Tag Archives: Pharaoh

Chapter-a-Day

“Go to Hell!”

Leave a comment

I will throw you on the land
    and hurl you on the open field.
I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you
    and all the animals of the wild gorge themselves on you.
Ezekiel 32:4 (NIV)

A number of years ago I read a fascinating book that has become one of my favorite all-time reads. The book is called Holy Sh*t by Melissa Mohr, and it’s subtitled “A Brief History of Swearing.” I have always been fascinated by words and phrases and their histories along with culture’s mores and taboos regarding what is acceptable and unacceptable to say.

In her book, Mohr explains that there are basically two categories of swear words in the history of English. There are swear words that have to do with that which is sacred (e.g. “Holy”) and then there are swear words that have to do with body parts, bodily acts (especially sex), and excrements (e.g. “Shit”). Mohr goes on to explain that through history these two categories waxed and waned with regard to which was more prominent and fashionable.

I thought of Mohr’s book this morning as I read today’s chapter which contains the final two of Ezekiel’s seven prophetic messages regarding ancient Israel’s former enslaver and millennial nemesis, Pharaoh and his Egyptian empire.

In the first of the final two, Ezekiel writes another song of lament, a funeral dirge, in which God tells Pharaoh that He:

will throw [Pharaoh] on the land
    and hurl you on the open field.
I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you
    and all the animals of the wild gorge themselves on you.

What is easily lost on casual modern readers is the fact that the Egyptians, especially the Pharaohs, had an entire religious belief system around death and the afterlife. All those Egyptian mummies we see in museums come from a highly orchestrated process that was rooted in Egyptian religion. The Egyptians preserved the bodies, the organs, and then buried the Pharaoh with all of his treasures, worldly goods, and sometimes even with dead and mummified servants because they believed that Pharaoh would need all of those things in the ancient Egyptian version of the heavenly afterlife.

When God through Ezekiel proclaims that Pharaoh’s dead body will be thrown into an open field where all of the carrion fowl and wild beasts can feast on his flesh, it means there is nothing to preserve and mummify. God is going to rob Pharaoh of the heavenly afterlife he believes he’s going to have according to his own faith system.

The second and final message to Pharaoh is addressed to both Pharaoh and “his hoards.” God through Ezekiel tells the Egyptian king that he will be drug down to “the pit, the realm of the dead.” When he gets there, he’ll find out that he is joining the leaders and military hoards of a bunch of regional nations like Assyria, Elam, Meshek, Tubal, Edom, and the Sidonians. All of these kingdoms were devastated and destroyed. Pharaoh would have known this.

Instead of ascending to a cushy afterlife with all of his servants and treasures, Zeke’s prophetic messages are telling Pharaoh that just the opposite is going to happen. He will find himself in a very different afterlife with all of the other fallen kings and their empires who had gone before. He’s headed down to the pit. The realm of the dead.

In short, Zeke’s prophetic message is really an ancient form of the same colloquialism that we still use interpersonally today with enemies or individuals with whom we’re angry. . He’s telling Pharaoh “Go to hell” in a much more creative way. I would argue, however, that it would have been just as blunt in Pharaoh’s mind when he received the message.

In the quiet this morning, I’m reminded that history teaches us lessons about evil and about tyrants and dictators and emperors bent on conquest and power. They don’t respond to polite requests to be nicer. Any offer of a joint counseling session to work out the issues and find reconciliation will be rejected, mocked, and laughed at. Those who try the appeasement approach quickly find themselves the next victim. Evil only responds to direct force, and God through Zeke is delivering a direct, forceful message. One of the things that I have learned through the study of both theatre and mass communication is that in certain human situations the use of a well-timed, well-turned expletive is a powerful tool in getting through thick heads and hard hearts.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Evil’s Refusal

Leave a comment

Evil’s Refusal (CaD Ezk 29) – Wayfarer

I will leave [Pharaoh] in the desert,
    you and all the fish of your streams.
You will fall on the open field
    and not be gathered or picked up.
I will give you as food
    to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky.
Exodus 29:5 (NIV)

For over a decade, my family would spend our two weeks of family vacation going to the boundary waters in northern Minnesota. We went to the same place, Camp Idlewood on Rainy Lake. There we would fish, ski, swim, and play. For a boy my age, it was an invitation to all sorts of adventures. I’ll never forget the year my father rented a 16’ john boat and a small outboard motor. I was able to explore the giant lake and its countless islands.

