Following up on the quote I posted a couple of days ago from Jordan's Handwriting on the Wall concerning the prophecies that Israel would have been receiving from the prophets already in exile:
Ezekiel is already in exile while Jerusalem still stands. He is taken to Jerusalem in the Spirit (by his hair! - 8:3) to see the abominations that are being done there (Ez. 8-11). But apparently he is carrying out most of his antics in exile. So for example, he returns to those in captivity (Ez. 11:25) from his vision of the glory of the Lord leaving Jerusalem in Ez. 11, and in Ez. 12, he does his theatrical rendition of the inhabitants of Jerusalem going into captivity. But apparently he's doing this for those who are already in captivity.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Performing for Captives
Another Tenth Plague/Passover
Ezekiel 9 combines a number of elements from Exodus 12-13, 32. It too is a tenth plague/passover story.
In Ezekiel 9, like Exodus 32, the Destroyer is embodied in the actions of men. This time the "sign" that marks those who are to be spared is made with a pen on the foreheads of those who cry over the abominations done in the midst of Jerusalem (Ez. 9:3-4).
As in Exodus 32, there is an advocate for Israel, a Moses, who pleads on their behalf that God not destroy them entirely (cf. Ex. 32:11-14, Ez. 9:8-11). Only this time Yahweh does not appear to relent from His anger.
Tenth Plague Revisited on Israel
The golden calf incident in Exodus 32 is another Passover story.
Only this time, the tenth plague and Passover occur in the midst of Israel in the wilderness, and the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient Israelites.
Several connections between the two events:
1. Egypt is referenced seven times in the pericope, and the calf is explicitly meant to represent the "god(s)" who brought Israel out of Egypt. The Israelites are implicitly claiming to be in Egypt (while physically at Sinai, meeting with Yahweh), and they need that "god" to come and go before them.
2. Aaron makes the golden calf and calls for a feast the following day (Ex. 32:5), and this feast includes sacrifices and peace offerings (Ex. 32:6, 8) just as Yahweh had called for the feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread.
3. Just as the Destroyer went through the land of Egypt and struck down the firstborn of Egypt, so Moses calls for the firstborn of Israel (i.e. the Levites, cf. Num. 3:12-13) and they slaughtered three thousand men of Israel that day. This is an implicit deliverance of Israel from all those Israelites who still wanted to follow Egyptian gods.
4. The summary of Exodus 32 is "So the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made" (32:35). This is the same word used to describe the tenth plague (Ex. 12:23, 27), and it was only used once elsewhere in the plague narrative (Ex. 7:27). The implication of this summary statement is that the Levites passing through the camp of Israel are the Destroyer, the angel of death. They are the tenth plague revisited on Israel.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
I am Yahweh
The declaration of God, "I am the Lord" using the the covenant name Yahweh occurs nearly 200 times in the OT. Nearly three quarters of those are found in the books Exodus, Leviticus, and Ezekiel.
This suggests a few things: First, this invites a close connection between Exodus and Leviticus. The Exodus from Egypt is all about Yahweh, a display of His name, making His name known to the Israelites, their children, and the Egyptians. The plagues, the division between the Israelites and Egyptians, the death of the firstborn, the deliverance from Egypt: all of this is done so that they might "know that I am Yahweh."
Exodus and the Circumcision of Christ
In Colossians, Paul seems to have much of the Exodus imagery in mind.
He goes in Col. 1 from speaking about being "delivered from the powers of darkness and transfered into the kingdom of the Son" to "redemption in His blood" to Jesus as the "firstborn from the dead" (tenth plague) to chapter 2 warning against philosophy, traditions of men, and "the basic principles of the world" saying that we are "complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power" (2:10).
If Paul is thinking of the Exodus here then the principalities and powers are the Egyptian gods that the Israelites were worshiping or at least syncretistically worshiping alongside of Yahweh. And in the first century this would seem to be some kind of syncretism with Hellenistic religion and unbelieving Judaism.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
CRF: Why Words Matter
1. God created the world with words (Gen. 1:3-2:3). (Words are magic.)
2. God created the world through the Son, who is the Word (Jn. 1:2, Col. 1:16). Words are like people. The created world is words that speak (Ps. 19:1-11) and is upheld by the Word (Heb. 1:3). (Very magic.)
