Intractable according to Dictionary.com:
Adjective: not easily controlled or directed; not docile or manageable; stubborn; obstinate:
In my use of the word intractable there may be some that are confused by its use in context with the Tabernacle used in the Exodus. I simply meant that the Tabernacle housing the Ark of the Covenant was meant to go with us as we follow God. Given that the tablets of the law were housed in the Ark, it might appear to some that I was calling the law intractable. I have a different word for that; legalistic.
I do not wish to convey to anyone the term legalist. In order to persuade you that it is not my desire to call anyone a legalist, allow me to recount some of the laws that should result in death. These are in order of appearance in the Old Testament.
Exodus 21:29 if an animal is known to be dangerous and the owner does not control the animal and it kills anyone, the animal and the owner shall be put to death.
Exodus 35:2 anyone who works on the Sabbath shall be put to death.
Leviticus 24:16 anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death.
Leviticus 24:21 anyone who kills shall be put to death
Numbers 1:51 a stranger who comes anywhere near the wilderness tabernacle shall be put to death
Numbers 3:10 a stranger who tries to serve the night priest shall be put to death
Numbers 3:38 a stranger that approaches the sanctuary of the Lord shall be put to death
Numbers 18:7 a stranger that comes to serve as a priest shall be put to death
Deuteronomy 13:5 a false prophet shall be put to death
I think that is enough. You get the idea of intractable. It is not by accident that I end this list with Deuteronomy 13:5 as this very “law” was cited in accusing Jesus and trying to stone Him to death.
Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
The “weightier matters of the law” cannot be understood without the help of God who has sent His Spirit to abide in us in Truth to keep us from becoming intractable. We are meant to go with God.