Into the Darkness Where We Find Light
Most of us are reluctant to enter the darkness. It intimidates us because it is unknown and frightening.
Moses approached it and entered it after uttering the summary to the Law to the people of God in the wilderness.
Why?
Because that is where God was. God was within and behind the curtain of darkness.
That is where Moses wanted, needed, and was called to be. That is where he could find and experience authentic light. That is where the mystery resided and where holiness enveloped all that is common and superficial.
The people heard the very down to earth, common words of the Law, but knew they had come from within the cloud of awesome holiness. They knew that there was something deeper, greater, and vastly incomprehensible behind them and within them.
They trembled with fear, but Moses, wisely told them not to be afraid. These words had come to them as a gift.
Through them, they would be trained and tested, developed, and refined.
These words would teach them reverential "fear," that awe that would enable them to stand amazed in the presence of God with wonder that attracts rather than repels.
That is why he says, "Do not be afraid; rather, learn the amazement of true fear of God."
It is a fear that attracts. Thus, Moses, on behalf of the people, walks into the darkness where God was present. Moses was a prophet, a priest, and a leader in every respect.
He was also a fallible human who needed the Law as a guide as much as anyone.
The word "Torah," which we translate as "law" is more than law. In Hebrew, it is derived from the root ירה, meaning ' "to guide" or 'to "teach."
Thus, it is a teaching and a guide for living.
"Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was."
On behalf of the wilderness family, Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
There was more to be known and experienced of God than what we now call, "The Ten Commandments."
Moses spent his life experiencing God at a deep, personal, spiritual, and practical level. The experience of God was the driving force of his life and the purpose of forty years in the wilderness.
There is far more to the story of the giving of the Torah than "Thous shalt not" this or "Thous shalt not" that. It is the story of a people being drawn toward God in worshipful awe and sent into the world to live out the law of love for God and neighbor is a practical way.
It is the story of God reaching out to a chosen people and granting them both access and guidance in living a righteous life.
In the thick darkness of God's presence, we discover light.
"God is light and in him is no darkness at all." - I John 1:5
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Exodus 20:1-21 (NRSVU)
Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work-- you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die."
Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin."
Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
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