{"id":43362,"date":"2018-11-04T19:27:34","date_gmt":"2018-11-04T17:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=43362"},"modified":"2022-05-31T08:47:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T05:47:44","slug":"reflections-on-faith-is-seeing-believing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/reflections-on-faith-is-seeing-believing\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections On Faith: Is Seeing Believing?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":50634,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[695,459,384],"acf":{"old_id":"43362","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":42925,"related_cahpter":"83","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Not by seeing with the eye, but by removing our spiritual blinders","content":"<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most people know the story of the golden calf (Exodus 32). But the aftermath is an exploration of faith: How can we know that God is an active presence in our lives?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The chapter plays with seeing as a metaphor for knowing. The Israelites, knowing only slavery in a pagan society with visible idols, only had faith in what they could \u201csee.\u201d Not seeing Moses after 40 days made them so anxious that they questioned their belief in his leadership. How much more must they have struggled with faith in an unseen God to deliver them to some unseen Promised Land? So, they demanded that Aaron make them a god they could see. Aaron, afraid of a rebellion, complied by modeling a golden calf to give them a visible representation that was \u201creal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What a breach of faith so soon after agreeing to obey God wholeheartedly. Moses intercedes with God to pardon the people, and they are chastened. However, they still cannot maintain a sense of God\u2019s presence beyond what they see. So they anxiously watch Moses until he returns to his tent; when he disappears inside, a pillar of cloud appears, as a visible reassurance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moses is on a higher spiritual level. Yet he, too, asks to \u201csee\u201d God\u2019s presence before he can continue to lead. Unlike his people, Moses never doubts God\u2019s existence. Rather, he wishes to see the Divine nature\u2014the full essence of God\u2019s presence and forgiveness no matter our predicament. Only when he has \u201cseen\u201d that presence can he find the strength for his mission.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although God \u201cspeaks to Moses face to face,\u201d even Moses cannot see God and live. Instead, God tells him to hide in the cleft of the rock. Moses will not see God\u2019s face, but he will know the Divine presence by \u201cseeing God\u2019s back,\u201d the after effects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God\u2019s response to Moses expresses a deep existential truth: that limited human understanding can never fully \u201csee God\u2019s face,\u201d or fully comprehend God\u2019s nature when circumstances appear to contradict His very existence. The coexistence of God and human suffering is a mystery. Yet we can see God\u2019s after effects in our lives, and come to have an enduring faith.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God\u2019s response focuses on forgiveness. This is more than forgiveness for the people\u2019s sin of idolatry. It may be that we are most receptive to God\u2019s presence when we realize our wrong and seek to return to our spiritual nature. Thus, this passage is a core part of the Day of Atonement prayers. It is read when we most intensely seek to renew our faith, not by seeing with the eye but by removing our spiritual blinders.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":79074,"id":79074,"title":"zech1-blindfolded","filename":"zech1-blindfolded.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech1-blindfolded.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/opaque-visions\/zech1-blindfolded\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"zech1-blindfolded","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":79073,"date":"2020-08-20 13:16:07","modified":"2023-07-02 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