Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by a skilled worker. – Exodus 26:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 31, 2015): Exodus 26

Canada and the United States are at war. Okay, we haven’t actually broken out the guns against each other in anger since the War of 1812, before Canada was even a country, but the reality is that conflict remains between the two countries. And the conflict isn’t about the insane way that the media in both countries seem to twist the news about the other. And it isn’t even about the fact that some Presidents (George W.) couldn’t locate Canada on a map (I will guarantee that every Canadian Prime Minister know exactly where the United States is. For those Americans who struggle with knowing where Canada is, if you walk north from any of the forty-eight mainland states you will eventually find us. If you are in Alaska, then walk east. If you are in Hawaii, who cares, enjoy your eighty degree day in the sun.)  

The current war between the U.S. and Canada centers around two small islands on the East Coast of the two nations. The Islands themselves (North Rock and Machias Seal) are worthless. There are no natural resources or strategic advantage to the possession of the Islands. But the water that surrounds the Island is a different matter. For in these waters you will find lobster, and with the price of lobster on the rise, these islands have become highly contested.

Sometime I have to admit that I wish there was an obvious way out of these agreements. The lighthouse on Machias Seal is manned by Canadians, so does that mean that it is Canadian. In fact, 100% of the inhabitants of the Islands are Canadian, although admittedly the two coast guard workers at the lighthouse are the only inhabitants of these Islands. But if only there was some way to see inside the argument.

Most disputes would be easier if we work from the inside out. If we could really see the heart of the person on trial, if we could know for certain whether they were at risk for repeating. If we could know that what happened was an accident or done on purpose made to look like an accident, it would be easier to find the verdict. Was this incident a one-time aberration or a hidden practice that has only now have come to the surface? If only we could see inside.

With regard to the temple, that is exactly what God does. The Bible contains detailed descriptions of the things that would never be seen by the average citizen of Israel. The Tabernacle was basically a series of curtains hung up on a supporting structure, and what is described here is the first set of curtains, the ones that would only be seen if you were standing inside the tabernacle. From there you would see the finely woven curtains, and the embroidered cherubim (angels) would fly around you, maybe giving you the feeling that you had arrived in heaven.

But sometimes we forget that the only ones allowed inside the Tabernacle were the Levites. The rest of Israel would never see this scene. They would have to rely on the stories told by others of what existed inside the tent. They would have no idea of what this really looked like except that they had read the words written down by Moses, describing this holy place from the inside out. Some have argued that this also means that angels should never be used as decorations in the meeting hall of the church. God placed the angels, even in the tabernacle, in a place where the people knew they existed but would never see them – inside the tabernacle. And there was absolutely no doubt of who was in possession of the Tabernacle. That would be God. And he owned it from the inside out.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 27

Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. – Exodus 25:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 30, 2015): Exodus 25

What does a church look like? If you begin by describing the building down the way with a cross somewhere on the front of it, you have already taken a wrong turn. But it is these buildings that come to mind whenever we talk about the church. We “go to the church.” We “volunteer at the church.” I have good friends that spend time doing “building maintenance at the church.” We sometimes talk about building a church, and by that we mean that we are wanting to construct a building. We talk about the organization that is the church – an organization that seems to be indistinguishable from what we would call institutionalized religion. But the reality is that in every one of these cases we are wrong. It isn’t the church that we are involved with.

This idea of “the church” also lends itself to what might be one of the biggest misunderstandings in the Bible. In Matthew, Jesus asks his disciples who it is that the people say that he is. The answers he gets back are varied. Some say that you are Elijah, some believe that you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets sent back to us by God to give us guidance. Some believe that you are John the Baptist risen from the dead. Jesus listens to the answers, then he presses just a little harder. But Who do you say that I am? Peter is the one that answers. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus looks hard at Peter and then responds - “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:17-18). I will build my church. We have understood that to mean that Christ would build this organization we call the church and nothing could overcome it. And we are wrong. A better translation of Jesus’ words might be that he will build his people, his fellowship, or his congregation on this statement of faith spoken by Peter. Jesus would seem to be highly disinterested in the organization that is the church.

But we come by the mistake honestly. There was a time when the idea of a gathering place for the people of God was a building – well, kind of. God commands Israel to build his sanctuary. The sanctuary was to be a holy place – a place set apart. It would be a place where the people of God would rally and where God’s word would be proclaimed. It was to be a physical reminder of the presence of God within the community. It was to be a place where God could meet with his people and bless them.

The first sanctuary was the Tabernacle, a movable tent that travelled with Israel during their wanderings. The second sanctuary was the Temple, a physical building made of stone and mortar that was built in Jerusalem. It is the past presence of this Temple in Jerusalem that is the reason why Temple Mount remains such an important place for both Jews and Christians. But the current sanctuary is the church – not a building, but a people. We are the rallying place. We are the place where God’s word is spoken and where God’s blessing is received. The church – no longer a building, but now a people that walks out into the world.

So, on June 17, 2015, when Dylann Roof walked into Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina and shot several people, he had the right idea if his action was against the Christian Church. He could have bombed the church building, or set fire to  it as has happened in the past, but then all he would have done was damaged a building. But the church was never the building, it has always been the people inside the building. Dylann Roof took action against the church – the real church – the one that Jesus said that even the gates of hell would not overcome. And as this church spoke its words of forgiveness back to their attacker, they were proving that Jesus was right. The real church would not be overcome by evil – no matter what form that evil might take.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 26

Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” – Exodus 24:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 29, 2015): Exodus 24

Blood. For many it is simply a squeamish reminder of life. It is the thing that freaks out our young kids when they fall and skin their knees. We give life when we decide to donate it. It is the things that pulses in our veins. In our modern society, blood can be the carrier of disease. We take special care whenever we handle blood, hopefully so that disease will not flow from the blood to us – or from us to the blood. And whether we realize it or not, it is life – because life is impossible without it.

For the Hebrew people, blood had a very special role in daily life. They respected it. They never ate it because it was the life of everything that lived. And the spilling of blood had drastic consequences when it was done without reason. Blood was revered – because life was impossible without it.

