8/19/2021

Rules/Laws, Liberation/Freedom, Civil Disobedience-Exodus 1-2a

  • What rules do you practice daily? How do you obey God?
  • What does it mean to you to be free and liberated? Is the U.S. truly "the land of the free"?
  • Why precisely does God want you to be free? Are you truly free?
  • Is your fear like that the king (Exo 1:9-10) or of the midwives (Exo 1:17)?
* What rules do you live by? Why did I decide to study Exodus? Why should we study it? A short answer is that I/we need [absolute and non-negotiable] rules in life to live well, and Exodus contains the most famous and most important rule of life--the Ten Commandments (Exo 20:2-17). Tom Brady, age 44, won 7 Super Bowls and is the undisputed GOAT in football. He has great skills. But he disciplined himself to live by certain rules daily regarding his diet, sleep, hydration, pliability, etc, which he keeps year round even in the off season. [He avoids the "W's": white sugar, white bread, white pasta, white potatoes, white rice, white milk.] I have my-7-rules-to-not-gain-weight-and-have-a-belly. When I break the rules, I gain weight, but if I keep them I maintain my weight and/or lose what I gained. It involves a conscious act of the will daily. Likewise, to live well as Christians, we need rules to live by. If we break them, as the Isrealites did, we'll suffer consequences/punishments, but if we keep them, we'll experience God's blessing. What "rules" do you practice daily?

* 10 Commandments. "And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments" (Exo 34:28b). The 10_C is the most important moral code in world history, and the central moral code of the Torah [teaching, instructions, law]. It's the great climax and point of reference of all biblical literature. Together with the Israelites' exodus from Egyptian slavery, the revelation of the 10_C at Mount Sinai are 2 of the most important events in world history. If people lived by those 10 laws alone, the world would be almost devoid of all man-made suffering.

* Freedom and obedience MUST go together. People, even Christians, misunderstand freedom. "I'm free to do whatever I want." Do that and you'll lose your freedom. To be truly free [as a Christian] you need to obey the Law [of God]. If you don't obey the Law, you're not free but a slave of yourself or someone else. The Israelites were liberated for the explicit purpose of serving God, and NOT freedom for freedom's sake.

* Obedience. "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant..." (Exo 19:5a). Exodus stresses throughout the importance of obeying God, which lies at the heart of the covenant relationship (Exo 19:8; 24:3, 7). Moses was initially reluctant to obey. Pharaoh stubbornly refused to obey. The Israelites had to obey God's instructions exactly regarding the Passover. Then after the exodus from slavery in Egypt they had to newly learn obedience to God who delivered/saved them from bondage. But...

...human obedience doesn't create the covenant relationship with God, since God is the one who first acts/initiates; obedience merely maintains it. When the Israelites later made and worshipped the golden calf they were punished for their disobedience and the covenant relationship with God was broken. How is your personal obedience to God?

Liberation with Exodus as a paradigm. Exodus inspired a branch of theology known as "liberation theology." It's emphasis is that God is particularly concerned with the poor, oppressed and enslaved. Since God worked to liberate the Hebrews, generations have expected that God will do the same for them. Thus, this story, as told in the Passover liturgy, has comforted Jews through all kinds of persecution. It has comforted African American slaves. It comforts the poor in Central and South America. The liberating God offers more than spiritual liberation. God's freedom is political, economic, and social; it is a form of re-creation. But, liberation in divine terms is not synonymous with independence in the sense of getting to do whatever you want. God always frees people from serving others by inviting them to serve God instead. Exodus defines true freedom as living and serving in God's kingdom [not in Trump or Biden or Fauci's kingdom]. (See Matthew.)

* Fear God, Civil Disobedience. "The midwives, however, feared God..." (Exo 1:17).

