Introduction
John begins his first epistle insisting that life has entered the world, and that life means fellowship and joy and light (1 Jn. 1:1-5). Confessing sin is the life breath of Christian life. When you begin to live the Christian life, you repent and believe, and the only way to keep breathing is to repent and believe. And if you stop breathing, there is only darkness and death and separation.
Repentance unto Life
Repentance is preaching the gospel to yourself every day in every situation: the good news that Jesus is the Christ, our King who has come to set us free from sin, death, and Satan. And in the death and resurrection of Jesus, those powers were thrown down, we were forgiven, cleansed, and set free. We have been adopted as beloved sons and daughters, and therefore are united to Christ by His Spirit and share in His glory and righteousness and power. Repentance means turning away, turning around. Repentance means that if you were going left, you go right. If you were going upstairs, you go downstairs. If you were lying, you tell the truth (Eph. 4:25). If you were stealing, you cease, get a job, and save to have extra to give to those in need (Eph. 4:28). If there were corrupt and bitter words coming out of your mouth, you begin to speak words of kindness and edification and forgiveness (Eph. 4:29-32). Repentance means hating your sin from the bottom of your heart. If you are constantly apologizing for the same things with no measurable improvement, you are not repenting, you are just feeling sorry for yourself in front of other people. Godly sorrow is desperate for freedom and leads to salvation and joy (2 Cor. 7:9-11). People who are forgiven are set free. To go from darkness to light is to go from dead to alive. This is miraculous and it fills people with joy (1 Jn. 1:4). And if you’re going through the actions of repenting and asking forgiveness, and that is not resulting in fullness of joy, then you are not repenting. You are lying to yourself and others. And people who know the power of forgiveness are quick to extend that love and forgiveness to others (1 Jn. 2:2).
Lenten Joy
This is why a season like Lent should be both a profoundly joyful season and naturally evangelistic. If you are fasting in order to cover up your guilt, you are lying to God, and God hates your fasting. If your soul is hallow, and you are not walking in the joy of the Holy Spirit and you think giving up Facebook or Coke is going to help you, you are liar. Propitiation is a big word that means covering; it was the place where the blood was sprinkled once a year in the Most Holy Place. When we confess our sins, the promise of God is that our sins are forgiven and covered by the blood of Jesus (1 Jn. 1:7-9). And it is God’s faithfulness and justice that does this cleansing, and this necessarily results in profound freedom and fearlessness and relief. Worrying about whether you will fall again or whether this will really work is another sign that you don’t really want out. Forgiveness makes you say crazy things like the Apostle John: “these things I write to you, so that you may not sin” (1 Jn. 2:1). Forgiveness and repentance is a turning away from darkness and guilt and confusion toward light and fellowship and joy. Your days should be growing lighter, your fellowship should be growing tighter, and your joy should be filling up not draining out. If that is not happening, then you are walking in darkness and that is because you are not really confessing your sins, including the sin of not believing the promise of forgiveness. Confessing sin is how we wage war with the world, the flesh, and the devil. When people cease to confess their sins, they are refusing to fight. Being nice to sin is to already admit defeat.
The Fellowship of Repentance
The end of confession is fellowship. But fellowship doesn’t make all differences evaporate. Some differences can be worked out rather quickly (days or weeks), others can take longer (years, resurrection), and still others are not necessarily bad. In fact the body of Christ is full of glorious differences. But without fellowship, differences will collide and clash. But when our differences are woven together in love, they create a harmony instead of a dissonance.
Our great temptation in a sermon like this is to hope that someone else is listening carefully. But Jesus calls that hypocrisy. You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye (Mt. 7:3-5). The principle is that if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. But the flesh loves to blame shift and try to insist that the other guy walk in the light first. Confessing our own sins first, removing the log from our own eye first means taking responsibility, bearing the shame, claiming the fault. This shouldn’t be a fake show of piety, but Christ-like love and compassion, gladly suffering for the sake of others.
Taking responsibility for our own sins and weakness teaches us humility and compassion for the weaknesses and sins of others. When you know how unlovely your own heart is, you can love the unlovely around you, even those closest to you in all of their weakness and shame. This is what the body of Christ is supposed to do more broadly anyway (1 Cor. 12:23). This means helping one another obey, supporting one another where we are weak. Individualism teaches us to hold back and let our brothers crash and burn, but love teaches us to reach out and gently bring our brothers in for a safe landing. Because we have an Advocate, we can be advocates (1 Jn. 2:1); He is the propitiation for our sins and the sins of the whole world (1 Jn. 2:2).
Monday, March 21, 2011
Second Sunday in Lent: Repentance for Life 1 Jn. 1-2:2
Monday, March 07, 2011
Ninth Sunday after Epiphany: Exodus 19: A Mountain on Fire with Love
Introduction
The arrival at Mt. Sinai is the fulfillment of Yahweh’s promises. Given the challenges that Israel has faced, it is also a sign of God’s great grace and favor.
The Wedding
This scene portrays this covenant renewal scene as a wedding: Moses is the “minister” going between Yahweh and Israel, His bride (19:3, 8, 20). This covenant renewal is the renewal of the covenant made previously with Abraham (Gen. 15). The basis for the covenant relationship is the fact that Yahweh has destroyed Egypt and kept His promises (19:3-4). He has brought Israel to Himself on eagles’ wings (19:4, cf. Dt. 32:11). Though foreign armies will later be described as eagles (e.g. Dt. 28:49, Jer. 4:13, Ez. 17:3ff, Hos. 8:1), in this instance it refers to Yahweh’s host, His glory cloud army of men and angels (13:18-22, cf. Ez. 1:3-14). This Exodus-Salvation is the basis for the “Therefore if…” (19:5). This is the way real love works and is displayed in a wedding. No bride or groom suspects the other of legalism for taking vows. Nor does anyone think anyone is earning anything when they take or keep their vows. That’s just what love looks like.
Precious Treasure and Kingdom of Priests
If Israel obeys Yahweh and guards the covenant, Israel will be His “precious treasure” (19:5), and this is repeated when the covenant is renewed (Dt. 7:6, 14:2, 26:18, cf. Ps. 135:4, Mal. 3:17). This call to “guard” the covenant reminds us of Yahweh’s call for Adam to “guard” the garden. The covenant is not something earned; the covenant is the gift of God’s love, the gift of a holy fellowship, a marriage bed (Dt. 32:11). David and Solomon both refer to their “precious treasures of kings” (1 Chr. 29:3, Eccl. 2:8). Israel is Yahweh’s treasure, His royal plunder, His inheritance. In the Septuagint, this word is translated as “elect,” and the NT writers pick up this language: Christians are God’s elect, His chosen ones, “holy and beloved” of God (Col. 3:12). Our English translations get closest to this where Paul says that Christ gave Himself for us to “redeem” us and to “purify” us for Himself, His own “special people” (Tit. 2:14), and Peter does this as well (1 Pet. 1:2, 2:4, 2:6, 2:9). In the immediate context of the Old Testament, Melchizedek and Jethro form the most concrete examples of priests: both are foreigners who bring the blessing of God and share bread with God’s people. And a kingdom of priests is to be a “holy nation” (19:6, cf. 19:10, 14, 22), and this means to be in a safe place, in a secure relationship to their God, one another, and the nations around them: plenty of bread and blessing for all.
The Mountain
The scene itself seems so surreal and strange: a mountain covered in a thick cloud of smoke and fire (19:18), thunder and lightening (19:16), the threat of death to those who cross the boundaries (19:12-13), the long winding of a horn (19:13, 16, 19). It feels intense, overwhelming, even confusing (19:20-25). But this seems to be the point: Israel is not dealing with a distant deity in the far reaches of the universe; Yahweh is God Almighty, Creator, Redeemer, and therefore Lord of Israel. It is His great compassion and love and mercy that redeemed and saved His people, but it is a fierce mercy, a terrifying love, a deep, black darkness of compassion. This is not to imply that God is fickle or schizophrenic. It means that God is high and lifted up. But God is also putting Himself on the line, bestowing all that He is, and calling Israel into His love, into His glory, into His fellowship. And the only reasonable response is fear and love and glad obedience. To obey is to walk in that glory, in that love.
Conclusion
In the New Covenant all of this is heightened: But this time the fire of God has fallen not on a mountain that can be touched but on God’s people at Pentecost (Acts 2). We have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, and the warnings are just as fierce: see that you do not refuse Him who speaks for our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:18-29). But this is not a menacing threat from a distance. This isn’t a command to keep a bunch of impersonal rules. This is because our Kinsman-Redeemer has come for us and delivered us from Egypt and every Pharaoh; Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant has brought us to Himself on eagles’ wings: He has “loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father…” (Rev. 1:5-6). Which is proof once again that God keeps His promises (e.g. Is. 40).
