“Give This Message to the People, Moses” -- Exodus 6:6-9

“Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage.  I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.  Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.  And I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the Lord.’”  So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage.
 

In the passages previous to this one, we read that Moses obeyed God, got frustrated with the outcome, and then God reminded him of Who He is, what He has done, and what He has promised.  But I love the beginning of this short passage, “Therefore, tell your fellow Hebrews . . .”.

As I study this passage, I have come to believe that one of its purposes is to remind us that our relationship with God, our knowledge of Who He is and what He has done and has promised, is to be shared with others, beginning with our own people –family, friends, coworkers, and countrymen/women.  This is all about ‘telling others’.  It is about ‘witnessing’.  And then God, in telling Moses what he is to say, gives us some instructions as to what we are to say.  God would have us tell people that:

1.     Our God is indeed, as we saw from the previous passage, more than just a Creator and Provider – He is our Lord with whom we can have a personal and intimate relationship, as a Father and a child.

2.     Because our God is a God of love, He is fully aware of their circumstances and their needs and that He will deliver them from any bondage they find themselves in.  For many people, life is no longer fun, only bondage.  When the curtain goes down, the patrons have left for after-theatre drinks, and the lights are dimmed, the actor is often left alone, tired, spent, and despondent.

3.     Because He is a God of justice, He will also deal with our enemy, the devil, as well as those that work with him.  Vengeance is indeed His and He will judge the evildoers and repay them accordingly.

4.     He wants us to be His people, His children and to know Him as a Father.  He wants to be our God and lead us and save us.  In short, God will redeem us from being slaves.  If not Him, who or what else?

5.     At the end of our journey, if He is our God and we are His children, we will get our promised land – we will get our reward of eternal life; our struggles will be over; and we will sing of our Redeemer’s praise.

The message could not be any simpler.  All of the above is now made possible for us, who were not originally “children of Israel” and thus were not Jews.  It is now possible for the whole world to participate fully in God’s desire to have us as His children and to save us, through His Son, Jesus Christ.  The New Testament thousands of years after God spoke these words and gave these instructions to Moses, instructs us so.

Now notice the interesting lack or absence of words between the completion of God’s utterance and Moses’ obedience.   The Bible simply says, “So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel.”  Wow.  Here were clear instructions, followed by immediate and complete obedience to them.  Are we as faithful, as trusting, as obedient?  Let us determine this day to be so, or at least to be more so than we have in the past.

Now here is the shocker.  This passage clearly warns us that even though we do all we are instructed to do in sharing with others our relationship with and in God, many, if not all, simply will not listen.  And they won’t listen, the Bible says, because of “their despondency and [their] cruel bondage”.  Despondency is defined as a state of low spirits caused by a loss of hope or courage -- often from years of ‘slavery’ or ‘bondage’ in our lives.  And the loss of hope or courage often comes from being or feeling defeated by the enemy, or believing that because of what they see around them, they cannot win; that life is indeed intended to be hard, and then you die.

You and I, as was Moses and Aaron in our story, are often the only chance these people of low spirits have of ever seeing things differently.  We are the only way that some of them will ever find the hope of having joy and purpose and peace again through Christ Jesus and of finding the courage to live life with Him one day at a time, realizing that each challenge He allows is for their ultimate strengthening and confidence, as well as their own mission in life.

Somehow, Moses was not getting that across to his own people, and as we will see, in the passages that follow, God moves in again.  Did Moses listen and continue with his mission?  We’ll find out.  The more pertinent question is, “Are we listening and continuing in Christ, sharing with others our story of redemption?”  I pray so.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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2013: The Joyless and Ungrateful Are Still Among Us

I received a subscription to Canada’s National Post for Christmas.  The paper’s ‘Letters’ page, December 31, 2012, was dedicated to an idea suggested earlier by one of their readers, Esther Paul.  Esther had recommended to Paul Russell, the Letters editor, that readers be asked, “What gives them joy/satisfaction/what are they grateful for.”