God's agenda, masterfully narrated in Exodus, forms the outline for the book itself:
  • "Let my people go, so that they might worship me!" (Exo 7:16).
  • The Passover. God is to be known as the creator and the redeemer of all things.
  • Ten Commandments is for creating a good neighborhood.
  • God's identity revealed: a forgiving and longsuffering God
  • Tabernacle: God's "dwelling" in the midst of the camp.
Outline (The New Interpreter's Study Outline, 2003)
  1. The Power of the Lord in Egypt (1:1-15:21). Liberation.
    1. The Egyptian Oppression (1:1-2:25) sets the stage.
    2. The Commissioning/Call of Moses (3:1-7:7) as the hero of the story.
    3. The Conflict between the Lord and Pharaoh (7:8-15:21) recounts the events leading to deliverance from Egypt.
  2. The Presence of the Lord in the Wilderness (15:22-40:38). Relationship (Covenant).
    1. The Wilderness Journey (15:22-18:27). Is the Lord among us or not? God is present.
    2. The Revelation of the Law at Mt. Sinai (19:1-24:18). The charter of a holy nation.
      1. (19:1-25) At Mount Sinai.
      2. (20:1-17) The Ten Commandments.
      3. (20:18-21) Moses as Mediator.
      4. (20:22-23:19) The Covenant Code.
      5. (23:20-33) Conquest of Canaan Promised.
      6. (24:1-18) The Covenant Ceremony . 
    3. The Sanctuary of the Lord (25:1-40:38).
      1. The pattern of the tabernacle (25:1-31:18).
      2. Sin and restoration (32:1-34:35).
        1. (32:1-35) The Golden Calf.
        2. (33:1-23) Moses Seeks Assurance.
        3. (34:1-28) Renewal of the Covenant.
        4. (34:29-35) Moses' Shining Face.
      3.  Israel's obedient work (35:1-40:38).
        1. (35:1-36:7) Materials for the Tabernacle.
        2. (36:8-39:43) The Work of Construction.
        3. (40:1-33) Moses Finishes the Work.
        4. (40:34-38) The Glory of the Lord.
Walter Brueggermann, 1994. 4 themes. The God who Liberates: http://popchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Class-One-Handout.pdf
  1. Freedom [sociopolitical liberation] from oppression. A narrative.
  2. God's will for all aspects of [Israel's] personal and public life. Sinai law.
  3. The Sinai covenant is binding. Israel and the Lord are intimately, profoundly and non negotiably committed to each other.
  4. God establishes an enduring presence in Israel's midst through the structure of the tabernacle.
James Bruckner, 2008. 6 perspectives.
  1. Freedom to serve God--NOT freedom for freedom's sake--is the purpose of Exodus [exit]. The Exodus is missional (Exo 3:18; 5:1; 6:6-8; 13:21-22; 19:4; 20:2). Fully, 1/2 of Exodus focuses on worship of the Creator and Redeemer God (ch. 20-40).
  2. Bless the world through Abraham's descendants. God fulfils his promises in Genesis.
  3. Grace of deliverance. The exit from Egypt and God's victory at the Red Sea is God's grace on which the law at Sinai was based. The law is for a good and healthy community life for those God had already chosen, delivered, blessed, redeemed and saved, and with whom God had entered into a personal relationship. The law was NEVER a means of salvation. Grace always precedes the law.
  4. Formation of an emerging people of God. God didn't accomplish everything for God's people at once, nor negate his promise of blessing when they rebelled against God after their deliverance. God redeemed them [again] even from the self-destructive worship of the golden calf. God delivers them not just from an oppressor, but from their own sin as well. Even their rejection of God won't drive God away. God's presence would positively affect every aspect of their lives.
  5. God invited people into a cooperative venture for the 1st time in the creation of the tabernacle. God's glory was first manifested in the beauty of creation, and then in the cloud, fire, manna and mountain. God's glory would be accessible daily, since God would dwell in their midst in the tabernacle through the clouds of presence.
  6. Give God's people hope for the future by remembering God's acts of deliverance in history/in the past. In Deuteronomy, Moses continually looks back to the events of Exodus as a source of inspiration and hope.
INTRODUCTION. The story of Yahweh's rescue of the Hebrew slaves from oppressive slavery under Pharaoh in Egypt has inspired people all around the world for millennia. According to popular author Bruce Feiler, the Exodus narrative is especially foundational to and serves as a recurring narrative in American history. "Even a cursory review of American history indicates that Moses has emboldened leaders of all stripes, patriot and loyalist, slave and master, Jew and Christian." But long before it became a recurring theme in politics, the story of the Exodus was a recurring theme in the Bible. Exodus, the 2nd book in the Torah, tells the original story of how a group of enslaved people in Egypt escaped into the wilderness and became a new people, the people of Israel. The prophets tell the story again, reminding the people of how they have forgotten their liberation and their promises, the Psalms celebrate the story, and in the NT, the story is repeated and reworked in the sacraments–baptism and Communion–and in our commission to be a light for the world (Exo 19:6). In John, Jesus is equated with a bronze serpent Moses held up to save the people from serpents in the desert, and when Jesus commanded that his disciples remain rooted in the vine. Perhaps most of all, Matthew draws upon the Exodus narrative as Matthew frames Jesus as a 2nd Moses figure, ushering in a new era of liberation and a new kingdom, the kingdom of God. One can't really know the Bible without knowing the Exodus story, nor fully understand who Christ was to his Jewish followers either. The Bible and Jesus' life tell us that God's business is to liberate us from things and people that enslave us.