3. God gave man the glorious task of imaging Him in his use of words/naming/ruling (Gen. 2:19-20). (Words are still magic).
4. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn. 1:1, Heb. 1:1-3). This is the proof that God’s Word does not return void (Is. 55:11). (Deep magic.)
5. That same Word is spoken in the words of Scripture by the working of the Spirit, and it is sharp and powerful (Heb. 4:6). This is why the prayer of the righteous man avails much (Js. 5). (Our spell book.)
Monday, October 25, 2010
Believing Babylon
"Consider the likelihood that these three stories [Daniel 1-3] were in circulation for ten or more years before Jerusalem was destroyed. For ten years Jeremiah and his associates were able to tell the citizens of Jerusalem and Israel that God was working to convert the Babylonian empire. For ten years it was clear that the Babylonian empire was ruled by faithful believers. Those Jews who refused to obey God by submitting to Nebuchadnezzar were totally without excuse. They could not argue that to submit to Babylon was to submit to a heathen power, because Babylon was clearly being ruled by believers. Their rejection of Babylon and of Nebuchadnezzar was a rejection of Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Yahweh."
(James B. Jordan, The Handwriting on the Wall, 11)
Delivered from the Powers
In Colossians 1:18, when Paul goes from describing Jesus as the "firstborn from the dead" does he have the Passover and Exodus in mind?
It seems likely: First, you have the "firstborn" language which recalls the tenth plague, but secondly, he immediately thinks of "reconciliation" through the blood of the cross (1:20). If the Passover event was an enormous act of reconciliation, a gathering together of the tribes of Israel into the "congregation" of Israel and making peace with God through the blood of the lamb, then it makes sense to think of Christ as "the firstborn from the dead" and therefore simultaneously the great Reconciler of the new Israel. We might note that Paul has already mentioned being "delivered" from the power of darkness and being "conveyed" into the kingdom of the Son "in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (1:13-14). The word "delivered" is the same used in the Septuagint for what God has come to do for Israel in the Exodus (Ex. 6:6, 12:27, 14:30), and clearly the imagery of a transfer of power, an eclipse of kingdoms, has the Exodus all over it.
This suggests that when Jesus teaches us to pray "deliver us from evil" (Mt. 6:13, same Greek word), He is teaching us to pray that God would bring us out of Egypt, out from under the bondage of all the Egyptian gods, all the principalities and powers.
Blood and Water and Exodus
I noted in the previous post that Jesus comes as the eternally begotten One to be begotten again from the dead. The Eternal Exodus comes in history, in flesh, to perform that Great Exodus, delivering this world from Satan, sin, and death in His death and resurrection, through the blood and the water.
John notes this twice: When Jesus is pierced with a spear, blood and water come out (Jn. 19:34). And again in his first letter: "This is He who came by water and blood -- Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth... And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one." (1 Jn. 5:6, 8)
All of this of course is birthing imagery, but it is more specifically Exodus-birthing imagery. Israel passed through (under) the blood of the lambs and then through (between) the waters of the sea. John is insisting that Jesus' death is His Exodus, His rebirth. And this is why the apostle will talk this way in His epistle: "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments... For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and the blood..." (1 Jn. 5:1-2, 4-6)
Eternal Exodus
Micah foretells the Christ: "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me, the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting." (5:1)
This is one place the Church has looked to for evidence of the eternal generation of the Son. The Ruler who is to be born in Bethlehem is the One who is eternally begotten of the Father, whose "goings forth" are from everlasting.
In the Septuagint, His "goings forth" are literally "exoduses." God is eternally the God of the Exodus. The Son has always "gone forth" from the Father, always coming up out of the Father through the power and love of the Spirit. It is therefore no surprise that God brings Israel, His son, out of bondage from Egypt and her gods (Ex. 4:22-23).
