Exodus
Introduction
Exodus is the escape from Egypt. It is God’s great exploit in the Old Testament: setting out from a place of slavery to go towards the promised land. God frees his people “with great power, a strong hand and an outstretched arm” which means striking with mighty blows, and opening for them a way through the sea.
Exodus is the heart of the Old Testament and makes it fully relevant in presenting to us a God who frees humankind. This book has given the Jewish religion, and later Christian faith, the first orientation making them different from all other religions. God does not primarily come in order to be respected or to indicate spiritual paths but rather to choose a people who will allow him to act at the heart of human history. God reveals himself to Moses because he wants to create a nation for himself and it will be Israel.
The Gospels and Christians did recognize in Jesus another Moses who launches a new venture, and in this book they will try to discover symbols of what they are living in the Church: crossing the Red Sea is baptism, the rock from which the spring of water gushes forth is Christ; the Covenant on Sinai anticipates the New Covenant.
In any case, we must not forget how the first experience and the significant event all began. The Exodus is first and foremost the liberation of slaves and it is the choosing by God of the Israelites, a genuine liberation which concerns the whole human reality, individual and social. God frees those he wants for himself and Christian liberty will be far removed from what western culture understands by that word.
Exodus and History
The narrations of Exodus abound in beautiful stories but are quite different from what we would have observed had we been there at the time. Great frescoes have been painted, but we would like to know what history would say of them.
All is situated around the year 1240 B.C. a little more than five centuries after Abraham. In the 15th century before Christ, the Egyptians had been conquered by invaders from Canaan who allowed entry numerous nomads from the desert into their country (see history of Joseph). After two centuries the Egyptians managed to restore their own kings and from that point on the nomads were treated with far less consideration; many fled to avoid taxes or enforced labor. Some were banished (Ex 12:31); others escaped under the darkness of night (Ex 12:38).
It is in this context that Exodus is situated. A nomadic group pursued by an Egyptian army detachment is saved by God through an extraordinary intervention. The Israelites saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore (Ex 14:30). Moses, a prophet, led the fugitives and interpreted for them this event: the Lord, the only God, had chosen them to be his people. Moses and his followers were to remain a long time in the oasis of Sinai, and it was there that Moses would give them the Lord’s law.
History then is found in Exodus, but Exodus relates much more and it is there that history in its modern meaning may not agree with it, for this book is not the work of one author, but rather the result of a long evolution and has been marked by the different ways of recording history in ancient times.
We have mentioned one of these ways in the commentary on Chapter 35 of Genesis: history listened to in groups that passed on orally the past story of their clan. In this way, one family has been made up with Moses, his father-in-law Jethro (or Reuel), Aaron, brother of Moses, and Miriam, sister of Aaron and prophetess. There is the memory of links established between Moses and the leaders or prophets of other clans. In the same way, Mount Sinai has been identified in this account with Mount Horeb and the Mount of God. These were separate holy places, certain traditions of which have been confused. More about this will be discussed later.
Very different is the way history is recorded by the Jewish priests who have given this book its definitive form at the time of the Babylonian Exile. They developed old memories to assert, not what had been, but the way the people of Israel should see its past and understand itself. In doing this they showed their contemporaries a way of being the people of God and bearers of history. From there comes the vision of an immense nation already formed, organized, which has its Sanctuary in the desert, its priests, and its foundries that will produce the golden calf. This formidable nation walks as one people, nourished by manna for forty years. It receives its laws which in fact will only be observed five or six centuries later. This entire nation leaves Egypt armed to conquer the Promised Land.
The Living God of the Exodus
So here we are, facing a double history, one of science and one which has formed the conscience of Israel and of Christians. The first shows us how God became part of the greater history. It tells us that his action has been very discreet and we discover his very patient pedagogy. The second helps us realize who we are and what we can fully become in Christ.
However, we must not totally separate the two as if all the narration of Exodus was no more than fiction. Let us read a few pages: never would they have been written, and never would they have put weight on the conscience of a nation if they were not a true witness; witness of those who were with Moses and whose experiences were surely exceptional. Otherwise, never would there have been either the prophets or the Gospel; the witness of those priests or prophets who later would write them, for they too had an experience of the living God, the ‘Savior of Israel’ and, because of this, they have passed on to us the fire that was lit on Sinai.
1.1 For centuries a great part of humanity has lived under oppression. Historians speak little of humanity’s life of suffering. Rebelliousness was rare since the great majority were resigned, and even came to believe that slavery was a normal situation. But God willed to intervene, at least once, in a manifest form to liberate the Hebrew people. This was the first step in the history of the People of God.
Scripture traces in bold strokes the subhuman conditions of the Hebrews in Egypt:
– the Egyptian lords were afraid of a people who, according to them, grew irresponsibly fast (vv. 10 & 12);
– they imposed hard work on the Israelites who had to build and defend a society which did not promote their welfare or recognize their rights (v. 11);
– exploitation and oppression went hand in hand with inhuman labor and political repression enforced by the Egyptian overseers;
– finally, an alien authority imposed drastic population control on the Israelites (v. 16).
Situations of oppression can be found in 1 Maccabees 1; 2 Maccabees 4 and 6; Isaiah 5:8; Amos 5:10; Ezekiel 34; Micah 2:1; Job 24:1, 25:9; Lamentations 3:31.
Who were Shiphrah and Puah? (v. 15) These are names of Egyptian women who, because of their compassion for the oppressed people, made a mockery of the king’s order and refused to execute what their conscience condemned.
2.1 The liberation of the Hebrew people begins with a simple, solitary act—that of a mother risking her life to save her son.
Her action is the manifestation of a mother’s love. It is the rebellion of a conscience that refuses to obey an inhuman law. It is the act of faith of a mother who anticipates the wonderful future that God opens to a newly-born infant, knowing also that children are the future of her people (see Heb 11:21).
Isn’t this the same way in which mothers today refuse abortion in the name of their conscience enlightened by faith?
Historians explain that the details of this story were inspired by the legend of King Sargon, who was saved from drowning when he was a boy. Most probably nothing was known about Moses’ childhood. The story of the basket found among the reeds was a pleasant way of expressing God’s providence. Moses would escape from the common destiny of Hebrew children and land in the confined world of those who benefit from culture. The one who was to free the slaves should experience liberty. The slaves did not even know what the word freedom meant.
