I used this picture last year on the post for this date. It's a favorite of mine. My son John likes to wear his shoes until they fall apart. Our friend Skidmore calls them his Canaan Shoes...you know, Canaan, "where the soul of man never dies."
This is Moses' second farewell address. And he's really stressing obeying and honoring God and avoiding the idols and false gods of the people they will conquer to take the Promised Land. It's as if he knows what will and does happen.
Once again, I'm take by their physical closeness to the Creator of the Universe.
"These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and He added nothing more. Then He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me."When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leading men of your tribes and your elders came to me. And you said, 'The Lord our God has shown us His glory and His majesty, and we have heard His voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him.'" [Deut. 5:22-24]
Besides Moses, Joshua and Caleb, the only ones listening to Moses who were alive when God gave the 10 Commandments were just children at the time. The others have died off in the wilderness. I wonder how they remembered the voice of God now so many years later? It astounds me to realize that people once actually truly clearly heard the voice of God, experienced in a physical way His presence and could have even traced His penmanship in the tablets of stone. There was no questioning whose commandments these were. I long to hear and see and feel.
It's kind of ironic now that this one bit of Biblical literature that traces back to the voice and hand of God is the one that men fight to have banned from public display.
They marveled that "a man can live even if God speaks with him." But I wonder that a man can live without God speaking to him. This dialog, this relationship is real life.
Then there is the mention that as they wandered "Your clothes did not wear out...." [Deut. 8:4] What an amazingly mundane sort of miracle. But an interesting little detail -- their clothing didn't wear out during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Imagine it? Kind of frightening for the fashion conscious and the fashion industry. But I wonder what the people's response to this miracle was? Instead of rejoicing, I wonder how many complained? Nothing but manna and quail, manna and quail, and sometimes quail and manna for 40 years. And, on top of that, the same pair of goofy shoes and the same old outfit you've been wearing for the last 40 years.
"Say, didn't you wear that yesterday...and the day before that?"
The clothing didn't wear out...but did it smell? And I wonder how this wear-resistant attire accommodated expanding waistlines? Is manna fattening? High in sodium and cholesterol? Chalk full of niacin and riboflavin? Brimming with antioxidants? Carbohydrate and cavity and steroid free? One wonders.
My post from last year on this date.
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