Proper 16
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
With this text, there now occurs a long gap of time in the biblical history of Israel. Jacob and Joseph and his eleven brothers and all their offspring have kept their flocks around the fertile delta of the Nile River in the region of Goshen. But as we read in the priestly introduction of Exodus 1:1-7 to our morning's text, all of that generation finally dies, and at the beginning of our lesson, we read the ominous sentence, "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph."
Scholars are reasonably certain that the "new king" was Seti I, who ruled Egypt from ca. 1309-1290 B.C. The facts we are given in verse 11 of our text tell us that the Pharaoh built store-cities at Pithom and Raamses, and those, along with numerous other constructions, were begun in the reign of Seti I. The city of Raamses was called by that name only until the eleventh century B.C., when it was renamed Tanis. And when the Israelites finally escaped from Egypt, they encountered both Edom and Moab in the wilderness (Numbers 20-21), but neither of those kingdoms was established before 1300 B.C. Thus, we are dealing in the book of Exodus with actual history, and our text probably recounts events that took place during the beginning of the reign of Seti.
As is always the case in the biblical story, God has a hand in these historical events, however. The people of Israel multiply rapidly and spread throughout the land of the lower Nile. That is not a notice of Israelite fertility, but of God's working to keep his promise to the patriarchs. God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the heavens (Genesis 15:5), and that promise is now being fulfilled. That is what our narrator wants to impress upon us.
But of course human fears and follies always arise to try to place obstacles in the way of God's activity. And so Pharaoh Seti, seeing the rapid spread of the Israelites, is afraid that they will join forces with some enemy and overthrow his throne. As a result, he enslaves the Israelites and sets them to hard labor on his many building projects (vv. 9-14). In addition, the royal order is given that all midwives are to kill any Israelite male child that they deliver onto their knees as they sit on the birthstool. Significantly, the names of just two midwives are given, an indication of still how small is the Israelite population (vv. 15-16).
"But the midwives feared God" (v. 17), that is, they are obedient to God and honor his gift of newborn life. The faithful women do not kill the newborns. They make excuses to the Pharaoh, and Israel continues to multiply. Desperate, the Pharaoh finally orders all male children under two years of age to be thrown into the Nile and drowned (v. 22).
The child who is to become Moses is introduced into the story. When his mother sees that she can no longer hide the "goodly child," the healthy child, from Pharaoh's slaughter, she cradles him in a little waterproof basket and hides the basket among the Nile reeds, instructing her daughter Miriam to watch to see what happens. And how fortuitous! -- or is it the guiding of God? When the daughter of Pharaoh comes to the site to bathe, she discovers the hidden basket and takes pity on the crying child, deciding to raise him in the royal palace as her son. Miriam, seeing her opportunity, comes out of her hiding place and offers to find a wet nurse for the child -- the child's own mother, who not only gets to nurse and raise her infant for at least three years, but is paid for doing so! And finally, in the most ironic touch of all, Pharaoh's daughter names the child "Moses," which comes from the Hebrew mashah, "to draw out." Pharaoh's household will become the nurturer of Pharaoh's future opponent, who will "draw out" Israel from slavery!
The passage forms a wondrous account of God's activity in human life, through human fear and faithfulness, human love and pity. Once again, the unseen Lord is at work to keep his promise. But note by what a slender thread God's working hangs. It depends on the obedience of two faithful midwives, on the love of a mother for her newborn, on a flimsy basket that does not leak, on a watching older sister, and on the pity of a royal daughter. At any point in the story, the thread could break and God's purpose could be thwarted. But it does not break and the divine plan moves forward.
Is there not a lesson for us in the tale? A lot of seemingly insignificant events take place in our lives, and we make lots of choices. At the time, how we choose seems to be of no consequence whatsoever. The smallest decision we make, we think, certainly will not affect the outcome of history or the working out of God's purpose for humankind. But could it be that if we are faithful and make decisions and choices that we know are right and according to God's will, those are gathered up and used by Almighty God in his ongoing purpose? In every action, every thought, every decision of our lives, God has a stake. He asks only that we be faithful, in whatever little corner of his world he has placed us, and concerning whatever little task he has given us.
Lutheran Option: Isaiah 51:1-6
How do we know God will keep his Word? Certainly he has made lots of promises to us human beings. To the exiles in Babylonia through the words of Second Isaiah he promised deliverance, a new exodus, a new Eden paradise, a new age of joy that would encompass the earth. And to us he has promised forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and his kingdom come.
Our passage points out one of the ways we can be reassured about God's faithfulness to his Word. "Look to the rock from which you were hewn," God tells captive Israel, "Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you" (vv. 1-2). "I kept my promises to them," God is saying. "I promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation with many descendants, and that has come to pass" (v. 2).
In other words, God kept his promises to Israel -- not only the promise of descendants, but of land, of covenant, and of blessing. That is one of the functions of the Old Testament for us Christians -- that it tells the story of the centuries through which God kept his Word. Indeed, the Lord finally fulfilled his promises to Israel in Jesus Christ, summing up all that had gone before in Israel's life, so that Paul can write, "All the promises of God find their 'Yes' in him" (2 Corinthians 1:20). Can we doubt, then, that God will keep his promises to us that he has given through our Lord? Surely the resurrection is the final confirmation of all that God has said!
There is another promise given in our text for the morning. In verse 6, God tells us through his prophet that heaven and earth will pass away, but that his deliverance will never be ended and his salvation will be forever. In an atomic age, surely that is comfort for our anxious hearts. We may blow the earth off its axis, in our human sin and greed and pride, but those who trust God will be taken into an eternal kingdom that will never end. Nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, good Christians -- nothing that human beings can devise or do. And in that love we can have joy and hope and certainty forevermore.
