The Story of How the People of God Became The Church VI. A Law is Given Along with New Forms of Worship

Now we come to to other parts of the story of the people of God as the travel from Egypt to Israel, including their 40-year sojourn in the land in between because of their disobedience and rebelliousness towards God. The two most important parts of this story are the renewal of the covenant with the giving of the law and the establishment of new forms of worship.

The way to a right life spelled out

            -     a place of meeting, priests and sacrifices

Janzen, Page 232: The Commissioning of Israel - Exodus 19:1-40:28

Theophany (the appearance of the divine to a person or group) and Covenant - 19:1-24:18

Israel has now been liberated, but for a purpose. Their purpose under the illegitimate ruler Pharaoh was as slaves to make bricks. However, their purpose under their God, who has called and saved them, is to be commissioned for a special task among the nations of the whole world.

19:5-6 They are to become a priestly kingdom and a holy nation, to model God's will for the world. As a kingdom of priests, they take on a mediating rule between God and the other nations. Their commission as priests is to reveal God's will to the people of the earth through the law they will be given, a law that needs to be taught and lived by example. This is thus a calling to service.

As they move forward, it is in following God, who continues to be the leader and take the initiative. Whereas Moses previously encountered God in a simple burning bush, now Moses and the people encounter God on what seems to be a burning mountain.

In 19:4, there is a telling comment in that God says, after summarizing what he did to the Egyptians, that he brought the Children of Israel to Himself. That is always God's ultimate and wonderful goal with we humans, to bring us back to him, to reconcile us to be once again in relationship with him, such as was enjoyed at the beginning of creation. Israel is to be his "treasured possession out of all the peoples" (19:5).

In beginning to renew the covenant here, God now makes it conditional: "if you obey my voice and keep my covenant" (19:5).

19:7-9 Israel's response is immediate and almost premature, as they have not yet been given all of the law. Nevertheless, 19:7 says that "The people all answered as one: everything that the Lord has spoken we will do!" Perhaps they just thought that they were saying that they were ready to do what God instructed in terms of what he was going to say to them.

This encounter with God should serve to strengthen Moses' position with the people and their respect of him as God's appointed leader and the go-between between them and God. However, as time goes on, we will see that this still does not prevent some negativity on their part towards Moses.

19:9-25 Instructions and Preparation for the Divine Appearance

It is interesting to notice that God gives the people time to prepare for his appearing to them and that it is said that this will occur on the third day. Does this remind you of another important third day? Indeed, Jesus, part of the triune God, also appeared to his people in a new and more obviously powerfully god-like way on the third day when he was resurrected.

Moses now also has a new task. Whereas his original commissioning was to lead Israel out of Egypt, his new role is to mediate God's will in the context of the renewed covenant for the delivered people in terms of new ways of living and worshiping. The people, on the other hand, are witness to fearful phenomena of great power but this same experience also attracts them to want to approach closer to this God who is reaching out to them. However, they are still sinful and under the penalty of death and so for their own protection, God still sets somewhat of a limit for the people at this time, in terms of their not approaching the mountain on which he is manifesting himself.

Exodus 20:1-17, 31:18, 34:1-10, 27-28 The Giving of The Law

Exodus 24:1-18 The Renewal of the Covenant with the Children of Israel

When Moses tells the people everything that God has told him, and has an altar built and offer sacrifices, "All the people answered with one voice, and said, ‘All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do’… (24:3) Then (Moses) took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.’ Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, ‘See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.’” (24:7-8)

Here the people seem to be hopeful, eagerly and voluntarily promising to do all that is required of them on their side of the covenant with the God of their ancestors. Now that they have seen God show his awesome power at work, they are more open to believing his promises and wanting to be part of the journey to see them fulfilled.

At a somewhat deeper level, we can compare what is happening now between The Children of Israel and their God and what had been going on between them and the Pharaoh earlier. Then, they were forced to be subject to and obey a ruler was not of their choosing and who did not have their best interest in mind at all. Now, they are coming back to the God of their ancestors whom they are also learning to recognize as their creator. They have also just seen him act as their Savior, saving them from the Egyptians. Having thus been freed from that bondage, they now freely choose to be subject to their God.

When we talk about the Pharaoh and his feelings towards the Hebrews, we know that, in fact, he would have liked to see them eradicated. As we know, there are still many neighbors of Israel today, who would like to see them eradicated. In part it is because they are of a different religion, Islam, and how some of them interpret that today. It was not always that way. Indeed, if you read the Koran, there are positive things in there about how Muslims are to relates to Jews and Christians. Others understand some of the hatred for the Jews as coming from the devil himself. Indeed, at one level this is not hard to understand, as we tend to recognize everything evil as coming from him. At a more profound level though, some writers see this as Satan's fury at the Jews for having given birth to the Messiah whose death and resurrection, as we read in the Bible, sealed Satan's doom. Satan is just using humans in his fight against God's people. He is jealous for God having chosen these people to ultimately be a part of God's new creation, whereas he himself has been expelled from God's heaven.

(Janzen, page 16: Law Codes, 20:1-21, the Book of the Covenant 20:22-23:33, the Theophany at Mount Sinai, Chapters 19, 24)

Janzen, Page 233: A Vision for Worship - 25:1-31:18

Exodus 25:1-31:18 New Forms and Place of Worship

(Janzen, page 16: Divine Instruction to Moses for Building the Tabernacle)

As part of this new relationship with a God whom they are understanding in a new and different way, and who has given them a new name for himself, it makes sense that they now need to be shown how this God wants to be worshiped, compared to the different ways of worship of the nations around them and how they are to worship their God.

In this section of the story, God instructs Moses first of all, as to what the people are to bring as an offering to provide the materials from which to make all that they will need for worship (25:1-9). If you have read all of Exodus so far, you will remember that when the Israelites left, they collected a lot of gold, silver, jewels and other items of value from the neighbors who were just too glad to give them whatever they wanted so that they would leave and spare them any further trouble. This was after all of their firstborn sons had been killed. So, they have a lot of valuable material to bring to use in the making of the tabernacle and all the objects in it that are going to be part of their worship. The Children of Israel had been instructed to collect these items, and now you can see further how that was part of God's plan. This instruction is followed by detailed instructions for all the components of worship (25:10-30:38). Then God points out to Moses that he has selected some gifted and wise men to lead this major construction project (31:1-11). As we have said before, God always takes care of all of the details.

In 31:18, after God has finished writing everything down that he told Moses, he gave him two tablets of stone with it written on it. This is The Law, subsequently often referred to as The Law of Moses. Then Moses discovers that the people have already turned away from God because of his long absence when he was with God and God was giving him the law, and have created another God to worship, and smashes those tablets in his anger. He has seen this people complain and be disobedient so often that he is losing patience with them. Chapter 34:1-10 describe the remaking of those tablets and God promising to make a covenant with the people. God shows again that he has more patients then we humans do.

Exodus 34:10-26 The Covenant Renewed

Janzen writes on page 19 that "this outline is based on what God does. God saves and then commissions people to service; this is God's agenda. God is Israel's rightful master and wrests his people from the grip of the illegitimate master, Pharaoh. He "deliberately named the four major sections" with titles including salvation because, although Exodus is "indeed a story of great political-social relevance… The book also transcends such relevance by leading a liberated Israel into the new service of its rightful master." Furthermore, the use of the term salvation "is intended to link God's saving act in the OT to those in the New" as "God's aim" is to lead the people "all the way."

Janzen page 22

When the Israelites eventually get back to Mount Horeb, "just as Moses… was sent by God on the mission to deliver God's people, Israel is now invited by God to a mission… to become for God a priestly kingdom and a holy nation to the rest of the world (19:6).… They hear God proclaim God's will for the people in the form of the 10 Commandments." Eventually, Moses "leads Israel in a covenant-conclusion ceremony that includes a communion meal and a blood ritual," the re-institution of circumcision.

