IN> [Jean Month] Lightning in Scripture

[William Keith]

      A quick overview of lightning as mentioned in various texts of the 
In Nomine divine religions: a discussion of its literary use, and how 
these might be descriptive of Heaven's role for Jean.

     Lightning or thunderbolts are mentioned 29 times in the Old and New 
Testaments together, 7 times in the Koran, and 10 more times in the 
Book of Mormon.

      In the Old Testament, lightning is literal, more often than not.  
God makes lightning, and sends thunderbolts this way and that.  He uses 
it as a physical weapon to strike enemies; his command of it is used as 
evidence of his might.  Twice in simile arrows and chariots are 
referred to as moving like lightning.  It is almost wholly regarded as 
simply a powerful, immediate destructive force.  The closest the Old 
Testament comes to metaphor for lightning is in two occasions of God's 
appearance or near-appearance, to Moses, and to Ezekiel.  Here, his 
arrival is heralded and accompanied by much lightning, even more 
consistently than fire or thunder.  Likewise, the man who comes to 
Daniel in Chapter 10 has a countenance like lightning.

      In the New Testament, the use is much more metaphorical.  Once, 
Satan fell "as lightning" from Heaven.  In Revelations, lightning 
appears as a literal occurrence during the events of the End along with 
phenomena like earthquakes, and emanates from the Throne at various 
moments.  More often, though, indeed multiple times in Luke and 
Matthew, lightning refers to the bright aspect of the appearance of 
Jesus in his glory.  "For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the 
one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so 
shall also the Son of man be in his day."  It is also used to describe 
the countenance of the angel who comes to inform the women of Christ's 
resurrection.  In these passages, lightning is not only an illuminator 
but an awe-inspiring and comely thing in itself, not to mention being 
in its physical form descriptive of God.  During the French Terror, 
Jean defended some of the excesses of the anti-religious elements of 
the Revolution on the grounds that science and reason, though not all 
that appreciated by much of Heaven, was nevertheless a path to 
understanding God.  Jean himself, frankly, doesn't seem to care all 
that much for the whole religion project.

      In the Book of Mormon lightning appears several times, primarily 
as a dramatic side effect accompanying great events, along with 
earthquakes and the like.

      In the Koran, lightning is consistently literal, and is referred 
to for its effects.  Only once is it used as a physical weapon, 
however: "...they demanded of Musa a greater thing than that, for they 
said: Show us Allah manifestly; so the lightning overtook them on 
account of their injustice."  (The lesson here is simple: be careful 
what you wish for.)  Three times it is referred to for the peal of 
thunder, or its near-blinding intensity: "The lightning almost takes 
away their sight; whenever it shines on them they walk in it, and when 
it becomes dark to them they stand still...".  Jean's people might well 
take such a verse as a lesson in revealing too much truth too swiftly 
to humans, blinding them to the truths they could find with their own 
abilities, and making them so dependent on Heavenly revelation that 
when removed they are helpless.  Both of these uses suggest a fear of 
lightning's power.  But in the remaining two appearances of lightning 
in the Koran there is used a contrasting construction: "He it is Who 
shows you the lightning causing fear and hope...".  The hope derives 
from the fact that lightning accompanies heavy cloud, the manner in 
which life-giving rains appear in the desert.  Jean is rarely depicted 
as a hope-giver; but the fact that his coming, if bright and terrible, 
is nevertheless followed by rain, could be useful as a metaphor for the 
turbulent process of invention that is followed by a long period of 
steady utility.  Give a man a fish, teach him to fish...

      In the hadiths lightning is mentioned most often as an example of 
quickness.  Once, the Prophet's wife speaks of Muhammad's reaction to a 
lightning storm, mentioning again its welcome rains.  However, there is 
one more most interesting appearance of lightning in the hadiths: the 
mysterious horse known as the buraq, whose name means lightning.  More 
on this creature in an upcoming post.

      Finally, in Buddhism, lightning appears in a vast array of forms 
in a number of sutras, too many to catalog briefly.  One use of it 
which does not appear in the Abrahamic texts is as an example of 
transience, like the world: something which is there and quickly gone.  
Jean is easy to summon... perhaps one should also play him as quickly 
gone, off to do something else equally urgent.

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      By the way, a note relevant to current events!  It has been 
reported that barak, as in U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, is also 
Hebrew for lightning, and Rahm, as in Rahm Emanuel, the 
President-elect's presumptive chief of staff, Hebrew for thunder.  
While it would be amusing -- and rich in In Nomine-useful imagery -- if 
it were true, it's just an artifact of sloppy research.  The 
proto-Semitic root of "lightning" is b-r-q (the last letter is 
originally quf), not b-r-k (kaf); the latter is the root of the Hebrew 
Baruch or Arabic Barack, and means "blessed."  (Senator Obama's name is 
from the Arabic.)   Rahm is Hebrew in origin, but is not based on 
ra'am, thunder; it is short for Rahamim, which means pity or tender 
mercy.

      (I don't know if there's any meaning to the name Obama anymore, if 
ever.  Hussein means "handsome one."  Emanuel means "God is with us," 
and Rahm's middle name is Israel, which is generally taken to mean "God 
contends," or "one who wrestles with God.")

      I do think the Rahamim sound like a cool Heavenly Choir, though.

William