Thursday, January 22, 2009
Strange Things Happening Here
The story in Exodus 4:24ff is one of those very strange stories in the bible I do not begin to understand. It presents a side of God that seems alien (even primative) to me. It makes me wonder what actually happened. Was this some intense and sudden illness that they attributed to God? Was God's actual role in the story healing Moses? That would certainly be more in line with the character of Jesus. Of course, if God wants to attack Moses that's alright with me. I don't need to understand it; it doesn't need to make sense to me. I'm just being honest that I don't get it, that I'm willing to buy that it happened, but I'm not willing to buy the interpretation of who is responsible for it happening. I'm just putting that little story in a box in my heart and mind called "awaiting further light." By the way, that's not an original term with me. It comes from the writing of Leslie Weatherhead, most known the author of "The Will of God", which is a wonderful exploration of the issue of human suffering. I find much more valuable for faith development his book, "The Christian Agnostic" in which he shares his vast experience, strength and hope about things at the heart and tangential (as is this story of God attacking Moses) to Jesus following. I highly reccomend it.
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Steve, I feel much better that you don't fully get this either. I keep getting these visuals of Moses being Charleston Heston. I felt that was why I was having so much trouble. Maybe, it's just that I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree that this is a real head scratcher. The only thing that comes to mind is that God reminded Moses that he hadn't circumcised his son yet and if he was going to lead His people out of bondage then he needed to get with the program. If Moses was reluctant to speak in public and got out of that by whining then you can bet he probably was trying to get out of the circumcising-his-son thing as well. Hey, it worked once... God, however, was probably losing patience and was tired of all the excuses. Luckily Zipporah was a quick thinker- I'll bet Moses was doing the dishes for weeks after that squeaker! I sure hope they had some kinda local anesthetic back then.
ReplyDeleteJil, it's fine to not "get" things in the bible. There is still plenty I do get to put into practice.
ReplyDeleteSharp thinking, Dave. I love the twinkle in your heart as you consider what you're reading. And your insights stretch my thinking on this.