The Conquest of Canaan Promised: Exodus 23.20-33
In the comments to Exodus 20.22-22.15 Carlos brought up a wonderful question regarding laws about killing. If the Sixth Commandment forbids killing, and killing in cold blood is punishable by death, what are the implications for warfare. This will actually be addressed in today's reading, so read on my friends, read on.
God promises to send a (guardian) angel in front of the Israelites to lead them into the land the Lord has prepared for them. They shall not disobey him, "for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him" (Ex. 23.21).
That is an interesting way of putting it - the Lord's name is what gives the angel authority. This is an early example of the power of the divine name. The angel's authority derives from the tetragrammaton YHWH.
If the people obey the angel, God promises to be an enemy to the enemies of Israel. Further, God promises:
When my angel goes in front of you, and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods, or worship them, or follow their practices, but you shall utterly demolish them and break their pillars in pieces.The first sentence promised the people in the promised land will be blotted out by God, the divine warrior. The second promises that the Israelites will destroy their opponents. But this is not a contradiction. The warfare that is to take place is guided by God. God as divine warrior will help the Israelites win their battles. Both will kill human beings, but because the killing is divinely sanctioned, there shall be no retributive action against the Israelites. Perhaps, even, the prohibitions against killing only apply to killing Hebrews. This would allow for the protection of slaves (who would have been Hebrews paying off debts) and put into context the passover prohibitions against outsiders taking part without circumcision. I'm considering this idea that the laws apply only to the Hebrews and the treatment of other Hebrews.
(Ex. 23.23-24)
What does this have to do with literature? Well insomuch as laws can be viewed as pieces of literature, the interaction between individual laws and their various interpretations can be analyzed to learn a little about the unconscious or at least unstated views of the authors.
For worshipping the Lord, God will bless the Israelites' bread and water, remove sickness from them, prevent miscarriage and barrenness, and give everyone a long life.
The people the Israelites face will be thrown into confusion and flee before their pursuers. The Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites will be driven from the land by pestilence. But the people will be driven out slowly, so that wild animals do not populate the desolate land before the Israelites get there.
Israel's borders will reach from the Red Sea to the "Sea of the Philistines" (Mediterranean) and from the wilderness (of Negeb) too the Euphrates River.
The Israelites are to make no covenants between the foreign peoples and their gods. They shall not live in the promised land, because they will influence the Israelites to sin against God, "for if you worship their gods, it will surely be a snare to you" (Ex. 23.33).
The Blood of the Covenant: Exodus 24.1-8
The Lord tells Moses to come up the mountain with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders, and to worship at a distance. Only Moses is to come close to the Lord.
The Lord then tells Moses to go down to the people and tell them all the ordinances and words of the Lord [the contents of the last few posts]. Wen the people hear, they answer in one voice that they will obey the words of the Lord.
Moses writes down all the words of the Lord. In the morning he builds an altar a the foot of the mountain and erects twelve pillars to correspond with the twelve tribes. He has the young men prepare burnt offerings and sacrifice oxen offerings of well-being. Moses puts half of the blood in absins, and the other half he dashes against the altar. He takes the book of the covenant (which he just wrote, and which is probably parchment and not stone) and reads it to the people. The people agree to obey the Lord. Moses takes the blood in basins and dashes it on the people, saying, "See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words" (Ex. 24.8).
The covenant is here reestablished in the blood of sacrifice on a new altar. The people agree to the new commandments of the Lord. But actually obeying the commands...Let's just say that is easier said than done.
On the Mountain with God: Exodus 24.9-18
Moses takes Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders up the mountain. [Envelope structure alert! See the opening of chapter 24, above.]
Then it gets a little weird. The God that is so coy, so careful not to reveal himself, appears to these men:
and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. God did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; also they beheld God, and they ate and drank.God, for the first time in a long time, is anthropomorphic. God does not appear as an "angel of the Lord" or a cloud or darkness. God does not speak as thunder. Man is surely like God; God has feet and hands.
(Ex. 24.10-11)
Immediately following this [different source alert!], Moses is again commanded to come up onto the mountain. He is to wait there for God to give him tablets of stone with the law and commandments for the Israelites. Moses sets out with his assistant Joshua and goes up the mountain. The elders are to wait until Moses' return, and Aaron and Hur are to settle disputes.
Moses goes up the cloud-covered mountain, the cloud a manifestation of the glory of the Lord. The cloud covers the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord calls Moses out of the cloud. Then the glory of the Lord appears like a devouring fire on top of the mountain.
Moses enters the cloud, and stays on the mountain a symbolic forty days and forty nights. Remember, numbers in the bible are not always literal. I could go on and on about the numbers in Revelation, which I wrote my undergraduate English Honors thesis on. But I won't. I'd be more than happy to respond to individual questions, however.
No comments:
Post a Comment