Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Exodus 15

Exodus 15:26
And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer."
Interesting progression of "and"s here. First, the people must heed God. But not just pay attention; they must earnestly pay attention. They must be taking careful note of what God is saying. Second, they must do what is right in God's sight. How do they know what is right? Presumably, He will have just told them -- thus, they have to have been paying attention. Third, they must give ear to God's commandments. This almost seems like a repeat, except that now we are told that God's not just talking to them, he's telling them what to do. To hear him, they have to be paying attention. Finally, they have to keep the statues He has laid down, which they had to hear, which they have to be doing right, so they have to pay attention to know what is right and what isn't. Confused yet? It almost feels like a recursion loop to me, which is fair, because in effect it is.

Then, if they do all this, God gives them a promise, that He will not do to them what He has done to the Egyptians. With that comes the implication that if they stray, the Egyptians might look like they had it good. However, there is a point of hope even then, for God names Himself their healer. As Jesus would later say, a doctor is for the sick, not the well. So even if they mess up and are punished, God suggests that He may bring them back, rather than destroy them.

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