As God steps down out of heaven to meet with Moses, his intention is to seal a covenant (a promise) between himself and his people. David Guzik notes that the covenant had four stages. First, it must be written down. And so Moses wrote down everything that God had told him. This would not be an oral agreement – this covenant would be written down for all to read. Secondly, the covenant would deal with human failure. This is why it focuses on sacrifice. The act of sacrifice reinforces that we are not God, and that we are the ones who fail. There was no chance that God would fail us (therefore no heavenly altar was ever built). There was a good chance that we would fail God, and so the earthly altar is built. Third, the covenant is communicated to the people. Never is there a question of whether the people are in agreement with the covenant. To enter into the covenant means that we accept God’s covenant based on his words and his terms – not our words and our terms.

And finally the blood was applied – a symbol of life. This was to be a living covenant, between a living God and a living people. And the life of an animal would seal the deal now – and would continue to atone for the failures of men in the future. The blood was not incidental. The blood had a price tag attached to it. It would be a sacrifice for the animal who would give up its life to give the blood for the covenant, but it was also an economic hardship for the person who owned the animal and had to give up all that the animal represented financially for the family. Blood would never be cheap.

On the night that Jesus was betrayed, the night before his crucifixion, Jesus makes mention of this ritual as he sits with his friends in the upper room. Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:27-28). The price of the new covenant could only be paid by him. It was his blood that would be applied to the altar so that we might have life. And once again we are reminded that the blood would never come cheap.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 25

 

For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. – Exodus 23:10-11

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 28, 2015): Exodus 23

The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s affected 625,000 square miles (400,000 acres) of land in the United States alone. The agricultural catastrophe also extended up into Canada, affecting mostly the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Dust Bowl severely exasperated the economic conditions in North America, making the depression of the 1930’s worse than it needed to be. The cause of the Dust Bowl is not really in question. The 1920’s had not only presented North America with an excellent economic conditions, but above average rains also allowed the Great Plains to be cultivated like they had never been before. Returning soldiers from the World War I were promised free land, or at least very cheap land, in the Great Plains. And they arrived in droves to accept their gift. The pressure and the expectation for new wheat crops continued to keep the farmer plowing more and more of the lands of the Great Plain. But the rains didn’t last. The 1930’s presented a time of below average rains, and droughts that swept over the Great Plains in three waves – 1934, 1936, and 1939-40 – but some areas didn’t see rain for eight long years. The farms were built miles from water, and as long as the rains came, the farms worked. But there was no longer any protection for the land from the drought. And the land, which had been covered with a protective covering of grass, was tired. With its protective covering of grass removed, the result was vast dust storms that roamed the plains as the tired unprotected land simply turned its soil into dust. The Dust Bowl was an early example of what happens when we don’t understand the effect that we can have on our environment.

The biblical Sabbath laws were an early attempt to understand our own relationship with our world. We know that, as part of the human race, we need at least one day off in six – one day away from work – in order to maintain a healthy body. But the biblical injunction for rest doesn’t stop with us. It reminds us that our world is based on a very fragile balance – and that it is our responsibility to maintain that balance. And all of that starts with the instruction that once every seven years we need to allow the land to rest. Let it produce what comes naturally, allow it to replenish the nutrients that it needs to continue to produce crops. It is an ancient practice, but it is a practice that for the first part of the Twentieth Century we seemed to forget.

But we are wiser now. So why is it that, sometimes, that it seems, especially in religious circles, that we forget our relationship with this fragile world? Why aren’t we more worried about the ecological footprint we are leaving on the planet? Why aren’t we doing more to erase that footprint? Our behavior toward the environment today seems to mirror the attitude of the farmers of the Great Plains in the first part of the Twentieth Century. It is essentially the same biblical practice. Our biblical instruction is simply that we are to care for this fragile world. The world has been placed by God into our wise hands for exactly that purpose.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 24

Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. – Exodus 22:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 27, 2015): Exodus 22

Olga Kuzkova has had her beauty pageant (Miss Charming) victory removed. The beauty pageant was sponsored by the Russian Football Premier League. The reason the crown was taken from her was because of accusations that she was involved in neo-Nazism and racism. The charges were made after pictures surfaced on Social Media showing Kuzkova beside neo-Nazi symbols and in support of neo-Nazi causes. One picture, posted by Kuzkova herself, shows her in a skimpy outfit wearing a swastika armband in front of a pair of flaming ovens.

The charges against Kuzlova follow hot on the heels of a revealing video in Britain of Queen Elizabeth as a child being taught by her uncle, the soon to be King Edward VIII, to perform the Nazi salute. While the video has caused a stir in Britain, the reality is that the video reveals the tough situation that Europe experienced as they tried to deal with Nazi Germany in the years prior to the World War II. The two instances are almost bookends to the Nazi experience. Queen Elizabeth, who at the time had no expectation of ever becoming Queen, performing an innocent German action at the behest of her Uncle at a point in history before we knew what Nazism would cost us as global society, and Kuzkova bearing Nazi symbols revealing how deep the Nazi poison has infected us – and still infects us.

But the poison of Nazism continues to rear its head in contemporary socieity. The obvious outbreaks, like that of a winner of a Russian Beauty Pageant, are easy to handle. We can confront and make sure that everyone realizes that this is not acceptable behavior. The harder ones, or the more insidious ones, are some of our personal reactions towards those who are different from us in everyday life. Even within the Christian Church, we have to be extremely careful. Some of the rhetoric that has proceeded out of the Christian right against the sitting President of the United States, Barak Obama, have been equally unsettling. Nazi poison would seem to continue in infect even us, and poison our society.

At the heart of all of this is the simple question of how we treat the stranger in our midst, or how we treat the ones not like us. Our Societies are made up of people who may have a different skin color, or possess different spiritual beliefs. And the question that we are struggling to answer is simply this – how do we have relationship with them? How do we honor them in the daily life of our culture?

The biblical standard is plain – we are not to mistreat or oppress (or say unkind things about) people who are not like us. The evidence of God’s work in our lives is found in how we treat people unlike ourselves. And the question is not an arbitrary one. Some Spiritual leaders strongly believe that the destruction of Jerusalem and the extensive loss of life at that point in Israel’s history can be directly traced back to their failure to fulfill this one law. They refused to welcome the foreigner and suffered an end similar to that of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah who failed to honor the stranger and were destroyed. The stakes are extremely high. And the reality with regard to the continuing health of our culture is found in learning to honor the ones who are not like us. Only then can we truly be said to be reflecting the image of our God into our world.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 23

 

If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money. – Exodus 21:10-11

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 26, 2015): Exodus 21

From our modern perspective, the Bible stance on women is hard to understand. And too often in our history we have misunderstood that stance of the Bible, thinking that the Bible was being prescriptive (saying that this was the way things should be) rather than descriptive (simply describing what is.) In the culture from which the Bible was written, women were property. It was not just this way in Israel, but rather in most of the known world at the time a woman was very simply something that was owned. So it is very logical with this understanding that women would be integral in the discussion on slavery.

