Purpose in Pain

Exodus 1

“Purpose in Pain”

            This chapter narrates the alteration that occurred when the children of Israel went from being guests and citizens of Egypt (and particularly of Goshen), to being forced by their one-time hosts and fellow-citizens, into slavery.  The Hebrew children went from welcome to worry.  This is the first situation I notice in this first Chapter of Exodus – how does a nation make the long and painful journey from being welcomed as citizens to being so feared they are forced into servitude?

            We usually generate fear in our minds when we allow ourselves to be troubled over what “might” happen “if” a particular circumstance occurs.  The Egyptians obviously were playing the “what if” game and generated a fear of the Hebrews, thinking they might soon outnumber them, rise up and go to war against them and become their conquerors rather than their fellow-citizens.  This tells me two things:

            1.  The Hebrews were not just growing in number – there was an obvious and marked separation between the Hebrews and the Egyptians.  Although we do not know what they did to delineate themselves – somehow the Hebrew children did not meld their culture with that of the Egyptians.  They stood out from them – whether it was by their practices, their fashion, their demeanor, their style of living – we know their culture was different from that of the Egyptians.  And since the law had not yet been handed down to Moses from God – there was no religious observance we read about in Genesis that would have served to mark them.  We do know they must have been aware of the covenant between God and Abraham and their status as a chosen people; and we know from the way Joseph behaved in Egypt there was the possibility of setting an example of right behavior in this foreign land that most definitely occurred when he arrived.  However, we do not know if the Hebrews set themselves apart by right living, refused to integrate themselves into Egyptian society in order to maintain their separation as people of God or what might have occurred.  We do know there was a distinct delineation between these two peoples. 

            2.  When God has a plan He will carry out that plan even if He must stir up one-time friends into becoming enemies.  No matter how popular, cooperative, outstanding, well-meaning, contributing, unobtrusive, or friendly we might be, the rising up of one-time friends against us might just be a part of the bigger picture God means to use in order to wake us up and move us on.

            Because I am very familiar with the Book of Exodus, I know the end of the story and I know the course the Hebrew children will take.  I know the story of Moses and his encounters with Pharaoh, and I already know the children of Israel will soon leave the land of Egypt to head on their intended course into the land promised them by God.  But I also know at the beginning of this book they are not where they need to be or where God plans on them being. We know:

            1.  God has no desire for the Hebrew children to simply be one nation dwelling within the borders of another.  He plans for them to dwell in a land all their own provided by God Himself, Who loves them and has a design for them and their future.  The land and people of Egypt served a purpose in God’s plan for a short period of time.  God used the Egyptians to provide for His children and to teach some important lessons to Joseph, his father and his brothers.  But it was never His intention to keep His people there. 

God always has more for us than that for which we often settle.  The Hebrew children were not out of God’s sight or out of His will – whether simply dwelling in Egypt or during their time of slavery there – their position and their situation were always part of a bigger picture with a bright hope on their horizon.  Never is it God’s intention that His people should simply inhabit.  We must always realize Who He is, Whose we are and His intention that we stand apart from the society in which we dwell.

            2.  There was a “grander scheme” in the development stage of which the children of God were not yet fully aware.  They needed to place their trust in Him and allow Him to have His way.  They, perhaps, simply saw their circumstances as God having turned His back on them and were only able to dwell on the pain and trial of their lives.  However, we know this painful time for the Hebrews helped pave the way for the provision of a Deliverer for more than just the Hebrew children.

            How often do we mirror this picture in our lives?  Trouble arrives in the midst of our “inhabiting,” and we misread the situation (or are guided into misreading it by well-meaning people; i.e. Job’s friends).  Instead of trusting that God is working within the framework of a much bigger picture, we assume He is punishing us, has abandoned us or is ignoring us because we are somehow doing something wrong or have stepped outside of His will.  This usually happens because we have grown so accustomed to blessings and abundance we do not recognize or simply do not want to accept “purpose in pain.”  We usually prefer to live lives of ease and comfort and stay on the safe side of life than experience pain and obtain wisdom and a deeper discernment and greater understanding of the ways of the Lord. 

            Interestingly, the Kingdom of God and the people who refuse to even acknowledge their need for God, rely upon us, their fellow-citizens of this earth and God-acknowledgers, to obtain and distribute that wisdom and discernment in order to help them break free of their own bondage in Egypt.  Sometimes that means suffering and pain.

            I am certain the Hebrew children questioned and wondered how they went from being fellow-citizens to slaves.  In their misery they must have believed God had abandoned them and forgotten where they were.  I am thankful for their suffering – for their pain helped to pave the way for my freedom from slavery.

Dear Father,

            Please help me to stop wallowing in my comfort and whining in my pain.  Please guide me into the truth of both and help me see Your grander scheme and the hope on the horizon.

