Exodus

I'm snowed in today, so I'm thought I'd catch up on my "read the Bible in a year" schedule (I was only a couple days behind) and so this morning I was finishing Exodus, where there's all this description of the temple, priestly garments, temple artifacts & stuff. Anyway, here's some questions that came to mind as I read...

• the degree to which the people were to strive for purity and the punishments for violating the standards God set were much higher than the emphasis we put on purity today...but at the same time the will of God was much clearer to them...when the cloud moved, they moved...God resided in the tabernacle...Moses talked to God like he talked to any other person in the tent of meeting. I wonder if there's a correlation
• the "holy dice" thing has always intrigued me. I wonder if sometimes I put too much stock in my own reasoning when it comes to decision-making instead...In Acts, they chose Judas' replacement by "casting lots"... I've never heard of a contemporary church making a decision by throwing dice or casting lots, or anything even close!
• after the golden calf, God wants wipe out everyone and basically start over with Moses, (whom God calls his "friend" by the way)...and then Moses begs on behalf of the people. What do the anti-openness people say to that? Was God being disingenuous? Did Moses' pleading on their behalf really change God's mind? Do my prayers for people really matter?

Just wondering...