Category: Joy, Peace, and Hope Through the Bible

How the Bible empowers us to become people of joy, peace, and hope through the virtues of faith, hope, and love

Posted on

Hope for a Way Out

We all have those situations where we feel there is no way out. It may be a dead end job, an addiction, negative emotions, a relationship, a city, or bad habits. These are the sorts of things that can make us bang our head against the wall or cry out to God.

In the Bible, the people of God suffered in just such a situation. One of the most powerful nations on earth oppressed them ruthlessly. They were stuck with their necks in a hard yoke of slavery.

But they escaped. How? “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment” (Exodus 6:7). The mighty arm of God forced Egypt to give up their slaves. Israel was freed and departed to go to the land God had promised them.

From that time on, whenever Israel was stuck again, they looked to God to come down again, bare His mighty arm, and deliver them. This was their great hope: “Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness” (Ps. 96:13). “For the Lord will deliver Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they” (Jeremiah 31:11).

God is the God who provides a way out. He’s the God of the Exodus, and so there is always hope for a way out.

Sometimes, however, that way out does not appear in the way we might think. In Isaiah 52, the prophet contemplates a new exodus event. He says: “The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God” (52:10). He bares His arm but not how they think, for he says, “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (53:1). God’s mighty arm will be revealed, but people won’t see it or believe it. He won’t be smashing Egypt. The crushing blow will fall on the Messiah Himself He will be a suffering servant who will become a sacrifice for sin. This will provide a way out–an exodus for people stuck in sin and guilt!

I recently heard a story about someone who was stuck. He was stuck in a relationship problem. He struggled so much that he cried out to God. Eventually, God did provide a way out, but it was different than what he expected. “God changed me.” He said. That changed the relationship. He found the way out.

There’s always hope for a way out because the God of all hope is always there. The particular way out may surprise us. We may have to look carefully. We may have to change our thinking and actions. But the way out does come.

Posted on

The Exodus of Moses

When I read a novel, I often begin at the very beginning and find myself reading the acknowledgements section. The author thanks people and recounts the late nights she spent writing and editing. Then, there is the preface which gives us some background that is helpful but not always necessary. About halfway through these sections, I often think: I want to get into the story! Enough of this! Then, I move to chapter 1.

It would be easy to read the story of Moses that way. It is a sort of preface to the real story and action of the exodus of the people of God out of Egypt. This week, I’ve been reading Echoes of Exodus: Tracing Themes of Redemption Through Scripture by Alastair J. Roberts and Andrew Wilson. In this book, they explain that the story of Moses is not just introductory material. It is Moses’ own exodus story. Moses’ exodus introduces all the themes that will occur in the exodus of the nation.

Consider. Moses’ name means “Drawn out.” If we read his name that way, then we immediately begin to see the parallels with Israel being “drawn out” of Egypt and later the Red Sea. Here’s a passage from Exodus chosen at random with “Drawn Out” in the place of “Moses”:

Drawn Out saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Drawn Out thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Drawn Out! Drawn Out!”

And Drawn Out said, “Here I am.”

“Drawn Out” will be God’s instrument to draw out the Isrealites from Egypt!

When we consider Moses’ life, the parallels are even more striking. As a baby, he goes down into the water and is brought out to salvation like the Israelites at the Red Sea. 40 years later, Moses seeks to liberate the Israelites. He then has his own exodus where he escapes from Pharaoh and flees into the wilderness.

In the wilderness, God provides Moses with water. Moses then fights off the shepherds to defend the daughters of Jethro. He gets aid from Jethro. All these themes are present in Israel’s experience in the wilderness in Exodus 16–18.

Finally, Moses meets God’s fiery presence in the burning bush. We must remember that this takes place at Sinai. After Israel crosses the wilderness, they meet God’s fiery presence at Sinai just like Moses did.

Why is paying attention to these themes so significant? Roberts and Wilson suggest that we should read Scripture in a musical way. Music repeats various themes and creates tension and then resolutions or more tension in a variety of ways. Reading Scripture this way can help us see what God is drawing our attention to.

In addition, metaphors are powerful. Roberts and Wilson remind us that politicians have often used martial terminology to explain political actions such as a “War on Poverty.” They ask, what if other terms were used?

Say we talked about the frayed edges of society and recovering the stitches we once dropped. Say we lamented the unraveling of communities, addressed the knotty tangles of social problems, and aruged that belonging to close-knit families was a crucial thread in the fabric of society. (23)

The authors note that this would help us think of our problems less in terms of enemies and more “in terms of our interconnectedness and the importance of maintaining the integrity of society’s relationships” (ibid.). All that would have changed was the metaphor, but it would make a significant difference.

So in our reading of Scripture. The metaphor makes a difference. The narrative and its emphases makes a differences. Roberts and Wilson provide some helpful ways to think about how God develops the themes of the Exodus throughout the Bible. The story of Moses is just one part of it. I would certainly recommend this book for anyone who wants to “hear” themes of Exodus in the musical score God wrote in the Bible and is writing in your own life.

Posted on

The God of the Exodus

What is the most significant event in the Old Testament? It is the exodus. It is an event where God looked down on his helpless, enslaved people and came down to rescue them from a tyrant. God led them out of Egypt to freedom.

It is important for us to remember that this story was the prominent story in the minds of the writers of the Bible. They thought in terms of the exodus.