It’s funny how chores can become adventure when it’s something you don’t get to do every day. Every day families would return from a day of fishing and go to the “Cleaning House” which was a small shack designed to “clean” their catch. The fish were filleted and the heads, skins, and guts were dumped into five gallon buckets. Every day or so, those five gallon buckets had to be emptied. Fish guts are a natural meal for birds, especially seagulls. So, I would haul the buckets of fish guts to my little boat, and take them out to a small, uninhabited island not far from camp. There was a large are of rock along the shore and there I’d dump the guts as the seagulls began swarming in anticipation of their feast.

This memory came to mind this morning as I read today’s chapter, which opens a seven-part set of prophesies against Pharaoh and Egypt. In this opening prophetic salvo, Zeke metaphorically calls Pharaoh a “monster” in the Nile River with all the fish of the Nile stuck to his monstrous scales. He then tells Pharaoh that he and the fish stuck to his scales will be left in the desert, just like me throwing fish guts on the rocks, to be food for carrion fowl and scavenging beasts.

The Pharaoh at this time was Hophra (in Hebrew) better known by his Greek name Apries. Hophra made an unsuccessful attempt to rescue Jerusalem from the Babylonian’s siege. He attempted by diplomacy and force to raise a coalition of nations against the Babylonian Empire. When Nebuchadnezzar was laying siege to Jerusalem, Hophra brought his army up in an attempt to assist Judah, but quickly realized he was outmatched and shamefully fled back to Egypt with his tail between his legs. Eventually Hophra’s own people turned on him. The prophecies of both Jeremiah and Ezekiel proclaiming his downfall were fulfilled.

I was also struck by the fact that God’s message of doom for Egypt through Zeke ends with “Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am the Lord.” It struck me because I’m preparing a message for my local gathering of Jesus’ followers this Sunday regarding Moses and the ten “plagues” against Egypt in the story of Moses and the Exodus. Moses lived roughly 1,000 years before Ezekiel. When God tells Moses about the plagues He’s about to unleash on Egypt He tells Moses, “then the Egyptians will know that I am God.” (Ex 7:4-5). One thousand years and God is still trying to get through.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about the nature of evil. At the core, the Great Story is a story of conflict between good and evil, God and Satan, the Kingdom of God and human empire. As I’ve observed before, the Great Story ends in Revelation with Satan gathering “the kings of the earth” in a final battle against God. The presumption here is that as long as there is evil there will always be those who refuse to know, or at least acknowledge, that God is God. Egypt is a recurring reminder of that in the Great Story. Evil always refuses to know and/or acknowledge Good. When I see evil in the events and the headlines of my daily news, I am reminded that this is the Story. This spiritual conflict will continue with all of the tragic aftermath in its wake.

The question for me is which side will I serve? The answer is not in what I say, but in how I live this day.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Best of 2023 #3: Plague and Blessing

Leave a comment

I’m on vacation for three weeks. While I’m gone, please enjoy the top 15 posts from 2023 based on total number of page views and podcast plays. Cheers!

Plague and Blessing (CaD Joel 1) – Wayfarer

A nation has invaded my land,
    a mighty army without number…
Joel 1:6a (NIV)

For Father’s Day this year, the girls bought me a Wisteria vine in honor of my mom, their Grandma Jeanne, who crossed over into eternity back in March. My mother’s favorite color was purple and the Wisteria blooms with large purple flowers.