But the Bible’s stance is not that this is the way that it should be. Even with the idea of slavery, consistently the Bible’s position is simply “if this is the way the human heart is going to take civilization, then we need to place limits on the practice” or “if you are really going to do this, then let’s, at the very least, make the practice as humane as possible.” And maybe this is nowhere more clearly seen then in the practice of buying a woman to be the wife of a son.

There are a couple of realities working here. The first is purely economic. It is cheaper to buy a slave woman then a woman to be a wife. So the Bible correctly predicts that the practice of finding wives for sons would, at least at certain times and under certain circumstances, be to buy a slave for the son. Knowing this could be the practice, the Bible places limits on this behavior saying that the slave would, in these circumstances, rise to the status of a daughter; possessing all of the rights of a natural born daughter. And this status was irrevocable. There could never be a circumstance where the wife of the son would cease to be a daughter and would return to the status of slave. She must always be a daughter, or she must be released as a free woman. No other reality is appropriate.

But the Bible also recognizes the fickle nature of the heart. Then, as now, the heart has a tendency to wander. If this happened, it could not be seen as an excuse for any kind of abuse. The wife still must be fed and clothed, even if someone new comes along. She remains the responsibility of her husband to be cared for as long as he is alive. Abuse is not to be tolerated under any circumstances. And if abuse exists, then the woman is to go free. This understanding was given to protect the woman.

As women gain in their independence and rights, these regulations can almost come to be seen as antiquated. But maybe where they impact with our society is here. There is no reason acceptable to the Bible where a man has the right to speak harshly to a woman, no reason where he has the right to deprive her of what she needs. And if a woman is abused, then the marriage is simply annulled and the blame is placed on the man, not on the woman. In these circumstances the woman is to be given her freedom, as if the man never happened.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 22

 

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” – Exodus 20:17

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 25, 2015): Exodus 20

What is the biggest gift the American Republican Party could give to its Democratic rivals? It is an easy question. The answer is Donald Trump. The genius of Mr. Donald is that his comments have motivated the core of the Republican Party to support him. He is speaking their language, clearly identifying their dreams and aspirations; what it is that they want for the future. The problem is that the ideals at the core of the Republican Party are largely unelectable. And thus the gift. If the Democrats win the American Presidential Election a little more than a year from now, the reason for the win will most likely be Donald Trump. As President Obama’s lame duck presidency struggles to find the finish line, the United States is ready for a change. But Donald’s presence is making a change in political party unlikely.

Personally, I don’t believe that we will ever see a Donald Trump led Republican Party no matter where Donald appears to be in the polls. At some point the Republican Party will wake up and recognize Donald Trump for what he really is – political entertainment. But if he does win the nomination, then the Democrats win the election because Donald will not be able to come back from the things that he has said that has mobilized the core of the Republican Party; the espousing of what are really unelectable ideals. But if he loses the nomination, there seems to be a good chance that Trump will run as an independent Third Party candidate. If that happens, Trump will successfully split the Republican core vote and the Democratic Party will burst through to victory – most likely with a minority of the votes. This is a great example of how interconnected our political system really is. And when Hillary Clinton (a candidate in the Democratic Nomination process) comes out and praises John McCain (an esteemed Republican Senator), defending him from the words of Donald Trump, the interconnectedness is raised to the next level. And the key to the next election would seem to be in the hands of Donald Trump.

There is an argument that the Ten Commandments might not be “Ten.”  In fact, we sometimes disagree with which commandments are really listed in this passage. But there is a very interesting argument that surrounds the last one – Do not covet (or do not desire what it is that you cannot have.) The argument is that, other than the first commandment, this is the only commandment that is spiritual in nature. While the other commandments are all about the things that we do, the final one is about the nature and condition of the heart. Not coveting is not something that you do – it involves who you are. Some argue that covetousness is an automatic response in all who have not been changed by their relationship with God.

But some also argue that this final commandment is not a commandment at all – it is a promise. “Do not covet” is interconnected with all of the other commandments. If you can figure out how to do the first nine, you will have already dealt a death blow to your covetous nature. Or maybe in reverse, if you can figure out how not to covet, the other commandments will (or at least the final five which all deal with our relationships with each other) will be a cake walk. The key to the interconnectedness of the commandments is hidden right here with the command not to covet. And covetousness is not about giving into or acting on the wrong desires of the heart, it is essentially about not having those desires in the first place. The fate of the Ten Commandments in our lives rises and falls with what we decide to do with this last one – Do not Covet.        

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 21

And the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. – Exodus 19:10-11

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 24, 2015): Exodus 19

Of all the people who are alive right now, who would you most like to meet tomorrow? Stephen Hawking and Queen Elizabeth would probably be on my list. If tomorrow was the day that you were to come face to face with someone from your list, what would you do tonight? Would tomorrow be just another day? How would you sleep tonight? What would your ritual look like tomorrow morning? For most of us, tonight would be a night of preparation. We would probably obsess over simple things like what are we going to wear for the meeting. We would check and. if you are like me, recheck to make sure that our clothes are clean. Tomorrow morning we would clean ourselves, we would make sure our breath was fresh and do whatever we could do to make the right first impression. This would be important to us, because meeting with these people would be important to us.

Moses was about to meet with God. And so Israel was instructed to prepare for the meeting. They were to wash their clothes. It was not that they would dress like kings and queens as they drew close to God, but they would wear their best, cleaned and pressed. This meeting with God was significant – and Israel needed to be prepared.

