A Terrible Beauty (2)
Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Exodus 20:1-2 NASB
I am the Lord your God – “ . . the opening of the Ten Commandments is read by Mei HaShiloach: ‘I am the Lord your God.’ The word for ‘I’ is anochi, rather than ani, an alternative form. Anochi, comments this Chasidic writer, contains the letter chaf, which means ‘like, as if’: as a prefix, it has a modifying, approximating effect. This introduces into the very basis of the Ten Commandments a tonality of incompleteness, of human work of discovery still to be done. . . . The Zohar reads, ‘Do not construct for yourself other Torahs.’ It stands against the construction of absolute systems, cut in stone, claiming eternal validity.”[1]
Yesterday we considered the possibility that we may religiously substitute rules for relationship. If we knew our tribal history as we should, we could have recognized this temptation long ago. Abraham, the father of the faithful, had no book. All he had, and all he needed, was his affinity for God and the patience to anticipate God’s response. Yes, he made mistakes—big ones that cost him dearly. But so do we all. He didn’t run to the text, put a finger on a verse, read David’s poems or Paul’s prose. He conversedwith his Father—and waited. As it turned out, he had to wait his entire life, and then some, for the promise God made to become reality. But it didn’t defer Abraham from counting on God. I’m afraid that our faithfulness doesn’t look much like Abraham’s. We have propositional truth, theological doctrine, proof-texts, organized religion, word studies, and, of course, lots and lots of other people to encourage us to study more, give more, and pray more. It’s funny but I don’t recall Abraham doing any of those things.
Of course, times change. God gives us more information. I suppose we could argue that we needed it (otherwise, why not stay in a relationship like Abraham’s?). Perhaps we needed all that additional revelation because we just aren’t good at faithfulness. Perhaps we really are suffering from the Egyptian disease, pining for fixed facts and fables, demanding rigid righteousness. It’s so much more difficult to live in a world where things change. And so we force reality into pre-established molds. We build the boxes for our faith before we have it, and then wonder why the “faith” doesn’t always seem to fit. But, no matter, we can just as easily ignore all those things that don’t conform. After all, how would we know we’re right unless we can point to those who are wrong?
But theology is a delusional attempt to control God. As the Scriptures clearly demonstrate, God isn’t a genie. He pretty much does what He wants, occasionally accommodating us. Get used to it. And while you are getting used to the dynamics of relationship with Him, remember not to write your own Torah, even if it is a copy of His. Flexibility is the watchword of obedience.
Topical Index: Ten Commandments, relationship, flexibility, Exodus 20:1-2
[1]Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus(Schocken Books, New York: 2001), p. 75.