For Pharaoh to kidnap Israel, the son of God, is a Trinitarian heresy. God must deliver His people because He is Father, Son, and Spirit. If Israel is God's son, then the Spirit will come and beget the son. And thus at Passover, the son is born and comes out of the womb of Egypt, through the blood and the water.
And the Christ did come, the eternal Son, the Son who is eternally begotten, the Son eternally in exodus from and to the Father through the working of the Spirit. But now in history, in the flesh of man, He comes forth from the Father through blood and water and back to the Father. There are thee that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water and the blood, and these three agree as one (1 Jn. 5:8, cf. Jn. 19:34).
Exodus 12:15-28: Leaven & Sons
Introduction
Last week we suggested that Israel’s slavery in Egypt was more complex than we sometimes imagine. Recall how Joseph provided bread for Israel in Egypt and married an Egyptian priest’s daughter, it is not hard to imagine how Israel might have fallen into idolatry in Egypt (cf. Ez. 20).
Unleavened Bread
The Feast of Unleavened Bread began on the fourteenth day of the month on the evening the Passover lamb was killed (12:18, cf. 12:6, 8). Just as Passover signifies Israel’s birth, this is the beginning of a new creation week, and is kept from the “first day… until the seventh day” (12:15, cf. 12:2, Gen. 8:13). Leaven literally takes into itself many characteristics of its surroundings, and removing all leaven from the houses signifies the kind of repentance Yahweh is calling Israel to (12:15). This week begins and ends with a holy convocation/sabbath (12:16), and this feast is to be kept because Yahweh is bringing Israel out of Egypt (12:17). Specifically, Yahweh is bringing the “armies” of Israel out of Egypt (12:17, 41, 51), and this underlines the theme of “strength” – Israel is to find her strength in Yahweh. Those who eat leaven are to be “cut off” from Israel (12:15), whether they are native or strangers in the land (12:19). This probably points to future generations (cf. 12:17), but also suggests that some Egyptians may have participated with Israel in the original celebration (see 12:43ff). Being “cut off” is covenantal language from the “cutting” of covenants (Gen. 9:11, 21:27), and first occurs as a warning for those who are not circumcised (Gen. 15:18, 17:14). In Exodus, it was Moses’ son whose foreskin was “cut off” in circumcision (4:25, cf. 8:5). Given the Passover blood and the previous warnings in Genesis, it seems likely that removing the leaven of Egypt is a kind of corporate circumcision for Israel. This also underlines the virility of leaven, but Yahweh requires His people to trust Him.
Glory Unmasked
In the Septuagint, the word "exodus" is used a number of times to describe the "going forth" or "arising" of the sun, moon, and stars (Jdg. 5:31, Ps. 19:7, 65:8, Neh. 4:21).
This could suggest a couple of things in a couple of directions: First, when the people of Israel come out of Egypt they are like the sun, moon, and stars arising, they are being born as a nation, a kingdom of priests, rulers of heaven. Israel coming out of Egypt pictured as stars is of course what God originally promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob as well. The exodus is the beginning of the fulfillment of that promise. It's not an accident either that the sun, moon, and stars are placed in the firmament on the fourth day of creation (Gen. 1:14) which was placed "in the midst of the waters" dividing the waters above and below (Gen. 1:6-7). And Israel is born and arises out of Egypt in the midst of the waters, passing through the waters of the Red Sea.
Pushing this in the other direction, when the psalmist or others refer to the sun coming forth or the stars coming out in the sky, they are echoing the original Exodus and describing the heavens as constantly reenacting that glorious event.
But if that is true for the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, how much more so is this true for the Exodus of Jesus from the grave? Every sunrise, every night sky blanketed with constellations is an exodus, glory revealed, glory unmasked, man enthroned in heaven.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Christ Cut Off
In Isaiah 53, the Suffering Servant is said to be "cut off" from the land of the living (Is. 53:8). This is not just a euphemism for death. To be "cut off" is to suffer the consequences of breaking covenant (Gen. 17:14, Ex. 12:15).
In the Passover text, to refuse to get rid of the leaven of Egypt, is tantamount to refusing to leave Egypt. But if you are an Israelite clinging to Egyptian ways and life, you will be struck by the tenth plague. You will be "cut off."
For Christ to suffer like "a lamb to the slaughter" (Is. 53:7) and to be "cut off from the land of the living" (Is. 53:8) is to tie both elements of the Passover together. Christ as the Passover lamb dies like an Israelite-Egyptian, an Israelite who has refused to be delivered, refused to be rescued, who prefers slavery in Egypt.
Christ dies under the curse of the covenant, like an Israelite rebel, like an Israelite idolater and slave, so that the covenant breakers might be forgiven, so that the rebels might be reconciled, so that the slaves might go free.
Joseph and Solomon
Joseph is a Solomon at the end of Genesis, a picture of a glorified Adam-King, providing bread for the world. And like Solomon, Joseph married an Egyptian woman. And in so far as these daughters of Egypt were actually converted to Yahweh, and these marriages represent evangelism and the gospel going to the Gentiles, they are glorious previews and glimpses of the New Covenant.
But in so far as these marriages lead to other unfaithful intermarriages with pagan wives, they are the beginning of idolatry and syncretism in Israel. While perhaps Joseph did not personally enter into marriages with unconverted Egyptian women, it is not hard to imagine other Israelite men following his "example" foolishly. Joseph married the daughter of an Egyptian priest, why can't I?
And by the time of Moses, Israel is serving the gods of Egypt (Ez. 20:7-8).
Notice the parallels in the Solomon/Joseph narratives:
Joseph --> idolatry in Egypt --> Exodus --> worshiping a calf in the wilderness
Solomon --> idolatry in Israel -->Divided Kingdom --> worshiping calves in the northern kingdom
Bread in Egypt
Joseph provided bread for Israel in Egypt. In fact, Joseph provided bread for most of the surrounding world in Egypt.
It would not be hard for Israel to slip into seeing the systems and culture of Egypt as the source of Yahweh's provision of this bread (which is partially true), and from there, it is only a short step to mistaking Egypt as the source of bread rather than Yahweh.
Thus, when Yahweh orders Israel to leave the leaven of Egypt behind, He is insisting that He is the One who provides bread for Israel. God can rain bread and meat out of heaven and cause water to gush out of rocks if He wants. And sometimes He uses obvious means (like a prosperous nation) to provide for His people. But either way it is Yahweh who provides bread for Israel, and in so far as Israel comes to trust in Egypt for bread, they are idolaters.
Israel as a Prophet
If the prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel are marked by rituals and charades that symbolize what God is doing or about to do with His people, this applies back in time and biblical history to some extent to those rituals and charades that God instituted among His people. When He instructs Moses to instruct the people to perform the ritual of Passover and keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they are acting out what God is about to do. They are acting like prophets.
The blood of the Passover lamb will ward off the Destroyer, but it also symbolizes and pictures death, the death of a "son", the spotless lamb. There will be blood either way; there will be death. And where there is no blood on the doorways, there will be "blood" and great crying inside the houses. Likewise, the leaven is to be removed from the houses of Israel, and the soul who eats any leaven during the feast will be "cut off" from among his people. And in the tenth plague, God will cut off the firstborn from the land of Egypt. The leaven is the strength of the bread, the strength of a people, and the firstborn sons of Egypt are the hope of a new generation, the strength of Egyptian culture.
So Israel as nation enacts the tenth plague before/as it happens like a Jeremiah, like an Ezekiel acting out what the Lord is about to do.
Israel as a nation is a prophet.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Sons, Daughters, Blood, and Leaven
A friend, Des Jones, points out that in the proto-Exodus stories in Genesis the threat is to the bride and therefore it is an attack on the children of the covenant promised to Abraham. Pharaoh and Abimelech are implicitly co-opting the the "seed" of the woman. And this becomes explicit in the Exodus narrative when Pharaoh orders the murder of the baby boys but explicitly orders the sparing of the daughters of the Israelites. Why keep the daughters alive? Because they are the future brides of Egyptian sons. The Pharaoh knows that cultures are ultimately built on people and their children.
But Yahweh knows this as well, and so when He comes to deliver His people, He strikes down the firstborn sons of Egypt. To strike down the firstborn sons is not merely retribution for the murdered Israelite sons, it is to strike down the virility of Egypt, their potential to raise up a new generation of Egyptians. The firstborn sons are the "leaven" of the culture, the strength of the culture, the evidence of a new generation on the rise.
Therefore Israel must rid themselves of all the leaven of Egypt while striking their houses with the blood of the Passover lamb. If anyone eats anything with leaven in it, that soul will be "cut off." In other words, to eat the leaven of Egypt is to be aligned with the Egyptian firstborn and come under their judgment. But to get rid of the leaven is to renounce Egypt and his strength. It is to reject Egypt as a false husband and to look to Yahweh as the true husband, the only source of life.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Slavery in Egypt
What was it like to be a slave in Egypt? I usually imagine images from popular movies and art. I think of some of the worst scenes from books like Uncle Tom's Cabin, scenes of horrible oppression and back breaking labor and injustice in the American South. I think of Roman slavery, with men chained to oars, rowing themselves to death under excruciating circumstances, starving, gasping for breath. I imagine Israelite slaves gasping for air, falling over dead in the sand, overworked for hours on end, day after day, collapsing at night and dragging themselves back out into the burning sun. I picture slaves worked to death, crushed beneath Pharaoh's cold and merciless tyranny.
But the Bible presents Egyptian slavery with more complexity than this. For one thing, the Israelites have not been out of Egypt for a few days before they want to go back. If life was a constant near death experience, horrific injustice and oppression day after day, why would they get out and immediately want to go back? Wouldn't dying in the wilderness in peace be better than being raped and beaten and starving to death day after day? But the Israelites immediately say just the opposite. It would be better to have died in Egypt than to perish in the wildnerness. More than that, the Israelites describe how good life was in Egypt, and they specifically remember all the food. They had lots of good food in Egypt apparently, and this includes lots of meat. They sat by the "pots of meat" and "ate bread to the full" (Ex. 16:3). There was lots of good food in Egypt for the Israelites. Later, during one of the rebellions in the wilderness, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram refer to Egypt as a land "flowing with milk and honey" (Num. 16:13). Whatever the hardships, Egypt could be plausibly described as a land flowing with milk and honey for Israel. Even if these are all overstatements and romanticized recollections, they refer to something and something that could be collectively remembered by the people such that they would rebel so frequently in the wilderness.
Ezekiel 20
If one were to be preaching through the book of Exodus, one would not want to forget about the book of Ezekiel. Turns out.
And let me commend to such a one Ezekiel 20 in particular.
The elders of Israel come to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord, but the Lord refuses to hear them because of the abominations of their fathers (20:4). And Yahweh proceeds to review their history, the history of their fathers, beginning with when He raised His hand and swore an oath to bring Israel out of Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey (20:5-6). God says that when He came to Israel to deliver them, He came to call them to repentance: "Then I said to them, 'Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt'" (20:7). But the Israelites in Egypt did not obey God's call to repentance in Egypt. They rebelled against Yahweh, did not cast away their abominations, and did not forsake their idols. And therefore God determined to pour out His fury upon them in the midst of Egypt (20:8).
Monday, October 18, 2010
Returning to Egypt
In Deuteronomy 28, Moses warns Israel that if they do not keep covenant with Yahweh, He will bring the curses of the covenant upon them.
These curses include at least three explicit reference to Egypt (28:27, 60, 68), but a closer reading suggests that many if not most of the curses are implicit references to life in Egypt.
If Israel disobeys, their kneading bowls will be cursed (Dt. 28:5), like the Egyptian kneading bowls swarming with frogs (Ex. 7:28).