“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" Says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD's hand Double for all her sins. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken…
O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God! Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young…
To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?" says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: "My way is hidden from the LORD, And my just claim is passed over by my God"? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”
This coming week we begin Lent. During Lent we don’t pretend to be lost and unsaved or despair of our salvation. Lent is an annual reminder of what is always true of the Christian life. It is an annual reminder that we must press on. Because of the wonderful gift of Christmas and because of the first Easter in Christ, we must press on toward our own Easter. Because we have been born again by the Spirit in our own Christmas-covenant, our own Exodus-salvation, we must fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. We must not doubt in the dark what was true in the light. Remember who you are, remember the glory of the Lord, remember God’s love and grace. Remember God’s promises. Because God has not forgotten.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Eighth Sunday after Epiphany: Exodus 18
Introduction
Epiphany means manifestation. When God was born as a man, God was revealed to the world. The same Spirit who bore Jesus into the world and empowered His ministry, was poured out in the Church to continue that same revelation. Last week, we saw that God is revealed in our support for one another. The victory is given to Israel when Moses' arms are supported, holding up the serpent-rod in his hands. God continues to train Israel to be His son in this chapter, and here, this training continues in the organization of Israel through the gift of teachers, rulers, and judges. As Israel is organized by judges and wisdom, they reveal their Father.
Jethro
Moses’ father-in-law is the priest of Midian (18:1). In many ways, Jethro reminds us of Melchizedek (Gen. 14): Moses greets his father in-law with great respect (18:7ff), they share bread together (18:12), and both priests give blessings to God’s people (18:10). While many commentators puzzle over whether Jethro worshipped the God of Israel, it seems very plain that he did. First, the parallel with Melchizedek is striking. Second, Moses married his daughter. Thirdly, the Midianites were distant relatives, descended from Abraham from his second wife Keturah (Gen. 25:2). Fourth, if in the off chance, Jethro really was not yet a worshipper of the true God, after this story, he surely is (18:10-11).
We know that Moses had brought his family back to Egypt with him prior to the Exodus (4:20), but apparently he had sent them back to his father in-law at some point during the Exodus because they return to him now (18:2-5). Notice how Jethro is a striking contrast to Amalek (also a distant relative of Israel, a descendent of Esau) (cf. 15:14ff). Jethro offers offerings and sacrifices to God, and Aaron and the elders of Israel eat bread together before God and worship before (at the mountain) just as God had promised (18:12, 3:12).
Moses and the Judges
The next day Moses went about his daily task of sitting before Israel morning till evening to hear the disputes between the people (18:13-16). Notice that this overturns the reluctance of Israel to have Moses as their judge early on (2:14). We imagine petty lawsuits were not unusual for a people with such complaining as we have seen. Jethro says that this is not good, and it is too heavy for both Moses and the people (18:17-18). Instead of sitting before the people all day, Jethro says that Moses ought to stand before God for the people (18:19). Besides judging, Jethro says the new judges will need teaching so that they can teach the people (18:20). The designation of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens fits with the fact that Israel is an army (e.g. Num. 31:14ff, Dt. 20:9, 2 Sam. 18:1). There were already “elders” in Israel (18:12, cf. 3:16, 12:21, and 17:5-6), and later the “elders” and “judges” will be spoken of as coexisting (e.g. Dt. 21:2, Josh. 8:33, 23:2). Likewise, seventy of the elders will be appointed who will be given some of the Spirit that is upon Moses, and Moses will pray that God would make all of Israel prophets (Num. 11:16-30). Here, Moses appoints “rulers” who will “judge” (18:25-26). This is likely the office of “judge” found in the book of Judges (cf. Ruth 1:1). This judging continues the Exodus, extending the great deliverance of Yahweh (Ex. 6:6, 7:4, 12:12). God delivers His people to become deliverers. In the multitude of counselors there is safety (Pr. 11:14, 24:6).
Body Life
In the New Covenant there three important parallels with what we find in Exodus 18. First, wisdom and leadership are always disciplines of imitation. Jethro teaches Moses to do what he does, so that Moses can teach other judges to do what he does. Paul tells the Corinthians to imitate him just as he imitates Christ (1 Cor. 11:1). Jesus is our Moses, who stands before the Father, ever interceding out behalf. Jesus is our High Priest, according to the order of Melchizedek. He is our hope, our guarantee, and He ever lives for us.
But Paul says that Christ has given gifts of leadership to the Church so that the saints may be equipped for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:11-12). When the Spirit of Christ was poured out at Pentecost on all flesh, Moses’ prayer that all of Israel would prophesy began to be fulfilled. And this means that God doesn’t just delegate authority. It’s not like Jesus actually gets tired of hearing from us; it isn’t too heavy for Him. But salvation is God’s sharing of His life and wisdom and authority with us. By the working of the Spirit, God is growing up a nation of prophets and judges in the Church. And the pattern is the same: just as Moses was teach Israel how to teach and judge, so the leaders of the church are to train the saints for the work of ministry: judging and teaching. And this is the pattern in the Church: Pastors, elders, deacons are called to give what they have been given away.
It’s worth remember that Jethro was a gentile who advised Moses, and it is the Spirit who knits the nations together and equips the body with gifts (1 Cor. 12). In addition to our sin and rebellion, we tend to despise people different from ourselves. Moses had all kinds of reasons for being prickly toward Jethro or doubting Jethro’s plan, and there are numerous ways it could have backfired. But leadership comes through serving. If you want to be great, you must become a slave. Moses gave authority away, and he actually gained more. If you want to find your life, you must lose it for the sake of Jesus. The Spirit teaches us to have hope, and to see the potential in people who seem like serious projects.
The Fifth Commandment
We practice this pattern in the family. We should not miss the fact that this organization of Israel comes from Moses’ father in-law. The honor of father and mother is a central type of honor and authority and organization in the world, which is why it has such enormous implications (Eph. 6:1-3). But the responsibility goes both ways, and fathers must not provoke their children but rather bring them up in the nurture of the Lord (Eph. 6:4) which means being judges who teach the way of freedom.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Seventh Sunday after Epiphany: Exodus 17:8-16
Introduction
Amalek is another Pharaoh. When the nations around Egypt heard that Yahweh had thrown down Pharaoh, they trembled and were afraid (e.g. Ex. 15:14). But like Pharaoh who hardened his heart at the sight of Yahweh’s might, Amalek is undeterred. And like Pharaoh, he goes after the weakest members of the congregation when they are at their weakest at Rephidim (17:1, 8, Dt. 25:18).
The Text: Amalek was one of the descendents of Esau (Gen. 36:12), and down through the centuries the Amalekites are cruel and vicious enemies of Israel (e.g. Dt. 25:18, Jdg. 6:3, 1 Sam. 30:3, 2 Sam. 1:10-13, Est. 3:1, 9:24). The rod of Moses is once more highlighted: the same rod that was turned into a serpent, struck the Nile, parted the Red Sea, and has just struck the rock (17:5-6) is now lifted up for battle with the Amalekites (17:9-11). Several new characters are introduced into the story by name that we only know from later in the story: Hur and Joshua (17:10). While the congregation has repeatedly been called the “armies” of God before (Ex. 6:26, 7:4, 12:17, 41, 51), this is the first battle in the traditional sense of the word, except the narrative puts much of the focus on Moses on the hill with his hands and rod (17:11-12). After Amalek has been defeated, the Lord instructs Moses to write this story in the book as a memorial (17:14), and then Moses builds an altar which seems to be a sort of visual/active memorial, describing the whole scene as “Yahweh is My Banner” (17:15). The same word for “banner” is used to describe the ensign/pole that held the bronze serpent aloft for Israel’s healing (Num. 21:8-9). Recalling the staff in Moses’ hand as the one turned into a serpent, it is striking that this sign – Moses holding that staff aloft – is described as Yahweh is My Banner. Ultimately, Isaiah says that this is what will arise from the root of Jesse (Is. 11:10-12). And when the Lord restores Israel, she will become a banner, an ensign for the peoples (Is. 49:22, 62:10).
God Remembers; God Fights
The fact that this conflict with Amalek continues from “generation to generation” during the time of the judges (Jdg. 6-7), the reign of Saul (1 Sam. 15) and David (1 Sam. 30, 2 Sam. 1), and even down to Esther (Est. 3:1ff) is a reminder of the covenant promises of God. God keeps His covenant and defends His people (Ex. 17:15-16). Jesus is the captain of the armies of God, and He came not to bring peace but a sword (Mt. 10:34, Rev. 1:16, Rev. 19:15, cf. Lk. 22:36). Therefore, when Christ our God leads us into battle, we must not grow weary in doing good (Gal. 6:9, 2 Thess. 2:13). He does not lead us into battles we cannot win (1 Cor. 10:13, Js. 1:13).
