#Moses placed in a basket and left in the reeds

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Israelites Are Treated Cruelly in Egypt

1:8 Then, a new king, who knew nothing about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 9 He said to his people, “These Israelites are so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us. 10 In case of war they might join our enemies in order to fight against us, and might escape from the country. We must find some way to keep them from becoming even more numerous.” 11 So the Egyptians put slave drivers over them to crush their spirits with hard labor. The Israelites built the cities of Pithom and Rameses to serve as supply centers for the king. 12 But the more the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites, the more they increased in number and the farther they spread through the land. The Egyptians came to fear the Israelites 13-14 and made their lives miserable by forcing them into cruel slavery. They made them work on their building projects and in their fields, and they had no pity on them.

15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to Shiphrah and Puah, the two midwives who helped the Hebrew women. 16 “When you help the Hebrew women give birth,” he said to them, “kill the baby if it is a boy; but if it is a girl, let it live.” 17 But the midwives were God-fearing and so did not obey the king; instead, they let the boys live. 18 So the king sent for the midwives and asked them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the boys live?”

19 They answered, “The Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they give birth easily, and their babies are born before either of us gets there.” 20-21 Because the midwives were God-fearing, God was good to them and gave them families of their own. And the Israelites continued to increase and become strong. 22 Finally the king issued a command to all his people: “Take every newborn Hebrew boy and throw him into the Nile, but let all the girls live.”

The Birth of Moses

2:1 During this time a man from the tribe of Levi married a woman of his own tribe, 2 and she bore him a son. When she saw what a fine baby he was, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could not hide him any longer, she took a basket made of reeds and covered it with tar to make it watertight. She put the baby in it and then placed it in the tall grass at the edge of the river. 4 The baby's sister stood some distance away to see what would happen to him.

5 The king's daughter came down to the river to bathe, while her servants walked along the bank. Suddenly she noticed the basket in the tall grass and sent a slave woman to get it. 6 The princess opened it and saw a baby boy. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

7 Then his sister asked her, “Shall I go and call a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for you?”

8 “Please do,” she answered. So the girl went and brought the baby's own mother. 9 The princess told the woman, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So she took the baby and nursed him. 10 Later, when the child was old enough, she took him to the king's daughter, who adopted him as her own son. She said to herself, “I pulled him out of the water, and so I name him Moses.” — Exodus 1:8 - 2:10 | Good News Translation (GNT) Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. Cross References: Genesis 11:3; Genesis 15:13; Genesis 26:16; Genesis 41:1; Exodus 1:7; Exodus 6:16; Exodus 8:20; Exodus 15:20; Leviticus 25:43; 1 Samuel 1:20; 1 Samuel 2:35; Psalm 105:25; Jeremiah 34:9; Acts 4:18; Acts 7:20-21; Acts 17:18-19; Jonah 1:9; Hebrews 6:10; Hebrews 11:23-24

[m1male2]

#Curiosities

Naram Sin Stele (2250 BC) Akkadian Period #Mesopotamia.

Made of sandstone, it has a height of 2.02 m and a width of 1.05 m.

It is a narrative relief, it tells of the victory of the Akkadian king Naram Sin against a people of the Zagros Mountains, the Lullabi. The victorious king, of enormous size, wearing a helmet with horns (divine attributes), crushes his enemies with his foot while he kills two others. The divinities Ishtar and Sin are represented at the top of the mountain observing and protecting the king.

The Akkadian empire will extend approx. between 2335 and 2154 BC, a period in which only five kings reigned. Its founder will be Sargon the Great (Sharrum-Kin) (2334-2279 BC), whose birth closely resembles that of Moses. Sargon was the son of a priestess who had to remain a virgin and his father was unknown. To hide the sin, his mother placed him in the river in a basket with such luck that he was picked up by a palace cupbearer who raised him as her own son and learned the trade of gardener. From there to becoming king...

“My mother was a high priestess, I didn't know my father. (…) My mother high priestess conceived me, she secretly gave birth to me. She left me in a reed basket, with bitumen she sealed the lid. She threw me into the river, which rose above me. The river carried me and she carried me to Akki the water bearer. Akki the water bearer took me as his son and raised me. Akki the water bearer appointed me his gardener. Although I was a gardener, Ishtar granted me her love, and for four (…) years I have exercised the monarchy.”

Assyrian text from the 7th c. BC, which presents the autobiography of Sargon of Akkad.

You can see the Stele in the Louvre Museum, Paris.

[reedreadsgreek]

John 6, Reed's Version

Some time later, Jesus was traveling beyond the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias). A huge crowd was following him because of the signs he’d been doing, healing the sick. Then Jesus went up the hillside and sat there with his apprentices. Now, this was near the time of the Jewish festival of Passover.

When Jesus looked up and saw that the crowd was approaching, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food to feed all these people?” (Now Jesus already knew what he was going to do; he just wanted to see what Philip would say.) And Philip responded, “If we had ten-thousand dollars worth of bread, it would only be enough for each person to get a single bite!” Another one of his apprentices, Andrew (Simon Peter’s brother), said, “There’s a boy here who has two loaves of barley and two fish. But what good is that for so many people?” Jesus told them, “Have all the people sit down,” since it was a grassy area. So they sat down (the men alone numbered about five thousand). Then Jesus took the loaves, said a prayer, and then handed it out to everyone as they sat. Then he did the same with the fish. And everyone had as much as they wanted. When everyone had eaten their fill, Jesus told his disciples, “Go pick up all the leftover pieces so nothing is wasted.” So they did, and from the five original loaves they filled up twelve large baskets of pieces that the people had left behind. When the people saw Jesus perform this miracle, they began to say to one another, “He must really be the prophet who was foretold to come into the world!” But Jesus knew that they wanted to come and make him king by force, so he retreated further up the hillside by himself.

When it got to be evening, the apprentices went down to the shore, got into a boat, and set out for Capernaum across the lake. Later, after it was dark, before Jesus had joined them, the sea began to grow rough by a strong wind that was blowing. After they’d rowed about three or four miles, they suddenly saw Jesus coming toward them, walking on the water! And as he drew near to the boat, they were terrified. But he said, “Don’t be afraid. It’s just me,” so then they were willing to let him into the boat. And just then, the boat arrived at shore, at just the place where they had been headed.

The next morning, back at the place where the lord had given thanks and multiplied the bread, the people looked around and couldn’t find Jesus. They remembered that there had only been one boat the day before, and that the disciples had set off in it without him. But some boats from the nearby town of Tiberias had blown ashore there during the night, so the crowd set off in them toward Capernaum to look for Jesus. And when they found him on the far side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, how did you get here?”

Jesus replied, “I know the truth, that you’re not looking for me because you were moved by the miracles you saw me do, but because you got free bread and now you want more. Stop striving for food that won’t last! Strive for food that will last into eternity. The Son of Man will give you this food, as he comes with God the Father’s full approval.” So the people said, “What does God require of us in order to get such food?” Jesus replied: “Merely this: believe in the person He has sent.”

Then they asked him, “So what miracle are you going to perform for us so we’ll believe you? Our ancestors believed Moses because they miraculously got manna to eat every day, like Scripture says, ‘He gave them food from heaven to eat.’” But Jesus told them, “I assure you, it wasn’t Moses who gave you the food from heaven, but my Father. And He’s still providing real food to you, food that’s not of this earth but that comes from heaven and gives life to the world.”

So they said, “Sir, give us this bread every day like Moses did!” But Jesus said, “The bread is me! I am the bread that gives life. Whoever presses on toward me will never be hungry again; whoever believes in me will never be thirsty ever again. But despite everything you’ve seen, you still won’t believe. Everyone the Father gives to me will be with me, and I will never reject any of them. You see, I came from heaven not to do what I want, but what my Father wants. And this is what He wants: for me to keep secure everyone whom He has given me, and raise them from the dead on the last day of this age. Again, this is what my Father wills: that everyone who investigates the Son and then places their faith in him will obtain eternal life; I will resurrect them when this world comes to an end.”

Then the Jewish leaders began whispering about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “This guy is Jesus, Joseph’s son, right? We know his family and where he came from! So how can he claim to come from heaven?” But Jesus replied, “Stop whispering to one another. The only people who can accept me are those whom the Father has drawn to me. Those are the ones I will resurrect when this world ends. In Scripture, Isaiah the prophet says, ‘One day everyone will learn directly from God.’ Indeed, whoever listens to God and learns from him will come to me. (That’s not to say that they’ve seen the Father directly; only the one who came from God has seen Him.) I assure you, if you believe, then you have everlasting life. I am the bread that gives life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert but they still died. But this bread that comes from heaven, whoever eats it will never die! This living bread that came down from heaven is me. Whoever eats this bread will live for eternity. And this bread that I give to bring new life to the world is my very own body.”