11. Moses lived a prince’s life. Nevertheless, he went to meet his people who lived in poorer conditions.
He noticed how heavily they were burdened. He did not respond like many culturally privileged who, rather than acting in solidarity with their people, act contrary to their interests (e.g. through the export of capital and brain drain). Moses did not deliberately close his eyes, like those who deny their humble beginnings or reject solidarity with their companions in order to be admitted to higher circles.
Immediately, Moses sides with his people. On the following day, he discovers another aspect of evil: they are not innocent victims. The oppression they suffer has something to do with the violence, the evil and the irresponsibility which exists among them. They are not respected by the Egyptians, but neither are they concerned about meriting this respect. This time, Moses does not know what to do and prefers to flee.
Moses has taken the first step on the way that will lead to the liberation of his people. Likewise, those who are able to share the lot of the privileged, but prefer to put themselves at the service of the lowly become, without knowing it, followers of Christ, as Hebrews 11:24-26 says: “By faith, Moses refused to be called son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He preferred to share ill treatment with the people of God, rather than enjoy the passing pleasure of sin; he considered the humiliation of Christ a greater wealth than the wealth of Egypt.”
Thus we see that Scripture values efforts made to promote human dignity, and the efforts of youth, workers and all those struggling for development and for a more active participation in the building of their future.
The liberation God will bring about is, at the same time, a liberation from structures of oppression and the awakening of each person regarding his or her own sin.
16. As a shepherd in the desert, Moses learns the raw life, poor and free, like that of Abraham. He lives among the Midianites, who are more or less descendants of the father of the believers (Gen 25:2). Thus, Moses receives from his father-in-law, Reuel, also called Jethro (3:1), the traditions of Abraham and his faith to the one and only God.
23. They cried to God for help and from their bondage, their cry ascended to God. At times, people do not even have the spirit to hope in God, but though they may have forgotten the promises, God does not forget them. There is such a thing as God’s time and also God’s delay (2 Mac 6:12; Hb 1:2; Sir 35:19; Ps 44; Mk 4:26; Lk 18:1; Rev 6:11). Though we can hasten the hour of God (2 P 3:12), “time and the moment” belong to him (Acts 1:7).
3.1 God waits several years and then calls Moses when he is already mature. He calls him at a time when Moses has chosen the paths of a father of a family and shepherd of sheep. He does this in the desert where Moses has apparently isolated himself from the misfortunes of his people and, day after day, wastes the opportunity to help them. Thus, many times God waits for a person in this or that desert of his or her life. During those times, apparently so empty, God prepares his servants while their heart and generosity remain intact.
The angel of the Lord appeared to him by means of a flame of fire (v. 2). The angel of the Lord (we know this is one way of saying the Lord God himself: see Visions and Angels, Gen 16:1) presents himself as a fire that catches the eye but burns whoever approaches it.
For centuries, this mountain had been a sacred place, and Moses does what anyone would do when entering a holy place: take off one’s sandals so as not to bring before God the dust of ordinary existence.
I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (v. 6). The God Moses’ ancestors called by different names is only one and his choice now falls on Moses.
I will be with you (v. 12). Each time God calls people to a mission, he begins by reassuring them, for they immediately understand that such mission will fully take possession of them: Joshua 1:5; Judges 6:12; Matthew 28:20; Luke 1:28.
I am sending you to Pharaoh (v. 10). This will be the first step of Moses’ mission. After delivering Israel from Egypt, he will, almost by force, impose their destiny upon them, which is to be the chosen people of God.
God speaks of bringing Israel to the land flowing with milk and honey (v. 17), the land promised to Abraham. He does not fix the time nor give details but foretells an event that will prove the authenticity of the mission: someday, Israel, poor but free, will arrive with Moses at the Mount to meet God and receive his life-giving words.
14. THE DIVINE NAME
Among other people who have their own ideas about God and who search in darkness for the meaning of their destiny, Israel was to be a people who knew God according to the truth, and who, because of this, would know wherein lies true human greatness. The revelation of the one and only God is linked to a freeing mission, and there we have the relevant character of biblical revelation. Some years earlier the Pharaoh Akinaton wished in his own way to identify the only God: his intuition got bogged down in a problem of worship and had no impact on history. The God of Moses is instead the One, Holy and Just God, who desires to be served by free persons.
I am: I AM WHO AM (v. 14). There are two ways of translating these words. The first is what we give here: God is the One who is, who alone exists without any limitation. This meaning agrees with the end of verse 14 and at the same time it gives meaning to “Yahweh.” But it could also be understood as: I am who I am. In this case, God does not really refuse to make known his identity to Moses, since he is going to give him his name, but he lets it be understood that no one is able to share the secret of his person.
By this name, they shall call upon me (v. 15). It is evident that every name depends on the particular language in which it has its own meaning. God reveals to the Hebrews a name: Yahweh, which in their language is interpreted as: He is. If he had spoken to another people, God would have given another name which would have had meaning for them.
Yahweh means at the same time: He is and He causes to exist. We may understand that God is and causes to exist that which he knows. This name is directly related to the saying by God in verse 14: I am who am and I am.
I am. This is the God who Lives and Sees (Gen 16:13). When he wants to manifest something of his own mystery, he lets blazing fire (Ezk 1:4; Hb 3:4), windstorm and thunder (Ex 19:16; 1 K 19:11; Ps 18:9-17), and the waves of the sea go before him. All these are nothing more than images that screen, like a cloud (1 K 8:10), God’s mystery which is infinitely more profound. This mystery transcends and reaches beyond not only human insight but the mind of any human or angelic creature.
We all receive existence from God, but God exists in himself and depends on no one and nothing whatsoever. God is One, and none of those who receive existence from him can add anything to God.
Thus, then, God is and he causes to exist the one who knows him. This revelation is critical for understanding the whole Scripture and should be remembered when believers simply say, “God is Love; God is Goodness,” and forget that this alone would be false if it were not first affirmed that: God is Who Is. If God were only the Almighty, we would think of prostrating ourselves before him, set out to make war against idols, and give all importance to laws on prayer, fasting, and the good works he demands. If he were only Goodness, we would not understand why he lets us suffer.
But he said: I Am Who Am. God is a wholly active and perfectly free Person, and he calls us to be persons who exist in truth. Hence, God creates a world in which we can act responsibly. God does not impose good. He prefers that, through our experience and our errors, we come to discover where the true good is.
To worship God does not mean, as some believe, to lie prostrate before him, but rather to approach him face to face. God wants to be served by persons who, in turn, free others.
In presenting himself this way, the one true God has said the most essential thing. At this early stage of history, he could not speak more precisely and reveal the mystery of the Divine Persons in the same God: this would be the task of Jesus (Mt 28:19; Jn 1:18-19). Hence, for centuries, the Israelites retained the figure of a Sovereign God who spoke more the language of obedience.
Yahweh or Jehovah? In the last centuries before Jesus’ coming, the Israelites, out of respect, would not pronounce the name of Yahweh. Hence, Yahweh was changed to Yehowah in the Scriptures, a term which had no meaning nor was pronounced, but on seeing it, the reader knew that he should not say Yahweh, but Edonah, or Lord. (It had been put into the sacred consonants YHWH of Yahweh the three vowels e, o, a of Edonah).
I mean to bring you out of all this oppression (v. 17). God, who exists, is concerned about those who still do not exist in truth. We say that God saves human persons, and so we suppose that these are real persons and not undeveloped persons without liberty, or responsibility. Salvation is not the washing of souls but the restoration of the human person in all dimensions— individual, family, and social. When speaking of liberation, Scripture always refers to the total liberation of the human person. We can study Exodus as a Life of Moses and see that he was saved—or that he grew as a person and as a believer—to the extent that he was taking charge of his material and spiritual tasks as leader liberator of his people.
The Lord has met with us (v. 18). Invoking religious motives (to offer sacrifices) could not hide the fact that the only objective of the Hebrew slaves was to liberate themselves from the oppression that they suffered. All this happened at a time when there was no social or political problem that was not expressed in religious terms (Ex 17:16; Num 25:16).
But today, some ask: “Does Scripture speak to us in the sense of human and political liberation, or does it rather propose a spiritual liberation?” In truth, this opposition is artificial. Experience teaches us that in order to save one’s neighbor, neither material help nor political change nor prayer is sufficient. What is important is that persons rise to new life. To do this, they themselves must confront and solve the real problems of their common life—material, educational or political—starting with a more lucid vision of reality as God sees it, and with a more authentic love which is spiritual.
4.1 They will not believe me. It is always difficult for the marginalized to unite and put their confidence in the one who can uplift them. But it will cost Israel even more to follow a path to liberation that is slow and so opposed to human wisdom. Moses usually does not care what people think but acts with the authority of God. This is why he receives the power to perform miracles which prove his authority.
All this story is adapted to the world in which Moses lived. We find here the type of portents that were attributed to Egyptian sorcerers.
10. Aaron will speak for you (v. 16). Perhaps Moses wants to flee from the call of God; perhaps he feels inferior because he does not have the human qualities that seem essential in a leader. God who calls will provide the necessary means.
To understand the role of Aaron in these events, we must remember that the Jewish priests were called “sons of Aaron”: they were considered as his descendants. That is why Aaron who was probably Moses’ brother in a broad way just as “Miriam, sister of Aaron,” became in time his blood brother. We find him sharing the authority of Moses, and interpreting his words: in reality all that points out to the priests of Israel and establishes their authority.
18. Moses appears to be gravely sick: his wife thinks it is because he has not been circumcised. Therefore, according to the thinking of that time, she circumcises his son instead of him.
It may be noted that verse 19 has been taken textually in Matthew 2:20: the evangelist intends to show that Jesus is the new Moses.
5.1 The word of God is not as easily heard in the offices of the capital as in the desert. Pharaoh’s responses and decisions seem to be the model which many contemporary directors and administrators imitate. Moses and Aaron receive a negative response and later face the mistrust of their companions.
Throughout history, we find the same opposition from those who did not want to take any initiative to liberate themselves, and did not trust in its success. They paid no attention to the leaders working for their good. Martin Luther King, shortly before his death, said with sadness that he was shocked by the indifference of the Blacks; he felt alone in struggling for the cause of his own people.
God did not lack the means to advance his liberating work, provided that Moses would have faith and would persevere.
Verse 19. Notice the embarrassment of those trusted Israelites who supervised people on behalf of the Egyptian authorities.
6.2 We said at the beginning of this book that different accounts of the same events were put together. Here begins a later and more summarized story of Moses’ call. It gives a list of his ancestors. The Jewish priests attribute to Moses a life of 120 years, that is, of three generations—a symbolic and perfect number:
– 40 years old upon leaving Egypt,
– 80 years old when he met God,
120 years old at his death.
7.14 Here we have the plagues of Egypt. The paragraphs which come from the most ancient story narrate 7 plagues. The other story, the Elohist’s, gives 9. The third story adds the plague of ulcers.
The biblical writers knew that the power of evil also performs miracles to obscure the interventions of God. Note these details: 7:11-12; 8:3; 8:14; 9:10.
Chapter 10 describes the reactions of people who recognize the signs of God without arriving at true conversion.
Regarding the plagues or misfortunes of Egypt, the modern reader will ask three things:
– Did these stupendous miracles to bring harm upon the Egyptians really happen?
– If these plagues were merely natural phenomena, should we consider any misfortune as a punishment from God?
– Were the Egyptian peasants or citizens responsible for the politics of Pharaoh, and did they deserve to be punished?
With regard to the first question, we know that for centuries these stories were narrated and amplified by the Israelites. They were meant to show that through these natural misfortunes common in Egypt: the locusts, the Red Nile, frogs—God manifested his will to Pharaoh.
With regard to the second, see the commentary on Luke 13:1. God warns us through signs. National leaders, if they would open their eyes to the evils that afflict their country, would realize that injustices will be paid for dearly.
With regard to the third question, let us not forget that the sacred authors shared the culture of their times. They were not concerned about whether it was the Egyptians or Pharaoh himself who had sinned in opposing Moses. They only saw that they opposed God’s design and must, therefore, be vanquished: that is what they expressed with the word “punished.” They were not concerned about the fate of the Egyptian peasant. For them, Egypt represented the unjust Power, and Pharaoh, the Enemy of God.
10.1 I have made him stubborn. In fact, the original text says: I hardened him, or I let his heart harden. But the heart for the Hebrews is the place where decisions are made (as the head is for us); that does not mean to say that God poisoned the heart of Pharaoh. Pharaoh stubbornly persists: that is what God wanted, and it becomes part of his plan to take advantage of the obstacles opposing it. The author surely did not want to confront the problem of human freedom with the all-powerful God.
