Exodus 23:20-33

"I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him.

 But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

When my angel goes in front of you, and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods, or worship them, or follow their practices, but you shall utterly demolish them and break their pillars in pieces. You shall worship the Lord your God, and I will bless your bread and your water; and I will take sickness away from among you. No one shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send my terror in front of you, and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send the pestilence in front of you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, or the land would become desolate and the wild animals would multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates; for I will hand over to you the inhabitants of the land, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not live in your land, or they will make you sin against me; for if you worship their gods, it will surely be a snare to you" (Exodus 23:20-33).

Question:

Yesterday I visited the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in our church. As I was sitting quietly, a man whom I don't know came to me and opened the Holy Bible and gave the above mentioned verse to me and told me to read. After some time, he opened some other verse and gave it to somebody else to read. He continued doing this with a few other people. He was there in the chapel before me, so I guess he was doing this to other people who were visiting the Holy Sacrament. So, I was a bit curious as to why he gave me this verse. I read it again and could not understand much. I would be happy if you could interpret the verses for me.

Comment:

What a very special experience that must have been! And an interesting passage he chose. This is the conclusion of the Covenant Code the Lord makes with the Israelites at Mount Sinai as they set off on their journey into the wilderness. Metaphysically, I would say it concerns each of us on our own personal spiritual journeys through an uncertain, unknowable wilderness to a goal in which we have faith. It won't be easy, the Lord is saying, and it won't be quick; we move forward in awareness bit by bit. The great promise is that we are never alone, never abandoned. So long as we are not distracted by the dramas and temptations we encounter, and keep our focus always on our spiritual purpose, the Lord of our Being will be with us always. We can't see the place that is prepared for us, and we can't 'figure out' how to get there. But we can trust the angel—the Divine Idea—that will always be present as guidance and inspiration.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed