We have at last come to the famous 10 Commandments, one of the most important passages in all the Bible. These 10 rules lay down the basic principles for morality and righteous living and are so widely regarded that they are still prominently displayed at courthouses around the United States. Many still hold them in high esteem.
Despite their importance, in fact because of it, I'm not going to spend a great deal of time on them. An entire series could be spent (and might be in the future) dissecting each of the commandments for their deeper meaning. But because that is not the purpose of this series, I will not focus on them for fear of shortchanging them.
This series is about people, specifically Moses and his relationship with Yahveh although much of Israel's relationship with Yahveh has been discussed. So instead of focusing with the commandments themselves, we're going to talk about the giving of the commandments.
Where we left of last time was Moses leading the Israelites to the foot of Mount Sinai where they are going to meet with Yahveh. The mountain is going nuts and the people are freaking out. Yahveh gives Moses some last minute instructions and Moses goes back down to the people.
Exodus 20 opens with these words: "And God spoke all of these words:"
Think about that for a second. Who is Yahveh talking to? It's not Moses; Moses is back with the people. Is Yahveh talking to himself? Unlikely. So who is he talking to?
Verse 2 goes on, "I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
Again, who is Yahveh talking to? Well, who did he bring out of Egypt? Moses? Again, no. Yahveh sent Moses to Egypt.
No, Yahveh is talking to the Israelites, all of them. Think about that for a minute. Yahveh was talking, audibly, to the entire assembly of Israel. The god of the universe personally addresses a group of people and we have what is simply one of the most amazing events in history.
None of us have ever experienced this. At least I haven't ever gone to church and literally heard Yahveh give the sermon. Now we talk about how Yahveh spoke to us through the preacher or the music or the prayer or something like that, but this is wasn't what the Israelites experienced. They didn't hear Yahveh metaphorically; they literally heard the voice of God.
That must have been a tremendous experience. It was certainly a terrifying one. The Israelites, who were already on edge from the thunder and lightning earlier, were now in full panic mode. After Yahveh had finished giving the commandments, they told Moses to speak to Yahveh for them but not to have Yahveh speak to them directly, otherwise they believed they would die (the fact that they'd just listen to Yahveh and were still alive apparently didn't occur to them).
Moses internal reaction had to be something along the lines of, "Gee, thanks guys. Just offer me up as your sacrificial lamb." Instead he told them to chill out, that Yahveh was testing them so that they wouldn't break the 10 Commandments (which they did, but that's another story). And then the story ends with Moses walking into the thick darkness where Yahveh was while the people stood behind, watching in fear.
This begs a question for me: what was the difference between Moses and the Israelites? How was it that they were peeing their freshly washed pants while Moses seemed so calm about meeting Yahveh face to face? Was he an idiot? Did he just not understand how terrifying Yahveh is?
The answer is quite the opposite. Moses understood far better than the Israelites exactly who he was dealing with and that is why he wasn't afraid.
This seems to be contradictory to the previous post about how Yahveh is this all-powerful untamed entity that could wipe out the universe with a single thought. But now we see the flipside of that.
Consider how Yahveh begins his delivery of the 10 Commandments: "I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
Now there are a million ways Yahveh could've begun that. He could've said, "I am the God who hammered Egypt into the desert." Or he could've said, "I'm the guy who drowned the entirety of Pharaoh's army." Or he simply could've said, "See all this thunder and lightning? Yeah, I'm that guy." But no, he says, "I am the God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." Why that opening?
He did it to remind them that he is the god who rescued them from the land of oppression and misery; to remind them that he loves them.
You see Yahveh went through all of this production to show the people who he is. He is power on an infinite scale yes, but he is also love. Yahveh opens his commandments, which are a declaration of his character (that is a long discussion), with a statement of love and care. This is who Yahveh is.
It is easy to read these stories and get a picture of a powerful and vengeful god who doesn't hesitate to bring the smack down on people who step out of line. We see the plagues raining down on Egypt, the Red Sea massacre, and sound and light show at Sinai. These are the events we focus on because they're epic and memorable.
But what we miss is the manna in the desert, the water from the rock, and the rescue from Egypt. We miss a Yahveh who tracked down Moses tending sheep in the desert so that his people would have a deliver. These are not the acts of a vengeful god, but rather a god of love and kindness. This is who Yahveh is. That is what he wanted his people to remember. It is in that context that he framed the 10 Commandments: love and compassion.
This is not to deny the just side of Yahveh's character; we've expounded at length on that. Rather this is to more fully round out his character. It is easy to focus, like the Israelites, on frightening parts of who Yahveh is and miss the love and goodness that is our God.
And that is the difference between Moses and the Israelites. The Israelites couldn't see past the smoke and thunder and lightning. But Moses knew Yahveh. It wasn't that he didn't see Yahveh's power; he had seen Yahveh's power in ways that even the Israelites couldn't comprehend.
Rather it was that Moses saw all of Yahveh's character. He saw the goodness that defines Yahveh (or rather, the goodness that is defined by Yahveh). He knew, as we have said time and time again, that while Yahveh isn't safe, he is good. And because of that goodness, Moses boldly walked into the presence of Yahveh.
Last time, we talked about how reverence is knowing where we stand in relation to Yahveh. This is the next part of that. Moses knew that he was accepted by Yahveh, failures and all. He trusted (faith again) that acceptance and so could stand calmly in the presence of Yahveh.
This is where faith and reverence meet. Reverence is understanding who we are in relation to Yahveh. Faith is trusting the word of Yahveh as being true and sure. The next step is to come into Yahveh's presence knowing who he is and trusting his promise to accept us as we are. This point is where a real, genuine relationship with Yahveh happens.
Often people live their lives away from this point. Either they live like the Israelites did, quivering in fear and not daring to trust Yahveh's acceptance to get close to him or they live like Pharaoh did: arrogant and cocky, believing themselves to be on the same level as Yahveh.
Moses lived his life at the point where faith and reverence meet. That is why his relationship with Yahveh was so honest, so deep, and so genuine. As we continue to explore the interactions between these two, the realness of their relationship will continue to inspire and astound me. I hope it will you. It is because Moses lived where reverence and faith meet.
You may be asking how to find this point. That is a good question. How did Moses find it? He spent time with Yahveh. He took the leap to get to know him for who he is on his own terms. That is my challenge to you. Take the leap and get to know Yahveh on his terms for who he is.
No comments:
Post a Comment