O Adonai and ruler the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come with an outstretched arm and redeem us.
O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.
Ten years ago I stepped into Karlskirche and felt a chill go down my spine beholding the masterful altarpiece conceived by Johann Fishcher von Erlach and completed by his son, Joseph Emmanuel Fischer von Erlach. Backlit by natural light with marble statues surrounding and gold rays emanating from the center, the tetragrammaton - YHWH - is inscribed en absentia for light to pour through (see above).
*This post is part of a series on the #OAntiphons. To read part one, click here.
Yahweh. The unutterable name of G-d. Over time, the rabbis would conceive of ways to convey, but not to speak, the name of G-d. They placed various "vowels" - breathing marks - to bring about various pronunciations, including Jehovah. To distinguish YHWH from adonai, another name for master, or lord, they used all capital letters - LORD.
Still, both words LORD (YHWH) and Lord (Adonai) express the unspeakable power of God, the awe of his presence before Moses in the burning bush, and his sheer holy charisma.
That presence is what imbues this Antiphon today.
With the cry, "O Adonai," the antiphon recalls God's potency, his immensity, even his wrath. Yet, it does not imagine him as some transcendent deity, some far removed master. Instead, Adonai (Lord) is imminent, close at hand, present.
But not just present, present in powerful ways. In a burning bush and "with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm." (Ex 6:6; Deut 26:8; Ps 136:12)
This antiphon speaks not only of God's might, but his power to save. It testifies to the Lord's willingness to flex his might according to his promise, on behalf of his people. It confesses, and calls upon, the Lord's forceful intervention to liberate, deliver, and redeem.
It coyly alludes to the exodus of the Hebrew slaves from the hands of Pharaoh, the contest between the God of the Hebrew people and the Pharaoh, the Lord, of Egypt and master of the cosmos. It hints that the hand of God not only neutralized the natural forces of the cosmos in the plagues, but even smote the greatest power known to humankind at the time - the Pharaoh and his family.
This narrative is the central story of the Jewish people. The line alluded to, "with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm" is of great value in Judaic tradition and is a symbol used as part of the Passover Haggadah - the Seder meal. Rabbis reflect that the liberating power of the Lord on their behalf is twofold - with a strong hand he snatches them from their enslaved past, with the outstretched arm he delivers them out of evil and into a peaceful future.
Our prayer today might be the same. Whether we call out "O Adonai, come with an outstretched arm and redeem us" or simply, "Lord, deliver us from evil" as we look around and scour the headlines we see much evil to be redeemed from.
Children massacred in Peshawar, innocent hostages murdered in Sydney, injustice in our homeland, Ebola wreaking havoc and killing thousands in West Africa, cancer attacking those too young, marriages rending at the seams, and the list goes on...
To this we pray "O Adonai, come with an outstretched arm and redeem us." With your mighty hand snatch us away from the painful present; with an outstretched arm deliver us from evil and grant us a peaceful future. This is the prayer of Advent. The prayer said in the waiting days before the coming of Christ.
And to this oration he responds, "Tomorrow, I will come. Tomorrow, I will come with a mighty hand to liberate all humankind. Tomorrow, I will come with an outstretched arm and deliver you from evil." And so we cry aloud, "Come, Adonai, quickly come."