The Book of Numbers is known in Hebrew by the key word of its first sentence, Bamidbar, "In the wilderness." It is also always read on the Shabbat before Shavuot, the festival of the giving of the Torah. It was in the wilderness that the Israelites had been given revelation, by the spoken word of God given to Moses.
Every ancient religion but one, believes their gods are present in the phenomena of nature, like the sun, the stars, the sky, the sea, which are all visible to the eye; their gods can be seen. The Bible tells us that God is beyond nature. He is not in the form of nature itself.
Even Sigmund Freud, who was known to be somewhat hostile to religion, could not avoid being impressed by the idea of God and Who He was. While almost every other civilization has been a culture of the religious eye, Judaism is a culture of the ear, of words, speech, listening, interpreting, understanding, heeding.
The eye is captivated by the shifting scenes of nature, art and architecture. This is why it is prohibited in Judaism against making images or icons of God. To Judaism, the idea that God is visible is idolatry. God is beyond the totality of things seen in His creation. People may see His handiwork and believe in Him, but nature is clearly God's work and not who He is.
The vast universe is no more than the work of God's fingers according to Psalm 8:3 "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place". Psalm 19:1-5: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Romans 1:20 "For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse." Everything that we can see is not actually God, but merely the work of God.
For Judaism, the idea that God is visible is idolatry, because God is beyond the totality of things that can be seen, and this is why it is important to know His Word and what He speaks and says through it. God Himself is a Spirit. John 4:24 instructs us regarding the way God desires that we worship Him: "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."
While the eye plays an important role in viewing God's created beauty, it is far better to know God personally and hear what he has to say, than merely be impressed by His power to create beauty.
Ultimately, it is in the emptiness of the wilderness that the eye is subordinate to the ear. God has a special way of leading His children to a dessert place in order that they may listen to Him.
If nothing had happened but a lucky escape from the heavy hand of the Egyptian power and bondage the Jews were under, there only would have been a few more nomadic tribes roaming the border of the promised land and living and working alongside others in agriculture. But the desert was only a station on the way, not the goal. For in the desert, the tribes found their God. They entered into a covenant with him and thereby became his people.
When we undertake an exodus and wander into the world of searching and seeking, in order to find answers from God, we too discover a world that will resemble a desert. We will find that our flight leads us nowhere, until we stop, listen and learn the things that God wants us to know; and when our world has become a desert of sorts, we are at last in the solitude in which he can hear loudly, the voice of His spirit with its urgent whispering. Are you willing today, sweet friend, to visit a dessert place in order to hear from God? Or maybe you are on your way there now! If so, move on. He is waiting!
Hold Fast,
-Bren
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