Yahweh Our Banner
What is particularly striking about the battle scene described as “Yahweh is My Banner” is that the “Banner” is an old man whose arms grow weary. It is only after he is seated and his arms are supported by Hur and Aaron that the outcome of the battle is certain (17:12). This previews the next chapter where Moses appoints a number of men to assist him (Ex. 18). Just as Jethro will say that the load of judging is too heavy for Moses alone (18:18), so here, holding the serpent-rod aloft is too heavy for Moses alone. It is an altar of worship that stands as a memorial of this fact, just as our worship is a weekly reminder that we cannot stand alone either. It is only as we support one another that we become an ensign to the people, the Banner of God for the world, and every Pharaoh is defeated.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sixth Sunday in Epiphany: Ex. 17:1-7: God With Us
Introduction
The wilderness is a training program for Israel, teaching them to grow up into maturity as a son. This means lots of testing (15:25, 16:4, Dt. 8:2). Although Israel is born out of Egypt, it is ultimately not until Israel is born again as a new generation that they are ready to enter the land.
The Text: This is the third in a series of complaints from the Israelites since they have left Egypt behind (15:24, 16:2-3, 17:2-3). We have gone from bitter water to no food to no water. In addition to the Exodus itself, the generous grace of God has responded in both previous cases with overwhelming provision: sweet waters, an oasis, magic bread, and a steady supply of meat for dinner. This episode sticks in the memory of Yahweh and Israel and becomes something of a short hand for the Israelite sojourn in the wilderness (e.g. Ps. 81:7, 95:8, 106:32). Part of this significance is that they return to this place later, and the people respond the same way again, and this time even Moses falls into sin (Num. 20:1-13).
The Lord has been leading this expedition from the beginning (13:17-18), and continues to do so here (17:1). They haven’t accidentally stumbled into the wilderness. One of the running patterns is the Israelites’ complaining directed at Moses (15:24) or Moses and Aaron (16:2), and here they are “contending” with Moses and complaining against him (17:2-3). This contention can refer to a physical fight or struggle (21:18) or a lawsuit (23:3). It should be recognized that this complaining and strife is as much between the Israelites as it is between God and the Israelites. The people once again object to the whole Exodus project (17:3), and apparently the complaints were verging on physical harm to Moses (17:4). The instructions of God highlight the rod which struck the waters, again explicitly insisting that the same God is still performing the same Exodus (17:5). This miracle occurs at Horeb, the mountain of the Lord, also known as Sinai (17:6, cf. 3:1, Dt. 5:2). It is the place of God’s holiness where living water flows. The place is named for the contention and testing of Israel because their actions and words denied God’s presence with them (17:7).
God With Us
The gospel of God with us in Jesus is the good news of renewed community and loving provision. God’s forty year training program was meant to teach Israel that man does not live by bread alone (Dt. 8:3), and this is because God is with us.
The Lord Tests His Sons
We are not our own fathers. This means that we are neither smart enough nor qualified to design our own curriculum. We have one Teacher, one Father, one Lord. He chastens those He loves (Heb. 12:3-11).
You Must be Born Again
Israel was born again in the wilderness, and Jesus says that unless we are born again, we will not see the Kingdom of God (Jn. 3:3). This is not merely an instantaneous, internal change; this is a total reformation of body and soul, habits and beliefs which usually occurs in fits and starts over a lifetime. Or you might say that we have been born again to a life of being born again. And this is because our faith is in the Son who was born again from the dead.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Holiness is a Community
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany: Exodus 15:22-16:36
Introduction
Before all worlds, God was a community. God was a family. God was a society. God was Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And while our God was completely satisfied in His own fellowship, in His own communion, in His own society, He created this world. And while this was completely unnecessary in one sense: He did not need this universe, He did not need creation. Nevertheless, it was not merely arbitrary either, it was not thoughtless or meaningless. God created because He wanted to, because of Who He is, because of how He is. In other words, God created because He is a community, because He is a family, a society.
Many societies fear change. Sometimes friends feel threatened when new friends join the fellowship. Communities seem fragile, and change is sometimes seems like the great enemy. We fear new things, new people, new obstacles, and we naturally tend to cling to what is familiar, what we’re used to, the old ways. When things get dangerous, uncertain, unpredictable, we long to go back, back home, back to familiar faces, back to the way things used to be, back to the good old days. It seems safer, more reasonable, less dangerous.
But the sheer fact of creation flies in the face of this sentiment. Or it at least questions whether safer, reasonable, and less dangerous is to be preferred. If the old ways really were better, then it would have been better for God not to create. But God sets the standard of what is preferable. His goals and mission and preferences are the best goals, mission, and preferences. And for all the perfection of His existence before creation, for all of its security and glory and perfection, He still chose to do something else, to do something new, to create the universe. But rather than see God’s perfection and security and freedom as at odds with His decision to create, we ought to see God’s perfection and security and glory and freedom as the reason why He created. And the categories of safety and security really are helpful ways to think about this: God was so eternally satisfied and glorified, so secure, so safe, so at peace with His own being, His community, His fellowship, that creation could only be more glory, more delight, more perfection. In other words, it was God’s community, His fellowship, the unity of the persons of the Trinity which, at least in part, drove His desire to create, to do something new. It is the community of God’s being that aims and drives for a future.
Creation itself bears some of this pattern out: The days of creation witness a God who creates new things day after day and relentlessly breaks His creations apart, rearranges, and reunites. We noted last week, that God created a world that seems dangerous and wild, but while man is in fellowship with the Creator God, man is safe and secure and may enter the Sabbath rest of God on the seventh day. God’s declaring the seventh day holy and resting from His work is an embodiment of God’s declaration that all of creation is very good. For God to rest and enjoy His work is for God to delight in all the newness, all the change, all the future that God has brought into being. For God to invite Adam and Eve into that rest is for Him to share that delight, that safety, that security, that holiness with them. For however long that perfection lasted, that fellowship of God and man and creation was a sanctuary, a safe and holy place. In that holiness, in that sanctuary, that community, Adam and Eve were like children in a nursery. All their food was provided, they were safe and secure.
The Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea are something like the birth of the nation of Israel. Israel is an infant in the wilderness, and like all babies, Israel cries because he is hungry and thirsty. And as God frequently does, He provides nourishment for infants magically.
The Text: We are looking at two episodes shortly after the crossing of the Red Sea. First, Israel comes to the bitter waters of Marah and the subsequent provision of an oasis in Elim (15:22-27), and second, Israel comes to the barren Wilderness of Sin and the subsequent provision of Manna (16:1-21). Finally, God continues to teach Israel about what it means to be a holy Sabbath people (16:22-36). A number of elements in these stories point back to the Exodus explicitly and implicitly. The explicit references refer to Yahweh’s deliverance from Egypt and the wonders He did in Egypt (15:26, 16:12, 16:32). The miracle at the water reminds us of the first and last ‘wonders’ performed by Moses in Egypt, and the “tree” reminds us of Moses’ rod (15:23-27). The time stamp reminds us that this is exactly one month since the Passover (16:1, cf. 12:1-6), and the instructions for collecting the Manna remind us of some of the instructions for the Passover: every man is to gather according to each one’s need, according to the number of persons (16:16, cf. 12:4) and they are not to leave any leftovers for morning (16:19, cf. 12:10). The complaining of Israel explicitly references life in Egypt (16:3), and Yahweh’s provision is therefore a direct answer to that complaint: they had “meat” and “bread” in Egypt and now Yahweh provides “meat” and “bread” in the wilderness (16:12). Like little kids, at least some of the Israelites do the very things that Yahweh says not to do, saving some of the food for the next morning (16:20), going out to gather manna on the Sabbath (16:27). These commands, these laws (16:4, 28) require Israel to live in freedom. Slaves must horde and worry about whether there will be another meal, but Israel must learn to live like kings. This means gathering only what they need each day, this means trusting God to provide for all their needs, and this means spending a full day resting in His provision every week. Holy people have access to the holy God, and this means living in safety, security, and peace. But perhaps the Passover/Exodus allusions imply that this holiness means learning to be open to God’s future (Dt. 8:1-5).
Ruling Well & Gratitude: The cancer of sin is a bestial tendency, leaving only a remnant of humanity at the mercy of instincts and passions. But freedom means reckoning ourselves dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:8-14). Complaining is one such sin and a lack of faith. Complaining is always sin against the grace of God, and complaining is ingratitude. And ingratitude is blind and believes lies (16:3).
