EmmDev 2024-02-29 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exceedingly Excellent

Exceedingly Excellent

"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus3:5-6)

For those of us who have grown up with "gentle Jesus meek and mild" there is often a sense of disconnect when we contemplate passages like this that express God's holiness, purity and majesty.

Our "ex" words for today, "Exceedingly Excellent", are actually very helpful: They express the concept of God's Holiness in positive terms whereas I think we sometimes experience it more negatively...

If I think about it, I would never want a God who is anything less than holy. If He were 75% good and 75% pure then there is a chance that I could bring my needs to Him on a "bad day" and I would not be sure that I will receive justice and that He might show favouritism or even behave in a way that is dishonest or even evil. We need a God who is 100% pure by His standards, and that makes Him 1000% pure by our standards!

The gods of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome were gods made in human likeness - full of foibles and weaknesses.

The problem is that when we come to a holy, pure and exceedingly excellent God, we have to face the reality that we are not like Him. So one of the ways of expressing "Holy" is "other" - God is not like us. Another Hebrew word "kabod", which describes God's glory, also means "heavy."

We are "lightweights" coming into the presence of a "heavyweight" God. God is not "in our league" and, on the one hand, thank God (said with respect) for that! On the other hand, although we couldn't come to God, He came to us in Jesus. Jesus bridges the gap, wipes away our sin and makes it possible to enter God's presence with confidence.

Moses, barefoot in front of an un-expiring exothermic bush, reminds us that God is Exceedingly Excellent!

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EmmDev 2024-02-28 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exothermic without Expiry

Exothermic without Expiry

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.  So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up." When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." (Exodus3:1-5)

I couldn't resist that title! ;-)
It burned but was not consumed!

Moses is in the wilderness working on his stutter when God calls him.

The bush, burning, but not burning up, grabs his attention.

And as he gets there, he discovers that he is meeting with the living God.

This burning bush is symbolic of God's Spirit and of God's Calling. To mention just a few instances of the Spirit as fire: 

• Zechariah depicts the Holy Spirit as a lampstand where the lamps are constantly fed by channels of oil. 
• In Acts 2 the Holy Spirit appears as "tongues of fire" on the heads of the believers.
• In Thessalonians Paul urges them not to quench the Spirit's fire.

But fire is also the symbol of God's Presence and Power. Think of Elijah and the Prophets of Baal. (In that case the fire did consume.)

I think this is a powerful image of what God would do within us: that we will burn brightly, blazing with the light and glory of God, bringing the warmth of God and the protection of God and yet we will not be consumed. 

I think this has two dimensions:
Firstly, we are not consumed by His glory and majesty, as with Moses and because of Jesus, God puts us in the cleft of the rock and shelters us with his hand that we may "see Him and live". My brain can barely grasp the immensity of the Being who created the universe, and yet I may call on Him as my Father.

Secondly, I believe that as we serve Him, He will renew our strength so that we are not overwhelmed and exhausted. We will be given grace and peace. We'll take His yoke and learn from Him because His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (Mt.11:28-30)

It was Wesley who said: "Every morning I set myself on fire and invite people to come and watch me burn!!!"

Thank You Spirit that you are all the might and power I need and then, when I walk in Your ways, I can burn and not be consumed.

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EmmDev 2024-02-27 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exiled Exhaling

Exiled Exhaling

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. 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)

Last week 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 and depression. "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?

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EmmDev 2024-02-23 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Explosive Exasperation Exposed

Explosive Exasperation Exposed

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)

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. 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, Moses 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".

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EmmDev 2024-02-22 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exciting Expectation

Exciting Expectation

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)

In the light of Pharaoh's extermination orders, a Levite couple were expecting a child and in an exciting account they hid 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, daughter of Pharaoh 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. Maybe Moses got his sense of righteous indignation from watching her.

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. 

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EmmDev 2024-02-21 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Excessive Efforts at Excision

Excessive Efforts at Excision

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)

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...?

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EmmDev 2024-02-20 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exempting Exacting Exterminations

Exempting Exacting Exterminations

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)

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 to be 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 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 and even poking a bit of fun at them.
- Fearing God above all else and recognising He blesses this.

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EmmDev 2024-02-16 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Unexpected Extras from Exertions

Unexpected Extras from Exertions

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. 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)

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: Seventy souls from Israel + Joseph and his family had became a nation. If they'd been in the "Wild East" back in Canaan they'd have been 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...

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EmmDev 2024-02-15 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] 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 their 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)

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EmmDev 2024-02-14 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] God Excruciated (Ash Wednesday)

God Excruciated (Ash Wednesday)

Today Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine's Day.
There is a certain appropriateness about that.

Usually Ash Wednesday is about us realising our brokenness and reaching out to God.

The problem is that our brokeness makes us incapable of finding help on our own.
It is only because God sees our brokenness and comes to us that we can "find" Him. (So actually He's the one who finds us...)

Here's some thoughts I had on Ex.2:23-25...

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)

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 He 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"?

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