From what I could see, the majority of printed letters were indeed “quite heartwarming” as the paper said.  People were grateful for family and friends.  Some were thankful there was a God.  Others were thankful for what Canada offers, or for their health, or for a free press, and a slew of other reasons.

But two letters in particular caught my attention.  The first was under a sub-heading that read, “Grateful that there is not a God”.  It was by an A. Hughes from Thorold, Ontario.  He wrote:

Your question is an open invitation to believers to go on about religion.  In response to them I have to say that I’m happy that I don’t believe in any sort of god.  Indeed, it even gives me joy.

The second one was printed under a heading that read, “Nothing to be grateful for”.  Another man, A. Sotto, sent it in from Montreal, Quebec.  He wrote:

I have nothing to be grateful for.  Cigarettes are expensive and the winters here are long and harsh.  However, I enjoyed watching ‘La Traviata’ [an opera by Verdi] at the Salle Wilfrid Pelletier [a Montreal concert hall].

What do we really have here as represented by these two letters?  In the first case, Mr. Hughes, in my opinion, demonstrates evidence of a “man angry at God”.  He takes issue with the very question the editor asked of readers.  Why does his mind immediately go to the idea that joy/satisfaction/being grateful can be only somehow related to God or belief in a religious faith?  May I suggest it is because a) finding true joy/satisfaction/reasons-for-gratefulness is indeed related to knowing God personally and Mr. Hughes’ inner-self knows that but refuses to accept it, and b) that the writer was in some way irate that it is so, especially since he denies God’s existence.  At the same time, the writer feels it necessary that he have some sort of joy nonetheless and insists that he has found it in his ability to believe there is no God.  Unfortunately, one’s belief that something (or Someone) does not exist does not make it so.

[As an example, denying that something more devious and evil, involving well-known and previously trusted Americans, was the cause of the destruction of the three World Trade Center buildings of 9/11 fame – something like ‘controlled demolition’ as is coming to light by scientific research these days -- and instead choosing to believe the ‘official but unscientific story’ that they were solely downed by two ordinary commercial airplanes under the control of Muslims crashing into them and the resultant fires that were observed, does not necessarily make the latter to be a fact.  But that’s another story for another time.  In the meantime, readers may want to check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ddz2mw2vaEg and then https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=n_fp5kaVYhk for more information on this.  But be warned, it may well shake your foundational beliefs in your country, your government, and mankind.]

Let us look at the letter of the second writer, Mr. Sotto.  His submission too is puzzling.  He offers the statement that he has “nothing to be grateful about”.  And why is that?  Well, if you believed him, it is because “cigarettes are expensive” and “winters (where he lives) are long and harsh.”  If I had a chance to spend a little time with Mr. Sotto, I am sure we could find a number of things for which he could be grateful if he so chose.  Among them would be the fact that he is still alive to enjoy some of the benefits that this country does indeed have to offer.   While cigarettes may be expensive, surely he can be thankful for the fact that he does, even from time to time, have sufficient money to purchase them for his self-satisfaction (that is assuming he hasn’t given up smoking which I very much doubt).  Perhaps he could be grateful for the very source of those funds.  And then Mr. Motto himself offers a cause for joy (surely we can say we are ‘grateful’ for things that cause us ‘joy’) when he talks about the opportunity he had to see a great opera at a wonderful concert hall.  So, you see, even those that at first reaction have nothing to be grateful for, even they have something and often, have much, to be grateful for.  [ I am reminded of the reaction I observe in my grandchildren sometimes when they are missing one thing they want right now, the whole world of blessings they have and are surrounded by, are easily forgotten.]

We can well ask what then makes the difference between a joyful or grateful individual and one who thinks and talks and feels as if he or she is not?  The answer is simple (at least to me).  It is a matter of the intellect and the emotion.  It is a matter of what one thinks in one’s head and what one feels in one’s heart.  And then of course, one has to consciously decide what that is and stick to it.  I, for one, have chosen to believe there is a God, and that makes it easy for me to see all the things in my life for which I am joyous and grateful about.  My family, my health, my life and opportunities in general, my ability and desire to help others, and so on – all these are seen by me as a gift from God.  The only thing I have to do is make the decision that what my head and heart are telling me I will stick with.

