The Impinging Reign of Yahweh: Exodus 5–7:13
Reading for Wednesday 3.9–Friday 3.11
Moses and Israel find themselves between the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Pharaoh. The God of the slaves has made it clear that Israel are His special possession, and that they will be free to offer their allegiance to Him. The stage is set for a showdown, one that points directly to the reality we find ourselves in today.
//
Read Exodus 5–7:13
“I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt.”
Exodus 6:7 (NLT)
//
The Impinging Reign of Yahweh
Yahweh's assurance of freedom is not only a freedom from, but a freedom to. From the outset, two things are clear, 1) Israel's time as slaves to Egypt has come to an end, and 2) this implies a necessary transfer of allegiance from Pharaoh to Yahweh. Throughout the contention between Moses and Pharaoh (which is really a contest between Yahweh and Pharaoh, (7:1)), Pharaoh understands this clearly. He will not let the people go. He will not let them leave his empire to worship. They belong to him, and so does their allegiance.
Yahweh's request, spoken through Moses, does not mince words. In Hebrew, it is grammatically an order from a superior. Moses addresses Pharaoh as if he were a vassal to Yahweh's will. The tension of the moment cannot be overstated. The command is a clear and direct challenge to Pharaoh's superiority and all he represents.
And why should he listen? Pharaoh doesn't know this God. How could he? Pharaoh doesn't concern himself with a God who keeps the company of slaves. He resides quite comfortably and confidently in the illusions of his power. An illusion that is about to come crashing down. And Pharaoh, Moses, Israel, and all of Egypt will soon come to know this God.
But aside from pride, Pharaoh's resistance comes from the economic toll releasing a large number of the empire's forced labor would take. It makes little economic sense to cave to the demands of some unknown God of the slaves.
Furthermore, Yahweh's order extends the establishment of new governance, a new world order. Pharaoh is no longer in charge, and the slaves are no longer his. These people whom Pharaoh has bent and broken for his gain belong to God. And God is now taking them from Pharaoh and to make them his own. Freedom from Pharaoh is not freedom to do whatever one wants, but freedom into life with Yahweh. Loyalty is not abandoned, it is transferred. And Yahweh is not merely demanding allegiance via hollow religious ceremony. He is recapturing the heart and soul of Israel.
And this is the heart of the Gospel—the heart of the liberation offered by Yahweh. God establishes a new governance in the world. One free of dominating and oppressive empires of productivity and exploitation. God will erect a community of fidelity, neighborliness, and love in its place.
Yet we find ourselves torn. Like Israel, we see the evil done to us and around us and claim that God has not delivered us at all (5:23). We, like them, fear the power that is so close and obvious to us—the immediate, clear, and present danger. The might and power of Pharaoh seem too much to confront, and they are...
...for us.
God's presence assures us of God's power—a power that we do not coerce or control but that is potent and at work for us. We shouldn't seek to appease or call on those powers that perpetuate our oppression or the oppression of those around us. This is an obvious power, the power of the defeated regime, represented by a callous and uncaring Pharaoh. This type of power disadvantages and impoverishes others, and in so doing, disadvantages and impoverishes us.
Pharaoh's power is an illusion, one that God will consume (7:12). Yahweh's power is substantive and rooted in His insistence that He be present among us. We should entrust ourselves to Yahweh and not Pharaoh, to the liberator, not the oppressor. Even when doing so feels costly.
//
Reflect with a friend
Where do you find yourself in this story? Do you feel like the powerlessly oppressed, or bought into an illusion of your own power?
In what ways does the escalating confrontation between God and Pharaoh speak to you?
How does the idea that God does not free you to do what you like, but frees you to live in intimacy and loyalty to Him strike you? What does this reveal about your view of God? Your view of yourself? Do you believe this is an accurate depiction of Yahweh?
Spend a moment discussing how a transfer of allegiance to Yahweh could actually be quite freeing for you. What would this possibly look like for you today?
//
Next Reading
Sat 3.12 – Tue 3.15
Exodus 7:15–10
“The Crumbling of the Illusion”
