Horns on Your Head

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. (Exodus 34:29 ESV). There are some interesting, if obscure, references in the Scripture. One of them comes from our reading today. Another English translation renders this verse indicating that Moses had “horns on his head”: And when Moses came down from the mount Sinai, he held the two tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was horned from the conversation of the Lord. (Exodus 34:29 Douai-Rheims Version). Because this was the earliest and only authorized version of the Bible available to Michaelangelo, he was prompted to sculpt him with the horns. Many people believe that this was due to a mistranslation of the description of Moses but, in fact, it isn’t. Moses really is described as being horned. However, the reason for this is far from dark or evil. In Old Testament times, a person who was believed to have seen or been touched by God was described as having “horns,” or rays of light, coming from their head. It was an ancient symbol that was common in that day much like the halo is today. I really am intrigued by this thought of having “rays of light” coming out of your head after you’ve been in the presence of God. The people saw the incredible wisdom that emanated from Moses as he descended the mountain with the tablets of the law and having been in the presence of God. That is precisely the result that God desires when we approach our personal study of the Scripture and continue in prayer with him. I wonder how much we really want that kind of wisdom though. After all, it cannot be obtained from the drive through at the fast food of spiritual maturity! Moses had endured many trials and difficulties to get to this point. There were no short cuts for him and there aren’t for us. There's a story about a proud young man who came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the muscular philosopher and said, "O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge." Socrates recognized a pompous numbskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to the sea, and chest deep into water. Then he asked, "What do you want?" "Knowledge, O wise Socrates," said the young man with a smile. Socrates put his strong hands on the man's shoulders and pushed him under. Thirty seconds later Socrates let him up. "What do you want?" he asked again. "Wisdom," the young man sputtered, "O great and wise Socrates." Socrates crunched him under again. Thirty seconds passed, thirty-five. Forty. Socrates let him up. The man was gasping. "What do you want, young man?" Between heavy, heaving breaths the fellow wheezed, "Knowledge, O wise and wonderful..." Socrates jammed him under again Forty seconds passed. Fifty. "What do you want?" "Air!" the young man screeched. "I need air!" "When you want knowledge as you have just wanted air, then you will have knowledge." Perhaps we all need to get some “horns on our head!”