The Great "None of your business Moses"

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 Brick Testament: The Burning Bush

The Great "None of your business Moses"

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

The story of Moses and the burning bush in the wilderness always made a great Sunday School story. Here is a man who notices a bush on fire in the desert. It is possible he was witnessing the results of a lightening strike, who knows, but when he approached the bush, it spoke to him.

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up."
4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."
5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

So Moses finds himself talking to the tribal God of the family of his father. God has seen the problems the family is having in Egypt and declares to Moses that he is going to do something about it. The Plagues and the Exodus are to follow shortly. What is interesting is that Moses seems to need to know the name of this God so, when asked, he can give an accurate answer. There were many deities of the day and knowing which one was talking to you was important. These deities were both tribal and territorial, often having boundaries and limited to certain areas.

There is another reason knowing the name of the Deity was important. There was the belief that IF you knew the name of the god, you could wield a certain influence or control over the god. Most are familiar with the story of Jacob who experienced a strange encounter with a being that he recognized as El himself. Meeting this El at the steam Jabbok on the west bank, he wrestled with him. I guess when Middle Eastern men meet, they can't just have tea, they have to fight. Jacob and El wrestled all night and El finally had to leave because the Sun was coming up. Perhaps El was a vampire, or perhaps merely a symbol of something dark of the night, that had to leave in astrotheological terms when the sun rose. At any rate, Jacob did not and would not let go until this being shared it's name. The deity confessed to being Peni-El, "El's Face" and Jacob called the place Peniel "because he had seen El, face to face." The reason Jacob asked for the name was that in doing so, he had power of sorts over El and could actually survive the encounter.

The God of Moses was "El", a god that originally was a Caananite deity. From this "El" we get familiar names to Christians that they use in their hymns. El-Shaddai, which is El of the Mountains. There is El-Eyon, The Most High God. From "El" we also get such common names Isra-El and Ishma-El.
Christians today think that the God of Moses was the same God they know today in Christianity, but that would be a far cry from the truth.

At any rate, when Moses met El in the bush, surprised he did not name him Bush-El :), Moses also wanted the name of this god. But the answer given to Moses would be much different than the one given to Jacob. This god was evolving in the scripture and was not about to give a mere mortal his name. When Moses finally asks the name of this deity, the answer is a very simple one. "I am Who I Am." That's who Moses was to tell the Israelites he met that day, when they wanted the details. You asked for the name of the god because there were so many of them. Remember, even in the Ten Commandments, the Israelites were not told there was just one, but rather they were not to worship OTHER God's as greater than El, since this evolving God was a jealous one.

At any rate, this phrase "I am that I am," has evolved in Christian theology as a deeply profound statement as to the nature of the true God. It has been used to prove that God is the self-subsistant Being of a deeper theology. "Ebyeh asher ebyeh"...I am that I am. Funny thing is, is that this statement by the god is not deep theology, but a Hebrew pun...a joke of sorts on Moses. It is meant to be vague in it's response such as when the bible says that this or that person went "to the next place" or "into the wilderness." It is meant to be vague. "I am that I am" is this deity simply telling Moses that his name is none of Moses business and he would be wise to mind his own business because this Deity was not giving the name. When the Israelites ask, just tell them "It's none of their business either has sent you." Moses was not going to manipulate this God as Jacob had in seeking power over him by learning his name.

Of course, from this time forward, Christians have taken every opportunity to read divine profundity into any phrase in the Bible that contains the words "I am." Jesus has become the great "I am" as a way to connect him to this OT Deity as part of the Holy Christian Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit

"Many have been the theological and philosophical interpretations of this glorious name, but Jesus Christ gave us the practical interpretation with the 8 "I am" in the Gospel of John:

1- I am the bread of life (Jn.6:35)
2- I am the light of the world (Jn.8:12)
3- I am the gate (Jn.10:9)
4- I am the good shepherd (Jn.10:11.
5- I am the resurrection (Jn.11:25)
6- I am the way and the truth and the life (Jn.14:6)
7- I am the true vine (Jn.15:1)
8- Before Abraham was, I am (Jn.8:58)... this last "I am" of Jesus the Messiah have the scent of eternity and power... not "I was", but "I am"... I am the immutable one, but the author of all change and movement... Jesus is always eternally the same I am... "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb.13:8).
I am the way and the truth and the life (Jn.14:6):"

I practical fact, there is no connection between the "I am" statement of God in the bush to Moses, and the grammar some use to say things like "I am hungry, I am thirsty, I am the gate, I am the shepherd"

It's a silly connection that only literalists could come up with.

