Moses in Drag

Exodus 34:29-35

After Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, his face was "radiant." When the Israelites saw him, being the solemn people they were, they were astonished, and afraid to get too close, lest this joyousness be contagious. So Moses took to wearing a veil. However, he would take the veil off in God's presence- and put it back on again when he left to be around his people.

Now to be fair, I don't think this radiance is just Moses in hap-hap-happy mode. The Message translation says that the skin of his face glowed. So- it might have looked like Moses had been in front of the microwave a bit too long, they may have been justified in wanting to keep their distance, but metaphorically there are some pretty cool ideas here.

Moses' reaction to seeing God is to literally be beaming. His face shines from being in God's presence. God's love is so bright that it leaves a mark- He leaves us in a state that we are visibly changed.

However, the natural inclination is to be wary of folks in such a state. What's he so happy about? Let's not get too close, that dude is weird.

So Moses adapts, and hides himself (partially) from his people. He's still beaming, but he's striving to be a little subtle about it. But when he's in God's presence, he's free to be himself. The veil comes off, all pretending is gone, here I am God, this is me.

Metaphorical or not- it's pretty cool to envision time with God as a joyous time where you can be yourself.

Butterfingers

Exodus 34:1-28

So God tells Moses to go and chisel some more stone tablets to match the ones he broke and He'll rewrite the text from the first set.  God uses some clever subtext here- he doesn't berate Moses for breaking the first set, but in His instructions He includes Moses' faux-pas.  Hey Mo, remember when you messed up?  Let me fix that for you.

Perhaps from secrecy, perhaps for reverance sake, or maybe for a totally different reason, God tells Moses to come alone- I don't even want to see anyone anywhere on the mountain- I don't even want to see animals grazing on the mountain- just you, tomorrow morning.  This conjures images of a mafia kingpin or kidnapper- I'll meet with you at the drop-off, but come alone, no cops, no wires, and certainly don't bring a gun.

This, however, feels more like God's still a bit annoyed with His creation.  He's saying, I haven't forgotten how you hurt Me- I'll get there- things will be ok- but right now, My emotions are still a little tender.  I'll see you Moses, but I'm not quite ready to be around these people who were so quick to leave Me.  

So Moses gets the stones and goes to the meeting place, and God comes down in the cloud and stands in front of him, apparently still in the cloud.  And he prclaims His own name to Moses.  He says:

The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.

It almost seems like He's trying to convince or remind Himself.  That's right, no matter what I'm feeling right now, I'm compassionate, I'm forgiving, now matter how much I'd like to, I'm not going to wipe these people out.  

The second half of His decree is a little more troubling.  Is this simply pre-Jesus theology? Is this God speaking through His anger?   Is He saying that when people mess up- the ramifications ring down through the generations?  Is He saying that when your parents and grandparents mess up, He holds you accountable?  

Moses senses that God isn't happy- he instantly bows and worships.  He asks God to come with him, to forgive His people and to take them as His inheritance.

And God says- ok here's the deal:

I'm going to do amazing things that no one anywhere has seen before.  Everyone around will see how awesome My works are.  Obey Me!  I'll drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.  Don't make a treaty with any of the people living around you- it'll only turn out bad for you.  

Break down their altars and the like.  And don't worship other gods, becasue I'm jealous.  In fact, my name is "Jealous."  

Do not make cast idols.

Yet another subtle reminder about their mistakes.  I haven't forgotten that whole stupid golden calf thing- don't do it again.

Then he revisits those commands about the Feast of Unleavend Bread, the odd "firstborn are Mine" laws, resting on the Sabbath rules, the Feast of Weeks (maybe the first time for these) and the Feast of Ingathering rules.  He reminds them that He will drive out other nations and tells them that He will enlarge their territory- and that when they make these trips of worship three times a year- no one will covet their land.  

He recaps laws about blood and yeast and Passover feast sacrifices.He reminds of the need to bring the best of the firstfruits.  And he tells them not to cook a young goat in it's mother's milk.  I assume this last is more than just a recipe tip- but I'm not sure about the rationale behind it.

God tells Moses to write down His words; they'll be a covenant with Him and His people.  Moses was there with God for 40 days and nights with no food or water.  The section ends by saying. "And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments."

I'm left with two major reactions.  My goodness, how could anyone keep any of these laws straight?  Especially in an age without printing presses or rampant literacy ( I assume), how could anyone remember all the particulars?  I don't remember appointments with students, how would I ever remember all the details and minutae of all these laws regarding goat milk and yeast?  Grace is a wonderful thing.

Second, I'm struck by the pain God seems to be feeling through this section.  I certainly understand the strain and hurt that we cause each other on a regular basis, but to picture the hurt God seems to be feeling here by the rejection of His people adds a whole other layer to this onion.  God loves us and wants our acceptance and love- when we deny them from Him, it hurts in a similar way that rejection hurts us.  And that makes His forgiveness and grace even more amazing.