As Christians, we have lost this idea. We used to believe in the concept of wearing our Sunday Best to the weekend worship service. The idea behind the practice was simple – as we come to worship God we are preparing for a meeting with him. Just as with Moses, God is preparing to draw near to us, and it is up to us to prepare to draw near to him. It is not that we should arrive dressed beyond our stature, but if we are truly meeting with God as we come to our weekend worship services – if we really expect that we will be meeting with God – shouldn’t he benefit in the same preparation that we would give if we were about to meet with someone on our ‘most like to meet’ list.

But this might be the problem. Maybe we have lost the expectancy that God is coming down to meet with us as we gather to worship him. That the presence of God that we experience as we worship together is not something that is manufactured by the music and message, God’s presence is not found in clever lighting and it is definitely not part of the multimedia display. When we worship him, God really comes down and meets with us. Who could be more important for us to prepare to meet?

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 20

But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. – Exodus 18:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 23, 2015): Exodus 18

Bill Cosby has admitted his transgressions. For all of his supporters, the day of the revelation was a truly dark day, although I think many were expecting that day to come. And many feel justifiably that they have been deceived. Cosby denies that he is a sexual predator, but he does present himself as a playboy who made the most of his fame, financial stature and strong sedatives in his pursuit of young women. The resulting profile is in conflict with the image that he has projected of himself for many years – the image of a father figure and societal moralist. In spite of the wisdom that Cosby has spouted for years, now all that is left are the words of a hypocrite. In the end he proved to be nothing more than his occupation – he is nothing more than an actor on the stage.

The problem is that many of us thought that we saw something more in him, we believed the public image that he projected. He was someone that we believed that we could look up to, no matter what race we might be. Maybe what hurts the most is that we saw in him a hope for the future where the races could finally be brought together – where Black and White could recognize the good in each other; where we could finally see the very image of God in each other.

Jethro speaks to Moses and he gives to Moses the expectations that Moses needs to look for in a leader. First, he must be capable. Here is the truth - even a wicked man who is capable is better than a righteous man who is unable to do the job at hand. History is filled with people who were irreligious but proved to be very capable leaders. It is something that I think we often forget. Somehow we have believed the lie that to be a person of faith is all that we need, that capability is somehow superfluous for a person of faith. But Jethro makes it clear that this is not the case.

The second condition is that they fear or have a desire to honor God. They must be leaders who believe in something that is beyond themselves. The problem is that when the end is ourselves we can justify almost anything. We have to be willing to look beyond ourselves and our own needs to something that is outside of us. And admittedly, this is not easy. After all, when we take a look at our own lives, what we see is us. What could be more important than that?

The third condition is that they be trustworthy people, or people who understand the idea of truth. Truth is the bedrock of justice; without truth, justice will always be tainted. Lying judges are a curse in any culture.

And the last condition is that they hate dishonest gain – they cannot be bribed either by money or by reputation. They are willing to chase after that truth that is beyond themselves.

These people are hard to find. But in Bill Cosby, I think that this is who we believed that he was. Which made his fall even harder. But we still need to chase after these people – or even better, aspire to be exactly this kind of person. To be the one who is capable, willing to look beyond ourselves, to exist as people of truth who cannot be bribed or influenced - this is who God has designed us to be.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 19

So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?” – Exodus 17:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 22, 2015): Exodus 17

In Dean Koontz’s 2008 novel “Breathless” the thriller writer makes a comment about the difference between science and religion. According to Koontz, true scientific truth is never fixed – it is an ongoing experience. Science never arrives at the place of certainty. As proof, Koontz offers two scientific errors that until very recently we accepted as scientific fact. The first was the idea that the universe was eternal – the idea that the sun and the stars have simply always been there and will be there. And this scientific idea was accepted until we finally noticed that the universe was expanding – and something that is expanding cannot be eternal. The expanding universe has led us to hypothesize about the possibly of the universe beginning in a “Big Bang.” And the hypothesis of the possibility of a “Big Bang” at the beginning of creation ended the certainty of something that we had thought was proven – the eternal universe.

The second example Koontz gives is the idea of spontaneous life out of dead objects. It seemed so clear for millennia that flies spontaneously came to life out of rotting meat. We just accepted that that was true until we discovered that the rotting meat simply hid the eggs that the flies had laid there. Life could be the only origin of life (although in the ending of the novel, Koontz also throws this truth away.) For Koontz, science never accepts any theory as the ultimate reality – it always tests and struggles for truth, not readily accepting anything as truth. But when scientists start to believe in science as the ultimate holder of truth, they have in that moment ceased to be scientists and have become evangelists for some kind of misguided religion.

I think Koontz is right, but more than that I think that religion is also supposed to mirror science – it is supposed to also be an eternal struggle for truth. Religion at its very root is an opportunity to see the world in a different way. It is a chance to make the world better, to work toward the way that life should be – but it is not a guarantee that good is simply going to be handed to us. It is something that we have to work toward.

Israel needs water. But the reality is that they were in the desert, the need for water should not have been a surprise. What should have been understood was that as God released them from slavery into the desert that surrounded Egypt, life from this point on was going to be partly about the search for water. But Israel doesn’t seem to want the struggle. They want water without having to do anything about it themselves. And so they cry out to Moses because he is with them. But their problem is really with God.

So Moses asks why they (Israel) insists on testing God, but tempting God might be a better translation of the prophet’s question. Why do you tempt him to do something? It might be that God decides to take this opportunity away from you. Israel, it is time to rise up and do something. You are better than this. God has given to you an opportunity. Stop complaining and refuse to accept this as your reality. Join together to make a difference – which just might start with trying to find some water if you are really thirsty.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 18

The LORD said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’” – Exodus 16:11-12

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 21, 2015): Exodus 16

Donald Trump continues to surge in the polls, and I have to admit that I am secretly hoping for a long run. No, I am not necessarily a supporter of Donald, but he might just be about the only person of the two or three dozen people who are actively or covertly campaigning for the office of President of the United States who is actually speaking his mind. It seems that everything else that we are hearing on the campaign trail is well practiced and well thought through. The words that are being spoken so passionately by the candidates have been well argued over by their advisers behind the scenes. These are the words that the various camps want us to hear – unfortunately maybe not what we need to hear, nor are they words that necessarily reflect what it is that the candidate is thinking. This is the edited heart of the campaign.

