Friday, June 04 2010 10:16

[This is part 18 of "101 verses you need to know about angels, gods, and demons" which began several weeks ago. To catch up with our conversation, start at the beginning by hitting "Read More" below, then going to "Pastor's Corner" at the left side of the next screen. You will then see (at the bottom) a list of all previous posts, which you can read in biblical order, from the bottom up, for best results.]

I followed the TV show LOST as closely as I could, and when I felt confused I thought I was the only one. So it was always comforting to hear that many others were wondering what in the world was going on. Take the Smoke Monster, for example. Why did it make a clicking sound? None of my friends have the answer, and the last episode didn't settle it either. I'll just have to let that go, as will everyone else :).

Speaking of the Smoke Monster, I have come to wonder if that is a helpful way of putting together some of the texts which tell of God's leadership of the people of Israel when they left Egypt. We're told that "the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud" (Exod. 13:21), and the words translated as "pillar" (ammud, a normal word for post or column) and "cloud" (anan, again a normal word for a that which clouds over or darkens the brightness of the sun) recommend the idea that God led Israel by a thin-ish, darkish, moving object that could also be considered "formless" (cp. Exod. 33:10; Deut. 4:12, 15). We certainly don't have much to go by, though all the verses I can find about this "cloud pillar" remind me of the LOST survivors getting frightened by Mr. Smoke (the Egyptians sure were! Exod. 14:19-20). Take a look at these texts to see if you agree: Exodus 13:21-22; 14:24; 16:10; 19:9, 16; 24:15-16, 18; 33:9-10; 34:5; 40:34-38; Lev. 16:2, 13; Num. 9:15-22.

This kind of smoke pillar would qualify as a "theophany," or form of an otherwise invisible God (as I described in an earlier Pastor's Corner on Gen. 18-19). The Bible makes the strict claim that our God, who exists as pure spirit, does not dwell in a form that can be limited or humanly visualized (John 1:18; 5:37; 6:46; Rom. 1:20; Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16; Heb. 11:27; 1 John 4:12, 20). Theophanies cover a host of situations in which God appeared to appear, though not literally. In each case these appearances were not in human form.

So this leads to our text today, which is more fascinating than any LOST episode: "Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. But on the nobles of the children of Israel he did not lay his hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank" (Exod. 24:9-11). What is going on here?

 

 

This may be a good place to review where we have come in these Pastor's Corners. In doing so, I think this "lunch with God" story in the life of Moses will make better sense. Consider these points that we have made, along with some clarifications:

• An "elohim," often found in our English Bibles as "God," "god," or "gods," is the standard term for "divine being" or "deity" within the Hebrew language. These "spirits" are as real as humans, though they are more powerful than mankind, existing in the heavens. Yahweh is often referred to as "the most high elohim" or "Yahweh elohim," showing how the OT worked within this limited vocabulary.
• Many elohim were created by Yahweh somewhere during the opening moments of Genesis one. We do not know why he created them, how evil or good they may be, or whether they always have to behave the way they do now. The Bible simply assumes their existence.
• An elohim tempted Adam and Eve toward disobedience to Yahweh in Genesis 3, and he was successful. Human disloyalty to God seems to have become the norm as the story of humanity progressed forward.
• Another human/elohim confrontation occurs in Genesis 6, with divine beings somehow cross-breeding with the human race. The Noahic flood was God's way of starting over, ridding the earth of this genetic malfunction.
• Sometime near the Tower of Babel incident (Gen. 11), God seems to have given created elohim an element of authority and territorial rule over the earth. These spirits become the root cause of various and competing human religions, desiring human worship and loyalty while trying to prevent human loyalty to Yahweh. Just why they do this we are never told.
• Abraham was an active worshipper of a created deity before he was called by Yahweh to begin a family line that would bless the entire human race. It was Moses' job, some five hundred years later, to rescue this family from Egyptian bondage and set about to establish a nation.
• There appear to be at least some created elohim who work with, or in accordance with, Yahweh's will. When they appear on earth they are often called mal'akim, the normal Hebrew word for "messengers," speaking in the first person for Yahweh. Our English Bibles have decided to almost always use the term "angel" for these divine messenger elohim, a fact which causes no little confusion in our modern theology books.
• Humans meet created elohim at several important moments in the biblical story, most notably in Genesis 3 (Adam and Eve), Genesis 18 (Abraham and Sarah), Genesis 32 (Jacob), and Exodus 3 (Moses). In each case it appears that the humans were aware they were in the presence of a deity, showing proper respect and honor in their actions and conversation.
• Within the Law of Moses, Yahweh warned the Israelites of the serious danger around the corner in Canaan: "If you make a covenant with their elohim, they will make you sin against me, and they will be a snare to you." God was extremely jealous of Israel's worship and loyalty. Words like salvation and savior and messiah will almost always be used in the context of bringing Israel into covenant loyalty with their Creator, rescuing them from the horrendous effect of evil elohim.

With this review in hand, let's notice our text in Exodus 24 once again--this time noting how the word elohim (and the article "the") specifically works: "Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw [an] elohim of Israel. And there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. But on the nobles of the children of Israel he did not lay his hand. So they saw [the] elohim, and they ate and drank."

I'd recommend the story is based on a previous discussion in Exodus 23, where we hear God say to Moses, "Behold, I am going to send a messenger [mal'ak] before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since my name is in him. But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries" (Exod. 23:20-22). Moses probably needed no introduction to this deity, as this elohim had already played an active role in the Red Sea crossing (Exod. 14:19).

So, as odd as this story seems, it accords with what we have come to learn about "seeable" created elohim and the Creator elohim who has never been seen. Moses and his friends had lunch with the divine messenger who had helped them cross the Sea in Exodus 14 and who would later protect the nation as they battled their way into the Promised Land (Exod. 33:2). This deity becomes somewhat of a celebrity in Jewish history, by the way, as the martyr Stephen will mention him in his last sermon (Acts 7:38, distinct from the being who met Moses in the burning bush, Acts 7:30).

Who was this "elohim of Israel," by the way? Some think it is the divine being known as Michael (cp. Daniel 10:21; 12:1; Jude 9; Rev. 12:7), who seems to play a role in the protection of Israel. Otherwise, it could be any elohim appointed by God to this position.

Til next time,
Ronn

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