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ESERT W ANDERINGS Tan (the color of the desert) Following the Story The Desert Wanderings period picks up the story of Scripture in Numbers, the fourth book of the Bible. The English title follows the Greek text, which names the book “Numbers” for the two censuses that take place in the narrative. The name of this book in the Hebrew text, however, is “In the Wilderness,” taken from its opening words and its focus on Israel’s wanderings in the desert. In addition to the narrative book of Numbers, this chapter will also briefly discuss the supplemental books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. T he next chapter of Israel’s story is a short, one-generation period of about forty years recounted in the book of Numbers. On the surface, Numbers is the dramatic story of runaway slaves crossing a hostile wilderness, but the deeper drama is found in Israel’s struggle to keep from reverting to their former Egyptian way of life and to accept their new identity as the Lord’s holy people. Framing Israel’s wilderness wandering are two censuses, numbering those men able to go into battle in preparation for the conquest of the Promised Land (Nm 1, 26). These two numberings mark two distinct generations of God’s people. The first generation, who were freed from Egypt, are prepared for war and led across the desert, but at the crucial moment their fear causes them to despair of taking the p 90 land, which reignites a desire to return to Egypt and results in rebellion and failure to enter the Promised Land. The second generation endures a stumbling and yet persevering journey that, despite their sin, crosses the threshold of promise and enters the land that the first generation rejected. Numbers’ narrative of these two generations unfolds in three acts. In the first act, Israel is encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai. Delayed by the disastrous worship of the golden calf, Israel is put in a holding pattern so as to receive further instructions about liturgy and life as God’s people, instructions aimed at safeguarding Israel against pagan idolatry. The second act recounts the journey from Sinai to the Promised Land, a journey that proves dangerous indeed, with hunger, thirst, hostile beasts, marauding tribes, and Israel’s own fear and pride. The third act begins when a second generation of Israelites arrives at the edge of the Promised Land. On the plains of Moab, Moses gives additional instructions and the covenant constitution that will govern Israel in their new homeland and define their destiny for many generations to come. In addition to being a great story, Numbers includes lessons for those who recall it. St. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to pay close attention to Israel’s wilderness story, for its lessons are perennial and echo in the life of anyone who is loosed from allegiance to this world so as to begin the exciting—yet at times disconcerting—journey of walking with God. A CT 1: C AMPING AT S INAI The Wings of God’s Protection In Exodus 19, God describes leading Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai with a moving metaphor: “I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (Ex 19:4). The psalmist, too, will sing, “How precious is thy steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge in the shadow of thy wings” (Ps 36:7). Israel is God’s brood, and Sinai is a temporary nesting place. In later Jewish tradition the poetic line from Psalm 36 is used in prayer at the beginning of the morning as the prayer shawl is taken over one’s shoulders, imitating the outstretched wings of Yahweh that shadow and shelter his beloved. p 91 The image of divine wings giving shelter is also the overarching image in Psalm 91, which becomes the psalm for night prayer. Much of Psalm 91 hints at the story of the Exodus and wilderness wandering, as it speaks of pathways, dangers, pestilence, tents, and serpents. As the psalmist sojourns along paths laden with dangers, the sole refuge is the Lord, who “will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge” (Ps 91:4). Thus, the Jewish tradition, reflecting on God’s shelter for Israel in the wilderness, prays for protection by invoking God’s sheltering wings in the morning and the evening. Camp Sinai If Sinai is only a temporary nest, then the time soon comes for the Israelites to leave the nest and journey to their permanent home. First, however, they must learn how to live as God’s people. Israel spends a little over a year at Sinai, hearing God’s further instructions regarding the tabernacle, liturgy, and priesthood, and learning the way of life expected from the people God calls to be holy as he is holy. These instructions are given to Moses on Mount Sinai, after the golden calf incident (Ex 32) but before the departure into the wilderness (Nm 10:11–12) and are recorded in the book of Leviticus. The purpose of Leviticus is to teach Israel the principles of holiness. God’s holy presence amidst a sinful people requires rules governing worship and the sanctuary where God abides. The people receive laws governing their holiness, from kosher foods to sexual purity. The priests and Levites, who administer the liturgy and serve in the sanctuary, are directed to live by a standard of holiness and ritual purity commensurate with their holy station. The point of all these laws is to deal with the difficult situation of a holy God living amidst a less-than-holy people. While the cultic laws, ranging from animal sacrifice to prohibitions against pork, are all focused on the question of holiness, Christian readers are often incapable of appreciating Leviticus and its many regulations because we stand on the other side of the cross. Therefore, an analogy is helpful. One thing in our own day that involves numerous regulations is nuclear waste. Because of the danger posed by nuclear waste, there are reams of rules governing how it is to be stored and moved, and where it can be placed. For those who work with p 92 nuclear waste, there are a multitude of rituals that govern behavior around these unstable substances. Communities located near proposed nuclear disposal sites vehemently oppose them due to the fear of radioactive contamination. But if a new process were invented that could immediately detoxify nuclear waste, it would revolutionize the attitudes and practices surrounding nuclear energy and its byproducts. All the old rules and regulations would no longer be necessary. After a generation or two, people would become so accustomed to the freedom that such a solution would bring that they would not be able to appreciate all the uproar and fear that had surrounded nuclear waste in previous generations. Ritual Purification One of the repeated emphases in the book of Leviticus is that of purifying the unclean and making it clean. Israel’s sin cut her off from her all-holy Lord. With Christ’s atoning sacrifice not yet in sight, many of Leviticus’ laws provide stopgap measures so that Israel can still dwell in God’s presence. While purification after such things as childbirth, menstrual cycles, touching of dead bodies, and leprosy, for example, seem onerous requirements for natural and unavoidable events, God uses these commands to teach Israel that he is the source of all life and holiness. Many of the things that made one unclean involve death or the loss of blood, which is related to death. That which is related to death, and thus to the fall and sin of Adam, is not allowed in God’s presence, and those who touch such things will need to be purified if they are to approach God. Only with Christ will death and sin be overcome. Similarly, before the coming of Christ, who alone can conquer sin, the toxic nature of sin required drastic action to contain it. The law given to Moses spells out the dangers and gives provisional measures to deal with ravages caused by sin. Egregious lawbreakers, those seriously “contaminated” by sin, were to be expelled from the camp of Israel lest they spread the contagion to others. Those with minor “contamination” were to follow regulations for their “purification.” Strict laws guarding the behavior of Israel within the camp were monitored as closely as the heat index within a nuclear plant. And, most of all, the tabernacle was treated with the protective awe and anxiety surrounding a nuclear reactor core; a power p 93 with great potential good could prove deadly if those accessing it forgot the rules of engagement. The story of Israel in the wilderness, it must be remembered, takes place before any remedy for sin exists. tải về 6.33 Mb. Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn:
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