That is, unless we are talking about Donald Trump. And that just might be what is so appealing about his candidacy. We don’t have to guess what Donald is thinking, he tells us. And yes, his words may make us mad, they may infuriate our sensibilities, they may not even be politically correct utterances, but at least they are interesting. And the murderer of almost any campaign is boredom. As soon as we stop caring about what the candidate is saying, then the run is over. And whether or not we should care, we seem to care about whatever it is that happens to be on Donald Trump’s mind – and so his candidacy not only continues – it surges.

If we are experiencing a déjà vu moment as we read this passage, it is not our imagination. And it is also not some kind of poetic dualism. The conversation between God and Moses in verses 11-12 are a repeat of the conversation that happened between God and Moses earlier in the chapter. And that is what leads some to believe that these words were not spoken privately to Moses, but publically to Israel. Moses was no longer standing in front of Israel with the message ‘thus saith the Lord.’ The candidate of Israel was speaking for himself, telling Israel exactly what is on his mind.

And the message may not have been one that Israel wanted to hear. Yes, they were getting what they wanted, but from the mouth of God they were also experiencing a bit of what might be thought of as a ‘Donald Trump’ moment – they were hearing exactly what was on God’s mind in an unguarded moment. God doesn’t tell Israel that he has heard their concerns, or that he was taking in consideration their input. Both of those might have been encouraging (and politically correct) words to hear from the Almighty One. But that is not what God says. He says that he has heard them grumble. He has heard them whine and complain. God does not attribute to them the characteristics of strength and courage – he has heard them grumble.

This is the unedited heart of God. And if you are going to hear words actually spoken by God, you might be hoping for different words. I am pretty sure that that was the truth for Israel.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 17

“The LORD reigns for ever and ever.” – Exodus 15:18

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 20, 2015): Exodus 15

Have you ever really considered the National Anthem of the United Kingdom? The words to the anthem are familiar to many of us. But do we really mean them? Okay, for those of us outside of the Commonwealth, the words are probably most often just a quaint reminder of times past. For those of us inside the Commonwealth, but not living in the United Kingdom, maybe the words should mean a little more. And for those living in the United Kingdom, the words should hold the most meaning. But I wonder if the reality is that the words are really a quaint reminder of times past for all of us.

God save our gracious Queen
Long live our noble Queen
God save the Queen
Send her victorious
Happy and glorious
Long to reign over us
God save the Queen

The question that I struggle is this – what does it mean to reign? If it means that the one reigning has some sort of control over us, I am not sure that Queen Elizabeth II really reigns. The expectation of the government is that the Royal Family will remain non-political. Their job is one of being a symbol rather than being a presence. And I wonder if it takes presence in order to really reign.

I have to admit that I absolutely love it when Elizabeth gets political. I relish the moments when she takes a firm position, whether it is with regard to the future of Scotland as a partner within the United Kingdom or about whether the United Kingdom should remain as part of the European Union. (And yes, I know that the press office at Buckingham Palace would assure us that neither time was the Queen getting political – but we all know that she was.) She has earned the right, as did her parents before her. I want to know what Elizabeth II thinks on a variety of issues, and too often she seems to be silenced – and that is something that a person who has seen as much as she has should never be. But I am not a member of the United Kingdom – I am a displaced Irishman living on another continent as part of the Commonwealth. I also have to admit that I am not sure King Charles, if and when he takes the throne, has earned the same right. I will wait and see – but in my mind Elizabeth II definitely has. And I can heartily agree with the sentiment of the anthem – long to reign over us.

Moses closes his song with these words – The Lord reigns forever and ever. In the time of Moses, this cannot be assumed to mean that the Lord has symbolic value to the nation of Israel. In this moment, as Moses pens the song, it means reigns as in God is fully present in Israel, that Israel will place no restrictions on what God will do and what he can say. They will follow his dictates because he reigns – really reigns.

Unfortunately, while Israel meant it in this moment, the feeling would soon wane. Sometimes the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would occupy just a symbolic place in Israel – much like the British Royal family seems to occupy now within the United Kingdom. At other times, Israel would actively go out and look for another god – one that would bring the victory the way that they wanted it. But that is not the job of one who reigns. The one who reigns is to reveal what is truth even when we don’t want to see the truth. Sometimes that was just not what Israel wanted from the God who sat on the throne.

But no matter what stage Israel was at, that “the Lord Reigns forever and ever” is a theme that will continue all the way through the book, finding its completion in the Song of the Lamb in Revelation. This is who we serve – the one who reigns over us, really reigns with his presence over us, until the end of time. To him we bring honor and glory, forever and ever.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 16

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. – Exodus 14:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 19, 2015): Exodus 14                                                       

On June 4, 1745, Prussian King Frederick the Great cornered an allied force consisting of Saxons and Austrians in the mountainous region of South Silesia. The war was essentially a boundary dispute over control of the area that was being waged between the Prussians and the Austrians. The Prussian Empire was the fifth smallest empire in Europe, but Frederick knew how to make the most of his resources. The allies’ entrance into the mountains of South Silesia was a misstep. Frederick allowed the armies to enter the mountains hoping to trap them there. Earlier as Frederick had planned for this precise moment, he had told his men that “if you want to catch a mouse, leave the trap open.” The trap was open and the forces of the enemy had walked squarely in. From the moment the armies entered the trap the matter was settled. Prussia would win the battle and likely the war. Now it was only a matter of time.

Israel had walked squarely into their own trap. And then it looked like they were hesitating, unsure of which way to go. Israel’s strategy had seemed flawless up to this point, but now it appeared as if the fledgling nation had overstepped its abilities. The Pharaoh saw this – and he likely believed that Israel simply did not have the intelligence to survive on their own. They were born to be slaves and they would never be anything else.

So Pharaoh gathers his army and closes off the entrance of the trap. Now it was only a matter of time. Israel had no place to go, no avenue of escape. The mouse had entered into the trap and now it was helpless against the superior forces of the Egyptian Army. What was left was nothing more than a mop up exercise and the transportation of the slaves back to Egypt where they belonged.

