![]() In a spectacular blend of slavish literalism and the wildest of allegory, Origen interpreted them to represent the 42 stages of spiritual growth, providing an exposition of the meaning of each, based on its place name. One Church Father, Origen, went to the trouble of counting them all up to reveal that there are a total 42. In fact, in Numbers 33, all the various stages of the wandering in the desert over the 40-year span are meticulously recorded. The Exodus does well to remind us of this. In point of fact, there are many, many stages to the spiritual journey-even within that the traditional threefold division (as is well illustrated in this chart and outline). Although no one who has any real understanding of these stages would suppose them to be easy, the number three can be a bit deceptive. We often hear that there are three basic stages to the spiritual journey: the purgative, the illuminative, and the unitive. It is also here, in the midst of this detour that the nation of Israel-and Moses especially-encounter God at Mt. And note that this is before their major rebellion and the consequent punishment of wandering in the desert. Instead of cutting across the middle or keeping along the coat of the Mediterranean, the Israelites take a big detour down the peninsula. The path taken by the Israelites-traced out by the black line-is far away from the caravan routes. The other hugs the Mediterranean coast as it swings up to what was then the land of the Philistines. One cuts through the middle of the peninsula in connecting Egypt and Arabia. Those are depicted as green and purple lines. Now, note that several caravan routes cross the peninsula. Sinai, where God descended as an all-consuming fire and delivered the Ten Commandments to Moses. ![]() Perhaps fittingly at the peak of this peninsula is an actual mountain, known both as Mt. ![]() ![]() The peninsula looks something like an upside down mountain. In the center is the Sinai peninsula, which today is part of Egypt but then apparently was some kind of no-man’s land between the civilization of the Nile and the Promised Land. Now take a look at the map of the path the Israelites took on the Exodus (another good one can be found here). For this season begins with a call to follow Christ Himself out into the desert, as indicated in the readings for the first Sunday of Lent, which feature Luke 4:1-13. Lent is a particularly fitting time to reflect on the lesson of the exodus for our lives. These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as they did. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert. All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. We know that, to some measure, their journey is a model for us-both in what not to do and what to do.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |