REVISITING THE BIG TEN: TRUE REVERENCE
Exodus 20:7 9/3/2023
THE COMMANDMENT, OR LIFE-GIVING WORD FROM GOD
THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT TODAY,
“YOU SHALL NOT MAKE WRONGFUL USE
OF THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD,”
HAS BEEN WHITTLED-DOWN AND WATERED-DOWN
IN POPULAR USAGE
TO THE POINT WHERE IT HAS BECOME
SIMPLY A COMMANDMENT AGAINST CURSING.
WHILE CURSING, OR USING FOUL-MOUTHED STREET LANGUAGE,
IS CERTAINLY NOT SOMETHING THAT THE BIBLE CONDONES,
IT IS FAR FROM THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF THIS COMMANDMENT,
WHICH IS ABOUT NOXIOUS HUMAN ATTEMPTS
TO MANIPULATE GOD BY MANIPULATING GOD’S NAME.
LET’S UNPACK THIS A BIT.
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD OF ISRAEL’S NEIGHBORS,
IT WAS ASSUMED THAT IF YOU KNEW THE NAME OF A GOD,
YOU WERE AUTOMATICALLY PLUGGED INTO
THE POWER THAT THAT GOD POSSESSED.
NOT SURPRISINGLY, THE PRIESTLY CASTES
IN EGYPT, ASSYRIA, AND BABYLONIA
CLAIMED TO KNOW MANY SECRET NAMES
OF THE GODS WHOM THEY WERE IN CHARGE OF,
SECRET NAMES WHICH ENABLED THEM
TO MANIPULATE, EVEN COERCE THE VARIOUS GODS
TO DO THEIR BIDDING.
NEEDLESS TO SAY, THIS GAVE THE PRIESTS
A VAST AMOUNT OF POWER.
ONLY THEY HAD ACCESS TO THE SECRET NAMES OF THE GODS,
ONLY THEY WERE ALLOWED TO USE THESE SECRET NAMES,
SO ONE HAD BETTER APPROACH THEM WITH DEFERENCE,
AND IN MANY CASES, WITH A FINANCIAL OFFERING
FOR SERVICES RENDERED.
THIS PROCESS WAS DECISIVELY ABOLISHED
BY THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB, AND MOSES.
GOD DEFINITIVELY REVEALES GODSELF TO MOSES
IN THE ENCOUNTER BY THE BURNING BUSH,
AND THE CONTEXT OF THAT REVELATION IS ALL-IMPORTANT.
BEFORE GOD SHARES GOD’S PROPER NAME, AS IT WERE,
WITH HIM, GOD TELLS MOSES:
“I HAVE SEEN THE MISERY OF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE IN EGYPT;
I HAVE HEARD THEIR CRY ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR TASKMASTERS.
INDEED, I KNOW THEIR SUFFERINGS,
AND I HAVE COME DOWN TO DELIVER THEM…”
(Exodus 3:7-8a)
ONLY AFTER REVEALING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT
IN WHICH THE DIVINE POWER IS OPERATIVE,
DOES GOD GO ON TO REVEAL TO MOSES GOD’S NAME,
THE FOUR SACRED LETTERS, YHWH,
WHICH ENGLISH AND GERMAN TRANSCRIBE AS “YAHWEH,’
AND WHICH IS ALMOST ALWAYS TRANSLATED
IN AN ABSTRACT, METAPHYSICAL WAY
AS “I AM WHO I AM.”
JEWISH BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, PHILOSOPHER, AND THEOLOGIAN
MARTIN BUBER WILL HAVE NONE OF THIS
AND ARGUES PERSUASIVELY
THAT GOD DID NOT REVEAL GODSELF
AS SOME METAPHYSICAL ABSTRACTION TO MOSES,
BUT MUCH MORE CONCRETELY AND PERSONALLY
AS “I AM WITH YOU,’
OR IN EXPANDED FORM AS
“I WAS WITH YOU, I AM WITH YOU,
AND I SHALL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU.”
GOD’S NAME, “YAHWEH,” “I AM WITH YOU,”
ACCORDING TO THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES AS A WHOLE,
IS NEVER, EVER TO BE SEPARATED
FROM THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT
IN WHICH GOD MADE GODSELF KNOWN:
NAMELY, THE EXODUS EXPERIENCE,
WHICH HAS ALWAYS BEEN,
AND WILL ALWAYS CONTINUE TO BE,
PARADIGMATIC, ABSOLUTELY FOUNDATIONAL
FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE.
THUS, WHEN GOD GIVES THE TEN COMMANDMENTS,
THE TEN LIFE-GIVING WORDS,
TO MOSES ON MT. SINAI,
GOD’S FIRST WORD IS NOT A COMMANDMENT, OR INSTRUCTION,
BUT A REMINDER OF GOD’S NAME,
AND HOW THAT NAME IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD:
“I AM YAHWEH YOUR GOD,
WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT,
OUT OF THE HOUSE OF SLAVERY.”
(Exodus 20:2)
UNLIKE THE GODS OF ISRAEL’S NEIGHBORS,
WHO HAVE SECRET NAMES KNOWN ONLY BY THE PRIESTS,
THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB, AND MOSES
INSTRUCTS MOSES TO REVEAL GOD’S NAME
TO THE PEOPLE AS A WHOLE.
