Categories: uncategorized
Date: 10 February 2011 11:42:35
Exodus 6:13 – 8:32 begins with God commanding Moses and Aaron. It seems that once they have “accepted” God’s call that there is a change in relationship that occurs and they then formally become servants of God.
I would argue that this happens at various points when we make choices based on different “callings of the Spirit”, including the initial call to become Christians.
After each call we are putting ourselves in a position of submission and servant hood where we open ourselves up to being commanded by God to do things. Yet at each stage there is still choice, we can choose to desert from our original “call”. As Nirvana put it in Come As You Are, God takes a “I don’t have gun” attitude. (Note here I know that Come As You Are is not a Christian song and is not referring to God but I find it one of the most helpful songs going in terms of being able to subvert the lyrics and somehow "hear God through them").
Aaron in this passage becomes a prophet. Prophet in this situation relates to both words and action. However, what is “prophetic” and who becomes a “prophet” is a huge question I’m looking forward to exploring through reading about what prophets say and do. At the moment I have my ideas, but they are based on a mix of Charismatic theology and liberation theology that sit uncomfortably alongside each other.
In the passage God is still hardening the heart of Pharaoh. I struggle with this....why was seemingly unnecessary suffering and environmental damage caused by God?
It was interesting to observe how first of all the Egyptian magicians were matching God and what he was doing via Moses and Aaron. It was if they were trying to prove their culture and idols were equal to God and the Hebrew culture. When the magicians get to the point where they cannot reproduce what God was doing they recognise his power.
At this point God begins to differentiate between Hebrew and Egyptian areas. It is interesting this would have effectively had the effect of putting a hedge of protection around the ghetto. This I find interesting because often through our intercessory prayers and church culture we seek to put hedges of protection around middle class areas but not the ghetto. This is because we live in the middle class area. The question is raised from this reading: is this exactly the right approach, because God wanted to protect Hebrews or is it wrong because it was the ghetto that the Hebrews would have been living in. Finally, was there the danger that if this area became recognised as being blessed by God the original inhabitants, the Hebrews might have been pushed out because suddenly it would have become a desirable area to live? Do Christian initiatives in poorer areas which are successful actually have this effect by reducing crime, etc and so pushing up property prices? How do we protect those inhabitants that God is choosing to bless?
Moses is sensitive to neighbours and cultural sensitivities and hostility from indigenous population. He refuses to publicly engage in Hebrew sacrifice because he is aware it will lead to political action and stoning from the Egyptians. In this he is acutely aware of the political sensitiveness of the situation and feelings of the “ordinary population”, more so than Pharaoh appears to be. The issues between the EDL and Muslim communities are nothing new. Race relations have been a sensitive issue since pre-history.
Matt 26: 47 -68 Jesus has been arrested and starts to face hostility from the religious elite who are taking out their anger and frustrations on him. He is calmly accepting, he knew what was coming and is ready to take it even if he doesn’t want to. Jesus points out they could have come often enough and taken him in their own territory without the need to try and do it in a way which indicated they were expecting violence. Jesus is a model for how in situations of crisis and persecution when there is no alternative Christians are to truly embody more than simply NDVA tactics, but something deeper which involves a way of being and transcends both humanity and divinity. It is something that only Jesus could truly perfect being both man and God, but it does provide a model which we can use if faced with such things - which God willing we never will be.
Peter follows on behind when the others have left. He is scared and isn’t keeping his word but desperately wants to follow Jesus.
Psalm 19:7 – 14 is a good passage to simply pray. This was what I did with it this morning, recognising that it is a passage familiar liturgy came from.