The Painful Path

On Saturday morning you can watch complicated issues resolved in thirty-minute or hour long Westerns on ME TV. Hey, evil people will often come to their senses inexplicably in the last minute of the show. I would like to believe that people will come to see the truth through my acts of kindness and love. But some people have been immersed in a lie; it has been beat into them so completely that a kind reasoning voice sounds like nothing more than foolish sentimentality and instead of helping them to see the truth it only convicts them of the lie they live. Sometimes the only path to truth is through searing pain. I believe in God, not because I am protected from evil, but because through my pain and fear I know that I need him. I’m not sure I would know the truth without the pain. I hate that, but I believe it to be true nonetheless.

In Exodus 6:28-7:7 God rehearses once again what is about to happen in Egypt. We are reminded that these things came about when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt; that Moses was commanded to speak to Pharaoh. When Yahweh speaks things happen. We are probably not intended to think that God and Moses had this exchange again. We are most likely being reminded where the story was before the genealogy was interjected. Remember that God is “I am Yahweh”; the Present One. Remember Moses’ complaint about uncircumcised lips or not being eloquent and the likelihood that Pharaoh would not pay attention to such an inarticulate speaker.

Within this context, Yahweh told Moses that he was going to give him as God to Pharaoh. The word God is all about being a ruler or judge; it is all about authority. It seems likely that God is telling him that through Moses, Pharaoh is going to receive a healthy dose of God. And Aaron will be Moses’ prophet or spokesperson. Throughout this passage it is very clear that everything comes from Yahweh. Aaron doesn’t speak his own message or the message of Moses. The command comes from Yahweh, through Moses to Aaron and finally to Pharaoh. And that message is a command to let the people go out from his land. There is no mention of a three day’s journey to worship God here. God is commanding that Pharaoh release the people.

And it is here that we are reminded of a difficult tension. God said very clearly that he will harden – make hard, stiff, or stubborn – the heart of Pharaoh. And the reason? So that God will be able to demonstrate through all manner of signs and wonders that he is “I am Yahweh”. And if you know the story of the plagues, you know that this is not a pleasant children’s bed time story. People suffer and die here. All so that God can show off. Okay, we need to stop there a moment. The Egyptians believe a lie. They believe in a multiplicity of gods. They believe that they are the nation that dominates the world. Pharaoh believes that he is a god. This lie is so ingrained in them that it shapes their world-view. No amount of reasoning will make them let go of this lie. After all they not only have all these gods, but these gods are on their side and they are the rulers of the world. It’s a nice lie. But it is not truth and God wants them to see truth. And yet, it still sounds as if Yahweh is forcing Pharaoh to ignore his message. Where is free will in all of this? What if God chose the very plagues and the message he knew would lead Pharaoh to refuse the message; to obey this God of slaves? And God knows what the result of this hardness of heart will be. These multiplied signs and wonders are pain. But without this pain the Egyptians will never see the truth; they will never know “I am Yahweh”. Sometimes the only path to truth is through pain.

Again, we are told that Moses and Aaron obey the Lord; that they did all that God commanded. We are being reminded that it is the presence of Yahweh that truly matters here. We are also told that Moses was eighty and that Aaron was eighty-three when they began this difficult journey. Old age was, and still is, respected in the Middle East. It represents wisdom and endurance.

I believe in a sovereign and good God and therefore I am forced to wrestle with the pain of life. I am convinced that sometimes the lie is so ingrained in our lives that no amount of kindness or reasoning will drive us to our knees. In the midst of pain, what is your rock? Do you cling to the lies of life and curse God for the suffering or do you run to him falling on your face letting go of all of your understandings and strengths and, you know, everything? I recommend the latter. Shalom my friends, Walter.