If Israel disobeys, they will be cursed in the fruit of their own bodies, the produce of the land, the increase of their cattle and the offspring of the flocks (Dt. 28:18), like the Egyptians whose produce was struck by hail and locusts (Ex. 9:25, 10:14-15), and the firstborn of man and beast struck by the Destroyer (12:29-30).
If Israel disobeys, the "plague" will cling to Israel until God has consumed them from the land (Dt. 28:21), much like Egypt was struck with "plagues" (e.g. Ex. 5:3, 9:3, 15).
Exodus 11:1-12:14: The Birth of Israel
Introduction
After the initial meeting with Pharaoh that did not go well, God had promised Moses that not only would Pharaoh eventually let them go, he would actually send them out (6:1). Now Yahweh says that this is going to happen (11:1). He will drive them away “completely” (cf. Gen. 2:1-2, Ex. 29:32, 40:33).
Greatness and Favor
This conversation is apparently a continuation of 10:29 and does not finally finish until 11:8. Yahweh says that now His promises are going to come true (11:1, cf. 6:1; 11:2, cf. 3:21-22). In particular, Yahweh has been in the process of exalting His people. He gives them “grace” in the eyes of the Egyptians (11:3, cf. Gen. 6:8, 39:21). Remember that this is not the first time this sort of thing has happened in Scripture (Gen. 12:14-13:2, ch. 20, ch. 26). God has set a pattern deep in the narrative of Scripture of enslavement then freedom, death and then resurrection, oppression then blessing. The justice of this “plundering” is also seen in the Biblical principles of the “bride price” (Ex. 22:16-17, cf. Gen. 24:22,53; 31:14-16) and freeing of slaves (Dt. 15:12-15). The justice of God demands the protection and provision for weaker members of society, in this case women and slaves. And this pattern is perhaps referenced in 11:1. The word “completely/altogether” may be related to the word for “daughter-in-law/virgin-bride” (e.g. Lev. 18:15, 20:12). Pharaoh will dismiss/send out/divorce the bride-Israel like Abraham dismissed Hagar (Gen. 21 cf. Gen. 3:24). Recall that this same pattern was previewed in Moses’ early life (Ex. 2:17) and prefigured in the last chapter as well (Ex. 10:11, cf. Lev. 21:7, 14, 22:13). The seed of the serpent continues to hound the seed of the woman, but Yahweh has raised up Moses to intervene. This is the story of the entire Bible, the story of all human history: Yahweh, in His grace, makes a difference between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, between the Egyptians and Israel (11:6-7). This results in favor for all of Israel (11:3) and specifically in honor for Moses who is seen as “very great in the land of Egypt” and will end up with Pharaoh’s servants bowing down to him (11:3, 8).
Friday, October 15, 2010
Naomi in Egypt
When Naomi describes her situation as "bitter" (Ruth 1:13, 20) she is like Israel in bondage, a slave in a foreign land (Ex. 1:14).
But if the bitter herbs of Passover are meant to recall that bitter service (12:8), then there is a kind of bitterness of heart before the Lord which is the prelude to freedom, the barrenness before fruitfulness (e.g. 1 Sam. 1:10).
Monday, October 11, 2010
The Grown-Ups Must Die
After the Israelites rebel and refuse to enter the promised land, "God is furious, as usual, and ready once again to destroy the people, but Moses intercedes and He settles for the forty years. The term is chosen for a purpose: so that all those Israelites who were twenty years old or older at the time of the "going out" from Egypt will die natural deaths in the wilderness... Lincoln Steffens takes this to be the chief political lesson of the Exodus: 'The grown-ups must die.'"