When I went to plant the Wisteria, Wendy instructed me to plant it a long distance from our patio. Flowers bring bees and m’luv Wendy has a thing about bees and wasps. With her gorgeous mane of thick, curly hair, Wendy has a fear of a bee or wasp getting caught in her hair.

Of course, one can only control nature to a certain extent. So, during the summer months, Wendy is often confronted with the random reality of her flying nemesis “buzzing her tower” like Maverick in his fighter jet. Her intense reactivity to the presence of the flying pests is a sight to behold.

This week, our chapter-a-day journey is going make a quick trek through the short, ancient prophecies of Joel. Joel is a bit of a mysterious prophet on the historical landscape. The historical record both within the Great Story as well as non-Biblical tradition are silent regarding who exactly Joel was and when exactly he lived and carried out his prophetic ministry. He appears out of nowhere and writes one prophetic poem warning of a coming plague and calling the people of Judah to repentance.

The plague Joel warns about is a plague of locusts. For a modern reader here in America, this sounds archaic and mythological, but plagues of locusts devastated parts of Africa just a year ago. It’s horrendous.

As Joel opens his prophetic prognostication, he compares the swarm of locusts to “a mighty army without number.” This isn’t the first time that this phrase was used in conjunction with a locust plague. Psalm 105:34 uses the same phrase to reference the plague of locusts used against Egypt in the time of Moses when Pharaoh refused to let the Hebrews go.

I mulled this over in the quiet this morning. It’s a fascinating connection. In Exodus 10 the locust plague is used against the Hebrews’ antagonist to motivate a change of heart. Now, Joel predicts, God is going to use the same natural plague against His own people to motivate a change in theirs.

What goes around, comes around.

I’m reminded that there is so much in this life that I do not control. As Jesus said in His famous message on the mountainside: “[God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Tragedy sometimes befalls the best of us, while blessing sometimes rains down on the worst of us. I have observed along my life journey that in either circumstance, Jesus’ question remains essentially the same:

“What will I do if the plague tragically strikes? “

“What will I do if I’m undeservedly blessed?”

Joel is promising the former, and calling his people to respond accordingly. But how I answer both questions and how I respond in either circumstance is equally important in God’s Kingdom economy. I’ve observed that we as humans like to think of earthly things in simple binary terms. I’m either the victim of tragedy or blessed beyond measure. The truth of what Jesus taught is that I will likely experience both on this earthly journey, and how I respond is a barometer of my spiritual health.

For Wendy’s sake, I just hope I planted the Wisteria far enough away from the patio.

Chapter to read for tomorrow’s Best of 2023: Revelation 21

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Plague and Blessing

2 Comments

Plague and Blessing (CaD Joel 1) – Wayfarer

A nation has invaded my land,
    a mighty army without number…
Joel 1:6a (NIV)

For Father’s Day this year, the girls bought me a Wisteria vine in honor of my mom, their Grandma Jeanne, who crossed over into eternity back in March. My mother’s favorite color was purple and the Wisteria blooms with large purple flowers.

When I went to plant the Wisteria, Wendy instructed me to plant it a long distance from our patio. Flowers bring bees and m’luv Wendy has a thing about bees and wasps. With her gorgeous mane of thick, curly hair, Wendy has a fear of a bee or wasp getting caught in her hair.

Of course, one can only control nature to a certain extent. So, during the summer months, Wendy is often confronted with the random reality of her flying nemesis “buzzing her tower” like Maverick in his fighter jet. Her intense reactivity to the presence of the flying pests is a sight to behold.

This week, our chapter-a-day journey is going make a quick trek through the short, ancient prophecies of Joel. Joel is a bit of a mysterious prophet on the historical landscape. The historical record both within the Great Story as well as non-Biblical tradition are silent regarding who exactly Joel was and when exactly he lived and carried out his prophetic ministry. He appears out of nowhere and writes one prophetic poem warning of a coming plague and calling the people of Judah to repentance.

The plague Joel warns about is a plague of locusts. For a modern reader here in America, this sounds archaic and mythological, but plagues of locusts devastated parts of Africa just a year ago. It’s horrendous.