Living Sabbath: This means living like children. We need to ditch childish fear and embrace childish faith in the Father (Mt. 6:25-34). Historically, the Christian Church has delighted in the Lord’s Day as a weekly Sabbath day, a day to rest and celebrate the Lord’s provision for His people, but if our entire lives are not marked by that kind of faith and joy and carelessness, we’re just pretending. Holiness is a community (Ex. 16:16). This holiness includes a code of conduct, but more fundamentally, it is loyalty to a people, a family, a society: Jesus is God with us. It is in the safety and security of that community that we are freed to pursue the future, open to whatever God does next, but also fearless and bold to pray for and enact the future. This means that our membership vows and baptisms mean far more than we like each other and ‘everybody loves Jesus.’ Our loyalty to Christ and to one another has implications for education, employment, health insurance, food, housing, everything. This cannot become a separatist colony since if this truly is the community of the Trinity, then it is ever open to the future and ever open to the world.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany: Exodus 15:1-21 The Song at the Sea
Introduction
In the beginning God created a sanctuary; He created the universe and blessed it. And on the seventh day, He rested from His work named it holy. His work was completed, His work was to be enjoyed, and His work was to be shared.
The Text:
We can divide the song into three parts: First, celebrating the immediate deliverance (15:1-10), second, celebrating Yahweh’s superiority and the people’s identification with Him (15:11-13), and finally, the broader impact of this victory in the world (15:14-18). This song should be seen as the continuation of the Exodus. Yahweh has come to make Himself known, and in doing so, make Himself present in and with His people for the world. Holiness is completion and communion, and God comes to bring His holiness to Israel (Ex. 3:5, 12:16, 13:2, cf. Lev. 20:7-8). This is referenced later as the reason why Israel must be holy: Yahweh brought them out of Egypt (e.g. Lev. 11:44-45). The Exodus is a display of Yahweh’s holiness. His holiness is His free determination to bring creation to fulfillment and to share its glory. This is why Israel rejoices in Yahweh’s glorious “holiness” in the Exodus, having done “wonders” – great and marvelous works (15:11, cf. 3:20, Gen. 18:14). This song stands as part of that display and accomplishment of Yahweh’s holiness, and this fits with the creation sequence in the text (Ex. 14:19-14:31). This song is the “Sabbath” of a new creation, the remaking of Israel as a new Adam to be enthroned with God in his “holy habitation” (15:13). Miriam and the other women are a new Eve, like Deborah, Hannah, and Mary, and types of the bride of Christ. But even this mini-Sabbath looks forward to a firm dwelling, a “holy place” which is established forever (15:17-18). The entire song celebrates Yahweh’s military victory over His enemies: He is a man of war (15:3), and His right hand has done mighty things (15:6). But His Wind-Spirit, the battle-storm of His presence wields violence with a surgeon’s creative wisdom. Yahweh’s mighty arm will continue this conquest by making the surrounding nations silent like a “stone” like the Egyptians (15:16, 15:5). But one of the central ways that God’s arm will continue this battle is through this song. The song extends the Exodus by repeating the story, repeating the gospel of Yahweh’s victory so that their enemies will hear and be afraid (e.g. Josh. 2:9-14).
Dead People Don’t Sing
The Song at the Sea is a striking reminder that praise and worship and song is what always bursts out of people who have been rescued and remade. When a body is resuscitated, it suddenly starts breathing, and when people are brought back to life, they suddenly start singing. It is far too easy to make fun of the enthusiasm of some of our charismatic brothers, but frequently this is merely a cover for our own lack of faith (14:31). Has God saved you? Has God triumphed over your enemies? Then how can you not sing? This is why our worship is so full of song, this is why our choir plays an important role in leading us in song, and this is why our homes should be full of singing and music and praise. When people know that the Lord is a man of war, nothing can keep them from singing. This means singing loud, this means singing with joy, and this means that choir directors should never have to go recruiting. Love always bursts out in song and dance and praise, and it begins here and spills out into the world. This is the Song of the Lamb, our war song, and with it we bring the justice of God to the world (Rev. 15).
Monday, January 17, 2011
Second Sunday in Epiphany: Rom. 8:35-9:5
Introduction
The love of God in Christ compels us to love Him and to love His people, making His life present in this world. But this love is also the power of God in us and through us to bring reconciliation to the world. Epiphany is all about the revelation of this justice of God in the love of Christ (Rom. 1:17).
The Text:
The gospel of God revealed in Jesus means that God is for us and no opposition can trump His love (8:31-34). But this doesn’t mean that His people face no challenges or injustice. In fact, Paul recognizes that following Jesus is likely to get you condemned, with charges brought against you, but these cannot separate us from His love because Jesus is risen (8:34-35). Paul points to Psalm 44 where the psalmist remembers how God both delivered and saved His people (Ps. 44:1-8) and then also cast off His people and scattered them among enemy nations (Ps. 44:9-16). But the psalmist insists that he and his people have not forgotten God or broken covenant, though all these things have come upon them (Ps. 44:17-19). And here Paul quotes the psalmist saying that they are like “sheep for the slaughter” (Ps. 44:22) and therefore they cry out for redemption and deliverance (Ps. 44:23-26). But Paul puts this Jewish psalm in the mouth of Christians in Rome now facing the persecution of enemy Jews, and he insists that Christians are completely victorious because of Jesus (Rom. 8:37). This is because Paul is persuaded that they cannot be separated from the love of God in Christ; it is more powerful than any threat or enemy (Rom. 8:38-39). But it is this confidence that drives Paul to go on the offensive, to see his enemies as an opportunity to display the power and justice of God. Paul has such great sorrow and continual grief for his enemies that he could even wish to be “cursed” for them (Rom. 9:3). Paul longs to imitate and see the power of the love of God which was manifested when He did not spare His own Son (Rom. 8:32). In Christ, all “sheep for the slaughter” are united to the Lamb who was slain, and their love and sacrifice for the lost become God’s means of triumph over evil. What the Old Covenant was meant to teach has arrived in power in Jesus and His Spirit: love turns enemies into friends (Rom. 5:6-11).
Parish Life
Jesus said: "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35). Our love and care for one another is to be consciously evangelistic and not clickish. The world delights in clicks as false forms of security, but the only safe place is in the love of God. We are still working to hit our stride with parish life, but the point is to organize centers of fellowship, Bible study, prayer, evangelism, and mercy.
Prayer for the Lost
Nothing reveals our hearts more honestly than our prayer. If the Holy Spirit were to bear witness in your conscience, what causes you great sorrow and continual grief in your heart (cf. Rom. 9:1-2)? There may be many things in a fallen world, but somewhere up near the top ought to be the enemies of the gospel and the hellish lives that unbelief always brings with it. Because this is crucial to any attempts at reconciliation and evangelism, the elders are working on scheduling regular days of fasting and prayer particularly for those who have left the faith, as well as more broadly for those who walk as enemies of the light (cf. Phil. 3:18).
Monday, January 10, 2011
First Sunday of Epiphany: 1 Cor. 12:27-13:3, Eph. 4:1-16
Introduction
The Feast of Epiphany is the culmination of Christmas. Epiphany celebrates what it means for God to be present, to reveal Himself, to be manifested to the world. Last week, we considered John’s exhortations to receive the love of God and to walk in that love. We continue a similar theme this morning, thinking about the Church as the Body of Christ, the continuing manifestation of God’s Incarnation in the world.
The Texts:
Eph. 4 and 1 Cor. 12-13 have a number of obvious similarities. Both are concerned about the body of Christ, the gifts of the Spirit, and the primacy of love. Beginning with 1 Cor. 12-13, we should notice that love is the way gifts get sorted out. Not everyone does the same thing (12:29-30), and people can try to do things that aren’t their gig (13:1). And the difference is love (13:2-3). And this love is the love of God filling up God’s people and overflowing to everyone around them. The name of this love is the Holy Spirit (12:6-13). Paul has the same love in mind in Eph. 4:1-2, but Christ manifests His gifts differently in everyone (4:7, 11). But this gift manifests itself in love (4:15-16). Finally, notice how the gifts cascade out in love from apostles to teachers (4:11) for the equipping of the saints for the building of the church (4:12). Pastors don’t build churches; saints build churches. Pastors and elders equip saints to do the work of ministry. To be a Christian is to join the work of ministry. And Paul says that this is necessary for the unity of the Church and the maturity of the Church (4:13-14). In order for the Church to grow up into unity and maturity, the saints must be equipped and the saints must do the ministry. This is why ministry is one of the ways we fight sin and squabbles (Eph. 4:25-32).
Type rest of the post here
Jesus, Gifts, Interests, and Needs
How do you know what you’re supposed to be doing? Should you keep doing what you’re doing now? Should you go back to school? Should you sell the house and move across the country? Across the world? Should you have more kids? Should you give thanks for the ones you have and then look for ways to serve other families? Should you spend more time with your own family? Should you spend more time with your neighbors? Should you invest more energy in your hobbies? Work longer hours to have more to give to missions? And we could extend these questions generally to our congregation: What should Trinity be growing up into? Should we spend more energy and resources on ministry to the poor? Should we spend more energy and resources on missions? Should we spend more energy and resources on Christian education? The Biblical principle is not to worry about these questions but rather to “Seek first the Kingdom…” (Mt. 6:33) and “Delight yourself in the Lord…” (Ps. 37:4). Therefore, we begin with Jesus and His Kingdom and then we prayerfully consider and seek counsel regarding our gifts and interests and the needs around us. The love of God and neighbor orients and directs our gifts.