Then things got even more heated, and the Jewish leaders objected, “How does he think that he can give us his body to eat?” So Jesus told them, “I’m not kidding. If you won’t eat the Son of Man’s flesh or drink his blood, you have no life in you. But anyone who will ingest my flesh and my blood has life forever, because I will raise them from the dead in the new world. My flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. All those who ingest my flesh and drink my blood become a part of me, and I become a part of them. I have my life through the life-giving Father who sent me, and in the same way those who ingest me will have life through me. This bread from heaven is not like the manna your ancestors ate, because they still died. But ingesting this bread will make you live forever.”

Now, this discussion took place while Jesus was teaching in the Capernaum synagogue.

By now, many of Jesus’s own followers were whispering, “This teaching is too difficult. Who could accept it?” But Jesus knew in his heart that they were saying this, and he asked them, “Is this tripping you up? Do I need to fly back up to heaven, where I used to be, in order for you to believe? God’s Spirit is what gives life; no human power can do this. And the Spirit uses my words to lead you to life. But some of you still won’t believe.” (Of course this was no surprise to Jesus, who already knew who would refuse to believe, and which one was going to get him arrested.) And Jesus continued, “That’s why I told you that no one can come to me in faith unless the Father has first enabled them to do so.”

This was the breaking point for many of Jesus’s followers, who now deserted him and returned to their lives. So Jesus asked his twelve closest followers, “What about you? Do you want to leave me, too?” But Simon Peter replied, “Lord, who would we follow instead? You’re the one with the message about everlasting life. We believe and are still convinced that you’re God’s Holy One.” Jesus replied, “That’s why I chose you to be my twelve closest companions. And yet, one of you is in league with the devil!” By this he meant Judas, the son of Simon from Kerioth. He was one of the Twelve, and yet he’s the one who later turned Jesus in.

[taylor-rene]

When I first started this project, I wanted my time capsule to be hard to notice. I considered using biodegradable materials to mimic the way the items I picked were so close to being missed.

My original idea was to use palm leaves to make a basket. As a child, I learned to make roses from palm leaves.

I was taught by a man I met on the beach. He told me he never takes the leaves off the palm, and only makes flowers when someone else trims a palm tree. (Note, palm trees are not trees at all, they are monocots.) I like the idea of using palm leaves as a way of contributing a piece of my own story to the capsule. However, since the principle I learned that day is one I still stand by, I ended up using different materials.

The layout of these drawings is misleading. The first rendition, a rectangle box, is in the top center. I imagined this box as mimicking a shoe box. I have often used shoe boxes as impromptu storage, and I liked paying homage to this.

I considered making it a cylinder. I think of a cylinder most often when I imagine a time capsule (top right). I didn't like this once I drew it out though.

I'll skip ahead to the final design I explored here. Bottom left is definitely a flop. Maybe I was hungry, but I was trying to draw the way I wrap sandwiches. Here's a more clear rendition.

The next idea I explored (bottom center) was what ultimately led me to the design I chose (top left.) I wanted my love and care of the items to be reflected in the vessel. During the first portion of the project, I identified myself as the caretaker of these items. As the caretaker, I struggled to construct a series of events twould make me choose to place the items into a time capsule. Ultimately, I decided that it could only be an attempt to put them in the hands of another caretaker, when I could no longer fulfill that role.

The bottom center (or right, depending on how you look at it) is inspired by the basket in the 1998 film, Prince of Egypt. This movie recounts the biblical story of of Moses. For those unfamiliar with the story, here is a brief summary.

The Pharaoh was concerned that the slaves would have an uprising if their numbers were strong enough. To combat this, he ordered the execution of their infant boys.

"...when [Moses' mother] could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it.  She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said." Exodus 2:3-8

The Pharaoh’s daughter adopted the baby and named him Moses, which means "to pull out/draw out."

The decision to put her infant into a basket is a great example of a hail Mary pass, defined below.

"A long forward pass with little chance of completion, typically used by the losing team when time is running out and no other play is practical, in a desperate attempt to score the winning points."

This basket also reminded me of one o my favorite childhood movies, The Secret of Roan Inish which is based on the book Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry. The story surrounds the folklore of "selkies" which are seals that can shed their skins to become human.

In this story, the woman pictured below is a selkie. A fisherman steals her seal skin, trapping her in her human form.

They eventually have children together, but she never forgets who she is. She spends her time by the shore and in the water, and uses a floating cradle to sooth their children.

One day, while the fisherman was away, one of their children asked the woman why their father hides a leather coat in the attic, inadvertently revealing the hiding spot. She immediately took the opportunity to return to her true form. Later, during a storm, her youngest child was left in the cradle. She took him out to sea, where she and the other selkies raised him in his floating cradle.

(The movie is currently included in Amazon prime if you're curious to see how it ends.)

This cradle was the inspiration for the final shape of the capsule. To build the cradle, I used strips of some fabric I got from my buy nothing group. The fabric was similar to terrycloth, which felt appropriate for the infant imagery. I used a similar color of yarn (also from the buy nothing group) to crochet the strips together.

After a few rows, I did some rows on just on side to imitate the portion of the cradle that acted as a cover.

I made the cradle much smaller than it would need to be to fit the items in the name of time.

In the end, the only items that fit were the two pieces of pottery.

While this size is indicative of the fact that this is just a prototype, I think it's also interesting to consider that not all items get a second chance. The tragedy of the Titanic was that there was not enough room for everyone on the lifeboats. It's worth noting that the only items that fit were the ones crafted by humans. Perhaps it's unrealistic to hope that someone would find value in the other two items. Recognizing this, I've included a few coins alongside the coins.

surrendered to the sea of time an act of desperation hopeful of a second chance no promised destination a few coins in the hull for each item, just in case lest this ship be but a cradle in your final resting place

[isaiah118]

When Things Seem to Go From Bad to Worse

Shabbat Shalom;

SHEMOT (Names)

Exodus 1:1–6:1; Isaiah 27:6–28:13, 29:22–23 (Ashk); Jeremiah 1:1–2:3 (Seph); Romans 12:1–21

“These are the names [ve’eleh shemot] of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family.”  (Exodus 1:1)

In last week’s Torah portion (Parasha), the first of the five books of Moses, Genesis (Bereisheet—In the Beginning), ended with the deaths of Jacob and Joseph.

This week, we begin the second book of the Torah, Exodus, called Shemot in Hebrew, which means names.

This Parasha describes the suffering of the Israelites under bondage to the Egyptians, the birth of Moses and his miraculous salvation from out of the Nile River.  It also describes his calling to deliver Israel and his encounter with Pharaoh.

Like Moses, Like Yeshua

“The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.”  (Exodus 1:5)

Although only 70 descendants of Jacob (whom God renamed Israel) came into the Land of Egypt at Joseph’s invitation, they soon multiplied into such a great and mighty people that the new pharaoh, who did not know Joseph, felt threatened by them.  He feared that the Israelites might join Egypt’s enemies in battles against them.

“The Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.”  (Exodus 1:7)

To counter the growing strength of the Israelites, the Egyptians forced them into bitter labor, building store cities for Pharaoh and working the fields.

When they continued to multiply, Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill all newborn males.  But at least two midwives, Shifrah and Puah, did not comply.  God, therefore, supernaturally protected their lives, blessing them with families and multiplying the Israelites even more (Exodus 1:16–21).

So Pharaoh turned to the Egyptians, commanding them to throw all male newborn Hebrews into the Nile River(Exodus 1:22).

The Levite parents of Moses had such great faith that in order to save their son, they defied Pharaoh's order and hid him for the first few months of his life.

But babies grow and, eventually, he could no longer be hidden, so they put him in a basket and set him afloat on the Nile among the reeds.

Even in this desperate circumstance, the protective hand of God was on this boy of destiny.  Pharaoh’s daughter spotted the basket.  When she saw the Hebrew baby inside, she had pity on him and took him as her own.

Instead of drowning in the Nile or dying at the hands of the Egyptians as the other newborn boys did, Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s palace as a prince of Egypt.

This dramatic account of the infant Moses parallels the life of the infant Yeshua (Jesus), who was sentenced to death by the order of King Herod, among all the other Jewish male infants in Bethlehem.

“When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.”  (Matthew 2:16)

Just as Moses was saved by his mother, so was Yeshua saved by the obedience and faith of His earthly father, Joseph, who was warned in a dream to flee to Egypt.

“Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.’  So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.”  (Matthew 2:13–14) 

What irony that the very place of danger and death for the Hebrew babies in the days of Moses became a place of refuge for Yeshua when He was but a baby!

