The reading plan for week 3 is:
* Weekend: Genesis 48-50
* Monday: Exodus 1-3
* Tuesday: Exodus 4-6
* Wednesday: Exodus 7-9
* Thursday: Exodus 10-12
* Friday: Exodus 13-15
This week's reading encompasses some of the most important historical and theological matter in Scripture. From the concluding chapters of the Joseph story in Genesis to the unfolding of God's deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery under the leadership of Moses, this section of God's Word underscores God's faithfulness and deliverance.
No matter the dire circumstances we encounter in life or the evil designs of people who intend to do us harm, God will never leave us or forsake us. Joseph's observation in the final chapter of Genesis fittingly highlights the truth that even if the enemy of our souls prevails in the short term, God's will for our lives will never be unraveled: "You intended to harm me," said Joseph, "But God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" (Gen. 50:20).
The book of Exodus opens by highlighting the fulfillment of two truths that God announced to Abraham more than 400 years prior: namely, that Abraham's descendents would become a great nation and that this nation would be subject to slavery in a foreign land (see Gen. 12:2 and 15:12-14).
The Egyptian king that had shown favor to Joseph and his relatives was long gone, and a new monarchy was now in place...a monarchy that had no memory of Joseph and Jacob...no memory of the promises that had been made to the Hebrews. The Israelites found themselves in the crucible of oppression and heartache.
The word Exodus means deliverance. And that's exactly what the book is about! From Moses' retreat to Midian (chapter 2) to his burning-bush encounter with God (chapter 3) to all that follows in the vanquishing of Israel's enemy (chapters 5-15), the message of God's faithfulness and deliverance is front and center.
Enjoy!
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Blessings seem to be very important in Genesis and throughout the bible. Is this something we have lost sight of in importance? It seems to me that we rarely (formally) bless our children. Are we missing out on something or is this a cultural phenomenon? The blessings in Chapter 49 from Israel to his sons seem more like prophecy than blessing. Are blessings a form of predestination, or just a hope for the future?
ReplyDeleteOn Martin Luther King Jr. Day it seems especially important for me to bring up a troubling issue in the Exodus narrative. In Moses' conversation with God at the burning bush, God seems to be saying that he will favor the Israelite race over others. He recommends plundering the Egyptians and tells Moses that the promised land is the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Is there no grace and mercy for these people? We would not take kindly to an invading population marching into our land to take it from us. There is a totalitarian nature to this that is troubling. I know that I have glossed over this with the argument that these people were against God and so deserved to die, but even that is a troubling thought to my NT mind that sees grace and mercy as the foremost characteristics of God.
ReplyDeleteSteve, you ask two very good questions...for which thorough answers would require a lot more space than we have here. I will answer your first question here and then follow it up with a second post (the site only allows a 4,096-character post). :)
ReplyDeleteWith regard to your first question...about the prophetic/predictive implications of blessing children and whether or not this practice was a cultural phenomenon...the short answer is "yes." The ancient Mideast world, dating back to Sumeria and Old Babylon (c. 3000 BC), believed that both blessings and curses, when uttered by the right people under the right circumstances, had magical power. The Patriarchs of the Hebrew people were influenced by certain cultural norms and assumptions that were, in a word, superstitious.
The Holy Spirit led the writers of Scripture to record some of these occurrences, and in some instances, appears even to support this behavior. This underscores, in my opinion (Chuck in this case), the beautiful truth that God forever works in our lives...even when we are being influenced by cultural assumptions that are off the mark theologically. That's not to say God doesn't care about truth. God cares deeply about truth -- so much so that he became the incarnation of truth in Jesus.
So, for example, when Genesis 30:27 states that Laban, Jacob's uncle, used divination to learn that Yahweh had blessed him because of Jacob (a practice that the Law of Moses centuries later forbade, see Lev. 19:26b; Deut. 18:10-11), Scripture was simply recording what happened. It is not an endorsement of divination.
In the same chapter (Gen. 30), we learn that Jacob successfully expanded the numbers of his sheep and goats by having his animals mate in front of peeled branches that looked like the streaked, speckled, and spotted goats and dark-colored sheep he wanted to produce. When the weaker animals mated, Jacob hid the sticks...and the non-speckled, non-spotted, non-streaked animals went to Laban, thus ensuring that Jacob's flocks were heartier and more numerous. This was a superstitious practice that would not have worked by itself, but God chose to intervene in this misconceived attempt and bless Jacob anyway...a fact that Jacob himself acknowledged (Gen. 31:9).
I use these examples to support my point about the Patriarchs and their assumptions about blessing offspring. They believed that once a blessing was imparted, it could not be taken back or redirected to another person. Like the contemporary (pagan) world around them, they believed that blessings and curses had magical power.
So...the theological question: was their assumption right or wrong? In this case it was correct! Scripture clearly implies that the blessing Jacob received from his father would in fact turn out just the way Isaac described it...and Esau had lost out (Gen. 27:1-40).
But the fact that God worked out his will amid this morass of superstitious assumptions does not in any way sanction those assumptions...or make the practices associated with them normative for subsequent generations.
