Posts from — January 2009

St.Mary Bulletin - January 18, 2009

Janury 11, 2009

CHAPTER 19

In the Priestly redactor’s XII stage procession that structures Exodus to Numbers, the seventh station is Yahweh’s mountain and the twelfth station is the threshold of Yahweh’s land.

His real presence remains encamped at Sinai from Exodus 19: 1 to Numbers 10: 10.

Sinai is therefore central not only to the sheer bulk of law and narrative connected with it but also by its position in the journey.

Chapters 19 – 24 describe the theophany (19)

The Ten Commandments (20:1 – 17)

And the Covenant Code (20: 22 – 23:18);

Chapters 23 – 31 the dwelling and its sacred personnel mediating God’s presence;

And chapters 32 – 34, the apostasy and covenant renewal.

At Sinai, Yahweh saw the condition of the people and resolved to act (3: 7 – 8). Now the people have seen Yahweh and His works (19: 4) and they must act. This is a parallelism.

Will they agree to be God’s people by obeying His will and building Him a dwelling?

In this, the 19^th chapter of Exodus, the Israelites are preparing to meet their God. This theophany (or manifestation of God) on Mount Sinai is the fulfillment of the sign promised Moses when he first met God at the burning bush:

“This shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12).

God’s revelation to the human race is on the verge of taking a giant leap forward, yet its revelation remains rooted in the past and is the natural outgrowth of God’s Covenant with Abraham. By becoming a holy kingdom of priests, the Israelites are about to become bearers of the promise made to Abraham that, through him, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

The task will fall to the people of Israel to act as first-born son and mediator of the revelation of God to the whole human family. This is reminiscent of the slaughter of the first-born in Egypt.

ISRAEL ENCOUNTERS YAHWEH AT THE MOUNTAIN

(19:1 – 25 [P: 1, 2a) [J: 2b, 11b – 13, 18, 20 – 25] [E: 3a, 9 – 11a, 14 – 9a] [Special Source: 3b – 8].

Can Moses makes three round trips from camp to the mountain to arrange the Covenant:

In verses 3 – 8a, he relays the terms to the people who are sent to it;

In verses 8b – 14, according to divine instruction, he purifies the people;

In verses 20 – 25, he is made the sole mediator (with Aaron as his assistant) with the priests and the people kept at a distance. The third day is the appearance of God. The symbolism is of the Resurrection.

1 – 2.

The first month is Nisam, the time of Passover and Unleavened Bread.

The second month is the entry into the wilderness of Sin, where the manna was given (16: 1);

It was the time of cereal harvest.

Here the third month is the feast of Weeks, Pentecost.

As early as the second century BC, some Jewish groups are recorded as connecting the giving of the law with the feast of Weeks.

There is no hard evidence that mainstream Judaism made the connection between law and Pentecost until the third century AD.

But the connection may be early. The location of Mount Sinai cannot be fixed with any certainty. An imposing peak in the Sinai Peninsula, Jabel Musa, has been identified with Sinai since Byzantine times.

Ancient biblical poetry, however, suggests that the mountain dwelling of God was directly south of Canaan and speaks of his advance with an army from the south: “Yahweh came from Sinai, and down from Seir upon us.” (Deuteronomy 33: 2; CF. Judges 5:4; Psalm 68: 8 – 9). They remained at Sinai for eleven months (CF Numbers 10: 11 – 12).

The first Covenant was separated:

1. Adam – Eve

2. Noah – Abraham

This new Covenant is now a nation: Israel. This is a corporate Covenant

3 – 8A.

Verse 3a prefaces the liturgical poem of verses 3b – 8;

In verse 3a, Moses goes up to “Elohim” whereas, in verse 3b, Yahweh calls down to Moses from the mountain.

4.

The people have seen what “I did to Egypt and how I . . . brought you to Myself.” They must act by deciding whether to be God’s people by obeying His voice and keeping the commandments (verse 5).

God’s bearing of the people to His land is developed in Deuteronomy 32: 10 – 14, which also speaks of rescuing and selecting: “like an eagle He stirs up His nest, over His young He flutters. He spreads His wings, He takes him (the young), He bears him on His wings.”

In 3: 12, God foretold that Israel would serve, i.e., worship, at this mountain. Sinai is territory sacred to Yahweh. To become Yahweh’s people they must freely agree to the divine choice. The agreement is couched in traditional, biblical language –

1. Obedience

2. Keeping of Covenant.

“Covenant” is a biblical term for a sworn agreement between persons, ordinarily oral, to do something. It was done “before the Gods” who were thought to sanction it. Treaties between nations and people (and often personalized as Covenants between the kings) were also Covenants but of a special written type, called Covenant formularies by some scholars.

By the middle of the second millennium in the west Semitic world (and persisting until late in the first millennium) , the formularies had developed into a genre, which consisted of a history of the relationships of Suzerain and Vassal kings, stipulations, curses and blessings consequent upon their observance, and a list of divine witnesses. The order was fluid and (apart from the blessings and curses) some items could be omitted. Was the Sinai Covenant in Exodus such a Covenant formulary? Most scholars affirm that it was, but solid evidence is lacking: There are no blessings and curses in the Exodus Covenant, nor a detailed historical prologue.

