You Ain't Been Nothing Yet (Exodus 3:1-4:17)

 Imagine, if you will, you just lost your job, which for some of you, may be one of the worst thing that could happen to you. You may have been fired, you might have quit (for whatever reason), or quite possibly, the company went bankrupt and had to go out of business. Despite for income to keep your family alive and yourself alive, you march down to your local temp agency and take whatever job they have available. It doesn’t take you too long into your new job to figure out that you’re doing the job nobody wants to do, and you’re getting paid just above minimum wage to do it. Nevertheless, you’re grateful you have a job, and you’re doing the best you can at it. One day, you see a man dressed in a fine Italian suit walking around the workplace. Based on the way he’s dressed, you deduced he must have some important role in the business. After observing you work, he walks up to you and says, “I’m the president and CEO of this company. I like you. I like the work you’re doing. I found out you’re a temp employee. I would like to hire you full-time. I’ll make sure you get a more important role at this company, and of course, that will come with the pay and benefits all our other employees get.” That’s good! You quickly take up the offer. Some time passes, and the president and CEO makes another visit. He watches you work again, and he approaches you again, saying, “I like you, and I like your work. How about we promote you to shift supervisor? You’ll get all the pay and benefits of a supervisor.” That’s great! You accept the offer.” Some more time passes, and the president and CEO visits again. Again, he observes your work, and again he approaches you, “I like you, and I like the work you’re doing. This site needs an assistant manager. Will you take the promotion if I give you a raise?” That’s amazing! Yes, of course, you’ll do it. More time passes, and once again, the president and CEO visits. He watches you work, and he’s impressed. At the end of the day, he says to you, “I like you, and I like the work you’re doing. I’m about to promote the manager here. Would you like to take his place as the new manager? I promise you a manager’s salary and a manager’s benefits.” That’s awesome! Of course, you take the promotion. Little by little, every time you meet, you get a promotion with every meeting. Before you know it, you’re on the board of trustees. You’re a chairman. You’re actively involved in the major business decisions. You got a paycheck the size of a board officer. As a matter of fact, you’re one of the highest paid employees in the entire company! You soon realize, however, something more is happening here. Every time the president and CEO goes somewhere, he seems to invite you, and not just for business. Every time he goes golfing, he calls you up to see if you can join him. Every time he goes to the batting cages, he invites you. If he goes to the movie theatre, he gives you a call to see if you also want to watch the movie. If he plans on going to lunch at a fancy restaurant, he stops by your office to say, “Come with me to lunch. I’m buying.” He’s even inviting you to his family reunions! You finally realize what is happening here: you’re not just the boss’s employee, you’re the boss’s friend!

As odd or strange of an illustration this may seem, I think this is exactly what is happening to Moses in the Scripture we will be looking at right now. Not only if Moses working for God, but he’s also God’s friend. If you don’t mind, please turn to Exodus 3 in your Bibles. While you’re turning to Exodus 2, let me quickly brush everybody up on what has happened in the first two chapters of Exodus.

Exodus 1 begins right where Genesis left our main characters. Jacob, his eleven other sons, and their families go down to Egypt to settle down with Joseph. There they are fruitful and multiply. The chapter shifts, however, when it informs the audience that a new Pharaoh has come to power. Here I emphasize the adjective new, for many scholars believe that this is not merely a new king but also a new dynasty. If scholars have aligned their biblical history with their Egyptian history, Joseph rises to power in Egypt’s ranks during the Hyksos dynasty in Egypt. What separates the Hyksos dynasty from the other Egyptian dynasty is that the Hyksos are not full pure-blood Egyptians, but rather, they are Semite in nature. So when the Hyksos Pharaoh, a Semite, sees Joseph, a fellow Semite, interpret his dreams warning of famine, and Joseph has a plan, the Hyksos Pharaoh is more than glad to listen to Joseph and follow Joseph’s instructions. When this new king of Egypt from a new dynasty comes into power, he does not feel the same way. You can almost paraphrase the words of the Pharaoh in Exodus 1 saying (please stop me if you’ve heard this one before), “Egypt is for Egyptians. You know what’s ruining Egypt? Foreigners. Immigrants. If Egyptians are going to make Egypt great again, we got to stop giving these hand-outs to these minority groups. These foreigners and immigrants are going to serve us, not the other way around, or else they will die.” This Pharaoh’s first attempt to control the Israelites is to enslave them from sunrise to sunset every day of the week. After all, you can’t reproduce if you’re too busy and too tired to reproduce. When that doesn’t stop the Israelites from being fruitful and multiplying, the new Pharaoh takes an active role by decreeing that the baby boys must be killed. At first, he attempts to command the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah to do it, but when they make excuses why they can’t do it (ultimately because they fear God), Pharaoh has to instruct his own people to spot out the infant males and throw them into the Nile. Exodus 1 concludes by portraying this Pharaoh as a very evil, sinful and wicked man. He hates foreigners and immigrants so much that he's killing their newborn males as soon as they come out of the womb, which is just as bad as killing the baby while still inside the womb (Happy Sanctity of Life Sunday everybody).

Exodus 2 starts with the origin story of Moses. A Levite woman, whom the Scriptures will later on call Jochebed, gives birth to a son. Everyone should appreciate here how Jochebed technically follows the Pharaoh’s ordinance. She does indeed throw her son into the Nile, but it just so happens that she throws her son into the Nile in a waterproof basket. Speaking of the phrase “just so happens,” the phrase fits for the remainder of the first half of the chapter. It just so happens that the basket floats down to one of Pharaoh’s daughters bathing. It just so happens Jochebed’s daughter, the baby’s sister, whom the Scriptures will later on call Miriam, who carefully watched over the baby in the basket, suggests getting a nurse for the baby, and it just so happens that the nurse Pharaoh’s daughter selects is the baby’s biological mother. Of course, believers know all this “so just happens” can be credited to God’s providence. Combining Exodus 2:9&10 with Acts 7:20-22, the Bible teaches that Moses grew up, raised as both Hebrew and Egyptian. On one end, Moses knows his heritage, but on the other end, God equips Moses to become a leader through his Egyptian education.

The second half of Exodus 2 jumps ahead to when Moses is 40 years old (again, thanks to Acts 7:23). As an Egyptian prince, he’s overseeing the Egyptian taskmasters, and he notices one Egyptian taskmaster becoming a bit too brutal to a Hebrew slave. At this split second, Moses’s Hebrew side overcomes his Egyptian side, he sides with the Hebrew over the Egyptian, and he kills the Egyptian taskmaster. By the next day, not only does the gossip reach back to Moses, the rumors reach Pharaoh, who know wants Moses dead. Moses has no other choice but to flee from Egypt to Midian, where he becomes a Midianite shepherd. Midian holds significant importance to the story. When it comes to the story of Abraham, everybody remembers Abraham and Sarah, sometimes some people can recall Abraham and Hagar, but rarely do people remember Abraham and Keturah. After Sarah dies, Abraham remarries to a woman named Keturah. They have 6 sons together, one of which has the name Midian. Of course, Midian is the forefather of the Midianites. Therefore, the Midianites, from Abraham, have a somewhat knowledge of the one true God. In fact, Moses’s father-in-law, Reuel or Jethro, serves as a priest of this one true God.

By Exodus 3, Moses has spent the first 40 years of his life as an Egyptian prince, the middle 40 years as an Midianite shepherd, and now God will prepare him to spend the last 40 years of his life as an Israelite leader.

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. ~Exodus 3:1-6

The Bible tells us that Moses went to the far side of the desert or the west side of wilderness until he came to Horeb, or Sinai. Now at this point, you may be wondering, “Well is it the far side or the west side?” and the answer is yes! Aligning the geography of the area with the Hebrew text, scholars have deduced the last west of Horeb is prime pasturing land for sheep. The only problem is that this piece of land is far away from the center of the Midian territory. Therefore, it is probably land that Midian shepherds only went to if there was nothing for the sheep to graze on locally, but they knew if they made the trek there, it would always be worth it because of the prime pasturing land. Thus, in Moses’s 40 years as a Midian shepherd, Moses did not go there often, but he probably went there enough to become familiar with the land. This time, however, something special would happen. While there, Moses sees a bush, which appears on fire. At such high elevations, since lighting likes the fastest way down, naturally, lighting would strike the plant life, causing fires. Now obviously, at this time, there’s no Smoky the Bear, so Moses does not know only he can prevent forest fires. Instead, the first thought that comes to his mind is “Gee, I wonder how long it will take the bush to burn to the ground into a smoldering pile of ash. When the bush does not burn into that smoldering pile of ash, Moses knows something out of the ordinary occurs here. This is not natural, so it must be supernatural. Moses must take a closer look. When Moses approaches closes enough to hear, God calls out to Moses from the bush, and he makes his presence known and the presence of holy ground known. Again, Moses has come enough to this land. Has Moses been on holy ground all his life and not known? What makes it holy ground? Moses having an encounter with God made it holy ground. That’s what makes any ground holy ground. You may have read your Bible passages and wished to yourself, “Oh, I wish I could be on holy ground!” Guess what? You have! Any time you’ve had an encounter with God, you’ve been on holy ground. Now the question remains “When you have encounter with God, do you recognize it as holy ground, and do you treat it as such?” Moses recognized he stood on holy ground, and he responded accordingly. He takes off his sandals, and he hides his face. By doing show, Moses shows God, respect, humility and servitude. Moses here shows us an example of how to respond to holy ground. You may not need to take off your shoes or cover your face, but whatever you choose to do, it must show God respect, humility and servitude.

⁷ Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸ and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹ And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰ Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. ~Exodus 3:7-10

2 key points to look out for right here. First, to quote the closing words of Exodus 2, God knew. God did not forget about the people of Israel suffering. God not ignore the people of Israel crying out because of their oppression.  God simply says, “I know my people are oppressed, and I remembered the Egyptians have enslaved them.” Second, God will take an active role in dealing with Israel’s slavery and oppression. He’s not going to sit around and hope for the best. God is directly intervening.

At this point, the text enters into the main dialogue Moses has with God. Moses will raise 5 objections to God, and God will respond to each objection. At first, Moses will use questions, in the hope that God will realize that Moses can’t, doesn’t or shouldn’t do the job God wants Moses to do. Once Exodus 3 changes over into Exodus 4, Moses will drop the questions format any directly state his objections, possibly because Moses thinks God does not get the hint. The change in format does not shake God, as God still has the perfect retort. Let’s take a look at Moses’s five objections.

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” ~Exodus 3:11&12

With this first question, Moses raises the first objection. Moses lacks self-confidence because he feels inadequate. It is as if Moses is saying, “I’m not sure if you heard, God, I spent the first 40 years of my life as an Egyptian prince. To the people of Israel, as an Egyptian, I was an enemy to them. Now I have spent the past 40 years of my life as a Midian shepherd. To some of the people of Israel, I was just absent, but others, I totally abandoned them. Whether a Egyptian prince or a Midian shepherd, I don’t think I’m a good choice for an Israelite leader. I don’t think any Israelite would want to follow me. You want someone they’ll love and respect, not me. At best, I’m a nobody to them, and at worst, I’m an absent enemy who abandoned them.”

God’s response actually agrees with Moses! Yes, Moses is a nobody. He is nothing. But do you know who is everybody and everything? God is! In the Hebrew language, pronouns are built into the verbs, so pronouns are technically not needed to reveal the subject, so when Hebrew uses the pronouns, it is meant to emphasize the pronouns, whether the subject, direct object or indirect object. Exodus 3:11-12 has both Moses and God using the pronouns. Moses emphasizes the I to downplay himself, while God uses the I to primarily uplift himself and secondarily uplift Moses. With God’s guidance and help, Moses will go from unable to able, from inadequate to adequate and from losing confidence to gaining confidence. Furthermore, the “I will be” of “I will be with you” is the same root as the Lord’s name, which will be revealed in the next part of the dialogue. When God reveals his name, it too will further strengthen the fact that God’s presence with Moses will make Moses complete and will aid Moses in God’s call for his life. For right now, Moses must, in the words of John 3:30, decrease so God can increase. In the same way, when we feel like Moses, when we feel inadequate or not confident in God’s calling for us, while the feelings are negative, it still may be pride. If we have the same respect, humility and servitude in receiving God’s call as when on holy ground, God can take over to empower us. Oh, and for that sign, scholars debate whether the sign refers to the supernatural events that will take place once Moses brings the people of Israel back to Sinai (pillar of cloud, pillar of fire, thunder, lightning, earthquake,  trumpet sound, etc.), the establishment of the Mosaic covenant (sprinkling of blood), the giving of the 10 commandments (both times), or even if the bush will still burn by the times Moses brings the people of Israel back to Sinai (you can almost imagine Moses pointing at the bush and yelling “See? See!”). Either way, God lets Moses know loud and clear that the end goal is to have the Moses return to Sinai with the people of Israel following. If anything, this sign encourages Moses to go back and free Israel sooner, so he can prove himself to them sooner.

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. ¹⁶ Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, ¹⁷ and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ ¹⁸ And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. ²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. ²¹ And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, ²² but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” ~Exodus 3:13-22

In one regard, Moses asks an absurd question. As Exodus 6:3 will affirm, God had never revealed his name to humanity up this point. If the people of Israel did ask, “What’s God’s name?” and Moses answered, “Yahweh!” the people of Israel had no way to confirm if Moses was correct or telling the truth. In another regard, Moses inquires an excellent question. Hebrew slaves working from sunrise to sunset really don’t have time for religious instruction. They don’t know about God and who he is. At best, the most religious instruction probably came from one Egyptian taskmaster saying to another, “Boy, Ra sure has given us a glorious sunny day, hasn’t he?” Speaking of which, Moses has received a religious education, but he received Egyptian religious instruction. He probably knows the Egyptian pantheon of gods inside and out, right off the top of his head. Therefore, Moses is less likely asking who is this God, and is more likely asking which God is this? Is this Ra? Is this Isis? Is this Osiris? In yet another regard, even this inquiry comes off sounding like an excuse. Pretty much Moses says here, “I don’t know who you are. Do you really want somebody who doesn’t know you are leading your people? Besides, I don’t think the people of Israel know who you are, either. Do you really want to a people following you that don’t know you?”

Now, plenty of academic articles have been published in scholarly journals on the divine name, so much so that these articles alone could compile to form books! Some scholars emphasize the divine finds its root in the verb היה (hayah), meaning “to be,” which emphasizes his existence as the unique, one-and-only God. Whereas all the gods and goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon need names to distinguish one from another, Yahweh really has no need for a name is because he is the one-and-only God, and there is no other. Which God is Yahweh? He is the God. Other scholars will highlight that parsing the Hebrew conjugation will reveal היה (hayah) as a Qal imperfect, which could have either a present or future tense, which could highlight his eternal state. Yahweh was the God of the past, Yahweh is the God of the present, and Yahweh will be the God of the future. Still yet other scholars point out that, back then, with the ancient Hebrews, they did not have A, E, I, O or U, and so Moses had no vowels he could buy – Wheel of Fortune shows were so dry! For a quick crash course in linguistics, vowels control breathing. What consonants in Hebrew control the breathing, making them the closest to vowels? Yod, hey and vav, the Hebrew letters that make up the divine name. Pastor Rob Bell puts in this way, “The atheist make walk up to you and say, ‘There is no god!’ but in between breaths to say those four words, you can hear, ‘Yod hey vav hey.’” Because the Lord gave us his breath to give us life, we say his name every time we breathe. Something not as much stressed about the divine name, yet very important to the question at hand, comes from  the fact that “to be” can also define one’s ability or capabilities, as in “I am smart” or “I am strong.” The significance of this falls back to Moses’s last objection. Whereas Moses thinks he is unable or incapable, Yahweh responds with he is the one who is able and capable. When Moses asks, “Who am I…” God answers, “I AM.” Likewise, when you’re faced with the challenges Yahweh gives us, and you’re not sure how to overcome them, every time you try to say to the Lord, “I am not…” God will simply reply “I AM.” You may want to declare to the Lord, “Lord, I am not smart enough to solve the problem you have allowed in my life!” and God simply reminds you, “I AM.” You may want to state to the Lord, “Lord, you’ve given me too much to do. I cannot be in all these places at all these times!” and God simply replies, “I AM. You may want to cry out to the Lord, “Lord, I am not strong enough to carry this burden you have given me!” and God responds, “I AM.” You may want tell the Lord, “Lord I strive to be the good, moral leader, like the one Paul told Timothy and Titus to look for, but I am not a shining example for your people to follow!” and God retorts, “I AM.” When you have the omnipresent (everywhere at all times), omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing) and omni-benevolent (all-good) Yahweh on your side, you don’t even need to consider any of your shortcomings!

Of course, Yahweh gives his name in two verses, yet the Lord’s response goes on for another 6 verses! On one hand, this may be God simply trying to get his plan into action, as if he is saying to Moses, “Alright, Moses, I answered your two question, so here’s the plan, and now let’s get a move on right now.” On the other hand, Yahweh revealing his plans may further answer Moses’s question. By revealing his name, the Lord has revealed who he is, as in his attributes, his character, and/or his personality. Now, God wants to reveal himself in Moses in what he does. Look at some of his plan, and how the plan reveals him. Yahweh is a promise keeper, as he will give the people of Israel the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as he promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Lord is a defender of the small and weak. When the mighty Egypt will not let the people of Israel go, the mightier Lord will force them to release the people of Israel with his own strong outstretched hand. God is fair and just in doling out his blessings. It was not morally right for the Egyptians to get rich off of the Hebrews’ free slave labor. Therefore, when the people of Israel leave, they will receive their wages in gold, silver and clothing. While having an audible conversation with God might seem cool, and indeed is, sometimes the Lord revealing himself to you may come in the form of how he moves around in your life.

Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ” ² The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” ³ And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. ⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— ⁵ “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” ⁶ Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. ⁷ Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. ⁸ “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. ⁹ If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” ~Exodus 4:1-7

At this point, Moses stops asking questions, and he starts making statements. Perhaps he thought that God did not know how to take a hint, so he has to plainly speak his mind.  Now this objection sounds less like an excuse and more like a legitimate objection. Again, Moses has spent the first 40 years as an Egyptian prince, an enemy of Israel, and the middle 40 years as a Midian prince, an absentee who abandoned the people of Israel. Surely the people of Israel will not trust that kind of person. Even if they did listen, would they really believe that a man, who has been out in the hot Midian, who had no witnesses around but the sheep, heard a burning bush tell him to free the people of Israel from slavery? Surely they will say to him, “Moses, I think you got too much sun in Midian, and I think you’ve spent too much time with nobody but sheep. Bushes, whether burning or not, do not talk.”

