Stručni rad
The Mystery of God revealed at Sinai. Profession of Faith in the Events of the Book of Exodus
Božo Odobašić
orcid.org/0000-0002-0420-0849
; Univerzitet u Sarajevu - Katolički bogoslovni fakultet, Sarajevo, Bosna i Hercegovina
Sažetak
The Book of Exodus (Šemôt) was written as an expression of the faith in God
revealed at Sinai. Its narrative material was shaped in the traditions of JEDP based
on larger units of ancient Sinai tradition. Taken as a whole, all the redactors tended
to express a more theological aspect of a given event rather than the historicity of redemption.
Exodus is the historical Creed of Israel in Jahveh the Redeemer (Jahveh go ͗ēl)
and Covenant God (Jahveh habberît).
The faith of Moses and his people is expressed in the hiphil form of the verb
͗āman / to believe, to cause believing (eight times) and other concepts that point to an
experience of Jahveh, the God of revelation who may be trusted. Faith is an act of trust,
a safe relying on God revealing himself as omnipotent and present. Individuals and the
believing community trust him as the faithful and true God of the fathers who keeps his
promise of libert y.
Moses was the first to experience the path to safe and unshakable faith in
his dialogue with God, who revealed himself at Sinai. He gave witness to his faith before
his people in word and signs, through which he was confirmed by God so that
the people could trust him (19:9). Moses’ faith was necessary so that his people could
grow and follow a path toward faith in God who had revealed himself to them. Moses witnessed this unshakably as he passed through the Sea of Reed (Jam sûf / Red Sea in
the LXX) in front of the people, who were facing the final selection of Jahveh as their
God (14:13.31). In this event Jahveh was depicted as God of creation and liberation, as
savior of a people that trusted him and his servant Moses.
In the event of the Covenant making, the Jahvist author described Jahveh as
a faithful and merciful God who is present in the life of his journeying people. Other
traditions (E) stressed belief in a mysterious God who is present and active in signs and
events in history, while the Deuteronomist authors presented God as being present and
active in events through his words, contained in the Decalogue and other laws, and
the final redactor of the priestly tradition described God as holy and always active in
celebration of the Sabbath and the Passover feast in the temple.
The whole event of exodus is depicted as a zikkārôn, an act and profession of
Israel’s faith in Jahveh, the living, omnipotent, creator and deliverer from slavery in
Egypt. In the liturgical celebration of feasts, Jahveh’s words and actions are proclaimed
and made present. In these celebrations, Israel manifests her faith that she constitutes
God’s chosen people.
Ključne riječi
exodus; believe; faith; act of faith; signs; Jahveh the God of revelation; God of the Covenant; zikkārôn
Hrčak ID:
266436
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.12.2013.
Posjeta: 476 *