Moses: Out of pure love
Monday, February 1, 2016
*Rogelio Zelada
The intensity of the flames has caught the attention of Jethro’s son-in-law, who has led his sheep this time far into the wilderness. On the summit of Horeb, a bush burns stubbornly without consuming its branches, a miracle that amazes Moses, who has climbed for a closer look.
Once again, God takes the lead, this time calling a fugitive, a stutterer, who is just starting a family with Zipporah and is peacefully tending his flock. His life changes and hurls him on a mission for which he does not feel ready.
Like Noah, he must fully trust the word of the Lord and build a huge spiritual ark to accommodate an entire people and direct it to surf the sands without a clear direction. He must set out like Abraham, looking beyond every hope the fulfillment of an abundant promise. He knows that he lacks the skills of a warrior or the desirable diplomacy that prepares leaders, but he is convinced of the loyalty of the one who has chosen him and, like the bush in Horeb, an absolute loyalty to the God of his Fathers burns in his heart.
The Lord is not asking for something small; the cruel bondage that binds His people has become a cry for justice and liberation that shakes God's time. He has seen the oppression of his people; He has heard the cry of the oppressed and their complaints, and has humbled himself to Moses not only to free the Israelites from the Egyptian whip, but also to bring them out forever from its yoke and take them to a beautiful and fertile land. God, who has taken the side of the humiliated, chooses Moses to face all the gods of Egypt and even Pharaoh, himself the son of those powerful and false gods.
For the religious understanding of the time, this is a sort of somersault. They lived convinced that the people were the ones who elected their gods to obtain protection and benefits from them; in turn, the gods sought to associate with rich and numerous nations, with vast and fertile lands, promising abundant offerings. The Lord has chosen for Himself a nation of slaves, without land, without riches, without the means to offer extraordinary sacrifices; poor and powerless people.
Moses must shepherd a fickle people, distrustful, with a strong tendency to fatigue, discouragement and little loyalty. He will have to intercede for this people again and again; speak on behalf of the Lord God of heaven; scold, straighten and even punish them until they get to the land of Canaan.
Gradually, Moses’ friendship with God builds a new man of him who will become the face of the Lord to his people. He is the mediator or the perfect spokesperson; the only one who could speak with God face to face, as a friend to another friend; who can remain in God's presence and not die; the most important of the patriarchs and prophets of Israel.
God, who immersed himself in their history and freed them with the power of the Word, has enabled them to cross the sea and led them towards new frontiers of freedom. On this journey, Moses understands that it is not only about taking his people out of slavery in Egypt, but also especially to release them of their inner slavery, a lengthy process that requires all the patience of Moses and especially of God. In this march through the desert, Moses invites them to dream of a new horizon, where they will be masters of their future and will become a nation, the people of the Lord.
God informs Moses of his precepts and laws. So, the long and hard journey that they are covering is shaping them inwardly as a nation consecrated to God. The fate of all the people, its success or failure, will depend on the perfect fidelity to the law that the Lord has given them.
The prophet will have to intercede when his people are hungry or thirsty; their complaints and longings for the meat, garlic and onions of Egypt will hurt him; he will burst with anger at the dazzling brilliance of the golden calf; he will be shocked to the core by the speed with which they have fallen into the temptation of supplanting God for an idol, exchanging Him for a false substitute.
In Moses, the people of Israel will be discovering an intense faith, full of emotions, centered on the personal encounter with God. A friendship achieved by pure love, a trust that will take him over and over again to try to appease the just anger of God and obtain forgiveness for the terrible ingratitude of the tribes that he looks after. He feels as paternal and caring of his people that he will dare to say to the Lord: “Ah, this people has committed a grave sin in making a god of gold for themselves! Now if you would only forgive their sin! But if you will not, then blot me out of the book that you have written” (Ex 32:31-32).
