Tag: god’s deliverance

A Mighty Deliverance (Psalm 114)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Psalm 114:3, by Stushie Art

When the people of Israel left Egypt,
    when Jacob’s descendants left that foreign land,
Judah became the Lord’s holy people,
    Israel became his own possession.

The Red Sea looked and ran away;
    the Jordan River stopped flowing.
The mountains skipped like goats;
    the hills jumped around like lambs.

What happened, Sea, to make you run away?
    And you, O Jordan, why did you stop flowing?
You mountains, why did you skip like goats?
    You hills, why did you jump around like lambs?

Tremble, earth, at the Lord’s coming,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who changes rocks into pools of water
    and solid cliffs into flowing springs. (Good News Translation)

I tend to use a lot of metaphors in my conversations with others. I like word pictures, analogies, and illustrations. Maybe that’s one reason I resonate with the Old Testament. The Hebrew mind revels in story, symbol, similitude, and even the occasional sarcasm.

The turn-of-phrase is something which connects well with me – which is why I like today’s psalm. The language is freighted with metonymy (using the name of one object or concept for that of another) and personification (using an animate characteristic for an inanimate object).

This psalm is a poetic response to the Jewish Passover and exodus out of slavery to freedom. It is a brief song of thanksgiving which nicely recounts the Israelite experience from Egypt to the Promised Land. At the behest of a mighty God, the Red Sea parted when the people left Egypt, and the Jordan River stopped its flowing when the people entered the Promised Land.

It’s a whole lot more powerful to say, “When the sea looked at God, it ran away,” than it is to say, “The Red Sea parted.” God is so mighty, so powerful, so large and sovereign that we must use the full extent of language to even begin to describe the wonderful works of the Lord. A big God with awesome capability needs some wordsmithing worthy of divine greatness.

Not only does the sea flee from its place, but the river also turns back, the mountains and hills shake and skip. To try and somehow capture the immensity of God, the psalmist used language which communicates that even inanimate objects come alive and fulfill the Lord’s bidding.

It is one thing to make a flat statement such as, “Put your trust in God,” and it is quite another matter to open up the tool of language and allow it to picture a divine Being so amazing that nothing nor anyone can possibly stand in such a Sovereign’s way. And this very same God works for us, and not against us.

The Lord God almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, has taken this formidable divine power and granted us a pinch of it – because that’s all we really need. Jesus, intimately familiar with his mighty heavenly Father, commented:

If your faith is as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, “Dig yourself up and plant yourself in the ocean!” And the tree will obey you. (Luke 17:6, ERV)

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (Mark 11:23, NKJV)

All of creation conspires together to participate in the great liberating and saving acts of God for God’s people. And if that wasn’t enough, we have been given the Holy Spirit to be with us forever – uprooting trees and moving mountains to accomplish the good and loving plan of God here on earth as it is always done in heaven.

Mighty God you invite us to be with you, to have a place near you. Your presence is joy, light, and comfort. Your nearness is holy, awesome, and wonderful. In the play of sunlight through rainbows, in the sounds of music and laughter, in the beauty of creation and the taste of bread and wine, your presence is known. Your saving presence surrounds us, whether we are fearful or joyful, laughing or crying.

You invite us, welcome us, forgive us and renew us with fresh hope and new life. You love us into your presence. We bless and thank you. We praise and adore you. We enjoy being with you, in the name, the spirit, and the presence of Jesus. Amen.

There Are Consequences to Injustice (Exodus 12:29-42)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Exodus Out of Egypt, by Rivka Lemberg

At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

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.”

The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come. (New International Version)

“A horse may run quickly but it cannot escape its tail.”

Russian proverb

The ancient Israelites were in bondage to the Egyptians for hundreds of years. Their oppression finally came to and end with the Lord’s dramatic deliverance of them in the tenth and final plague directed against Egypt.

The actions of the Egyptians eventually and finally caught up with them. Their making slaves of the Israelites was not going to last forever. Even though it took a while, Egypt was held accountable and experienced divine judgment. The empire’s internal moral emptiness would not be able to hold up under the justice of God.

“Empty sacks will never stand upright.”

Italian proverb

Pharaoh was a hard man. The more Moses talked to him the more stubborn Pharaoh got. Eventually, Pharaoh’s heart became like stone; he and his empire fell because they were bent toward the way of injustice. Oppression had been Pharaoh’s proclivity by instructing the Jewish midwifes to kill firstborn sons of Israelite mothers. Now the Egyptians would fall into the very trouble they created for others.

“A tree falls the way it leans.” Walloon proverb

The death of so many on one night, all at once, was too much for Pharaoh and the Egyptians. In such a grief, Pharaoh’s dogged resolve in holding onto Israelite slavery and ostracizing Moses was loosened. He summoned Moses in the middle of the night and commanded the Israelite slaves to be gone – without any conditions or strings attached to it.