Egyptian Prince Moses Becomes a Shepherd

Because Pharaoh’s daughter drew the baby from the Nile, she called him Moshe (מֹשֶׁה) from the word moshech, meaning pull or draw. 

Moses grew up in the royal Egyptian palace, but it seems that the burdens of his fellow Israelites troubled him.

One day, he saw an Egyptian slave master beating a Hebrew.  Even as a young man, Moses felt the calling to deliver his people, but he stepped ahead of God’s timing.

In the process of defending this Israelite slave, Moses killed the Egyptian and fled to Midian to escape Pharaoh’s death decree over him.  (Exodus 2:15)

Again in Midian, Moses expressed his calling as a deliverer by saving the daughters of the Priest of Midian who had come to the well where he sat.  They wanted to draw water for their flock, but shepherds tried to drive them away.  Moses intervened and watered their flocks for them.

The Priest of Midian welcomed Moses to live with him and even gave Moses his daughter, Zipporah, as a wife.

Moses spent the next 40 years shepherding sheep in the land of Midian, a period of time that God used to prepare him to shepherd His people Israel out of Egypt.

Only when the children of Israel cried out to God, did the time come for God to make His move:  “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.”  (Exodus 2:24)

The Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses from out of the flame of a bush that burned but was not consumed.

From the midst of this burning bush at the foot of Mount Sinai, God told Moses He had heard the cries of His People and was sending Moses back to Pharaoh in His name and His power on His behalf.

By this point, this prince of Egypt had been so humbled by his lengthy wilderness experience that he seemed to lack confidence when it came to his role as a leader of a nation.

First, Moses asked for the name of the One sending him.

God answered with His name, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh—אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה.  Widely translated as I Am That I Am, the Hebrew grammatical form is actually in the future tense.

Therefore, God’s name is more accurately translated as I Will Be What I Will Be.

The message to Moses is perhaps that God can look after the details of the future.  He will be to us whoever and whatever He chooses to be—father, friend, comforter, counselor, or even disciplinarian.  We can trust in God’s infinite wisdom to be who we need in our lives at each moment in time.

Even with this assurance, Moses still feels unqualified for the task, especially since he is slow in speech.  He begs God to send someone else; therefore, He allowed Aaron, Moses’ brother, to accompany him and act as Moses' spokesperson.

Yet, it is Moses to whom God first revealed His personal name in Scripture.

Moses grabbed hold of the trust placed in him and delivered a command to Pharaoh with the full authority of I AM:   “Thus says the Lord, ‘Israel is My firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve Me.”’”  (Exodus 4:22–23)

Like Israel, Like Us

There is much we can take from this story of Moses’ progression in becoming a leader.

He was not ready for leadership overnight.  Likewise, we may understand that we have a calling on our lives, and this might become evident time and time again.  Still, we must wait for that time when the Lord chooses to release us into the fullness of our destiny.

As well, we might also feel incapable of accomplishing anything for the Lord, having lost much of our self-confidence through the trials and tribulations of life. 

Whatever our experience, it still remains true that submitting to God’s presence and following His direction is all we need to fulfill the destiny He has assigned to us.

We can also learn from the suffering of the Israelites.  Despite the tyranny forced on them by the Egyptians, the People of Israel still grew mighty in number.

Oppressive circumstances cannot prevent God from carrying out His purposes and fulfilling His promises.

We might suffer under some sort of bondage or pain for what seems like a very long time, but we can rest assured that God hears our cries.

He remembers the covenant we have with Him through our Messiah Yeshua, which provides a way out of our spiritual bondage and into our inheritance—if only we accept it.

Though God is true to His promises, we still need to keep crying out to Him for deliverance and waiting in faith and hopeful expectation to move on our behalf in our spiritual and our earthly afflictions.

God is not deaf, nor aloof to our suffering.  His arm is not too short to save:  “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles.”  (Psalm 34:17)

Let My People Go

Though Moses entered Egypt and delivered God’s message to Pharaoh, nothing changed immediately.

Pharaoh refused to let the Hebrews go.

Moses might have felt like he failed God, but God has a greater plan for even our failures, and they end in glorifying His name.

Through plagues and judgments (called makot in Hebrew, which can also mean beatings), God proved His position as the One True God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that the gods of the Egyptians had no power over Him.

Through these judgments, we also see that whatever a nation or even an individual does to Israel, for good or for evil, God will return it unto them:

“For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; as you have done, it shall be done to you; your reprisal shall return upon your own head.”  (Obadiah 1:15; see also Genesis 12:3)

Parasha Shemot does not end with a mighty deliverance but, rather, with the situation becoming worse—if that were even possible.  Pharaoh made the Israelites’ labor more difficult by demanding that they find their own straw while also maintaining the same quota of production (Exodus 5:18).

In their bitterness, the Hebrew people turned on Moses and Aaron.  Moses responded by turning to the Lord.  With raw honesty, Moses asked why He had not delivered His people as He promised.

“Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people?  Why is it You have sent me?  For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”  (Exodus 5:22–23)

We might also feel this way when it seems we are doing what God has asked us to do, and things get worse, not better.

How did God respond to Moses?  

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh.  For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.’”  (Exodus 6:1)

Sometimes, when God is preparing to do something great and mighty in our lives, the situation can worsen for a time.  As we move toward our destiny, pharaoh represents those who oppress us—even Satan, the spiritual enemy of our souls, who resists our freedom with all his might.

In such circumstances, we should not give up our faith, for in due time we will see God’s mighty hand and outstretched arm deliver us in His perfect way and time.

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”  (Romans 12:12)

Shabbat Shalom from the Entire Bibles For Israel Family!

"Hear the word of the LORD, you nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands:  'He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over His flock like a shepherd.'"  (Jeremiah 31:10)

Messianic Bible Bibles For Israel P.O. Box 8900 Pueblo, CO 81008

[revisitingsundayschool]

Introducing Moses - Exodus 1-4

Before I get into Exodus, I want to plug the podcast Biblical Baggage again. They did a great series on Moses/Exodus, so I'd highly recommend giving it a listen if you like this blog and listen to podcasts.

Israelites in Egypt - Exodus 1

Synopsis: After Joseph and his brothers died, the Israelites grew in numbers in Egypt. Then, a new Pharaoh came to rule in Egypt that didn't like the Israelites. The Pharaoh forced Israelites into slavery. Pharaoh ordered two of his midwives to kill all of the Israelite boys when they're born. They refused. When confronted, they said that "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive" (Exodus 1:19). The Israelites continued to grow in numbers. God blessed the midwives with families of their own.

There is about a 300-400 year gap between the stories of Joseph and Moses. Israelites/Jewish people have a long history of being persecuted. This is one of the earliest stories in their history that is a part of that. Although the veracity of the Exodus story is questioned by modern historians, there are parallels between this story and many other stories of oppression of Jewish people. This story was also significant for African-American slaves because they saw the parallels between their lives and this story. The story gave them hope that some day, they would be liberated like the Israelites were. The beginning of this story also has parallels to the beginning of Jesus' story.

Early Moses - Exodus 2

Synopsis: Moses was born to Levite (one of the tribes of Israel) parents. The parents hid Moses from Pharaoh for three months. Then, his mother placed him in a basket coated in tar and pitch and placed it in the reeds in the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter found the basket and had one of her slaves retrieve him. Pharaoh's daughter felt bad, so he told the slave to give him to a Hebrew woman for nursing. The slave ended up giving him back to his mother. When Moses grew up a bit more, Pharaoh's daughter took him back as her son. When Moses was a full adult, he went to watch the Israelites working. He saw an Egyptian abusing an Israelite, so he killed the Egyptian when nobody was looking. The next day, two Israelites were fighting, Moses asked why they were fighting each other, and the Israelites said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” (Exodus 2:14). When Pharaoh heard what Moses did, he ordered for Moses to be killed, so Moses fled to Midian. Moses retrieved water for a family in Midian to help their flock. Then, he ended up marrying one of the daughters, Zipporah. Moses had a son, Gershom, with Zipporah. While Moses was away, the old Pharaoh died. Then, God heard the groaning of the Israelites, remembered his covenant with Jacob, and was concerned.

It's kind of confusing that Moses went from his parents, to Pharaoh's daughter, back to his parents, then finally back to Pharaoh's daughter. It'd probably be pretty tough for Moses to switch parents as often as he did. The Bible says that the name Moses is Hebrew for "drew out", but it is likely that the name is derived from the Egyptian word for son. Later, Moses tried to do a good thing by killing one of the Egyptians that was abusing the Israelites. In return, the Israelites hated him and he was chased out of Egypt because he was wanted for murder. Then, in typical God fashion, God allowed people to suffer for a long time before trying to do something to help. Fun fact, the name Sephora is derived from Moses' wife's name, Zipporah.