But in this moment of defeat, Israel looked up and saw the approaching army. They realized their grave error. The escape from Egypt had almost worked, but now it looked like they were heading back to Egypt one more time. The leadership of Israel, namely Moses, had led them into a cul-de-sac from which there was now no escape

And then Israel cried out to God. It is amazing how often we do that when we are in trouble – even if we really don’t believe in God. But when we are faced with life altering circumstances, our response is often a desperate act of faith. God on the other hand was about to show Israel once and for all that he was bigger than Pharaoh – and that there was no situation from which he couldn’t deliver them. God’s answer in this moment should have been the final lesson in the art of depending on God for Israel. It was the moment to which prophets and priests of the future would often point back. Because Israel cried out to God they were about to experience a defining moment for their nation. But unfortunately not even that would be enough for Israel to learn their lesson of faith. They would continue to stumble and never quite trust – in spite of the fact that they served the God of the cul-de-sac – and of the Red Sea.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 15

On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ – Exodus 13:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 18, 2015): Exodus 13

One of the essential things that we do is teach our kids. We are not given care of them for almost two decades of their lives just so that they can learn everything about life from their friends or experience. Those who advocate that experience is the best teacher has not really thought things through. If we learned everything by experience we would not make it into our adult years – something would have already killed us. Some recreational drugs become highly addictive after the first experience. Our kids need us to guide them through. And, yes, sometimes we will feel like killjoys, but our kids will quite literally die if we abdicate our responsibility to lead.

And the most important areas of guidance is in the area of religion. Some parents seem to think that it is enlightened to let their kids make the choice. I can’t think of anything more irresponsible. As parents, and as grandparents, we need to guide our children into faith. It is too important a decision to leave up to them. We need to be able to articulate why we believe, and why we feel it is important to believe. We need to tell those that follow us the positives that God does for us because the world will quite quickly furnish them with all of the negative elements of religion. We need to be able to fight against the common misconceptions (like religion is the reason why we have wars. The truth is that religion is often the excuse, it is seldom the reason). We need to be able to lead our kids toward good. Every generation, every faith is threatened with extinction. If no one picks up the baton, then the faith will die. And I believe if that were to happen that the world would be a much sadder place (and I am not speaking of just Christianity, all faiths give us the potential to make a positive difference in this world. I am not saying that I believe that all faiths are equal, or that there are not eternal differences between the faiths, but every faith that seeks beyond itself in trying to find God invites the worshipper to see this beautiful planet in a different way.)

And so Father tells son. Mother tells daughter. We invite our children into the rich meaning of the rituals with which we pursue after God. We tell them of the things that God has done. For the Jewish faith, the story of the Passover and the events that God did in the midst of the people of Israel as he brought them out of slavery was very important. The underlying message for each generation was that if it were not for God, we would still be slaves. We weren’t ingenious enough to figure our way out. You may have the blood of King David in you, but if it were not for God, King David would have been nothing more than a lowly slave. God sent Moses and God led Moses and Israel out of their captivity and into a new and better life that they didn’t even dream was possible. God did it!

For the Christian, the Passover ritual takes on a fresh and new meaning. We understand that we were slaves too – slaves that could only be released from our bondage by the perfect sacrifice of the perfect lamb – Jesus. This he did for us so that we could live. This he did so that we are capable of making this world a better place, a more beautiful place – even for those who refuse to believe. Without God none of this would be possible. This is what God has done for me. And this is what I need to tell my children.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 14

During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” – Exodus 12:31-32

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

Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. – Exodus 11:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 16, 2015): Exodus 11

Pope Francis encyclical on climate change, which was released a month ago, continues to take heat in certain corners. And if the subject matter wasn’t so serious, it would almost be laughable. Some of the arguments that have emerged seem to have been created somewhere down Alice’s rabbit hole – they just don’t make any sense. Among the excuses I have heard have been that the Pope can’t be right about Climate change because he opposes gay marriage (I am still trying to figure out the connection between climate change and gay marriage) or that he can’t be right because he believes that the world is overpopulated and yet he refuses to endorse the use of condoms (again the connection with climate change seems to be missing.) One of the most level headed responses is that the Pope simply believes that the earth is the creation of God and that we have been given the task of caring for it – whatever that might take. That understanding of the Papal encyclical is almost biblical.

Pope Francis has also been attacked because he is trying to take a science issue and make it a religious one. But what all of the attacks seem to miss is that we have a problem. We are recording higher and higher temperatures in many parts of the world, the polar ice is contracting (as are mountain glaciers – one glacier that I visited as a child is now a mere shadow of what it used to be – and that change has happened in my lifetime), and California is in the middle of a historic drought. And one of the issues that we seem to be hung up on is discerning who deserves the blame for climate change – is the current global situation due, at least in part, to the actions of man, or is this a normal cycle. But the problem is that the blame doesn’t matter. If we are going to continue to survive on this planet, we need to figure out a way to stop the current climate change, even if we aren’t the ones at fault. If we don’t, there will be a much bigger problem that will have to be solved by our children. And I don’t want them to look back at my generation and say that because we refused to sacrifice in our time, they will have a much tougher time just trying to live. For me, that is the nightmare scenario.

Generations of biblical scholars have argued over the plague of the first born. Did it really happen, and if it did, what does that say about the character of God? But in the end it is really the wrong question, and not one that would have been asked in antiquity. We can’t read ancient texts with a modern mindset because, when we do, we miss the ancient focus.  For the plague of the firstborn the ancient focus was simply this – how could Pharaoh miss all of the warnings and signs; after the first nine plagues how did he not take Moses seriously and allow the tenth to happen when the solution to the problem was so clear – let Israel go. Pharaoh’s pride and his unwillingness to sacrifice became something that would have to be paid for by the next generation, and it would be paid for by the entire society including the animals in the field – all because Pharaoh refused to do what he needed to do.

Regardless of who is at fault for climate change, the Papal encyclical should be a reminder of our own responsibility to the next generation – and the last thing that I want to do is make their journey through life harder than it needs to be. I need to be willing to do what I need to do – no matter what it might be that that entails.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 12

If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. – Exodus 10:4-5

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 15, 2015): Exodus 10

From March to October, 1915, locusts invaded Palestine. The locusts stripped the area of almost all vegetation. Nothing was able to grow from the ground without being eaten by the locusts and the situation in Palestine grew desperate. According to The New York Times, the price of flour had increased to $15 a sack (in 1915 a 5 lb. bag of flour would normally cost about $0.21) and potatoes were selling for six times their normal price. Sugar and petroleum couldn’t be bought at any price and The Times said that money had ceased to circulate. As a result of the plague, the military began a campaign to try and burn the locusts off of the fields. And at one point a law was enacted that required every male between the ages of 15 and 60 to collect 20 kilograms of locust eggs or pay a fine. And the law was strictly enforced.