As Joel opens his prophetic prognostication, he compares the swarm of locusts to “a mighty army without number.” This isn’t the first time that this phrase was used in conjunction with a locust plague. Psalm 105:34 uses the same phrase to reference the plague of locusts used against Egypt in the time of Moses when Pharaoh refused to let the Hebrews go.

I mulled this over in the quiet this morning. It’s a fascinating connection. In Exodus 10 the locust plague is used against the Hebrews’ antagonist to motivate a change of heart. Now, Joel predicts, God is going to use the same natural plague against His own people to motivate a change in theirs.

What goes around, comes around.

I’m reminded that there is so much in this life that I do not control. As Jesus said in His famous message on the mountainside: “[God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Tragedy sometimes befalls the best of us, while blessing sometimes rains down on the worst of us. I have observed along my life journey that in either circumstance, Jesus’ question remains essentially the same:

“What will I do if the plague tragically strikes? “

“What will I do if I’m undeservedly blessed?”

Joel is promising the former, and calling his people to respond accordingly. But how I answer both questions and how I respond in either circumstance is equally important in God’s Kingdom economy. I’ve observed that we as humans like to think of earthly things in simple binary terms. I’m either the victim of tragedy or blessed beyond measure. The truth of what Jesus taught is that I will likely experience both on this earthly journey, and how I respond is a barometer of my spiritual health.

For Wendy’s sake, I just hope I planted the Wisteria far enough away from the patio.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

“But He Also…”

Leave a comment

"But He Also…" (CaD 2 Ki 17) – Wayfarer

They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.
2 Kings 17:33 (NIV)

Today’s (rather long) chapter tells the end of the story for the northern Hebrew tribes’ Kingdom of Israel. Their Kingdom was under constant threat from their neighbors. They were paying tribute to the Assyrian Empire, but the successive Kings of Assyria were increasingly aggressive. They weren’t content with simply getting paid off for protection, they were bent on the far more lucrative conquest and control of more and more territory.

Hoshea, the last King of Israel, sends envoys to Pharaoh in Egypt in an effort to escape the power and threat of Assyria. I find it ironic that the former slaves return to their former slave masters to indenture themselves from the very one from whom God delivered their ancestors. Hoshea’s gambit failed. Assyria attacks Israel and sends the Israelites into captivity and exile. They then send people of other conquered people groups to resettle in the towns of Israel under Assyrian control.

An interesting side-note: It was the foreign people groups planted by the Assyrians in the towns of Israel who would mix and intermarry with the Hebrews that were left in the land. They became known as the Samaritans, as in the Good Samaritan of Jesus’ famous parable, and the woman at the well whom Jesus spoke to in John 4.

These people whom the Assyrians planted in Israel embraced the God of Israel, but they also clung to the gods they had always known in their homelands. In worshipping the God of Israel, they appointed their own priests outside of the instructions given to Moses for the priesthood in Exodus. Thus they became the “sort of” Jews who were held in contempt by the “true Jews” in Jesus’ day. To put it in the metaphorical terms of Harry Potter, the Samaritans were “mudbloods” to the “pureblood” Jews in power. Jesus famously crossed those religious and cultural boundaries, Dumbledore-like, and was criticized and hated for it.

In the quiet this morning, I couldn’t get the phrase “but they also” out of my mind after it was repeated in subsequent verses. It resonated deeply within me.

How often could it be said of me, “Tom loved God, but he also…

…loved the things of this world he was commanded not to do.”
…hated his neighbor whom he was commanded to love.”
…refused to forgive [insert list here].”
…treated [insert label of ‘those people’ here] with contempt.”
…cared more about money, pleasure, and comfort than obedience.”

Ugh.

It’s so easy to shake my self-righteous head at the ancient Hebrews and Samaritans as I read about their double-minded, half-hearted faith.

When I point my finger at them, there are three fingers pointing back at me.

