EmmDev 2021-05-06 [Exultant Exalting Exodus] God Excruciated

God Excruciated

One of the human expectations of the "gods" is that "the gods do not bleed." In other words, our human expectation is that any god should not be affected by anything.

The God we believe in and that is portrayed here in Exodus is not a god like that. He is concerned for His creation. Our suffering is excruciating to Him.

Our reading for today depicts God as hearing, remembering and being concerned. Later, at the burning bush, our loving God states it even more clearly: "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.  So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians."

God takes our pain very very seriously.
He is not unmoved or aloof from our pain.

He is profoundly attentive to the extent of our pain and very determined to act on it.

The only "ex" word that I could come up with this morning was "excruciate" which means to torture or be tortured. As it turns out, this word includes the idea of crucifixion and it completes the picture for us. Our brokenness and pain is what took Jesus to the cross where was crucified ("cruciated"). He experienced and carried the full extent of human brokenness so that we will never be alone.

Do I hear a "Hallelujah"?

During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.    (Exodus2:23-25)

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EmmDev 2021-05-05 [Exultant Exalting Exodus] Exiled Exhaling

Exiled Exhaling

Yesterday we looked at Moses' explosive exasperation.

Let's look at his CV for a moment:
Age 0: The only survivor of Pharoah's "Hebrew Male Genocide."
Age 1- aprox 20: Adopted as the Princess' son with the education
          and privileges of royalty.
Age +-20-25: Murders an Egyptian, trashing all his privileges, has to flee.
The next 40 years: A wandering shepherd in Midian, married with two sons.

One can imagine that the young Moses was urbane and educated. His rash murder of the Egyptian demonstrated his confidence and sense of invincibility. But it backfired. Our text verses show the extent of his sense of loss. "I have become an alien in a foreign land."

Forty years is the amount of time he waited in Midian. In Biblical symbolism forty has become the number of waiting, preparation, separation, renewal and refocusing.
- The flood was for forty days
- Israel wandered the desert for forty years
- Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai receiving the Law
- Joshua, Caleb and the spies were in the land for forty days
- Elijah walked forty days to get to Horeb to hear from God
- Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for forty days.

Sometimes one has to learn how to exhale.
                        To let go. 

To stop trying to do everything by oneself.

After forty years God called Moses at the burning bush to lead Israel out of slavery. One of the excuses is that Moses offers is that he is "slow of speech and tongue." I have often jokingly suggested that forty years of herding sheep made Moses a stutterer - "Ba-aa-ah!"

Forty years: A time of waiting. A time of unlearning impulsiveness. A time to forgive yourself for past failures. A time to learn about the beauty of the land, the simplicity of the rhythms of work, rest, marriage and parenting. Forty years to forget the gods of Egypt and have one's heart ready for the call of the one true God.

Moses may have always been slow of speech, or he may have learned it in the wilderness.
There is no doubt that in view of the leadership task ahead of him, he needed a good deposit of quietness and simplicity.

Is there room for quiet simplicity in your life?  Have you learnt how to exhale?      

When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. 16 Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock. Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.  When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, "Why have you returned so early today?"  They answered, "An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock." "And where is he?" he asked his daughters. "Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat." Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, "I have become an alien in a foreign land."            (Exodus2:15-22)

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EmmDev 2021-05-04 [Exultant Exalting Exodus] Explosive Exasperation Exposed

Explosive Exasperation Exposed

In the movie "The Matrix", Morpheus is talking to Neo, who has been living in the matrix, and says to him: "You know something is wrong - it is like a splinter in your mind."

Moses has grown up in Pharaoh's palace - in luxury and opulence. Probably also as an oddity - a Hebrew among Egyptians. His mother, who was his wet-nurse probably sang the songs of Yahweh over him and told him stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is conflicted and confused. He is a man with his feet in two different worlds... A festering rage is building up in him... In another movie Rocky Balboa, talking about the death of his wife, talks about the "stuff in the basement" and how it needs to be dealt with...