Moses and the Burning Bush - Exodus 3-4

Synopsis: Moses was tending a flock in Horeb when he saw a bush that was on fire, but not burning up. When Moses got closer, God told Moses to remove his sandals and that He was the God of his ancestors. God said that He'd heard the cries of the Israelites and that He is going to rescue them and return them to the Promised Land (a land flowing of milk and honey). To do this, Moses had to go and confront Pharaoh in Egypt. Moses didn't believe he's the right person for the job. God said that that He will work through Moses and that his name is Ehyeh (I am that I am). God told Moses to go to the elders of the Israelites and demand Pharaoh to let the Israelites go to the wilderness for 3 days of worship. God knew that Pharaoh will not let them go. He told Moses that he will strike the Egyptians, and then they will be able to leave with treasures and riches that the Egyptians will willingly hand over. God taught Moses how to turn his staff into a snake, how to turn his skin white and ashy, and how to turn water into blood so Moses can prove that God is working through him. Moses was concerned because he didn't speak well. God scolded Moses for doubting His power. Moses was still unsure, so God appointed Moses's brother to help Moses talk to the Egyptians. Moses left for Egypt with his family. God promised all the people who wanted him for murder were dead now. God ordered Moses to perform the signs for Pharaoh, but said that He is going to harden Pharaoh's heart. Then, Moses and Aaron met up and gathered the elders of Israel to explain God's plan.

Why was Moses' instinct to go toward a burning bush? Maybe I'm just a wimp, but my reaction would be to keep my distance and protect my herd. Horeb is believed to be the same place as Mount Sinai, which will become an important place later in the Bible. This scene was powerful and memorable for me in the Prince of Egypt. Great visuals, great dialogue, great music. Honestly, the "Promised Land" thing makes me uncomfy because of how modern Zionism treats the Palestinians and Manifest Destiny. Kicking people out of where they live is always tragic. God also foreshadows to Moses that Pharaoh will not give up easy and God will strike the Egyptians with plagues (SPOILERS: I don't like the plagues). Also, I hate God brainwashing people. Not only is it icky, but he doesn't even use it in a way where it would allow the Israelites to leave without a conflict. God teaches Moses magic tricks. That's cool. Ultimately though, the Israelites should never have been put in this situation by God. Exodus 4:24-26 is so strange and out of place, I didn't put it in the summary. It's about Zipporah cutting off her son's foreskin and rubbing it on Moses' feet to save Moses' son because Moses didn't keep the covenant of circumcision. Even scholars have a hard time interpreting this passage because some of the pronouns are vague. The beginning of Exodus was going pretty (in my opinion) well until that point.

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below or in the Discord. The passage for next Sunday will cover Moses and Aaron talking to Pharaoh before the plagues (Exodus 5-7:13).

[religioused]

Stolen Identity: The Bush is Still Burning

by Gary Simpson

Exodus 3:1-15 (KJV)

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

And the angel of theLord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy 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 upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.

10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

Reflection:

We get a lot of news from the United States. My feed on Twitter is full of news about protests. On TikTok, I am able to see short video clips of protests for racial justice. I feel exhausted by all of the protests, hatred, violence, shootings. Part of what makes the news so discouraging and exhausting is that I know we struggle with so much racism Canada.

There is a theme of dual identities in today’s Hebrew Scriptures. For some of us, the term dual identity is new. A dual identity is when a person has an identity in a minority group and has an identity in the larger community. I will give a few examples, so you have a sense of dual identities. An Indigenous person may identify as First Nation and Canadian at the same time. A person whose family immigrated to Canada from Pakistan may identify as Pakistani and Canadian. Being LGBT+ and Christian is a dual identity. Variety might be the spice of life, but people living with dual identities might find that diversity is challenging. Young people find it difficult when the values and customs at home are not shared by many other people living in Canada. In some cases, the two identities may be considered to be mutually exclusive. After 9/11, some people mistakenly thought that Muslims could not be good Americans. Islamophobia increased after 9/11. LGBT+ people of faith are often rejected by many people in both their houses of worship and the LGBT+ community.

I am going to summarize events leading up to today's Hebrew Scripture reading. The children of Israel moved to Egypt because of the famine in their homeland. Initially, they were welcome in Egypt because Jacob, an Israelite, was a powerful official in the Egyptian government. Then a new Pharoah, who did not understand how much Jacob did for Egypt, came to power. The new Pharoah was frightened by the number of Israelite immigrants in the country. This new Pharoah instituted a policy of slavery over the children of Israel. Egyptians were put in charge of groups of the Israelite men to make sure that they worked hard. The New International Version says the Egyptians worked the Israelites "ruthlessly." To the Egyptians, it felt like the more the children of Israel were oppressed, the more Israelites there were.

The midwives were told to kill the Israelite baby boys when they were born, but the midwives had a good sense of medical ethics and refused to kill them. Pharoah eventually ordered that all baby boys be thrown into the Nile River. Moses' mother hid him for a few months and then she placed Moses in a basket and left him in the reeds along the Nile River. The Pharoah's daughter went to that part of the river to bathe. When she saw the basket and the baby in the basket, she knew that Moses was an Israelite baby. Moses sister was watching and she went to the king's daughter and volunteered to find a Hebrew woman who could nurse the baby. After Moses was old enough that he did not need to be breast fed, Moses went to live with the king's daughter, as if he was her son. Pharoah's daughter chose the name Moses because she drew the baby out of the water.(1) Moses name was a foreshadowing of what took place. In Hebrew, there is a sense that the name Moses meant "the one drawing out"(2) and Moses ends up playing a vital role in drawing the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Moses was raised with the Egyptians, as an Egyptian. As a child, he had his identity stolen from him. Having dual and conflicting identities can be the source of a lot of personal stress and pain. When people have dual identities, there are times when they feel forced to choose one identity or the other. In other cases, they embrace both identities and face rejection from many other people who share one of their identities. There is something about having experienced oppression that makes some people into powerful activists.

We are uncertain why Moses went to check on how things were with his people, the children of Israel. He might have been trying to connect more with his identity as an Israelite. He might have curious about what it was like to be an Israelite. He notices an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man. Thinking nobody is watching, he kills the Egyptian and buries him. When Moses realizes that the murder was witnessed, he fled to Midian, which kept the Pharoah from killing him.

Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells a story about Moses, which might not be factually correct. In Josephus' story, young Moses threw the Pharoah's crown on the floor. According to the book of Hebrews, Moses chose to give up the advantages of royalty to "throw in his lot with his own people."(3)

While in Midian, Moses notices the daughters of a Midianite priest, Jethro, are drawing water from a well. Some shepherds drive Jethro’s daughters away from the well. Moses came to the rescue of the ladies and he helped draw water for their flocks. This action shows Moses' "passion for justice."(4) Jethro hears about what happened from his daughters. He tells them to invite Moses to their home, so Moses can have something to eat. Jethro ends up giving one of his daughters to Moses to have as a wife.

For Moses, Midian was a safe place to live. He did not have to worry about death threats from the Pharaoh. He could live in relative pace, but the Midianites were not his people. Even though he married a Midianite lady, it was not his home and he was not with his people. The name of Moses’ son gives us a sense that he was not at home in Midian. Moses names his son Gershom, which can mean "a stranger there.”(5) I am left wondering if he chose the name "a stranger" for his son to emphasize the fact that Moses was a stranger in Midian. One of my Bible commentaries notes that Moses might have named his son "a stranger there," as a way of reminding himself that his "destiny" is with the children of Israel, not the Midianites where he is living.(6)

Moses notices the burning bush. What catches Moses’ attention is that the bush is on fire, but it is not burning. The fact that the bush burns, but is not burned up, illustrates the permanent nature of the children of Israel. The bush is a symbol of the Israelites and the fire is a symbol of their persecution.(7) The fire also represents God’s presence.(8)

God heard the crying of the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt. God will use Moses to liberate the children of Israel from slavery and to take them to the promised land. Moses is to tell the children of Israel that God is going to rescue them. Then Moses asks a key question. Moses wants to know God's name, so he can tell the children of Israel who the God is who is going to rescue them from oppression in Egypt.

And we hear God's famous answer. "I am who I am." Other people translate the name God told Moses in a different way. A few Bible commentators support the translation “I am that I am.” Commentaries by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, Joseph Benson and Charles Ellicott seem to give credibility to the translation “I am that I am.”(9) There are a number of meanings that can come from “I am that I am.” Commentators such as Matthew Henry emphasize the sense that this means God is “eternal and unchangeable.”(10) I wonder if the answer God gave Moses means this:

I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I am that, I am. I am the I am that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob worshipped. I am that, I am. In other words, “I am that, I am,” might mean, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I am that God.

