Exodus: Review

I’ve been awful about keeping this all updated, but here’s some of my thoughts as we come to the close of Exodus, which we will finish on Tuesday, November 8th.  If you have other thoughts that you’d like to add, please feel free to put them in the comments.

– These people (the Children of Israel) have been in slavery for so long (300-400 years) that they have been significantly damaged and forgotten what freedom and personal responsibility are.  (Think of the people that have been in Communist countries for only 3-4 generations!) For this reason God must deal with them in the only language they understand: power and stern talking.

-Even through this stern language we can see a God who’s interested in personal responsibility.  He gives them rules about how to live together in a society that can function properly – things like “If your bull gores somebody and you knew that it had a problem and you did nothing about it, you are responsible and must make reparations,”  “Don’t lie to each other,”  “Don’t cheat on your families,” “Don’t murder.”  These are largely all rules about personal responsibility, which you must must understand before you can take the responsibility to know your God more fully in relationship.  He is planting the seeds for friendship that can be reaped hopefully in a few generations of healing.

-God gives them the plans for the tabernacle.  There are many readings on this, but for our purposes I was impressed that beauty matters to God.  These people, who have been slaves, have never had beautiful things to call their own.  They have all these skills: metal working, jewelry making, carpentry, spinning, weaving and sewing, but have always been busy making beauty for the Egyptians.  This is the first time they’ll build something for themselves and dedicate it to God.  And even though He gives them all the plans, there is a lot of freedom for creativity in the creation of the tabernacle.

-Just like the passage where Abraham talks frankly to God about Sodom & Gomorrah, I love the passage in Exodus 33 when Moses and God have another frank conversation.  In spite of all that the Children of Israel driving God batty, Moses knows that God cannot act outside His character, and he is willing to call God on this.  I don’t see it as a time when Moses “changes God’s mind” but rather, he knows how God truly is and knows what to expect.

-And speaking of Moses, this guy who was afraid of the leadership position God was offering him at the beginning of the book.  It’s amazing to see how far he comes as he trusts God and leans on Him to support him to provide the next move.  I think that the plagues were like leadership boot camp for Moses – get through that and you can lead anybody anywhere.  Funny how conflict and its resolution makes us into incredibly strong people.  I think that God often uses these bad things to shape us into better people.  The plagues and their destruction weren’t God first plan, but they end up being really beneficial to Moses and the people (at least at first) to see God’s power (see point 1).

-We had a lot of conversations about whether God is arbitrary, at the beginning of Exodus.  I kept saying, “Wait to see the big picture.”  In my mind God is sometimes willing to make decisions that seem “arbitrary,” and risk being misunderstood because He sees the bigger picture.  Our parents may drag us kicking and screaming out of the street, which we find unfair and painful because playing in the street is the “best place.”  We may even wail that our parents clearly “hate” us and don’t want us to “have fun” but it’s only as we mature that we can say, “Wow that was stupid.”  At no time during the plagues did He not have Moses warn Pharaoh about what was about to happen and how bad it would be, there was always an option to “opt out.”

-I think as we get towards the end of the book we are beginning to see more of that “big picture” of God.  And the fact that he’s willing to be misunderstood by us because power, anger and black and white rules are the only language these people understand from an authority figure, tell us something else wonderful about God – that He’s willing to stoop and meet us where we are.  He’s willing to take our broken broken attitudes and hearts and heal us no matter how long it may take if we will just choose Him and continue to trust Him.

Was there anything else that we’ve talked about in the past few weeks that really stood out to you in Exodus about who God is and what you’ve learned about him?

Meeting # 8 Sept 13th Genesis 47-End

We had our eighth meeting.  How appropriate that on our two month anniversary we should finish up the first book.  We took our time because there’s literally so much to talk about here.  Genesis is a dense book, full of interesting character studies and stories.  If you haven’t read it lately you really should delve back into it.

The last few chapters dealt with the end of Jacob’s life in Egypt and his burial back in Canaan and the death of Joseph.  It is remarkable to note, as we did last week, the influence Joseph has had on Egypt during his time as Prime Minister.  He never seems to give up his loyalty to God, and gains the respect of not only the Pharaoh but also the entire country.  What amazing things God was able to do with Joseph because of his trust in him.