Now as a grown man, he reconnects with his people and sees the injustice of Egyptian tyranny. And it boils over in explosive exasperation!

One would expect this action would cast him in a heroic mould. That he would be recognised as an agent of justice and liberation - but the word has got out and Moses is not trusted. His explosive exasperation is seen for what it is - unpredictable and unstable. These are the actions of someone who is frustrated and lashing out - not good liberator material. He is exposed as unreliable and untrustworthy - "Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?"

And so Moses must flee. From Pharaoh, but also from his own explosive exasperation. 
To be able to lead will require a quieter soul...

No matter how noble our cause is, we are no good to that cause if we come to it with "stuff in the basement".  

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labour. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?" The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become known." When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian (Exodus2:11-15)

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EmmDev 2021-04-30 [Exultant Exalting Exodus] Exciting Expectation

Exciting Expectation

In the light of Pharaoh's extermination orders, a Levite couple were expecting a child and, in an exciting account, they hide the little boy in a "basket in the bullrushes" where in the Egyptian Princess (Pharaoh's daughter) finds him and Moses sister suggests the expedient solution of finding a wet-nurse (his own mother) to care for him.

Let's reflect on the three women in the story...

Moses' Mom who is not named, must have agonised over the execution of Pharaoh's horrific orders. Some commentators suggest that description of him as a "fine child" pointed to more than that he was a "bonny babe" but that he was "no ordinary child" (This is confirmed by the New Testament references to Moses in Acts7:20 and Hebrews 11:23). Maybe this is best understood as an "extraordinary destiny" rather than some idea of Moses being superior in a physical way. His mom, at great risk to herself, hides him for three months and then at great personal heartache, surrenders him to his destiny in the Nile. (I have a suspicion that she knew where the Princess bathed and what she was like and I believe she placed the basket strategically and left her daughter Miriam to watch with specific instructions...)

Miriam, Moses' sister also deserves our admiration. She courageously extends herself by moving into the Princesses' presence and expressing her suggestion of finding a wet nurse. This must have taken some courage.

The Princess is fascinating. Her adoption of Moses, who was on her father's extermination list, suggests that she was expressing her disapproval of his agenda, or that she was trying to expiate her sense of guilt for the horrible infanticide he had committed... I think this is a beautiful example of resisting evil by doing good. I also think that she figured out who Miriam was and who the "wet-nurse" was too. It is a beautiful example to us all.

What can we exult in? That God gives people the courage and creativity to counter evil through beautiful acts of adoption and inclusion. 

What can we exalt God for? That He provides a deliver, Moses, whose name sounds like the Hebrew for  "draw out" and he would lead the Exodus out of Egypt. More than a thousand years later God would send "Jesus" ("Deliverer") to lead a Second Exodus out of Sin and Death. 

Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months.  But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said. Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?"  "Yes, go," she answered. And the girl went and got the baby's mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water."            (Exodus2:1-10)

EmmDev 2021-04-29 [Exultant Exalting Exodus] Excessive Efforts at Excision

Excessive Efforts at Excision

Fear and power always lead to tyranny. Pharaoh's decision to execute new-born babies exhibits complete and utter evil. Not only is the boy-child condemned to death, but the girl-child is condemned to slavery and abuse - this is, in fact, a living death. This is about the extinction of a nation.

It is exceedingly significant that, at the outset of the "Second Exodus," Jesus' life would also be threatened by infanticide. Herod's decision, like Pharaoh's, is a fear-based abuse of power and authority. And Jesus Himself is victimised by fear amplified by power. 

While it would be easy to write a lot about tyranny and why it is so utterly evil, I'd like to focus on where tyranny starts because, in big and small ways we can be tyrants ourselves.

Fear is the lever that turns powerful people into tyrants.

And I'm going to leave it just there...
What power does fear have over you...?

Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live."       (Exodus1:22)

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EmmDev 2021-04-28 [Exultant Exalting Exodus] Exempting Exacting Exterminations

Exempting Exacting Exterminations

Pharaoh, threatened by the Israelite expansion, gives exacting extermination orders to two Hebrew midwives. Their names are Shiphrah ("beautiful") and Puah("splendid") and they are both beautiful and splendid in their courage and service.

They probably had a number of women working for them. Some commentators suggested that they were barren and the implication is that they poured themselves into their work because of what they could not have.

One has to question Pharaoh's sanity or recognise the excesses of his egoism in this account: Did he really believe that these women would obey him?

They do not.

They become the first known (beautiful and splendid) protectors of the unborn and newly born and examples of extreme courage in the face of a bully who could easily have them executed!

When they are called to account to Pharaoh, their response to his examination is incredible: "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."

Their answer has divided commentators. Did they lie to him, and if so, how is this justified and how could God bless a lie?
Let's dig a bit deeper...

Here are some simple facts about their statement.

• "Hebrew women are stronger, more vigorous, than their Egyptian counterparts":  Anyone with half-a-brain could refute this as a vague generalization.
• "They give birth before the mid-wives arrive:" If this were true then the need for mid-wives would disappear!

Shiphrah and Puah are telling Pharoah obvious untruths - this is evident to all (including Pharaoh). It even suggests that they are openly poking fun at him. They're not trying to mislead him, they are openly defying him.

They refuse afraid of what he could do to them. Their "folklore excuses", as one commentator puts it, reveal the utter unreasonableness of what he had asked them to do.

I think Pharaoh simply realises that there is nothing he can do that will get these women to do his bidding. They're looking him in the eye and defying his wishes. To examine and refute their excuses would take too much effort and killing them won't achieve anything except strengthen the resolve of the remaining midwives and so he lets them go.

And God blesses the midwives with families of their own, because they feared Him more than they feared Pharaoh.

There is much to exclaim about here:

- The courage of these women.
- The importance of protecting the vulnerable.
- Exposing the bullies by openly and elegantly refusing them.
- Even poking a bit of fun at Bullies.
- Fearing God above all else and recognising He blesses this.

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?" The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive." So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.       (Exodus1:15-21)

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EmmDev 2021-04-23 [Exultant Exalting Exodus] Unexpected Extras from Exertions

Unexpected Extras from Exertions

The cruelty of the Egyptians had unexpected and unintended outcomes. The Israelites were brought together and made strong by that which they experienced. Next week we'll read the piece about Pharoah commanding the midwives to kill the baby boys as they are born. They don't do it and offer the following excuse: "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive." I don't think this is a total exaggeration  - I believe that they were physically strong as a result of the "exercise" imposed by the Egyptians and this was good preparation for an Exodus and a journey through the desert.

Did God cause the Egyptians to oppress the Israelites to make them strong?
No, but He used their evil to accomplish an important task.

This does not nullify the negative effects of the excesses of Egyptian cruelty on the Israelites. While they were strong in body, they were weak in mindset. A commentator said "It took God only a short while to take the Israelites out of slavery, but it took forty years to take slavery out of the Israelites..." Just because God, in His mercy, brings good out of evil, we should never be ok with evil.

But while the Egyptians exacted a cruel price from the Israelites, God was at work:
70 souls + Joseph and his family had became a nation. If they'd been in the "Wild East" of Canaan they'd be a rag-tag clan fending off their enemies. Instead they were safe in the protection of mighty Egypt, and as my friend Johan has suggested, maybe even a bit comfortable...

The cruelty of the Egyptians woke them up to the fact that it was time to exit...

So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labour, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with hard labour in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labour the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.       (Exodus1:11-14)

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EmmDev 2021-04-21 [Exultant Exalting Exodus] When people want to exploit, expel or expunge us...

When people want to exploit, expel or expunge us...

The "ex"-words in the title describe the core attitudes of oppressors.
They:

- exploit those they are threatened by.
- do what they can to expel them from our lives
- but, ultimately, they prefer to expunge (destroy without a trace) them so that they don't come back.

