"Show Me Who You Are"

Exodus 31-33

My funny Valentine

Sweet comic Valentine

You make me smile with my heart

Your looks are laughable, unphotographable

Yet you're my favorite work of art...

I am always amazed when our weekly reading of scripture parallels the social context in which we live.  This week is no exception.  We finished the last few chapters of Exodus and  as fate would have it, just a few days before Valentine's Day, we happened upon one of the most intimate encounters between God and humankind.  It comes at a time just after the children of Israel (The Israelites) have grown impatient with both Moses and God.  While the two of them are spending quality time together on Mount Sinai (the Mountain of God), the children of Israel convince Aaron - Moses' brother - the Priest of priest - to fashion a golden calf out of the spoils they took from Egypt. 

The "all seeing and all knowing God" warns Moses to "let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them" (32:10a).  Umm hmph, you guessed it, with the help of rapper DMX and the black woman's cotton patch version I hear God saying it this way, "Ya'll g'on make me lose my mind up in here, up in here.  Ya'll g'on make me go all out up in here, up in here.  Ya'll g'on make me act a fool, up in here, up in here.  Ya'll g'on make me lose my cool, up in here, up in here!"  I mean really, God made it clear some time back that S/HE is a jealous God.  And we know S/HE won't bat an eyelash over destroying the people and starting over... I reckon they didn't get that memo, huh?  I'm jes saying...  But as the narrative continues, we find that the Israelites have more reason to be leery of Moses' anger.  After all, we already know that Moses has a temper and will kill you.  It should have been no surprise what he (Moses) did next...  Everything he asked God not to do, he did!  What the hell is that about?  I mean really, who's zooming who here?  Anyhue, after throwing the tablets onto the people and instructing the sons of Levi to "Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend and your neighbor," Moses felt it was high time he saw God up close and personal (vv. 27b). 

In a scene that rivals some of our best daytime soap-operas, Moses and God are communing with one another and God informs Moses that S/HE will not be going before the Israelites anymore for fear of consuming them.  Why, you ask?  Because they are a "stiffnecked people," (hardheaded and rebellious).  After Moses convinces God not to leave the people, he then petitions God saying, "Show me your glory, I pray."  God's reply; "I will make all my goodness pass before you..."  Before God shows Moses all that S/HE's working with,  S/HE places him in a 'cleft,' (a crevice or gap) in the mountain, and uses a hand to cover or protect Moses until S/HE passes by - exposing only the back of God (33:12-23)...  Wow!

Now, in any other context, that scene would have been interpreted as the consummation of a relationship.  But the mere suggestion of that, even to the participants in my class, was so troubling a thought that a few of them unconsciously tried to run all the way to the New Testament to bring Jesus into the conversation.  No, that is not anything new, but it is lazy and theologically irresponsible.  Furthermore, it is down right unacceptable in my class.  Why is it so difficult to imagine an encounter with God so intense that it would elicit a sexually stimulating and dare I say, gratifying experience?  I wonder if the difficulty stems from the overly used masculine pronoun "He" when referencing God as opposed to the feminine pronoun "She," not used enough?  And, if, for argument sake, the masculine pronoun is used in this instance, what of it?  Are we to believe men cannot reach an ecstatic state when touched or moved by the Divine - even if the Divine is, for them, masculine?   And if, for argument sake, they cannot, we may have stumbled up another argument for an increased use of the feminine pronoun when referencing God, or my preference, the gender neutral "S/HE." 

Either way, I believe something quite amazing and yes, intimate happened between God and Moses on that mountain that no other human has ever been recorded in scripture to have experienced - except the "virgin" Mary that is.  And we all know what is said to have happened as a result of God "passing by" that time don't we?  ;) ;)  But seriously, whether you are more comfortable with the masculine or the feminine pronoun for God, there is nothing wrong with desiring to know God for yourself in as intimate a way as the Spirit moves you.  If, however, you are faint of heart and this is problematic for you, a word of caution before you ask the Lord to come in and fill you with His/Her Spirit.  Jeremiah explains what may happen when you do - "O Lord you have enticed me and I was enticed; you have over-powered me, and you have prevailed...  For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout...  If I say, 'I will not mention [you] or speak any more in [your] name,' then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot."  Yeaaah, yeah, yeah...  I know the feeling....

My funny Valentine

Sweet comic Valentine

You make me smile with my heart

Your looks are laughable, unphotographable

Yet you're my favorite work of art...

Is your figure less than Greek?

Is your mouth a little weak?

When you open it to speak, are you smart?

But don't you change a hair for me

Not if you care for me

Stay little Valentine, stay

Each day is Valentine's Day

                    (Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart)

© Dorinda G. Henry, 2011

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!