As we finished Genesis we sat back to look at all the ground we covered.  We’ve asked consistently after every chapter, “What does this say about who God is?”  And now we asked this same question about the entire book.

Do we find that this god is tyrannical, arbitrary, unforgiving, mean and absent?  Or do we find him loving, merciful, kind, forgiving and engaged?   Is God sitting in heaven waiting with his thunderbolts in hand waiting to strike us down the moment we do something wrong?  Or does he come quietly to find us, as he does Adam and Eve in the garden the evening they took the fruit?  Does he encourage questioning as he did when Abraham asked him six times about Sodom & Gomorrah?  Does he continue to encourage us that he has a plan for our lives that will be better if we choose to trust him as he did with Abraham?  Does he take care of even the mistakes we make to help things turn out for the best as he did with the life of Joseph?  Do we see that he is actively engaged if we will let him into our lives?

While it’s true that the culture and time are completely different in ways we can’t even begin to understand we are still human and God has never changed in the way that he treats us.  I am always thrilled to see that God treats people as if they will make the best choice, as if they will always do the right thing, regardless of how he knows it will turn out.  That he cannot act outside of his own character, that he cannot break his own rules, that he must always act in love and without a relationship there can be no love – because love is never found in a vacuum.

Sept 6 Meeting Wrap Up

Last night we discussed mainly the story of Joseph.  This is a great story with lots of narrative elements and a wonderful ending.  We noticed that unlike the stories with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph never seems to have any lapses in judgement.  He seems to constantly be doing the best he can to cling to God, and in the process he is able to be used by God to do absolutely amazing things, no matter where he finds himself.  At 30, he becomes essentially the Prime Minister of all of Egypt an dis able to rescue his family when the famine comes.  If you haven’t read the story of Joseph lately, it’s worth rereading!

One of the big questions that was brought up last night was:
God DOES seem to act in a way that is arbitrary at times.

ar·bi·trar·yAdjective/ˈärbiˌtrerē/

1. Based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.

2. (of power or a ruling body) Unrestrained and autocratic in the use of authority.

I think it’s true that there are times when God seems to act in a way that is final, unrestrained and outside what we can see.  I heard an explanation to this that I have always found helpful.

If a parent sees their child heading to certain physical disaster – like getting to close to a cliff, they may grab their hand and wrench them away.  Say that the parent even hurt a child’s shoulder doing this.  The child might scream and shout and yell “You hurt me! I hate you!” But really the parent was doing something painful but acting ultimately out of love for the child’s safety.  The parent would say, “OK, you can hate me.  But I love you so much I’m willing to do whatever it takes to save you.”  When the child is older they can look back on the situation and say, “Wow, my parent wasn’t acting arbitrarily, but in great love.”

Perhaps in the narrow scope of our lives we sometimes feel like God acts arbitrarily with us?  Or we see him act this way through history.  But ultimately I do not believe that God can act outside of his own perimeter of love and that everything he does must be governed by that principle because he is not able to act outside of his character.

There will be things that bother us about God’s actions as we read through the Bible.  There will be times when we question his actions.  I believe in a God that most desires a relationship with us, and a friendship is based on open conversation and addressing the things that we have questions about.  We must lay it out on the table with all the other evidence as we decide whether God is someone who can and should be trusted with our lives.  Faith in him can never be a blind leap in the dark but must always be built on evidence of who God is, evidence that we have an abundance of in the these wonderful stories of our patriarchs and prophets.

 

Meeting # 6 Wrap Up

Genesis 31 – Jacob decides that it’s time for him and his Uncle Laban to part ways so he takes his family and all his wealth and skips town in the night.

We commented that Jacob seems to have put up with Laban’s dishonesty for a long time. We noted that Jacob, who had been so manipulative early on in his life ironically reaps the sorrow that comes from being taken advantage of himself.  This led us to wonder: How long are we supposed to put up with “bad” life situations?  How long do we sit and let people take advantage of us when God seems silent?  Are Christians supposed to be door mats?  When God seems silent do we take things into our own hands and act anyway?

I.S. Noted that she views the Bible as a book of clues and not a book of answers.  It tells us who God is, and not exactly what to do in life.