Again, the Lord concurs with Moses that this objection might present a problem, so he supplies a solution within three signs. First, when Moses throws his staff on the ground, it becomes a serpent, or a snake. Throughout the Ancient Near East, people worshipped snakes, either a god of wisdom, a good of fertility or a god of healing. Snakes probably had such high-held esteem due to the fact the most snakes in the Middle East are venomous. With that in mind, consider how much faith Moses needed when God instructed him, “Catch it by the tail.” If grabbing a snake by its neck, at worst, it will whip you with its tail, and it can do no more. If grabbing a snake by the tail, that snake can whip around, snag a man in the arm with its fangs, resulting in a dead man. Moses must have felt nervous picking up the snake, and he must have felt equally relieved when the snake turned back into a staff. Second, when Moses puts his hand in his cloak, it becomes covered in leprosy, but when he puts it back in, it becomes clean. Leprosy back then was highly contagious and very uncurable. Combine the two, societies quickly ostracized lepers from the community. Here, Moses can put on and take off leprosy like a glove! Again, the anxiety Moses must have felt taking his hand out the first time and seeing leprosy, and the calmness Moses felt after taking his hand out again to see clear skin. Now Yahweh provides Moses with a third sign of pouring Nile water on the dry ground to make blood, which Moses cannot practice here due to his far distance from the Nile. The sign ends up previewing, and possibly even warning, of the first of ten plagues to come. Going back to the first two signs, Moses had to show bravery in order perform these signs.  Not only would these signs demonstrate God appeared to Moses, but they also displayed Moses as a courageous leader. If Moses could pick up a venomous snake by the tail without hesitating, if Moses could put on and take off leprosy without flinching, he could surely stand in front of mighty Pharoah of the strongest Empire, Egypt, and demand for the release of the people of Israel. Likewise, the Lord has equipped you with everything you need for your calling, including the bravery you need. Will you courageously accept it?

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” ~Exodus 4:10-12

According to Stephen in Acts 7:22b, Moses “was mighty in words,” but in both Exodus 6:12 and 6:30, Moses complains he has uncircumcised lips, which many scholars have interpreted as a strutter. What seems like a contradiction, after thinking about it, makes sense. Historians sometimes call Helen Keller one of the greatest speakers of her time. Such a statement contains a grammatical irony. Because of blindness and deafness, Helen Keller could not speak, yet when she had somebody to interpret her thoughts and words, she “spoke well” in the sense that she had good rhetoric and good logical and reasonable arguments, free of any fallacies. Moses here has a similar problem. Thanks to his Egyptian education, he too probably had enough information and knowledge of the working world to create an argument with good rhetoric. Due to his stuttering problem, when he attempted to vocalize his thoughts, his stutter could make him sound like he lacks confidence. As established already, Moses did lack confidence, which would have made his stuttering worse. Anyone familiar with stuttering (even if from just watching the movie The King’s Speech) will know that stuttering comes from psychological issues, as no baby comes out of the womb stuttering. Perhaps Moses struggling with his ethical identity (is he Hebrew? Is he Egyptian? Is he Midian?).

Again, Yahweh provides a simple response. The Lord leads with rhetorical questions to get Moses thinking, and if Moses for some reason cannot answer those questions, God also provides the answer. Yahweh has created all humans, including Moses. If the Lord created Moses to speak, surely the Lord can fix what the sinful world did to Moses to make him stutter. Once again, the “I will be” in the “I will be your mouth” is that root היה (hayah), the same root of the divine name. Again, the answer lies within the fact God’s omnipotent and omniscient attributes makes up for the inabilities, the incapabilities and the shortcomings of humanity. This paragraph should give comfort to those with physical disabilities, mental disabilities, emotional disabilities and social disabilities. Physical, mental, emotional and social disabilities do not disqualify anyone from service in the kingdom. The Lord can use anybody to serve him, even those with disability. If the disability really gets in the way of God’s call, then God will bring healing or equip the person to overcome it.

¹³ But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” ¹⁴ Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. ¹⁶ He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. ¹⁷ And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.” ~Exodus 4:13-17

Later on, the book of Exodus will reveal that Yahweh is slow to anger, yet here Moses kindles Yahweh’s anger. If the Lord speaks to Moses from a burning bush, I imagine that the bush flamed up, like pouring gasoline on fire. Surely God has emphasized that his omnipotence and omniscience will make up for Moses’s inadequacies. Yahweh has even directly provided a solution to Moses’s speech problem. Indeed the Lord must feel frustrated at Moses when the Lord offers his unlimited knowledge and power to Moses, yet Moses still refuses the call. At this point, Moses seems more disobedient and less afraid. Nevertheless, God answers the problem again. Just like with Moses, Yahweh will call Aaron to speak. In fact, it works out well. Just as Moses will act as an intermediate between the Lord and Pharaoh, to physically represent this, Aaron will look like an intermediate between Moses and Pharaoh. Furthermore, this plan works because of the brotherhood between Moses and Aaron. During the Christmas season, some people ponder how much Jesus’s first cousins James and John or Jesus’s second cousin John the Baptist understood Jesus’s role as the Christ. Similarly, Aaron always knew Moses as his brother, but he probably never suspected Moses as God’s chosen one to lead the people of Israel into freedom. Still, Yahweh choosing Aaron only makes sense. Aaron knew Moses, and Aaron understood Moses. The Lord’s awesome plan included using those close to Moses to aid Moses. Likewise, sometimes God equipping of a person can include equipping the called person with those close to him or here. This type of equipping could involve family or friends. Most likely and most importantly, this type of equipping involves brothers in Christ, especially those within the church. While Yahweh does not call everybody into leadership, but the Lord does call everyone, and some people’s calling might involve equipping the leader.

To conclude the calling of Moses, as found in Exodus 3:1-4:17, Pastor Rob Bell (early Pastor Rob Bell for those who do not like the current path Bell has chosen) puts it best when he says, “The more Moses tries to convince God he’s not the one, the more God is convinced he is the one.” Once again, such a statement may sound absurd, but upon careful consideration, it does indeed make sense. To kind of sort of turn this conclusion to point back to the introduction, if going in for a job interview, a good interviewee always should ask. By asking questions, the interviewee shows that he or she takes interest in the company, and thus more likely cares about the company. By asking questions, the interviewee demonstrates to the interviewer that he or she wants to know what exactly he or she will do for the job, meaning he or she will less likely flake and quit, resulting in having to undergo the hiring process again. Asking questions displays a candidate who did research before coming in the interviews, thus preparing for the interview, instead of winging it. Whether Moses intended it or not, by asking questions, Moses makes sure God has indeed equipped and prepared Moses for his calling. Moses knows what to expect, and Moses has the answers and the tools. Therefore, the more questions Moses asks, the more God and Moses can work out answers and solutions, and thus, God knows that Moses can do the job.

Finally, the introductions proposed that Yahweh and Moses became friends, even suggesting that the friendship began as early as the calling of Moses. If the body has not made it evident by now, then this conclusion will look toward John 15:15 for more clarification. In John 15:15, Jesus says to his disciples, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” Similarly, Yahweh would not merely call Moses a servant, for if he did, he would not have revealed his plan to Moses. Indeed, the Lord would call Moses a friend, for the Lord lays out his entire plan to Moses. Likewise, whatever God chooses to reveal, whether big or small, whether a lot or a little, he has done to show that his servants are also his friends.

Not Rape but Restoration (Exodus 22:16&17)

INTRODUCTION

If you would’ve read the Midway newspaper on a certain morning, under the police report, you would have read that he Midway Police Department issues Kasity Roberts’s citation to shut down her business or else face fines and even imprisonment. At first glance, it may not seem like a big deal, but it will all the sudden become a big deal when you learn that Kasity is girl in elementary school. The business she was illegally running? A lemonade stand. Upon receiving the news, Amy Roberts, Kasity’s mother, marched down to the police station, demanding to know the reason for the citation. Kelly Morningstar, the Midway chief of police, sat down with Amy and kindly explain that the state laws regarding food safety in food service are meant to protect its citizens from unsafe and unhealthy food and drink. The police didn’t know who made the lemonade or what the lemonade was made with, and therefore needed to shut down the operation until the business was deemed to safe to serve. Amy reluctantly agreed, but she still felt a bit baffled. After all, different police officers from the Midway Police visited the lemonade stand the previous day, bought lemonade, and then complimented Kasity for choosing to make lemonade from fresh lemons instead of a powdered drink mix. You think that’s bad?

It gets worse. In Scottsdale, Arizona, Dr. Reed Turozi received a citation and fine breaking Scottsdale’s “nuisance of property maintenance” law. His crime? He was growing an illegal tree in his yard. The fine was for $2,000, and for every day he did not cut it down, he would receive another $2,000 fine. if he could not pay, he would face imprisonment. Reed was baffled. That tree has been growing at that house for all 10 years he lived in it, and nobody said a thing. In fact, he recalls that part of the reason he bought the house 11 years earlier was that it came with that tree. He marched down to City Hall to look through all the laws, and sure and off he found out that his tree was not approved by the city of Scottsdale. He still decided to take it to trial. In his defense, he pointed out all his neighbors grew the same tree in their yard. The authorities replied, “just let us know, and we’ll cite and fine then, too!” Needless to say, Reed is not a friend with his neighbors anymore.