11.1 All the firstborn in Egypt shall die (v. 3). The tenth plague nears: the “angel of the Lord” will make the sons of the Egyptians die. Very possibly, as in 2 Kings 19:25, this was some epidemic or plague. At this very time, the meal of the paschal lamb will be celebrated.
12.1 Let each family take a lamb (v. 3). The ancestors of the Hebrews, when wandering with their flocks before they stayed in Egypt, celebrated each year the Pasch of the Lamb, the traditional feast of the shepherds. They sacrificed a lamb on the first moon of spring (v. 2) a critical period for the ewes which had just given birth. The lamb set aside for the feast was kept for several days in the same place where the people were (v. 6) so that it could be better identified with the family and carry the sins of all its members. Later, the camping tents were sprinkled with its blood to drive away the “deadly” spirits that threatened people and animals.
The sense of the ancient feast has changed. It must be understood that God established the Passover at the time of the exodus from Egypt: it would always be there to remind Israel of its liberation.
15. Centuries later, when Israel became an agricultural people, it was traditional to celebrate yearly, in the spring, a weeklong feast during which they ate unleavened bread. This feast was of pagan origin but the Jewish priests, instead of opposing this practice, preferred to combine it with the feast of the Passover and give it a new meaning by relating it to the exit from Egypt. This unleavened bread would call to mind the hurried flight when the Israelites lacked time to leaven their bread.
21. Here we find other more ancient instructions on how to celebrate the Passover.
In sparing the first-born sons of Israel (v. 23), God again declares his formal opposition to human sacrifice (Gen 22). Certainly the firstborn of his people belonged to him (13:1) as did the firstborn of the animals and the firstfruits of the land (Dt 26:2); but since God himself had spared the firstborn of Israel when leaving Egypt, every firstborn in Israel would be redeemed, rather than immolated (Ex 13:13).
Henceforth, the Israelite families would consider their firstborn as belonging and consecrated to the Lord (Ex 13:1), for they had been saved from the plague. According to this law, Jesus, the firstborn of Mary and of God, would be presented in the Temple (Lk 2:22).
It is the sacrifice of the Passover for the Lord (v. 27). This feast coming from most ancient times will acquire a new meaning: the blood of the lamb seals the Lord’s Covenant with the people whom he had chosen from among the other peoples. Henceforth, the Passover will be the feast of Israel’s independence, and God will allow Jesus to die and rise again in the days of the Passover. The death of Jesus seals God’s New Covenant with humanity (Lk 22:20).
Each one of our masses is rooted in the death and resurrection of Christ, “the lamb of God.” Does it help us to enter more deeply into our vocation to be at the service of a world that God continues to free? That takes us far from the idea of an onerous religious obligation to be carried out.
37. People of all descriptions (v. 38). The wandering Israelites did not look like a holy people. There were those who, for diverse reasons, had decided to leave with Moses. The Savior catches all in his net and only with time, through the trials of the desert, will the good and the bad be separated.
Six hundred thousand (v. 37). In reality, those who left with Moses could not have been more than some two hundred persons, including wives and children. Let us not forget that these were shepherds who could not survive with less than ten animals per person. A group of two hundred persons required some two thousand sheep and donkeys. The wells of Sinai and their oases did not permit the transit of more numerous flocks. Maybe these exaggerations originated from a popular version of the events, but otherwise, they were intentional. The priests who wrote that paragraph were conscious that the people of Moses initiated the long march of God’s people all along the history, and this is the message they wanted to transmit to us: Moses’ departure was the beginning of a great venture.
13.4 As a sign on your hand (vv. 9 and 16). The other peoples used tattoos and religious objects to affirm their religious identity. The Israelites, instead, would be recognized by the celebration of the day on which God saved them.
14.5 On the very night on which they have sacrificed the Passover Lamb, the Hebrews depart. The Egyptians pursue and overtake them when they reach the marshes along the Red Sea (13:17).
Have no fear (v. 13). God will not abandon those who set forth on the way to freedom. Moses answers as if he has seen the invisible (Heb 11:27), and his faith puts into motion God’s intervention.
The Lord made a strong east wind blow (v. 21). In fact, the oldest biblical story about this is very imprecise. It does not say that the Israelites crossed the sea but that they saw their pursuers dead on the seashore (v. 30).
God’s intervention was perhaps very moderate: a landslide, a sudden rising of the waters? It was sufficient to save the pursued. But this intervention by Providence, as with so many others in history, would not have changed anything had not God’s prophet Moses been there to tell the meaning of this event: the Lord liberates Israel to make them his own people.
This is what the later account (printed in smaller letters) wants to teach us when it relates this crossing of the sea in such a triumphant way. Here Moses’ group passed in a well-ordered file between two walls of water! A band of fugitives? Absolutely! They were the armies of the Lord (12:41). With them, the God of the poor was beginning to remake the world.
The liberation of Israel remains a model for Christian history. Here we find other victories, great and small, that have made possible the progress of God’s Kingdom and Justice. In these cases, too, there were groups committed to a liberating task, who, without arms, faced Pharaoh and his chariots, his officers, politicians, and bureaucrats.
Those who cross to the other shore are not the same as before: the existence of the People of God has begun. Paul would write about it later: “All underwent the baptism of the land and of the sea” (1 Cor 10:2), that is to say, they safely crossed the deadly waters, thanks to God now present in the Cloud. The Cloud signifies that the Lord, in a mysterious way is in the midst of his own, leading the “baptized” people.
We ought also to cross the sea. Christian communities, recent converts, let us leave behind an existence in which we lived alienated lives, and let us discover a new meaning in life. We cannot do this alone, but together with the community as it matures.
Crossing of the sea. Baptism and liberation. See Hebrews 11:23-40; 1 Peter 1:13-15; Revelation 7:13-17; 12:10-12.
15.1 The first canticle of Moses is a shout of joyful thanksgiving. It is, at the same time, a profession of faith. The psalmist says: “Happy are the people who know how to praise.”
The liberated people had no reason to glory in themselves at this victory, which belonged to God and to Moses, the man of faith. It is proper for them only to give thanks to God.
Revelation will recall this canticle (Rev 15:3) in the vision of the elect and martyrs of Christ, saved from their weakness and crowned with glory.