At the same time, I do realize that it is possible for some to experience the same joy and sense of being grateful without believing in God.  The only problem that arises with that approach is how one might then a) explain the presence and absence of these things for which they are happy about and grateful, in their lives, or in the lives of others; and b) who is such a person being “thankful” or “grateful” to, or from whom are we withhold such thankfulness.  The actual meaning of the phrase “thank you” makes sense when we consider that normally when we express it, we are shifting “responsibility” in a positive way from ourselves to someone else.  [For example, when your arms are full of grocery bags and you have to get through a door, and I come along and open that door for you, you say “thank you” because I have in essence taken that ‘responsibility’ from you and transferred it to myself as you allow me to.  You would not be saying ‘thank you’ if you refused to allow me to open the door for you, even if I did.]  So I would ask anyone who thinks like Mr. Sotto, “Who is taking on the responsibility of making you “thankful” by giving you any joy or gratefulness in anything?”

Finally, there are three verses in the New Testament of the Bible, found in Matthew 26:11, Mark 14:7, and John 12:8, where Jesus says, “The poor you will always have with you.”  Commentators have translated that very literally and for good reason if one understands the full context of the wording.  But somehow, I cannot help but think that Jesus may also mean those that are “poor in the sense that they cannot be joyful or grateful” and those who refuse to shift the responsibility for life and its blessings to Him.

I hope Mssrs. Hughes and Sotto and the many they represent will indeed find more reasons to be joyous and thankful in 2013.  More importantly, it is my wish that more of us who have this JOY will indeed take the time necessary to find the joyless and the ungrateful in this world, like these two honest men, or at least those that God puts in our path, and simply share with them our own source of this most-valued asset.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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God Reflects On His Covenant and Name -- Exodus 6:1-5

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he shall let them go, and under compulsion he shall drive them out of his land.”  God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them.  And I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned.  And furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage; and I have remembered My covenant.”

This was a hard section to title.  While God is definitely speaking to Moses in response to his complaint, I feel there is also present an element of God thinking out loud and reflecting on what has transpired so far and what will transpire.  When looking at the actual language, one can easily say God is simply restating His promises to Moses, and you can almost hear Moses thinking, “promises, promises, promises”.  Sometimes we feel like that.  “God, I’ve done all I could; I kept my side of the bargain; what about you?  Why isn’t my child better?  Why doesn’t my husband have a job?  Why do I feel no one on earth loves me?  Why can’t we buy our own place?  Why is there so much trouble in my church?”

And this is the very time that we need to remember that, in one sense, we have not really trusted and believed unless we have trusted and believed to the very end.  I have been a Christian for over five decades now.  Sometimes, when I consider all that is going on in the world, especially with respect to growth of Jihadic Islam in the world and its goal of eliminating all Christians and Jews from the face of the earth, I ask myself “What happens if I fail my Lord in the end?”  All those years of faithfulness will not count for much if I do not run the full race.  I will have only believed and trusted when I saw evidence of His hand in my life.  I will have been no different than an atheist if I stopped believing and trusting when I felt He had not kept His Word to me.

I believe that is the very secret to a Christian life.  One allows his or her faith to carry him or her throughout life right up to the point of death.  It is at that point that one can be told, “you have run a good race”.  It is then that the struggles end.  I do not for a moment want to suggest that God cannot or will not be merciful even then (that is His call to make, not ours), but from my perspective anything short of that would make me feel I have failed my Lord and my faith at the time I most needed them.

God tells Moses that He will, by force, cause Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go.  But Moses had been told that earlier.  This was just a reminder.  That is the amazing thing about God – He gives people a chance to do the right thing voluntarily.  Only when they do not, He uses His power to bring about the result that He wants.  And He can do that because of Who He is.

And so He reminds Moses of that.  He tells him He is the Lord, the same One Who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty.  Moses only had to remember what He did for them to know that He would deliver His promises to Moses as well.  If our God is God and He is, then we need to only remember what He has done in the past, and what He is doing for others even now, in order to be assured of what He will do for us in the future.

