Darius Gilmont, (UK/Israel) Moses and the Fire of Sinai
Then God spoke all these words,
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in
heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the
earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am
a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and the
fourth generation of those who reject me but showing steadfast love to the
thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for
the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all
your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not
do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your
livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day;
therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.
“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land
that the Lord your God is giving you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s
wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your
neighbor.”
Exodus 20:1017
You may recall that Moses smashed the stone tablets on which were written the ten
commandments. He came down from the mountain and found that the people had
lapsed into idolatry. The story of his blazing anger tells what a change had come over
the life of the people with the deliverance of “the ten words,” as Jews call them. No
longer were the Israelites to out any images like the golden calf in place of the only,
unseen God. This was a jealous God who wanted no human image in his place, nor the
representation of sun or moon or beast of the earth or fish of the sea. Needless to say,
graven images did not die out immediately in Israel. You find mention of them lingering
in the Books of Numbers (21:8f), Judges (8:27), and 1 Kings (12:28ff.). Yet no
representation of Israel’s God, the LORD, has ever been found, nor of any wife or
concubine or queen. God cannot be portrayed by any picture and has never had a
partner.
The ten commandments are not a law code so much as a designation of the spirit
underlying all the many laws that follow. They speak of the sanctity of God’s being as
shown forth by his name, of the sanctity of the seventh day devoted to worshipping him,
of the sanctity of human life and marriage, property, and good name. Israel’s ethical
requirements, unlike those of her neighbours were rooted in God’s will. Fidelity to his
commands was a simple matter of being like him. One came to resemble God by doing
God’s law. That law is intended for human freedom and flourishing: “I am the Lord your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
An interesting thing took place as the Christian Church gradually came to birth from the
synagogue. The Church showed very little interest in the ten commandments. To be
sure, morality was important for the Christians of the early centuries. But they
approached it by reading the biblical books in their entirety, not just concentrating on the
list of ten “Thou shalts” and “Thou shalt nots.” All through Lent in the third, fourth, and
fifth centuries, the adults under instruction for baptism – catechumens, as they were
called – were having their final preparation sessions. They had been living as Christians
in their conduct for two or three years. Now this was being solidified and summed up.
The great stress was on the twofold law of love, so called: Jesus’ command to love God
with all one’s heart and soul and mind and strength, and one’s neighbour as oneself.
Just as Jesus, risen and dwelling in the Church, came to be thought of as the new
temple of God, so the two tablets of stone were thought to be summed up in the twofold
commands of Jesus. It was only St. Augustine in the early fifth century who brought the
ten commandments into prominence in Christian instruction. He spoke of them as a ten-
stringed lyre on which the Holy Spirit played, bringing the harmony of the divine order
into our lives.
That is a beautiful way to look at the commandments. Their late use by the Church is
also important information for Christians who look on them as a new golden calf for
adoration. There is a strange tendency to view them as the very heart of Christian
behaviour. But, of course, the Holy Spirit alone is that personal core. Without the Spirit,
no conformity to God’s will is possible. Apart from the Spirit at work within us we cannot
expect to be able to keep these demands. Ethics or morality can become the great
enemy – something outside ourselves that is too much for us – unless we come to have
confidence in the Holy Spirit dwelling within who will make the whole venture possible.
Jesus needs no one to give him testimony about human nature. He is well aware of
what is in the human heart. Jesus has sent another advocate – the Paraclete – into our
hearts to make conformity to his Father’s will possible.
Lent is a time for personal reform. It is a season in which we hope to recapture the
terms of our baptismal commitment. Lent centres on God’s folly and weakness in the
stumbling block of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-25). Not our folly and our weakness
which is the world’s wisdom and strength. God’s power and wisdom becomes our power
and wisdom as we turn our backs on all the world holds dear.
We are not invited to be strong and wise in our personal lives only but the social
institutions of which we are part. We are called by the season of Lent to see what bad
systems we are a willing part of, how our hearts are set on possessions even while we
speak against the rich, how we resent the ills of society but in our heart of hearts
contribute to them.
Repentance and reform is the message of Lent but not in individual hearts alone. It
must take place throughout society which is sick because it wants none of the power or
wisdom of God. It does not want the cross but only its own weakness and folly.
Kevin+
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