For the Ministry, For the Kingdom
Regardless, we are a congregation overwhelmed by the love of the Triune God in Christ, and we are therefore committed to returning this love to our King and overflowing to the Palouse. And since the love of Christ is no small thing, we need to be thinking big and long term about how we want to see the love of Jesus transform this community. This means we want to come here and offer all that we are to the Lord (that’s what the offertory means), and then be commissioned to use our gifts for Jesus.
Monday, January 03, 2011
Second Sunday in Christmas: 1 Jn. 4:1-21
Introduction
Christmas is all about the love of God for His people, for the world, and if we understand this, our response must be love for God and for His people and for the world.
The Text:
John says that false prophets have gone out into the world, filled with the spirit of antichrist, who deny that Christ has come in the flesh (1 Jn. 4:1-3). But He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (4:4). And we can tell who people belong to by the voices they listen to (4:5-6). John exhorts the Church to love one another because this is the mark of the life of God: God is love (4:7-8). Christmas and Easter are the great manifestations of the love of God (4:9-10), and when people get that, they love one another (4:11). This is because even though no one has ever seen God, God lives on earth in people who have been engulfed in the love of the Father and Son through the Spirit (4:12-14). We may not have seen God, but we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son (4:12, 14-15). And this is why as we love Him and one another, God lives in us, so that “as He is, so are we in this world” (4:16-17). The opposite of love is fear, and fear is obsessed with punishment (4:18, cf. Mt. 25:46). We do not love Him out of fear but because He loves us (4:19), and our love of God is proven by our love for the people right in front of us (4:20-21). The proof of Christmas is in our love for God in Christ as He is present in those around us. This is why John is so worked up about the spirit of antichrist who denies Christ came in the flesh. In the incarnation we have seen God by the power of the Spirit, but John knows that this incarnating Spirit did not finish when Jesus ascended into heaven. Rather, that same incarnating, Christmas Spirit was poured out on all flesh at Pentecost. While Jesus is in heaven in His flesh, the Spirit is making Him present here in this world in and through the flesh of the saints.
Discipleship Love
Being a Christian means being a disciple; it means we have left everything for Jesus our Master. But our temptation in the Reformed tradition is to overemphasize the intellectual side of love, to the detriment of the rest of human experience. But the greatest commandment is to love God with all that we are, not just our minds (Dt. 6:5, Mt. 22:37), and Jesus insists that loving Him is central to following Him (Jn. 21:15-19). Paul connects knowledge, love, and the presence of God as well (Eph. 3:17-19). And notice all the plurals.
Obsessive Love
Paul picks up this theme in 2 Corinthians 5 as well where he is simultaneously defending his own credentials and assuring the Corinthians of the truth of the gospel. And the thing that connects these two is the Spirit of God who is their guarantee (cf. 1 Jn. 4:12-13). And this Spirit is the love of Christ compelling them and making them seem crazy (2 Cor. 5:13-14). This same Spirit pours out many different gifts, but it is the same obsessive love of the Trinity at work in all (1 Cor. 12-13). Therefore, Christmas means knowing the love of God in Christ and loving one another (1 Jn. 4:9-11).
Thursday, December 23, 2010
My Song is Love Unknown
I posted this a while back. It was my homily from our Good Friday service last year, but it seems fitting for Christmas as well.
The text is also available here at the Credenda site.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Exodus 14:1-31: Mighty Deeds for a Mighty God
Introduction
The crossing of the Red Sea is the climax of the Exodus from Egypt. It is the death and resurrection of Israel, the triumphant overthrow of all her enemies, and the revelation that Yahweh is God, and He fights for His people.
Yahweh’s Armies
Israel is going up out of Egypt in military formation, as the armies of Yahweh (12:37, 41, 51, 13:18). This means that Pharaoh’s “camp” is coming up against Yahweh’s “camp” (Ex. 14:19-20). It looks like Pharaoh’s 600 chariots are coming down on a defenseless refugee camp, but God thinks of it much differently: Israel is Yahweh’s victorious army (having just plundered the Egyptians), and now Yahweh is planning to ambush them and finish them off (14:3-4). It’s the Angel of God that is leading them; Yahweh is in the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night (13:21, 14:19). The cloud is shade in the hot, desert wilderness by day and warmth and protection by night. And this glory cloud is a shield for Israel (14:19-20).
It’s worth noting how many times the words chariots (12) and horsemen (7) appear in this story (in Ex. 14-15). Chariots were like the ancient world’s version of a tank. But God’s glory cloud is also associated with chariots in Scripture (Ez. 1, 10). Remember the horses and chariots of fire that take Elijah up into heaven (2 Kgs. 2:11) and the chariots that surround Elisha in the city when the Arameans attack (2 Kgs. 6:14-17, cf. 2 Kgs. 7:6). God is the chariot of Israel. It was the Angel of Yahweh who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and it is the Angel of the Lord who is associated elsewhere with the captain of Yahweh’s hosts (Josh. 5:13ff).
Not only is Israel Yahweh’s army, not only are His angels His army, but Yahweh is the hero of the army of Israel and fights for them (14:14, 25). Even though Israel’s response is initially unbelief and fear (14:10-13), Yahweh chooses carefully which battles to lead his people into (13:17, 14:3-4). And God is setting an ambush for Pharaoh (14:3-4, 17-18). Psalm 77 describes Yahweh’s glory cloud as a mighty thunderstorm (77:16-20), and Moses says that God took off their chariot wheels (14:24-25). And this is how the Lord overthrew the entire Egyptian army (14:27-28) and saved Israel (14:29-31).
God Chooses our Battles
God always chooses our battles. Sometimes this is plain and obvious with severe sickness or disease, and sometimes it is less obvious with making plans for the future. As much as possible, we should make sure that this is where God wants us, and then we should dig in with faith.
The Lord Fights for You
It would not have been more faithful for one of the Israelites to charge the Egyptian chariots with a pitchfork. Faith means watching God fight for us, and it means watching God fight for us when it looks like He might not. And our nation does not know how to do this because we have not shown them.
Mighty Deeds for a Mighty God
TRC exists as a collection of sinner-saints in Moscow, Idaho who have been delivered from bondage to sin, death, and Satan and brought out through the waters of baptism into the freedom of the Triune God in His body, the Church (cf. 1 Cor. 10:1-7, Col. 2:8-16). The God who saved Israel in the first Exodus is the same God who raised Jesus from the dead in the second Exodus, and when Jesus sends us to serve and love the city of Moscow, He does so as the commander of the armies of God. He sends us with His full authority and power (Mt. 28:18-20). Our job is to see the mighty works, fear the God of heaven, and believe Him and His Word (Ex. 14:31).
Monday, November 08, 2010
Exodus 12:29-51: New Bread for a New People
Introduction
Last time, we considered the feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread. Removing leaven from the houses of Israel was a sort of corporate circumcision of Israel, a cutting off of Egyptian influence and strength (cf. Mt. 16:12). Yahweh will provide new bread/new life for His new people.
The Exodus
The down payment of God’s provision for His people is the tenth plague which strikes all of the firstborn of Egypt (12:29-30). Yahweh cuts off the strength of Egypt and shows the gods of Egypt to be nothing (cf. 12:12). Now there is a “great cry” in Egypt like there was in Israel (12:30, cf. 3:7, 9). And Pharaoh orders Israel to go and serve Yahweh (12:31). If the confusion and mixing of Egypt and Israel is indicated by the arrival of a pharaoh “who did not know Joseph” (1:8), then Pharaoh’s request that Moses “bless” him is a return to the relationship that the previous pharaoh had with Joseph (Gen. 47:7). The Egyptians urge the Israelites to leave with a mixture of fear and favor (12:33, 35-36).
That Very Night
Some six hundred thousand “feet of men” went out of Egypt (12:37). This description is probably a military designation, like “foot soldiers” (cf. Num. 11:21, Jdg. 20:2). A “mixed multitude” went up with them from Egypt which means that Egyptians went with them, and they ate the unleavened bread on their journey in obedience and haste (12:34, 38-39). They left Egypt after 430 years, to the very day (12:40). Remember Paul indicates that this period of time began with the covenant made with Abraham in Canaan (Gal. 3:17, Gen. 15:13-16). It was on that very day that all the “armies of Yahweh” went out of Egypt (12:41, 51). Therefore this is a “night of watching/guarding” for Yahweh (12:42).
