But you shall keep my
statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or
the stranger who sojourns among you (for the people of the land, who were
before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean),
lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the
nation that was before you. (Vayikra / Leviticus 18:26-28; ESV)
I am sorry
for the crass language in the Torah verses I just quoted. This week's parsha
(weekly Torah reading) contains strong warnings to the people of Israel,
regarding rules that govern sexual intimacy, the consequences of which are
rather disgusting. God through Moses states that if the people of Israel engage
in these forbidden activities, the land would react negatively to them.
The word
translated "vomit" is the same word that describes what the fish did
to Jonah to get him from its insides up and out on to the land (see Jonah 2:11
[English: 2:10). The fish threw up Jonah. That's how God describes what the
land would do to the people should they indulge in certain kinds of immorality.
Stating that
the land would vomit out the people is certainly metaphorical language to
describe exile. God was not saying that the physical terrain would literally
violently regurgitate the people, sending them flying up and out of the land,
causing them to drop down outside of Israel's borders, landing in foreign
territory. The end result is the same, exile. But the process is not exactly
that of vomiting. Or is it?
Apt
metaphors vividly capture certain aspects of something in order to communicate
with more power than when using plain words. When we know a language well, we
don't normally consider those aspects of metaphors that are not intended to be
taken literally. We simply get the point of what is being said. The intention
behind saying, "shake a leg" is the urging of someone else to hurry
up. The image of shaking is about the immediate call to action. No actual leg
shaking is anticipated.
But while we
rightly understand that the land would not literally vomit the people out,
there is something in this expression we might too quickly miss, and that is
the responding of the land to behavior.
However it
actually works, the Bible is pretty clear that land responds to human behavior.
Generally speaking, we can say that God blesses and curses our geographical
locations in response to how we live. I am very aware that it is more
complicated than this, but it is still fundamentally true. When people
continually disregard God's ways it is only a matter of time before the land in
which they live will no longer tolerate them. It's not the land itself
responding, it is God at work through nature. Still, God designed the creation
to be favorably disposed to morality and to reject immorality.
The vivid
metaphor of upchucking immoral people reminds us that no society can get away
with ignoring God's ways for too long. In case you are thinking that this only
applies to the people of Israel who had been given the Torah, note that God's
warning to them refers to the land vomiting up a previous nation.
How we live
matters. The current popular morality that insists that people should feel free
to follow their desires whatever they may be, rather than submit to God's
rules, will result in disaster. When will that be? I can't say. Just listen for
the tummy rumbles.
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