When I think of God's answer, my mind goes back to 1970 when the Government of Canada enacted the War Measures Act. The Act gave the government power to temporarily suspend some human rights. When asked how far he was prepared to take the War Measures Act, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau said, "Just watch me.”(11) I wonder if the message that God was sending to the children of Israel, who may have doubted that God would do what was needed to deliver them, was, “Just watch me.” To those who feel things all is hopeless, that there is no hope for a just society, a message from this text can be that God is prepared to go as far as it takes to support you. “Just watch God.”

I want to speak directly to those who have had their identity stolen, to those who straight, European Canadian society expected to talk, act, think, look, and worship God like straight European Christians.

• Indigenous peoples living in Canada and the United States. The European colonizers and settlers stole your identity.

• Descendants of Black slaves. We stole you and your identity.

• Asians. We stole your identity.

• LGBT+. We stole your identity.

• To all groups who we called an abomination or treated like an abomination.

Genesis 46:34 "every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”(12) There are a few reasons why shepherds might have been considered to be an abomination. There is a possibility that some shepherds waged an aggressive war against the Egyptians.(13) Because the word abomination is used, shepherds might not have shared the same religion as most Egyptians.(14) The shepherds may have killed some of the animals that Egyptians considered sacred.(15) How shepherds were viewed is seen in some ancient art. In ancient art, shepherds were depicted as unshaven and poorly dressed. Shepherds were considered to be a little “rude and rough.”(16)

With God’s help, Moses brought the children of Israel out of slavery and to the very edge of the promised land. I think he is the greatest spiritual leader of the Hebrew Scriptures. And Moses, a shepherd, was an abomination. God chose Moses, an abomination to the Egyptians, to stand up to the Pharaoh and to lead the children of Israel out of slavery. You may have been marginalized, considered to be vile, an abomination. Do not internalize messages of hate. You are chosen by God to lead, to make a difference. In some cases, you will make a difference by changing many hearts, one heart at a time. In other cases, you may change many hearts at once.

Desmond Tutu gave a tremendous challenge to Black South Africans, when he said, “Be nice to the whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity.”(17) My hope is that in some way you will help people discover their humanity.

Now I want to speak to those who do not have dual identities. Desmond Tutu has a challenge for us too. Our call is to do ordinary acts of love. Tutu says, “Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value.”(18) So practice random and intentional acts of kindness.

And Desmond Tutu’s challenge for everybody. Our challenge is to talk to the people we fear or hate the most. Tutu says, “Peace comes when you talk to the guy you most hate. And that's where the courage of a leader comes, because when you sit down with your enemy, you as a leader must already have very considerable confidence from your own constituency.(19)

End Notes

(1) Exodus 2:10 (NIV).

(2) Merrill F. Unger. Unger's Bible Handbook: An Essential Guide to Understanding the Bible. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1967), 89.

(3) William Neil, translator. William Neil's One Volume Bible Commentary. (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1973), 71 and Unger (1967), 89.

(4) Neil (1973), 71.

(5) "Gershom: Smith's Bible Dictionary." Bible Study Tools. <https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/smiths-bible-dictionary/gershom.html>.

(6) Neil (1973), 71.

(7) Unger (1967), 89.

(8) Neil (1973), 72.

(9) “Exodus 3:14.” Bible Hub. n.d., 03 August 2020. <https://biblehub.com/commentaries/exodus/3-14.htm>.

(10) “Exodus 3:14.” Bible Hub. n.d., 03 August 2020. <https://biblehub.com/commentaries/exodus/3-14.htm>.

(11) “CBC Archives: Just Watch Me, 1970.” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, YouTube. n.d., 03 August 2020. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfUq9b1XTa0>.

(12) English Standard Version.

(13) Matthew Poole. Matthew Poole's Commentary. n.d., 01 August 2020. <https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/46-34.htm>.

(14) Charles John Ellicott, ed. Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers. (London: Cassell and Company, 1905) n.d., 01 August 2020. <https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/46-34.htm>.

(15) Ellicott (1905) n.d., 01 August 2020. <https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/46-34.htm>, Joseph Benson. Benson Commentary of the Old and New Testaments. (New York: T. Carlton & J. Porter, 1857) n.d., 01 August 2020. <https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/46-34.htm>, and Poole. 01 August 2020. <https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/46-34.htm>.

(16) Ellicott (1905) n.d., 01 August 2020. <https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/46-34.htm>.

(17) Desmond Tutu Quotes. Brainy Quote. n.d., 26 August 2020. <https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/desmond-tutu-quotes>.

(18) Desmond Tutu Quotes. Brainy Quote. n.d., 26 August 2020. <https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/desmond-tutu-quotes_3>.

(19) Desmond Tutu Quotes. Briany Quote. n.d., 26 August 2020. <https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/desmond-tutu-quotes>.

[girlactionfigure]

Superman: From Cleveland to Krypton

The Man of Steel's Jewish roots

Coming over from the old country, changing his name like that. Clark Kent, only a Jew would pick a name like that for himself. —The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the two ordinary young men who created an extraordinary hero, lived 12 blocks apart from each other in Cleveland. The pair collaborated on stories for their high school newspaper and shared a passion for science fiction and pulp comics. It was the 1930s, and comic book publishing was in its infancy. Like many young Jews with artistic aspirations, Siegel and Shuster yearned to break into this fledgling industry. Comic book publishers actively hired Jews, who were largely excluded from more “legitimate” illustration work.

The 1930s were also, arguably, the most anti-Semitic period in American history. Nazi sympathizer Fritz Kuhn of the German-American Bund led legions of rabid followers on marches through many cities, including Siegel and Shuster’s hometown. Radio superstar Father Charles E. Coughlin of the pro-fascist Christian Front was one of the nation’s most powerful men. And Ivy League colleges kept the number of Jewish students to a minimum, while country clubs and even entire neighborhoods barred Jews altogether.

So Siegel and Shuster began submitting treatments under the pseudonym Bernard J. Kenton, just to be on the safe side. Throughout the Great Depression, the two boys scraped together every penny they could just to cover postage. Shuster sketched on cheap brown wrapping paper.

From these humble beginnings, Shuster and Siegel carved out a character that embodied their adolescent frustrations, served as a mouthpiece of the oppressed, and became an American icon. Many years later, Jerry Siegel recalled the birth of Superman:

The story would begin with you as a child on far-off planet Krypton. Like the others of that world, you had super-powers. The child’s scientist-father was mocked and denounced by the Science Council. They did not believe his claim that Krypton would soon explode from internal stresses. Convinced that his prediction was valid, the boy’s father had been constructing a model rocket ship. As the planet began to perish, the baby’s parents knew its end was close. There was not space enough for three people in the small model craft. They put the baby into it. The mother chose to remain on the doomed planet with the man she loved, and die with him. Tearfully, hoping that their baby boy would survive, they launched the craft toward the planet Earth. Shortly, Krypton exploded and its millions of inhabitants were destroyed.

The idea of for this new superhero came to them in 1934. It would take another four years before Superman would be transformed from a feverish dream to a full-fledged hero. In 1938, Detective Comics, Inc., was looking for a character to launch its new magazine, Action Comics. They paid young Siegel and Shuster $130 for the first 13 pages of Superman. Action Comics #1 came out in June of that year. The issue sold out, and a star was drawn.

In a brilliant stroke, Shuster and Siegel gave their superhuman hero a secret identity, that of an all-too human reporter, the meekly mannered Clark Kent. Practically speaking, this notion of “double identity” allowed for almost endless storyline twists and thematic depth. On another level, it added considerably to the “mythology” that would eventually accrue around this fictional crime fighter. Clark’s shyness undermines his courtship of his co-worker, the gutsy Lois Lane. Siegel and Shuster later admitted that the shy Clark struggling for a date reflected their own social challenges.

Superman #1 was published in the summer of 1939. Across the Atlantic, in Germany, Adolph Hitler was exploiting his nation’s economic and social ills by scapegoating Jews. Living in a country that had stripped them of their citizenship yet perversely obstructed their exit, German Jews resorted to desperate measures. Just as the baby Superman was sent away from Krypton to avoid the mass destruction of his people, many Jewish children were sent on the Kindertransports to seek safety with families in England.

