Today's Scripture Reading (September 25, 2021): Exodus 8
Nineteenth-century German philosopher, Arthur
Schopenhauer, remarked that "Any
foolish boy can stamp on a beetle, but all the professors in the world cannot
make a beetle." A little more than two hundred years later, and living in
an age when we possess much more knowledge about such things, the philosopher
is still correct. We can stomp on a beetle and even manipulate the beetle's
genetic code, but we cannot create a beetle out of nothing or out of dust. We
can do more than Schopenhauer ever dreamed that we could do, but that act of
creation is still beyond our ability.
We
struggle to get our heads around the miracles of the Bible, such as the
creation of gnats in this passage. God tells Moses to have Aaron stretch out
his staff and strike the ground, and the dust will become gnats. For some, the
gnats are already there when Aaron hits the ground. They are simply so numerous
that they cover the earth, appearing to be dust. It is only when Aaron strikes
the ground that the onlookers realize that the dust is alive and that a layer
of gnats is covering the soil, only appearing to be a layer of dust. The very
ground is teeming with them.
Others
take a look at the passage and see something very different. Exodus says
specifically that "the dust will become gnats." A literal reading of
the text argues that there is an act of creation here, which is beyond a
magician's ability. The dust became gnats. The magicians, like little children,
can step on the tiny bugs, but they can't create them. Only a God could do
that, and, in this case, a God working through the staff of Aaron.
But
we shouldn't miss the point of this event arguing over how the bugs got there.
This plaque attacks at the heart of religious purity. Gnats were considered to
be ceremonially unclean by the Egyptian priests. The priests went to great
extremes to remain ceremoniously pure; they shaved the hair on their bodies,
they wore beautiful robes, and, unlike the rest of the population, they washed
frequently. But now, these same priests were literally covered with bugs.
Today,
we might grab an insecticide and get to work killing the annoying insects, but
none of that was available in ancient Egypt. The only way the priests knew to
get rid of gnats was to cover themselves with fish eggs. It isn't hard to
imagine the severe hit to the pride of the well-washed priests when they
realize that they could either be defiled by the gnats or defiled by the fish
eggs. But either way, they would no longer be ceremonially clean and, therefore,
unable to carry out the demands of their gods. And their defilement was a
direct result of the God of Israel bringing a plague of gnats into being.
One
last comment on the creation or already existing argument for the gnats. The
word that is translated as "become" in this passage is "haya."
It is a common word, but more importantly, it is a word God uses to describe
himself. When Moses asks God for his name, God's answer is "haya haya,"
which most translations interpret as "I AM WHO I AM" or maybe "I
Will Be Who I Will Be." It is a word of creation. God's message for Moses
is simple. I am the God who exists, don't discard me for one who doesn't. Here
in the plague of the gnats, it is a similar message. Regardless of how the
gnats got here, they exist, and you, especially the priests who serve the
Egyptian gods, cannot go on with your duties as if they aren't covering
everything. Whether you acknowledge it or not, religious life has been
interrupted because the God of Israel created out of the dust a tiny bug.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Exodus 9
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