The Covenant Story Through The Ages

(Note: We welcome back guest blogger and Spiritus member, Courtney Davis (see full bio on yesterday’s post). Thanks for another great offering!)

As an avid cinephile (a lover of the cinematic artform), I am not ashamed to admit that The Ten Commandments remains one of my all-time favorite movies. Each year, during the Paschal Triduum, I eagerly await the chance to once again watch Moses, played by a well-coiffed Charleton Heston, stretch out his hands and, by God’s command, send down hail and fire from the sky, cover Egypt in darkness for three days, and part the waters of the Red Sea to pull off the greatest escape of all time. Vivid imagery of the natural world, as we know it, brought forth into creation by God, plays a starring role (no pun intended) in the epic story of God’s on-again-off-again covenant with a changing cast of characters, some faithful, some not so much. Cecil B. DeMille’s direction with the help of Elmer Bernstein’s score (sacred music to my ears) presents all who watch this classic film with a technicolor interpretation of the covenant story mediated by God’s relationship with the natural world, God’s relationship with humanity, and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The purpose of all this interrelating is to prosper God’s name, prosper those who give God proper thanks and praise through virtuous conduct, and prosper the earth that is full of the goodness of the Lord. 

The Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday is the Church’s liturgical commemoration of the covenant story through the ages. It is a story of continuity and divine innovation (such as the revelation of the Suffering Servant) that achieves its end in Jesus, obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. What a powerful testament of devotion to God, especially when one considers that the Israelites had just barely made it out of Egypt when the grumbling against God and Moses began. The formerly enslaved went from singing about the triumphant glory of the Lord and horses and chariots cast into the sea to defiling themselves, fashioning a false idol (a golden calf), and threatening to pack up their camels to return to the land of Pharaoh, flowing with milk and honey.

This brings me to another aspect that I genuinely love about The Ten Commandments, Edward G. Robinson as Dathan, the preeminent apostate. No actor in his day could have better embodied the infidelity, the obstinance, the disobedience, and utter rejection of God that, time and time again, landed Israel (and in one particular instance, the entire planet) in deep water. So what was Dathan’s reward for his insolence towards Moses, the Lord’s servant? God caused the earth to open its mouth, and like Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, Dathan was swallowed up, along with his family and his entire entourage. Once more, God summoned the awesome power of nature, and made the choice clear: Israel could choose to ascend (fidelity), so that it might have life, or descend (infidelity) as a slave to sin. 

For those who choose life, God’s words are sweeter than Egyptian honey. The covenant story shows us that God not only summons the power of nature, but nature acts as a metaphor for God’s power and abundant goodness to the weary faithful, wandering in the wilderness. 

All you who are thirsty, 

come to the water! 

You who have no money, 

come, receive grain and eat; 

come, without paying and without cost, 

drink wine and milk! 

Why spend your money for what is not bread, 

your wages for what fails to satisfy? 

Heed me, and you shall eat well, 

you shall delight in rich fare. 

Come to me heedfully 

listen, that you may have life. 

(Is 55:1-3) 

Despite this divine invitation and the lessons from the flight from Egypt, Israel proved to be none the wiser. Thus, the Lord’s words of everlasting life became incarnate, God’s novel act of moving, persuasive speech. The revelation of Jesus, in corporeal form, enabled Israel to be able to see and hear Wisdom, the Word in action, and in this way come to understand the greatness of the Lord and the greatness of God’s mercy, which endures forever. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.