No Foreigners
Finally, a last regulation is mentioned regarding the Passover meal: only covenant members are to eat it (12:43-45). This may be a regulation that applies to all subsequent celebrations. And this assumes that this would be an issue, that is, there would continue to be foreigners, strangers, and other uncircumcised people in this “mixed multitude” of Israel. Yahweh says that there is to be one law for the native-born and the stranger who dwells with Israel (12:49), if they want to eat the feast all the males of their household must be circumcised (12:44, 48). This final restriction on Passover is the basis for our practice of inviting individuals to participate in the Eucharist after they have been baptized.
Applications & Conclusions: There is One House
The point of these final restrictions seems to be at the center of the passage: there Passover is to be eaten in “one house” and “all the congregation of Israel shall keep it” (12:46-47, cf. 12:6). This is the birth of Israel as a nation, and all those who join in this birth/re-birth must come into the house, must come under the blood. This is not exclusion so much as it is an invitation to unity. This is the beginning of the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that all the nations would be blessed in his seed (Gen. 22:18), and this is fulfilled in the New Covenant (Gal. 3:8). The gospel is good news for all nations, all peoples, all families: in the Exodus of Christ there is a new family, a new house, a new way of being human. And it is all centered on a meal, a meal that unites and equips, a meal that remakes slaves into armies.
Monday, October 25, 2010
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.
Obedience & Children
Moses calls for the elders of Israel and gives them the instructions for Passover (12:21, cf. 4:29), and as before, the result is that the people bow their heads and worship (12:27, cf. 4:31). Here the instructions are slightly elaborated: they are to “touch” the blood to the lintel and doorposts of their houses with a bunch of hyssop (12:22). The word here is used in conjunction with several of the proto-Exodus accounts in Genesis: Yahweh “touches” Pharaoh with plagues for the sake of Sarai (Gen. 12:17, cf. Gen. 20:6, Gen. 26:11). It is only used twice previously in Exodus where it occurs in the proleptic Passover in 4:25 and then as a foretelling of this final plague (11:1). This indicates that Israel is in this sense coming under this final plague, but rather than being “touched” by the plague, their houses are “touched” with the Passover blood. Note also that everyone must stay inside the house during the night of the plague (12:22). Here, Moses also explains how this feast will be a memorial throughout the generations of Israel (12:24-27). It is their life-saving “service/labor” to Yahweh as opposed to the “service/labor” for Pharaoh intended to take life. God assumes that their children will ask them about what they are doing (12:26). The parents are instructed to rehearse the story of the original Passover and Exodus, how God struck Egypt and “delivered” the houses of Israel (12:27). The same word for delivered is used to describe how Israel “spoiled/plundered” Egypt (cf. 12:36). Yahweh is the warrior who has fought and conquered Egypt, and He is taking Israel as His plunder. Therefore Israel must look to Him for their strength.
Conclusions & Applications
First, notice the presence of children once again: Pharaoh was trying to kill the children of Israel (Ex. 1), it is the children of Israel who must go to the feast (10:9, 24), Yahweh has done all these wonders so that they may be declared to the children (10:1-2), and now Yahweh gives instructions for passing this story on to their children (12:26-27). Given this narrative, the Exodus should be seen as Yahweh fighting for the children. Salvation is for kids. And we have here a command to tell this story (all the great stories) to our children. But this focus on children is also a statement about the Kingdom of God, and the strength of our God. God ordains strength in the mouths of little ones. As Israel eats a meal with their children and tells the story of God’s deliverance, they are His armies.
Second, this story is true in history, and it is to be personally owned throughout history. This memorial action/story is to be kept throughout the generations (12:14), and the story is that Yahweh struck the Egyptians and delivered our households (12:27). Our new Passover is the Lord’s Supper in which we proclaim the forgiveness of sins in the blood of Christ, the final Passover Lamb. But if the Exodus and subsequent Israelite history teaches us anything it’s that leaving Egypt doesn’t guarantee leaving Egypt. Egypt is in our hearts, in our actions, in our words, and still needs to be purged out (1 Cor. 5:7-8).
Monday, October 18, 2010
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).
The Birth of Israel
Yahweh says the coming new moon will be the beginning of their months, but this is not merely a statement about their calendar. This is a statement about being born. When a child is born, that is their “beginning of months.” (12:2) From the new moon, the Israelites are to count ten days and take a lamb per house, according to the number of souls, according to the mouths that eat (12:3-4). The lamb must be a spotless, male son of one year from the sheep or the goats (12:5). They are to “guard” the lamb for four days, like the Levites will later guard the tabernacle and congregation (e.g. Num. 3:7-8), and then the whole “congregation” slaughters the lamb “between the evenings” (12:6). While the slaughter takes place house by house, the ritual unites the houses into one congregation. This is the first time the word “congregation” is applied to Israel; previously it has only been a prophecy (Gen. 28:3, 35:11, 48:4). The slaughter of the lamb occurs at the full moon, blood is put on the doorposts and lintels of the houses, and it is eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (12:7-8) – bitter like their lives have been (1:14). All of the lamb is to be consumed either by eating or burning (12:8-10), and the meal is to be eaten while dressed for travel (12:11). Israel is about to emerge from the bloody womb Egypt, a new born son of Yahweh (cf. 4:22-23). It is Yahweh’s Passover, and He will pass through Egypt passing judgment on men, beasts, and gods (12:12). The blood is a sign for Israel that Yahweh will not destroy them (12:13).
Conclusions & Applications
We cannot read these instructions and not be filled with awe and thankfulness for our Lord Jesus Christ and the Greater Exodus that He performed in His death and resurrection. But in order to see the glory of God in the Exodus or in the death of Christ, we have to see at least two things: First, God was completely just in striking down the firstborn of Egypt. Second, the only difference between Egypt and Israel is the blood. Our Triune God is both Just and the Justifier, the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10:11, Heb. 13:20) and the Spotless Lamb who takes away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29, 1 Pet. 1:19). He is our Paschal Lamb, and in Him all judgment is executed on this world. In His death and resurrection, every house covered in the blood was passed over, and the Christian Church was born, a congregation of all the peoples of the earth.
The Church, like Israel, is a bride, and is therefore called to share the one flesh and blood of the Son, but this means dying with Christ because we are a filthy, adulterous bride. When John says, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” he is not only identifying the solution, he is also identifying the problem. But to identify the problem as sin is not to oversimplify the problem, it is to name the problem in all its complexity for what it is: enslavement and death. We need a Redeemer who can enter our death, suffer for us, and lead us out to life.
We need to be united to His death, and in this communion, a new humanity is born. Seeing this, we can only cry with the host of heaven: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing (Rev. 5:12). Christ is the greater Moses, and He has been exalted in the sight of all the earth so that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord of all (Phil. 2:5-11).
Monday, October 11, 2010
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.
Locusts and Faithful Worship
Remember we were told after the hail storms that only the flax and barley were struck but that the wheat and spelt would come later since they were late crops (9:31-32). So when God sends locusts there is a “residue of what is left” and whatever has grown up out of the fields (10:5). But the plague will also include the fact that they will fill the houses of Egypt (10:6). At this point, Pharaoh shows the first sign of compromise. While he’s sworn falsely previously (second/fourth/seventh plagues: 8:8, 28, 9:28), here he actually seems to be offering a compromise prior to the plague. He knows that the word of Moses is true. Yet Pharaoh’s offer shows his evil intentions; he is only willing to have the men go and serve Yahweh (10:11). Remember the initial request from Pharaoh was a three day journey into the wilderness to hold a feast to Yahweh (5:1-3). Does this imply that initially there was no intention to leave Egypt permanently? No (10:9). At the heart of this contest and battle between Yahweh and Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt is not a geographical squabble. It’s a matter of a culture and way of life: will Israel serve Pharaoh or Yahweh? Will they worship Pharaoh or Yahweh? For Israel to worship Yahweh completely unhindered is to undermine the rule of Pharaoh. And if only the men go, Pharaoh still has his finger on their lives (i.e. their wives and children). The locusts come up over and "darken" the whole land (10:13-15). Pharaoh calls this affliction “death” (10:17), and when Yahweh takes the plague away, the locusts are blown into the Red Sea (10:19). This all previews what God will bring to Egypt: darkness followed by death in the land, followed by drowning in the Red Sea.
Darkness and Faithful Worship
Following the pattern we have seen, these plagues strike the land and then the heavens. This darkness is “able to be felt” and “thick.” The first description may simply refer to the fact the Egyptians had to “grope” around like blind men in order to get around (cf. Dt. 28:29). The second description means “calamity” or “gloom.” Remember that these plagues are a “de-creation” of the Egyptian world, an unmaking of their world, and therefore, here at the end of the plagues, it is fitting that we should have arrived at the very beginning: separation of light and darkness (Gen. 1:2-4, cf. Ex. 10:23). This is an indication that Egypt/Pharaoh is at the end; there’s nothing left for God to unmake. Also, this fact should not escape us when we see “darkness” associated with so many of the later prophecies in Scripture (Is. 8:22, 59:9, Jer. 23:12, Joel 2:2, Zeph. 1:15). Darkness goes back to the original primordial darkness at the dawn of creation, but darkness also will ever after point to the last straw before God strikes the first born of Egypt and buries their armies in the Sea. This deep darkness means that God is on the verge of finishing them off. Notice that here too: Pharaoh tries to make a bargain with Yahweh, a compromise. But the issue again is worship unhindered. If Pharaoh can set some small regulation concerning the worship of Israel, he still has a final say, final review (10:24).