The Egyptians wanted them gone, and so, urged them to leave in a hurry – just as God had predicted. All sorts of articles – including silver and gold – were willingly given to the fleeing Israelites by the lamenting Egyptians. No matter how hard and stubborn any earthly ruler is, the plans and purposes of a sovereign God cannot be thwarted.

“Mess with the bull, and you will get the horns.” Latin American proverb

Finally, the deliverance out of Egyptian bondage happened. The Israelites were free. It was a hasty departure. It was as if the Hebrew people had become so upsetting to the great Egyptian empire, that they vomited them out of their land, projecting the former slaves as far away as they could.

Sometimes people get the notion that if they do something bad, they will be struck by lightning or have some sort of tragedy occur. And when it doesn’t happen, they might reason further in their misguided notions by believing they can get away with bad behavior. So, they keep doing it. But, eventually, this all has a terrible effect.

“Those who lie down with the dogs, rise with the fleas.” English proverb

Actions and inactions have consequences. Those consequences may not happen immediately. However, all of us shall someday harvest the fruit of decisions that were made months, even years or decades, ago.

Make no mistake, God is not mocked. A person will harvest what they plant. Those who plant only for their own benefit will harvest devastation from their selfishness, but those who plant for the benefit of the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit. Let’s not get tired of doing good, because in time we’ll have a harvest if we don’t give up. (Galatians 6:7-9, CEB)

Almighty God, Creator and Preserver of all humanity, we humbly ask that you make your ways known to people everywhere, and bring saving help to all nations. We pray for Christ’s Church, and all faith communities across the earth, that they be guided and governed by your good, gracious, and benevolent Spirit; and that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into truth, and hold the faith in unity, peace, and righteousness.

Blessed Lord, we pray for all who are afflicted or distressed in mind, body, or spirit. May your divine mercy bring them comfort and relief, according to their need. Give them patience through their sufferings, and a joyful outcome from their distress. This we pray through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Let Go (Exodus 11:1-10)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Now the Lord had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.” (The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.)

So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. 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. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

The Lord had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you—so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt.” Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country. (New International Version)

It takes a lot for the status quo to die, to let go of something that has been relied on for centuries. In the case of ancient Egypt, it took the deaths of every Egyptian first born son.

The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years. The vast Egyptian Empire was literally built on the backs of Jews. After so long, their cry about being in bondage was heard by God – who sent Moses to deliver them. But Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, was not about to let go of this large labor force.

So, a series of 10 plagues came upon the Egyptians from God. Today’s Old Testament lesson is the tenth and final plague – the one most devastating to Egypt. Although Pharaoh was determined to keep the Israelites in bondage, not even mighty Egypt could keep it’s grip on the people when God was determined to free them and bring them to the Promised Land.

God graciously informed Moses that this was the final plague. After nine others, and hearing Pharaoh say he would let the people go multiple times, it must have been a relief to hear that this would not keep going any longer.

Moses and Aaron debating with Pharaoh, by He Qi

What’s more, the Lord added that not only would Pharaoh finally change and not hinder the people from leaving, but also that they should ask the Egyptians for what they needed when going. Indeed, the people of Egypt became so eager to have the Israelites away from them that they would give them anything to get them out.

The Israelites had worked hard and labored intensely for hundreds of years without any compensation. Now, they would leave the world of slavery and receive the riches of Egypt from which they were defrauded. Whereas Pharaoh’s heart became exceedingly hard, the Egyptians hearts became disposed to give – even though it was to be rid of the Israelites once and for all.

And so, God would deliver the Jews from their bondage and enrich them with many needed possessions, as if they were carrying away plunder from an enemy. The Lord both frees and empowers; God delivers from one situation and enables for another. When God closes a door, then another door is opened.

Indeed, the first will be last, and the last shall be first. In God’s upside-down kingdom, the oppressors eventually become the oppressed, and the poor become rich.

With this last and final plague, there would be no next generation to rise up and take back the Israelites into slavery again. A distinction was made between the first born of the Egyptians and the Israelites. Only the Egyptians experienced the awful deaths of so many.

After four centuries of keeping the Jews enslaved, maybe the Egyptians thought it would always be this way. Perhaps they even believed what they were doing was perfectly acceptable and right. So, when Moses comes along, speaking on behalf of God to Pharaoh, the great king of the empire thought things will not change; the Israelites ought to always be in subservience to Egyptians.

Why is it so hard to let go? Why do people keep holding on, even when it costs them nearly everything?

Whenever we cannot envision a different world or an alternative to what we are currently experiencing, then we hold on – even if it hurts to keep grasping it. Just because there was no divine judgment in hundreds of years, does not mean that God was okay with the situation in ancient Egypt. So, when the Egyptians experienced the judgment, it was absolutely devastating.

If ever we need to control other people in order to realize or maintain our own happiness or contentment, then we are in a very unhealthy place and need immediate help – before the providence of God steps in and pries that control from your clenched fists.

Conversely, if we have been in a place of oppression for a long time, it will not last forever. God sees the injustice. And God hears the cries which are uttered to heaven. A time is coming when all things will be made right.