But here God makes an interesting distinction.  He says Moses knows Him by one name and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew Him by another.  Moses’ ancestors knew Him as “God Almighty” or more literally ‘El Shaddai’ (Genesis 17:1), the Creator of the heavens and the earth, or as "Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide" (Genesis 22:8).  But God wanted His children to know Him in a much more personal way, as Lord.

What God now wanted for the children of Israel, here He was sharing with Moses, His handpicked servant.  He wanted Moses to be in this close relationship with Him.  Beforehand, God was merely known as one Who keeps His covenant, but now He is to be known more intimately.  That is what He wants for us as well.  Do you know God as just the Creator (as major as that is) or a Provider; or do you know Him intimately as your Father and as the Lord of your life?

And here’s the rest of the good news.  God says His covenant gives Canaan to the people of Israel.  Nothing would change that.  They were to get the land in due course.  And then God addresses the ‘timing’ issue as well, knowing that Moses was concerned about “when all this was to pass”.   God had heard the groaning of the children of Israel – groaning that was caused by the increased work pressure put on them lately because Pharaoh got angered at their request for time off to go and worship God.

What does this tell us?  Simply this – God is aware of our own legitimate groaning.  And if we are close to Him, we will sense that He does and we will trust Him with the knowledge of that, knowing He will come at the right time to rescue us.  I personally experienced that again just this past week.  Just when I felt all was lost in a particular situation in my ministry, God heard my cry.  But in the process I did sense His love for, and direction of, me, and then He delivered me in a most miraculous way.  The result was far more than I expected.

There was a Gospel song a few years back sung by a group called Karen Peck and New River.  It was called “Four Days Late”.  It depicted the story of Lazarus on how his starts thought that Jesus was four days late in coming and all hope was lost.  But the truth was that Jesus was “right on time”.  I encourage you to look it up on the internet and listen to it.  Friend, God remembers His covenant with His people.  He did for the Israelites and He does now for you.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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Moses Questions God -- Exodus 5:22-23

Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why hast Thou brought harm to this people?  Why didst Thou ever send me?  Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he has done harm to this people; and Thu has not delivered Thy people at all.”

It happens to all of us.  When things are not going right, especially when we think we have done all that God wants us to, and people are being hurt, the natural thing to do is to turn to God and ask “Why?”  It is a common response or frustration.  It hits Christians and non-Christians alike.  In fact, even atheists seem to want to blame the God whose existence they deny.

I experienced a little of this recently when I was speaking to one of the members of a Board of Directors I work with.  I told him that I did not know why God was allowing certain things to happen, but I was willing to keep on following what I believe He has told me and suffer any necessary consequences.  My personal view is that it is okay for us to wonder “why” God is allowing or doing something we cannot understand, but it is not okay for us to question Him.

I think that Moses, in keeping with his previous approach to questioning God, again went a little too far.  Not only does he ask “why?” but also he accuses God of bringing harm to the children of Israel.  And then he makes the issue about him when he further asks, “Why did you ever think of sending me?”  Wow.  Now Moses was actually challenging God’s selection of His choice as to who would do His work or how it was to be done.  This is probably not a wise way to question the Almighty.

And Moses does not stop there.  He tells God that he did everything in His Name, as God told him to and all that resulted was that Pharaoh started harming the people more.  God’s plan was faulty as far as he was concerned.  And then he makes it about God – “You have not delivered at all as you promised.”  We cannot miss that phrase, “at all”.  I am reminded of our grandchildren that get ‘totally’ upset at one of their parents because they were denied a fourth treat at a local fair, but give no credit to their mom or dad who take them to the fair, buy them lots of rides, and the first three treats.  So it is with us, in the moment’s frustration, we often forget God’s blessings and overall generosity to His people and His individual children.