I like this comment because I think it it’s so true.  When we look for answers we get confused by the language and cultural barriers that we face.  But since God is outside of our time, and therefore timeless, He doesn’t change.  Seeking to understand how He acts and deals with us is something that transcends all the barriers that we are facing while reading the Bible.  Lots of times it feels like life is too hard, and God is too silent but reading (even just this far) we see that even when God doesn’t “act” He is not silent and not absent but very engaged.

Temporary Location This Week

If you happen to stop by here, just wanted to let you know that this week we are meeting in the multi-purpose room off the courtyard because there is a meeting in our regular room this week.  If you have any questions feel free to send me an email, which I can check all day.  See you there!

Meeting #5 Wrap up

Last week we focused mostly on the first part of Jacob’s life.  What’s interesting is that he tricks his brother and his dad so that he can get the blessing, but then because he then fears his life at the hands of Esau he has to flee his family, and never sees his parents again.  And in a sense he never does get the birth rite even though he connived his way to winning it.

We were all kind of struck by how this sin of Jacob’s has very immediate and natural consequences.  God doesn’t step in to strong-arm the situation, things just play out.  This sin causes the breakup of this family in a very real, very immediate way.

We remembered how God never bawled Abraham out each time he made a mistake or took a misstep but instead continued to promise him blessings and abundance.  Like all those times before, God comes to Jacob in a dream and reassure him that He is with him.  It seems that this is the first time that God has been real to Jacob, as if it’s the first time he’s taken his own relationship with God seriously because several times before he references “You God” when talking to his father.

Jacob’s own family life doesn’t seem to be very good, almost reflective of the drama that played out between Abraham, Sara and Hagaar but on a larger scale.

I look forward to your thoughts on the rest of Jacob’s life and his family this week.

Meeting #4 Wrap Up

Last week we finished the section on Abraham.

I probably should write these notes sooner than a week later, because already my memory is failing me.  So here’s what really stood out to me about our meeting.

Abraham shows some real failures in his life.  But he also shows real trust in God.  The story of Isaac is amazing because although he may have been willing to sacrifice his son the way that the pagan religions were doing, he’s also willing to trust God with his entire future.  He truly believes (or seems to) that God will provide the way.  So different from when he was busy lying about his wife.

I hesitate to compare this story to Jesus dying on the cross, because it could appear that we are making a sacrifice of Jesus to God.  Instead I would like to look at this story as reflective of what the sacrifice is representative of – living life away from God, which leads to death.

We wondered why Abraham didn’t question God’s request.  The story gives almost no commentary on what either party was thinking, or if they were having any internal struggle.  We wished that we could have seen some of the same gutsy Abraham that we saw talking with God about the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah – but no.  Perhaps Abraham is at a different place in his life?  Perhaps he has enough experience at this point to be able to trust that God will lead?

The story of Abraham’s servant going to find a wife for Isaac was also very moving to us.  The servant feels so responsible and indebted to Abraham and Abraham’s God.  This leads us to believe that Abraham must have been a very fair and just and loving master.  You see a lot about a person by how they treat those that are “beneath” them.

At the end of Abraham’s life he seems very settled into the truth about God – he knows that God has taken care of him at every turn, he has built a stable mature relationship with God and he has demonstrated his understanding of God’s ways by being honest, upright, kind and just generally a man of great character with not only his family but also the Peoples around him.

We all paused a little to consider what a good relationship Abraham seems to have built with God.  How sad, that he dies and God must start all over with a new generation.  We take so long to truly understand God, to listen to him and let him lead in our lives that by the time we really are steady, we’re at the close of our lives.

Printing

Hello All,

Last night someone mentioned that being able to print each post individually would be helpful for studying.  I’ve fixed the problem.

To print just click on the title of the post, at the bottom where it says “Share this” there’s a button that says print.  Click that and the page will print with only that post.

If you have other questions or feedback on how to make this blog more useful please let me know!

Is God Arbitrary?

Reader Question:

“It does seem to me that sometimes God does act arbitrary.   Why would God decide to take away the free will (choice) in Babel. The bible says when God came down to see the city, he said “if as one people speaking the same language have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.”  So he confuses the language and scatters the people.

God could have done the same in the garden of Eden or prevent Cain from killing Abel, or even prevent the flood?”

 

Link

This is an interesting commentary on Abraham.