After the attacks on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, America entered World War II, and so did Superman. In Siegel and Shuster’s comic, Clark Kent tries to enlist in the Armed Forces, but he fails the routine medical examination,. Clark accidentally uses his X-ray vision to read the next room’s eye chart. Distraught, he muses, “I’ve got the most perfect body the world has ever known, and through a sad trick of fate, the army turns me down as hopeless!” This feeling of desperation and despondency was felt across the country. As news of the Nazis’ murderous Holocaust plan emerged, American Jews felt utterly powerless to help their European brethren.

Word of Superman and his ethnic undertones did not escape the enemy’s notice in real life. Josef Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda, denounced Superman as a Jew. In April 1940, Das Schwarze Korps, the weekly newspaper of the Nazi S.S., attacked the comic and its Jewish writers:

Jerry Siegel, an intellectually and physically circumcised chap who has his headquarters in New York. . . The inventive Israelite named this pleasant guy with an overdeveloped body and underdeveloped mind “Superman..

Here were Nazis wringing their hands over a cartoon character cooked up by a couple of boys across the sea. Yet this ideologically driven rant actually touched on something vital–the importance of Shuster and Siegel’s Jewish heritage.

Superman #1 begins with a brief synopsis of the hero’s escape from Krypton, which draws heavily on Jewish sources. Superman’s journey closely reflects the story of Moses. Like the people of Krypton who faced total annihilation, the Israelites of biblical Egypt faced the murder of their male offspring. To ensure her son’s survival, Jochebed places Moses in a reed basket and sets him afloat on the Nile. Her desperate decision is clearly echoed by Superman’s father, Jor-El, who launches the little rocket ship containing his son into outer space.

Moses and Superman are eventually discovered and raised in foreign cultures. Baby Moses is found by Batya, the daughter of Pharaoh, and raised in the royal palace. Superman is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent in a Midwestern cornfield and given the name Clark. From the onset, both Batya and the Kents realize that these foundling boys are extraordinary. Superman leads a double life as the stuttering, spectacle-wearing reporter whose true identity no one suspects. In the same way, for his own safety, Moses kept his Israelite roots hidden for a time.

Superman’s original name on Krypton also reveals biblical underpinnings. Superman is named Kal-El and his father Jor-El. The suffix “El” is one of the ancient names for God, used throughout the Bible. It is also found in the names of great prophets like Samuel and Daniel and angels such as Michael and Gabriel. We may never know whether Siegel and Shuster were aware of these precise Hebrew translations; nevertheless, the name could not be more apt.

While the invincible Superman may have stood the test of time, the lives of his creators were not as triumphant. From the beginning, Siegel and Shuster were so busy they had to hire assistants, but while DC Comics was making millions, Superman’s creators weren’t sharing the wealth. The two men were paid a salary, but their initial payment back in 1938 had included all rights. They had sold their percentage of a goldmine for $130 and were eventually fired from their own creation.

Lawsuits followed. None were successful. Siegel and Shuster tried and failed to create new characters. Their names were familiar only to comic book aficionados. Then, rumors began to circulate in the early 1970s that a big budget Superman movie was in the works. DC Comics received $3 million for the rights to film Superman. Once again, Siegel and Shuster were left out of the equation.

This time, the two men tried a new approach. They bypassed their lawyers and went straight to the media. Newspapers across the world picked up the story of Siegel and Shuster, the poor boys who’d created an American icon, made DC Comics rich — and were now penniless and forgotten. That Shuster was now going blind added to the story’s poignancy.

Legally, DC Comics owed Siegel and Shuster nothing, but bad publicity was costing the company dearly. A financial settlement was reached, and the names “Siegel and Shuster” appeared in Superman comics once more. In 2006, Superman returned to the big screen, and not a moment too soon–in today’s world, we need a hero more than ever.

[badsouthernthoughts-blog]

Outsiders & Strange Niggers

Leo Frank and Emmett Till are two of the saddest lynching stories ever, particularly the latter due to the utter ruthlessness in which his murder was carried out. Both were innocent people who died at the hands of vengeful Whites because they were outsiders – in Till’s case, a ‘strange nigger’ from Chicago. (Frank was a Northern Jew, which means he had two strikes against him as well.)

The first time I heard of Leo Frank was via the TV mini series The Murder of Mary Phagan. Mary Phagan was a 13 year old who worked at the National Pencil Company. Frank was the director there when Mary was found strangled on 26 April 1913, and was a suspect in the child’s murder along with the night watchman, Newt Lee, and the janitor, Jim Conley. On 24 May, Frank was indicted on a murder charge and convicted largely on the testimony of Conley, who claimed to be an accomplice to the crime. On 25 August, Frank was found guilty and sentenced to death but this sentence was commuted to life in prison. Appeals to reverse the guilty verdict were unsuccessful, and on 16 August 1915, Frank was abducted from prison by an armed mob and spirited away to Marietta, Mary’s hometown.

The 175-mile (282 km) trip took about seven hours at a top speed of 18 miles per hour (29 km/h) through small towns on back roads. Lookouts in the towns telephoned ahead to the next town as soon as they saw the line of cars pass by. A site at Frey’s Gin, two miles (3 km) east of Marietta, had been prepared, complete with a rope and table supplied by former Sheriff William Frey. The New York Times reported Frank was handcuffed, his legs tied at the ankles, and that he was hanged from a branch of a tree at around 7:00 a.m., facing the direction of the house where Phagan had lived.

The Atlanta Journal wrote that a crowd of men, women, and children arrived on foot, in cars, and on horses, and that souvenir hunters cut away parts of his shirt sleeves. According to The New York Times, one of the onlookers, Robert E. Lee Howell – related to Clark Howell, editor of The Atlanta Constitution – wanted to have the body cut into pieces and burned, and began to run around, screaming, whipping up the mob. Judge Newt Morris tried to restore order, and asked for a vote on whether the body should be returned to the parents intact; only Howell disagreed. When the body was cut down, Howell started stamping on Frank’s face and chest; Morris quickly placed the body in a basket, and he and his driver John Stephens Wood drove it out of Marietta. – Wikipedia

Mary Phagan and James Conley, her actual alleged killer

The Only Good Nigger is a Dead Nigger

Black men were especially vulnerable to lynching when a White woman was involved. The very thought of a Black man having sexual relations with a White female was enough to send a White man into a boiling hot rage, even though some of them had Black females as mistresses and often had mixed race children by their brown skinned lovers. White women were the angels on a pedestal that could not be touched except by Caucasian hands, and White men were ready to defend their angels at any and all costs.

14 year old Emmett Till, known as Bobo to family and friends, was in Mississippi visiting family when the unthinkable occurred. When visiting Money, where Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market was located, young Emmett wolf whistled at owner Roy Bryant’s wife Carolyn as she headed out to her car. The other youths with Bobo that evening realized instantly that a Southern taboo had been crossed, and whisked the Northern boy away into the night, back to the Wright home where they kept mum about the incident.

A few nights later, as the family and their young visitors lay sleeping, there came loud banging upon the door. Two White men were there looking for the kid that had ‘done the smart talking at Money’. Moses Wright, Bobo’s uncle, tried to buy time yet the men saw through this immediately, one of them becoming threatening with his gun. Wright’s wife, Elizabeth, begged the men not to take Bobo and even offered money, but they were having none of that. Wright led them through the house until they found who they were seeking – Emmett, lying in bed. They forced the youth to get dressed and took him out to their vehicle, where a ‘light voice’ responded in the positive when asked if the boy was the ‘right one’.

Emmett, while not a small boy for his age (he was around 5″5 and weighed close to 160 pounds), was no match for several grown men beating and pounding and striking him as he screamed, according to witnesses Add Reed and his grandson Willie, “Mama, please save me,” and “Please God, don’t do it again.” He tried to defend himself yet these men, driven by a demonic hatred and a blood lust so primal in nature that it defies description, struck the child viciously, crushing the entire crown of his head; smashing in the rear of his skull; fracturing the strongest, biggest bone in the human body, his thigh bone; gouging out his left eye; and finally, shooting the boy which fortunately, put him out of his misery. Part of an ear was missing, there was a gash across his nose, and his remaining hazel eye dangled onto his damaged cheek. – The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson

J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant, who were charged with kidnapping and murder in the lynching death of Emmett Till, were acquitted of all charges and bragged about their crime later to William Bradford Huie, a reporter for Look magazine, for which they and their lawyer J. J. Breland received $4,000. In the article, The Shocking Story of APPROVED KILLING IN MISSISSIPPI, published 24 January 1956, they claimed that Bobo wasn’t afraid of them! He was tough as they were. He didn’t think they had the guts to kill him. Milam: “We were never able to scare him. They had just filled him so full of that poison that he was hopeless.” Back of Milam’s home is a tool house, with two rooms each about 12 feet square. They took him in there and began “whipping” him, first Milam, then Bryant smashing him across the head with those .45’s. Pistol-whipping: a court-martial offense in the Army… but MP’s have been known to do it…. And Milam got information out of German prisoners this way. But under these blows Bobo never hollered — and he kept making the perfect speeches to insure martyrdom. Bobo: “You bastards, I’m not afraid of you. I’m as good as you are. I’ve ‘had’ white women. My grandmother was a white woman.” Milam: “Well, what else could we do? He was hopeless. I’m no bully; I never hurt a nigger in my life. I like niggers — in their place — I know how to work ’em. But I just decided it was time a few people got put on notice. As long as I live and can do anything about it, niggers are gonna stay in their place. Niggers ain’t gonna vote where I live. If they did, they’d control the government. They ain’t gonna go to school with my kids. And when a nigger gets close to mentioning sex with a white woman, he’s tired o’ livin’. I’m likely to kill him. Me and my folks fought for this country, and we’ve got some rights. I stood there in that shed and listened to that nigger throw that poison at me, and I just made up my mind. ‘Chicago boy,’ I said, ‘I’m tired of ’em sending your kind down here to stir up trouble. Goddam you, I’m going to make an example of you — just so everybody can know how me and my folks stand.'”