Conclusions & Applications
Our Little Ones: This chapter has the running theme of children and grandchildren (10:2, 9, 24). God has done these wonders in Egypt, and Scripture is full of God’s signs that we are commanded to tell to our children and grandchildren so that they know Yahweh. This is why Christian Education is so important. Parents also have responsibility to teach their grandchildren. Secondly, when we gather for worship, it is with “our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters… for we must hold a feast to Yahweh.” This is simply a logistical fact that ALL of Israel did worship Yahweh, but it is also an indication of the nature of Yahweh: this is what he wants. Therefore rejoice in this atmosphere of worship because our God does, and do not hinder your children from worshipping: by acting like they don’t/can’t worship, or by refusing to discipline them so that they can worship.
Complete Obedience: Think about how tempting it would have been for Moses to “take what he could get from Pharaoh.” He had the chance to take the men to worship Yahweh, and then even the little ones (10:24). Why didn’t he take what he could get? He was committed to complete obedience. Partial obedience is disobedience. This was the sin that Saul who twice slightly altered God’s word for his convenience (the sacrifice: 1 Sam. 13, and sparing of Agag: 1 Sam. 15). Partial obedience is disobedience: telling part of the truth is lying. We are disciples of Jesus regardless of the consequences.
Monday, October 04, 2010
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).
As we’ve previously pointed out, the first plague in these cycles begins with the early morning confrontation (9:13, cf. 7:15, 8:20). However, the words to Pharaoh are more severe than previously. This time Yahweh will send all his plagues to Pharaoh’s “heart” (9:14). Yahweh says that if he wanted to, He could have already cut off Pharaoh and his people from the land (9:15). Yahweh takes this opportunity to review what He’s doing with Pharaoh: He’s raising up Pharaoh in order to make His own name famous (9:16) even though Pharaoh thinks he’s showing his power over Israel, refusing to release them (9:17). Again, a time for the plague is appointed (9:18), and a warning is issued concerning the hail (9:19). This plague displays God’s mercy in the midst of judgment. It’s not as severe as it might have been, and God allows for people to show faith in him (9:20). This plague is an enormous electrical storm. Fire runs/walks down to the ground, hail falls, and thunder booms. All that was left out in the fields was destroyed (9:25). Only in Goshen, where Yahweh is with His people, is there no hail (9:26). The thunder is literally called the “voices” and the “voices of God” (9:23, 28, 34). This reminds us of the fire in the burning bush at Horeb (3:1-2) and is like the storm that will descend when Israel gathers to receive the law (Ex. 19:16, 20:18). God’s presence has drawn near to the land of Egypt. Pharaoh’s response is the first time that he suggests that he is in the wrong (9:27, cf. 8:8, 8:25, 28). But even here Pharaoh is not finished; he knows it is Yahweh but he and his servants do not fear Him (9:30-35).
Sovereign Grace
One of the doctrines recovered in the Reformation was the biblical doctrine of the sovereignty of God, and this particular passage is cited by the apostle Paul in Romans to defend this very doctrine (cf. Ex. 9:16, Rom. 9:17). Those who deny the exhaustive sovereignty of God are quick to point out that Paul is talking about Jews and Gentiles: Paul is talking about corporate election, God’s sovereignty over nations. This is most certainly true, but the fact clearly remains that God has mercy on whom He will have mercy and on whom He wills, He hardens. But Paul is not a heartless logician. He’s not just piling verses up and saying deal with it. He knows that this doctrine is a “rock of offense” and a “stumbling stone” (Rom. 9:33), but ultimately Paul insists that this is God’s determined means of showing his mercy and patience and glory in the world (9:22-23, 11:30-32). Ultimately, Paul breaks out in doxology and worships the depths of God’s wisdom and knowledge, bowing before the mystery (11:33).
Conclusion & Application
For Paul (and Israel before him), sovereignty and presence go together. God’s presence is His sovereignty over creation, over Egypt, over Pharaoh so that He might display His great mercy. Ultimately, God sent His Son to display what He does with His sovereignty. The God who wields creation in perfect wisdom came as a little baby for our salvation. The God who dumped frogs all over Egypt is the God who was baptized in the Jordan and declared God’s beloved Son. The God who struck down the livestock of Egypt is the God who healed the diseases and afflictions of the crowds that surrounded Him day after day. This God wields every particle of this universe in perfect sovereignty, in perfect power. Ash becomes boils, every evaporated drop of water obeyed when it plunged to the Egyptian earth and did not miss its mark. And this God ruled the heart of Pharaoh in perfect wisdom.
But the same God who did all these things is the God of Moses and Israel, the God of the Egyptians who fled to Goshen, the God who came in Jesus. This God sent his Son to die for us. That’s the sovereign God at work in the world. This is our God who is with us, our God who is for us. He’s out to save us, out to deliver us (Eph. 1:4ff; Rom. 11:33,35). And this is the kind of presence and authority the Church is called to live out.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Mark 3: From the House of Bondage to the House of God
Introduction
Jesus ministry is focused on rebuilding the house of Israel. And this project is bringing the history of Israel to a radical head. Faithful Israel must follow Jesus as their Bridegroom (2:19) or else be swept away like the temple so many years before.
A Withered Hand
1 Kings 13 records the story of King Jereboam’s withered hand. If the stories are parallels, the presence of a man with a withered hand is an indication of not only uncleanness and deformity in Israel but also of grave liturgical error and compromise (cf. Jeroboam). The synagogue has become a house of demons (1:23, 39) and therefore the rulers of the synagogues are inviting them by their actions. This is proven by their hypocrisy: Jesus asks whether it is right to do good or evil, save life or kill (3:4). And their responses (silence and plotting to destroy Him) indicate that they prefer the latter options (3:6). In this sense, they are far worse than Jeroboam. Given this answer and what follows we can liken this old Israel to Pharaoh and Egypt; it has become a “house of bondage.”
From the Sea to the Mountain to the House
The word translated “withdrew” would probably be better translated “fled” (3:7). Notice the geography of this flight: to the sea, where he is nearly crowed into the sea (3:7, 9), and then to the mountain where the twelve are appointed (3:13-14) and finally into a house (3:19). This should remind us of the Exodus where Israel went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, fleeing from Pharaoh and his armies to the sea. After crossing the Red Sea, Moses leads the people to Mt. Sinai where God claims the twelve tribes of Israel as his own and gives them instructions for how they are to live (Ex. 19-24) and how to build and keep His house (Ex. 25-40). Jesus is reconstituting Israel, remaking His special people.
Beelzebub
The scribes who accuse Jesus, assert that He has “Beelzebub” or “Beelzebul” explaining that he is “the ruler of the demons.” (3:22). If there is a connection or perhaps an allusion or pun on “Beelzebub” then we’re being invited to remember the god of Ekron in 2 Kings 1, where Ahaziah rejected the prophet of Yahweh (Elijah) in favor of another god and is judged severely. His punishment for Baal worship is also a greater judgment on the idolatry of the house of Ahab. Baal-zebub means “lord of the flies.” Beelzebul, however would translate as “lord of loftiness” or “lord of an exalted dwelling” related to the name of Leah’s sixth son to Jacob, Zebulun (Gen. 30:20, cf. Ps. 49:15, Is. 63:15). Regardless, we know this accusation is false because at Christ’s baptism he received the Holy Spirit. But furthermore, with a little help from Luke’s version of this parable (Lk. 11:21-22), we know that the one who binds the strong man must be stronger (cf. Mk. 1:7). Jesus is the one who has entered the strong man’s house and bound him (1:13). Jesus’ ministry of casting out demons is his plundering of the strongman’s house (Israel/Egypt).
A Divided House
The last fifteen verses form what is sometimes called a “sandwich story”. “His own people” (v. 21) and “His brothers and His mother” (v. 31ff) appear to be the same people. At the center of the story of Jesus’ family is a parable about the family of Israel. But if it is wrong to assert that Jesus is dividing the family of Israel, he is at least plundering it (3:27). And this gives some explanation of Jesus’ reaction to His family. He is founding a new family, a family that is tighter than blood. We have already seen this displayed briefly in the fact that Jesus has been going around asking people to follow him. He’s playing the part of a father, giving new occupations (1:17) and giving new names (3:16-18).
