Coronavirus: Moses and the Wilderness

Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and out of slavery. And they move into the wilderness – the area we now know as the Sinai Peninsula. Moses is undoubtedly a very charismatic figure and for a while at least he garners the people together. Life in the wilderness is very different from what the people were used to, and it isn’t long before some begin to question Moses’ leadership. ‘Does he really know what he’s doing? Does he really know where he is leading us?’ And it’s all very well, Moses saying that this is what God wants of us – but can God himself be trusted?

Leaving Egypt behind meant liberation from Egyptian oppression but it also meant leaving behind a settled way of life that the Israelites had become accustomed to. They had naturally adopted some of the culture and customs of Egyptian life. The journey into the wilderness is really the journey of a people who rediscover their own identity – and for some the transition, as the biblical story tells us, begins to prove too much. As any immigrant will tell you, to leave one country and to adopt another as home, requires a certain resilience, a certain willingness to embrace change, a certain willingness to be flexible is required if happiness in a new country is to be found. For some, the leap from the old Egyptian life to the life of exploring a new identity proves too much.

A word about the wilderness. When we think of the Exodus the portrait is often one of the desert and barren landscape. But bear in mind that the Israelites were also a pastoral people. They would have taken with them their sheep and goats and camels and though the desert of the Sinai is a pretty punishing environment, and water was scarce at times – there was a semblance of life. It is more likely that the Israelites would have stuck to the coastal strip as they journeyed. Still, the people complain – some long for the more settled life that they have abandoned. As is often the way, past hardships under Egyptian rule are forgotten – Egypt now is viewed through rose-tinted spectacles – the grass has become greener as they reflect on the ‘old days’ – some long to return to the past. In the Book of Numbers 11:6, we read of God sending venomous snakes amongst the Israelites as a punishment for all their complaining – rather beautifully illustrated in the Victorian stained glass of All Saints Church in Barton Stacey.

Yet the journey into the wilderness is formative and becomes a crucial step in the Israelites rediscovering who they are as a people. And a central plank in this rediscovery of identity is a new codification of the law. The law is what binds the people together and is interpreted as a means of God’s grace. In Exodus chapter 20, Moses ascends Mt Horeb (or Mt Sinai) and returns to the people with the Ten Commandments. (It’s worth pointing out that you don’t just find the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, you will also find them in Deuteronomy Chapter 5.) If you read the biblical narrative, you would be forgiven for thinking that the Israelites lived in Egypt without rules and laws and that the law as a moral code was newly discovered in the wilderness. That isn’t true and doesn’t make sense. As the Israelites journeyed into the wilderness of Sinai not only did they bring their goats and sheep, they also brought with them customs, including rules for living which were translated from their former life in Egypt. What becomes important in the biblical story is the understanding that the codification, the writing down, of the law is reinterpreted as a means by which God unites the Israelite people within one common identity, and it is only once this is in place that the Israelites are now ready for the next step in their history as a people – to enter into ‘the promised land’. So, the ‘wilderness’ becomes a critical place for the Israelites. It is in the wilderness that they truly manage to re-establish themselves as a people with a common identity, adopting a common code of law, which further unites them – and through which they recognise the grace of God at work amongst them.

I want to suggest there are some strong and helpful biblical themes that we can take with us into the wilderness of the weeks that lie in front of us as we come to terms with life that has more restrictions placed upon it as we try to minimise the impact of the coronavirus. Firstly, the ‘wilderness’ itself – politicians describe this as ‘new territory’ – no one quite knows what this ‘new territory’ looks like or feels like and for many, it brings with it overwhelming anxiety. But let’s be clear, this is not the first time humanity has had to face ‘new territory’. Secondly, the ‘wilderness’ was what united the Israelite people together. At this point in time, we have a real opportunity to reach out to one another – both to give and to receive – to come together as a community. Thirdly, as we learn to live with new rules that impact upon our lives – to have the grace to recognise that such limitations are not just inconveniences that we have to bear – but are in truth a manifestation of God’s grace. Good law manifests God’s love for all people. And lastly, the example of the Israelite people shows us that endlessly moaning and complaining results only in one thing… and that is that you put yourself in peril of being poisoned by a snake!

Revd Mark Bailey