Reflections from the Book of Exodus in the Tawrat
This is the newest post (scroll down for older ones)
In our weekly small group discussion on the life of Moses this week we reviewed Exodus chapters 7-8 and read chapter 9 for the first time. You can read these chapters here: http://www.esvbible.org/Exodus%207-9/. Our two regular students were present with Ashley and me plus one visitor for a total of five.
These three chapters cover the first seven plagues on Pharaoh and the Egyptian people: blood, frogs, gnats, flies, pestilence on the Egyptian livestock, boils, and huge, deadly hailstones mixed with fire. These plagues were simultaneously judgments on the Egyptians and each of the gods of the Egyptian pantheon in turn. They are also God's means of compelling Pharoah to release the Hebrew slaves from their bondage so they may go into the desert to worship him. There will be three more before he will finally relent. Actually, he has already relented on several occasions only to go back on his word when the current plague was lifted. Each time Pharoah relented he also hardened his own heart against God saying, "I do not know your God, neither will I let your people go."
In each confrontation Moses and Aaron make the demand of freedom but never by threat of violent revolt by the people themselves. Besides, they had lost confidence in Moses from the beginning when he made his first demand, and Pharoah's response was to increase their burden by demanding the same quota of bricks without providing straw. But by the 7th plague (from which plaques the Hebrews were spared) their confidence in Moses and their God, Yahweh, must have swelled with the sheer magnitude of each plague. The court sorcerers were able to imitate the first two plagues by which they attempted to diminish the show of God's power, but only by adding to them, not by eliminating or lessening them. After that they could not imitate them, and it is noteworthy that they themselves exclaimed, "This is the finger of God!" In the plague of boils even the sorcerers were afflicted and were in too much anguish and shame even to appear before Pharoah.
Again, this was not a revolt of the people but a revolt of God Almighty against the iron regime of Egypt which was bent on the oppression and exploitation of an entire people in order to expand their own national and cultic glory. It is already clear that, although God does allow such atrocities to happen for a period of time but not forever. He will eventually bring about justice for the oppressed and call the oppressors to account. On this occasion he will do so through a show of HIS power and majesty (9:16) not the power of the people. God is against slavery and oppression. Indeed, the Lord loves justice (Ps. 32) which is why our human urge for justice exists at all.
Want to plug in? This group meets Wednesdays at 2:00 but other times can also be arranged. Text me to express your interest and for more specific information: 313.485.7153.
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First post on 10/28, Introduction
Moses was an extraordinary prophet and a paragon among the shapers of world culture. As the instrument of exodus, he was a kind of Messiah figure who foreshadowed the true and only Messiah two millenia later. The Exodus of the Hebrew slaves from ancient Egypt was unquestionably a one-of-a-kind event in world history. What other example is there of a whole distinct people group having lived over 400 years within a powerful nation and having been entirely delivered to freedom, and that without a violent revolt by the people? None. This fact is burned into the collective memory of humanity, and the means through which Almighty God elevated Moses to this position, and also thrust His own glory into awareness. This is why we should examine this account in the Bible's book of Exodus, 2nd book of Moses himself (tawrat).
In chapters 3-4 we saw how a holy God captured Moses's attention through a burning bush that was not consumed. Moses was confronted with God's holiness and commanded to take off his sandals. This appears to have been the first time Moses encountered God personally, though his forbearers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had set the precedent hundreds of years before. In this encounter God revealed to Moses his name, YHWH meaning self-existent, which is translated into English as "I am" (a transcendent name that would be reclaimed by Jesus in the gospel of John 8:58). In this encounter God gave Moses his commission to deliver his people. Although he was reluctant and made excuses at first, he did not despair about God's identity and did not need his wife Zipporah to assure him. Indeed, she did not seem on board. At this time Moses was not told he was to be a prophet, though he did accept the mantle which is seen by his return from the desert of Midian to the courts of Pharoah. But this time with the force of Almighty God behind him. What was to be showcased through Moses (so far) was not so much the words of God but the works of God.
Stay tuned for more, or read ahead for yourself.
http://www.esvbible.org/Exodus%201/