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Weekly Devotional

February 15, 2010

God’s Peace be with you all.

Exodus 34:29-35 ²⁹ Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant1 in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. ³² Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; ³⁴ but whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

            Yesterday I mentioned one connection between our Old Testament Lesson and our Gospel. That connection was that both Jesus and Moses seemed to “radiate” light after speaking with God. In both cases, they were on a mountaintop and God came to them in a cloud. However, I also mentioned that the English translation of the OT lesson didn’t really do it justice. The actual Hebrew says that “the skin of his (Moses) face displayed horns because he had been talking with God.” I did some research and found a few pictures of Moses depicted with horn.

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            The most famous of these art works depicting horns on Moses is a statue in marble carved by Michelangelo. “Originally intended for St. Peter's Basilica, "Moses" and the tomb were instead placed in the minor church of San Pietro in Vincoli on the Esquiline in Rome after the pope's death. This church was patronised by the della Rovere family from which Julius came, and he had been titular cardinal there. The statue depicts Moses with horns on his head. This is based on a literal translation of the Latin Vulgate of Exodus 34:29-35, which speak of Moses' face as having "horns," horns being symbolic of authority in ancient Near Eastern culture. However, in both Latin and Hebrew the word for horns can also refer to rays of light.” (Wikipedia)

           So this begs the question, what was it really like when Moses came down off that mountain? Did he have “horns” of light? Or did his face just radiate the glory of God outwards? As it stands now, our beliefs about this event are based on our faith and understanding of the story. However, I look forward to the day when I can sit down with Moses and ask him some questions, those two being two of many.

In our prayers this week: Diane, Wendi, Ann, Lisa, Kim, Robert and Catherine

God’s Peace,