Also, there are various sorts of traumas that people have endured. Sometimes, people don’t want to talk about any of it, and never do. But eventually, it overwhelms them. Without help, they will be in bondage. None of us can change on our own. We need others. Not everyone is going to harm us or shame us. There are people that God is ready to use in order to extend hope, healing, wholeness, and help. We should let them in, and keep the slave masters out.

Gracious and merciful God, help us to overcome the menace of evil in this world, and to be a part of freeing those weighed down with sinful oppression to realize a future of health and hope.

From famine and war, deliver us.

From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of others, deliver us.

From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us.

From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us.

Accept our cry on behalf of the sufferings of all humanity, and of entire societies of people.

Empower us by your Spirit to resist evil in all its insidious manifestations.

May the saving grace and the redemption of Jesus put a stop to cruel bondage everywhere; and may hope be kindled in every heart. Amen.

Some Needed Encouragement (Revelation 15:1-4)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
The Seven Last Plagues and the Harps of God, by Nicolas Bataille, c.1380 C.E.

I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
    Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
    King of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
    and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
    and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (New International Version)

Let’s keep in mind that the book of Revelation (also known as The Apocalypse of John) is a vision of the Apostle John about how things shake out in the end. The purpose of the vision is not for us to get lost in esoteric speculations about the future and try to figure out specific dates and times of God’s judgment.

Rather, John’s Revelation was primarily meant to give believers a future hope that their hardships and suffering will not last forever; there is a time coming, soon, when Judge Jesus will make all things right and all things new. In other words, the vision of John was designed to provide needed encouragement to followers of Jesus.

The believers needed a connection to their spiritual heritage – a way to see that they weren’t an isolated faith island in the middle of the world’s crud. The heavenly beings were singing a song of Moses and of the Lamb (Jesus). The two are connected, thus bringing together the saints of ages past with the struggling Christians of the present.

The song of Moses is a song of triumph, sung after the Israelites passed through the Red Sea unharmed and the Egyptian army was eradicated:

“I will sing to the Lord,
    for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
    he has hurled into the sea.

“The Lord is my strength and my defense;
    he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
    my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a warrior;
    the Lord is his name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
    he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
    are drowned in the Red Sea.
The deep waters have covered them;
    they sank to the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, Lord,
    was majestic in power.
Your right hand, Lord,
    shattered the enemy.

Flee From Egypt, by Rev. Albert Lee Wagner, 1975

“In the greatness of your majesty
    you threw down those who opposed you.
You unleashed your burning anger;
    it consumed them like stubble.
By the blast of your nostrils
    the waters piled up.
The surging waters stood up like a wall;
    the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy boasted,
    ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them.
I will divide the spoils;
    I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword
    and my hand will destroy them.’
But you blew with your breath,
    and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
    in the mighty waters.
Who among the gods
    is like you, Lord?
Who is like you—
    majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
    working wonders?

“You stretch out your right hand,
    and the earth swallows your enemies.
In your unfailing love you will lead
    the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
    to your holy dwelling.
The nations will hear and tremble;
    anguish will grip the people of Philistia.
The chiefs of Edom will be terrified,
    the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling,
the people of Canaan will melt away;
    terror and dread will fall on them.
By the power of your arm
    they will be as still as a stone—
until your people pass by, Lord,
    until the people you bought pass by.
You will bring them in and plant them
    on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling,
    the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.

“The Lord reigns
    for ever and ever.” (Exodus 15:1-18, NIV)

Throughout the millennia, this deliverance from harsh slavery to freedom is annually recalled and remembered in the Passover. The original Passover in Egypt involved a lamb being slain and it’s blood applied to the doorposts of each Jewish home. The avenging angel “passed over” those homes and instead dealt with the Egyptian houses which had no lamb’s blood over the door.

The song of Moses and the song of the Lamb (Jesus) are really the same song. Both the deliverance out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, as well as the deliverance from guilt and shame through the cross and resurrection, was real salvation from all that oppressed and hindered the people from living into their true selves.

This connection to salvation history was a great boon to the early believers undergoing their own brand of injustice, oppression, and persecution – just for being followers of Jesus.

So, we all need to apply the death of the Lamb to our present situations, so that we can endure through hardship and not give up and experience a failure of faith. We continually need a strengthening of faith, to recall and remember who we are and to whom we belong, so that we will sing our own song of hope and deliverance.

“Awake and Sing the Song,” by English hymnist William Hammond (1719-1783)

Awake, and sing the song
Of Moses and the Lamb;
Tune every heart and every tongue
To praise the Savior’s name.

Sing of His dying love;
Sing of His rising power;
Sing how He intercedes above
For those whose sins He bore.

Tell, in seraphic strains,
What He has done for you;
How He has taken off your chains
And formed your hearts anew.

His faithfulness proclaim
While life to you is given:
Join hands and hearts to praise His name
Till we all meet in heaven.

Amen.