Word to the Wise
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - Tuesday in the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
[Exod 33:7-11; 34:5b-9, 28 and Matt 13:36-43,1026]The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another.
The liturgical calendar occasionally produces some confusing results in the scriptures. The last section from Exodus, last week, had all the Israelites agreeing to the covenant represented in the ten commandments. The feast of St. James, however, interrupted the flow and deprived us of the dramatic incident of the Golden Calf!! The story resumes today, but the context has been lost. At this point, God has withdrawn the divine "presence" from the Israelites and Moses is trying to make amends for the grievous sin of idolatry. The "renegotiation" takes place at a special tent outside the camp. Eventually God relents and orders Moses back up the mountain for a new set of the commandments, which, one may recall, Moses broke into pieces when he discovered the Golden Calf!
At this point, then, the story, still somewhat piecemeal in the way the lectionary presents it, offers us two different expressions of Moses' relationship to God. The sentence quoted above mentions Moses speaking to God "face to face, as one man speaks to another." [v. 11] However, in that same chapter, a few verses later, Moses asks God for a vision of God's glory. God responds that Moses will hear God's name but only indirectly see God's glory: "But my face you cannot see, for no man sees me and still lives..."
All of this occurs in the context of Moses trying to persuade God to once more renew the covenant and the divine presence with the people. God is not pouting or being coy. The sin of the Israelites was a grievous abandonment of the covenant. It is God's prerogative to accept or reject their request for forgiveness. Nevertheless it is in the very nature of God to show mercy. The idea that God will punish succeeding generations for the sins of their ancestors, however, will disappear. What matters in this part of the story is God's power and mercy. On a more human level, we are treated to the skills of Moses as he serves in the role of leadership! He's got my vote! AMEN
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