Wandering in the desert is a major theme in the Bible. The Israelites spend an entire generation doing nothing but wandering. Perhaps, this was just history. Or might it mean something more? We have already explored the possibility that certain Biblical themes are metaphoric. What does it mean to wander in the desert?
This is an area where our modern experience does not really translate. We live in cities. We get around with GPS. It's hard for us to understand what it means to wander, to be physically lost. But for the people of the ancient Near East, wandering in the desert was an experience everyone could relate to. It meant going in circles, going hungry, being thirsty, being vulnerable. If you were wandering in the desert, chances were you were going to die.
Wandering can be intellectual and spiritual, not just physical. When a person wanders in the desert spiritually, it means s/he is searching for meaning. People today wander in the desert a lot. We cast about for meaning, as if in the dark, and often clutch on tightly to the wrong kinds of messages.
It is likely that things were always so. When the Bible describes the Israelite people as wandering in the desert, it is a reference to the spiritual confusion, and the hard times, that would ultimately define their experience as a people. The story of the Israelites is not a happy one. As Jacob says on his deathbed to Pharaoh,
Jacob is a metaphor for Israel and the Israelites are a metaphor for the Jewish people. (Who Pharaoh represents is a mystery I will discuss in time.) There is a rather silly notion floating around that the Bible somehow supports its readers, tells them they can do no wrong. The opposite is true. We are told that we are wanderers, wandering in the desert. We make mistakes, and we suffer for them. There is a path out - there is hope among the dunes. But we need to work for it. The first step is to acknowledge that we are lost.
This is an area where our modern experience does not really translate. We live in cities. We get around with GPS. It's hard for us to understand what it means to wander, to be physically lost. But for the people of the ancient Near East, wandering in the desert was an experience everyone could relate to. It meant going in circles, going hungry, being thirsty, being vulnerable. If you were wandering in the desert, chances were you were going to die.
Wandering can be intellectual and spiritual, not just physical. When a person wanders in the desert spiritually, it means s/he is searching for meaning. People today wander in the desert a lot. We cast about for meaning, as if in the dark, and often clutch on tightly to the wrong kinds of messages.
It is likely that things were always so. When the Bible describes the Israelite people as wandering in the desert, it is a reference to the spiritual confusion, and the hard times, that would ultimately define their experience as a people. The story of the Israelites is not a happy one. As Jacob says on his deathbed to Pharaoh,
| ט וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב, אֶל-פַּרְעֹה, יְמֵי שְׁנֵי מְגוּרַי, שְׁלֹשִׁים וּמְאַת שָׁנָה: מְעַט וְרָעִים, הָיוּ יְמֵי שְׁנֵי חַיַּי, וְלֹא הִשִּׂיגוּ אֶת-יְמֵי שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי אֲבֹתַי, בִּימֵי מְגוּרֵיהֶם. | 9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh: 'The days of the years of my sojournings are a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.' |
Jacob is a metaphor for Israel and the Israelites are a metaphor for the Jewish people. (Who Pharaoh represents is a mystery I will discuss in time.) There is a rather silly notion floating around that the Bible somehow supports its readers, tells them they can do no wrong. The opposite is true. We are told that we are wanderers, wandering in the desert. We make mistakes, and we suffer for them. There is a path out - there is hope among the dunes. But we need to work for it. The first step is to acknowledge that we are lost.
No comments:
Post a Comment