It gets even worse. Abner Schoenwetter ran his own seafood importing company. For 13 years, he ran his buisness the exact same processes and procedures, and every time he cleared both customs and FDA regulations without any problems. Then, one day, in his 14^th year of business, he wakes up to hear a knock on his door. There’s 13 FBI agents on his deck. They proceed to arrest Abner. His crime? He transported the lobsters in plastic bags, not wooden crates. What makes this so interesting is that a Honduras law, not a United States law. Since Abner transported the lobsters from Honduras, he had to follow Honduras law. Since the United States did not want to ruin relations with Honduras, they had to arrest Abner. A judge sentenced Abner to 8 years in prison. After 6 years in jail, Abner appealed the ruling. He spent thousands of dollars on a attorney, who got a Honduras government official to testify that no such law ever existed in Honduras. By then, it was too late. Out of business for 6 years, Abner and his family went broke, and it broke apart the family.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, this is the worst. Jack and Jill (no joke, that’s their real name) wanted to build a new house on their property. The county government came down to inspect the foundation, and they approved the building of the house. There was only one problem. A drainage ditch, owned by the state government, was clogged with logs. Jack ass the state government to fix their drainage ditch. That’s the government admitted that they were six months backed up, so it would at least take half a year to get to his problem. Jack volunteered to do it himself. State government, not wanting to have to pay more money, gladly agreed to give him permission to clear out the clog with his backhoe. Shortly after clearing the clog and building the house, the federal government handed Jack and Jill a felony citation for building on a wetland, which is protected by federal law. Yes, the clogged drain flooded the ground, which gave the appearance of a wetland, and the EPA stepped in protect it. Jack dug an 8-foot-deep hole to prove no water ever existed there prior to the flooding, yet the EPA wouldn’t listen. They still brought him to court. A jury did find Jack not guilty, but at a price. Jack had to spend tens of thousands of dollars on an attorney to prove his innocence. They had to sell their home to prevent bankruptcy. They now live in a trailer in a trailer park, and they miss their farm dearly.

Laws, am I right? We all know we need laws. Laws exist to keep the citizens in a society safe and to protect their rights. The laws I mentioned do seem to fall under that purpose. Midway Chief of Police Kelly Morningstar did have a point. I should be eat or drink at any restaurant, rest assured it’s safe and healthy, not worrying who made or how they made it. Perhaps the tree Dr. Reed Turozi had in his yard is an invasive plant species that would have taken over Scottsdale, Arizona like a weed. Maybe marine biologists and animal activists determined that it was cruel to transport lobsters in plastics bags. And wetlands deserve protection. As much good as these laws intended, how could they miss the mark, criminalizing people who aren’t criminals.

THE PROBLEM WHEN CHRISTIANS READ OLD TESTAMENT LAW

Honest Christians might admit that they feel the same way about God’s Laws found in the Old Testament. They have all read Psalm 19:7-11. They have all read the positive impact God’s Laws had on David, and they rush to the Pentateuch to gain the same benefits. When Christians read these laws in the Torah, however, they struggle to reap the reward David received for reading them. They find the laws repetitive, boring, harsh, confusing, outdated, obsolete or irreverent. Therefore, most Christians end up marginalizing or neglecting the laws found in the Pentateuch. When these laws surface, people end up belittling or vilifying the law, they end up spiritualizing or allegorizing the law, or they abuse the law, like pushing a political agenda.

Paul doesn’t seem to help the Christian here. Just look at what Paul says in the book of Romans alone. On the one hand, Paul informs Christians that they are “not under the law but of grace” (Romans 6:14) and “released from the law” (Romans 7:6). Furthermore, Paul reminds Christians that “Christ is the end of the law” (Romans 10:4). On the other hand, Paul describes the law as “holy and righteous and true” (Romans 7:12), as well as “spiritual” (Romans 7:14). As matter of fact, Paul encourages Christians to uphold the law (Romans 3:31)! What gives, Paul?

THE SOLUTION FOR CHRISTIANS READING OLD TESTAMENT LAW

Fortunately, Paul did provide a hermeneutic for how Christians living in the New Covenant on how to exegete Old Testament Law. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul appeals to the church in Corinth that pastors deserve pay. Paul adds many proofs to his thesis, but one stick as odd. In 1 Corinthians 9:9, Paul quotes Deuteronomy 25:4. Deuteronomy 25:4 reads, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading the grain.” Any reader, either back then or now, might think, “What does that have to do with anything?!” Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 9:10, “Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.”

From 1 verse, Paul has made a 6-point hermeneutic. First, Paul reminds believers that law came from the Word of God. Second, since the law comes from the Word of God, it reflects God’s heart and mind. Third, since the law has come from the Word of God, it has more authority than humanity authority. Fourth, God spoke the law into existence with humanity’s sake in mind. Fifth, this law, originally, spoken to the young nation of Israel before the time of Christ, still has relevance to Gentile Christians in the 1^st century A.D. Sixth, all God’s laws have relevance to New Covenant Christians, not just the 10 Commandments. Some Christians try to solve Old Testament law problem by claiming that only the 10 Commandments have significance in the Christian’s life, and all other laws in the Old Testament have no importance. On the contrary, Paul would disagree, as he quotes a law which many Christians would call obscure.

From those 6 principles, Dr. Timothy R. Valentino, pastor at Fleetwood Bible Church and professor of Biblical Studies and Practical Theology at Evangelical Seminary, has created a 4-step hermeneutic for interpreting Old Testament Law. His hermeneutic modifies Dr. David Dorsey’s “CIA” hermeneutic, adding in Cristocentrism at the beginning and the end. I have adopted a very similar hermeneutic, which, being the good Cristocentric Mennonite I am, further strengthens the Cristocentrism aspects.

First, back-read the law from the New Testament context. Does the New Testament reference it? What does the New Testament have to say about the law? Whatever New Testament has to say trumps the actual law in the Old Testament. For example, Leviticus 21:7 forbids anyone to marry a prostitute, and in 1 Corinthians 6:15, Paul states that a Christian should never unite with a prostitute because a Christian is united with the Lord Jesus. Since the 1 Corinthians 6:15 command repeats the Leviticus 21:7 command, Christians should keep the command in its present form. Leviticus 11 lists the unclean animals which Israelites cannot eat. In Acts 10, however, a sheet drops from heaven, full of unclean animals, and a voice from heaven tells Peter to kill and eat. When Peter objects, calling the animals unclean, the voice from heaven reprimands Peter for calling something God made unclean. Therefore, Christians can conclude that God now allows Christians to eat meat once considered unclean.

Second, examine the law in its Old Testament context. Old Testament laws did not come from a timeless and spaceless vacuum. They came from a history, a geography and a culture. They had a context. This step requires Christians to understand what the author meant and how the original, intended audience would have understood the text. This step requires Christians to understand when the text is historically, where the text is in geographically and what the text is culturally.

Third, theologize the law to its universal context. At this step, the Christian does not look for a what but a who. The Christian does not look for a principle but for a person, that is, God. The Christian asks, “What does this passage reveal about God?” This truth might include God’s attributes, his character, his thought, his feelings, his priorities or his morals. Furthermore, a Christian should ask, “How does this law point forward to Christ? How did Christ fulfill this law? Did Jesus live out the law, so Christians must also live out the law, or did Jesus live out the law, so Christians don’t have to?” From these universal truth, the Christian can move on to the next step.

Fourth, apply the law to the current context. If the New Testament referenced the law in step 1, whatever commandment that came with the New Testament reference gets carried over to step 4. In step 4, the applications come from the truths about God in step 3, not necessarily the understanding of the law in step 2. The application may look exactly like the commandment found in the Torah, but the application might also look nothing like the commandment in the Pentateuch. Just like step 2 brought about understanding in the history, geography and culture of back then and there, step 4 should bring about understanding about the history, geography and culture of here and now.

A CASE STUDY OF EXODUS 22:16&17

Of course, you know me. I don’t let you off easy. Of course, I picked an awkward, uncomfortable and controversial (in the sense in might cause offense) law I could find. My pick, however, comes with good reason. This law can serve as an apologetic. Many anti-Christian atheists will use this law to attack God’s holiness and righteousness. They will read this law and say, “Just look at your God! This poor girl gets raped, and your God commands the girl and the rapist to marry, and the rapist only has to pay a fine?! How can you call your God both holy and loving when he treats young women like that?!” Did God really say that? Did he really command that? If so, how do Christians follow that command in their everyday life? Let’s BETA test it!

Step 1: Back-read from a New Testament Context

Back-reading from a New Testament asks the Christian to first seek what the New Testament has to say about this law. Indeed, the New Testament remains silent on this Old Testament law. The New Testament neither repeats the law with instructions to follow it, nor does the New Testament teach something contrary to that law. Therefore, the Christian can’t assume that the Christian, in the New Testament should continue to follow the law or cease to follow the law. The Christian needs to move on to the next steps, so the Christian can understand the verses in its original context, what the law teaches about God and how the Christian can apply it.

Before moving on, however, I want to remind us of 2 things. First, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He never changes like shifting shadows. Therefore, this law reflects the character and nature of God, which was true back in Exodus and is true in the 21^st century. Second, Jesus has come not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. As the fulfillment of the Law, this individual, specific law, found in Exodus 22, will somehow point forward to Jesus.