GOD’S PROPER NAME, YAHWEH,
OCCURS NEARLY SEVEN THOUSAND TIMES
IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES,
AND IT IS ALWAYS TO BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE CONTEXT
OF THE PRIMORDIAL EXPERIENCE OF LIBERATION
FROM SLAVERY IN EGYPT.
THUS, WHENEVER AN OBSERVANT JEWISH PERSON
HEARS THE PROPER NAME OF GOD –
WHICH, INCIDENTIALLY, IS CONSIDERED TO BE SO HOLY
THAT IT IS NEVER DIRECTLY PRONOUNCED –
BUT COVERED BY A CIRCUMLOCUTION SUCH AS
“THE LORD YOUR GOD,”
WHENEVER AN OBSERVANT JEWISH PERSON
HEARS THE PHRASE “I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD,”
THEY IMMEDIATELY ADD IN THEIR HEARTS AND MINDS
THE DEFINING PHRASE
“WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT,
OUT OF THE HOUSE OF SLAVERY.”
THUS THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB, AND MOSES
IS FIRST AND FOREMOST A GOD OF LIBERATION,
A GOD, ULTIMATELY, WHO WANTS TO SEE
ALL HUMAN BEINGS FREED FROM ALL FORMS OF OPPRESSION.
MANY OF US WHO ARE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS
BELIEVE THAT GOD’S NAME, “I AM WITH YOU,”
HAS BECOME FLESH-AND-BLOOD IN JESUS OF NAZARETH,
ONE OF WHOSE NAMES IS EMMANUEL, MEANING “GOD WITH US.”
JESUS SIMPLY MIRRORS THE GOD OF EXODUS
WHEN – INAUGURATING HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY
AT THE SYNAGOGUE IN NAZARETH –
HE PROCLAIMS:
“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,
BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME
TO BRING GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO LET THE OPPRESSED GO FREE,
TO PROCLAIM THE YEAR OF THE LORD’S FAVOR.”
(Luke 4:18-19)
RETURNING NOW TO THE THIRD COMMANDMENT,
THE THIRD LIFE-GIVING WORD FROM GOD,
“YOU SHALL NOT MAKE WRONGFUL USE
OF THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD,”
WE SEE AT ONCE THAT ITS MEANING IS MUCH, MUCH BIGGER,
INCREDIBLY MORE RADICAL,
THAN OUR WATERED-DOWN, DOMESTICATED READING
OF GOD ASKING US NOT TO CUSS OR CURSE IN PUBLIC.
SINCE GOD’S NAME IS SYNONYMOUS WITH LIBERATION,
AND THE BIBLICAL MEANING OF LIBERATION
IS ULTIMATELY SYNONYMOUS WITH JUSTICE,
THE SCOPE FOR MISUSING GOD’S NAME
IS EXPONTENTIALLY EXPANDED.
AS PERSONS STRIVING TO ALIGN OUR LIVES
WITH THE TEACHINGS OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS,
EVERY TIME WE USE
GOD’S NAME IN ANGER AGAINST ANOTHER PERSON;
EVERY TIME WE USE GOD’S NAME
TO MANIPULATE SOMEONE INTO COMPLYING
WITH WHAT WE WANT;
EVERY TIME WE USE GOD’S NAME
TO CLAIM THAT GOD IS ON OUR SIDE;
EVERY TIME WE USE GOD’S NAME
TO BLESS ONE OF OUR WARS;
EVERY TIME WE DO ANY OF THESE THINGS
WE ARE NOT ONLY MISUSING, BUT ABUSING THE NAME OF GOD,
VIOLATING THE THIRD COMMANDMENT.
BUT THE SCOPE OF THIS COMMANDMENT
IS EVEN BIGGER THAN THIS.
IF WE CLAIM TO BE FOLLOWERS OF THE WAY,
THE WAY OF JUDAISM OR THE WAY OF CHRISTIANITY,
EVERY TIME WE ACT IN A WAY THAT DOES NOT CORRESPOND
TO THE DEEPEST TEACHINGS ABOUT GOD
IN THE HEBREW OR CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES,
WE ARE, TO USE THE KING JAMES VERSION,
“TAKING GOD’S NAME IN VAIN.”
THUS, FOR PRACTICING JEWS AND CHRISTIANS,
EVERY TIME WE ACT WITHOUT COMPASSION,
EVERY TIME WE ACT WITHOUT JUSTICE,
INDEED, EVERY TIME WE ACT OUT OF FEAR RATHER THAN LOVE,
EVERY TIME WE ACT OUT OF SELFISHNESS
RATHER THAN GENEROSITY,
EVERY TIME WE ACT OUT OF ANXIETY RATHER THAN TRUST,
EVERY TIME WE DO THESE THINGS
WE ARE REFLECTING A FALSE IMAGE OF GOD,
AND THUS TARNISHING THE NAME OF THE GOD
WHOM WE CLAIM TO WORSHIP AND TO FOLLOW.
