“But until today the Lord has not given
you a heart
to understand , eyes to see, ears to
hear…”
–Deuteronomy 29:3
This Sunday we are having a reading
from Deuteronomy, and it has given me a pause to think more about this book
that I suspect is seldom read all the way through. This Sunday at mass we will hear Moses speak
of the new prophet God is sending (18:15-20).
In answer to their prayers and their fears, God is promising a new
prophet (like Moses) who will speak to the people for God. Moses seems to be referring to Joshua --who will take his place leading God's people--
but this reference may also be seen Christologically as a reference to Jesus. But in the context of Deuteronomy, it begs the question: why do the people need a human
leader if they have God? And the Deuteronomical answer seems to be: Because God is too much. They have seen His
terrible fire and heard His fearful voice from the mountain, and they want an interlocutor.
Someone to stand between them and God and speak to them for God (for their own protection).
Fearing for their lives, they
have even prayed God will spare them His presence:
“Never let me hear the voice of the Lord my God
or see His great fire again, or I shall die” (18:16).
But why? According to the story,
God has just guided (or driven) His people through the desert wilderness for 40
years, protecting them, miraculously providing food and water (even from a
rock) and yet they are afraid of Him. Because –they seem to sense—that even now
their eyes are not ready for such a vision and their ears unprepared for such a
voice. They need something a little less
awesome, something/someone a little more familiar; Moses is about to die and
they are afraid to be left alone with God. That is the kind of writing that interests
me. If this were fiction, we would be astonished at the imaginative power of
such a writer. But, we maintain that it
is not fiction; it is (on some historical, spiritual, theological level) the
absolute truth. Wow. What an odd book.
And here I am thinking about it on
a Saturday morning as I finish my cold coffee and last crust of burnt toast,
and wondering myself whether I yet have eyes to see or hears to hear, a heart
to understand.
This question of the eyes and the
ears and the heart, it fascinates me. It
seems, on one level, as Moses hands the people off to Joshua, that he is saying
to them: you weren’t ready before,
because “until today” you didn’t have the ears or eyes or heart, but now… And that made me wonder what Moses might be referring
to. What is it that possibly has changed that might make the people better prepared
for the presence of God? And it occurred
to me, what is this whole book about: the law. God’s law.
Is it possible that God is saying
that with the law we have eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart to understand, but
without it we are blind, deaf and ignorant?
That the reason the law is so important to God and His prophets is that
it is through the law that our eyes and ears will be opened. This vision of the law – not as something restrictive,
imposing burdens on us, but as a gift to help us prepare for the presence of
God; as a kind of practice or exercise to get us in shape for that big day when
we stand before Him. That is how I have come to see God’s law. I think that is
what I am learning from reading these texts and listening to their fearful and
glorious message.
There is another interesting
passage in chapter 29 that might support this idea. Speaking almost like a tour guide, Moses
says:
“…the
nations through whom we have passed. You have seen their abominations and their
idols made of wood and stone, silver and gold…” (29:15-16)
One can
almost hear him saying: Remember all those
exotic people and those fascinating lands we passed through on our journey? On
your right see the wooden idols, on your left please note the human sacrifice
of children, and Oh –look there! See, what a perfect example of an abomination
all decked out in silver and gold!
It is as if
God has taken them on this 40 year journey (in which their sandals never wore
out, (cf. 29:4) as a way to educate and form them into His people and until now
they were blind, until now they were unable to hear or understand, but now “today”
they are graduates ready to receive their diplomas from the school of God’s
journey –the school of wandering—and their diploma is the law.
But, like
many graduates, the chosen people (after 40 years, you’d think they’d have
Ph.Ds) still feel anxious and unprepared for what lies ahead… "Until today" they
were not ready…
As for me, even this morning, I’m still not so sure. But I do know this –I want to keep reading. And I want to get ready.
As for me, even this morning, I’m still not so sure. But I do know this –I want to keep reading. And I want to get ready.