The ancient religions (and also modern people) celebrate feasts in accordance with the rhythm of nature: feasts of the moon, of summer, of rain, of birth. On the other hand, the feasts in the Scriptures celebrate the marvels which God did to save them. If it is good to praise God for the wonders of nature, even more should we recognize him in the events of history. Let us give thanks to God, before anything else, for the great and small events that show his Reign coming among us.
22. The Israelites definitely left behind the most brilliant and impressive civilization of their times, with its products, irrigation camps, and prestigious culture. Had they not left, they would have disappeared as a people. But now like any nation or social class that achieves its independence, they have to become responsible for their own destiny.
Moses knows that freedom is not a continual joy: this is but the beginning of a difficult way involving sacrifice. On this way, however, God manifests his Providence and allows us to walk with self-confidence. Unexpected wonders may happen but God is not concerned with multiplying miracles in order to better our situation.
The fugitives have reason to be worried: they are threatened by hunger, thirst, and the inhabitants of the desert. In the following pages, the author graphically describes the dangers and recalls certain interventions by Providence. But he relates the story with much liberty, adapting these teachings to his contemporaries who were continually tempted by the easy life, who were avaricious and attracted by the promises of foreign countries in which they would have lost their own identity and mission.
I am the Lord, the One who heals you (v. 26). Each god had his specialty, but the Lord, the God of our ancestors is not only liberator. He also knows our infirmities and his word is powerful for healing and for keeping us healthy.
16.1 The whole community of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron (v. 2). Later on, we shall again meet the grumblers who are afraid to grumble too publicly. They are not satisfied but have no suggestions to make. They criticize the believers but in fact, they just do not want problems.
The Lord will give you meat… (v. 8). God provided food for his people just when they lacked everything. Numerous flocks of birds, tired from a long flight, fell at the side of the encampment. Other unexpected food, the manna, was also found. This manna was probably the resin that at times seeps out abundantly from the brambles of the desert. In a most desperate moment, this help was, for Israel, the proof that God had not abandoned them. This event is also related in Numbers 11:4.
By this, we understand that our daily bread is a gift of God. When he invites us to take a difficult path, he is committed to helping us and to first giving us the bread we need.
With time, the narration of this event was amplified. Some biblical texts seem to mean that God sent the manna daily for 40 years: Exodus 16:35; Joshua 5:12; Psalm 78:24; Wisdom 16:20.
This gift of the bread which came from heaven is mentioned in two different commentaries in later pages of the Scriptures. In Deuteronomy 8:3: “I gave you manna to eat, to show you that man does not live on bread alone but that every word that comes from the mouth of God is life for man.” See commentary on Mark 6:35. Later, in the Gospel, the manna is an image of the true bread from heaven, Christ, which is given as food of life in the Eucharist: see commentaries on John 6.
17.1 God puts Israel to the test in the desert: For how long will these common people be willing to follow an uncommon destiny? How far will their faith go? Israel also tempts God, that is, they ask him for signs because they do not have total confidence in him. They demand miracles: “If you are with us, show it, here and now.”
Scripture recalls this confrontation in the event of the water coming out of the rock. Moses, too, was put to the test in this place; see the same event related in Numbers 20.
In later times, the Jewish tradition saw in this rock a figure of God, the fountain of life, who was present among his people; the miraculous rock which accompanied them in their wanderings (see 1 Cor 10:4). God is the impenetrable Rock that retains its secret until it allows itself to be wounded and from its own wound life pours forth. Let us understand that humankind, being sinful, loses real knowledge of God and for this reason cannot find him. But God becomes weak in the person of Jesus who, on dying, reveals the secret of God’s love and compassion for us. The Gospel emphasizes that from the heart of Jesus, wounded by the lance, flowed forth blood and water, an image of the Holy Spirit (Jn 7:37 and 19:34).
8. The victory over Amalek completes these experiences of Divine Providence. Joshua directs the battle, but Moses with his rod lifted, works wonders. From God comes the victory.
In this story, the Christian tradition has always recognized an image of prayer that obtains victories from God.
The prophet’s mission is not just to speak, but also to be an intercessor before God: 1 Samuel 7:7; Jeremiah 7:16; Exodus 32:30.
18.13 The Hebrews who left Egypt with Moses had to organize themselves. God did not dictate to them what they should do. Partly, they created the institutions they needed. Partly, they adapted those of other peoples. In the present case, they followed the example of the Midianites (Moses’ father-in-law was a Midianite priest).
Moses, like other unquestioned leaders, needs time to realize that everything will work out better if he shares his responsibilities with others. Fortunately, he has become accustomed to listening to God, so that he also knows how to listen to his relatives.
The talk of Jethro underlines the double mission of Moses: he is both the prophet the people need to lead them and the judge with authority to solve the conflicts among persons. In fact, many came to consult him about what they ought to do or not to do, so that their projects would be blessed by God and be successful. The judges he chose were models of priests and “elders” who were to govern the people of Israel.
19.1 The Israelites had come to know God, both in the circumstances of their liberation and in the trials of the desert. In this way, they had been prepared for the encounter intended by the Lord when he called Moses in the desert at Horeb (Ex 3:12). The time had come to freely accept God’s design to make them his people forever.
All the earth is mine (v. 5). God is the God of every person and the Savior of all, may they be Christians or not. Nevertheless, he has decided to direct history and make it mature from within, through a people whom he has chosen to pass through critical experiences.
A holy nation (v. 6), this means, consecrated to me. Israel will be the kingdom whose only king is the Lord. So the efforts of Israel’s rulers should be directed towards justice. The Israelites are a free people who belong only to God; hence, they should not allow themselves to be contaminated by idols, impure customs and the false values of other people.
You will be for me a kingdom of priests (v. 6). In any religion, the priest is one who approaches God and receives communications. Israel, as a whole, has this privilege of knowing God and approaching him in a way that other peoples cannot. Israel receives God’s promises for all humanity.
This Covenant is concretized at the foot of Mount Sinai, in one of the most impressive places that can be imagined. Moses and the elders, that is, the representatives of the people, climb the mountain in the middle of a tremendous electrical storm, while the thunder roars amidst the ravines. The cleanliness of their robes, the prohibition against coming too close, and their abstinence have prepared their spirits to feel the “weight” of God (this is the meaning of the Hebrew word “glory”).
All this helps us understand what Jesus wished to say during the Last Supper with his apostles when he spoke of a new Covenant (Mk 14:24). In the prayer that followed, he asked that the believers might be the new People consecrated to God, priests of God in the midst of the world: John 17; 1 Peter 2:5; Revelation 1:6 and 5:10.