Step 2: Examine the Law in its Original Context

Contrary to popular belief, the Bible did not originally come in English. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek. Since this law appears in the Old Testament, the Israelites originally heard it in Hebrew. Anyone multilingual will tell anyone else that translating words into different languages does not always have a one-to-one correspondence. Therefore, some of the words in this law need more careful attention.

Seduce (v.): פָּתָה (pātâ). The root of this word means to be open. The full word means to allure, beguile, coax, deceive, entice or seduce. The Hebrew language might have went from the root to the full word is because a young, immature youth might easily be open to enticement or seduction, without thinking about the ramifications. The full word, in this context means “to convince someone to engage in coitus through taking advantage of immaturity and inexperience.” The Contemporary English Version provides a good translation: “talks her into having sex.” The New Century Version also provides both a good interpretation: “tricks her into having sexual relations.” The persuasion could have come about as result of coaxing, charming, flirting or deceiving, but it’s definitely not by force, so it’s definitely not rape.

Virgin (n.): בְּתוּלָה (bĕtûlâh). The בְּתוּלָה (bĕtûlâh) has three qualifications. First, the בְּתוּלָה (bĕtûlâh) is a young woman, even as young as adolescence in age. This points back to our original point of פָּתָה (pātâ) about taking advantage of the inexperience and immaturity of youth. Second, the בְּתוּלָה (bĕtûlâh) is someone who has never engaged in sexual activity. Third, Old Testament Hebrew usually reserves בְּתוּלָה (bĕtûlâh) for an unmarried person. Now as we see in our Exodus 22 passage, בְּתוּלָה (bĕtûlâh) can also refer to someone not yet married, as in betrothed or engaged. The law in Exodus 22:16-17 probably refers to a woman in any or all qualifications. It refers to a young woman who has never had sex, whether that young lady is single, engaged or married.

Bride-price (n.): מָהַר (mohar). In English translations מָהַר (mohar) most often receives the translation dowry or bride-price, although the latter sounds a little deceiving. The מָהַר (mohar) is most definitely not the groom buying a bride. As part of the engagement, the groom-to-be agreed to pay a מָהַר (mohar). According to the traditions formed by the rabbis, on average, the מָהַר (mohar) equaled 50 shekels of silver, but the actual מָהַר (mohar) varied from woman to woman. Factors affecting the מָהַר (mohar) included the man family’s social standing, the woman’s family’s social standing, the number of possible future husbands, the woman’s attractiveness and the woman’s virginity. Anything less would result in a lower מָהַר (mohar). The man would pay the מָהַר (mohar) to the woman’s father, and the father would gift the מָהַר (mohar) to the bride on her wedding day. The מָהַר (mohar) was never considered the woman’s father possession before marriage or the husband’s possession after marriage. The מָהַר (mohar) is always considered the woman’s possession. The מָהַר (mohar) had a few functions in the Ancient Near East. First, it displayed the suitor’s dedication to the woman. The מָהַר (mohar) was not cheap. A man would have to save up a while to have enough. This demonstrated the man could earn, save and afford to bring in the young to his home and take care of her. Second, it would provide the young couple financial stability. If hard times arose, the young couple would have a “nest egg” on which they could fall back. Third, if the woman ever found herself widowed or divorced, and she had no family to fall back on, the מָהַר (mohar) would work as life insurance today, giving her money until she could remarry or some other means of income.

Now that terms have been carefully defined, let me create my own paraphrase by inserting the definitions into the verse. “If a man approaches a sexually-inactive, unmarried, young woman and convinces her to engage in sex through taking advantage of immaturity and inexperience, either by charm or deception, he must give the full, customary engagement gift and marry her. If the young woman’s father forbids to give the man the young woman in marriage, however, the man still has to go through paying the engagement gift.

Now that terms have been carefully defined, and we have a more clarified verse, let’s look at how the situation might play out in life. Imagine, if you will, Joe and Jane are 2 Israelite teenagers or 2 Israelites young adults, madly in love with each other. Only one problem arises. Jane has already been betrothed to John. One day, while the young couples grieves that they will never be together, Joe gets, what seems to him, a good idea. “Wait,” Joe says, “In your betrothal, your father promised you as a virgin, right?” “Yeah, so?” Jane answers, not putting one and one together. “That’s it!” Joe exclaims. “If you are a virgin no longer, John will no longer want to marry you. The betrothal will become null and void. Then we can get married! It only makes sense. We want to get married one day. I mean, I do love you. Don’t love me?” Jane thinks about it. She does love Joe. Not only does he look attractive, he’s always so nice and kind to him, always giving her a warm smile and a hearty laugh. She wishes she could marry him. If they did marry one day, they would consummate the marriage. Why not do it sooner? With no objection coming to her mind, Jane agrees. One day, when Joe and Jane know they will be unsupervised, they sneak off and have sex. Afterward, Jane does ask Joe to hold off saying anything, to which he agrees. Jane wants to wait for the “right time” to her father and John and to figure out a way to put them down nicely, without hurting their feelings. Besides, they still have time before the planned wedding. Soon, however, Jane finds out she doesn’t have as much time as she thought. Jane finds out she’s pregnant. This makes Jane uneasy, but it makes Joe feel even more easy. Joe felt ready to become a husband, but he did not feel ready to become a father. Now Joe plans to back out of his own plan. After all, only Jane heard Joe’s plan. With no witnesses around, Joe’s word would have more a say than Jane’s word.

Before moving on to our next section, our theology about God, I want close this section about the doctrine of sin. We commonly think of sin as the sinner committing the sin directly on a victim. Sin has bigger consequences than that. Sin victimizes everyone. Take a look at the possible scenario I gave and see how it turns everyone into a victim.

Obvious, the young woman is a victim. Because of what happened to her, she has become extremely vulnerable. In most Ancient Near East societies, the father, the fiancé or the future father-in-law could have the girl put to death, either legally or illegally, because of her fornication. In any other Ancient Near East society, despite the sex that went between the man the woman, since the man never officially got engaged with the woman, he never has to go through with marrying her. At the same time, her fiancé has every right to exit the marriage because she broke the contact Now the woman will find it harder to marry because she is not a virgin. Even if the man involved, or any man for that matter, agrees to marry her, she will get less or an engagement gift, if any gift at all.

The young woman’s father is a victim. The father loves his daughter very much. All he wants is for his daughter to have a happy life. As any loving father, his deepest concern is that someone will love and take care of his daughter for the rest of her after he passes away. He has raised her to become a godly wife. He took the time to pick out a husband suitable for her, and her arranged for her to receive the perfect dowry. Now, because of his daughter’s sinful act, the daughter has brought down disgrace and humiliation upon her father’s name as head of the household. The daughter has disrespected the father’s careful choosing of a husband. He might have to have the awkward and embarrassing conversation with the fiancé and his family about his daughter breaking the engagement vow. The father will have a hard time arranging another marriage. If he can arrange another marriage, or even if the fiancé chooses to go through with the marriage, the father would collect a very small (if any) dowry price. All in all, whatever security the father planned for his daughter now will no longer happen.

The fiancé is a victim. Just because the woman loved another man does not mean the fiancé did not love his fiancée at all. As a matter of fact, the fiancé did love his fiancée very much, and he probably began preparing himself to become a husband. He might have learned the family trade, so he could earn an income of his own. He possibly either built his own wing right off his father’s house, or possibly built a house on his father’s property, so the newlywed couple would have a home where they could live. Most importantly, being the good Israelites he was, the fiancé had remained sexually pure until marriage, ready to present his virginity as a gift to his bride. Upon hearing his bride-to-bear gave up her virginity to another man, the fiancé now suffers from a broken heart. He had spent so much time and effort showing how much he loved her by preparing a future, especially remaining sexually pure, and she in return has done nothing for him. Now the fiancé has a tough choice to weigh out on his mind. If he chooses to marry her, he will have to live with the fact he shared her with another man (and has to deal with the gossip about it), or he can leave, despite loving her so much.

Even the man who seduced the woman is a victim. Back in the Ancient Near East before the time of Christ, a man who committed such a crime could face castration or even death. Even with Israelite law forbidding, the woman’s family and friends still might face the temptation to take matters into their hand and castrate or execute the man, no matter what the law says. If the man does not end up marrying the woman he seduced, he has reduced the likelihood of finding another woman to be his wife. A good Israelite woman would only seek out a man who has remained sexually pure. By become sexuality active, he has great reduced the number of women who would consider becoming his wife.

Step 3: Theologize the Law to Its Universal Context

God’s Law reflects the character and nature of God himself. Before diving into what this law specifically says about God, pause and take the time to appreciate how this law, like all the other laws, reflects God’s justice. God has compassion for the victim. His heart breaks when someone becomes a victim of a sin, and he mourns with the victim. When God administers justice, he rules in an equal, fair, rational and satisfying way. In his omniscient wisdom, God knows that unequal, unfair, irrational and unsatisfying ruling will only make things feel worse, causing more hurt among all those victimized. Now, let’s move on to the specifics of Exodus 22:16&17.

First, God has a very high reverence for all women. He wants all women to enjoy life to its fullest, having a happy life, a healthy life and a holy life. Because God makes every woman in his image, God sees all women as valuable, even when the people around her don’t. Therefore, even when a woman sins, makes the wrong choice or brings shame upon herself, God still loves her and has compassion on her. The Lord still offers her his protection and help.