This may be hard for Christians to see because we think in terms of the death and resurrection of Christ. But how did Christ think of His own death and resurrection? I remember when I first studied Greek and began using it to study the New Testament text in order to prepare my sermons. One sermon I prepared was on the transfiguration of Jesus in Luke 9. I remember this sermon very distinctly because I preached it in Jordan Station, Ontario, Canada. When I started talking about the cloud, it got very dark. We heard the sound of thunder and saw the lightning. It was a memorable preaching experience!

The other reason I remember the sermon is because this was one of those times when the Greek just jumped out at me. When Moses and Elijah appeared in glory with Jesus, what did they talk about? In English it says that they talked about his “departure.” However, in the Greek, it says, they talked about his exodus. Jesus thought of His death and resurrection as an exodus! We can, too.

In 2 Peter 1, Peter refers back to the transfiguration, “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (1:16). In the previous verses, he says that he was going to remind them of these things while he was in the “tent of this body” (a reference to the wilderness and the Exodus, by the way!). Then, he says that he was going to make sure that people were there to remind them of these things after his departure.. Same Greek word as in Luke 9, an exodus. Death is Peter’s “exodus,” freed from the dominion of sin, he would now be free from the presence of sin!

I could go on and on. The biblical writers were saturated with thoughts about the exodus. It is how they thought about God, humans, the world, and themselves.

So, why does the exodus event matter to us in the 21st century? First, it can help us understand the Bible. The Bible speaks from beginning to end of the God of the Exodus, the God who delivers his people from a narrow place where they are stuck and brings them into a place of openness and abundance.

Second, it can help encourage us in our struggles. How often do we find ourselves stuck in addictions, sins, emotional issues, dead ends, bad relationships, or organizational lethargy? It’s easy to look at these situations and see ourselves as helpless and hopeless. If we could think of God as the God of the Exodus who leads His people out of the bondage, we could have a lot of hope. We could stop looking at these seemingly helpless situations and start looking up at the God who sees our suffering and can and will, in His due time, provide an exodus for us.

Third, it gives us a positive orientation to the future. We can think of ourselves as those who need an exodus and will one day experience one. Thinking bigger, we can think of the whole world as stuck and in need of an exodus. That’s how Paul thought of the creation. He thought of the creation as being in “bondage” (Rom. 8:21) like the children of Israel: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (8:22). The creation is groaning like the enslaved Israelites groaned in Egypt! But there is good news! “The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21). The whole world is eagerly awaiting an exodus!

Knowing the God of the Bible as the God of the Exodus means knowing God as the God of all hope. However hopeless or difficult or stuck a situation may seem, there is always hope in the God who comes down and delivers His people out of bondage into glorious freedom! The God of the Exodus is still in the exodus business.

Posted on

Responsive Call to Worship from Psalm 103

Psalm 103 is one of the most beautiful expressions of God’s love in the Bible. This Sunday, I’m preaching on Ephesians 3:14–21. I thought this would be an appropriate call to worship. This is simply an arrangement of the verses from the NIV. Please feel free to copy and use it in your service.

Reader: Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
Congregation: who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Reader: Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Congregation: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

Reader: Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
Congregation: For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Reader: Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion.
Congregation: The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

All: Praise the Lord, my soul.

Posted on

Why Did Joseph Test His Brothers?

In Genesis 42, Joseph’s brothers who had sold him into slavery arrived in Egypt and appeared before him, the ruler of Egypt. They obviously did not expect to see him there and so did not recognize him. Joseph recognized his brothers, but he did not reveal his true identity to them. Instead, he treated them with harshness. Why?

Commentators are not agreed on the reason. Perhaps my favorite suggestion is one we might call the “Hey y’all, watch this!” explanation. Picture Joseph talking to his friends at his office in Egypt. His brothers come in, and he says, “Hey y’all, remember my brothers I was telling y’all about. There they are. Watch this! Hold my beer!”

Unfortunately, this fruitful way of interpreting the Scripture has not been widely accepted by scholars.

One thing that scholars seem to agree on is that Joseph was not trying to get revenge. As one example, Matthew Henry says: “Now why was Joseph thus hard upon his brethren? We may be sure it was not from a spirit of revenge, that he might now trample upon those who had formerly trampled upon him he was not a man of that temper.”

This might be hard to believe in light of the fact that Joseph put all of the brothers in prison for three days. Then, he kept the oldest, Simeon, in prison, telling them that he would only release him if they came back with their youngest brother Benjamin. After all, when people start taking hostages, it’s not funny anymore.

There are two solid reasons to think that this is not revenge. First, Joseph could have done much worse. He could have made them slaves. He chose not to. Second, his own explanation of the situation indicates a long reflection on the meaning of his sufferings that excludes a desire for revenge: “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you” (Genesis 45:5).

So, what was Joseph doing? It seems most likely that he was trying to determine if they had changed. Forgiveness allows people a fresh start, but relationships are built on the basis of people’s character. If someone has been abusive in the past, forgiveness allows a fresh start. However, a real relationship can only flourish if the abuser can let go of their abusive ways.

So it was with Joseph. Happily, in this case, Joseph saw that their hearts had changed. His pretend harshness culminated with a situation where he was going to take Benjamin as his slave. Judah stood up and said:

So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life, sees that the boy isn’t there, he will die. . . . Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.

At this point, Joseph could bare it no longer. He broke down and wept before his brothers. Reconciliation had begun.

Is there an application to us today? When we don’t feel safe because of past hurts, we can approach those who have hurt us to see if they have changed. If they have, then we should be willing to be reconciled without demanding anything else in return.

This may be hard, but it is the way of King Jesus. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Proudly powered by WordPress