My church started a new Bible study last night. It is The Unbreakable Promise: God’s Covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David, With Michael Rydelnik.
One point that Rydelnik made on the DVD was that traveling east in
the Hebrew Bible often indicates rebellion against God. I think of Cain
going to the land of Nod east of Eden, and Rydelnik mentioned the Tower
of Babel story. Abraham, however, went west when God called him; so
did the Israelites when they entered the Promised Land. What the
significance of this is, that’s an interesting question. There is a map
of the Tabernacle in my HarperCollins Study Bible, and I
notice that a person entering the Tabernacle would go west to get to the
altar. I read someplace that this was so the worshiper’s back would be
towards the rising sun—-the person was walking west to avoid sun
worship. I don’t know how true this is, but it’s an idea.