I leave the quiet this morning with a humble prayer of confession, and the endeavor to live today in an effort to strike “but he also” out of any description others would make of me.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Uncategorized

Villains, Justice, Wrestling

1 Comment

Villains, Justice, Wrestling (CaD Ex 11) – Wayfarer

Every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the livestock. Then there will be a loud cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as has never been or will ever be again.
Exodus 11:5-6 (NRSVCE)

The past few months of COVID shut-downs have been strange on a number of levels. For being non-athletic, creative types, Wendy and I both enjoy watching and avidly following certain sports and teams. We also have the shows we avidly watch. It’s been strange to have so little to watch. Not necessarily bad, mind you. I confess we’ve gotten a lot of things done that have been on the task list for way too long. I’m just recognizing how often we look forward to certain games or new episodes of a certain series.

Game of Thrones was a series to which I was late to the party. Wendy had no interest and I didn’t want to pay for HBO or for each year’s series on DVD. It was a ridiculous Black Friday deal for all but the last season on DVD that gave me many wonderful months of binging while on the road for work.

One of the hallmarks of the Game of Thrones series was the quality of the villains. I can’t think of another series with more despicable characters whom I wanted to get their just desserts and (I confess) die in despicable ways. The writers knew how to create characters I loved to hate, and how to keep me as an audience member passionately desiring a villain’s demise so for so long that when the climax finally arrived it was oddly satisfying in somewhat creepy ways.

Today’s chapter is a climactic point in the Exodus story, though I find it easy to lose sight of this fact. I think that it’s a combination of breaking up the narrative in small daily chunks, translating it into English from an ancient language, and the fact that the ancients weren’t exactly George Martin or Stephen King when it comes to crafting the narrative.

The final plague on Pharaoh and Egypt is the death of every Egyptian first-born, which feels rather heinous on the surface of things as we read with the eyes of 21st-century mindset. There are a couple of important parallels in this story which, I can’t allow myself to forget this, is at its heart about an enslaved, oppressed people being freed from their chains.

Pharaoh and the Egyptians have all the earthly power. They have the absolute authority, socio-economic status, and a system completely rigged in their favor. The Hebrews have one respected leader (Moses, who was raised an Egyptian member of Pharaoh’s household) and this mysterious God who has come out of a burning bush to reveal Himself as the One underdog champion of the oppressed Hebrews against over 1500 Egyptian deities.

[cue: Rocky’s Theme]

Pharaoh has just threatened Moses with death, but Moses informs his nemesis that it is his first-born son (always the favored-one in ancient Patriarchal systems) who will die. I believe most parents would say that losing a child is worse than dying yourself. Pharaoh and the God of Moses have already gone nine exhausting rounds. This plague is the knockout punch. At the very beginning of the story, it was established that the Hebrew slaves cried out in their suffering, and God heard their cries. Now, God proclaims through Moses, it will be Pharaoh and the Egyptian oppressors who will “cry out” in their suffering.

In the quiet this morning, I can’t help but think about my African-American brothers and sisters. Historically, it’s easy to see why the Exodus story has always resonated with African-Americans. Wendy and I just watched the movie Harriett a few weeks ago. “Grandma Moses” led her people to freedom. The heinous videos of Ahmed Aubrey and George Floyd (a brother in Christ) haunt me. The Moses story will always be relevant in a fallen world where broken earthly systems favor some people and not others.

As I meditate on these things, Jesus’ first recorded message echoes in my spirit:

[Jesus] stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 

Some mornings my soul is overwhelmed with questions. Like Jacob, I find myself wrestling with God.

Chapter-a-Day

A Spiritual Contrast

Leave a comment

A Spiritual Contrast (CaD Ex 8) – Wayfarer

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.”
Exodus 8:25 (NRSVCE)

The story of Pharaoh and the plagues is fascinating. Like many ancient cultures, the Egyptians believed that their leader, Pharaoh, was a god. At least, that’s what Pharaoh would have them believe. By raising themselves to the status of deity, leaders put themselves in a social class all by themselves. They could do no wrong and their actions could not be questioned.