Scholars are reasonably certain that the "new king" was Seti I, who ruled Egypt from ca. 1309-1290 B.C. The facts we are given in verse 11 of our text tell us that the Pharaoh built store-cities at Pithom and Raamses, and those, along with numerous other constructions, were begun in the reign of Seti I. The city of Raamses was called by that name only until the eleventh century B.C., when it was renamed Tanis. And when the Israelites finally escaped from Egypt, they encountered both Edom and Moab in the wilderness (Numbers 20-21), but neither of those kingdoms was established before 1300 B.C. Thus, we are dealing in the book of Exodus with actual history, and our text probably recounts events that took place during the beginning of the reign of Seti.
As is always the case in the biblical story, God has a hand in these historical events, however. The people of Israel multiply rapidly and spread throughout the land of the lower Nile. That is not a notice of Israelite fertility, but of God's working to keep his promise to the patriarchs. God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the heavens (Genesis 15:5), and that promise is now being fulfilled. That is what our narrator wants to impress upon us.
But of course human fears and follies always arise to try to place obstacles in the way of God's activity. And so Pharaoh Seti, seeing the rapid spread of the Israelites, is afraid that they will join forces with some enemy and overthrow his throne. As a result, he enslaves the Israelites and sets them to hard labor on his many building projects (vv. 9-14). In addition, the royal order is given that all midwives are to kill any Israelite male child that they deliver onto their knees as they sit on the birthstool. Significantly, the names of just two midwives are given, an indication of still how small is the Israelite population (vv. 15-16).
"But the midwives feared God" (v. 17), that is, they are obedient to God and honor his gift of newborn life. The faithful women do not kill the newborns. They make excuses to the Pharaoh, and Israel continues to multiply. Desperate, the Pharaoh finally orders all male children under two years of age to be thrown into the Nile and drowned (v. 22).
The child who is to become Moses is introduced into the story. When his mother sees that she can no longer hide the "goodly child," the healthy child, from Pharaoh's slaughter, she cradles him in a little waterproof basket and hides the basket among the Nile reeds, instructing her daughter Miriam to watch to see what happens. And how fortuitous! -- or is it the guiding of God? When the daughter of Pharaoh comes to the site to bathe, she discovers the hidden basket and takes pity on the crying child, deciding to raise him in the royal palace as her son. Miriam, seeing her opportunity, comes out of her hiding place and offers to find a wet nurse for the child -- the child's own mother, who not only gets to nurse and raise her infant for at least three years, but is paid for doing so! And finally, in the most ironic touch of all, Pharaoh's daughter names the child "Moses," which comes from the Hebrew mashah, "to draw out." Pharaoh's household will become the nurturer of Pharaoh's future opponent, who will "draw out" Israel from slavery!
The passage forms a wondrous account of God's activity in human life, through human fear and faithfulness, human love and pity. Once again, the unseen Lord is at work to keep his promise. But note by what a slender thread God's working hangs. It depends on the obedience of two faithful midwives, on the love of a mother for her newborn, on a flimsy basket that does not leak, on a watching older sister, and on the pity of a royal daughter. At any point in the story, the thread could break and God's purpose could be thwarted. But it does not break and the divine plan moves forward.
Is there not a lesson for us in the tale? A lot of seemingly insignificant events take place in our lives, and we make lots of choices. At the time, how we choose seems to be of no consequence whatsoever. The smallest decision we make, we think, certainly will not affect the outcome of history or the working out of God's purpose for humankind. But could it be that if we are faithful and make decisions and choices that we know are right and according to God's will, those are gathered up and used by Almighty God in his ongoing purpose? In every action, every thought, every decision of our lives, God has a stake. He asks only that we be faithful, in whatever little corner of his world he has placed us, and concerning whatever little task he has given us.
Lutheran Option: Isaiah 51:1-6
How do we know God will keep his Word? Certainly he has made lots of promises to us human beings. To the exiles in Babylonia through the words of Second Isaiah he promised deliverance, a new exodus, a new Eden paradise, a new age of joy that would encompass the earth. And to us he has promised forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and his kingdom come.
Our passage points out one of the ways we can be reassured about God's faithfulness to his Word. "Look to the rock from which you were hewn," God tells captive Israel, "Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you" (vv. 1-2). "I kept my promises to them," God is saying. "I promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation with many descendants, and that has come to pass" (v. 2).
In other words, God kept his promises to Israel -- not only the promise of descendants, but of land, of covenant, and of blessing. That is one of the functions of the Old Testament for us Christians -- that it tells the story of the centuries through which God kept his Word. Indeed, the Lord finally fulfilled his promises to Israel in Jesus Christ, summing up all that had gone before in Israel's life, so that Paul can write, "All the promises of God find their 'Yes' in him" (2 Corinthians 1:20). Can we doubt, then, that God will keep his promises to us that he has given through our Lord? Surely the resurrection is the final confirmation of all that God has said!
There is another promise given in our text for the morning. In verse 6, God tells us through his prophet that heaven and earth will pass away, but that his deliverance will never be ended and his salvation will be forever. In an atomic age, surely that is comfort for our anxious hearts. We may blow the earth off its axis, in our human sin and greed and pride, but those who trust God will be taken into an eternal kingdom that will never end. Nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, good Christians -- nothing that human beings can devise or do. And in that love we can have joy and hope and certainty forevermore.
