Hail Aslan

Hail, Aslan. We hear and obey. We are awake. We love. We think. We speak. We know. 

The response of the talking beasts and other creatures of Narnia to Aslan, is very much in parallel to Aslan’s command. Aslan calls Narnia into being and commands them, the creatures salute him in return and pledge their service. They acknowledge Aslan’s commands to love, think, and speak, and their own capacity to do so.  Finally, they claim to know which does not appear to have a parallel in Aslan’s commands. This latter point will have to be addressed later, for now we concentrate on the creature’s response to being awakened, “We hear and obey.” 

In our last post we noted that the structure of Alsan’s opening speech to the new world of Narnia emphasizes the commands. To “be,” as Alsan asserts, is to be commanded. The creatures submit to being commanded (not necessarily the specific commands as they acknowledge each of those separately) by responding, “We hear and obey.” Aslan commands, the creatures hear his will, and execute. 

The biblical account, however, is different. After Moses descends from Mount Sinai, he tells the Children of Israel the "words of God and his statutes." The Children of Israel simply respond (Exodus 24:3), “We will do,” similar to Lewis’ “we obey.” However, there is no “we will hear.” An explanation as to why not to include a step prior to obedience is as follows. Stating “we will hear” as in we register the sound as comprehensible speech, is a given. Of course, one cannot obey if the command does not register. “We will hear,” may instead imply comprehension, understanding, and agreement. But none of these are necessary. God’s command is sacrosanct and must be obeyed even in the absence of agreement or even comprehension. The straightforward response, "We will do," leaves no room to do anything else.

Interestingly, the Children of Israel do proclaim “we will hear” a few verses later (24:7). After Moses' reading of the Book of the Covenant the Children of Israel declare, “All that God speaks we will do, and we will hear.” This appears to be in the wrong order! Hearing should be before obeying. Ibn Ezra sites two explanations for this order: (1) we will fulfill God’s current commands and hear His future commands, (2) we will perform his positive commands and do (or guard) his negative commands. But perhaps a more straightforward explanation flows from what we said above. Comprehension and understanding of God’s commands has its place, but not at the expense of fulfillment.