I had some trouble with some of this reading today.
Exodus 4: Moses continues to tell God that he is not the right person to do this task. He presents his next two problems to God: (3) āBut suppose they do not believe me or listen to me, but say, āThe Lord did not appear to youāā (Ex. 4.1) and (4) āO my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongueā (Ex. 4.10). To answer his third problem, God shows Moses how to turn his staff into a snake, how to damage and reheal his hand, and how to turn water from the Nile into blood. To answer his fourth problem, God says āThen the Lord said to him, āWho gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Ā¹Ā² Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.ā (Ex. 4.11-12)
Moses pushes back yet again and this time God displays his anger. That stopped Moses. In this part, God tells Moses to let his brother Aaron speak for him. Moses leaves to Egypt with his family. God tells him to make sure to do the three signs (snake, hand, and water into blood) in front of Pharaoh. God explains that Pharaoh will continue to refuse, and then adds this: āThen you shall say to Pharaoh, āThus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son. Ā²Ā³ I said to you, āLet my son go that he may worship me.ā But you refused to let him go; now I will kill your firstborn son.āā (Ex. 4.22-23) Itās this part that bothers me. I find this very troubling. I can see why non-believers question God using these types of statements. This chapter ends with Moses and Aaron meeting and talking with the elders. The elders believe Moses.
While reading the notes I realize I missed that the text refers to Mosesā āsons,ā yet up to this point, there is only one son, Gershom. I was also confused by what appeared to be a sudden nighttime attack against Moses by God: āOn the way, at a place where they spent the night, the Lord met him and tried to kill himā (Ex. 4.24). Thankfully his wife Zipporah saves him, but what? The notes donāt make it clear why this happened. This is really confusing.
Exodus 5: Moses and Aaron see Pharaoh for the first time. They ask him to release the people for just 3 days, telling him that God said āLet my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wildernessā (Ex. 5.1). Pharaoh refuses. Instead he orders his taskmaster to take away their straw they use to make bricks each day, but require them to make the same amount of bricks. Many fail and are beaten. This turns the people against Moses and Aaron. The chapter ends with Moses calling out to God: āO Lord, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me? Ā²Ā³ Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people.ā (Ex. 5.22-23)
Itās clear that Pharaoh wants to turn the people against Moses and Aaron and is succeeding. Itās also clear why the people are angry with them because it seems that God isnāt helping them. Of course, this will change soon. But the games God is playing are tough to read about.
Exodus 6: This chapter was a little challenging to read at first. Itās not because of the content. Itās because of the way it is written. God tells Moses and Aaron that he made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well as established covenants with them. He remembered those when he heard the cries of the people in Egypt. Moses explains this to the Israelites, but they donāt want to listen to him because of the new level of mistreatment by the Pharaoh. Moses tells God the people donāt listen and asks why would Pharaoh listen. The part that initially threw me off was that the text then explains the genealogy of Moses and Aaron and the connection to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I understand why it was done this way, but it added a twist to the text.
Luke 16: The chapter started with the story of the rich man and the manager, who was accused of squandering the rich manās property. The rich man told his manager to provide an accounting of everything he has done and he would then be out of a job. In order to save himself, he contacted all debtors and lowered how much they owed the master so he would look good to them and hopefully get a future job. The notes indicate that he was eliminating his commission.
There were some statements here that stood out to me. For example, Jesus says āYou cannot serve God and wealthā (Luke 16.13). Iām thinking that pretty much all societies missed this one.
A second statement is from when he was addressing the Pharisees: āSo he said to them, āYou are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of Godāā (Luke 16.15). To me this is saying that we need to let go of the things that we as humans prize/value and focus on other things. Iām assuming that one of the other things is helping others. As Iāve said before, many people, especially elected officials, donāt seem to understand this.
The chapter ends with the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The notes indicate that this is not the same Lazarus that is mentioned in John. Pretty much the moral of the story is the importance of helping those who are less fortunate. Sounds a little like socialism to me.
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