The sad thing is that, in almost all cases, oppression starts by ignorance. The new Pharaoh did not know about Joseph. Joseph had rescued Egypt and his family had been embraced by Egypt. But more importantly Pharaoh did not know about Joseph's God! If he had taken the time to find about about Joseph, he would have known that the destiny of Joseph's descendants was in Palestine and he would know that Almighty God had made incredible promises to Joseph's people. Pharoah's ignorance meant that he had to go to an expensive school which consisted of ten powerful plague lessons. Sadly even this was not enough.

Today bullies and oppressors are still motivated by the same ignorance. Strangely enough, they will often study their victims for weakness, but still not see the bigger picture. Their ignorance leads to fear and fear leads to senseless violence.

Before we point fingers at other bullies we would do well to examine ourselves. Are there people in our lives who we want to exploit or to expel or expunge? When we look carefully I am sure that we will see ignorance and fear in our hearts...

So, for society to flourish, we need to diminish ignorance and fear.

But what is there in today's passage to exult in and to exalt God for?

The answer is in v.12: "But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread."

God is with the oppressed. He blesses them in spite of their oppression. In the case of Israel their multiplication and fruitfulness were expressed in population growth, but I believe that this multiplication can occur in productivity, ability, talent, impact and influence. When we find ourselves oppressed God will be at work to multiply and grow us. 

Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country." So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labour in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labour the Egyptians used them ruthlessly. (Exodus1:8-14)

EmmDev 2021-04-20 [Exultant Exalting Exodus] The Blessing of Expansion

The Blessing of Expansion

In Luke 1:46-47 we find Exult and Exalt in one sentence:
Mary said, "My soul exalts the Lord,
and my spirit has exulted in God my Saviour."

Exalt : To lift up God's name in praise

Exult: To be filled with joy - to be overjoyed - typically at what God has done.

Exodus exalts and exults! We're going to spend the next few weeks exploring and exegeting this exciting book (if my extensive use and may excessive of words starting with "ex" hasn't exhausted or exasperated you!)

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In a monumental book that will explore the lows of oppression and the highs of liberation and the valleys, rises, twists and obstacles in between, things start incredibly simply by doing something we all know about:
Counting your Blessings.

These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:  Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah;  Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt. Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,  but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.       (Exodus1:1-6)

Before speaking of the harsh conditions of slavery and oppression, Exodus begins with a simple tally of blessings: One dad and eleven brothers and their families (a mere 70 souls) joined their presumed-dead brother in a mini-exodus from a famine-parched Palestine to Egypt: a land flowing with grain and restored relationships and they flourished there.

Don't miss the exuberance of the verbs: "were fruitful", "multiplied greatly" and "became exceedingly numerous". There is a joyfulness about this blessing that should not be missed. Some might argue that this is not "exuberance" (exulting and exalting) but is actually just setting the stage for the threat that they posed to Egypt. However, the Israelite abundance was not a threat until a certain king came to power. (More on that another day...)

Exodus just explains and expresses the blessings that God bestowed on the nation and exalts our God and leads us to exult in His extensive providence.

Right now it is easy to focus on our losses in these challenging times...
The first step of Liberation is expressing our gratitude and wonder for the blessings we take for granted. What did you start with? How has God grown you? How has He provided for you in the past? What mini-exodus experiences have you had?
Why not pause to exult and then to exalt???

Blessed Easter and EmmDevs taking a break

Dear EmmDev friends.

I hope you have enjoyed our Lent Series.

I apologise that it came to an abrupt end on Wednesday, but the
preparations for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday Services,
Face-to-Face and Online overwhelmed me a bit!

I do pray that you are having a really meaningful Easter Weekend.

I am going to be taking a break for two weeks.

BUT I have a special gift for you in the form of a little booklet with
seven short devotions focusing on some of Jesus' Resurrection appearances.

You can download it from https://emmanuel.org.za/events/easter_gift/

Enjoy!

God bless and Love,
Theo