In this week’s parsha, Vayelech, God declares
טזוַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־משֶׁ֔ה הִנְּךָ֥ שֹׁכֵ֖ב עִם־אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ וְקָם֩ הָעָ֨ם הַזֶּ֜ה וְזָנָ֣ה | אַֽחֲרֵ֣י | אֱלֹהֵ֣י נֵֽכַר־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר ה֤וּא בָא־שָׁ֨מָּה֙ בְּקִרְבּ֔וֹ וַֽעֲזָבַ֕נִי וְהֵפֵר֙ אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֥ר כָּרַ֖תִּי אִתּֽוֹ:
And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, you are [about to] lie with your forefathers, and this nation will rise up and stray after the deities of the nations of the land, into which they are coming. And they will forsake Me and violate My covenant which I made with them.
וְחָרָ֣ה אַפִּ֣י ב֣וֹ בַיּֽוֹם־הַ֠ה֠וּא וַֽעֲזַבְתִּ֞ים וְהִסְתַּרְתִּ֨י פָנַ֤י מֵהֶם֙ וְהָיָ֣ה לֶֽאֱכֹ֔ל וּמְצָאֻ֛הוּ רָע֥וֹת רַבּ֖וֹת וְצָר֑וֹת וְאָמַר֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֔וּא הֲלֹ֗א עַ֣ל כִּי־אֵ֤ין אֱלֹהַי֙ בְּקִרְבִּ֔י מְצָא֖וּנִי הָֽרָע֥וֹת הָאֵֽלֶּה:
And My fury will rage against them on that day, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will befall them, and they will say on that day, 'Is it not because our God is no longer in my midst, that these evils have befallen me?'
וְאָֽנֹכִ֗י הַסְתֵּ֨ר אַסְתִּ֤יר פָּנַי֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֔וּא עַ֥ל כָּל־הָֽרָעָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה כִּ֣י פָנָ֔ה אֶל־אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֲחֵרִֽים:
And I will hide My face on that day, because of all the evil they have committed, when they turned to other deities.
When writing about this, Rabbi Ari Kahn notes
This context gives new meaning to the concept of the “hidden face:” Moshe is told there will be times when the Jewish People will so blatantly and completely ignore the word of God, that God will simply stop speaking to us. If we refuse to receive God’s communication, through the words of the Torah and the words of the prophets, God will cease to engage in this one-sided communication.
I think the latter half of I Samuel, which focuses on the story of Saul, can be read as a real-life example of these verses in Deuteronomy.
Saul is one of my favorite characters. His life is tragic. And a major piece of that tragedy occurs when God removes Himself from him.
But God doesn’t do this out of nowhere. Saul has been given multiple chances. He has been explicitly told- by God’s own prophet- exactly what it is God wishes of him. And not only does he not follow God’s wishes, but he is not even cognizant enough of his choices to be able to apologize when the prophet calls him out on his poor behavior. When God removes His spirit from him, transferring it to David instead (as the new king), Saul is left bereft.
The most poignant scene, however, occurs towards the very end of Saul’s life. Saul is desperate for connection with God.
וַיִּשְׁאַל שָׁאוּל בַּיהוָה, וְלֹא עָנָהוּ יְהוָה--גַּם בַּחֲלֹמוֹת גַּם בָּאוּרִים, גַּם בַּנְּבִיאִם.6
And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
God is not answering Saul because Saul has chosen not to heed God’s prior communications. Exactly as Rabbi Ari Kahn put it, God is not interested in continuing a one-sided dialogue.
But Saul is persistent. He goes to the Witch of En-Dor and has her engage in a forbidden rite to call up the shade of Samuel.
טו וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל-שָׁאוּל, לָמָּה הִרְגַּזְתַּנִי לְהַעֲלוֹת אֹתִי; וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל צַר-לִי מְאֹד וּפְלִשְׁתִּים נִלְחָמִים בִּי, וֵאלֹהִים סָר מֵעָלַי וְלֹא-עָנָנִי עוֹד גַּם בְּיַד-הַנְּבִיאִים גַּם-בַּחֲלֹמוֹת, וָאֶקְרָאֶה לְךָ, לְהוֹדִיעֵנִי מָה אֶעֱשֶׂה. {ס}15
And Samuel said to Saul: 'Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?' And Saul answered: 'I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams; therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.' {S}
טז וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל, וְלָמָּה תִּשְׁאָלֵנִי: וַיהוָה סָר מֵעָלֶיךָ, וַיְהִי עָרֶךָ.16
And Samuel said: 'Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine adversary?
Saul has been forsaken, and Samuel affirms that abandonment. In Samuel’s own words, the Lord has left Saul, and has become Saul’s enemy.
While in the end Saul and God are reunited- in death- I think Saul can be read as the Jewish version of the man who presumed too much.
Saul presumed that once appointed as king, he would remain king, even when he failed to heed God. He presumed that he could choose which of God’s commandments to heed and which to ignore without consequence. Of course, as he learns- to his cost- this is not the case. God makes clear that Saul has lost the kingdom and Saul refuses to relinquish it. And so Saul is left clutching a kingdom- but not that which makes it viable- God’s help, assistance, mercy and authority.
What use is a kingdom under such circumstances?
Driven to distraction, Saul craves answers, craves connection, but he cannot find it. God has turned away from him.
What’s striking in both scenarios- in Deuteronomy and in Samuel- is the level of ingratitude. God gave Saul the kingdom; of course He ought to determine how Saul rules it, and when Saul loses it, but Saul doesn’t accept this. Similarly with the Israelite people- God takes them out of Egypt, brings them to the Promised Land, and sets up rules of engagement and of proper conduct- but the people don’t want to play by them. The people are willing to take when God gives, but unwilling to abide by God’s authority when He sets limits. They want the good but are unwilling to suffer discomfort or pain.
This isn’t a sustainable relationship. There is no relationship when one side only takes and is unwilling to give back.
One wonders if there was any way that Saul could have made things right with God. If he had sent a messenger to David and invited him back to the Israelite kingdom, offered to give him his throne, would God have reappeared to him? The story doesn’t go that way, so we will never know. I like to think, though, that there was a means to effect repair- just a very difficult one.
As in all broken relationships, repair costs something. Someone loses, gives up something, sacrifices something, in order to rebuild.
The real message is that God is in hiding- not gone. The fact that He is hiding His face means that He can reappear. But it will take mending the relationship- sometimes going to extreme lengths to do so- to accomplish that goal.