Avoiding the yeast

When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread.  “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
 They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”
 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?   Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?  Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?  How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

     We just saw these law-teachers and law-keepers trying to test Jesus by requiring a sign - so they would not be required to have faith in order to believe.  And now, Jesus is warning His disciples to be on their guard against their "yeast."
     When I lived in Nashville, there was a bread factory on Murfreesboro Road.  And if a person happened to be driving by that factory at the right time of the day, or if the wind was blowing just right, the smell of that freshly baked bread blew through that town, and it would stop that person right in their tracks, as they would throw back their head, suck in as much of that fragrance as their nostrils would allow, as their eyes would roll back in their head and their mouths would start watering and . . . er, . . . at least that's what I, . . . er, observed.
     But, seriously, is there anything to compare to the smell and taste of hot-right-out-of-the-oven yeast bread?  There is a good reason it is a favorite smell and taste of a lot of folks.  I love to make yeast bread as well.  The wonder of placing a small amount of dough into a bowl, covering it and leaving it in a warm corner of the kitchen, and returning to lift the covering later, to see the yeast has been effective and the dough has taken over the bowl.  The yeast has basically given the dough, pardon the expression, gas!  What yeast does to bread to "puff it up," is amazing.  To be numbered as one whose words are "full of a lot of air," is, as they say, - "Not so good."
     That same teaching I wrote about from the verses just before this, that wanted proof of God so there would be no need to rely on a personal faith, is the teaching we see Jesus referring to in this passage.  It is the arrogance and pride of those who find no fault in themselves, see no need to have faith without sight and are blind to how their arrogance and ignorance is leading to the downfall of the very students with whom they have been entrusted.
     A teacher who is wise and thoroughly knows the subject they teach so well their students can fully depend on their knowledge without being guarded - is a great teacher.  However, when a teacher only knows the content of their material but knows almost nothing of the background or true intent of that material, will ultimately be seen for what they are - spouters of "gas" with no substance.
     The disturbing issue for me, as I read of the ways of these particular teachers, is that they were not teaching ABC's or math - they were supposed to be instructors of the fundamentals of their culture and faith.  Yet they lacked the basic understanding of the nature and heart of the very One who gave them that culture and faith.  They set themselves up in the position of teachers, but became, rather than a source of wisdom and knowledge, blind men teaching others to stumble too.
   In the same way a few grains of yeast mixed into a dough cause gas bubbles to form until they work their way through the entire piece of dough, causing it to expand and appear to give substance where none exists - if I do not avoid my own tendencies toward arrogance and pride in my own understanding, what may begin as small compromises and justifications of attitudes and actions that avoid and ignore truth, will grow and expand until my sight grows dimmer, my mind grows duller and I become unaware of my own race into blindness.
     Yeast-full teaching leads to yeast-full believing, which leads to a world full of thinkers with not much substance, only a lot of bilious gas. . . . .  Are we there yet?

The Proof

Matthew 16:1-4
"The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.  A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away."

     Isn't it astounding how the created can ask the Creator to prove Himself to them in order for Him to gain their belief, respect, approval, acceptance?
     The ultimate act of self-absorption - expecting our God to provide a concrete never-to-be-doubted-because-it-is-recorded-forever-act-of-power, just so we will not be required to rely on our own faith (which depends on our own choices.  After all, what kind of faith is that faith which only believes after having seen demonstrated proof?).
     Each and ever day we are presented with the miracle of nature, and birth, and physics, and cellular biology, and genetics, and every kind of proof of an intelligent Creator - but we choose to overlook these miracles and try to explain their creation away and instead, trust to human explanations and justifications - just so we will not be requred to rely on our own faith.
     In answer to the law-makers' and law-keepers' demand for a miracle, Jesus says simply, "Your proof will come through Me.  But not as a miraculous act which does not touch you personally.  Instead it will be through My ultimate act of love for you.  I will offer you a sign that - whether you choose to ignore and disregard or if you choose to accept - will seem like an inconsequential personal decision to this world.  But that choice will affect you . . . . . very personally. 
     "You see, I am not going to offer you someone else's miraculous healing or salvation.  . . . . .  Here, my child. . . I offer you your own.  I don't demonstrate my love and compassion and concern and grace for the affliction of another.  No, this act of love is my grace-extending, mercy-giving, far-reaching, soul-healing, hell-stealing, while-you-are-still-steeped-in-your-own-sin miraculous demonstration of My eternal love for you."

     Even to these miracle seeking, faithless hypocrites - Jesus always acts in love, always provides ultimate truth, always looks deeply into their eyes, and into their heart . . . . my eyes and my heart - and always gives me one thing - His best love.