The control you give God over your life
When times are good
Is the control God has to save your life
When times are evil
The Control You Give to God
Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 21:26-27
26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
27 And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
We have some more verses of the law meant to protect a servant under his master’s care. If a master were found to have abused a servant so that the servant lost an eye or a tooth, then the servant would go free, while still retaining all of the money that was initially paid for his service. The abusive master would simply lose out on any of the six years that remained in the servant’s term.
We have already mentioned how the servanthood described here in Exodus was fundamentally different from—and morally superior to—our more modern conception of slavery. We have also discussed how this sort of paid servitude may have been necessary, given the economic state of the newly-freed Israelites, providing both an opportunity to the poor and a surety to the higher class.
But to be sure, the servants of Israel were still in a vulnerable position, and that reality is well-recognized within the law. Note that we have not seen any laws that would protect or compensate the master should he have an unproductive servant, but we have already seen multiple laws that would protect the servant should he have a cruel master. There is a common narrative in our culture that the Old Testament God was cruel and championed the oppression of the weak, but such claims are disingenuous, ignoring how His laws were deliberately tilted in the favor of the most vulnerable. The care of His heart is made manifest in the guardrails of His law.
Scriptural Analysis- Summary of Israel Subjugated by Egypt
I just finished the first fourteen chapters of Exodus, which covers the enslavement of Israel, the wonders performed by Moses in Egypt, and the eventual redemption of God’s chosen people. I wanted to pause at this moment to reflect on some of the themes and lessons from these stories. I will do this over the next few days, then I will briefly pause my scriptural analysis as I publish one or two spiritual studies that I have been wanting to do, after which I will resume my scripture study with Exodus 15.
Forgetting God)
At the beginning of Exodus we heard how a new Pharaoh arose “which knew not Joseph.” Looking back, I believe the phrase “which knew not” has been a theme throughout all this story of Egypt. The Egyptians forgot both the debt of gratitude that they owed to the Israelite prince who saved them during the famine, and also his God who had proven Himself to be Lord and Master over all.
By forgetting who the Israelites were and who their God was, the Egyptians felt emboldened to take extreme liberties on the chosen people, which in turn would bring terrible retribution on their own heads. Whenever a people forget God and His fundamental laws of good they inevitably come to dabble in matters that they don’t understand. They start digging out the foundation of a wall, completely ignorant of how it supports the great edifice that hangs overhead. When they are crushed, they will be completely surprised but also completely culpable.
An Unexpected Protection)
At certain points in their history, the Israelites were conquered because they had abandoned God and had to be chastened back into faithfulness. In the case of their subjugation to Egypt, though, we are not told that such was the case. We are given reasons for the conquering, and none of them are morally justified, so as far as we know the Israelites were still an innocent and faithful people, and Egypt wronged them without cause.
If that was the case, then it occurs to me that one reason why God may have permitted this travesty was that it actually served the purpose of protecting the Israelites during a vulnerable period. We know that while they were in Egypt the Israelites grew from 70 souls to approximately 2 million. We also know that there were various hostile tribes and kingdoms growing to power in Canaan while they were being held captive in Egypt. It may be that if the Israelites had stayed in Canaan and multiplied there, that one of the other kingdoms would have seen them as a growing threat and just wiped them out. Being enslaved meant that they would have been protected from all the other worldly powers, guarded by the mighty armies of Egypt, allowing them to develop to the point that they could face those other powers as equals.
***
This concludes my retrospect on the enslavement of Israel in Egypt, tomorrow I will continue with a summary of Moses’s miracles and the liberation of Israel.
Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 11:7-8
7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. 8 And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out.
God had sworn to slay all of the Egyptian firstborn, but as with the previous curses, He would set a division between the Egyptians and the Israelites. The phrase “shall not a dog move his tongue” must be an old expression, and most scholars agree that it meant that things would be so peaceful that not even a dog would bark in the streets. Thus it not only illustrated safety from physical harm, but even from anything alarming or distressing.
God also prophesied that this curse would be the one that finally broke Egypt. “These thy servants” appears to be referencing the Egyptian leadership, who would demand that the Israelites go. God further foretold that Pharaoh wouldn’t go back on his word this time, as given by “and after that I will go out.”
There is one other sentence at the end of verse 8 that I have omitted. “And he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.” This doesn’t make a lot of sense in the current setting of Moses describing the coming curse to the Israelites, and I believe that this last sentence actually belongs with the next two verses. I will therefore include it in tomorrow’s study.
Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 9:5-7
5 And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land. 6 And the Lord did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. 7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
Once again we see the pattern of God revealing his intention to Moses, Moses and Aaron delivering that message to Pharaoh, and then the promised effect coming into reality. There are multiple patterns regarding the behavior of God and man that are being reinforced through repetition in this story, showing that these are general rules and not incidental coincidences. As a general rule, God has His plans and He makes them known beforehand through His prophets so that we don’t mistake His work for random chance. This pattern makes it very hard to deny that God was responsible for what occurred, as one would first have to explain how God knew it was going to happen.
In verse 6 we are told that the effect of God’s curse was total. It states that “all the cattle of Egypt died.” It wasn’t just a portion that God took, it was the entire flock. Meanwhile, “of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.” God’s protection of the Israelites was just as absolute as His destruction of the Egyptians.
This does raise a question, though, for in each of the next two curses (the boils and the hail), we will be told that both the Egyptians were afflicted, and also their “beasts,” including “cattle…in the field.” What cattle were there to be afflicted if all of them had died already from the murrain? Perhaps verse 6 only means “all the cattle of Egypt died”…that had been afflicted with the murrain? Perhaps the disease did not have a 100% infection rate, but did have a 100% mortality rate. Or perhaps literally all of the Egyptian cattle were killed, and they then purchased new flocks from their neighbors, and it was that new purchase that was attacked in the next two curses.
Finally, In verse 7 we hear how Pharaoh sent emissaries to validate the Lord’s claims, to really know whether everything had played out in just the way that the Lord had decreed. “And, behold,” it had. But apparently that had no effect on his behavior. Once more he refused to let the people go, and so yet another curse would follow.
Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 8:22-23
22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. 23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.
I previously wondered whether the Israelites had been affected by the turning of the river to blood in the same way that the Egyptians had. And did the frogs come upon both sets of people? And the lice? Perhaps so, but now we are told that there would be a sharp divide between the people of Israel and the people of Egypt.
This is a recurring theme in the Bible, that of a divide being made between the faithful and the profane, of God’s chosen people being saved and the wicked being destroyed. We have seen it where a protection was put around Noah’s family in the form of an ark when all the world was flooded. We have seen it where heavenly messengers drew Lot’s family out to safety when Sodom and Gomorrah was bombarded. Now we see it where a clear line is made between two halves. In one land the curse runs rampant, but it is not allowed to pass over into the neighboring land.
Thus we see multiple different ways that God is able to protect His people. He can shield them in the eye of the storm, or lead them out to safety, or put up a wall that keeps the danger at bay. He can end the danger, preserve you through the danger, or get you out of the danger. One never know just how God will save him, only that God will if he prepares himself for it.
Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 2:2-4
2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
Moses’s mother had to hide him because of the Pharaoh’s murderous decree. Every newborn male was to be killed by the Egyptians. I wonder how she managed to keep an infant, prone to sudden bouts of crying, unknown from the rest of the world. What terrifying days those must have been!
Of course, as the child grew he only became more and more difficult to conceal. Moses’s mother had a terrible choice to make: keep her child under her care and almost certainly consign him to death, or turn him over to God’s mercy. Her final gift to her son was a little ark, carefully sealed so no water could get inside. It seemed to be the last home she could provide him.
I think the final words in verse four illustrate the grim uncertainty with which Moses parted ways from his family. His sister watched to know “what would be done to him.” Starvation, drowning, being eaten by a wild animal, found and killed by an Egyptian guard…all manner of tragic endings were possible. As we will see tomorrow, though, God had other plans.
Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 31:4-9
4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, 5 And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me. 6 And ye know that with all my power I have served your father. 7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me. 8 If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked. 9 Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
God had commanded Jacob to leave Laban and return to his former home. But while it appears Jacob was agreeable to that he also seems concerned for how his wives will take the news. They had lived their whole lives in this place, and he was about to ask them to give it all up.
Jacob began by testifying that they were cared for by God all this while, and not Laban. Which I imagine was meant to be a comfort to the women since God would still watch out for them, even when they were outside of their father’s protection.
And I very much appreciate this insight into how Jacob’s relationship with God has evolved. He had originally come to this land seeking mortal refuge, hoping that his uncle would provide for him in the place of his father. What he had instead found was that his uncle was untrustworthy, and repeatedly tried to cheat him, but God intervened in Jacob’s behalf. And through this God had won Jacob’s trust. Out on the fields God had assured Jacob that He would care for him, and now Jacob had seen the truth of it. Thus, Jacob took his sense of dependence from mankind and put it in the divine. And if the divine told him that it was time to leave, then he would trust that that was the right thing to do.
Spiritual Wanderings 