Conclusions & Applications
If Jesus came to bring Israel out of bondage, leading them to a new mountain and to a new house, it can be no surprise that this same pattern holds as the gospel progresses in history. The family of God supersedes the family of Adam, and every house will be plundered. The only question is whether you will be a willing house or not. The history of Israel is the story of the failure of the family. Blood is the problem. But in Jesus Christ, the bloodguilt has been paid. This is your family here, and only here are families put back together.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Twelfth Sunday in Trinity: Exodus 8:1-32
Introduction
Exodus is the story of God coming for His son, Israel and remaking a world for him (4:22-23), but God created the universe for Adam His first son, and ever after, God recreates the world for His sons to rule and glorify.
Creation and De-creation
Genesis 1
Day 1: Light/Darkness
Day 2: Heaven/Firmament
Day 3: Dry land
Day 4: Sun, Moon, and Stars
Day 5: Birds/Fish
Day 6: Animals/Man
Plague 1: Nile to Blood (in the morning, 7:15)
Plague 2: Frogs (command &
confrontation, 8:1)
Plague 3: Lice (no confrontation, 8:16)
Plague 4: Flies (in the morning, 8:20)
Plague 5: Livestock diseased (command &
confrontation, 9:1)
Plague 6: Boils (no confrontation, 9:8)
Plague 7: Hail (in the morning, 9:13)
Plague 8: Locusts (command &
confrontation, 10:1-3)
Plague 9: Darkness (no confrontation,
10:21)
The order and structure of the Exodus plagues reveals Yahweh systematically unmaking the Egyptian world. Moses is a righteous and faithful Adamson who is being led through a universe remodel. This is also giving Pharaoh what he wants: disobedience to the word of God is always an embrace of chaos.
A couple of transitions run through plagues 2, 3, and 4: first, the magicians go from mimicking Moses’ power (8:7) to not being able to keep up (8:18-19). This is perhaps part of the transition from making no explicit difference between the Israelites and the Egyptians to making a difference (8:22-23). Twice Pharaoh makes false promises to allow Israel to go sacrifice to Yahweh (8:8, 8:25ff). As these plagues fall, and Yahweh’s might becomes clear, Pharaoh hardens his heart (8:15, 19, 32).
Hardness, Heaviness, and Glory
One of the words used to describe the “hardness” of Pharaoh’s heart is the word kaved which means “heavy, dense, fat, glory.” It is first used in Exodus to describe the “slowness” of Moses’ mouth/words (4:10). Likewise it describes the kind of “heavy” labor placed on the Hebrews (5:9). This same word is used to describe the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart seven times in the story (7:14, 8:15, 8:32, 9:7, 9:34, 10:1, 14:40). What is striking is that the plagues are described with the same word: “heavy swarms” (8:24), “severe plague” (9:3), “heavy hail” (9:18, 24) “severe/heavy swarms” (10:14). Ultimately, Israel goes up out of the land with “dense” livestock (12:38). Thus, the whole narrative is structured by this theme which is driving toward Yahweh’s goal of being “glorified” by the Egyptians (14:17-18).
A similar thread can be traced through the use of another term: Yahweh says at the beginning of His first speech to Moses that when Moses goes to Pharaoh he will not listen except by a “mighty hand” (3:19). The word for “mighty” is khazaq and literally means “clenched” and can mean “hard, strong, severe.” Moses “seizes” the serpent with his hand (4:4) as a sign of Yahweh’s strength. But this word is also used to describe Pharaoh’s hardness of heart (4:21, 7:13, 7:22, 8:19, 9:12, 9:35, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10, 14:4, 14:8). Ultimately the hearts of the Egyptians are hardened too (14:17). The word is used twelve times to refer to hard hearts.
Despite his refusal, Yahweh promises that Pharaoh will ultimately send Israel out of Egypt with a “strong hand” (6:1). The plagues come on Egypt because Pharaoh still “holds” Israel (9:2). Likewise the “strong” wind drives away the locusts (10:19), and ultimately the Egyptians “strongly urge” the people to go (12:33). And it is Yahweh’s strong hand that brings Israel out of the house of bondage (13:3, 13:9, 13:14, 13:16).
Conclusions & Applications
When God remakes worlds with His mighty hand, He unmakes old worlds in order to renew and refresh, driving history from glory to glory. The central question becomes how do we respond to God’s work? There is always temptation to hardness of heart, refusing to believe that God knows what He is doing, refusing to believe that this is glory. Faith receives the word of God, embraces the glory, and joins the story.
Jesus is the Mighty Hand of God, the strength and glory of God. God has triumphed over every Pharaoh and every Egypt in the cross and resurrection, and that event – as the greater Exodus – made possible and made certain that everyone who looks to Him in faith is being conformed to that glory. Whatever is heavy upon you, whatever seems to hold you, grasp at you, everything has to do with where you are looking. When we look away from Jesus, heaviness becomes hardness, but when we look to Jesus, the heaviness becomes glory.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Tenth Sunday in Trinity Season: Exodus VI: Knowing Yahweh: Exodus 6:1-7:7
Introduction
It is not enough to know about God. We must strive to know God, and the central means to that knowledge is in the priestly ministry of the people of God. And this ministry flows into and out of worship.
My Name Yahweh
Moses has just gotten in hot water with the elders of Israel and has brought his case before the Lord (5:20-23). God’s response is initially to remind Moses of his name (6:2-5). God is not talking about mere knowledge of his name; the patriarchs use the name “Yahweh” throughout their narratives. God means that there is some knowledge of Yahweh that will be new: the fact that He is a God who delivers his people and keeps His promises (6:1, 6-8). Yahweh is the God who redeems with “an outstretched arm.” Yahweh is the God of Exodus. God’s word does not seem to affect Israel’s view of Moses because of “shortness of breath” and “hard labor” (6:9). And Moses asks God how his words will have any effect on Pharaoh if his own countrymen aren’t moved (6:10-13).
The Family of Moses
We need to do a little bit of math here to understand the genealogy correctly. We know that God promised Abraham that his descendents would be in bondage for 400 years (Gen. 15:13). However, here in Exodus 6 we find that 400 years has not elapsed between Levi and Moses (vv. 16, 18, 20). If we add these years end to end we get 407 which some have taken to mean that this is merely a symbolic number. But the Apostle Paul gives an inspired commentary on this chronology in Galatians 3, indicating that the 400 years should be reckoned to begin from the covenant made with Abraham (Gal. 3:17). If we estimate the chronology (not being sure exactly when people were born during their father’s life) we might estimate that Israel went down into Egypt proper about half-way through the 400 or 430 years (cf. Ex. 12:40-41). We conclude that “bondage in Egypt” refers to the entire time Abraham and his descendents lived in the land as strangers under foreign domination (i.e. Egypt primarily).
Why this Here?
First, we know that this genealogy precedes the beginning of the heart of the “showdown” between Yahweh and Pharaoh. The genealogy makes sense here to introduce the main characters. Secondly, God has just declared who he is in terms of his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (6:3-4, 8). The genealogy here clearly illustrates that for God to be Yahweh, the promise keeping God, the God who delivers his people, he must act now (it’s the fourth generation cf. Gen. 15). Notice also that this passage is concerned to record the “heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites” (6:25). The redemption of Israel is not coming through the oldest sons of Jacob: Reuben and Simeon. It’s coming through a younger brother (remember Joseph), and it’s coming through the liturgical tribe. It’s not the royal tribe (Judah); it’s the tribe given the task of teaching Israel and leading her in worship.
As God to Pharaoh
After the genealogy, Moses again reminds God that he was not a good public speaker (6:28-30). But Yahweh responds by saying that he has made Moses God to Pharaoh (7:1). Yahweh said something similar when Moses protested that he was not a good speaker. Yahweh told him that he would be as God to Aaron his brother who would speak on his behalf (4:16). The set up is a little different here, and Aaron is described as Moses’ “prophet” (7:1). Clearly, Moses is not becoming Yahweh, but Moses because of his interaction with and knowledge of Yahweh, is being made God to Aaron and Pharaoh. This should remind us of Adam in the garden. Adam enjoyed perfect communion and interaction with God. His communion with God was so perfect that he could be said to be God to the world (cf. Ps. 82). Moses is a picture of righteous image-bearing because he knows and speaks with Yahweh.
Conclusion & Application
Jesus is called the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15) and the “express image” of His person (Heb. 1:3). And Paul tells us that in Christ, we and the whole creation are being renewed and remade.This is what God has predestined us to: to be conformed to the image of the new Adam, the Lord Jesus (Rom. 8:29). But how are we conformed to that image? By knowing God in Christ (Jn. 17:3, 1 Cor. 2). And the NT ties this “knowing God” to imaging God (Eph. 3:19, 1 Jn. 4:7-8). Therefore we may rightly say that God has made you God to the world. This is not a call to some kind of arrogant, power-tripping lifestyle. This is actually a call to a priestly ministry of redemption which turns to God in prayer and worship and turns to the world in love. Levites lead the armies of God (6:26).
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