In 1985, a non-repentant Roy Bryant admitted to a friend who wore a concealed recorder: “Well, we done whopped the son of a bitch, and I had backed out on killing the motherfucker.” He then went on to say that dropping off the victim at a hospital “wouldn’t have done him no good” so they “put his ass in the Tallahatchie River.”

To this day, no one has ever been convicted of the lynchings of Leo Frank or Emmett Till.

Killing in The Name of White Supremacy, Part 3 Outsiders & Strange Niggers Leo Frank and Emmett Till are two of the saddest lynching stories ever, particularly the latter due to the utter ruthlessness in which his murder was carried out.

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"It is one of the Hebrews' children" Exodus 2:6 The mother of Moses was desperate. Desperate. Pharaoh had given the order that all the newborn Hebrew babies would be thrown into the Nile river. Her precious baby boy! So she hid him for three months, and when that was no longer possible, she placed him in a waterproof papyrus reed basket. She brought him out to the river bank and placed it among the reeds. To me, that is a terrible plan! Pharaoh's servants could easily have found the baby and drowned him! And true enoughm, he was found by Pharaoh's daughter. One would think the daughter would be of one mind with her father, but no! She saved Moses, eventually adopting him as her own. Women in the life of Moses didn't act in the usual way, obviously! God acts in His own way as well. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways. For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9) That is why it is soooo important to read God's Word and listen to Him. Although Joseph' mother foolhardily left her baby in the reeds, I am sure she prayed hard and listened for God's direction. She also sent her daughter to watch out for Moses. Whenever we are faced with hard decisions, we should always seek for God's direction. We should pray hard, read the Bible, and ask others to pray with us. Then even if we do something stupid, we can trust that God will work for good (Romans 8:28).

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Foundations II: Why We Need An Ark

Last week, we started with the foundational story of Noah.  This is one of those stories that grips me. Not because it’s a great history lesson – it’s not. It’s not because of the great kids messages about it. But it grips me because this story has gotten under my skin and I’ve seen myself in it, especially in a wrong way. It’s so easy to get this story wrong. It looks like Noah is alone in the world. So when I feel misunderstood, alone, like a street preacher on the corner raving against the world, I justify it by saying I’m a Noah, warning everybody.

 But last week, we learned that this really isn’t that kind of story. It’s not a story about a man warning others and getting to be right in the end. In the Bible, we don’t get to be right or prove we’re right.  But we do get to see that God is right.

 And Noah’s story is about God. God helping out one ordinary man who was just doing what he was supposed to do.  And who built an ark.  

 It was a story drawn from Epic of Gilgamesh, a script flipped to become the Hebrew people’s story of going through deep waters.

 Genesis tells us it rained 40 days and 40 nights.  We can’t hear that without referring to another foundational story in Exodus that includes the number 40.  The story of the Exodus itself, where the Hebrew people left bondage in Egypt but couldn’t get to where they wanted to go for how many years? They wandered, like a boat floating, for 40 years. That number didn’t just wander in there. It’s there for a reason.

 The ark is their story. It’s not just about one person.  But a people.

 “Ark” is a curious word.  It’s an odd word when we see it in Genesis.  The word used there is “tebah” [taw-bah].  The Hebrew people had a word for ship or boat (on-ee-yaw) that was used 36 times – including the boat Jonah was in… before he was swallowed by the whale. So, why isn’t that word used here?

 There’s only one other time when taw-bah is used.  In the beginning of Exodus, the Pharaoh decreed that all Hebrew boys should be thrown in the Nile River. Exodus 2:3 says, though, that after a boy named Moses was born, his mother, in an act of civil disobedience, “got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. Exodus 2:3” The papyrus basket is the taw-bah, it’s the ark.  By it, Moses was saved.  

 The ark saved God’s people. In the days of Noah, God saved those on the ark through water.  We say those words in our baptism covenant, the one where we join the church.  By the ark, we go through the waters we encounter. The ark is a place of salvation. It’s what preserves life, even in the midst of death.

 If you like etymology as much as I do, the word “ark” actually comes from an Egyptian word for coffin, but not the kind where the dead reside. A coffin in that culture is to be the boat that takes someone to a new life, it is the passage from this present world to another one.

 The ark brings the people to new life. It brings us to a new home.

 A few weeks ago, I read a headline that said “28 things Millennials are killing in cold blood… will anything stop their rampage.”   It wasn’t about a crime spree. But it is blaming those coming of age now for not buying what we used to.  I love how the next generation is always to blame for that kind of thing.  I mean… I bet folks in the 50’s were talking about how the new generation wasn’t buying Big Band and Swing Music.  

 Change can come like a flood.

 The headline accused millennials of killing, killing… golf courses, movie theaters, malls, even bars of soap, and chain restaurants (except Olive Garden).  The empty malls and restaurants are becoming coffins of dead stores, sitting idle for years. Until the roof is ripped off and something changes. Until what was meant as something dead, becomes a way to new life.

 I mean, look at the gym.  Millennials almost “killed” the traditional gym, because none of them could afford the monthly membership.  Until things changed. Gyms recognized that millennials are much more health conscious than previous generations. But they want more than just weights to lift and a track to run on.  They want an upscale experience.  They want towels.  And above all, they want something that offers them a chance to specialize, to challenge themselves, and to connect.  Big spaces, little gatherings.

 They also want it to be a spiritual experience.  A conversion.  It hits all of those.  They challenge themselves beyond where they are now.  They learning a lot about a specific kind of exercise or music.  And they connect with others in the process, for the most part having fun while they do it.  Even if that connection is a social app that gives the feel of a small group.  “Experts call it the tribe mentality, led by millennials who aren't afraid to spend more money to feel like they're part of a shared experience and community.”  You’re there to sweat, to stretch, and maybe even scream out in pain at a new move.  But little by little, health comes.

 That sweaty, smelly, irritable, soothing, connecting, pained laughing experience is an ark.  It’s a way to survive the onslaught of bad choices that come out way.  It’s a challenge that follows a blueprint of our God-given desire to move and connect so that we can become something more than we used to be.

 The experience wasn’t unlike those on the ark who gathered the animals together, fed them, scooped their stuff out, and kept the lion from snacking on the sheep.  And that’s why for ages people have compared the ark to the Church.  

 Despite the blueprint that God gave us, we know the Church is a human institution. We don’t get it right.  In fact, we confuse Noah’s ark with the ark of the Covenant – even though they are very different words in Hebrew.  That box was a representation of God’s presence, containing the tablets of the Law.  I say that because sometimes the Church gets it wrong when we quote that Law at people rather than be in the ark with them. Or offering them an ark.

 Here is where we sweat together, work together, getting up earlier than we would, and keep our worst tendencies at bay so we don’t eat each other alive.

 We laugh. We feed hungry kids at a summer lunch program.  We boil corn at a Cornfest.  Because despite our flaws, we are getting closer to a new promise of what God is doing.  We are here because we realize that we can’t be an ark all by ourselves.  We can’t ark alone.  If you look at the story, the only people who stayed put were probably those who got flooded out.  Change comes. We need an ark to get us through it.

 We need an ark.  We can’t do this alone.  If you know someone who feels like they’re “spiritual but not religious” and can make it on their own, bless them.  In 10 years, they’ll still be in the same place or worse, while we are gathered here for something else. We are a church.  A church full of those with questions, skeptical belief, praying while asking what I’m doing here, firm in our convictions, sure of our doubts, faithful in our practice, yes… we’re all types of people here.  Because this place, this church, is not my Church or your Church but it’s the Church of Jesus Christ. It’s not just for those who wear rainbow flags, American flags, United Nations flags, or any other group under the sun.  But it’s for all. Because this is not where I come to have my understanding of God spooned out to me in same way I’ve always known. But it’s where we come to ark together. To be Church together. To know the God who came to us in the flesh and lived among us in Jesus Christ.

