Daily Archives: September 12, 2013

A New Hope

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Scottish Burning Bush

Caption:  “Yet it was not consumed”

 

Try to see events from Moses’ perspective: 

You remember being raised in what for others would be luxury.  That is your standard, your default.  From your earliest memory, you have been stamped with the identity of being one of Pharaoh’s household.

You remember the slaves.  They were other.  They were outside your world.  As a child, you couldn’t perceive how different they were from you, but as you grew in age, you grew more and more aware of their otherness.  The fog of that otherness gradually gave way to some feeble concept of the poverty and the brutalism under which the slaves suffered.

You remember becoming a murderer.  When the question “Why do they suffer while I do not?” though unvoiced, seeped down into your soul, you began, through comparison, to identify with those who were suffering.  And when the weight of that disparity over days and weeks and months and years had left you with bitterness toward their oppressors, and hatred toward yourself for being one of Pharaoh’s house, you snapped at the sight of one more beating and took the life of the guilty tormenter.

You remember being running away.  You remember the fear of facing your household, afraid that your refuge, your safe place, was no longer safe, your act of insurrection marking you for death.  Fear for yourself caused you to lose both your identity as an Egyptian and your new-found identity as one-with-the-oppressed.  You remember being a coward.

 

These shameful, suppressed memories are what resurface when the voice of the Most High God calls to you out of a bush in the desert, a bush that is full of light, blazing but not charring or turning to ash.

 

So Moses is understandably reluctant in Exodus 4 to participate in freeing the people of the covenant from Pharaoh making excuse after excuse.  He is ashamed.  Even though decades have passed, he is still carrying around this baggage.  His self-image is as an ignorant, hypocritical, murdering coward.

 

But…

 

He said yes anyway, choosing obedience to God over acquiescence to his self-image and self-imposed limitations.  And that choice led not only to a new hope for Moses, but also for all of the people of the covenant.

 

For more on Moses’ identity crisis see:  this post

And for a better look at the first part of the Book of Exodus also dealing with new beginnings see:  this much longer post

Microblogging

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Below is an email I sent to some of my students who are blogging in partial completion of the course requirements for my basic Hebrew Scriptures course.

Friends,

Thank you again for building blogging into your learning plan.  I am not much of a blogger myself. I can do microblogging using Google +, Facebook and Twitter but full blown blogging I am not very accomplished.

Nonetheless, I have learned some things. A good blog is thoughtful and well written. That goes without saying. In addition to all that it shares the reflections of the author but also curates resources digital and otherwise. For instance Christianity Today had a piece on N.T. Wright’s position on the role of the Psalter and worship. I also watch the Christian Century blog site.  There you will find Blogging to Sunday, that reflects on the lectionary text for the next week. This week Exodus 32 is up. Shauna K. Hanan wrote a piece on Exodus 32.

I also keep up with the Society of Biblical Literature both on their webpage as well as their Facebook group.

Also if you want to interact with other blogs consider Patheos. They have various faith channels. James McGrath has an interesting piece on Exodus. Embedded in his post is a YouTube piece of a lecture. Don’t forget our own faculty such as Roger Olson and Mike Stroope both have blogs that you might find interesting.

Don’t forget to interact with the other blogs in the class. Remember if your blog does not link to another conversation it is likely a megaphone to the Internet with likely no one to listen.

The Exodus Refugee

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Syrian refugees take part in a demonstration this year at the Zaatari camp… (Khalil Mazraawi / AFP/Getty…)

There are many places in the world experiencing an exodus of sorts. More than 2.5 million Syrians have fled their homes since the beginning of the civil war there in March 2011.  Syrians have dropped everything and left at a moment’s notice, taking only what they can carry. They have been set up in refugee camps, facing overcrowding, crime and despairing conditions. I wonder if the Israelites cut a similar spectacle as they fled out of Egypt. Dropping everything, leaving for an uncertain future, unsure of just how they are going to get away from their pursuers. It must have been dusty, smelly, and scary as heck. I’m willing to bet that anxiety mixed with adrenaline posed a dangerous combination and things were not as peaceful and calm as they always appear in our modern adaptations. The logistics of leading 600,000 people out of one of the most powerful nations of the time and out into the wilderness of the dessert must have been astounding. That’s 12x the capacity of Floyd Casey Stadium (with the tarp taken off).

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Baylor University’s Floyd Casey Stadium

They had no pop-up tents, no GPS, traffic cops or Siri to help guide them on their way. To me that seems an ultimate test of faith. Leaving a place of desolation for one of uncertainty but with hope of freedom. To me this brings thoughts of all the refugees in our world today, people with no homes, no idea what the future holds. They are facing a very different set of circumstances but I wonder what we can learn about the Exodus of the Israelites by looking at the refugees of today.

Moses and Jochebed

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I’ve heard the story of Moses for almost the entirety of my life. Moses is one of the Heroes of the faith that we hear about as children. I’ve cannot remember a time before I had watched “The Prince of Egypt” by Disney or “The Ten Commandments” with Charlton Heston. Moses was always a bigger than life character to me, someone marked from the very beginning as destined to do great things for his people. Yet when I reread his story this time what stood out to me was the faith of his mother, Jochebed. I can’t help but wonder at this woman. In the midst of incredible death and suffering she takes action.  To trust her child to the Nile River is an incredible action. The Nile is anything but a safe place. The risks were numerous, but she was a woman out of options.

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Moses and Jochebed by Pedro Americo, 1884

This painting by Pedro Americo shows the angst and fear of a mother at wit’s end. I cannot begin to imagine the pain in her heart. As a hospital chaplain I often minister to mother’s who are at risk of losing their sons, of varying ages, and to those who have lost sons. I can attest that there is no greater grief in this life. Jochebed was surrounded by grieving mothers. She was so scared of losing her son that she placed him in a basket in one of the most dangerous places imaginable. The Nile was home to alligators, snakes and all other manner of dangerous animals. There was the risk of him being discovered, or washed away in an errant wave. It’s difficult to imagine a more precarious place for a newborn, who most certainly could not even swim. I wonder what must have gone through her head to be able to make a leap of faith like this. What was her plan? Did she have any idea that saving Moses’ life would also mean giving him away. Jochebed watched as her son was adopted by a stranger. His new mother even gave him his name. (I’m curious to know what Jochebed called him before this incident.) She gave up all rights to her son in order that he might survive. This woman, who we know almost nothing about, made an incredible sacrifice that benefited an entire nation. The pain in her heart must have been great as she watched Moses grow up with his new family. She almost-certainly would have seen him as a part of the royal family. Perhaps he even passed by her on a daily basis with no knowledge of who she was. I cannot imagine the pain, mixed with pride she must have felt.

 

I wish I knew more about this women’s incredible decision to entrust her infant to a small “ark” on a dangerous river. How did she come up with this idea? What did she think was going to happen? How did she feel when she saw him plucked from the river by the Egyptian nobility? Did she know the sacrifice she was going to make? Instead all I am left with is a few quick verses that are often overlooked for the more action-packed parts of the story. This infant would go on to save an entire nation. It’s easy to skip quickly past this action by a mother scared to lose her son. I know that I now read these verses and linger, wondering and questioning this brave woman.