MANY POWERFUL EXAMPLES OF THE VITAL CONNECTION
BETWEEN LIVING-OUT JUSTICE
AND HONORING THE NAME OF GOD
COME FROM THE HASIDIC TRADITION WITHIN JUDAISM.
THE HASIDS WERE AND ARE MYSTICS,
MYSTICS CAUGHT UP IN A PASSIONATE AND ECSTATIC
RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
SIGNIFICANTLY, IT WAS THE VERY CLOSENESS
OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
THAT INSPIRED THEM TO EMBODY GOD’S JUSTICE
IN VERY CONCRETE WAYS.
ONE OF MANY, MANY POSSIBLE EXAMPLES:
RABBI YITZHAK FROM BERDICHEV
( A TOWN IN POLAND)
DECLARED ALL THE MATZAH MADE IN THE TOWN FACTORY
TO BE UNSUITABLE FOR PASSOVER USE.
“DO YOU NOT SEE THE YOUNG GIRLS
WHO WORK FOR PENNIES,
FORCED TO BAKE FROM DAWN TO DUSK –
NEVER MIND THE LONELY DARK MILES TO AND FROM HOME –
SO THAT YOU CAN FEAST WHILE THEY GO HUNGRY?
NOT KOSHER!
BETTER NOT TO CELEBRATE PASSOVER THIS YEAR,
AND TURN GOD INTO THE SUPPORTER OF THE VERY SLAVERY
HE CAME TO ABOLISH,
THAN TO EAT THIS UNHOLY BREAD.
FIRST, LET US CELEBRATE GOD’S JUSTICE;
THEN WE CAN CELEBRATE GOD’S PASSOVER.”
(Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Open the Gates of Justice, amended)
THE PROBLEM WITH GETTING OURSELVES BACK IN TOUCH
WITH THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS,
GOD’S TEN LIFE-GIVING WORDS,
IS THAT THEIR ORIGINAL MEANING IS SO MUCH BIGGER
THAN WE’RE USED TO
THAT WE CAN GET HOPELESSLY DISCOURAGED,
THROW UP OUR HANDS IN DESPAIR,
AND SIMPLY GIVE UP EVEN TRYING.
THIS IS WHERE THE JEWISH EMPHASIS
ON LIFE-GIVING WORDS RATHER THAN LEGAL COMMANDMENTS
CAN BE ESPECIALLY HELPFUL.
GIVEN OUR BROKENNESS AS HUMAN BEINGS,
COMMANDMENTS CAN ONLY BE BROKEN.
LIFE-GIVING WORDS, ON THE OTHER HAND,
ARE MEANT TO BE GROWN INTO,
NOT ALL AT ONCE,
BUT ONE SMALL STEP AT A TIME.
THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE MOST CONDUCIVE
TO HELPING US GRADUALLY GROW
INTO A FULLER AND DEEPER HONORING OF GOD’S NAME,
INTO A FULLER AND DEEPER LIVING-OUT OF OUR RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE GOD WHO IS ALWAYS WITH US,
IS THE DISICPLINE OF THE EXAMEN,
OR, AS OUR ROMAN CATHOLIC BROTHERS AND SISTERS CALL IT,
“THE EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE.”
DENNIS AND MATTHEW LINN, PRIME MOVERS
IN THE HEALING PRAYER AND RETREAT MOVEMENTS,
OFFER A SIMPLE YET PROFOUND VERSION OF THIS DISCIPLINE.
THEY SUGGEST THAT EVERY NIGHT, BEFORE GOING TO SLEEP,
WE ASK OURSELVES TWO QUESTIONS:
ONE: “WHERE TODAY DID I HAVE THE DEEPEST SENSE
OF CONNECTION WITH GOD, OTHERS, AND MYSELF?
TWO: WHERE TODAY DID I HAVE THE LEAST SENSE OF CONNECTION?”
HONESTLY ANSWERING THESE TWO QUESTIONS LEADS,
ON THE ONE HAND,
TO PRAYERS OF GRATEFULNESS FOR OUR TIMES OF CONNECTION,
AND ON THE OTHER HAND,
TO ASK AND RECEIVE FORGIVENESS
FOR THOSE TIMES WHEN WE BROKE OUR CONNECTION
WITH GOD, WITH OTHERS, AND WITH OUR DEEPEST SELVES.
MANY CHRISTIANS FROM ALL DENOMINATIONS
HAVE REPORTED THAT ASKING AND ANSWERING
THESE TWO SIMPLE QUESTIONS ON A DAILY BASIS
OVER THE LONG HAUL
HAS MADE GOD MUCH MORE REAL FOR THEM,
HAS MOVED THEM WITH A STRONG DESIRE
TO BECOME MORE LIKE THIS GOD
WHOM THEY ARE GETTING TO KNOW,
AND HAS GIVEN THEM THE STRENGTH
TO ACTUALLY LIVE-OUT IN THEIR DAILY LIVES
THOSE FAMOUS WORDS FROM THE PROPHET MICAH:
‘WHAT DOES GOD REQUIRE OF YOU
BUT TO DO JUSTICE, TO LOVE KINDNESS,
AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD.”
(Micah 6:8)
AMEN.