Then God gives Moses the detailed instructions regarding the building of a tent sanctuary to “accommodate the presence of the holy God amidst his people." Ultimately, the frequently complaining and rebellious people "are eager to carry out the instructions for building the tabernacle."

Janzen, page 233: Building for God - 35:1-40:38

The Account of Tabernacle Building, 35-40)

The details of this process to a large extent are a repetition of the details of the plans that were given to Moses by God in earlier chapters. This is actually summed up in 39:42-43. The result is that God comes down and his glory fills the place of worship that the Children of Israel have made (40:34-38).

Page 24

Themes that help show the unity of the book are:

i.                Israel's initial enslavement to a wrongful master moving to being "freely committed in covenant to their legitimate master, God."

ii.               Again, whereas "in the beginning the Israelites do force labor as builders for Pharaoh; in the end, they are builders again, this time freely and enthusiastically building for God.

iii.              In the beginning, this God is apparently absent; at the end, the cloud of God's presence settles over the Tabernacle in the midst of God's people. God has truly redeemed his people and brought them ‘to myself.’"

Page 25

Janzen summarizes the theology of Exodus as follows:

1.     God's Saving Initiative and Israel's Response - how do we respond to God's grace?

2.     Salvation as Change of Masters - Israel changes from being subject (slaves) to "a usurping tyrant versus service” (as privileged partners) of “the legitimate master… The book assumes that the service of God is in itself a form of freedom."

3.     Commissioning of a People - already assumed to be God's people and in covenant with him, this book simply describes "a renewal of the Abrahamic covenant through its redirection toward a special commission on Israel's part to be a priestly kingdom and a holy nation for the whole world." We as Mennonites and Anabaptists continue this reference to ourselves as the people of God. We often use the phrase "priesthood of all believers." This recognizes the roles that God has begun to describe here for the people of God. It also recognizes that we all have, at some levels, an equal role to play as individuals in the people of God, carrying out his purposes.

Page 26

4.     Grace in the Form of Law - "the gift of God's directives for a new and better life under a new master… Based on Israel's experience of God's gracious deliverance."

5.     Grace as God's Holy (and awesome) Presence "in the midst of a people who can live fully and happily only if that presence is properly acknowledged and all of life is oriented towards it."

The Story of How The Story of The Bible Became The Story of The People Of God V. Part II. The People’s Delivery from Egypt (Moses)

2016 4 24

2. The Commissioning of Moses (3:1-7:7) continued (again, I am drawing on Waldemar Janzen's Genesis in The Believer's Bible Commentary, subsequently referred to in the instalment below with the appropriate page reference as, e.g., Janzen 82 ff.)

Exodus 4:18-20 Moses gains his father-in-law's permission to return to Egypt. Interestingly, there is no record of Moses telling Jethro about his most important encounter with God in the desert. This would appear to be particularly worth paying attention to as we have read that his father-in-law was a priest, so it would seem reasonable for his son-in-law to consult with him to discern about matters such as this. Furthermore, we read that Jethro did provide some help in terms of leadership to Moses later on when they met in the desert after the Children of Israel left Egypt, so we know that Moses did value his wisdom. Indeed, one wonders whether the preparation that perhaps Moses had spiritually doing his years with Jethro and his family had something to do with God's choosing Moses' tribe as the priests for The Children of Israel, although it was Moses' brother Aaron who was given the leadership here. Perhaps the writers simply thought we would understand that this was discussed as the reason for Moses leaving, although what the text says is that Moses asked to be allowed to go back to his relatives in Egypt and see whether they were still living (4:18).