Second, God expects men to keep his libido in check. Men should withhold from having sex until marriage. If a man does have sex with a woman, he should take responsibility by pursuing the relationship through to marriage, with her family’s blessing. If her family forbids it, the man must find a way to demonstrate he has truly repented.

Third, God truly loves the sinner and hates the sin. God hates the sin the sinner committed, and he expects the sinner to take responsibility. At the same time, God demonstrate his love for the sinner by finding a way for the sinner to reconcile with his God, the victim and the community.

Fourth, God is a God of culture. God speaks to people within their culture. God asks all his people to examine their culture in light of his principles. God only calls people to reject the parts of their culture which stands in stark contrast to the culture, and if they can fix any part of their culture to keep it, they should do so.

As for how this law points forward to Christ, during his ministry, Jesus encountered women who had questionable sexual history, like the sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50 and the adulterous woman in John 7:53-8:11. In both of the instances references, Jesus held the women in high reverence. He forgave them of their sin, so they be reconciled, but he also requested that they put their sinful life behind them.

Step 4: Apply the Law to the Present Context

In general, this law falls under the category “love your neighbor as yourself.” More specifically, this law falls under the subcategory, “do not commit adultery.” Together, God calls all Christians to honor and respect those of the opposite gender, putting their self-esteem and well-being above sexual desires.

Christian men, as sons of the Most High God, respect all women as the daughters of God they are, made in the image of God. Just as God wishes all his daughters to have a healthy, holy and happy life, a godly Christian man also desires that all women, especially their sisters in Christ, will have that healthy, holy and happy life. Therefore, Christian men should pursue every women’s well-being over their own sexual desires. Good Christian men should not take advantage of women, especially young or immature women. Those who do will have to face God on the judgment throne.

Christian women, believe that the Lord values you as worthy of him. You are daughters of Yahweh, the king of king and lord of lords! As daughters of the king of heaven, that makes every Christian woman a heavenly princess! Therefore, God calls Christian women to think, speak and act like heavenly princesses. Do not surround yourself with men who only want to take advantage of you and your body. Instead, surround yourself with men who concern themselves with your happiness and who will keep you accountable as your pursue holiness. Respect all men, especially your brothers in Christ, as you want to be respected.

If anyone here, men or women, sinned and fell short of God’s expectations for you in life, remember your God loves you. God does not hold you accountable because he hates you. God holds you accountable loves you. He wants you to confess and repent because he wants to pour out forgiveness on you, and he wants to reconcile you to your original value and worth.

CONCLUSION

In Psalm 119:47&48, David wrote, "For I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. I will lift up my hands to your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statues." Let the words of David become your prayer. I pray that you will find the same love and delight of the Old Testament Law that David found, and I pray it will encourage you to study the Torah more.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I an eternally grateful to Dr. Timothy R. Valentino, Pastor at Fleetwood Bible Church and professor of Biblical Studies and Practical Theology at Evangelical Seminary, for fleshing the Christian approach to Old Testament Law in his paper "Imitators of Christ: A Theocentric Approach to the Christian Preaching of Old Testament Law," which can be found in Evangelical Journal Vol.32 No.2 (Fall 2014)

I also appreciate Joshua D.Jones, pastor of Therfield Chapel in Cambridge, England for his article "Does the Bible Encourage Rape?" on his blog Sanity's Cove (September 26, 2016).

I also consulted the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament by Robert Harris, Gleason Archer and Bruce Waltke (1981) for the Hebrew definitions.

Immigrant Story

Just a couple of weeks ago I finished my summer course Christian Leadership and Administration. One of the books I read for the class was written by a pastor who talked about the pastor as a church leader. Naturally, coming from a pastor, talking about pastors, the author threw in a chapter about preparing and preaching sermons. Since I just completed two classes on preaching over two semesters, I believed I had learned everything to know about preaching, so I skimmed over the chapter instead of reading it in depth. Through my skimming, I did notice one piece of advice he gave that I liked, I have adapted, and I will use right now. He said that any time a pastor preaches a sermon out of the ordinary, the pastor should give a disclaimer, just in case if any visitors were present, they would not get the wrong idea about the church or the pastor. So let me put my disclaimer in here. I do not preach politics from the pulpit. I do not like pastors that do preach politics from the pulpit. I do not attend churches that preach politics from the pulpit. I seek only to speak biblical, theological and spiritual truths from the Word of God. Due to current events in the world of politics, however, I can see this message coming across as a political statement. I want to make clear this in no way is a political statement. In fact, when the current event came out, I considered totally scrapping this sermon and starting anew. After thinking about it, I chose not to, however, because maybe the current event will make this sermon more relevant and more applicable.

If you are unaware of what current event I’m referring to, let me fill you in. One of the televisions at work is set to CNN. CNN has informed me that the 2016 Presidential race is well under way…even though it’s only 2015. On the Republican side, one of the first men to announce his candidacy is Donald Trump, a man famous for building skyscrapers and firing celebrities on his reality show. Trump decided to kick off his presidential bid by announcing his plan for immigration reform. In his speech, he said this about Mexican immigrants (and once again, I will add a disclaimer that many television networks say: the views of Mr. Trump do not reflect my views)-

“The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems... It’s true, and these are the best and the finest. When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

 

Naturally, comments like that will result in fall out. Upon hearing the comments, the U.S. territory Puerto Rico dropped out of the Donald Trump’s Miss Universe beauty pageant. Soon after, many Latin American countries followed suit. At the same time, since Donald Trump has announced his presidential run, his rating rises every day. Some polls even have ranked Donald Trump has the number one choice for Republicans in the presidential race. Some political analysts give Donald Trump’s comments credit for shooting him up in the political race. How does someone make such comments, and yet still remain so popular?

But as the preacher in Ecclesiastes said, there is nothing new under the sun. This current event reminded me of a personal experience I had in fall 2009, as I began my third year at Lancaster Bible College. The past summer I decided to change my major from Bible Ministry to Bible Education. While all my Bible credits transferred without any problem, because I had to start brand new in the education department, I found myself, a junior, sitting in many education classes with first-semester freshman. One such class was The Teaching Profession, the fancy name that LBC gave its Intro to Teaching class. A few weeks into the class, we came across the chapter in our textbook called “Race and Ethnicity in the Classroom.” While the textbook was a few years old, my professor did an excellent job keeping the statistics up to date. She reported that by the 2020s decade, even by the year 2020 itself, that the races and ethnic groups that have been defined as the “minorities” in the U.S. will become the majority, quantity-wise, in the classroom. It’s also possible that by 2020, 50% of students will speak English as a secondary language, and 10% will not even know English at all. My professor asked the classroom for any reaction; any thoughts or feels this news provoked. My reaction was surprise, not at what the teacher taught, but how my classmate reacted. Their reaction was shock, fear, anger, horror, terror. It was as if some great evil had fell upon this country and something needing to be done about it. Now, granted, these students were freshmen in their first semester of college. They had not received their Bible or theology courses yet. But from hearing their testimonies the opening week of class, I knew most of the students were your “typical church kids.” They have attended church since one week old, attended Sunday School and Vacation Bible School since 3 years old, and both regularly attended and been actively involved in both Jr. High and Sr. High youth group. Not once did a pastor, youth pastor, youth group leader, Sunday School teacher or Bible School teacher present what the Bible said. For the Lord talks about it at least five times explicitly in the Bible. Luckily for them, the professor had me doing devotions next class. Since devotions had to do with what we were learning in class, I had the perfect opportunity to share what God had say about race, ethnicity and immigrants. Today, I would like to share them with you. Back then, I only got a few minutes, so all I could do was simple present a couple verses and tie them together. Now, I want to expand on these verse. From a literal, plain reading of the verses, it will be clear where God stands on this. But when we look back on the original context, the historical context and the cultural context, the meaning behind these verses become even stronger.

Let’s take our first look at the first appearance in Exodus 22:21. While you’re turning there, since I know many of you use different Bible translations, let me explain the one word that will appear different depending on your translation. The Hebrew manuscripts have the word ger. The New American Standard Bible (NASB), the King James Version (KJV), the New King James Version (NKJV) and the Revised Standard Version (RSV) all choose to translate the word as “stranger.” This translation is a little out of date, and it makes sense, if you think about it logically. Later on, the verses call the Israelites ger in the land of Egypt. After residing in Egypt over 400 years, it’s hard to call any person a stranger. Heck, the Israelites might have even known the land better than the Egpytians knew it! So the Israelites are far from strangers. The 1984 edition of the New International Version (NIV, 1984 ed.) calls them aliens. But thanks to the rising popularity of science fiction, which you can thank the space race in the late 20^th century for that, the modern-day reader could confuse the Israelites for Martians or extraterrestrials. Talk about the confusing theology that would produce! So the 2011 edition changed the word from “aliens” to “foreigners,” which most other Bible translations also choose. I personally think this is arguing semantics. They could say the word “alien” makes people think that the Isarelites or Martians or extraterrestrials, but I could say that the word “foreigner” makes people think the Israelites were in a 70’s rock band. (And then when I read the Israelites were on a journey, I could think the Israelites were in an 80’s rock band.) The best translation is probably what the English Standard Version (ESV) chooses, the word “sojourner.” But you will hear me use stranger, sojourner, alien and foreigner all interchangeably. Just promise when you hear “alien,” you won’t think of Martians or extraterrestrials, and when I say “foreigner” you won’t think of any 70’s rock band (although, for your entertainment, I will later make a bunch of Foreigner references. See you if can catch them all.)

