Donald Trump
continues to surge in the polls, and I have to admit that I am secretly hoping
for a long run. No, I am not necessarily a supporter of Donald, but he might just
be about the only person of the two or three dozen people who are actively or covertly
campaigning for the office of President of the United States who is actually
speaking his mind. It seems that everything else that we are hearing on the
campaign trail is well practiced and well thought through. The words that are
being spoken so passionately by the candidates have been well argued over by
their advisers behind the scenes. These are the words that the various camps
want us to hear – unfortunately maybe not what we need to hear, nor are they words
that necessarily reflect what it is that the candidate is thinking. This is the
edited heart of the campaign.
That is,
unless we are talking about Donald Trump. And that just might be what is so
appealing about his candidacy. We don’t have to guess what Donald is thinking,
he tells us. And yes, his words may make us mad, they may infuriate our
sensibilities, they may not even be politically correct utterances, but at
least they are interesting. And the murderer of almost any campaign is boredom.
As soon as we stop caring about what the candidate is saying, then the run is
over. And whether or not we should care, we seem to care about whatever it is
that happens to be on Donald Trump’s mind – and so his candidacy not only
continues – it surges.
If we are
experiencing a déjà vu moment as we read this passage, it is not our
imagination. And it is also not some kind of poetic dualism. The conversation
between God and Moses in verses 11-12 are a repeat of the conversation that
happened between God and Moses earlier in the chapter. And that is what leads
some to believe that these words were not spoken privately to Moses, but
publically to Israel. Moses was no longer standing in front of Israel with the
message ‘thus saith the Lord.’ The candidate of Israel was speaking for
himself, telling Israel exactly what is on his mind.
And the message
may not have been one that Israel wanted to hear. Yes, they were getting what
they wanted, but from the mouth of God they were also experiencing a bit of
what might be thought of as a ‘Donald Trump’ moment – they were hearing exactly
what was on God’s mind in an unguarded moment. God doesn’t tell Israel that he
has heard their concerns, or that he was taking in consideration their input.
Both of those might have been encouraging (and politically correct) words to
hear from the Almighty One. But that is not what God says. He says that he has
heard them grumble. He has heard them whine and complain. God does not attribute
to them the characteristics of strength and courage – he has heard them
grumble.
This is the
unedited heart of God. And if you are going to hear words actually spoken by
God, you might be hoping for different words. I am pretty sure that that was
the truth for Israel.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus
17
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