Chuck Smith in his commentary on these verses in C2000 Series says this:

You know quite often Satan, when you embark on a work of God, throws so many things in the way that things look like they've just gotten so much worse, you wonder, "Oh man, did God really tell me that?" Or, "Did God really call me?" He does his best to discourage you right at the onset of any program that you endeavor for God. You'd be amazed how many problems can arise when you make a commitment to God, you desire to serve the Lord. Not gonna be peaches and cream, not gonna be roses. Satan will do his best to discourage you. So often things look like they have just gone from bad to calamity because you've launched out in faith to do a work for God. Satan will do his best to hinder it and stop it at the beginning. He'll do anything to stop it, discouragement, lies, anything to stop that work of God that you endeavor for Him. So that secret is "just keep on". If God has called you to a task, "just do it". Don't get discouraged at initial responses.

Years ago I thought God called me to the ministry. So I trained, went to school, prepared, and spent seventeen years trying to minister, until I got so discouraged that I thought "Well, maybe God didn't call me to the ministry." I was ready to quit, ready to give up so many times. Put out applications for different kinds of work, get out of the ministry, get into something secular. I was discouraged, I was tired, fighting, hassles, trying to feed a family, to patch the squabbles of people. The thing, the interesting thing is it was just after my period of greatest discouragement, I really just sort of resigning from the ministry, and going into home Bible studies that God really began to bless and anoint me. Just when I had a good job, started making money. Satan will do his best to discourage you. He'll make you question your call. He'll challenge you on every corner. If God has called you to do it, stick with it, God will bring you through. God will work.

I know exactly how Moses felt. I turned in my resignation to God so many times, "I've had it, through. Thought You called me to the ministry, but Lord there's nothing happening, I'm tired." Lord said, "Ah get out there and get back to work. What are you doing crying to Me?"

It is my prayer that we can all learn from Moses’ mistakes and be strengthened by God’s undying love for us and His willingness to forgive and overlook our failing eyesight and memory.  It is fine that we pour out of heart to God as Moses did, but we must never forget God’s promises and His exact words.  You will remember that back in Exodus 3:19-20 God had actually said, “But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go.”  Moses had forgotten.  Let us not forget God’s promises to us, even when things look dismal.

In the next chapter of Exodus, we see God’s response once again to the man He has chosen to lead Israel out of Egypt.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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The Hebrew Foremen Blame Moses and Aaron -- Exodus 5:15-21

Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants?  There is no straw given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’  And behold, your servants are being beaten; but it is the fault of your own people.”  But he said, “You are lazy, very lazy; therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’  So go now and work; for you shall be given no straw, yet must deliver the quota of bricks.”  And the foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble because they were told, “You must not reduce your daily amount of bricks.”  When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were waiting for them.  And they said to them, “May the Lord look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Seeing that their fellow Hebrews could not deliver the quotas they were assigned due to the fact that they also had to now collect their own straw with which to construct the bricks, the foremen who were Hebrews went to Pharaoh and complained strongly.  They appealed to his sense of fairness in the way servants should be treated and to his sense of logic in terms of what was to be reasonably expected in terms of product within a set timeframe.

But Pharaoh would hear nothing of it.  Instead he accuses them of being lazy and the scripture in fact says, he repeated the words “very lazy”.  Their request to be given time to sacrifice to the Lord in his opinion was simply an attempt to get out of work.  The requirements remained in place and he sent them back to their work.

So the Hebrew foremen sensed they were in trouble having gained no good news to report to their people.

Realizing they could not win any concessions from Pharaoh, they next meet with Moses and Aaron who had been waiting to see what the outcome of the foremen’s meeting with Pharaoh was.  The foremen then take their frustration out on Moses and Aaron, accusing them of making the people hated in the sight of Pharaoh and his representatives, so much so that they believed they would kill them if they did not meet their daily production quotas.  You will remember this whole thing of the extra demands started when Moses and Aaron had asked Pharaoh to let the people go into the desert to sacrifice unto God.

What do we make of this short passage?  This was the first instance where Moses was faced with opposition from his own side as a result of his willingness to obey God with respect to his mission for God.  And interestingly enough, it came from the very people that stood to benefit from what God was doing through Moses.  There is more to come later.

