14 VA'ERA (I appeared); Ex 6:2-9:35, Mark 3

[Bruce Bertram]

God starts off this section going over the promise He made to Moses' forefathers, and reiterating His intentions of making sure Israel gets where He wants them to go. There is also a list of the family heads of Israel, specifically concerning Moses and Aaron, in preparation to leave Egypt. It is interesting to look at the names and see who will later emerge as pleasing to God (such as Phinehas son of Eleazer son of Aaron) or not so pleasing (such as Korah of Korah's rebellion). The account gives the ages of Moses (80) and Aaron (83) at the time they started dealing with Pharaoh to gain the release of the Israelites.

The first sign for Pharaoh was Aaron's staff becoming a snake, which is duplicated by Pharaoh's magicians and causes Pharaoh to go 'ho hum' and not let Israel go. The next sign was Aaron striking the Nile with his staff so that the water turned to blood and fish died and it wasn't pretty. But Pharaoh still says 'ho hum' when his magicians can do the same. Third, Aaron stretches out his hand over the Nile and frogs come up and pester everyone in Egypt. We start to see a crack in Pharaoh's hard heart, even though his magicians can make frogs come out of the Nile also, when he asks Moses to ask God to take away the frogs on the morrow. But Pharaoh doesn't follow through with his promise to let Israel go. Next it is gnats, which the magicians can't duplicate, and they tell Pharaoh that this is the finger of God but he still won't listen. Swarms of insects are promised for the fifth sign, which won't affect Israel. Pharaoh gets 'bugged,' but he wants to allow Israel to sacrifice in Goshen where they live instead of going into the desert. No good, says Moses, because the Egyptians will get upset so they have to do into the desert to do it. Pharaoh promises to let them go, but goes back on it after Moses asks the Lord to remove the insects.

Next up is the killing of all the livestock (except Israel's, of course), but Pharaoh is getting harder, not softer. Boils happen next, and the magicians not only cannot duplicate the plage but suffer so much they can't stand around anymore. Hard on the heels of the livestock deaths and boils is hail. It's worth noting that some people in Egypt were starting to fear the Lord and put their livestock and families indoors. But some didn't fear God and left their livestock outdoors. The hail destroys everything outdoors, except in Goshen where Israel lives. Pharaoh's hard heart is getting harder, but he promises to let Israel go and reneges yet again after God calls off the hail.

Mark recounts the healing of a lame man in a synagogue by Jesus, in which He is accused by the religious leaders of breaking the Sabbath. Unfortunately for them, the Law does not prohibit healing on the Sabbath, as Jesus points out with His comment that saving lives is permitted. The plot to kill Jesus starts here for Mark, but large crowds are coming to the Galil to see and hear Jesus. The evil spirits are specifically commanded not to tell who Jesus is, but the word is getting out anyway. Jesus appoints the 12, and gives them authority. The religious leaders are saying that Jesus is possessed by the Satan, and that's how He can throw out the demons. But Jesus counters this claim by teaching that a house divided cannot stand. His mother and brothers come looking for Him because they think He's lost it, but Jesus says:

35"For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother." (Mark 3:35 NASB95)

Shalom
Bruce

[Bruce Bertram]

Pharaoh’s heart is said in 7:22 (and 8:19, 9:7 and later in 10:3) to be hardened in a neutral sense (“his heart was hardened”); in 9:12 (later also in 10:1) it is said to be hardened by God, and in verse 8:15 (also 8:32 and 9:34) Pharaoh’s heart is hardened by Pharaoh. This puzzles many people, and the implications are far reaching. Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart? Was it just hard, did Pharaoh harden it, or did God harden it? Does this mean that a human has ‘free will’ to do what he or she chooses, or does God make everyone do everything?

First, we know that Pharaoh wasn’t a nice guy. He was probably a son of the previous Pharaoh, who was scared of Israel and started killing their kids. Then his (probable) dad had them do slave labor, which the next Pharaoh increased when Moses first asked him to let the people go. He was not a man of his word (he kept reneging on the agreement to let them go), was crafty (see chapter one), and scheming (like father, like son?). He might’ve been thinking that Moses was just a better magician, because he had magicians that could duplicate the first few of the plagues (but they couldn’t make the plagues stop, which should’ve been a clue). It seems as though Pharaoh was well on his way to having a hard heart even before the plagues started.

Second, God knows the human heart, and knows exactly what to do to cause it to react the way He wants it to react.

20If we had forgotten the name of our God Or extended our hands to a strange god, 21Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. (Psalm 44:20-21 NASB95)
12If you say, “See, we did not know this,” Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work? (Proverbs 24:12 NASB95)

So He knew exactly the sequence of events that would be needed to both continue to harden Pharaoh’s heart and to bring out what was already present.