 We need an ark.  Because the world doesn’t stay the same. Because the things we’ve depended on in the past won’t always be there. Because one prophet alone doesn’t change a thing. But a prophet willing to climb on a boat, willing to ark with a bunch of unruly animals can change the world.

 Despite all our skepticism, we make room to believe. To believe in God and each other. So that even those who tick me off the most – and there are none like that for me – a first in a long while – but yes, even those can be a part of this boat. They can be a part of this life-preserving force that will be there to resist the self-destructive waves around us.  

 Let’s get in this together.

 Let’s have a CornFest where we celebrate the gift you bring. Where we’ll be sweaty, smelly, and pretty exhausted afterwards.  But we’re doing something amazing together.  Building a place where all can come.  A place where we are invited to the table – whether you have $8 or not, even though, Mark, I know we want folks to give. But we are invited to a table that’s bigger than one event or one day. But an ark that will sustain us. A place that will keep us. Until we reach the Promised Land.

[adoptiondetectivejudithland]

The History of Adoption

The History of Adoption

The practice of adoption is as old as recorded civilization. The Bible addresses this topic. Fearing for Moses’s life, Jochebed places her baby in a watertight basket and floats it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. Pharaoh’s grown daughter discovers the babe, takes pity on him, and decides to adopt him as her own.

“School is often the first time kids are left to describe complex…

[tj-van-heerden]

Prophecy in the Bible 5 of 5

Matt 5:11, 12 11  “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12  Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matt 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.

Matt 7:22, 23 22  Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’ 23  Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’

Matt 8:16, 17 16 When evening came, they brought to him many possessed with demons. He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick; 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases.”

Matt 10:41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.

Matt 11:9-11 9  But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. 10  For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11  Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

Matt 11:12, 13 12  From the days of John the Baptizer until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. 13  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

Matt 12:17-21 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, 18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit on him. He will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not strive, nor shout; neither will anyone hear his voice in the streets. 20 He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a smoking flax, until he leads justice to victory. 21 In his name, the nations will hope.”

Matt 13:13-15 13  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand. 14  In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive: 15  for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again; and I would heal them.’

Matt 13:34, 35 34 Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he didn’t speak to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”

Matt 13:57 They were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and in his own house.”

Matt 15:7-9 7  You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 8  ‘These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9  And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.’ ”

Matt 21:2-5 2 saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them, and bring them to me. 3  If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Matt 21:11 The multitudes said, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Matt 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!

Matt 24:11 Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray.

Matt 24:24 For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.

Matt 26:55, 56 55 In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching, and you didn’t arrest me. 56  But all this has happened that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Matt 27:3, 9 3 Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that Jesus was condemned, felt remorse, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders

9 Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him upon whom a price had been set, whom some of the children of Israel priced

Mark 1:2-4 2 As it is written in the prophets, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you: 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight!’ ” 4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins.

Mark 13:22 For there will arise false christs and false prophets, and will show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.

Luke 4:17-19 17 The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, 18  “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed, 19  and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Luke 7:14-16 14 He came near and touched the coffin, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” 15 He who was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. 16 Fear took hold of all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited his people!”

Luke 11:49, 50 49  Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute, 50  that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

Luke 13:34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused!

Luke 24:44 He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.”

John 4:16-19 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’ 18  for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

John 6:11-14 11 Jesus took the loaves; and having given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were sitting down; likewise also of the fish as much as they desired. 12 When they were filled, he said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces which are left over, that nothing be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 When therefore the people saw the sign which Jesus did, they said, “This is truly the prophet who comes into the world.”

John 7:37-40 37 Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! 38  He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn’t yet glorified. 40 Many of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, said, “This is truly the prophet.”

Acts 2:16-18 16 But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 ‘It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. 18 Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.

Acts 3:18 But the things which God announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.

Acts 3:22, 23 22 For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you. 23 It will be that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

Acts 10:43 All the prophets testify about him, that through his name everyone who believes in him will receive remission of sins.”

Acts 28:23 When they had appointed him a day, many people came to him at his lodging. He explained to them, testifying about God’s Kingdom, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening.

Rom 1:1-4 1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God, 2 which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord

Rom 12:6-8 6 having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us: if prophecy, let’s prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; 7 or service, let’s give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching; 8 or he who exhorts, to his exhorting; he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

1Cor 12:7-10 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith, by the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, by the same Spirit; 10 and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages.

1Cor 12:28 28 God has set some in the assembly: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, and various kinds of languages.

1Cor 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing.

1Cor 14:1-3 1 Follow after love and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For he who speaks in another language speaks not to men, but to God; for no one understands; but in the Spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, exhortation, and consolation.

1Cor 14:5 Now I desire to have you all speak with other languages, but rather that you would prophesy. For he is greater who prophesies than he who speaks with other languages, unless he interprets, that the assembly may be built up.

1Cor 14:31, 32 31 For you all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted. 32 The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets

Eph 2:19-22 19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, 20 being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; 21 in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

Eph 3:5, 6 5 which in other generations was not made known to the children of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit, 6 that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News,

Eph 4:11, 12 11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds [or, pastors] and teachers; 12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ

1Tim 4:14 Don’t neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the elders.

Heb 1:1-3 1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. 3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Jas 5:10 Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of perseverance, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

2Pet 1:20, 21 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation. 21 For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

2Pet 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.

2Pet 3:2 that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior:

1John 4:1-3 1 Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already.

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is at hand.

Rev 2:20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate your woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.

Rev 10:7 but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as he declared to his servants, the prophets.

Rev 11:3 I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Rev 16:13 I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, something like frogs;

Rev 18:24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth.”

Rev 19:10 I fell down before his feet to worship him. He said to me, “Look! Don’t do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.”

Rev 19:20 The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

Rev 20:10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Rev 22:7 “Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

[christianitywithouttheinsanity]

 Exodus 1-3; Gal 5

Discuss in the comments section.

The following text is from the Revised Standard Version. Occasionally we will rotate the translations just to have some variety.

Exodus 1-3

These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Is′sachar, Zeb′ulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naph′tali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation. 7 But the descendants of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong; so that the land was filled with them.

The Israelites Are Oppressed

8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war befall us, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens; and they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Ra-am′ses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they made the people of Israel serve with rigor, 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field; in all their work they made them serve with rigor.

15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiph′rah and the other Pu′ah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and are delivered before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews[a] you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

Birth and Youth of Moses

2 Now a man from the house of Levi went and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3 And when she could hide him no longer she took for him a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with bitumen and pitch; and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river’s brink. 4 And his sister stood at a distance, to know what would be done to him. 5 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked beside the river; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to fetch it. 6 When she opened it she saw the child; and lo, the babe was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son; and she named him Moses,[b] for she said, “Because I drew him out[c] of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian

11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together; and he said to the man that did the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses.

But Moses fled from Pharaoh, and stayed in the land of Mid′ian; and he sat down by a well. 16 Now the priest of Mid′ian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. 18 When they came to their father Reu′el, he said, “How is it that you have come so soon today?” 19 They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” 20 He said to his daughters, “And where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” 21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daugher Zippo′rah. 22 She bore a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, “I have been a sojourner[d] in a foreign land.”

23 In the course of those many days the king of Egypt died. And the people of Israel groaned under their bondage, and cried out for help, and their cry under bondage came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God saw the people of Israel, and God knew their condition.

Moses at the Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Mid′ian; 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; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.” 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 am I.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; put off your shoes from 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.

7 Then the Lord said, “I have 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 Per′izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons 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 forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain.”

The Divine Name Revealed

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.”[e] 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,[f] 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 for ever, 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 Per′izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18 And they will hearken 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, we pray you, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ 19 I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.[g]20 So I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all the wonders which 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 of her who sojourns in her house, jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters; thus you shall despoil the Egyptians.”

Gal 5

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

The Nature of Christian Freedom

2 Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is bound to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working[a] through love. 7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine; and he who is troubling you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brethren, still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the stumbling block of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would mutilate themselves!

13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another take heed that you are not consumed by one another.

The Works of the Flesh and the Fruit of the Spirit

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, 21 envy,[b]drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another.

  The reading plan I’ve chosen is from Bible Class Material and it’s a 5 day plan, with weekend days to catch up or get ahead or just take a break!

http://ift.tt/2hfNLzf