In Scripture, the word “the law” is used to designate all the laws that were related to the Covenant made at Mount Sinai.
The law indicates, by itself, something weighty. The Hebrews had thrown off the yoke of slavery, but they could not progress without a law. The educators of any child impose a discipline to form the will, to tame whims, to train in generosity. Likewise, the people of Israel needed to submit to a law for a long time before they would become mature enough to receive the Spirit. Submissive to the law, they would discover how often they offended God.
Do not forget that here we speak of the preparation for the Covenant. The Covenant account is concluded in Chapter 24, after the laws given in Chapters 20–23 that interrupt the account.
20.1 Moses went to the summit of Mount Sinai to receive the law from God… and the text presents to us two bodies of law. The first, the shorter, contains the ten commandments. The second or the longer one was written after the time of Moses and comes from the time when the Israelites were established in Canaan; it is called the Code of the Covenant. (Chaps. 20:22–23:33).
I am the Lord your God (v. 2). Important as the Ten Commandments or Decalogue are, what is still more important is the manner of presenting them. These two precepts: do not kill, do not steal, are taught in any civilized society. But here, the Lord, the living and only God, speaks with the authority of one who has liberated Israel from its slavery and now wants to put it at his own service. And because he wants to make them free citizens of a free country, he imposes fundamental laws without which they will revert to slavery.
To begin with, God must be recognized as One, Holy, and Jealous: verses 3-11.
Do not have other gods before me (v. 3). The Lord is a jealous God, different from the gods of other people who allow rival divinities to set up shops side by side with them and answer petitions which they themselves cannot oblige. As people say, “If God does not listen to me in this church, I will go to ask in another.” Then we have one god for war, another for rain, another for mothers with child. All these are gods for people who see in religion the means of obtaining healings and benefits. In this, we see a kind of faith which hopes to obtain the maximum from God. The Lord, however, is not “at the service of Israel,” and not at our service; rather, it is we who are to serve God.
I punish the sons, the grandsons (v. 5). The opposition between “children and grandchildren” and “a thousand generations” is a colorful way of saying that God, of course, does not leave sin unpunished, that he corrects the sinner, but even so, his mercy is measureless. This phrase clarifies the meaning of a jealous God, which is frequently used in the Scriptures. It means that God does not close his eyes, that he will always restore justice, that he will not accept those who belong to him, betray their vocation.
See commentary on Deuteronomy 6:1.
Do not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven, or on the earth (v. 4). Here are prohibited any images of creatures which might become gods and compete with the only One—and which require a worship (expressed in deeds and lifestyle) which was prohibited by God’s law. In that time the Canaanean gods were honored with sacred prostitution; idolatry and immorality went together. The prohibition of images is linked to the former: do not have other gods before me.
Notwithstanding the prohibition against images, Scripture specifies that the Ark of God will rest among images: two cherubim or angels that covered it with their wings (1 K 6:23-28). How do you explain this contradiction? The answer is very simple: The cherubim were not considered gods and did not demand separate worship; they were spirit servants of God. In the same manner, the Church today approves statues of Mary and of the saints, who are not gods but servants of the One God. We do not ask them for something that God does not want to give. Only He is Good (Lk 18:19) and from him proceeds all good (James 1:17). To give an example, we serve Mary only by living in imitation of Christ. We do not expect from her anything but what the Father himself decides to give us through her mediation.
But it is also prohibited to make images of the Lord. That is because God surpasses everything we can imagine or think about him. In that sense, Scripture prohibits us also from forming God to our own way of thinking. We are inclined to imagine God according to our own concepts, and so the faith of many vanishes when God does not direct events in the way they thought he should.
Why, then, do we paint pictures of Jesus? Simply because centuries after these first teachings of God to Moses, God came to us in the person of his son. Paul himself does not hesitate to use the word “image” in the Letter to the Colossians; Christ is the image of the unseeing God (Col 1:15). In him, the apostles saw God-made-man (1 Jn 1:1). The ferocious ban on any image was a necessary stage in the formation of Israel’s faith. But Moses knew nothing concerning the coming of Christ: he was, therefore, unable to say anything about the mystery of Son and Father, even still less on the images of Jesus.
IDOLS & IDOLATRY: see commentary on 2 Kings 17; Isaiah 30:22; Ezekiel 23:5.
The Hebrews called Sabbath, that is, Rest, the last day of the week. They sanctified it mainly by the suspension of all activities.
On the seventh day, the Lord rested. In Deuteronomy 5:15 a somewhat different reason is given. See also Genesis 2:2-3 and the commentary.
We know that Jesus was raised on the day following the Sabbath. That is why the apostles, conscious that his Resurrection initiated new times, established this Day of the Lord (on Sunday) as the Christian holy day, or rest, or Sabbath. See Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10. The Sabbatists who nowadays want to observe the Jewish day, forget that Jesus and the apostles had authority to interpret and to reform the laws of Moses. They came from God, of course, but not directly (see Acts 7:38; Gal 3:19; Heb 2:2). See also Matthew 5:27-28 and 31-32; Galatians 5:4; Colossians 2:16.
In modern times, the workers had to fight so that Sunday would be recognized as a holiday. Perhaps those who easily work even on Sundays do not see the importance of rest for human and Christian life. In spite of the fact that Jesus, in the Gospel, reacted against the too rigorous observance of the Sabbath (Mt 12; Jn 5), the weekly rest corresponds to the will of God.
Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (v. 7). There are four ways of invoking the name of the Lord in vain:
– Using it, as was done before, for magic formulas, like wishing to take the power of God by force. There are still people who use Scripture and Christian prayers as a means to work miracles.
– Swearing by his name and not fulfilling the oath (Sir 23:9 and Mt 5:33).
– Blaspheming, that is, insulting the name of the Lord, which incurred condemnation to death (Lev 24:10).
– Pronouncing or invoking the name of God without an important reason.
Honor your father and your mother (v. 12). See Sirach 3:2.
Do not steal (v. 15). So that there may be trust and unity within a community, it is necessary that everyone show the greatest respect for the rights of his neighbor, that he pay his debts and refrain from taking what he finds at hand. However, this commandment should not be invoked to justify any type of private ownership. Scripture teaches that the earth belongs to God and whoever occupies it is only its administrator. It is even less tenable that a nation lay hands on the land and natural resources of other people. Scripture does not agree that some groups take possession of the national wealth and leave the masses in poverty (see Lev 25:13).
