In the Episcopal church today, Exodus 34 was the OT reading. This is the story where Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai with his face doing . . . something. What the issue with his face is is unclear. Traditionally, it has been translated as his face shining, but it is far from clear that this is what is happening. The Hebrew verb is related to the noun for “horn,” which has led some people to read it as Moses’ face growing horns. This was how the Vulgate translated it. If you have ever seen Michelangelo’s Moses from the Church of St. Peter in Chains in Rome (pictured at right), you will notice that he has horns on his head. This is not an uncommon feature when Moses is depicted in art.
In the late 1980s, Marvin Pope had an article in Bible Review where he argued that Moses’ face had developed a leathery, blistered surface from exposure to the glory of God. This would be similar to the effects of prolonged exposure to the sun. This would better explain why the people are afraid of Moses: a shining face is not really frightening, while a horny, blistered face would be. When Moses returned to the tent to see God’s glory, he can remove the veil. His face is toughened, so he can withstand the sight of the glory.
The reading this morning led me to think of other occasions where people’s encounters with God leaves them disfigured in some way. The most obvious example of this is Jacob’s wrestling with God in Genesis 32. God injures Jacob’s hip, which leaves Jacob with a permanent limp. In the NT, Zechariah is struck mute in his encounter with God, while Paul is temporarily blinded. And of course Jesus, who had the ultimate encounter with God, ends up being crucified.
We are very used to focusing on the healing power of God. I think we might do well to rediscover the idea that an encounter with God can leave us disfigured. While many of us long for a vision of God, we should keep in mind that most people in the OT who met God were scared to death and assumed that they were going to die.
On February 19th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
hmm. I wonder what you make of Job’s encounter with God. I have been thinking about the links between Job and Jacob and I think Job’s ordeal was kind of like Jacob’s ordeal at the Jabbok–clinging to God beyond all reason and not letting go without God’s blessing. I’m inclined to think that Job bore the effects of his encounter with God until his death, but I guess the question is were the effects good or bad?
On February 20th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I think Job would definitely fall into this category, perhaps ad absurdum.
Whether the effects of such a disfiguring encounter with God is a good or bad thing is perhaps impossible to answer. In hindsight, would Job have rather not had gone through the experience? Hard to say, although I can imagine the loss of children being the most difficult part. But it all contributed to who he became.
Ultimately, I have to believe that we become more like the people God wants us to be after such experiences, although who we become probably does not much resemble the ideal person we imagined we would become.