Knowing God

Now this is eternal life:  That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent (Jn. 17:3).

 

Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."  Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father"(Jn. 14:8-9).

 

In all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths (Proverbs 3:6).

 

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In the original Hebrew, the passage from Proverbs above is more literally, "in all your ways know Him."  This fundamental statement of how to relate to God implies more than mere reverence.  Nodding in God's direction is not enough: you must know him by living closely with him, relating to him personally in every aspect of your life [note in The Student Bible (New International Version).

 

If eternal life consists in knowing God, it makes sense that He must necessarily reveal Himself to mankind.  Otherwise, though wise men may speculate about who He is, none of us could really "know" Him.  In the Hebrew language, to "know" someone means not speculation, but intimacy with.  For example, Adam "knew" Eve, and she conceived a son.  In the quotation from Proverbs above, "In all thy ways, know Him, and He will direct thy paths," we see daily intimacy with the Lord, not necessarily theological understanding. 

 

And how are we to truly "know" God?  From the beginning, God revealed Himself to Abraham, who grew to know God on the journey, on the way to a land "he knew not" -- nor did he know the way.  Daily, he depended on revelation, on listening, on hearing the voice of the One Who guided him, and who taught him, despite mistakes along the way.  I have a friend who does not believe we should honor Abraham; because of his great error(s), we have the eternal division between Jews and Arabs, for example.  However, we honor Abraham not because he was perfect and upright, but because he knew God in all his ways.  As a model for us, he walked with God, learning as he went, and he trusted that God would not abandon or forsake him, even in his errors and mistakes. 

 

God continued to reveal Himself to men and women throughout the Old Testament, even when they went astray.  Reflecting on His continuous revelation to the Jews gives us His Word -- his revelation to mankind.  And finally, He sent His own Son, the "exact representation of the eternal God," "the refulgence of His eternal glory." 

 

Whoever sees Jesus, the Living Word -- revelation-- sees the Father.  In Jesus, we see the Father scooping up the poor, the oppressed, the depressed, the leper, the outcast, the woman at the well, the hungry and thirsty, the one on the fringe -- we see the embrace of God to mankind.  Whatever we see Jesus do, we know for sure that it is the Father "living in him, doing His work" (Jn 17).   How can we be afraid of the Father when we have seen the Son, who 'pitched his tent among us'? 

 

And how can we now be afraid of death, when we have seen the Son who has overcome man's last and greatest threat?  The Son himself has tasted death for all of us and has conquered it.  And not death only -- but intense suffering beforehand.  I have heard people say they are not afraid to die, but they are afraid of suffering, of pain.  Jesus took on our life, our flesh, our humanity to go through it with us and going through it, to conquer it in our place.  His Spirit living in us is victorious over all the threats of our enemies.

 

And this is why Jesus is the (only) way to the Father.  Only He can impart to us true knowledge/experience of the only true God.  Only His Spirit in us can overcome death and suffering and lead us to the Father.  There is no other way to know God and thus to have eternal life.



Deuteronomy revisited

The book of Deuteronomy is Moses' commentary on the events of Exodus.  Much of the Bible is actually a re-visiting, or a commentary on previous historical events.  That is why just a smattering, or a surface reading, of the bible is not enough -- we have to understand the original reference, plus the reflection on the meaning of the event. 

Deuteronomy is the purest form of Jewish historical writing because it explains the meaning behind the events of the Exodus.  As a prophet, Moses saw history from God's perspective, especially toward the end of his life.  Jewish historical writing always seeks to explain the significance of what happened.  We might call it a philosophy of history, or history from the Divine perspective.

The events in Deuteronomy cover about two months, including 30 days of mourning for Moses.  The book records the last words of Moses to the people of Israel as they prepare to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land, after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.  The crossing takes place about one month after Moses' death.

The book opens with the words of a narrator who sets the words of Moses into context; it helps to consult a good map as you read, because the narrator gives the historical events as background to Moses, and Moses himself reviews the journey leading up to the crossing into Canaan.

In chapter 1, he reminds the people that when they had set out from Egypt and arrived at Mt. Horeb (Sinai), their numbers were so large that he could no longer act as judge for them.  So he appointed "wise and respected men" from each tribe as judges of "thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens and as tribal officials."  And he told them, "Bring me a case too hard for you, and I will hear it."  Nowhere in the world up to this time had such a system existed, but this system originating in the wilderness of Sinai eventually became the basis for our system of lower courts, district courts, state courts, and the Supreme Court system of the United States.

Later on, Moses will tell the people that because they were governed by the laws of God, their reputation would increase among other nations who saw their wisdom and understanding and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people" (Deut. 4:6).  God was teaching them to govern themselves, as a free people, unlike other nations governed only by kings and despots.  Ronald Reagan once observed that in the United States, by law, the country was to be governed by 'we the people' instead of by kings and nobility. 