The Ten Commandments are commented on in the New Testament: Matthew 5:22; 5:33; 5:27; Mark 7:10; Luke 18:20; Romans 7:7; 13:9; James 2:11.
22. The Decalogue (that is, the Ten Commandments) needs to be applied to concrete reality to direct people’s lives. When the Israelites were installed in Palestine and passed from the wandering life of shepherds to the settled life of farmers, they made a body of laws which we find in Chapters 20:22 to 23:19. It is called “The Code of the Covenant.” Very possibly, it was solemnly adopted by the twelve tribes when they were reunited at the call of Joshua and renewed the Covenant with the Lord (see Jos 8:30).
Let us not think that God dictated to his people everything that is in the Scriptures. One proof of that is seen in this particular body of laws. Part of them were taken from the people of Canaan and adopted by the Israelites, who found the laws just and good. Another part are laws proper to Israel, which had been written in accordance with Moses’ teaching. These latter are easy to recognize because they say “you” or begin with “He who.”
It may be noted that Israel had increased punishment for the one who kills a neighbor (Gen 4:15; 9:15): faith in God leads to respect and protection of human life. This may be seen as a judgment on the consumer society, (termed liberal) that hardly respects life where money is scarce. A case in point might be the question of abortion.
In presenting this code, which was adapted to a primitive society, Scripture invites us to promote legislation suitable for our post-industrial society but inspired by the same spirit of human solidarity. It is not for the Church to resolve the complex problems of our times, but it can establish general principles of life that conforms to the will of God and adapt it to the present society.
23.20 See, I am sending an angel before you. It is very difficult to speak adequately of God’s Providence for us. Am I to say every moment: “This is the work of God?” Here Scripture speaks of the “angel” that God sent before Israel. It is a way of saying that God protected and guided his own people, availing himself of countless, visible and invisible intermediaries.
Smash their sacred stones (v. 24). This “destruction of idols” has often been understood in past centuries in a fanatical way resulting in the disappearance of many pagan works of art. Doubtless, it was impossible for this to be otherwise given the mentality of the time. What Paul says of meat sacrificed to idols could be equally said of works of art representing pagan gods (1 Cor 8). Today we understand that the phrase refers to the worship and cult of the false gods of our age.
24.3 The most important events of the Scriptures are at times the most briefly related. At the foot of Mount Sinai, the Covenant, which would govern the life of Israel, was signed.
Two scenes depict the celebration of the Covenant. First, Moses and the elders of Israel witness the Glory of the Lord over Mount Sinai. Later, upon Moses’ return, the people seal the Covenant by means of a solemn sacrifice.
Moses went up with the seventy elders (v. 9). The Covenant was something of such supremacy, that it was not fitting that the commitment of the people be guaranteed only by the spiritual experiences of Moses. Seventy witnesses would be able to relate what they had seen. They climb up the mountain, impressive in its aloneness, the blue transparency of the sky, the brilliance of the sun—all these prepared them to see the Glory of God. The Lord became present and they saw him in some way, in so far as people can meet the living God, “Whom no one has ever seen” (Jn 1:18).
Here is the blood of the Covenant…(v. 8). According to the custom of the time, both parties to the contract were sprinkled with the blood of the victims. Since the altar represented the Lord, it received this sprinkled blood on his behalf. These details should be remembered when we read what Jesus declares at the Last Supper, “This is the blood of the Covenant which will be shed for the multitude” (Mk 14:24).
With the tablets of stone (v. 12), the people will preserve the memory of the meeting at Sinai. Together with other remembrances of the time in the desert, these would be kept in a vessel of precious wood called the Ark of the Covenant.
With the passage of time, the people of Israel would forget the commitment from which the Tablets of the Law originated. They would consider the Ark as a miraculous object providing them with God’s protection (1 S 4:4). Therefore, the Ark would lose its original significance and God would permit it to disappear in the midst of the national catastrophe.
According to the oldest account, Moses wrote on the tablets of stone while God dictated (Ex 34:28). Later stories amplified the event, as usual, and said: the writing was God’s (31:18; 32:16).
This contradiction should help us to understand what is God’s inspiration in the Scriptures. We know that Scripture is the word of God, and yet it is also just as truly the work of those who have written it, each one in his own style, according to his culture and his temperament. We have already seen many strange details, primitive ideas characteristic of an era and a culture. Affirmations in one place should be balanced by those in another. Teaching that is valid at one time will be corrected when people have made further progress. God is responsible for the book as a whole, but not for details taken in isolation.
18. The continuation of this reading is found in 31:18. Chapters 32–34 were inserted in the place they now occupy in the Scriptures to separate Chapters 25–31, wherein the Lord orders the construction of the Sanctuary, from Chapters 35–40, wherein Moses constructs the Sanctuary.
The Book of Exodus is apparently in disorder, due to the fact that its purpose was to combine elements of different ages. Ancient traditions clearly state the commandments of the Covenant (Chaps. 20 and 34:10): justice and service of the only God. But much later, when the Jews had returned from exile, it would consider that worship celebrated in the Temple of Jerusalem was the first duty of the nation. It was then that the long Chapters 25–31 and 35–40 were inserted to show that cult was already at the heart of God’s revelation to Moses.
Centuries after Moses’ time, the traditions of the Hebrew people recalled how, in the desert, the Ark of God was kept in a tent. The Ark was a box of precious wood that contained the tablets of stone on which the law had been engraved, together with a little manna and other remembrances of the wonders God had performed in the desert.
When the priests of Israel wrote these chapters, the people of God had a wonderful Temple in Jerusalem where the Ark was kept. It pleased them to think that the Tent of the desert had some similarity with the Temple; deliberately, they gave it dimensions half the size of the Temple of Jerusalem and they thought that Moses had built that tent, following detailed instructions from God.
Later on, the verses 25:40 and 26:30 would be interpreted differently as if Moses had been shown a heavenly Sanctuary of which the Tent in the desert, and then the temple of Jerusalem would be the earthly image. See Wisdom 9:8; Sirach 24:10; Revelation 11:19.
32.1 Just as Adam disobeyed in the beginning, so too does Israel, after receiving the law. The difficult relationship between Israel and its God now begins. He threatens, punishes and, after that, pardons.