Here we again have the Lord repeating to Moses, "Go back to Egypt; for all those who were seeking your life are dead." Supposedly this should reassure Moses and remove one of his fears about returning to Egypt on this mission God is sending him on. Does this saying also sound familiar to something that was said about someone else in the Bible? Look in the New Testament at Matthew 2: 19-21. You will remember that when the wise men came from the East and told King Herod they were looking for a new king that was born he, in his jealousy, had ordered all the baby boys in the area to be killed to preserve his own line. Jesus' parents had fled with him to Egypt to save his life. In these verses in Matthew, Jesus' father Joseph is told to return to Egypt for those who sought his life are dead. Now he was going to be free to grow up to do his task.

Moses, like other Old Testament characters, as we have said before, is often seen again as a type of Jesus, and this is one of those parallels in their lives. He is now free to go back to Egypt to do his task.

4:27-31 Moses had complained to God in 4:10-17 that he was not a good speaker so how could he persuade Pharaoh to let his people go. God had said he could use his brother Aaron as his mouthpiece. Here we read of Moses meeting Aaron and telling him everything. Then they meet with the "elders of the Israelites" and "Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and performed the signs in the sight of the people. The people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had given heed to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshipped." It seemed that Moses and Aaron had gained the trust of the leaders of the children of Israel so they were on side with the plans to leave Egypt. Now they just had to convince the king.

6:2-9 Janzen 97 ff. - In the preceding passages, Moses and Aaron had gone to Pharaoh to ask for the release of the Hebrews. All that had done was make their work harder, which had cause the people to turn against Moses. When Moses complains to God about all of this, this is the answer he gets:

"I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as ‘God Almighty,’ ‘El Shaddai,’ but by my name ‘THE LORD,’ ‘YAHWEH,’ I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens. I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites who the Egyptians are holding as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the Israelites,' I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.' Moses told this to the Israelites; but they would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery."

So, here we read of God again identifying himself as the God of his ancestors who had “established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens.” (verse 4) He tells Moses to tell the children of Israel that “I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm in his mighty acts of judgment. I will take you my people, and I will be your God… I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord." (verses 7-8) God is now making it clear that all of this action is because he is continuing to honor his covenant commitment with Moses' ancestors. They had become a numerous people, which begins to fulfill one of the promises, but they were still up in their own land. Furthermore, we are not sure that they were existing in much of a relationship at this time with the God who held his covenant with them. Just the same, God is promising to do was responsible party to a covenant would do when the other party is in trouble, which Israel is. He has not forgotten them and his covenant with them, although they may have. Now he is stepping up to take the next step in what this covenant relationship is going to be. He will free them, deliver them, redeem them, take them as his people and be their God. When Moses conveys this message to the children of Israel though, unlike the first reception Moses and Aaron had when they met with the Hebrew elders, this time they cannot hear the message "because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery." (Verse nine)

So here, for the first time in Exodus, the language of the covenant reappears. The same promises that we have seen given to the ancestors named here, are now repeated to Moses to be passed on to those descendants. However, just as The Pharaoh's heart has been hardened and he is not inclined to let the people go, the Israelites themselves now are no longer able to believe that Moses can do anything for them. Moses’ task is getting harder.

We have spoken of Moses as a type of Jesus. Do you see further parallels here between the story of Moses and the story of Jesus? We mentioned one of those parallels right at the beginning of the stories of these two individuals, referring to both King Herod and the Pharaoh wanting to kill baby boys.

Remember that Jesus also was not received by the leaders of his day. Indeed, he was rejected by his own people overall for the most part. He did indeed do a great saving work for us, just as Moses was to help God perform for the Children of Israel. However, perhaps like with Moses and Aaron, it was not until another spokesperson, Aaron, was identified, who became the Chief Priest and therefore the ancestor of all the subsequent Jewish priests, that God's plans were able to be accomplished. Jesus himself is referred to in the New Testament as a High Priest, and we as believers, Christians, are referred to as his children and also as priests. It is through his descendants that the church has grown to become what it is today. Just as Moses needed a spokesperson to accomplish God's tasks, Jesus needs us as his spokespersons in the world to carry on his mission.

