5. An Inhuman Face?
What was the source
of all this inhumanity? The source, according to the O’Briens, was
very simple: Yahweh was not human. Commenting on the fact that
Yahweh kept his face hidden from men, they mention two
possibilities for the strange behavior:
a. that Yahweh kept his face covered, in the close proximity of men, as a protection against human-carried bacilli, or
b. that Yahweh’s face was so different from a human face that the revealing of it would cause alarm, or distress.201
The O’Briens clearly
favor the latter alternative, for they note that if one interprets
Yahweh as an actual physical being, then his longevity over time also accounts for his
consistent agenda over several generations and his willingness to
extend the Wandering until a new generation of Hebrews had matured,
one that had not known life in Egypt, one that would be more
compliant.202