Moses thinks that by using drastic measures, he will make Israel return to the right path and the people will be more responsible. But the years pass and the people continue to sin. Therefore, later prophets will become convinced that a law does not suffice: mortals need a new heart: see the new Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31.
Make us gods (v. 1). The Israelites have not really accepted the Lord, the demanding and challenging God who commands them to conquer the promised land. They wish to return to their old religion which merely requires feasts and rites. The golden calf they fashion out of wood covered with gold (which Moses will burn), is the traditional figure of the Canaanite god El, a habitually good-natured god who puts the minds of the fearful believers at ease.
Their sin, then, is not only in making an image of God, but even more, in making a god which suits them. This same sin is committed by many believers today who look for a relaxing religion or spirituality free from the contradictions one finds when working with God in the world.
9. I will destroy them, but of you, I will make a great nation (v. 10). When the people fail in fidelity, the Lord asks Moses for an exceptional proof of his own fidelity. He suggests that his own descendants could very well form a new people of God to replace these irresponsible ones. But Moses has understood that this cannot be and should not be: God will never withdraw his promises to Israel. So Moses must sacrifice himself to the end to save these sinners. He will seek neither salvation nor spiritual gifts for his own descendants at the expense of the people who received the Covenant.
The second part of the reading (vv. 11-13) recounts the prayer of Moses: But Moses implored the Lord, his God, saying. Actually, the expression used in the original Hebrew text should be translated like this: "Moses, then, began to caress the face of the Lord, his God, saying...". Moses behaves like a child who sees his dad with a furrowed gesture and starts to hug him until he sees him smile. The image of Moses that caresses the face of God is one of the most beautiful in the Bible.
On going down, Moses hears the irresponsible answer of Aaron who lays the blame on the people. Aaron has acted like an opportunist priest, anxious to please the people, but quickly forgetting the mission he has received from God, not from the people.
The unfaithful people will not easily pay for their sin. The different accounts mixed in this chapter do not agree regarding what actually happened. Verse 35 makes us think of a punishment like a pestilence. Verses 25-29 indicate that not all participated in the rebellion. The men of the tribe of Levi were more faithful and helped Moses to re-establish his authority: they started killing the guilty ones.
The Lord gives you today his blessing (v. 29). But do not let this make us think that God blesses violence: see how this ancient text praises those who have chosen God; they have shown their loyalty the way one only could and should in this primitive age. If they had acted then as one should in the 21st century, salvation history would have died in the cradle.
Many details in this story came from those who wrote these pages centuries later. They were influenced by what happened in the sanctuaries of Bethel and of Dan, where King Jeroboam had yearling calves placed as images of the Lord (1 K 12:26).
33.7 The tent called the “Tent of Meeting” was the first Temple of God in the midst of his people.
Note that it is placed outside the encampment, at some distance, and only after the people have sinned is it spoken of. God no longer deals directly with Israel, but through the intermediary of his angel (32:34 and 23:23).
11. God has come down from Sinai to speak to his people. However, he does not communicate in a personal way with those people who are still beginning their life of faith, in which obedience to the law is primary. God communicates instead with Moses, face to face (33:1), that is spirit to spirit. This is different from secondary communications like dreams, visions, and apparitions: Numbers 12:6.
The people agree to being accompanied by the angel of the Lord, that is, to count on his help and providence. Moses, however, thirsts for another kind of presence, since his role as chief and prophet has set him apart from his people and left him in great solitude. He desires the face of God to be with him, that is, a personal presence by means of which God makes known his intentions.
Later Moses insists: If your face does not come with us (v. 15). That is: may God make himself also known to his people, so that they may be not only a people protected by God, but also a holy people who know God. The answer is positive, yet only with the passing of time will God make himself known with greater generosity. Jesus will ask for this knowledge for all those who compose his Church (Jn 17).
18. This paragraph is one of the most profound in the entire Scripture. It speaks to us in a figurative way of how God agrees to make himself known in a personal and direct way.
Let me see your glory (v. 18). In reality, God does not let himself be seen, but he himself will pronounce his Name, that is, he will let his Power and Glory be impressed on the one who wants to see him.
You shall stand on the rock (v. 21). That is, you will wait for me here in solitude, detached, alert and available for the moment I wish, since I give my favors to whomever I wish.
I will cover you with my hand (v. 22). When God wants to favor someone with mystical union, he becomes master of that person’s mind for a length of time. Then he removes from that person every word, every idea, and every remembrance, and keeps him or her by force in an emptiness, in which that person clings solely to the presence of God, as if dead to everything outside: I will put you in a hollow of the rock (v. 22). And thus he or she will remain until the Lord has passed by. Then I will take away my hand (v. 23): then you will realize that you have been within God.
The Lord, then, pronounces his Name, leaving it engraved in the depths of the spirit, and this Name is none other than the knowledge and experience of his infinite mercy. Upon ending this encounter, Moses no longer has any ambition or personal desire: it matters only that God’s plan to entrust to his people the divine inheritance be realized.
34.10 Here is another very old text, considered by Israel as one of those which expressed better the demands of God in celebrating the Covenant.
In the first generations after Moses, there was not “one” decalogue, but several groups of commandments put down at varied times and in various places. Each of them was meant to express the requirements of the Covenant and the rules of Moses. The most well known is in Chapter 20 but here is found another and more ancient one.
While the first, “our” decalogue, gives priority to justice, these Ten Commandments of Chapter 34, about rites and feasts, helped the Israelites keep their religious identity among pagan and foreign people.
In the ancient times, at least two accounts of Moses’ ascent up Mount Sinai were kept.
This possibly explains why in the actual text of Scripture, Moses goes up a second time after having broken the tablets of stone. This literary fiction was a way of keeping the two accounts separate of the ascent of Moses as well as the two most important decalogues.
29. The skin of his face was radiant after speaking with the Lord. This exterior sign reveals the profound transformation worked by God in those who openly present themselves before him. This mystery will be clarified in Mark 9:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:12-18.
34. The continuation of remembrances about the Israelites’ life in the desert is in Chapters 11–16 and 20–24 of the Book of Numbers.
40.34 The cloud is a sign of God’s presence. Centuries later, when the temple is inaugurated, the cloud will also fill it (1 K 8:10). The cloud will cover Jesus in his Transfiguration and will hide him in his Ascension. The cloud accompanies the people in the desert. God is with them in a veiled but real way.