The problem is that this perspective has been built on a Hebrew Pun. A scripture can never mean what it never meant and when Moses asked , just what his name was to gain at least some advantage over him as Jacob before him had done with El, the answer was different. "I am what I am," or "it's really none of your business who I am Moses and I'm not falling for that trick. Tell them to mind their own business." This is a good example of how the Church has taken a simple thing in the OT, even a pun, and manufactured it into a deeper truth, applied to others, which were never intended or implied in the original text or story.

Matthew was very very good at this as well in his many "and thus it was fulfilled" statements about the Jesus he found spoken of in the Old Testament. Matthew was a master at making as scripture in the Hebrew texts mean what it never meant in the first place. This is, in part, why Jewish scholars, who see how the Christian Church has manipulated their own Old Testament texts to bolster the newer Christian faith and the Jesus story, could never agree nor see Jesus spoken of "so plainly" in their own scriptures.

So we find in the story of Moses and the burning bush, not a profound theological introduction the Great I AM, but rather a simple request by a tribal deity of the day for Moses to mind his own business and that he will not be gaining any power over this god by prying his name out of him.


DenniscDiehl@aol.com

UCG Zambia/USA Resignations

Steve Martin: The Atheist Hymnal

Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers perform at Merlefest 2010

UCG Asks: Why Are We Fighting? What Happened?

I had to laugh when reading UCG's agenda for their upcoming conference.  On the first day this is their topic of discussion:

9 a.m. – 10 a.m. • Opening prayer
• What happened and why? (Luker/Rhodes)
10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Q&A: What happened and why, and lessons learned
(Council/Administration/Elders & Wives)

Does anyone actually expect that they will discuss what happened and the root cause of it?  It will be blame game extraordinaire.  No one in UCG will take responsibility.  They will not acknowledge that the core foundational beliefs of the church are morally and spiritually bankrupt and totally void of Jesus.  They will not acknowledge that legalism is killing their church and destroying the lives of their members.

How many Elder's wives will speak up? Will UCG allow these woman to speak?   UCG knows the place of women in their leadership, that's why they are being relegated to a side room for tea, crumpet's and cookies because they perceive women have no capabilities on advancing the work of Christ.

2 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. • Opening prayer
• Advancing the work of Christ (Rhodes)
2 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. Women’s-tea fellowship time for those interested

That belief is no more evident in the following quote by uber-legalist Malm on his Dead Light blog.
Malm quotes a letter from Tim McCaulley which has to be one of the most ignorant things I have read lately.   If you talk about Jesus you are a Tkach follower?  This is just further proof on how spiritually bankrupt Armstrongism is!

Because I had an infected sore on the bottom of my foot, I got a seat in the front row in front of the stage and by coincidence near a major entry way for people looking for seats.  This is how i got to meet none other than Leann Luker, wife of the president.

 I decided to play dumb and introduce myself and tell where I was from and then ask, “and who might you be?”  I have found this an excellent way to allow people to show themselves for who they really are.  When she said her name, of course i recognized it and welcomed her to Florida and asked if being the wife of the president of the UCG made her the “first lady” of the UCG.  To her credit, she insisted that no it did certainly not do any such thing and that I should regard her as “your sister in the faith”.

 As pleasantries continued and we talked about the rather difficult situation that both her and her husband had stepped into, she made the comment that she wasn’t worried because, “you know Tim, it’s all about Jesus”.  This immediately set alarm bells off in my head, (because I remembered my own wife saying the same thing as she embraced the heresies of the post-’95 WCG) but all I said was ‘Jesus said He came to reveal the Father” and He also said “I and My Father are one” and then I said, “you sound like Joe Tkach in the late 80′s”.

