In which the exiles learn about the Sustainer
Genesis 2:18-25
And the LORD God said, “It is not
good for the human to be alone, I shall make him a sustainer beside him.” And
the LORD God fashioned from the soil each beast of the field and each fowl of
the heavens and brought each to the human to see what he would call it, and
whatever the human called a living creature, that was its name. And the human
called names to all the cattle and to the fowl of the heavens and to all the
beasts of the field, but for the human no sustainer beside him was found. And
the LORD God cast a deep slumber on the human, and he slept, and He took one of
his ribs and closed over the flesh where it had been, and the LORD God built
the rib He had taken from the human into a woman and He brought her to the
human. And the human said:
“This one at last, bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh,
“This one shall be called Woman, for
from man was this one taken.”
Therefore does a man leave his father
and his mother and cling to his wife and they become one flesh. And the two of
them were naked, the human and his woman, and they were not ashamed.
Daniel 4:21-23, 30, 31, 33
…this is its meaning, O king, and the
decree of the Most High that is to come upon my lord the king. And you shall
they banish from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field,
and grass like the ox shall they feed you, and from the dew of the heavens
shall they give you drink. And seven seasons shall pass over you until you know
that the Most High rules over the kingdom of man and to whom He chooses He
gives it. And as to their saying to leave one of the roots of the tree, your
kingdom shall endure for you once you know that the heavens rule.
At that very moment the word was
fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and from man he was banished and he ate grass like
the ox, and from the dew of the heavens his body was moistened until his hair grew
like eagles and his nails like birds. And at the end of many days: “I,
Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes to the heavens and my mind returned to me, and I
blessed the Most High and praised and extolled the Eternal One…
At that very moment my mind returned
to me, and the glory of my kingdom, my grandeur and my splendor, returned to
me, and me did my councillors and my nobles seek out, and I was set up over my
kingdom, and exceeding greatness was added to me…”
In Genesis 2 and 3, Adam
stands for Babylonia, and Eve for Media, the sustainer. Yet the very presence
of a sustainer reveals the work of God that takes place as Adam is cast into
deep slumber, the exiles deported, Nebuchadnezzar banished, in which we are laid
bare and see God as our deliverer in times of trouble.
Sleep is essential for our wellbeing,
time when our body resets itself and our subconscious processes what our
conscious mind cannot bear. Yet sleep deprivation is endemic in our electrified
world, chased away by the energy consumption that is so dangerously overheating
our planet. The whole world is presented before us, but no sustainer is found.
In Advent, we trust that God is yet not distant when we call out in alarm.
Biblical
texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary
No comments:
Post a Comment