Today’s Scripture Reading (July 17,
2015): Exodus 12
I am really not
sure that I want to speak for God or with the authority of God. I have a ton of
ideas, but I am not sure that any of them are God-worthy. One of the phrases that
I know people expect out of me is “thus saith the Lord,” but the words don’t
easily roll off of my tongue. Maybe I have just heard too many Christians speak
to me about the mind and words of God, and I am pretty sure that their “thus
saith the Lord” is a fiction that they have made up in their own minds. The
only thing that I am willing to say that I believe is a “thus saith the Lord”
moment is that God loves you and he expects us to love each other. Beyond that,
well, like I said, I have ideas.
Before
Moses, I am not sure that Pharaoh had any doubt about what was on the mind of
his gods. He could have extolled people on the subject for hours on what was
important – and who was important – and who wasn’t. And early in the fight with
Moses, his wise men were able to match the holy man of God step for step. But
eventually they fell behind, and they stopped even showing up in the presence
of the Pharaoh. Some have speculated that maybe they had died – possibly from
the infection that followed the plague of boils. Pharaoh was left alone – a god
of Egypt confronting a spokesman of the God of the slaves who worked his
empire. And after every battle, Pharaoh was sure that the next battle would be
his – no God of a race of slaves was bigger than he was.
But after
the plague of the firstborn, something changed. Pharaoh had lost his will to
fight the next battle. He just didn’t care about this troublesome race of
slaves anymore. He conceded the battle to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
And now he kicks the Israelites out of his country just as God said he would (in
Exodus 11:1 God tells Moses that after this last plague Pharaoh would drive him
and the people of Israel out of the country – and that is exactly what Pharaoh
is doing.)
But it is more
than that, Pharaoh is admitting defeat. He does not just eject Israel from
Egypt, he wants Israel to pray that their God would bless him – a request that
he would never have considered asking for earlier in the story. Pharaoh admits
that even though he is god, he stands in need of the blessing of the God of
Israel – Pharaoh had been broken.
And
sometimes that is what it takes for all of us. I don’t believe that all of the
bad stuff in life comes from God. I know that I am fully capable of destroying
my own life. But God can use the mistakes that I make of my own free will to
draw me closer to him. When I am broken, those are the moments that I most
clearly understand my need of God. And it is not that I can speak for him. Like
Pharaoh, I simply need to stand and ask for his blessing.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus
13
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