Exodus 33:9, 34:5, Psalms 99:7)

• The people follow the platform wherever it led them, and it was always with them. (Exodus 40:36-38, Numbers 9:17-18, 10:34, Nehemiah 9:19)

• The cloud provided shade and light. (Numbers 9:16)

• The platform/cloud hovered above the group for days, months and even up to a year. (Numbers 9: 22)

• The cloud took off from the ground and landed on the ground. (Numbers 10:11-12)

• The vehicle protected the people. (Numbers 14:14)

• The platform/cloud scouts ahead for places, where the Hebrews could rest. (Deuteronomy 1:33)

A reading of the Exodus Encounter will give a more complete view of this 40-year close encounter. In the next installment of Close Encounters of the Biblical Kind we will cover the other famous contacts experienced by Elijah and Ezekiel, and more testimonies from biblical contactees.