The first instance of conscious Israelite adoption of the Covenant formulary seems to be Deuteronomy 5:28.

5 – 6.

If Israel agrees to hear Yahweh’s voice (and not that of another god) they will be His segulla, “possession” also used in the same sense in Deuteronomy E7: 6; 14:2; 26: 18; 26: 18; Psalm 135: 4.

Among other meanings, biblical sugulla in the above cited passages and in the cognate Akkadian word sikitu denotes the treasure of the wealthy and of kings.

In an Akkadian seal, the king in the sikitum of the goddess, and in a Ugaritic translation of a Hittite Ugaritic treaty, the Hittite king tells the Ugaritic king: “Now [you belong?] to the sun, your Lord; you are [His servant, His property] glth”.

Verses 5 – 6 are best translated, against the English versions, “you will be my special possession out of all the peoples. Though all the Earth is mine, you will be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.”

“Special possession” in two other similar uses is followed by the phrase “from all the peoples”;

“Indeed all the Earth is mine,” therefore, goes with the following phrases. The three phrases of verses 5b – 6a go closely with the three of verse four. “Kingdom of priests” in verse five is unclear, semantically parallel to “holy nation”. It probably means sacred among the nations, as priests are among the people. Yahweh has defeated the great power, Egypt, and its’ gods and has brought them to the safety of his precincts. If Israel accepts Yahweh as their God, they will belong to the only God (essentially the meaning of all the phrases of verses 5b – 6a).

I. In the Moment of the Text.

A. Israel encamps in the wilderness at the base of Mt. Sinai.

1. Moses goes up the mountain to speak with God.

2. The Lord calls to him saying, “if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples . . . and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation . . .”

3. Moses reports to the people all that the Lord has said.

a. The people agree to do all that the Lord has commanded.

b. Moses reports this to the Lord.

c. The Lord responds by saying that He will come in a thick cloud that the people might be more secure that it is He who is speaking to Moses.

B. Moses reports to the people what they are to do to meet the Lord at the base of the Mountain.

1. The people are to be consecrated on the first and second days and they are to wash their garments in preparation for the third day.

2. The people are given limits as to how closely they may approach the mountain.

C. On the Third day, amidst thunder and lightening, a thick cloud appears upon the mountain and there is a trumpet blast. The people tremble.

1. Moses brings the people out to meet the Lord at the foot of the mountain.

2. The Lord calls Moses to the top of the mountain.

3. The Lord instructs Moses to bring Aaron back with him to the top of the mountain. However, everyone else is to keep their distance, while the priests who approach should no break the barrier, but should be consecrated.

4. Moses goes down to the people and instructs them.

II. Pastoral Points.

A. Practically, what can we take from the text?

1. There are some grand lessons being offered here, however, it takes just a little work to see them as such.

2. First, in order to see them it is important to understand what is taking place. Israel is being formed as a corporate person.

a. God not only relates to man individually but corporately as well.

b. God’s corporate relationship with man is being formed. As the people of God, Israel’s corporate identity is being formed.

c. Just as man’s independent relationship with God was formed at hi creation through the person Adam, so now is man’s corporate relationship with God being formed here at Mt. Sinai through the corporate person Israel.

d. Just as man as an individual fell from his graced relationship with God, so too will man’s corporate relationship with God fall soon after.

e. We must see in this text man’s corporate identity being fashioned in relationship to God. In this sense, Israel, as the People of God, foreshadows the Church – Man’s redeemed corporate identity.

3. Second, God offers the people three things: to be His own possession; to be a holy nation; and to be a kingdom of priests.

B. Created to be His own possession, a holy nation and a kingdom of priest, what does that mean?

C. His own possession:

1. To be His own possession is to be possessed by Love itself.

a. Mother Theresa would say, “we have been created for great things, to love and to be loved.”

b. To be His own possession is to find our hearts desire – total fulfillment.

D. A holy nation.

1. There are two aspects here, holy and nation.

a. To be holy is to be undefiled and sanctified.

– We who are born into original sin must be

worked upon by God, and ultimately redeemed if

we are to be holy.

b. To be a nation is to be corporate – a collection of people; a multitude and yet a corporate one.

- To say that He will make us a nation is to say that He will unite us corporately. Our nature is communal. Yet original sin has fractured this communal unity. God will restore it and make it anew.

E. A kingdom of priests.

1. Am I a priest? Are you a priest? How many priests of the new covenant have ever been? One.

2. To be a kingdom of priests is to be a kingdom of people who will offer sacrifice to God.

a. By virtue of my ordination Christ offers through me His perfect sacrifice at Mass and the sacraments of salvation that flow from it.

b. By virtue of our baptism you and I offer sacrifices which we join to that of Christ’s. In this manner our sacrifice is purified and becomes acceptable to God.

c. This is the significance of the offertory at Mass. The bread and wine symbolizes our very selves. (This is also why the money is not placed on or near the altar – the money symbolizes our work; the bread and wine symbolizes our very selves.) At Mass we unite ourselves and our imperfect sacrifices to Christ and His perfect sacrifice. Thus we are truly a priestly people.

January 4, 2009

December 28, 2008