(from Exodus and Revolution, by Michael Walzer, 67)
Exodus 10:1-29: Little Ones & Worship
Introduction
This chapter opens with God’s reaffirmation that he has hardened Pharaoh’s heart and the hearts of his servants (10:1). The reason he has hardened these hearts is for God to show his signs and so that Moses will be able to tell his son and grandson the “mighty things I have done in Egypt.” So that you may know that the God who did this was Yahweh. The plagues and signs reveal the God who did this great judgment as Yahweh. The implication is that no other God could have done this; it has Yahweh all over it. This is because Yahweh is the Lord of Creation and he saves and delivers his people, making a difference between Israel and Egypt. God does wonders so that they can be talked about, and in particular that they can be talked about to our children and grandchildren.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Grace That's Still Amazing
We’ve seen this morning that God’s power and presence are ultimately aimed at the goal of love and mercy which ought to cause us to erupt in thankful praise and worship. Our liturgy, our worship service, understood rightly is meant to walk us through something of the same theology. We begin our service with an exhortation which is meant to call us to confession of sin. While we greet one another with cheerfulness and we go into the house of the Lord with singing, there is a regular weekly reminder that grace is still grace. It’s not as though Jesus undoes grace, such that in Christ, we now deserve the grace of God. Forgiveness in the blood of Christ and union with Christ are nothing but grace, but we do not begin by grace through faith and then proceed by some kind of score keeping. Nor is it as though salvation is just a ticket you get at the beginning of the Christian life, a free pass to heaven. No, salvation is the entire recreation of the world; salvation is the healing of all brokenness, the undoing of every wrong. And this is why we confess our sins as a congregation at the beginning of every Lord’s Day service. We still need grace. It is as much a confession of faith, that we are here because of grace, and that grace is still grace.
Exodus 9:1-35: Presence, Power, and Mercy
Introduction
The fifth, sixth, and seventh plagues show an increasing severity in the plagues. But these plagues are not only a display of God’s power; they are a display of God’s presence (8:22-23). The entire Exodus story is the story of the revelation of Yahweh as God (4:12-15, 5:2, 6:2-8, 7:1-5, 17, 8:10, 9:14-16, 10:2).
Disease and Boils and Hail
The plague that falls on the livestock appears to be some sort of fast-acting disease (9:5-6). There is again a division made between Israel and Egypt (9:4, 7). God himself sets the time of this plague showing that God rules the world in whatever way He wishes (cf. 8:10). Pharaoh sends servants to find out for himself, and even when he knows the truth, hardens his heart (9:7).
The boils result from the handfuls of ashes or soot scattered toward heaven (9:8). The ashes are taken from the “furnace.” This imagery is used later in Israelite history to recall Israel’s time in Egypt (e.g. Dt. 4:20, 1 Kgs. 8:51, Jer. 11:4). The boils that break out are specifically mentioned in Lev. 13 as one of the things that make someone unclean (e.g. 13:12). Later, God promises that Israel will be afflicted with these boils if they are not faithful to the covenant (Dt.28:27). These sores are so bad that Pharaoh’s magicians could not stand before Moses (9:11). The fact that Moses “stands” before Pharaoh in 9:13 implies that the “difference” between Egypt and Goshen is still in effect. God is with His people. Finally, God hardens the heart of Pharaoh in accordance with His word to Moses: he does not allow Israel to leave (9:12).
The Church of Moscow, Idaho
In our sermon text this morning, God continues to draw a line between His people and the Egyptians. Between the people of Yahweh and the people of Pharaoh there is a huge difference when the plagues come in all their fury. In the early New Testament Church we know that many congregations met in homes throughout any given city. So on any given Sunday morning there might be many congregations gathering for worship much like we find in our own day in city like Moscow or Pullman. What’s interesting however is that the New Testament often refers to all of these congregations as making up the one church in that particular city. If you had asked a man from Jerusalem which church he went to, he would say, “the church of Jerusalem.” And if you asked where he went on Sunday morning he might tell you whose house he went to. This means that when God looks at the church, he looks at us on a number of different levels. He sees the church catholic around the world, but he also sees us in specific geographical regions. In the opening chapters of Revelation, the Lord addresses letters to seven churches, churches in seven different cities. He rebukes them for unbelief, encourages them in faithfulness, and confronts them where they have been unfaithful.
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