Third, we know that at any time Pharaoh could’ve humbled himself before God and done something different. The plagues were obviously not the work of a magician, they were too selective (most of them didn’t affect Israel) and too big at the same time. Plus, if this Pharaoh was really afraid that Israel would league with enemies as the previous Pharaoh did, why’d he hammer them so hard with slave labor? Wouldn’t that make them more anxious to league with an enemy than if they were happy and content where they were? It doesn’t make sense, unless the whole “leaguing with enemies” thing was a ploy. Pharaoh could’ve done the right thing at any given instant, but he chose not to because of pride.

So what was the cause of the heart hardening of Pharaoh? Answer: all of the above. The hardening was a combination of all three – it was hard to start with, it got harder as he refused to cooperate, and its hardness came out or was revealed as God stepped through the process. Depending on the viewpoint (God’s or Pharaoh’s or ours) the heart was hard, Pharaoh hardened it, or God did.

Is it so difficult to think that God was in control, and could’ve done something one way or the other? Does it bother us that God can do what He wants, when He wants? Paul talks about a little of this in the book of Romans.

17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” 18So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. 19You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. (Romans 9:17-24 NASB95)

Notice verse 22 in particular, where Paul says that God “endured with much patience” people who should’ve gotten nailed at the first sign of deserved wrath. God sometimes waits, because He is going to show the “riches of His glory,” which He did with Pharaoh.

Does it scare you to think that God can do what He wants? It should. A healthy fear (real, stark raving terror) is not such a bad idea when contemplating The Lord Almighty. Such an attitude might’ve done Pharaoh a world of good. Fortunately, our God is a god of Love and life and light, and those who humble themselves to Him don’t have anything to worry about at all. But the fear is still a good thing.

Jesus deals with hard hearts again in Mark 3, first with the instance of healing a man on Sabbath, then with the accusation that He drives out demons by the “ruler of demons.” Sensibly, Jesus explains that it is impossible first for a kingdom to stand if it is divided against itself, and secondly that a strong man would have to be subdued in order to plunder his property. Therefore Jesus must be not under the ‘rule of demons’ and must also be stronger than the demons in order to boss them around as He did. Moses didn’t do his miracles by the same power that the magicians called on either, and served a God who was much stronger than the gods of the Egyptians to boot. The people watching Jesus to see if He would heal on the Sabbath or to figure out how He did the demon thing (because obviously they couldn’t do the demon casting themselves) hardened their hearts in the same way Pharaoh did – all three ways. But, like Pharaoh, they could’ve done something different if they had wanted.

From Pharaoh’s viewpoint, he didn’t do anything he didn’t want to do. From God’s viewpoint, Pharaoh did what he did because of a hard heart. From the point of view of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, they were only doing what they wanted also. It doesn’t matter that God hardened it or not – the blame for our actions lies with us. Perhaps God could’ve done something different with Pharaoh, and perhaps there could’ve been a different result. Perhaps He could’ve handled the Pharisees and Sadducees differently too. I don’t know for sure. But I do know that the nature of humans is such that unless God steps in we are lost permanently. Not because He doesn’t step in just so, in the manner we expect, and not because it’s His fault, but because of our own ‘free’ will. Pharaoh had the chance to respond rightly the first time Moses talked with him, but chose to ignore the warnings. The Pharisees and Sadducees chose to crucify the Lord of the Sabbath through the voluntary hardness of their hearts also. God is warning even now, and who will respond rightly this time?

14“For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. 15“For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth. 16“But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth. (Exodus 9:14-16 NASB95)

Shalom
Bruce

[Bruce Bertram]

Exodus 6:2 – 9:35; Ezekiel 28:25 – 29:21; Mark 3; Romans 9:14-24; 2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1

What popped out at me this week when reading our portion was something that might be regarded as a bit obscure.

Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father’s sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years. (Exodus 6:20, ESV)

You’re probably thinking, “Huh? All those plagues and people dying, and this is what he comes up with for his commentary?”

I don’t blame you. At first it seems a little offbeat, but hang with me and I think you’ll see how sometimes obscure comments can have a ton of meaning and application.

Not very many months from now (in the Bible account), Israel will end up at the foot of Mt. Sinai and receive living oracles from God, preparatory to Him taking up residence in their midst. Some of the laws will concern sex and marriage. Of course there’s lots of commentary about those subjects, but we will limit ourselves for this discussion to one.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s relative. (Leviticus 18:12, ESV)

Amram is the father of Moses and Aaron. His wife is his father’s sister, what we would call Moses’ aunt. This seems to be in direct conflict with the later command not to have sex with or marry a close relative.

Abraham married a half-sister or step-sister.

Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. (Genesis 20:12, ESV)

Aunt Jochebed might’ve been in the same category. But this still falls under the Law as wrong.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. (Leviticus 18:9, ESV)

So what’s up with this? I wonder if Moses felt sort of funny when he was writing down the regulation in Leviticus 18:12. How are we to take this apparent glitch, especially since God says in Leviticus 18:24-30 that these things were “unclean” and “abominations?”