The lesson is simply this – you can expect challenges and grief from the very people that should be supporting you when you set about doing the hard things that God wants you to do.  Anyone in leadership can well identify with this, be he/she a pastor, an executive, or a politician.

One may well ask “but why does God allow this to happen?”  The answer seems to be that part of the leader’s development for real challenges is the ability to handle the frustrations and oppositions that come from his/her people.   If you are experiencing this today and still feel you are doing what God wants you to do, then consider it as part and parcel of the training process.  God is not finished with you yet.  He is watching to see how true you will remain to the cause and the methodology He has given you to follow.  Hang in there and as Bill Hybels says, “Stay the Course”.
You may also ask, "why do the very people we are trying to help do this?"  That is a good question.  I can only offer these suggestions.  First, you are the leader, not they.  They often cannot see the process that has to be followed from start to finish.  Second, God has spoken to you, not necessarily to them.  There will be some in the group that will support you -- God has chosen them to be your Aarons.  Be thankful for them and pray that they can influence others.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

The People Cannot Meet Pharaoh’s Increased Demands -- Exodus 5:10-14

So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw.  You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; but none of your labor will be reduced.’”  So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.  And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your work quota, our daily amount, just as when you had straw.”  Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not completed our required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”

 

Angry at the requests of Aaron and Moses, Pharaoh decides to make the laboring of his Hebrew slaves even harder.  His taskmasters and foremen (two different levels of command) go out and inform the people of his new wishes.  We note that they quote Pharaoh either in order to give the new instructions their proper authority (likely the reason the taskmasters did so) or as a way of indirectly telling the Hebrews it was not they that were doing this (likely the reason the foremen who worked directly with slaves did so).

In order to meet the demands of the Pharaoh, the Hebrews had to scatter throughout Egypt to gather stubble for straw, and then return to where they were making bricks to still manufacture the same amount of bricks as before within the same period of time.  Each day, as fields were scavenged and cleared, the Hebrews had to go further and further, which took up more time.  This resulted in a very tall demand which many would find impossible to accomplish.  While the Egyptians may have had their bountiful sources of straw, the Hebrews could only find ‘stubble’ from fields where the wheat or straw had long been reaped.

Many questions could be asked here.  How far did they really have to go?  How was this organized?  Who supervised them?  And so on.  I think we just have to take the Scriptures at their word that this did indeed happen somehow.  Maybe our ‘time frames’ are out.  Or maybe we are missing some other information that would make it all seem plausible to us.  But we do know some Hebrews could not accomplish the task and the taskmasters would press them to do so.  Those who have seen the old classic movie, The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston may well remember the dreadful scenes of Hebrews being whipped for their inability to keep up.

And then the passage introduces us to the fact that the ‘foremen’ rank (either all of them or just some of them) was comprised of actual Hebrews who were selected to assist the Egyptian taskmasters in getting the work out of their people.  This is very similar to trade union shops where we have management supervisors but union foremen today.  The interesting thing was that the taskmasters beat these Hebrew foremen for their inability to get their charges producing at the required levels.  I suppose the old idea being that since you cannot beat and punish all those falling short, get at least their leaders and thus try to motivate them (for their own sake) to get the others to fall in line.

Chuck Smith in his C2000 series on this passage refers us to the findings of archeologists in the area of one of these cities that the Hebrews built for the Pharaoh.  There the digs provided evidence of bricks with evenly spread straw throughout them in the lower parts of the walls.  Higher up it was uneven straw spread in the bricks and near the top of the walls there was only stubble and even roots to be found in the bricks.  This is a clear testimony to this passage in Exodus.  One can actually see this in the ruins of Pithim.

David Guzik points out that life under the leadership of Moses and his brother, Aaron, was not going too well for the children of Israel.  This had to be very disappointing for them and for Moses.  To whom will the Hebrews turn now that things are even worse?