Janzen 40

Another way in which Moses and Jesus are similar in that both were used by God to carry out missions of salvation through liberation from enslavement. As recorded in Luke chapter four, where Jesus was quoting Isaiah 61, he states that his mission was to free the prisoners and liberate the captives etc. That is what God is doing with his people here in Egypt under Moses as well. The difference here in Exodus is that the liberation, salvation, consist of one people whereas under Jesus liberation and freedom from oppression is available to all. Thus, the book of Exodus has been held up by the oppressed such as black slaves, or poor laborers in Third World countries, to show that God is on the side of the poor and oppressed and resists oppressors like Pharaoh. Here, all of this is included in the language of covenant faithfulness though, but that is something we have come to understand also applies to the church. Thus, Exodus also contains "a specific message regarding election, covenant, obedience and service."

Going back to the story and the resistance Moses was running into both with the Pharaoh and his own people, we read that in spite of all that, and God's bringing 10 plagues on Egypt until they were finally at a point where the Children of Israel were allowed to go free, they were delivered. The actual story of the beginning of that begins in Chapter 11 through 12. This included the institution of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread as well as a return to the consecration of the firstborn, as described in chapters 12 and 13. Chapter 14 – 15:21 is a story of their ultimate delivery from Egypt with the crossing of the Red Sea - for God had miraculously opened up the waters for them to pass - and the destruction of Pharaoh and his army by the returning waters when they tried to pursue the children of Israel into the sea.

Chapters 15:22 to 19 tell the story of the beginning of their travels towards the promised land and their arrival at Mount Horeb for worship, now referred to as Mount Sinai, which, you will remember, God had promised Moses was the sign by which he would know that God was really calling him and empowering him to do this. Chapter 18 is a different part of the story, describing how Moses is reunited with his family and also gets some advice from his father-in-law, whom you will remember was a priest, about who how to delegate the work of being a judge in Israel.

The Story Of How The The Story Of The Bible Became The Story Of People Of God V. The People’s Stay in (Joseph) and Delivery from Egypt (Moses)

I want to say at the outset that I need to acknowledge the help I have received in studying this material from former Professor Waldemar Janzen, who was a teacher at Canadian Mennonite Bible College when I attended there. The help I am referring to comes from the volume on Exodus he contributed to the Believers Church Bible Commentary. It is in our church library.

In his introduction he states that "Exodus is the heart of the Old Testament… in Exodus, God's double promise to give Abraham and Sarah descendants and land is beginning to be fulfilled.… God reveals for all time the divine name, Yahweh (the Lord), and fills that name with its central meaning: Savior and Lord.

In Exodus, the descendants of Jacob/Israel become a people with a special commission, established by the covenant relationship with Yahweh mediated through Moses at Mount Sinai.… Israel commits itself to a new life governed by the Torah… (and) introduces the form of worship that characterizes biblical religion and successors." (page 15)

Outline

Exodus 1:8-14; 2:1-25; 3:1-15; 4:17-20, 27-31; 6:1-9 God calls Moses to lead Israel back to the promised land

[Janzen, page 19: Anticipation 1. The Salvation of Moses (1:1-2:25)

      2. The Commissioning of Moses (3:1-7:7);

Realization 3. The Salvation of Israel (7:8-18:27)

        4. The Commissioning of Israel (19:1-48)]

1. The Salvation of Moses (1:1-2:25)

1:8-14 sets the stage for the next part of the story of The People of God. You will remember that at the end of Genesis (27:21), it could be understood that everyone in Egypt was rendered a slave to The Pharaoh because of the severe famine and the need to pay somehow for the grain they were given out of the storehouses Joseph had set up. Joseph had brought his family to Egypt to escape the famine and be with him. However, now this people has become so successful and numerous that the Egyptians are feeling threatened by them. They are now being ruled by a king who does not remember the circumstances of how The Children of Israel came to be in Egypt.