It is my position that all of God’s Words, commands, statutes, ordinances or whatever are eternal. In other words, what is wrong is always wrong. What is right is always right. However, while the Word may not change, people and circumstances do. For instance, Cain (and his brothers) must’ve married sisters. It had to have been this way, unless God created other people from scratch besides Adam and Eve. Or unless, as some want to think, aliens from other planets were around, as popular fiction tries to represent. We know that He didn’t create another batch, domestic or alien, so both of these are equally ridiculous on their face.

There are several possibilities for the apparent glitch. One is that until the Law was spelled out, it wasn’t a sin. Paul seems to verify this in Romans.

For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. (Romans 4:15, ESV)

Except the Law has always existed, as part of God’s Word and character. There were transgressions before Mt. Sinai, correct? Otherwise, why kill everyone in the flood? Wouldn’t God owe the people of Sodom and Gomorrah an apology? If it were true that nobody did wrong until the Law was given at Mt. Sinai, maybe so. But it’s not. It was always around. People knew what His will was; they just didn’t want to do it.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:18–23, ESV)

It’s not that people don’t know what’s wrong. It’s that so much of what they do isn’t right.

Partly the laws at Mt. Sinai might be genetic, because after the flood there may have been extensive genetic changes. The qualifier here is that not all of the forbidden relationships in Leviticus 18 are genetic. Many of them are by marriage (step-mothers, step-sisters, etc.)

A third possibility is that Abraham and Amram were unclean. I don’t think this one is valid, because I think someone has to be unclean in both action and thought. Very quickly someone will tell you something is wrong, even if you don’t know right off. The conscience is informed by nature for wrong things. When we do them in spite of nature and conscience we sin. I am not saying that anything we think is right is really right. I’m saying it’s very easy to know what is right and still do wrong. God’s Word permeates creation, and our consciences respond. It’s possible we can do an action with pure thoughts or motives, but this is extremely difficult and rare. It’s especially rare on a wholesale basis in community wide practices. I think it’s obvious that Abraham and Amram were clean because they their consciences were clean.

There’s also overlap between the time when it was okay to marry close relations and the time of Mt. Sinai, where God decided to draw a line. Or inform His people that there was a line. It’s one thing to marry a sister because it’s the only thing you can do, as with Cain and those before the flood. There was no one else to marry at that time. It’s quite another to pursue abominations when other courses of action are available. Or to stop an action when God says enough.

Perhaps a previously acceptable activity becomes an abomination when pursued to the exclusion of all else. In other words, almost anything can become an abomination if it gets in the way of fellowship with God. I don’t think Abraham had a relationship problem with God. I don’t think he would’ve married Sarai if God said not to. Likewise in the other cases. God is the one who determines right and wrong, and it’s our job (or privilege) to follow. If we allow something to come between He and us, whatever it is becomes an abomination. Perhaps this is what Paul means in Romans.

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23, ESV)

Another possibility is that Israel is now becoming a separate nation, and God is going to live with them. This one is qualified though by the fact that God says the nations in the land before Israel were doing these abominations, which is why they are being “vomited out.” But this qualifier also backs up my thought that the Law was always around, and didn’t just pop into existence at Mt. Sinai. It also backs up my take that the Law applies to everyone, whether they know it or not. Why else would the nations in the Land before Israel be guilty of abominations worthy of vomiting?

The righteous live by trust and obedience (included in faith) in God. I think Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Amram were living by faith, and doing what was right within their understanding. They were being true to God, even if under other circumstances some of what they did might be considered wrong. God is the one who sifts and weighs and judges our hearts and our consciences. He didn’t have a problem with some previous relationships, but at Mt. Sinai He laid down rules that are clear. So now we have that mixed with our consciences and nature to tell us the way of life.

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:4, ESV)

Abraham was a man of faith, as were his sons Isaac and Jacob. Amram was also a man of faith I think, which is why his wife didn’t kill Moses. Both of their sons turn out to be critical in the leading of Israel, and I don’t think that’s a genetic accident. Something of their father was in both of them, and something of our Father is in us.

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. (Galatians 3:19, ESV)

Some say what Paul means is that the Law was added to uncover our transgressions. The Law made sin worse so we would be driven to God. I don’t buy this one, because people knew what was wrong before Mt. Sinai. Some say that the Law was added to show us we couldn’t follow it and needed God (and ‘grace’). This doesn’t wash because God said we could follow it easily (Deuteronomy 30:11-20; Matthew 11:29-30), grace has always been around, we’ve always needed God, and we know it.

I think what it means is that the Law was added because God was going to live with Israel, and wanted them to pursue cleanliness. He gave the Law, along with cleansing procedures for when we broke it, to keep us close to Him. All Israel had to do was maintain a clean conscience, and a clean heart, by responding in faith.

Shalom
Bruce