Under the literal events in the text, there is a subtle battle going on between Pharaoh (a god, remember) and the God of the Hebrews. It was common for Pharaohs to claim that their deeds, successes, and victories in battle were done by Pharaoh’s “mighty hand.” Throughout the last few chapters, God through Moses and Aaron continues to claim to accomplish these plagues by God’s “mighty hand.” God even has Moses and Aaron “stretch out” their hand with the staff. In each case, this is a direct challenge to Pharaoh’s authority.

The repeated phrase about Pharaoh’s heart being “hardened” can also be interpreted as a challenge to the Egyptian ruler’s claim of being above reproach. According to the Egyptian “Book of the Dead,” the ancients believed that in the afterlife their heart would be weighed on a scale to determine if it is heavier than the metaphorical feather that they believed represented what was right and just. The “hardening” of Pharaoh’s heart may be interpreted that with each turn it is getting heavier, and thus it is an indictment that the ruler is guilty, even by the Egyptians own religious beliefs, of not doing what is right and just by the Hebrew people that he’s enslaved.

What really struck me as I read today’s chapter was Pharaoh’s struggle. He refuses to let the Hebrews take three days to go into the wilderness and worship God. Then, Pharaoh promises to let the Hebrews go if Moses will pray to relieve Egypt of the plague, and then refuses to keep his promise. Then, Pharaoh promises to let them go but only if they do it on his terms by not going into the wilderness.

In the quiet this morning I find myself reminded that Christ asks me to humbly submit myself to God and to others. In fact, that was posture Jesus exemplified in becoming human and obediently suffering on the cross and sacrificing Himself for all. Following Jesus is about following that example, and humbly putting God and others ahead of myself.

In Pharaoh, I see an individual who is sitting on a throne both literal and metaphorical. Pharaoh is the poster child for pride, self-aggrandizement, and self-deception. He is desperately trying to save face and retain some sense of power and authority, but each time he does he continues to reveal that his pride is actually a weakness and a tragic flaw perpetually exposing the deception he’d created for himself.

As I exit the holiday weekend and enter another week, I find myself meditating on the contrast between Pharaoh and Jesus. I don’t have to look very hard to find ways that my thoughts, words, and actions appear more Pharaoh-like than Christ-like. That’s not the person I want to be. I’m reminded of Saul of Tarsus, the powerful and proud Hebrew who was transformed from Jesus’ most zealous enemy to Jesus’ most zealous follower. In the transformation, Paul discovered that weakness is actually strength:

…but [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Chapter-a-Day

Being “Like God” or Being “Like God”

1 Comment

Being "Like God" or Being "Like God" (CaD Ex 7) – Wayfarer

The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
Exodus 7:1 (NRSVCE)

For 21st century followers of Jesus, the idea of being God’s agent on Earth is a common one. Jesus made it clear that He was entrusting His on-going mission to His followers. Holy Spirit was poured out to indwell believers, impart spiritual gifts to each, and empower every believer as an ambassador of God’s Kingdom. Believers often speak metaphorically of being Jesus’ eyes, ears, hands, and feet; We are asked to be, expected to be, the embodiment of Jesus’ love to others.

It struck me then when God told Moses “I have made you like God to Pharaoh.” The only time that being “like God” has come up in the story before now was when the snake tempts Adam and Eve with the forbidden fruit, stating that it will make them “like God.” Until Moses appears, God has been intent on making Himself known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At this point in the story, however, the Hebrews had become a nation of people living in Egypt for hundreds of years with the 1000+ Egyptian dieties.

One of the subtle themes that has already been established in the Moses story is that God wants the Hebrew people to “know” Him, and for Pharaoh to “know” Him. “They will know,” and “Egyptians will know” are repeated statements. In this way, Moses is really the first example of God using a human instrument through which others will come to know God and through whom God will display His power.

This, of course, sets up a really interesting and important contrast.

