Reflection - Idols V

By Steve Hall

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050821.cfm
Acts 16:1-10
John 15:18-21

The earliest extended account of God providing the promised protection, provisions and presence is seen in the story of the Exodus. That same account also specifies why God is doing this. In this narrative we are introduced to the theme which is at the core of the First commandment.

“You and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, we beg you, let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.'” (Exodus 3:18)

In this text we find foreshadowed the same fundamental message found in the Canticle of Zechariah: God’s people need to be free to worship without fear.

The images from the Exodus event, i.e., the warnings, the plagues, the protection and the departure, exemplify the divine promises.

Protection: “The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:13)

Provision: ‘The LORD said to Moses, "Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go from here; when he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, jewelry of silver and of gold."’ Exodus 11:1-2)

“The sons of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked of the Egyptians jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing.” (Exodus 12:35)

Presence: “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.” (Exodus 13:21)

Similar promises are found in many parts of the Old Testament, varying according to the circumstances of the time. The following excerpts are from two of the prophets, and their words echo what was exemplified in Exodus.

"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine,and all the hills shall flow with it.
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
I will plant them upon their land, and they shall never again be plucked up out of the land which I have given them," says the LORD your God. “(Amos 9:13-15)

“For you [O Lord] have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.” (Isaiah 25:4)

“He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces.” (Isaiah 25:8)

From the beginning and forever after God works to establish a relationship with his creation. But the relationship must be authentic. That is, it must conform to truth; and the truth is that there is only one God. As creations of that one God, it is right and just that He be acknowledged as such by those created.

In the familial relationship that The Lord seeks to establish, protection, provision and presence are concomitant with a correct realization of that relationship. However, that familial relationship, as pursued in the Old Testament, should not be understood as being one-sided. It is interactive. The text will frequently express it in these or similar words: You will be my People and I will be your God. The unequivocal promise is that God will do what is necessary to ensure that his People are free — free to worship Him.

The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel directly address the problem we must deal with.

“If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.”

While the world itself is not evil, it still would be corrupted by evil which yet struggles to prevail. Christ’s victory was not the final one; that will come with the total elimination of evil from God’s good creation. In the interim, those who are in Christ do not belong to this world and they too must struggle — struggle to live according to the truth: I The Lord am God. There is no other. You shall have no other gods before me.