12. In the Book of Exodus, God promises to set His people free and Israel trusts in Him. Their primordial faith leads them on a long journey and God is presented in the accounts of the journey as a Father. Israel celebrates God’s mighty deeds by celebrating them and passing the account of them from generation to generation.
13. The history of Israel shows us how we can be tempted to put our faith in idols. I think Papa Francis’ own words are beautiful in this passage. “Idols exist, we begin to see, as a pretext for setting ourselves at the centre of reality and worshiping the work of our hands. . . Idolatry, then is always polytheism, an aimless passing from one lord to another. Idolatry does not offer a journey but rather a plethora of paths leading nowhere and forming a vast labyrinth.” Believing in God and having a personal relationship with Him means “. . .entrusting oneself to a merciful love which always accepts and pardons, which sustains and directs our lives, and which shows its power by its ability to make straight the crooked lines of our history.”
14. We encounter Moses in the faith of Israel. Moses is the mediator between Israel and God. He speaks to YHWH on the mountain and then tells others of God’s will. God describes Israel as “My first-born son,” so that the whole community is seen as one. Israel must learn to journey together as one. They show us that through our encounter with other, “our gaze rises to a truth greater than ourselves.” Accepting God’s free gift of faith calls for humility and courage; the courage to trust.
Dr. Linda L. Powell 