West Chester, Pennsylvania
tải về 6.33 Mb. Chế độ xem pdf
|
| Pharaoh vs. God
Like the stories in the book of Genesis, the story of the Exodus is very familiar to many people. Between children’s picture books and Hollywood movies, we can find ourselves overconfident of the details of this epic tale. So it comes as a shock to many to realize that the first request made to Pharaoh was not total freedom from slavery and Egypt. At God’s command, Moses requests of Pharaoh, “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness” (Ex 5:1). Moses reiterates, “Let us go, we beg, a three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the L ORD our God” (Ex 5:3). Moses does not ask Pharaoh to release the captives and let them leave Egypt forever, but only for a three-day retreat! This often overlooked detail underscores what is the heart of God’s deliverance of his people. God wanted to take the Israelites out of Egypt, to which they had assimilated in culture and belief, to get Egypt out of his people. Israel wasn’t simply physically enslaved; they were spiritually enslaved. Mere political liberation would not overcome this problem. Recognizing the intent of this original request redirects the whole focus of the Exodus from simply political freedom from Egypt, to freedom’s goal: freedom for a relationship with the one true God. Pharaoh’s response to this request is revealing: “I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go” (Ex 5:2; emphasis added). In Pharaoh’s mind, the God of the Hebrews was obviously not a powerful God or the Israelites would not be enslaved. Exodus began with a Pharaoh who refused to “know” Joseph, and thus disregarded the rights of Israel. Now there is a Pharaoh who refuses to “know” Yahweh, and disregards his right to have his firstborn son, Israel, serve him. Pharaoh increases Israel’s work, denying the people rest and worship. Here we encounter the third theme of the Exodus narrative: “serve.” The words “work” p 67 and “serve” are translated from the Hebrew verb avad (as a noun, avodah). In the Hebrew, avad has two meanings: it means “to work” as in “labor at a task,” as well as “to worship” in reference to God; so avad means both “to work” and “to worship.” The question is will Israel serve Pharaoh or Yahweh? The God of the Hebrews challenges Pharaoh, “Israel is my first-born son, and I say to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve me’; if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your first-born son” (Ex 4:22–23). God’s challenge strikes us as harsh, but it must be read in light of the narrative. Exodus opened with Pharaoh killing God’s firstborn son, throwing Israel’s male children into the Nile. Now God is telling Pharaoh, “Let my people go or you will reap in your own family what you have sown in my family.” Pharaoh obstinately responds, “Let heavier work be laid upon the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words” (Ex 5:9; emphasis added). Pharaoh accuses Moses, and thus Moses’ God, of lying. The serpent used this same trick when he implied that God lied to Adam and Eve. Now Pharaoh takes his place as the enemy of God. Twenty times in the opening chapters of Exodus we are told of Pharaoh’s hardening heart. Ten times God hardens Pharaoh’s heart, ten times it is Pharaoh himself. The Hebrew word translated “harden” is kaved, “to make heavy,” and a heavy heart had a particular significance for ancient Egyptians. Among the tombs and temples in ancient Egypt it was common to find inscriptions depicting the final judgment of the dead as carried out by the weighing of a person’s heart on a scale. Each heart was weighed against a feather representing truth and justice. If someone’s heart was heavy, that person was condemned. In the Exodus narrative, Pharaoh’s heart is being weighed against the scales of truth and justice. Each time he refuses to follow God’s command and acts against God and justice, his heart becomes heavier. God is making Pharaoh’s heart heavy inasmuch as he gives a just command that Pharaoh refuses to follow. In the end, the heaviness of Pharaoh’s heart will condemn him—not because God forced him to harden his heart but because he was found wanting in his response to the demands of justice and truth. tải về 6.33 Mb. Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn:
|