Now on to your second question, which touches on a far more weighty issue for our day. Many people see a world of difference between the God of the Old and New Testaments. The confusion is not unjustified. Hebrew Scripture (the Christian's Old Testament) was intended primarily to form, instruct, rebuke, and restore the Jewish nation, God's chosen people. The New Testament announces that God's saving designs, which God had in store for humanity before the world was created, have found their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. And God's saving plan from the outset was, through Jesus Christ, to make "peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death" (Eph. 2:15-16).
ReplyDeleteFor Christians, therefore, Jesus Christ, the embodiment and fulfillment of God's saving plan for humanity, is (or at least should be) the central interpretive motif of both Old and New Testaments. Through Christ, we are able to see that the Old Testament is "the New Testament concealed" and the New Testament is "the Old Testament revealed."
When Jesus Christ is the primary interpretive criterion in our reading of the Old Testament, we are not only able to recognize the hundreds of prophecies that foretold of Jesus' birth, life, passion, resurrection, and high-priestly work on behalf of humankind, we are also able to discern the redemptive character of the whole of the Old Testament narrative. This includes the ability to recognize which parts of the narrative are normative and which parts are not.
God called a people into being (Israel). God separated this people from the rest of humankind in order to prepare the way for the Incarnation. When God's redemptive plan was fulfilled through Jesus Christ, God was not finished with his chosen people...God merely opened the borders, as it were, so that all who believe in the name of Jesus Christ would be saved (John 3:16).
So...to the issue of God's ordering the destruction and plundering of whole nations and people groups...
The biblical record on this matter is neither (1) palatable to contemporary sensibilities nor (and this is the most important point) (2) normative for our day.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, let's admit that the stories of Israel's killing and plundering are, to say the very least, troubling -- especially to those of us who count ourselves as peacemakers in the world. It's important to point out that the portrayal of God as wrathful is not exclusive to the Old Testament. In the very New-Testament book of Romans, which contains the most complete theological treatment of God's grace in Christ, we find these words:
"But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God."
The Apostle Paul goes on to say, three times, that because these people willfully refused to glorify God or give God thanks, "God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired."
This tells us that God, in his infinite wisdom, knows when a person, a city, or a nation, has passed the point of no return with respect to their redeemablility. But what is even more important to note is that this is God's call, not ours -- ever. Which leads us to the second point.
The Old Testament conquest narratives are not normative. While the stories about Israel's destroying cities and nations by God's decree exemplify the theological truth of God's abandonment, the call to subdue the Promised Land ended at the borders of the Promised Land.
At no point does Scripture imply that Jews or Christians should be about the business of subduing other people or nations through military force as a means of fulfilling God's saving purposes for humanity. Far from it! The Kingdom over which Jesus reigns is not a kingdom of this world. Accordingly, we are to be "in" the world (positively influencing the world for Jesus' sake) but not "of" the world (absorbing cultural norms and ideals to the point that our "salt is rendered tasteless," see Matt. 5:13-14).
For several generations, European settlers in what is now the United States believed that they were the new Israel...and that the indigenous peoples who had occupied this land for millennia were, in essence, Canaanites. Last year I visited the National Museum of the American Indian. I was reminded afresh of the devastation that comes when imperialistic zeal drives people to adopt the Old Testament's conquest narratives as their own. Religious fundamentalisms of every sort (whether Christian or Muslim) routinely falter on this common ground: the failure to understand which aspects of their religious narratives are normative and which are not.
I hope this helps.
Thanks Chuck,
ReplyDeleteI primarily asked the questions because I see this as an excellent teaching forum and no one had yet taken advantage of it. It helps me to get clarification on these potential stumbling blocks of faith. Besides I haven't had an Old Testament class since 1982 and I need a refresher.
I appreciate these questions, Steve. And I agree...this has the potential to be a great venue for teaching/learning at all levels.
ReplyDeleteWe welcome all questions!
Next question: It seems to me that Pharaoh's heart is hard enough on its own, why does God have to harden it? This implies that the whole plauge scenario is contrived by God and that thought is not palatable. I see that the purpose of all this is to glorify God, to make it clear to those present as well as future generations that God got them out of Egypt (see 7:5, 10:1-2, 11:9). Clearly this is very important in the history of Israel and of faith, and I don't even mind (too much) that God apparently contrived it, but why does he tell us he will harden Pharaoh's heart? If he just did it with none the wiser it would strengthen the account rather than weaken it with the apparent forcing of his will on Pharaoh. It must be my free will sensibilities that are offended by this.
ReplyDeleteAwesome question- I struggle with this one as well as I am a firm believer in free will. My take is that Pharaoh's heart is already hardened and God is not overtly working on him to soften it.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that Pharoah is supposed to be a "god" to his people. This is a "mano a mano" situation... and Pharoah does not have the wisdom to understand who his opponent truly is...
To look at this introspectively, I get caught up sometimes in situations where I hold my ground on something even if I know that my will is superceding God's will. Not wise, but human... and I think Pharoah feels he has much more to gain by holding his ground rather than bowing to a God who makes Himself more obvious with each plague that comes to pass.