Being “like God” can be opposite sides of a coin. I can be “like God” by seeking complete control of my life and the lives of everyone around me. If I want to be “like God” by sitting on the throne of my own life looking out for numero uno, doing as I please, and determining my own way with every step, then my path is going to lead to spiritually dark places (even if I wear the facade of being a good and faithful member of my local church). This is the dark side of “being like God.”

When Moses was being “like God” and when Jesus’ followers become “Christ-like” it is a process of humility, vulnerability, and submission. I can’t help but think of Jesus’ words to Peter after the resurrection:

Jesus said [to Peter], “Feed my sheep. I’m telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you’ll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don’t want to go.”
John 21:17-19 (MSG)

Jesus explains that Peter had lived the dark side of being “like God” self-centeredly determining his own way, but now he is going to experience the Light side of being “like God” in which he will (like Jesus’ did) humbly surrender his own rights of self-determination and become obedient to places he doesn’t want to go (i.e. “Father, let this cup pass from me”), even to his physical death.

In the quiet this morning, I’m finding myself surprisingly emotional as I meditate on this very simple concept. In my daily life, in the writing of these blog posts, I take on the mantle of being a follower of Jesus. But, are my daily life, words, and actions a demonstration of the dark side of being “like God” or the Light side of being “like Christ”? Am I living for myself under the veneer of being a good Jesus follower? Is my life a demonstration of the humility, vulnerability, and surrender required to be an agent of Christ-like love?

I’m not sure I like all of the answers I’m coming up with to these questions.

Chapter-a-Day

Spiritual Hearing and Sight Impairment

2 Comments

Spiritual Hearing and Sight Impairment (CaD Ex 6) – Wayfarer

Moses told this to the Israelites; but they would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.
Exodus 6:9 (NRSVCE)

When Jesus was teaching, He would repetitiously tag his message by saying, “Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.” This phrase has always resonated with me. Maybe more so because in the experience of delivering a message I have always experienced that some people really “hear” the message and others do not. Jesus was constantly acknowledging this truth. In explaining to His followers the reason He taught with parables He went so far as to embrace that this is part of a larger spiritual mystery revealed by the prophet, Isaiah:

That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again:
“Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.
    Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.
The people are blockheads!
They stick their fingers in their ears
    so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
    so they won’t have to look,
    so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
    and let me heal them.
“But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear!”
Matthew 13 :13-16 (MSG)

Not everyone wants to see it or hear it in this moment.

Not everyone is ready to see it or hear it in this moment.

In yesterday’s chapter, Moses’ first attempt at getting Pharaoh to let the Hebrew people go was a dismal failure. Not only did Pharaoh reject the appeal, but he made life even worse for the Hebrews whom Moses is trying to lead. In today’s chapter, Moses is prompted by God to have another go at it but his people would not listen “because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.”

In the quiet this morning, I find myself meditating on those whom I observe to be suffering from spiritual hearing and sight impairment. In my experience, the institutional church and its regulatory minions have been too quick to diagnose such a person with a terminal spiritual condition. Judgment and condemnation quickly follow before shaking the dust off and returning to the cloister. I confess that, in my own spiritual journey, I have been guilty of this very attitude.

Mea culpa.

As I began to walk life’s journey along-side those who are struggling to spiritually see and hear, I found them to be a lot like the Hebrews in today’s chapter. There is something broken spiritually. Often it is something old and painful that is deep-seated. Typically it is of no fault of their own. It is the scars of circumstance. I have also observed that there is almost always a true desire to spiritually hear and see, but there is a process. Like the blind man whom Jesus healed, the first time Jesus rubbed the man’s eyes everything was blurry. It took another repetition before the man gained his full sight.

It’s going to take repetition for Moses’ people, too. They are broken. They’re struggling under the weight of their chains and the scars of their overseers. It’s going to take time, repetition, and perseverance before they can hear what God is saying and see what God is doing through Moses.

