October 13th

Exodus 11:1-12:51; Matthew 27:11-44; Psalm 21:1-7

And then we arrive at the big plague. The death of the first born.

I have been struggling with the start of the Exodus as I am sure a few of you have. All this stuff about God hardening Pharaoh's heart just so that his might may be known throughout the world. Would God really do this? This is perhaps one of the toughest questions that we face and it is one that we just can’t answer completely. If I were to truly know the mind and heart of God then I would not be sat here. It is indeed hard for us to comprehend but context offers us a great deal of help.

The first context is current to the passage. Pharaoh was revered in his nation and beyond, when you look at the contents of the burial chambers when they unearthed Tutankhamen and many others, you see that they were almost seen as God’s. Look to Exodus 12:12 and we see that Egypt also had it’s god’s (plural). The whole world at that time did not really look to our God (the God of Israel) at all, he had to speak really loud just to be heard. If God was to get people to listen he had to do something drastic. I am not saying this is why God hardened Pharaoh’s heart but it does help us see the context of the time.

Then there is some much more important context that comes in our later reading from today. The end of the Matthew reading sets out the crucifixion and we have already gone through the run up to the cross. We might not be able to shed light on the exact reason for all that went on in Exodus but this we know without a shadow of a doubt. God sent his son to die on a cross in order that we may be brought back to him. The theology of the cross and how it effects our relationship with God is called the atonement. Big word but very simple: at-one-ment. God sent his son so that we may be one with him. I just can’t explain all the stuff in the Exodus reading but this I know to be true: Jesus is God’s son, Jesus came to die on the cross for me, because God sent his son I am made one with God. I don’t know all the answers about Exodus but I do know about the crucifixion. The God of the Old Testament is the very same God of love of the New Testament and that is the context that I have to read it in.

Even when we read the tough stuff, remember what is in your heart, that God loves you more than anything.