The church in which I serve as priest is currently going through a Bible study. This particular study is based around 100 biblical texts, and the overall intent is to give a panoramic overview of the Bible. People are engaged and learning a lot. So far, so good.
But the process of reading the Bible in a straightforward manner has also shown me the dangers of biblical literalism. I fear that in reading the Bible as the Word of God (a position I gladly affirm), we can fall into the trap of assuming that every single text shows us the character of God with equal clarity. But this is not so; the Bible is both more complex and more simple than that.
As a hermeneutical experiment, I want to walk through Exodus 32, paying particular attention to the violence in the text. I’m going to suggest that we read this text through a hermeneutic of suspicion, but a suspicion that arises from commitment to Jesus, rather than a general skepticism as such.
The story is familiar: The people, impatient with Moses’s extended absence, decide to melt down their jewellery and make a god for themselves. This not only violates the commandment against “graven images”, it also demonstrates a shocking ungratefulness to God who rescued them from Egypt. Then, with their new golden god impassively looking on, the people break into dancing and “playing” (a polite translation for what amounts to an orgy of sexual indulgence).
Then the story shifts, and we’re back on Mt Sinai with God and Moses. God is furious, and asks to be left alone so that his wrath can burn against the Israelites.
But, as we find out, God can be negotiated with. And so Moses intercedes for his people, and argues for God to “back down” by appealing to God’s reasonableness, his reputation and his promises. And you know what? It works. God backs down and withdraws his wrath.
But then Moses goes down the mountain, and Moses, as we’ll see, is not quite as reasonable as God. Moses apparently can’t be negotiated with, which means that when the wrath of Moses burns against the people there will be no mercy.
The first thing Moses does is grinds the golden calf into powder and makes all the people drink it (a viciously ironic object lesson that is no doubt meant to equate their “god” with human waste). Then Moses calls the leaders to account, most notably Aaron. Moses then calls the people, then and there, to make a decision for or against God. If you want to follow God, he says, then step up and join me. We’re told that the sons of Levi step up, and the rest do not.
And then Moses really unleashes his wrath on the people. He says this to the sons of Levi (and I quote): “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the city camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.” (Exodus 32:27). The sons of Levi then proceed to carry out this slaughter, and 3000 people are hacked to death. Moses then commends them for their faithfulness, and tells them their actions have brought them God’s blessing.
Now, I said at the beginning that what I want to do here is pay attention to the violence in the text. What are we to make of the brutality on display here? The text is especially difficult because Moses attributes this horrific slaughter to the will of God. And yet we can’t help but ask: Did God really ask Moses to do this?
The answer I want to propose is no. God did not ask Moses to do this, and I think the text makes this abundantly clear for us. Earlier in the text, we were allowed to eavesdrop on God’s conversation with Moses while they were on Mt Sinai, and so we (the reader) know full well that God did not command Moses to unleash retribution on the people. Quite the opposite, in fact: God was persuaded not to punish the people for their infidelity.
And so if we read Moses’ words with appropriate suspicion (a suspicion encouraged by the text itself), we can see that this is nothing more than human violence writ large. In fact, it show us the worst sort of human violence; the kind that justifies itself by appealing to God’s will. I don’t want you to miss the great irony in this text. The theme of idolatry is pervasive, the most obvious instance being of course the golden calf. And yet, between the lines, the idol of sacred violence is revealed as the more subtle, and hence more insidious, instance of idolatry. Moses’s command to slaughter reveals the most devastating idol of all.
No doubt some readers are uncomfortable with a reading of this sort, as it seems to render the Bible untrustworthy. But I think the opposite is true: It actually makes the Bible all the more trustworthy, because it allows the Bible to speak to us on its own terms. Many of us are accustomed to a “flat” understanding of Scripture in which the Bible speaks in one voice and reflects one perspective.
But the Bible is self-evidently not that. Rather, the Bible is diverse; it speaks in multiple voices from multiple perspectives. But far from that being a problem, it’s actually what makes the Bible the remarkable revelatory text that it is, because in its dizzying variety we gradually see a picture of God emerge that will reach a climax in Jesus Christ: that of the forgiving victim, the one who absorbs human violence and transforms it into love.
So to return to the question in my title: Is Moses God’s executioner? No, Moses’s violence is a purely human violence, even though God’s name is invoked. And yet this text is indeed a revelation of God; by exposing our idols and showing how we get God wrong, space is cleared for a better, truer and – yes – more Christ-like portrayal of the divine character.
Yeah... the OT is pretty violent on the Jews' side and their enemies. Genocide, revenge, murder, rape, jealousy...etc and intrigues. All the major sins! It is so confusing, if not embarrassing. But God did stand by Moses when others challenged his leadership and when Moses married an Ethiopian. So many of details are missing... hard to judge motives... Israel was sort of like a theocracy (religion mixed with civil government)... and needed a heavy hand often to stay motivated... yet loyalty is inspired not so much commanded. I sort of look at the OT as a story of the Christian life: conversion, purification, fighting for the promised land... eventually prospering... then backsliding... exile.. liberation... and again back into the promised land...! That I see on the surface... but underneath genocide, greed, hatred, anger... but also loyalty, commitment, faith, and love... There is enough in the OT to keep us puzzling confused, unsure of motives... so that we stay humble and don't think we understand it all which is very unhealthy...! Thank God for Jesus and the NT... not that it will be completely understood now... there is enough tension, paradox, and mystery to keep us humble, and merciful to those we are called to love... too bad so many of us harden our hearts to those who are different... guess that is when our exiles begin and we live out the OT in whatever way we are committed to going: permanent exile: or journeying and learning lessons as God grows our hope, faith, and love through humility, hunger, joy, weakness, and commitments.
Posted by: Rene Lafaut | January 11, 2014 at 06:45 PM