CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
October 10, 2010
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.blakehart.com/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
PRAYERS AND PRAISE:
God’s will for our congregation Various friends, relatives and co-workers
Our nation, military and leaders The spread of the good news
THE COSMIC BATTLE - 2
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord” (Exodus 12:12).
As we stated last week, we are involved in a great cosmic battle that is often played out in this physical world. Paul stated that we are a part of the heavenly realms where there is both good and evil. Just consider the introduction of the book of Job when the Accuser, who was roaming back and forth across the earth, came into the presence of God, thus initiating another cosmic battle, this time in the life of Job.
We also spoke of water. The one who controls the water and its chaos, rules the world. Consider the power of water. We need water to survive, to wash, and to help plants grow. But when a hurricane or flood comes, we see the destructive power of water. Scripture states that God placed water where He wanted it and gave it boundaries.
In the ancient world, water was equally important. Many pagan nations worshipped a god of water as well as many other things. Egypt was no different. While Ra was the primary sun god of Egypt, there were others in which they worshipped. This was all wrapped up in the power of the Pharaoh. As such, the battle that ensues between God and Pharaoh is part of the cosmic battle that ends up being played out in the life of Israel.
Moses met God in the burning bush and was given a mission; to free God’s people from the yoke of slavery in Egypt. Would Pharaoh listen? It is interesting that the first miracle and the last miracle in or to Egypt involved water. The first of the Ten Plagues was turning the water of the Nile into blood. What is interesting is that the magicians of Egypt did the same thing. The battle had been engaged. Which God ruled? The people dug in the banks to fine fresh water yet no decisive victory was seen. After the fifth plague, the magicians recognized the power of God over creation yet Pharaoh refused to grant Moses’ request. The tenth plague was death and it freed Israel from slavery. Each plague attacked a god of Egypt, and in the end defeated them. Pharaoh had lost..
However, Pharaoh changed his mind and went after Israel. They met again on the battlefield at the Red Sea. God parted the Sea and Israel crossed on dry ground (1). Pharaoh’s army followed and was destroyed (2). Yahweh, the God of Israel, controlled the water and won the battle. Forty years later God again challenged the gods of a land, this time Canaan. Israel once again crossed water on dry ground, this time the Jordan River.
While the cosmic battle played out in the plagues, there was more going on in the story. Israel had entered Egypt as a group of seventy people. Four hundred years later they were somewhere between one and two million. For fear that the Israelites would turn against Egypt, some Pharaoh enslaved them. Then for fear that they continued to grow, they told the midwives to drown baby boys. It was different then, the boys growing to be soldiers or rebels. Today in nations where laws require only one child - China and India - it is the baby girl who dies and the boy who lives. In both cases, it is a challenge to God. God stated clearly in Genesis 1:26-28 to humans to be fruitful and multiply and rule over the earth and subdue it. God said grow, Pharaoh said no. Even today God says grow but there are those who say no. Humanity is seen as a blight on the planet and must be reduced. I was listening to a television talk show in which a woman made a passing statement that she will not have any children because the world was overcrowded, though she would adopt. Someone stated that Texas has some six or seven billion acres of land. If every person was given one acre in Texas, the entire world’s population could fit there (not that Texans would be enthusiastic about this). If that is the case, look at how much of the world is empty! The world is not overcrowded. The cosmic battle continues with the Creator of the universe verses whatever god or philosophy is opposed to Him.
Going back to Moses; his mother saved him by placing him in a basket which floated down the Nile, was followed by his sister, and who was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter. The Hebrew word for basket is used in only one other place in scripture, Noah’s ark. God saves amid the chaos. Even in chaos which God unleashes, He saves. Think now about the cross and the chaos there. Not only was death involved, but creation acted in the darkening of the sun. Out of darkness came light; the resurrection light. “Let there be light” God said in Genesis 1.
Peter Enns makes another point (3). The Hebrew word for worship and serve is the same. The question for Israel is whom will Israel serve? Will they remain enslaved to Pharaoh or will they worship and serve Yahweh at Mt. Sinai? Going back to the plagues, we see another attack on an Egyptian god, this the fertility god. When we read about the frogs and Pharaoh calling Moses to get rid of them, the question Moses asked was when Pharaoh wanted them gone. Pharaoh answered tomorrow. Why would anyone want to spend another night with the frogs? He didn’t want procreation, so deal with the frogs.
This might help explain why poems and songs speak of gods, not that they were real. It was what people chose to believe in and the plagues challenge that belief. “For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods” (Psalm 95:3). People find their gods in any number of things. It might be in money or power or fame. It is what we worship and what we become like. If you remember the battle (cosmic) between Elijah and the prophets of Ba’al. He taunted them to come and answer, but there was no answer. Then he prayed to God and God answered with fire.
However we look at this, the battle involves God’s creation and His power. He brought order out of chaos and holds back chaos until it is needed. He is the great God and King of all. This is a challenge to battle and is playing out in a number of ways in the hatred of the Judeo-Christian ethic, which we will look at, Lord willing, later this year.
George B. Mearns
(1) I saw a cartoon of this scene, Israel going through the Red Sea. And there was one guy with a fishing pole fishing in the water as they walk along. I know some of my fishing friends who would do that!
(2) There is a debate as to whether Pharaoh led his army into the Sea or watched as it was destroyed. The text is not clear.
(3) Peter Enns, Exodus, the Plagues, and the Cosmic Battle, Exodus, Mt. Sinai and Creation, and Exodus and the Cosmic Battle (Again), copied 3/27/2010, from which some thoughts for my article came, http://biologos.org