2:1-10 is the story of the birth and beginnings of the man, Moses, who would become the deliverer of the People of God from the slavery and oppression they were now experiencing under the Pharaoh. Ironically, it is the ruler's own daughter who receives this Hebrew boy whom he had ordered killed, and brings him up in the court at the King's expense. Why would she have done this? Would she have been a young woman rebelling against her father? In any case, it allowed Moses to grow up in the place where he would have become familiar with Royal life and protocols, the Egyptian language and perhaps even Egyptian writing. This was surely good preparation for when he came back to deal with the Pharaoh when God had called Moses to lead his people out of Egypt.

This story also points out again the important role that women are given in this record compared to their place in much of society in that day. Here, as in a number of other Bible stories, women take a prominent role as saviors of lives and situations. There are two midwives, Moses' mother and the Princess of Egypt that all play these rules here.

2:11-22 tells the story of Moses, seemingly accidentally killing an Egyptian who was mistreating a fellow Hebrew. Somehow, Moses knows of his origins, that he is Hebrew, not Egyptian, and begins to stick up for his brothers. We do read in Exodus 2:9-10 that Moses' mother was allowed to raise him until he was weaned. This could well have been until he was three years of age, by which time she could have taught him something about being a Hebrew that he may have dimly remembered. He escapes for his life to the land of Midian, gets married and has a child. Midian, for the record, was one of Abraham's descendants by his second wife Keturah.

Interestingly, the land on which he "settles (verse 15)" belongs to a priest. Whether that had some bearing on Moses choosing to settle here because he knew that we do not know, but the role of this man did figure significantly in the life of Moses and The People of God in the future. It also turns out in the future that it is Moses' tribe that becomes the priestly clan, the Levites. Who knows what he learned about these matters and perhaps even about God from this father-in-law.

In his escape from Pharaoh who wanted to kill him for this, we see a premonition of Moses own leading the Children of Israel to escape from Pharaoh who would have liked to see them all done away with. When can also see here that in Moses returning towards the land of his ancestors, he is being prepared for when he will come back to the same area leading The People of God through it.

2:23-25 - Here it is simply inserted in the story that the Israelites began to complain about their lot as slaves. We can assume that some of their prayers were directed to the God of their fathers as it states that "their cry for help rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob… and God took notice of them." That obviously sets up the story and gives us a clue that something is going to happen.

2. The Commissioning of Moses (3:1-7:7)

3:1-22 Moses meets God

Janzen page 20

"While tending the flocks, Moses gets close to Horeb, the mountain of God" where "he is stunned by a bush that burns but is not consumed." Moses goes near and is addressed by God who reveals his new name, Yahweh, identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and that he remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, including the promise of the land to which he will now lead his people (page 23) and so now wants to free Israel from Egypt and lead them back to the land promised to Abraham with Moses' help.

1-6 Moses’ attention is attracted by what appears to be a burning bush. Suddenly, God calls to him out of this Bush and identifies himself as "the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

7-12 God explains why he is calling Moses. He says "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I've heard their cry… I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…" Furthermore, he tells Moses that "I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt."

White might God have chosen Moses for this task? If we think back to Moses’ childhood, and where he grew up, I think the answer can be fairly obvious. He grew up in the court of the Pharaoh, so he would have known the language, the rules and customs, possibly even his way around. He might even have known how to write in the manner of the Egyptians. In other words, if ever there was someone prepared to be a leader in that people who are otherwise slaves, the obvious choice would be Moses.

13-15 The authority by which this is happening.

It is not clear why Moses, in verse 13, asks whom he should say is sending him when God has already identified himself inverse six in the traditional language used so far in the Bible after the calling of Abraham. Perhaps, as they had done before and were to do many times yet in the future, the Children of Israel had turned to other gods, perhaps even those of the Egyptians, or back to the ones they had before Abraham began to worship the one true God. One can see how they might have done this, thinking that their God had abandoned them if they had become slaves. They were not in their own land and the laws were against them becoming a great nation, so they might have thought that the promises that Jacob and his descendants probably passed on were meaningless.

In any case, God answers with a new name which no longer ties him to a specific group of people. Perhaps we can see here a premonition of the fact that God wants his people to grow beyond the Hebrews. He also expands his self-description to something that could also be seen as larger than what a tribal God might be seen as. He tells Moses "I AM WHO I AM," which is translated The Lord, or Yahweh, and says, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, I AM has sent me to you." Some scholars also say this could be translated "I am who I will be," emphasizing the future-oriented and active God, also one who is totally self-determined, as opposed to someone who just is, but could also be so at some other agent's behest. Then he does also identify himself as "the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" but here is where he expands things saying that "this is my name forever, and this my title for all generations."

Thinking Biblically about Real Estate

As noted in my previous posting by date, our congregation is currently traversing the Bible in a year and we are presently still in the first 5 books of the Old Testament. I touched on a number of the themes in these passages in the previous posting and here I want to write about land, real estate and even about rights as it pertains to this topic. Contrary to what is preached by those purveyors of the so-called "prosperity gospel" that is all-too prevalent in our continent, especially south of the border, I don't think there is anything here to promote capitalism and acquisition of wealth. Come to think of it, our current government in Ottawa seems to be quite pre-occupied with that as well.

One could write a lot on that topic itself, although it is somewhat of a digression from what I am speaking about here. Let me just say that my understanding of the blessings that God promises to those believe in him has nothing to do with property or wealth. It has everything to do with properties of the mind, heart and soul, the fruits of the spirit: character, that is all. The abundant life promised us is a life overflowing with peace and joy, not possessions and status.

I was just thinking about writing this when I discovered that our pastor is going to be speaking about this next Sunday, February 8, 2015. It will be interesting to see what he has to say. In our congregation we are currently utilizing a practice where our small groups are encouraged to study the pastor's Sunday message and associated passages either before and/or after the message is delivered. Therefore, I also see one question in the preparation phase that addresses an issue that I believe must be part of this discussion and that is, who owns the land?

In our North American and Canadian context, this issue of land ownership is especially pertinent. This is because we as a nation, speaking for Canada at least, are embroiled in difficult discussions with the indigenous inhabitants of this land because we have quite different views of land ownership. Our government, based on democratic principles as honed in the British system over the centuries, believes in private property in conjunction with certain property rights.

Our indigenous peoples have never believed in land ownership. They believe that the land is for everyone to share and is in effect owned by The Creator, which is their title for the Supreme Being we refer to in English as God. A couple of paragraphs back I noted that our pastor referred to a passage that suggests ultimate land ownership is God's (Exodus 15:13, 17). More on this soon.

There are at least 4 different passages/stories that I want to refer to in developing my thoughts on this topic.

The first that we come across in reading these books is the whole concept of the Year of Jubilee. This is spelled out in Leviticus chapter 25:8-34, with a few more details with respect to specific situations added in verses 47-55. The general idea is that, because the land belongs to God, which is clearly stated in verse 23, which adds that the Children of Israel are “but aliens and tenants," the land is to be given a rest again, as it is completing the 7th of the 7-year sabbatical cycles (see below). Not only that, it is been to be returned to whoever may have bought it during that 49 year period of time. God's reasoning for this is that it is not land that is being sold, but "the number of harvests that are being sold to you" (Verse 16). Again, he reassures the people that if they obey this, they will get such good crops in the 6th year that the can live on them for the following 3 years!

However, although houses in villages in the countryside are included in this, houses in walled cities are not. If they have not been redeemed within a year of their sale, they will "pass in perpetuity to the purchaser, throughout the generations; it shall not be released in the Jubilee." So, I'm not quite sure what that would say to our current urban real estate markets.

Another thing that was supposed to happen in the year of Jubilee is that slaves were to be released if they so wished. The details of what to do if they were released or not are what is referred to in the latter verses of the chapter. In any case, all of this certainly goes against acquisition of large tracts of land and the amassing of wealth that could be related to that. However, it seems to apply more to the agrarian setting than urban, so, again, how do we understand this for our towns and cities?

The 2nd section of significance that I want to refer to here is how the division of land is spelled out for when the people enter the Promised Land. It is allotted according to the population of the tribe, and that was the way it was to stay. I am not sure what the ramifications of that would have been if one tribe significantly outgrew a smaller neighboring tribe in number (Interestingly, this is spoken to somewhat in Joshua 17:14-18 when the tribe of Ephraim, son of Joseph, complains that the land given them is too small). However, again, I believe this speaks to a general principle of fairness and justice. This is discussed in Leviticus 26:52-56. Here it is stated that "to a large tribe you are to give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe should be given its inheritance according to its enrollment." The land was to be apportioned by lot.  In chapter 32 particular reference is made to the tribes of Reuben, Dan and Manasseh who wanted to take good ranch land east of the Jordan River because they were tribes with cattle, and in their passage through this land on the way to the Jordan, which they would eventually cross, they found it to their liking. The actual details of how the land was apportioned to the 12 tribes is not spelled out until Joshua chapters 13-19, after the Children of Israel had crossed the Jordan River into the promised land.

As I referred to in my previous blog installment's title, God does not forget the details. In Deuteronomy 19:14, he warns that landowners should not move boundary markers to enlarge their property.

A further development of this theme that goes against acquisition of wealth does not even require people to wait 50 years. According to Deuteronomy 15, any debt was to be forgiven every 7th year, at least when it pertained to members of the community, i.e. the People of Israel. This rule is accompanied by the reassuring promise in verse four that "there will be no one in need among you because the Lord is sure to bless you in the land that the Lord God is giving you as a possession to occupy, if only you will obey the Lord your God by diligently observing this entire commandment that I command you today." In the same passage, God warns the people that they should not begin to think along the lines of how close they were to the 7th year and make judgments about debt on that basis, i.e. not lending something that was going to be repaid perhaps a year later. As it says in verse 9-10: " your neighbor might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt. Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and all that you undertake."

Indeed, not only where they to forgive debts in the 7th year, they were to set their slaves free, again, at least if they were Hebrew. Indeed, not only were they to set them free, they were to "provide liberally" "the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you, remembering that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; for this reason I leave this commandment upon you today" (Versus 12-18) Again, God promises to bless them if they do so. They were not to leave their freed slaves without anything to live on before they could re-establish themselves.

Thirdly, there is the interesting story of the daughters of Zelophehad, which begins in Numbers 27. A man died leaving 5 daughters but no sons. In those days, it was established that property was passed down through the sons. These sisters were brave enough to come to Moses and the other leaders of the people and say that it was not fair that they would not get their father's land as an inheritance when there were no sons in the family. Moses brought this matter to the Lord and was told that, "the daughters of Zelophehad are right." As a result, God instituted the method of passing on inheritance in this situation in considerable detail in verses 8-11 of this chapter. I am not going to spend much more time on property inheritance, but if these rules were still followed, it might save a lot of grief in families with respect to execution of wills and passing on of inheritance.

This story takes another twist in Numbers 36 when the heads of the clan to whom these daughters belong come to Moses with the concerned that these daughters may marry and then males who may not be of their tribe will end up with their property, particularly in the year of the Jubilee. The solution given for this at the time is that these daughters must marry within the tribe so that the land stays within the clan or tribe. I think this also underscores what I believe to be the principle that God was trying to teach us through the whole Jubilee process. God had given the tribes each a certain amount of land according to their size, and this was essentially not to change. Again, it goes against anybody increasing their portion of land, even a tribe. I could see that as having ramifications for nations trying to increase their size as well.

In any case, I wonder what it would do to our economic system and our method of handling property if we paid more attention to some of these rules. I think it could be quite literally liberating, as the Year Of Jubilee was to be.