Re-Creation



In the original creation order comes out of the midst of chaos. God speaks and light shines forth, the seas are divided and land appears. On the first three days of creation God has created the frames in which all life will be experienced. Now, in the middle of the second book of the Bible, those images are going to reappear in the establishment of Israel, God's chosen. Escaping into the wilderness was step one. The people are vast and numerous. And yet God first leads them into what appears to be more chaos.

Notice:
Exodus 14:1–3 (ESV) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’

The people look chaotic, first hastily running out of Egypt, then going the long hard route toward Canaan and now here God tells them to turn back and face the sea. Pharaoh observes this and becomes emboldened. He musters his armies to chase them down for an easy military victory. 

But God is acting deliberately here, showing NOT primarily that He can do miracles like divide the sea (although He can and does), but that He is the one who can handle the chaos. He is in charge in the situation. Our job is to listen and obey His voice.

Exodus 14:13–16 (ESV) And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” 15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.

Exodus 14:21–22 (ESV) Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Notice the Re-Creation event in these passages. The people look like they are in the midst of chaos. Life seems impossible. Then God speaks and all comes together: 
First God lights up the night for them:
Exodus 14:19–20 (ESV) Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

Then God sends a wind (Spirit) over the sea (chaos) and brings land from within it. Men and women will walk through that land and become a new nation totally free from the slavery of Egypt.

The Bible does this in the Penteteuch. It repeats images and themes to establish our understanding of God. Here in Exodus we have a sort of retelling of the original creation event to remind us that God is completely in charge of the darkest circumstances. He is the one who speaks into the chaos and brings forth order. He makes our darkest nights become our brightest days.

On the cross, Jesus will experience the chaos of the cross to bring life from the darkest moment in human history. We are a new people because God is always in complete control of the situation. Death is defeated and the grave is empty. We are HIS new nation. Recreated in Christ Jesus.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God’s View of You

Sometimes I think we imagine that God is mostly disappointed with us. That He puts up with us and bears with us because He has to (after all He is love), but most of the time our glaring weaknesses weary Him and make His day miserable. Of course, this is the devil’s doing in our minds. The truth of scripture bears out that the world has to get staunch-raving evil before God is totally weary of us. And the stories in the Old Testament remind us with each passing character that God is patient, loving and kind to His very flawed inconsistent servants. Saul is a case study of this. His lineage will not hold the kingdom, that has already been stated from the mishap of offering the sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive in 1 Samuel 13. His next great gaff will happen in the chapter to come in 1 Samuel 15 where his own kingship will be taken from him and the anointing placed on one soon to come. Yes, God will regret making Saul king and we’ll talk about that next. But for now...
Read more

How to Pray for Someone's Downfall

Psalm 83 reminds us that enemies of God's people always abound. The opening verses mention 10 nations gathered around Israel to attack and destory them. These are their enemies. Child of God, we will always have enemies... 1 John 3:13 (ESV)   Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. The world throughout history has hated this ancient family of the Jews. God's chosen people have been the rejected ones in society down through the ages, from Egypt to Nazi Germany. Yet God's blessing has been upon them to this day. For Christians it will be no different. Men will hate us. Yet we are to regard this  as blessing! Luke 6:22–23 (ESV) “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. The Psalmist readily acknowledges the adversary. He then ...
Read more

Leaders Who Later Fail

Remember Johanan from Jeremiah 41? The man who saved many others from the threats of the murderous coup? He seemed like a noble leader. But time reveals a lot.  Jeremiah 42:5–6 (ESV)  Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.” These are the words of the presumptive leaders of Israel in the land while the nation is in exile. The previous chapter saw a hero arise to protect a few remaining survivors. His name was Johanan. On the surface, he seems like a good man, seeking the will of the Lord in his leadership position. Jeremiah returns with directives from the Lord: Jeremiah 42:10 (ESV) If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant y...
Read more