Thoughts from others???
Great question and comments! It's a question that has been asked over the ages, and the apostle Paul addresses it in Romans 9:14-21 (or even to the end of Chapter 9). I think his answer nails it, especially verse 16: "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.".
ReplyDeleteNot sure if this passage in Romans makes it easier to understand or more difficult, but I encourage all to read this passage a couple times, and pray about what it has to say about our own hearts.
To tag on to what Mike is saying: I know for myself that I would act like Pharao, if it was just up to my 'natural self' (and I have so many times). So yes, I believe in free will too, but I know that without the Holy Spirit interacting with my free will, my free will tends to do what Pharao does... resisting God. Wretched man I am... So is it God's mercy -- who gives me His Holy Spirit -- or is it my free will that decides whether to follow God or not to...?! It think that's what Paul addresses in Rom. 9 as well.
Another excellent question! (I was hoping somebody would ask this! This is Chuck, BTW.)
ReplyDeleteFirst, I will address the issue of God’s “hardening of Pharaoh’s heart” as it presents itself in the text of Exodus. Then I will observe how the Apostle Paul appropriates this story in Romans 9 to make his theological point about God’s elective processes in human salvation. Finally, I will conclude by advocating for a view of divine sovereignty and human free will that (in my opinion at least) preserves the place of both sovereignty and free will without diminishing either.
All told, there are 18 references in Exodus to the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Nine times the text says that God would harden (or had hardened) Pharaoh’s heart (Ex. 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8). Nine times the text says that Pharaoh would harden (or had hardened) his own heart (Ex. 7:13-14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34-35).
A careful reading of the text yields an important theological insight: Pharaoh hardened his own heart through the first five plagues. The references to God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart prior to the sixth plague are all predictions of what God would do after Pharaoh had hardened his own heart…over and over.
In the Exodus narrative, God confirmed and reinforced what Pharaoh had already willed upon himself. God hardened the heart of a person whose heart was already hardened by a willful refusal to acknowledge and obey God…despite the irrefutable evidence of God’s everlasting power and divinity.
This calls to mind Romans 1:18-20, which I cited in my answer to your last question. There’s a point at which God abandons individuals, groups, and nations to their willful desires. God in essence seals the deal on their free will.
Paul in Romans 9 refers to the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart as part of a larger discussion on the question of why so many Jews had rejected Jesus…even though Jesus is the Messiah of the Jews. Paul makes the case that at every point in Israel’s history, from the time of Abraham forward, there has been a smaller group among the whole, which comprised God’s chosen people – a faithful remnant, as it were. Paul illustrates his point by citing God’s choice of Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau. Then he turns to the Exodus story, first quoting 33:19 and then one of the nine passages that refers to God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (9:16 to be exact). Finally he concludes: “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden” (Rom. 9:18).
ReplyDeletePaul anticipates the pushback from his readers. “One of you will say to me: ‘Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” (v. 19). For Paul, this question is not being asked out of a sincere desire to reconcile the matter of human free will and divine sovereignty; it is a boldfaced attempt to abdicate responsibility for exercising one’s free will the right way…by choosing to follow God.
So Paul turns this argument right back on them: “But who are you, a mere human being, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for disposal of refuse?” (v. 20).
Paul leaves untouched the matter of free will because that was not the point he wanted to make in citing the Pharaoh account. Paul was attempting to highlight God’s mercy in counting us among his chosen people: “What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath – prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory – even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” (vv. 22-24).
Simply put, Paul was not trying to answer the question of whether Pharaoh hardened his own heart before God intervened. His point in Romans 9 is that God’s mercy toward us is all the more amazing when seen in light of all disobedience and rebellion that God has to endure in the process.
Jumping ahead to the end of the discussion, we see that Paul ends up coming full circle on the matter of disobedience and mercy: “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (11:32-36).
ReplyDeleteThis section is a beautiful display of God’s all-consuming love, mercy, and grace. Despite the ubiquity of human disobedience…and we all stand guilty of disobedience…God’s ultimate choice is to have mercy on us rather than destroy us.
On the matter of divine sovereignty and human free will, however, we are left to deduce our conclusions from biblical texts that do not touch on the subject directly. What we see, more clearly from the Exodus account than from Paul’s use of it in Romans 9, is that God’s hardening work did not begin in Pharaoh’s life until long after he sealed his own fate.
Did God know beforehand that the plagues he would unleash on Egypt through Moses would cause Pharaoh to harden his heart?
Yes.
But could Pharaoh have chosen a different path? Could he have humbled himself before God when it finally dawned on him that a power greater than that of his hired magicians was at work? That fact did occur to him – several times along the way (see Ex. 8:8, 19, 28; 9:27-28; 10:7, 16-17).
These divine inducements would have softened the heart of a person who had any hope of redemption. But Pharaoh was not such a person. He had willed himself to the point of no return.
An ancient proverb says, “The same sun that softens butter hardens clay.”
Free will is that powerful…it can turn a heart of butter into clay…and a heart of clay into butter.
The question that remains is this: Which heart will I choose to make?