Why study Exodus? Exodus is to Jews what Jesus' death and resurrection is to Christians. In the OT, > 100x God is referred to as "the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Exodus is God's mighty redemptive act to free His people. To this day, the Passover is their commemoration/celebration of their deliverance from Egypt. This mirrors Christian's celebration of the forgiveness of sin in the Lord's Supper.

Genesis--the account of creation, an intro to God: creation, Fall, Noah and the Tower of Babel in Ch. 1-12. Ch. 13-50 is the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Exodus begins where Genesis left off.

Exodus means "way out, exit" Exodus is God's power and sovereignty over the most powerful country, Egypt. God provides a way out of dire circumstances of His chosen people. " No temptation has seized you except what is common to man, And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a 'way out' so that you can stand up under it" (1 Cor 10:13). God still provides a "way out" for His people.

The story of the Jews is our story. Their journey is our spiritual journey. Their freedom from slavery by God's mighty hand is our release from the bondage of sin by the mighty sacrifice of Christ. Their journey in the wilderness is our individual journey of the reality of Jesus in our lives. Their entering the Promised Land through battles, victories/defeats, is our faith journey with the ups and downs of our commitment to Christ. Their division of the land of promise and time of peace is our receiving the inheritance offered to the saints and the peace promised through Christ. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (Jn 14:27).

How are we all to inherit the Promised Land? Entering heaven after death, but we can enter a dimension of the Promised Land here on earth. The Hebrew's story helps us see the sign posts to enter the rest of God, the peace of God and the joy of God here on earth as it is in heaven.

Is the account of the Exodus real? Did it really happen, or is it a story to support Biblical claims? Ancient historians conclude that a group of nomadic people called the Habiru came into Egypt from the east escaping a famine. From Genesis, it was a famine that drove Jacob and his sons to seek asylum in Egypt. Historians also agree that slave labor was used for Egypt's massive building projects. In Exodus 1 the Jewish slaves, as Pharaoh's property, were the backbone of his work force.

Which Pharaoh was it? Most historians think it's the reign of Ramses II in the 19th dynasty ~ 1270 BC. In Egypt today, you see the grandeur of that in ancient times. At the time of Exodus, the pyramids would've been built. Egypt was a mighty world power with a high level of learning and sophisticated engineering feats we still haven't figured out. The city of Aswan has temples to the goddess Ibis that are elegant and beautifully adorned with artwork. Up the Nile to Luxor, you can see the ancient city that stood proudly over the Nile. Egypt, with great wealth and power, used brutal slave force to achieve the remarkable structures we see today. It was a land of many gods; Pharaoh himself was considered a god. Exodus shows how The Living God of the Jews used His power against the gods of Egypt to show His supreme sovereignty to a world in darkness.

How did this Living God become known to the Jews? Spiritually all was in darkness. The Fall caused the world to be a dark place, hence the Flood. After the flood, one candle was lit--Abraham. Though he lived in an idol worshiping world, his heart was open to the one Living God. Once the light was lit in the darkness, it passed on to Isaac, to Jacob, to the 12 tribes of Israel. The Jews were the only people in the ancient world who worshiped the one true God, and these nomadic people were given the responsibility of carrying the light into a dark world.

After 400 years of bondage in Egypt, Moses carries the light passed on by Abraham and becomes the vehicle by which God will free his people from slavery and begin the journey to becoming the nation of Israel. Throughout Exodus God takes actions that are a portent of things to come in the person of Christ. What's hinted at in the OT becomes fulfilled in Christ, who is the Light of the World. With the reality of Jesus and faith in Him, God puts the Holy Spirit lighter fluid on a world stuck in darkness. It ignites and the world has never been the same.

Reference:
  1. James K. Bruckner. Exodus. New International Bible Commentary. 2008.
  2. Robert Alter. The Hebrew Bible. A translation with commentary. The Five Books of Moses. 2019.
  3. Dennis Prager. Exodus. God, Slavery, and Freedom. The Rational Bible. 2018.

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