The Lord first mentions how to treat foreigners in Exodus. Actually, God mentions twice. In Exodus 22:21, the Lord commands, “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.” God commands it again in Exodus 23:9, “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.” You’ll notice many similarities in these verses. So why would the Lord repeat the command, so close to one another? The literary context, on its spot within the text, might explain. Since Exodus 22:21 is so close to the Ten Commandments, Exodus 22:21 might be seen as an expansion of the Ten Commandments. If the Ten Commandments can be summed up as, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” and “Love your neighbor as yourself,” then Exodus 22 explain in detail how to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and might and how to love your neighbor as yourself. Then Exodus 22:21 reminds us that the sojourner is our neighbor, and we need to love the sojourner as our neighbor. In Exodus 23:1-9, God teaches Israel how to execute justice in the court systems. Exodus 23:9 teaches Israel that justice must extend to the foreigners living among them, even though they are not Israelites.

But take a close long at the big, glaring similarity, Every time the Lord says, “for you were sojourners in the land in the Egypt.” The Lord calls the Israelites back to remember their history.

Do you remember Israel’s history? I bet many of you do because you grew up in church. So for you, I will quickly fast forward with an abridged version of Israel’s history, only highlighting the important details that led up to God giving Israel this commandment. But if you haven’t, please do, for it’s a wonderful story of God blessing his people Israel as they struggle to comprehend God’s holiness for their lives. The story of how Israel got to God giving them commandments on Mount Sinai begins in the book of Genesis, with a man name Joseph. At the age of 17, Joseph starting having weird dreams that told him that his brothers would bow down to him. As you older siblings can imagine, these dreams did not go over well with Joseph’s brothers. They wanted to kill him, but Reuben, the firstborn, did not want that bloodshed on his hands, so they sell into slavery in Egypt. Long story short, Joseph lands in jail. There, he uses his experience with dreams to help interpret the dreams of those in jail with him. News of experience in dreams reaches Pharaoh, who is having some pretty crazy dreams himself. He brings Joseph to him and says to him, “I’ve been having some pretty weird dreams. I’ve seen 7 skinny cows eat 7 fat cows, and I’ve seen 7 sick heads of grain eat 7 healthy heads of grain. And it’s starting to freak me out, since cows don’t eat each other and heads of grain don’t eat each other. What does it mean?” Joseph explains to Pharaoh, “Oh, this is easy! 7 fat cows and 7 healthy heads of grain mean 7 years of plentiful harvest. 7 skinny cows and 7 sickly heads of grain mean 7 years of famine. When the skinny cows eat the fat cows, and the sickly heads of grain eat the healthy heads of grain, it means the famine years will be so bad, it will be like the plentiful years did not even happen! If I were you know, I would save and store up all your extra in the plentiful years so you will be alright during the famine years. Pharaoh replies, “You sound like you know what you’re doing, so I’ll put you second in change of all Egypt so you will have all the power to do what you need to do to save Egypt.” Sure enough, Joseph’s planning saves Egypt from starving to death. But from the story in Genesis, we learn that the famine affected all the Middle East, including Joseph’s family back in Canaan. Joseph’s brothers, hearing how Egypt is surviving, decide to go to Egypt to see if they can get any food. Once again abriding the story, Joseph eventually reveals to his brothers his identity, and he says to them, “No more of this going back and forth for food. You come live with me in Egypt, and I will take care of you.” While the book of Genesis ends with the death of Jacob and Joseph, it ends on a fairly happen. Jacob’s descendants are living in peace and happiness in Egypt, enjoying plentiful blessings.

Then comes the book of Exodus. In the first chapter of Exodus, verse 8, the tides begin to turn. Verses 8 to 10 read, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, ‘Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.’” How could this new king not about the man who single-handedly, with God’s help, save a whole nation? It’s not that he does not have knowledge about what Joseph did, but he does not recognize Joseph for what he did, and here’s why. Now what I about to say does not appear in the Bible, per se, but Old Testament scholars have teamed up with historians who specialize in Ancient Egyptian history and archaeologists who specialize in ancient Egyptian archaeology. Together, they have matched up their timelines, and they believe what is happening here is not just a change in kings, but also a change in dynasty. They believe that previous king was half-Egyptian, half-semetic, or half of him was Middle Eastern. So when Joseph, another semite, asks for permission to move his family into Egypt, he has no problem letting another semite like him into the country, for he’s partially blood related. But then a new king, from a new dynasty comes into power. He’s pure-bred, 100% full Egyptian. After a tumultuous change of power between the two families in the Egyptian kingdom, the new king does not like semites, nor does he like any foreigner for that matter. So when calls together his people, the other pure-bred, 100% full Egyptians, I can imagine him saying to his people, “Look, this is a great nation. But do you know what’s ruining this country? Immigrants. Egypt is for Egyptians, not for any foreigner to steal from our success. We’re better than them, so let them work to give to us, instead of us working to give to them.” I think that’s why the new Pharaoh enslaves them instead of kicking them out. Pharaoh sees they are a blessed people, Pharaoh wants that blessing, but Pharaoh knows losing the people of Israel means losing the blessing. So he enslaves them. Even through their enslavement, Israel continues to receive blessing after blessing from God, making the people of Israel even greater, and making the new Pharaoh even more nervous. So he then proceeds to kill the baby boys.

But God hears the Israelites crying out in their oppression, and He has compassion on them. So God sends Moses to tell Pharaoh, “Let my people go!” Pharaoh says no, so God sends 10 plagues to change Pharaoh’s mind. After the first 9 plagues, Pharaoh remained as cold as ice. Sometimes he was even hot blooded. But after the 10^th plague, on that blue morning,blue day, Pharaoh finally got the message at let the people go. But Pharaoh wasn’t happy about that. He became cold as ice yet again. So Pharaoh sent the whole Egyptian army to retrieve the Israelites and bring them back. The army was so big, when the Israelites saw them, they must have thought they had double vision! Moses thought fast and prayed, “Lord, this is urgent!” and God answered their prayers. If Israel wanted to know what love is, they found out what love is from God on that day, when God showed compassion on them yet again and rescued them from the Egyptians yet again. It must have felt like the first time, when the Lord first took them out of Egypt. (Did you catch them all? J )

So God brings them to Mount Sinai, and the first thing the Lord reminds them at Mount Sinai is what just happened. It is as if the Lord is saying to his people, “Remember what was it was like to be an alien in a foreign land? Remember how they worked you from sunrise to sunset, every day of the week? Remember how they work you harshly and brutally until you were sick and dying? Remember how you wished that someone showed you compassion, and if on the rare occasion someone did, how happy and relieved you were? I want you to remember those feelings. Then remember that’s the heart, too. You wish you were treated with love and compassion, so treat the foreigners among you with love and compassion.” The Israelites would need to practice their compassion to foreigners right away. Exodus 12 informs that not only did the Israelites leave, but also a mixed multitude of Egyptians and other foreigners. I can imagine the foreigners from other nations coming to Moses, saying, “We prayed to our gods to save us, and they never did. Your God came and saved you, so we want to follow your god, for he saves his people.” The Israelites would need to remember give the same rights and respect as any Israelite. The Israelites would need to especially practice this for the Egyptian among the multitude that went with them. Once again, I imagine Egyptians coming to Moses, saying to him, “We clearly saw our gods defeated by your god with the 10 plagues. Our gods are weak, but your God is strong. We want to worship him.” The Israelites might be tempted to seek revenge. They might want enslave the Egyptians, for the Egyptians enslaved them. They might want to kill their Egyptian baby boys, for the Egyptians killed the Israelite boys. The Lord ends the desire for revenge right here. The Egyptians living among them get treated with the same right and respect as any Israelites. They are to be treated with love and compassion, not revenge. If any Israelite wants to object to God’s command, God will keep calling them to remember their history.

On the same Mount Sinai, the Lord present to the Moses and the Israelites the laws found in the book of Leviticus. In Leviticus, God commands Israel once again, “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Once again, God reminds Israel of their history, strengthening the command through the historical context, but God also strengths through the literary context and the cultural context. The book of Leviticus is all about holiness. The word “holy” (or some form of it) is the most repeated word in book, probably due to God repeatedly commanding Israel, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” I’ve already given you your Hebrew word for the day, so I’m not going to give you another one, but the root of the Hebrew word is derived from the root meaning “set apart.” What makes God so holy, so righteous, so good is that he thinks, speaks and acts differently than the other gods of the other nations. Therefore, it makes logical sense that if the Israelites are to be holy like God is holy, and if Yahweh is holy because he thinks, speaks and acts differently than the other gods, then the worshippers of Yahweh must also think, speak and act differently than the worshippers of the other gods. One of those ways they can act differently than the other nations is to treat the alien within their land differently.