As I searched for the meaning of this passage for us today, I was led to the commentary of Matthew Henry.  He says it so well:

See here, (1.) What a miserable thing slavery is, and what reason we have to be thankful to God that we are a free people, and not oppressed. Liberty and property are valuable jewels in the eyes of those whose services and possessions lie at the mercy of an arbitrary power. (2.) What disappointments we often meet with after the raising of our expectations. The Israelites were now lately encouraged to hope for enlargement, but behold greater distresses. This teaches us always to rejoice with trembling. (3.) What strange steps God sometimes takes in delivering his people; he often brings them to the utmost straits when he is just ready to appear for them. The lowest ebbs go before the highest tides; and very cloudy mornings commonly introduce the fairest days, Deut. 32:36. God’s time to help is when things are at the worst; and Providence verifies the paradox, The worse the better.

So what do we make of it all.  I believe many of us live in similar circumstances today, either individually or as a society.  We value our freedom, but stand the chance of losing it.  Many recently had their hopes raised as they were promised ‘change’ – whether it was in their home life from a spouse, in their work from a boss, in their church from an elders’ board, or in their nation from a president.  But greater distress, as Henry says, resulted.  What do we do?  Henry suggests we have to ‘rejoice with trembling’ that God is in control.  We have to realize that as God He can take some ‘strange steps’ to deliver us.

Are you and I at our lowest ebb?  If so do not fret, the highest tide is coming.  One cannot value a very clear and fair day unless a cloudy one preceded it.  And here is the clincher for me – to know that as Matthew Henry says, “God’s time to help is when things are at the worst.”  We’re nearly home, friends.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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The Dilemma of Gun Control for the Christian

I must admit that after the disaster in Newtown, Connecticut, as a Christian I was at a loss as to what to think about “gun control”.

For years, I have been listening to the arguments on both sides.  I have a son-in-law that is adamant that everyone should be allowed to own a handgun for protection of his/her life and that of their family.  I know that most American conservatives are GOP voters and thus most so far have supported the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms, unconnected to service in the military, and to use that right for self-defense within one’s home, among other things.  On the other hand, I am aware that most Christians believe that aside from one’s involvement in an act of war against an aggressor for his/her own country or on behalf of another other, one is not to kill.

When the amendment was adopted over 221 years ago, early American settlers viewed the right to arms as critical and needed for one or more of these purposes (not in order of deemed importance):

• deterring tyrannical government;
• repelling invasion;
• suppressing insurrection;
• facilitating a natural right of self-defense;
• participating in law enforcement;
• enabling the people to organize a militia system.

Do any of these readily apply today?  Only two (repelling invasion – especially in one’s home -- and facilitating a natural right of self-defense) come real close at the moment.  Admittedly, the first one (deterring tyrannical government) may indeed come into play before long the way things are going and if so, the last one (enabling the people to organize a militia system) will also be valid.  The third one (suppressing insurrection) is something that may be required if and when infiltrated terrorist groups promoting intolerant Islamist Jihad start acting up more than they do now, as America and Canada allows more Muslims with that intent to enter the country.  One only has to look at what is happening in other countries where this is the case.  For up to date daily examples, one needs to check www.jihadwatch.org.  Finally, that leaves the fifth one (participating in law enforcement) and as the need for the third one arises, so will the need for this one since more and more of our own police forces are becoming reticent to respond effectively to those that take such actions against those of us who may not support their Sharia law and other beliefs.  In short, every one of the reasons that were in the mind of early Americans when the Second Amendment was approved are alive and well and living in America (and to a certain extent Canada) today.

So, where does that leave us as Christians?  One question we may well ask is this:  What steps has the government taken to convince us that they are doing all they can to:

• to govern us democratically and honestly
• to stop (home, state, country) invasions
• to suppress insurrection 
• to facilitate our natural right of self-defense
• to allow us to assist in enforcing the law especially where the police is not doing their job, and
• to enable the people to organize a militia system where necessary?

I think the answer is obvious – very little.

On December 16, 2012, the news source, WND, asked the following question with respect to gun control in light of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut two days earlier:  What if only one teacher had a gun?

Implying an answer to its own question – that is, that the gunman may well have been dead before many of his twenty-seven victims lost their lives – it asked a follow-up question: Does making schools “gun-free zones” really protect children, or make them easy targets?

