The Jordan River (February, 2008)Judges 7: And when the people were come down to the waters, the Lord said to Gideon: They that shall lap the water with their tongues, as dogs are wont to lap, thou shalt set apart by themselves: but they that shall drink bowing down their knees, shall be on the other side. And the number of them that had lapped water; casting it with the hand to their mouth, was three hundred men: and all the rest of the multitude had drunk kneeling. And the Lord said to Gideon: By the three hundred men, that lapped water, I will save you, and deliver Madian into thy hand: but let all the rest of the people return to their place...
The soldiers who laid down to lap the water from the river were judged to be more inclined to gratify their animal nature. Their ready appetite for the sensual neutralized their holy calling, rendering it sterile.
The kneeling soldiers, meanwhile, drank by cupping the water of the Jordan in their hands. This elemental form of decanting -- of raising the water to what is noblest in man instead of debasing what is exalted by lowering it to the level of the carnal -- epitomized Homo sapiens sapiens: it betokened a facility for discernment, wisdom, and spiritualized deeds.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment