The Israelites and the Drama of God

The book of Exodus is one of the most amazing in the Bible. However every time I read it, I feel many little nudges all over me. I always think about how it really was from the human perspective of the Israelites and Moses and what they must have thought about as they followed the Lord.

I don’t blame Moses for being afraid to talk to the Pharaoh. Do you blame him? It’s a good way to land in prison or get killed. God is pretty gracious about it and doesn’t give him any flack but suggests that he uses Aaron, Moses brother as his mouthpiece. With that business all settled, Moses heads to the pharaoh to have not one, but many meetings.

The next amazing thing is that God just can’t do things in an easy or simple way. If I were Moses, I wouldn’t have needed Aaron, but I would have had a discussion with God about why in the world it would take so many plagues and miraculous signs to make the pharaoh let them go. God is God, so why couldn’t he just turn Pharaoh’s heart and let the Israelites go the first time around?

Well, God IS God and He can do whatever He wants! He sure worked up a dramatic story line. I have always suspected that God really was into the theatrics of the moment. Poor Moses and Aaron had to go step by step thru many meetings, displaying miracles and signs and prophesying plagues galore. It must have been stressful for them, but God wasn’t worried about human fear, He was focusing on showing His glory. He loved the Israelites and He was showing His power for their benefit in the long run. He had them in the palm of his hand the whole time. But I still suspect there were exasperating moments for Moses!

After the final plague, which killed all the first-born sons in Egypt including the Pharaoh’s, the Israelites headed out of town with the Egyptians in hot pursuit.

How could it not have been a little overwhelming for the group as they fled their homeland and all they ever knew? They had to rely on a God they couldn’t see. They had to trust in their leader Moses. Certainly, from a human standpoint, doubts must have plagued their minds.

But God was focused on his goals in this situation.

“When I am finished with Pharaoh and his army, all Egypt will know that I am the Lord!” Exodus 14:18

God showed amazing theatricality during all this and also tender concern over his chosen people. This is evident in how he supernaturally protected them.

“Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to a position behind them, and the pillar of cloud also moved around behind them. The cloud settled between the Israelite and Egyptian camps. As night came, the pillar of cloud turned into a pillar of fire, lighting the Israelite camp. But the cloud became darkness to the Egyptians, and they couldn’t find the Israelites.” Exodus 14:19-20.

The next morning was a spectacular one indeed as Moses raised his hand over the Red Sea and the waters parted. This was no Universal Studios Tour. This was the real deal.

Then came the most dramatic ending possible, Moses and the Israelites made it to the other side and the Egyptians were lost as the Red Sea’s waters dramatically swept back over them and they were washed away.

God had had his day. A standing ovation for a fabulous display of power and might!

This rescue had a big influence on the Israelites who had been grumbling to Moses the day before.

“When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had displayed against the Egyptians, they feared the Lord and put their faith in him and his servant Moses.” Exodus 14:31

Now they were ready to tackle the wilderness!

Homeschooling Anyone?

If you surf the Christian blogs on the internet, you will find that homeschooling is very popular among many conservative Christian families. And before I go any further, I want to make it very clear for those who may have weak analytical and critical thinking skills, that this is not a post against homeschooling. I want to explore the subject and look at it from a different perspective. Please feel free to post comments, even if you don’t agree but I will not engage in any long drawn out arguments. (They can end in anger! Not good!) If we don’t agree, we don’t agree. Deal with it.

I don’t blame any parent, especially Christian parents, for wanting to pull their kids out of the American public school system. The public schools have stopped nearly all funding for music and arts, blatantly promote liberal thinking and politics, push the homosexual agenda, pass out condoms like candy and tell the kids how to use them, and they seem to be against anything that remotely resembles conservative values.

So middle America has three options: pull their kids out and put them in private schools, (which are usually expensive) set them up at the kitchen table with their textbooks, or fight a system which won’t change until their kids are probably finished with college and by then it will be too late; they will be running around with rings in their noses and have probably lost their virginity.

Because the system cannot be changed quickly, parents opt for the cheapest solution, homeschooling. Ardent mothers quit their jobs and head home to brush up on their teaching skills. Proverbs 31 will need to be redefined to fit in, "She teaches calculus." It's a little scary to me but hey, it's not my kids.

Many Christians now are calling for a complete “flight” from public schools. I often wonder why Christians, whose founding fathers started the whole business of America and free education, don’t stand up and take back the public school system. I mean, don’t American Christians have just as much of a right to have their children educated in this country as much as a homosexual couple’s child?

Why do American Christians seem opposed to engage in the secular culture and having their voices heard on this topic?

Do we, as Christians really want to create a counter culture or “ghetto” to live in? What’s next? Moving to Montana and making it Christianland?

My hats are off to those who want to go thru the arduous process of homeschooling. I know many of the moms are desperate to find a way to raise their children in a safe environment and make healthy choices for them.

But I will wave an even bigger hat at all the people who are committed to deal with the system as it is and attempt to improve it. The American public school system is a mission field that needs workers!

Personally, I have decided not to homeschool my children. I am praying that God will provide funds for me to send them to a private Christian school. If I do not have the extra money, then they will have to go to public schools. That is my choice. I don’t feel I am qualified to teach school subjects at a level that a student deserves. I want my kids to go to college and not major in domestic skills. I also feel strongly that a child needs to know what the difference is in regards to a relationship between a parent who disciplines them and has the final authority over their lives and a teacher who is an instructor that will guide them in school subjects.

Should Christians play roles or be real?

Should Christian women play a role?

To me a role is what an actor plays in a movie or play. It’s an assigned character with words and actions scripted out. It’s the actor’s job to flesh out the character and make it real for those watching. The better the actor, the more real the role is.

When I received Christ as my savior, I didn’t know that I was supposed to play out a role as a woman. The Bible I read does not give me a scripted part to play. There are commands from the Lord; guidelines for my life and some of them are definitely pointed towards women or men. They are very simple and basic, designed to help us live healthy lives. But I fail to see that God gives out roles like a director of a movie and expects women to have certain "hobbies" or jobs.

I feel that whenever a Christian starts to play a role, and I believe that those of us who spend any time in a church anywhere will not know what I’m talking about, they become phony, false and basically lack the heart or spirit of their faith.

I personally love Proverbs 31. It is a beautiful passage. I think there are guidelines there for married women but I cannot tear it apart and assign tasks or a role for us as women to play out as literally as some people want to do. I mean, what is flax? I don't even know what flax is. If a woman who lives in Antarctica (where for the sake of this post, let’s assume there’s no flax) receives the Lord, does she run the risk of displeasing God because she can’t spin some?

I think it’s extremely important to read all of the Bible and not pick and choose passages but it’s also important not to take it so literally that women (and men) put themselves back into bondage and resort to legalism.

Taking Five

I've been taking a break from posting and spending a lot of time with the Lord. I appreciate all the comments about the posts on Christian femininity but am still siding with what I believe, which is that Christian women need to seek Christ and make Him Lord of their lives in a personal relationship with him before they seek anything else around them. Striving to make the "role" of a woman our focus or goal in life is just a substitute for the real thing which is Jesus Christ. I think it's important for Christians to work against stereotypes and be real people that non-Christians can relate to.

I will publish more next week after a few more days off and hopefully will blog about a different subject. I just keep going because it seems to be an important one that parts of the body of Christ do not understand.

Christian Women's Answer to Feminism

I have really enjoyed all the dialogue on this blog concerning femininity and the idolatry of feminism that seems to be going on in the circles of some Christian women.

I have been studying and reading more blogs on this topic and find that the topic of women and their femininity isn’t just something for Christian women to be discussing, but it seems that American femininity in general needs to be redefined.

I grew up under the shadow of the ERA movement and lived in a very conservative family. I was told by society that I could grow up and become whatever I wanted (profession wise) and receive the same pay as a man. I grew up and found out that while women’s job opportunities had definitely opened up, things were not exactly equal in the business world. Things were even less equal in the relationship area as men and women base sex as the foundation of their relationships and men have moved away from committing to anything.

With the “coming of age” of the feminist movement, many women have found that it’s not possible to “have it all.” They were sold on being able to be a professional woman as well as a wife and mother. They grew up and found out that as always, women had to make a choice. The good thing about feminism is that now women at least have a choice.

The backlash of feminism is that many women again are lost and are not able to define themselves in society. Christian women especially are taking this backlash to extreme and are now throwing themselves into anything and everything that has been stereotyped as “feminine” so that they can define their world and create emotional security for themselves.

Is it any wonder then that young Christian women who are sheltered and taught to be separate from the world, begin to romanticize their femininity, their relationships with their future husbands and future children? Is it any wonder that married women crave the coziness and safety of home and blog to each other about the joys of baking bread? They are not seeking a true foundation of biblical values in their lives, but building a foundation on the stereotype of femininity.

Titus 2:3 says:

Teach the older women to live in a way that is appropriate for someone serving the Lord. They must not go around speaking evil of others and must not be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely…

Let’s stop right there and look at these three words closely,

to live wisely

Here’s my paraphrase, "to teach younger women not to live foolishly, rashly, or to stick romantic fantasies in young girl’s heads. To not indulge in feminine stereotypes that would take them away from their focus in life", which is per I Corinthians 7:

To be more devoted to the Lord in body and in spirit

Kimi commented and offered a web site for me to check out called, Home Living Helper. In it, I read about the joys of living in rural English during the early 1800’s and how women nowadays just don’t know how to cook anymore because no one taught them how because their moms were all working etc etc. This is all hogwash. This blog is just a homey little hobby blog for women who are living on a different planet. Whatever floats your boat.

Sitting around and talking about the good ole days in Victorian times is not going to help any modern young Christian women of today. Victorian times were painful for women. Every childbirth was life threatening, and most marriages had nothing to do with love but where about finances. And don’t even get me started on romanticizing Jane Austen’s world. Is it really better to live in a world where one daughter could create a scandal with a man and her four sisters would be denied marriage with anyone else and become destined to a life of poverty? Do these women now really want that?

We are called to Christ, not to a womanly stereotype. Christ died for us, not just for men but for us. The Bible is not just for men but for women and we are called to live our lives being devoted to Him and not to a stereotype.

" Why be like pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern." Matthew 6:32-33

(All Bible quotes NLT)

Trusting God

This week is loaded with activities, some are good and some deal with the unknown.

I find that sometimes when I am dealing with unknown situations where potential problems could arise, I sometimes forget to lean on God and start using my instincts to protect myself. This is a fearful way to live and can be very tiring.

This week I am going to commit to trusting God to be my protector in every situation.

Psalm 91 is one of my favorite Psalms which deals with protection.

"He will shield you with his wings. He will shelter you with his feathers. His faithful promises are your armor and protection." Psalm 91:4

Following Jesus

I have been spending time lately contemplating why Christians have such a hard time getting a long together.

Last week I was studying Matthew 10:5-42 and meditating on what Jesus told his disciples regarding how to prepare to go into the world to share the gospel. In this passage, Jesus gives pretty detailed instructions, including what to take with you, what not to take, where to go and when to know it'’s time to leave. It even includes the perspective a disciple needs to have towards the people he leaves behind and meets along the way.

As I studied this passage, I realized that Jesus was talking to his followers. They not only believed in Him, but they choose to leave their families and former lives behind to go and tell the world about Jesus.

I began to wonder if sometimes the problems that arise between some believers is not one of doctrinal disputes but it is simply the fact that many believe in Jesus, profess him as their savior, have an intellectual belief in Him but have not yet taken His word literally to their hearts. I see that some believers have an intellectual belief in him, while others have chosen a heart response to Jesus and made the choice to follow him in all areas of their lives.

I think following Jesus is a lot different than just believing in him. Following means you are intent on doing what he says, learning and obeying the lifestyle he lays out for us in scripture. It means loving him and responding to him from your heart and the belief in him is not just an intellectual acceptance of him into your life, but a spiritual acceptance into your heart that causes you to stop clinging to your old way of life and embrace his way of life.

Many Christians sit in church every Sunday. They read and study the Bible but have not yet decided to follow and be a disciple of Jesus. That decision means actively pursuing the lifestyle of discipleship that Jesus spells out for us in Matthew 10. This is a decision of the heart and spirit in regards to our desired relationship with him.

Jesus pointed out in John 5:39-40 that even the Pharisees knew scripture but yet did not recognize him as their messiah:

You search the scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me so that I can give you this eternal life.

It is one thing to believe in Jesus but another to choose to follow him. It is important that we not just study the scriptures or hear them but make a heart felt decision to follow him!

If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it. Matthew 10:39

(All scripture quotes NLT)