The 1915 infestation, only 100 years ago, is just one example of the seriousness of a locust infestation. There have been several other locust infestations that destroyed crops in the last century. They come almost in cycles. But the devastation that they bring are almost always the same. Crops are destroyed, prices increase and starvation becomes a real possibility. Plagues of locusts in the past have obscured the sun for hours and have covered the ground inches deep.

But experts believe that while locusts have been a real problem all over the earth many times in history, this may have been a first in Egypt. They had heard of locust plagues, but up until now they had never really experienced the devastation that these things can cause. Up until now it was as if the gods of Egypt had been able to protect the land from this devastating occurrence. But once again the gods of Egypt proved to be impotent when they come up against the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

But students of the Bible can’t help but notice that this plague, early in the second book of the Bible, seems eerily like the one that occurs in the last book of the Bible. And once again it is locusts that play the leading role. Except this time it is not the grass or the trees that are the target. It is anyone who does not bear the seal of God on their forehead. And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads (Revelation 9:3-4).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 11

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on people and animals throughout the land.” – Exodus 9:8-9

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 14, 2015): Exodus 9

One of my favorite novels is a book written by Science Fiction great Frank Herbert. The book was written in 1982 and set in the very near future. It is called “The White Plague” and it tells the story of a man whose family is killed while on vacation in Britain by a bomb blast that had been set off by a group of terrorists. As a result of losing his entire family, the man, a molecular biologist, decided to devote the rest of his life in the development of a plague that would specifically bring his revenge on the countries that he blames for the murder of his wife and children – specifically Ireland (for supporting the terrorists), England (for giving the terrorists both a cause and a target) and Libya (for training the terrorists). But the reality is that, while the plague was intended for just those three areas, it quickly spreads to the rest of the world as people run from the infected areas bringing the plague with them to all of the corners of the earth. The victim of terrorism had been transformed into a terrorist much worse than the terrorists who had originally set this sequence of events in motion. Near the end of the novel the man walks the hills of Ireland to admire the works of his hands – a land with very few people still alive to enjoy the green Irish hills.

God tells Moses to take the soot from the furnace and toss it in the air in the presence of the Pharaoh. The text does not indicate what furnace, but we have long suspected that God’s intent was that the soot was to be taken from one of the kilns where the people of Israel had worked and given their lives in the creating of bricks for the Egyptians. Now that same soot, which had stained the skin and clothes of Israel, was going to be used to create a plague which would infect not those who had been oppressed by the wealthy of Egypt, but rather Egyptian oppressors of Israel. And like in Herbert’s novel, there would seem to be poetic justice in this. The dust that had been created in the making of bricks would now be used to create boils that would have an effect on all corners of Egyptian society.

It also has been noted that this was the first plague to specifically have caused death in those who had contracted the disease. Experts have wondered if this could have been the first appearance of anthrax or of an anthrax like disease. If it was, it would have seemed like the soot that Israel produced in the making of the bricks would have somehow sunk into the very skin of the Egyptians, leaving them sick and causing both disease and death.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 10

If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. – Exodus 8:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 13, 2015): Exodus 8

James Patterson says that the television series “Zoo” (currently airing on CBS) will be better than the book. As an avid reader, that is saying something. I read the Patterson book last summer and enjoyed it thoroughly. Without giving too much away for those who want to read the book or watch the summer T.V. series, “Zoo” is a thriller that asks the question “what exactly would happen if the animal populations of the earth somehow began to act the way that humans do – killing not just for food, but for sport? What if they were suddenly given the ability to get back at the humans who have tormented and killed them for so long?” The answer provides the background for everything that happens in the Patterson book – and in the summer CBS television series.

But Patterson’s basic question is an interesting one - and it comes with some different applications. In our current area of study, the question that we should be asking is why frogs? Why flies and gnats? Wouldn’t have been a far more dramatic and scary plague if there were lions and tigers that were preparing and planning to kill humans indiscriminately for sport like they do in the Patterson’s book. I mean, doesn’t the presence of a lion in your midst fill you with more dread than the presence of Kermit (the frog)?

The answer to the question once again goes back to the Egyptian gods. As we saw in the examination of the first plaque, one of the earliest gods was the god Khnum. He was seen as the creator and the protector of the Nile. In fact, the Nile River itself was an object of worship in ancient Egypt. One of the side effects of the Nile being turned to blood was that God was proving that he was bigger than Khnum. Khnum was shown to be impotent in his purpose to protect of the waters of Egypt when he came face to face with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The plague of frogs carries a very similar impact on the people. Khnum’s wife was Heqet. Heget was a fertility goddess who was associated with the frogs of Egypt. When the Nile overspread its banks, bringing life giving water to the fertile regions of Egypt, the frogs came with it. The presence of the frogs was seen as evidence of the return of life to the area – and as such they were welcomed. The frog, along with Heqet who was often portrayed as a woman with a frog’s head, became an object of worship in Egypt.

But as the frogs multiplied in the second of the plagues to which Egypt is subjected, it is not hard to imagine that Heqet would have fallen in disrepute. Her temples would have been empty. Her frogs, who were normally worshipped as a sign of life, were cursed as instruments of sickness and death. And once again the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had showed that he was superior to the gods who were worshipped in Egypt – that he himself was the only God worthy of worship.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 9

The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.” – Exodus 7:19

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 12, 2015): Exodus 7

The Egyptian God Osiris has come to be seen as the God of death in Egyptian mythology. But the description of Osiris as the God of death is incomplete. He would actually seem to be the God of all of the cycles of life. He is the birth, death and rebirth or resurrection of all life. His lifeblood is the Nile River, and every year as the Nile floods Osiris gives his lifeblood to the land causing birth and rebirth to be seen in Egypt. But as the Nile contracts and streams and waterways dry up, Osiris removes his blessing, and without his blessing death is the only possible result. But life always comes in cycles. And in Egypt, this cycle of life originates in the underworld, where Osiris is king.

The Nile River was extremely important to life in ancient Egypt. Many gods were associated with the river. Khnum, one of the earliest of the Egyptian deities, was thought to have been the creator and the protector of the Nile. Hapi was the Spirit of the Nile, but only Osiris had the Nile as his blood.