To fully appreciate how this commandment does that, you have to understand how most nations of the ancient Middle East treated its foreigners. An alien in a foreign land was given no rights, nor was a native given any obligation to treat an alien with respect. On the contrary, it was common for the sojourner to be exploited and extorted. If a sojourner dared to attempt to go to court over such injustice, rarely would a judge hear the case. If he did, the judge would most often favor the native over the foreigner. More often, the native would bring the foreigner to court, and the foreigner would fight a uphill battle, only to lose. If anyone showed any charity to a sojourner, it was out of the kindness of his or her heart. The Holy God, Yahweh, wanted his people, Israel, to be holy by living contrary to this culture. Notice how Leviticus 19:34 contains a form of that famous 2^nd greatest command, “Love them as yourself.” The Israelites would have known that command and would have made the connection that the foreigner living in their land is still their neighbor. Therefore, God commands them to love the foreigner. In a world that exploited and extorted the foreigner, the Lord commands his people to love and to show compassion to the foreigner. In a world that showed favoritism to the native over the sojourner in the courts, the Lord wants Israel to reflect God’s justice by bring equality and fairness in the court. By doing so, Israel will love the foreigner like God loves the foreigner, and therefore, Israel will be holy like God is holy.

And might I quickly add a tidbit of application for the 21^st century American. If you are anything like me, you might start to get nervous when people start talking about holiness. You worry it might lead to legalism, and people will start judging other people for not following do’s and do not’s to the letter. But note here how God links up holiness and love. If Israel wants to pursue holiness, they have to learn to love everyone, including the sojourner. So the pursuit of holiness involves the pursuit of love. If in your pursuit of holiness, you are not loving, then you’re not pursuing holiness.

The Lord repeats the command again in Deuteronomy. If you know the original audience, then it becomes clear why God has to repeat the command. The name of the book, Deuteronomy, literally means “second law.” The Lord has to give the Law a second time because this is the second generation of Israelites after the Israelites who came out of Egypt. The new generation of Israelites might be tempted to say, “Lord, I understand why our parents had to be kind to the sojourner. I get that. But I was never a slave. Therefore, you can’t use that defense against me.” The Lord would disagree. The Lord once again says, “You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there.” God even uses in the Hebrew the plural version of you. Our brothers and sister in Christ down south would read it “y’all shall remember that y’all were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed y’all from there.” It is a part of Israel’s history for all generations, so all generations must obey this command. But I want to look at Deuteronomy for another reason. The Lord expands on how to love the sojourner among them. Take a look at Deuteronomy 24:14-15,17-22-

“¹⁴ “You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. ¹⁵ You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin. ¹⁷ “You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge, ¹⁸ but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this. ¹⁹ “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. ²⁰ When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. ²¹ When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. ²² You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.
 

Notice how God keeps pairing the sojourner with the widows and the fatherless (orphans in the NIV). God puts them in the category of the poor and helpless. This is a helpful reminder for us Americans, who are the 1% wealthiest in the world. When we move from one country to another, it’s because we love the geography or the culture of the new nation over the old nation. That was rarely the case back then. Back then people moved from country to country because of some great disaster or tragedy back in their home country. It could be famine, war or political unrest. The disaster would destroy their homeland, leaving them nothing. They are left with no other choice than to start brand new in a country and a new homeland. And they didn’t have U-Haul back then. If they could afford a cart, they fill the cart to maximum capacity, and that’s all they took. If they could only afford one horse, donkey or camel, they loaded its back to maximum capacity, and that’s all they took. But if they could not afford either a cart or an animal, all they took with them is what they could load on their back. They had to start in their new land with little to nothing. They came to the new land poor and helpless. God wants his people to recognize this. Therefore, showing the sojourner love is to show the foreigner grace. The Israelites can show the sojourner by providing the foreigner the leftovers of his harvest.

Now when Pastor Rob Bell reads this passage, he imagines the Israelites saying, “That’s not fair! I planted the crops, I watered the crops, I took care of the crops, therefore, I should get the fullest of the harvest!” Therefore, Rob Bell concludes that grace is unfair (in a positive connotation). I’m not sure I would call it unfair. Maybe undeserving, but not unfair. Rather, I would say that grace returns the unfair to the fair. God questions the Israelite who thinks this is unfair, “Do you think it’s fair that the widow lost her husband and now has no income? Do you think it’s fair that the orphans have no parents, who can’t provide the basic necessities from food and water to love and support? Do you think it’s fair that the sojourner had to leave his home and most of his possessions to travel to a new a strange land?” That Israelite has to quietly answer “No.” God calls Israel to show grace to share the pain. The Israelite can say, “Here, I will give to you, taking loss, so I can feel the pain of loss like you are feeling.” The Israelite can relate, and then will truly show love.

So we looked at 4 different verses, from 3 different books, in 3 different contexts. Just through a literal, plain reading of the text, it’s clear what God wants us to do. He wouldn’t have repeated it so much if he didn’t want us to take it too seriously. Then we looked at the 3 contexts, and we saw how the 3 contexts further strengthened the meaning of the verse. So how do we as Americans apply in the 21^st century?

First, to fully and truly reach out to someone, we must reach out to them in their culture. I’ve traveled abroad twice. Once I spent 1 ½ weeks on a missions trip in Honduras after 8^th grade. A second time, I 3 ½ weeks in a semester abroad in Israel, learning the history, geography and culture of Israel. Both times, in Honduras and Israel, they would always speak English! Sometimes, both Israel and Honduras would even bring out American food for our meals. In Honduras, no one forced me to speak Spanish, eat the local food, and wear clothes like everyone else in the country. In Israel, no one forced me to speak Hebrew, eat like an Israeli or dress like a Middle Eastern man. They showed me love and compassion by reaching out to me in my culture and showing hospitality. Therefore, when I know someone from a different culture enters my world, I try to show them love and compassion through hospitality. The warehouse I work in is like the future classroom of 2020. I am in the minority by being white and speaking English. One guy I worked with spoke Spanish primarily, and he spoke a broken English secondarily. I would struggle to do my job because I struggled to understand him! Then I remembered my experiences in Honduras and Israel, so I decided to reach out to him. I dusted off my notes from my 3 years of high school Spanish and re-learned my Spanish. My Spanish is as broken as his English. But between my broken English and his broken Spanish, we begin to understand each other better. We even connected better, to the point I could ask him, “Como estas tu famila?” (“How is your family?”) If you want to reach out the foreigner living near you, reach out to their world and culture.
 

Second, think of your identity in Christ. We often explain our relation as the church to God in metaphors. The more popular ones are bride of Christ, the body of Christ, and the family of God. One of our identities we don’t often talk about is that we our citizens of the kingdom of God. That as national implications. I would even go as far as say that our citizenship in the kingdom of God supersedes any other national identity, whether we are citizens, or dual citizens or are the alien living in the foreign land. Therefore, a Christian living in the United States of America is an alien in a foreign land. Sometimes it’s easy to feel like an alien in a foreign land when Congress makes a law, the President passes a law or the Supreme Court upholds a law that is contrary to the Bible. But sometimes Congress makes a law, the President passes a law or the Supreme Court upholds a law that agrees with Biblical teaching. That I see as God’s grace. So we know what it’s like to be an alien in a foreign land. We know how hard it can sometimes be, and we know the feelings of pure joy and relief when we get grace. That feeling should be our motivator, and it should motivate us to show love, compassion and grace to a sojourner adjusting to the local culture.

And just another quick side thought. I’m slow to say this because I’m still developing it. Another current event happening is that relations between the U.S.A. and Cuba are finally beginning to warm up. The first sign of such healing happening is that Cuba has allowed the U.S. embassy to reopen. The cool thing about an embassy is that no matter how big or small the plot of land is, even it’s just one acre, that land is considered land of the embassy’s nation, not the land of the nation where it resides. So the U.S. embassy in Cuba is considered U.S. territory, not Cuba territory, and U.S. laws, not Cuba laws, apply. As Christians, we believe church is the people, not the building, yet we struggle with what to do with the building. What if we decided that the building was like the embassy of the kingdom of God in the U.S.A.? What if we decided to live out the kingdom of God in the church instead of living out the American culture within these walls? When a non-Christian, someone not native to the kingdom of God, enters here, do we show them love and compassion, or do we judge them for not living our lifestyle? The verses I presented to you should motivate you to do the former!

But maybe I haven’t won you over on that identity as a citizen of the kingdom of God, living as an alien in a foreign land. Maybe you still believe that when the foreigner comes to live in a new culture, he has to adjust to the culture. Then may I present to you a third application. I know sometimes Christians don’t always consistently decided on which Old Testament Laws to follow literally and to follow figuratively. So when it comes reading Old Testament Law, the first question I ask is, “What does this law say about God, and how can I reflect it?” With all these verses, I see God as compassionate. He wants Israel to be compassionate towards sojourners because he compassionate to sojourners. God always sides with the weak, so if we really want to be on God’s side, we must side with the weak, such as the foreigner. Therefore, we as Christians, living in the United States in the 21^st century, need to show compassion. This one, I believe, Christians in America need to work on the most. Once again, let me put in here one last disclaimer. I heard both political parties’ immigration policy. I understand where both sides come from. I believe both sides have pros and cons. But too often have I seen both sides lack compassion! No matter what policy you side with, you must never ever lose compassion! They are people, they have rights as human beings made in the image of God, and therefore you must love them and you must have compassion! So if you want to the follow this law in the best way, show the sojourner compassion.

As I close, my prayer is for you that no matter where you stand politically, you will show love and compassion to everyone, including the sojourner. I pray your love and compassion will lead to display hospitality and a willingness to reach out to another’s culture. When you can get your heart, your mind, and your hands to do, so will truly reflect God in both his love and his holiness. Remember, God showed you compassions when you were estranged from him, so you too must show compassion to the strangers among you.