In 1999, after a similar event in Israel, the country dumped its strict gun laws dating back to British rule over the area and opened the doors for concealed carry permits.  Teachers and kindergarten nurses now started to carry guns.  Parents (and often grandpas) protected schools, guarding them in voluntary shifts. No school group went on a hike or trip without armed guards.  I was there since then and I actually witnessed this on several occasions.  Word got around that this was the case and after a few attempts by the PLO at the time failed, the attacks against schools ceased because of the risk to themselves that was now involved.  And here’s the point, according to some:  Terrorists and other evildoers don’t like risks.  We seem to ignore that.

How do we ensure, as we must, that our children are safe?  As long as attackers have guns we must also arm defenders.  The argument that if you ban guns, attackers won’t have them is, in my humble opinion, totally unrealistic at best.  Our success in achieving that would be equivalent, as some have pointed out, to our success in eliminating the use of pot, meth, and crack and its availability on the street.  In a word, total failure.

Of course, the liberals say it is the teachers’ jobs to teach, not carry arms to protect their students.  Well, aside from the fact that thousands of teachers who strike regularly for their own greedy purposes need to be told that from time to time, (no, not all – there are some very dedicated and self-sacrificing teachers thank God, but more need to learn how to stand up to their unions), I do not for a moment believe that some teachers would not see the right to carry guns as a necessary evil not only to protect their charges but also to protect themselves.  Six adult educators were killed in Newtown on this occasion.  Let’s face it, schools have children, and madmen or terrorists are attracted to places where they can do the most hideous acts in order to get the greatest reaction and in so doing, will kill teachers and principals too.

According to WND, in 2008, the tiny school district in Harrold, Texas, made national news when it approved a policy change permitting employees to carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings.  When a major newspaper checked with them after the Newtown disaster four years later, the superintendent said there has not been an incident on his campus since implementing the policy and he doesn’t expect one.

There have been some other attempts in other school districts in various states to introduce such a plan, but so far to little, or no, avail.  The liberals just do not see the need, often arguing that children in Israel are more vulnerable to attack than children in America.  I have a question for them: Where have you been?  Or, should that be “what drug are you on?”

But let us get back to the issue of the Christian in all of this.  Are we not supposed to value life?  Are we not supposed to have total faith in God to protect our children and us?  Those are good questions, but they are not fairly asked by those of us who so far sit comfortably in our homes watching the grieving parents of Newtown.  They and those that have suffered like them can only ask these questions.  And I believe God would have sufficient answers for each one of them individually.

For me, the answer is clear.  Yes, I value life.  But I ask myself what I would do in the following fictional scenario:

•  I am a Christian nurse, totally dependent on God in every aspect of my life
• ·By some strange circumstance, I find myself working with a doctor that is about to carry out an abortion at the request of a woman who does not want her life interfered with by the responsibilities of a child
• My country allows all of us to carry guns
• My country (by some miracle) also has outlawed all abortions.

I asked myself, "Would I kill the abortionist?"  I was shocked that it did not take too long for me to answer.  If I could not stop him/her in any other way, I would.  And the speed with which that answer came to me, not to mention the answer itself, helped me understand why I am on the side of the right to carry guns.  Few of us will actually live in a situation like in my fictional scenario, but many of us will someday find ourselves in other situations where the need to take similar action will be necessary.

I believe there are times other than in war that God intends to use others to stop a brutal killing of someone else – be it a fetus, a child, or an older person.  It is not a matter of not being dependent on God, it is a matter of acting in the interests of God to protect life and its sanctity – especially the life you are responsible for – be it in a classroom, on your bus, or in your home.

Please note:  This is not my preferred position.  As a Christian, I would rather there be no guns at all needed, anywhere.  I would rather live in a Civil Society.  And I admit that in some respect the ability to carry guns makes everything seem more uncivil.  But let us not allow the continuation of killings of innocent children because we search for, and do anything to get, this Edenic Civil Society we all long for.  I wish that were not the case.  Deep down I believe every Christian should be a total pacifist in a totally pacifist society.  But that is not reality.  I'd love to hear your comments preferably below.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.