The first plague seems to have been directed straight at the Nile gods. All water in Egypt originated in some way from or was connected to the Nile River. And the destruction of the Nile to life in Egypt would have been catastrophic. So as Moses brings the first plague to the water of Egypt, he is threatening their very ability to survive. It is also becomes very evident that Khnum cannot protect the rivers that he created. Hapi would seem to have been destroyed by the plague. But the change of the waters to blood would seem to have been targeting Osiris. It was almost as if God was saying - if you believe the Nile to be the lifeblood of Osiris bringing the cycle of life to the land, let me show you what would happen if the rivers and streams of Egypt were literally blood. Let me see you drink and water your crops with real blood. How healthy do you think you will be then?

Interestingly, this plague also provides the first connection with the Ipuwer Papyrus. According to the Egyptian poem “the poor man complains: “How terrible! What am I to do?” Indeed, the river is blood, yet men drink of it. Men shrink from human beings and thirst after water” (Ipuwer II). Blood cannot satisfy the cravings that we have or water. For life, we need water. Whether the mention of “the river is blood” is an actual confirmation of the first plague is a subject of much debate. But what can be said is that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob wins the first round in this cosmic fight of the deities being waged over the territory of Egypt. The river deities are simply unable to stand in his presence.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 8

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself fully known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. – Exodus 6:3-5

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 11, 2015): Exodus 6

As the nominations grow for the run for the office of the President of the United States, we begin to enter into the season of promise. Everyone who is running is promising the voter something, and they all run along the lines of Donald Trump’s Tagline “Make America Great Again.” Absolutely no one is saying, “I am going to run for the office of President of the United States because I think it would be cool to live in the White House” – even though it must be cool to live in the White House. Everybody is promising something. In their own way they are making a covenant with the voter, if you elect me as President, then I promise that I will do what I say. Common themes revolve around putting people back to work, reviving a lagging economy, getting serious on education, fixing health care or maybe balancing the budget (I have to be honest, I wish I was hearing more candidates talk about balancing the budget. That would make me feel more financially secure on a personal level.) But at this moment they are just promises. When the election is over there will be people that will be quite happy to keep score on what promises are kept, and which ones are adjusted or even ignored.

This is the easy time of the election. No one actually has to do anything, just make the promise. They don’t have to create new jobs, just promise that there will be more jobs. They don’t have to find ways to reduce governmental spending, just promise that they will find a way to cut expenses. All the candidate has to do right now is make the promise. Oh, someone will bring up the track records of the candidates, examining everything that they have done since they were in play school, but in the end we will fall for the promise of the future – we always do. We want to know that we will have jobs and that our retirement will be secure without being a 75 year-old working at McDonalds. Make us a promise - and we have proven in the past that we will vote and we will follow (and we will complain when you fail to keep your promise.)

Some have argued that this statement of God to Moses as a hard statement to understand - but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them (Exodus 6:3). But part of the problem is that we try to understand the words without understanding the context. God had made himself known to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob. And each time he made himself known, me made a promise and executed a covenant. God was going to do great things through the descendants of Abraham, and Isaac (over Ishmael), and Jacob (over Esau). He was the God who made the covenant with the patriarchs. But to be honest, at this point God really hadn’t shown up for Israel. He had only made the promise. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob understood that Yahweh was a God of promise

But now God instructs Moses that things are about to change. Moses, and those that follow after him, will know God fully – not just as the one who made the covenant, but as the one who fulfilled the covenant. The covenant will not just be made, it will be established in their midst. And when that happens, they will know God fully.

As Christians, we believe that there is an extension on this promise. That in Jesus Christ, the covenant that was made and established has now also been brought to completion. It is now a covenant that is extends through Israel to the rest of the world in a way that Abraham and Moses could not have dreamed it would – and it is only in Jesus that Yahweh is fully known.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 7

But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ – Exodus 5:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 10, 2015): Exodus 5

Lawrence Vale, an MIT professor who has studied and written on the phenomenon of public housing says that the problem of confusing where people live and who they are has become a bit of an American Tradition. And maybe not just in North America. The names that we gather for people that is connected to where they live seems to keep expanding. The terms Trailer Trash (low income trailer park inhabitants), Hillbilly (rural and low income inhabitants of the Appalachian Mountains or the Ozarks), Bogan (low income people living in the outer suburbs of major cities in Australia or New Zealand), Yokel (low income country dweller) and Section 8er (low income living in subsidized housing) all speak of our penchant to confuse the where with the who. According to Vale “We’ve been doing that as a society for a really, really long time.” Vale also suggests that for much of that history our descriptions have been racialized – or confusing not just the where with the who, but also the where and who with the entire race of the people being described. There would seem to be no simple solution to the problem. As long as we insist on segregating ourselves into higher, middle and lower income areas, the blending of the who with the where will most likely continue.

There are a lot of things that would seem to be happening in Egypt as Moses delivers his first request to Pharaoh, and this conflation of who and where would seem to be part of it. Pharaoh is discounting the possibility that the Israelites, who exist as slaves within the Egyptian society and who lived in Ancient Egypt’s version of low income housing, could ever have a genuine encounter with the gods. That was a privilege that was reserved for those of a higher stature. And because it was impossible for Israel to encounter God, there must be another reason for the request. And this idea had been racialized. There is a great probability that the Pharaoh would have known Moses. Some believe that it was possible that the Pharaoh had grown up with Moses in the palace. Moses had never been a slave and for the last forty years had been living outside of Egypt, and yet he is being painted with the same brush as the rest of his race.   

And the reason that Pharaoh fall back on for the real reason behind the request is the same one that we accuse Trailer Trash, Bogans and Section 8ers of today – they must be lazy. Therefore, the solution had to be to give them more work – in this case, don’t give them the straw for the bricks, make them gather their own straw but keep the number required to be produced the same. Maybe if we just keep them busy they will stop dreaming up ways of getting out of work and taking a holiday in the desert.

In the story of Moses, we recognize how unfair the Pharaoh is in this expectation. But maybe our own expectations for the people around us need to be examined. Where should never describe who – we are simply created as too complex beings for that to ever be a true generalization of who we are. And in the eyes of God, we are all his children - no matter where we live.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 6