Another UCG Resignation

A Personal Note From Dennis Diehl

First of all I would like to thank the many kind and supportive comments sent along by those who find my articles and insights with my own experience as a minister in WCG helpful.  I have to say it gives me a bit more sense of purpose in this life than just having to figure out what to do with the rest of my life now that the "wonder years" are long past.

I would like you all to know that writing is how I have processed my own experience as a man who really really wanted to be a part of the right church and teach the true Bible truth.  I had been accepted to a Methodist Seminary at the same time I was accepted at AC and obviously made the "wrong" choice.  I have no illusions about the fact that I believe that no matter where I had ended up learning someone's denominational truth,  I would have had just about the same kind of crisis there too.

It is not my purpose to anger to challenge anyone's beliefs.  Perhaps I just wish to open up our minds to the fact that there are bigger boxes to be looked in that when we first believed.  Having been a WCG pastor, I know how we were "trained" and it was not well.  You cannot understand origins and the history of the Bible by reading booklets written by in house wondermen or just by reading the text and commenting on what it seems to mean.  An educated Pastor has a formidable education in the right place and often cannot bring all he "knows" to a congregation being about 50 years ahead of their ability to  understand it.  It is why pastors who fall out of favor with the company line usually end up teaching it if they have the initial credentials to keep on.  In the WCG a minister did not and is why I now rub people the right way along with helping them with anything from headaches to injuries.  I always had a medical side to me.

I have made some rather large mistakes since having to move on from those days.  Actually I made some large ones during those days too.  I have had to wrestle with the anxiety of separation from everything familiar and I caused it in some cases.  My tone in some writings is a bit cheeky because it is my anger turned sideways which seems to be the definition of sarcasm.  As a pastor in WCG one never expressed anger or that was it for you.  I also grew up where "we don't say that," was a mantra to be obeyed.  Thus one ends up a bit repressed an unable to express one's self when needed for good mental health.

I have had to find counselors through out this post WCG time and actually I had a few in the midst of it all.  It is the sign of a wise person who has a counselor in this nutso world so I don't apologize for it.  I am suspicious of having a "disorder" that briefly came up once in counseling as a possible explanation of feelings, thoughts and behaviors along the way that were  and still are annoying, but I spare you.  It's kinda like when I teach pathology for massage students.  After awhile, if not careful, one begins to feel they have all the symptoms of all those diseases!!!  So I'll do some homework on the disorder as it helps me but try not to buy into it too much.  I have to say, I do have most of the symptoms so it can be a bit of a relief to at least know I didn't invent it.

Thank you for your support.  I only wish to share so that we see the actions and reactions are normal for such life experiences as losing faith or at least having to move on to better perspectives.  Most do, some struggle and a few have been lost in the shuffle along the way.

Be kind to each other.  Be patient with yourself and remember...."How do we know the experience we are having is the experience we are supposed to be having? ........Because you are having it!"  .....or so they say.
Amen

11 Step's To Spiritual Freedom

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jack-watts/recovering-from-religious-abuse_b_811710.html

"That's why Recovering from Religious Abuse has just been released by Simon & Schuster. Until now, there has been nothing that addresses the problem, while also offering a solution that helps the victims. Using an 11-step method, wounded Christians -- those who have been used, abused, and discarded by self-righteous religious leaders -- can reconnect with God in a healing, transforming way.

After being victimized, most wounded people lead half-lives, consumed with anger, bitterness, shame, and pain. They question whether the best years of their lives have already passed, hoping they haven't but suspecting that they have. They are prone to depression and acting-out behavior, which includes over eating, over spending, alcoholism, drug addiction, pornography and promiscuity.

Because such leaders call into question a person's relationship with God, this kind of abuse is particularly devastating emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. Such malicious castigation, which is internalized by the abused person as true, crushes the spirit of the recipient, and they retreat from the life they were living to follow the script of their destruction -- becoming a self-imposed prophecy. "

amen!
Dennis