Along the way, I’ve learned that if someone is spiritually deaf and blind, it simply means I need to keep speaking in love, listening patiently, acting kindly, responding gently, serving faithfully, and controlling my reactions. I’m reminded that on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus was still complaining that His closest followers weren’t hearing Him or seeing what He was doing.

Some things take time.

Chapter-a-Day

Of Tribe and Time

Leave a comment

Of Tribe and Time (CaD Ex 1) – Wayfarer

Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”
Exodus 1:8-10 (NRSVCE)

When it comes to a film, the first shot the director gives you is always an important one. In movie terms it’s called the “establishing shot” and most casual viewers don’t realize how important it is to provide you with the setting, the environment, and the emotion. In many cases, the establishing shot will foreshadow the entire theme of the movie with one quick visual. For those interested, here’s a quick look at some of the best of all time…

Likewise, great authors provide readers with a literary version of an establishing shot. The opening prologue or chapter lay out the scene for the reader.

In today’s chapter, the author of Exodus establishes the scene for the story and the journey on which I am about to embark. At the end of Genesis, Jacob (a.k.a. Israel) and his 70 descendants and their families, flocks, and herds had migrated and settled in the area of Egypt to escape a famine. His long-lost-son, Joseph was Pharaoh’s right-hand and had welcomed them and provided for them.

Exodus now picks up the story, and in the establishing shot, we find that Israel’s descendants have settled in Egypt and have been fruitful in multiple ways. His sons and grandsons are growing their families, having lots of babies, and each is becoming his own tribe. Between Genesis chapter 50 and Exodus chapter 1 we’ve gone from one Hebrew tribe to twelve growing tribes. The problem is, political winds have shifted.

In ancient cultures (we’re talking about 3500 years ago) the world was a harsh, violent, lawless and brutal place. It was tribal. You were born into a tribe, your tribe protected you, and life was about surviving against other tribes. Some tribes, like Egypt, had successfully become nations but every nation and every tribe was focused on protecting themselves against the threat of other tribes bent on conquest.

In Egypt, the new Pharaoh (that is, Egyptian ruler) and his administration take stock of the fact that Israel’s tribe has become tribes, and they have slowly proliferated within Egypt’s kingdom and territory. That is a threat. Remember, it’s a tribe vs. tribe world. Having that many people from a foreign tribe living in their kingdom was scary. It’s one thing to protect yourself from an attack from the outside. It’s another thing if a tribe living among you goes rogue. From a political perspective, Pharaoh had to address the threat. So, he moves to persecute the Hebrew people living among them and to limit their population growth.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself mulling over both the differences and similarities in our world. It’s that point of tension between two extremes. On one hand, the world has changed drastically in 3500 years and that’s the reason many 21st century readers struggle mightily with the brutality and violence of the ancient stories of the Great Story. If I want to understand the Great Story, I have to be willing to embrace that I will never fully understand ancient history yet embrace the understanding that it has value in the context of a larger eternal narrative.

On the other hand, I also find myself muttering that there is “nothing is new under the sun,” and the more things change the more they stay the same. In China, the government is persecuting people groups and religious groups within their population to try and stop their proliferation. They also have, over recent decades, infamously adopted birth control measures eerily similar to Pharaoh (e.g. allow the girls to live, but not the boys) in an effort to control the political and economic threat they feel from population growth. It also strikes me, as I mull things over, that the same tribalism at the root of the Egypt/Hebrew conflict presented in today’s chapter is at the root of everything from benign sports rivalries to toxic racial, social, nationalist, and religious prejudice. I also think of gangs, cartels, crime organizations, religious denominations, and political parties. Humans are still tribal in a myriad of ways.

When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, told the story of the Good Samaritan, healed the child of a Roman Centurion, and sent His apostles to “ends of the earth” He was pushing His followers beyond their tribe. He prescribed a different type of conquest in which tribal boundaries are breached with love and proliferate generosity, understanding, forgiveness, repentance, and redemption. That’s the tribe with whom I ultimately wish to be associated.