The philosophy under which we live as a free people comes to us directly from the history of the Jewish people in the desert.  Having been freed from slavery, they needed at least 40 years to learn the mentality of freedom before they were to settle on a land and govern themselves under the leadership of "wise and respected" men.

I cannot help but reflect on the fact that when the US was governed by the laws of God as public policy embraced by the people at large, other nations saw us as a "great nation of wise and understanding people."  I am afraid that, as we lose the focus of God in our nation, our world reputation also diminishes.  Like the nation of Israel, we are becoming more like the 'pagan' nations around us and less and less like the light of the world.

God said to Abraham (and to his descendants), "I will bless you and you will be a blessing" (to the whole world).  When people ask, "Why were the Jews chosen?" the answer is that they were chosen to be the conduit through which God could bless the entire world.  As other nations witnessed what it meant to be in relationship with the God of Israel, and what the results could be, they were to be drawn into the same relationship, sharing in the blessings of Israel.  Unfortunately, not remaining in relationship with Yahweh exposed the nation of Israel to the results of consorting with pagan deities:  child-sacrifice, moral weakness, vulnerability to their enemies, etc. 

We have much to learn from reflecting on the words of Moses in Deuteronomy.

Here in this spot.....

What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? (Deut. 4:7)

 

Jesus didn't come to give us small-time rules and regulations.  He came to reveal great truths -- truths that stagger the mind.  Spend some time with one of those great truths: Jesus is truly God, and truly one of us.  And He is present to me now (--from The Little White Book: Friday, March 18).

 

Recently, I was able to visit the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth.  At the time of the Annunciation, Nazareth was such a backwater village that its entire population consisted of about 50 people.  The site where the church now stands probably takes up most of the space of the original village. 

 

But as soon as I entered the church, I thought, "Here, in this spot on earth, God became man, taking on the flesh of the Virgin, becoming one of us."  I was so moved by the idea that "here, on this spot,"  the spot where I now stood, Jesus took on human flesh and "pitched his tent among us," in the words of St. John.  Is He not still there in memory, in Presence, in Spirit -- the place where he was cherished as a child, where He learned the Law in the local synagogue, the place where he learned to help Joseph in the workshop?

 

Is He not still there among the villagers, the Christians, the Jews, the Muslims who pursue their daily  tasks, the sellers and shop-keepers who daily squeeze pomegranate juice and orange juice for visitors from all over the world, and those who sell rosaries on the sidewalk?

 

There is something about walking in the same village that Jesus walked, about traveling the short distance from there to Cana, and beyond there to the other villages and remote spots around the sea of Galilee that makes one sense the Presence of God on earth in a way that we don't usually sense it in New Orleans or New York City, for example.

 

In re-reading the Book of Deuteronomy, I see Moses telling the people how close, how present, God is to them at all times.  They had experienced His Presence with them for 40 years in the desert, in the pillar of cloud by night and the pillar of fire by day, leading them and causing them to rest at times.  And now, as they are about to enter the Promised Land, the signs of His presence with them will change:

 

The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to.  The Lord your God will bless you in the land He is giving to you.  The Lord will establish you as His holy people, as He promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.  Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.  The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity-- in the fruit of your womb, in the young of your livestock, and the crops of your ground-- in the land He swore to your forefathers to give you. 

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands.  You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.  The Lord will make you the head, not the tail.  If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.....(Deut. 28).

 

It is interesting, once we are familiar with the New Testament and especially the words of Jesus on Holy Thursday, to re-read Deuteronomy, the final words of Moses before his death.  Both leaders stress the continuing Presence of God among His people:

 

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged (Deut. 31:8 -- and also in v. 6).

 

The words of Jesus in the Gospel of John on the night before His death echo the final words of Moses to the Israelites:  Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.  He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.....if anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him....Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.....(see Deut. 7:21).....

 

Anyone who reads Chapters 14-16 of John will see and hear echoes of Moses in Deuteronomy as he prepared to leave his beloved people.  They (the people) were prepared to enter the Promised Land under the leadership not of Moses himself but of his delegate, Joshua.  And Jesus, preparing his church, his people, to enter and dwell in another promised land, under the leadership of his delegate, Peter, also promises that He will "go with us," His Presence will never leave or forsake us.

 

Both men stress the continuing Presence of God with us, "here in this spot."  It is easier to "feel" in the Holy Land, in Nazareth, on the very ground where Jesus once walked, but it is no less true on our holy ground, that God is with us.  Reading the Book of Deuteronomy makes me want to weep, when I read the signs of God's continuing Presence among His people.  I see in those words the promises of God also to America, and I see in both nations the failure to listen and obey the words of the Lord. 

 

I have been reading and thinking much about the current situation of Israel, trying to understand where they are now in reference to the promises of God to be with them.  And again, I see echoes in America of the same situation that I see in Israel.  Maybe in a future blog, I can try to capture what I am now seeing.