Gone Fishing

If I had an office, somewhere on the downtown Boulevard, then hanging in the front window this week would be a sign reading “Gone Fishing”. My keyboard would be cold, my office dark and a lone mouse might be seen scurrying around under my desk after crumbs that were carelessly deposited there the week before. You see, the seat at the Carpenter’s Corner is not going to be occupied for about three weeks while I am off running around an undisclosed remote area of the world. I’ll be traveling on a distant journey in search of someone who might want to hear the “Good News” of Jesus Christ.

I think many of us are really “Hobbit-like” and rarely venture out of our homes on a quest or in search of adventure. We would rather just stay at home content with our boring routines with the occasional trip to the public library or store. Maybe we think that were safe in our homes far away from the snarling traffic found on our modern expressways. Or maybe we don’t like confrontation, so we keep to a low profile slinking around like we are living in some kind of cloak and dagger mystery. Actually nobody likes confrontation but sometimes it’s just plain unavoidable. 

My story begins one day about six months ago as I was sipping tea from the comfort of my “Hobbit-like” home. As the phone begins to ring I wonder if I should screen the call. It seems that every warm blooded telemarketer this side of the Mississippi River has my number. Tentatively, I answer the phone and discover the voice on the other end is warm and friendly, it’s my friend David. “How would you like to travel with a team to one of the highest, outmost regions on the earth?” David blurts out. But as I’m sipping on my Chamomile tea, looking at my feet snuggled in my warm Ugg boots a shiver of cold darts down the middle of my back. Me? Go on an adventure?

“Well, I don’t Know, I better pray about it” I said confidently, knowing that my bank account wouldn’t pay this month’s rent let alone a trip half way around the world. So I hesitated but reluctantly agreed to attend a class on missions that was meeting at a local church. I attended the meeting where the speakers were very interesting and sincere although my mind kept thinking about how terrible it would be to leave the comfort of the Shire. Glancing at my phone I desperately tried to think of a way to get up and slip out the door unnoticed.

Actually, I did pray about it. I told God that if He wanted me to go then three items on my “To Do” list must be crossed off. One, He needed to provide the funds for the entire trip. Two, He needed to provide funds for my entire family while I was away from home. And three, He needed to find a full time job for me when I returned. Snickering, I knew I had backed God into a corner and that there was absolutely no way He could accomplish all three of those items in the next six years let alone the next six months.

Five months passed very quickly and only a handful of support letter’s had came back. With only four weeks to go I had only collected a total $ 257.77 which meant I was just $ 3824.23 dollars shy towards my trip to Shambala. I knew I was not going to be able to go and began to consider what a waste of time and energy it was to send out all those letters. Then the phone rang again.

“Hello?” It was my friend David. “Dean, we had an anonymous donor pay for your entire trip!” My jaw dropped as I desperately thought back to my “things to do” list looking for another excuse why I couldn’t go on the trip. Well, OK God granted my first request to pay for my travel but He still had to provide funds for my family while I was gone and then land me a job when I returned. I was confident that was not going to happen and did not give the trip another thought.

So now here I am writing my story and packing for my trip. As you are reading this I will be well on my way trekking up some of the steepest terrain in the world. Needless to say God crossed off the other two items on my list. A coincidence some might interject but nothing short of a miracle in my mind. Not only did God provide the funds for my family He landed me my dream job that, by the way, starts the day I return. So God is able to do exceeding more than we can ever dream, hope or imagine!

The Lamb of God

Passover is the most important annual festival in the Jewish faith. This feast was to change forever the way in which Jews worshiped their God. The tenth plague to hit Egypt and God’s subsequent plan of salvation was so important that God changed the month in which it took place to be the first month of the Jewish year.  This annual festival has been performed faithfully and continually for the past 3446 years. It is one of three annual festivals that require all male Jews to present themselves at the Temple in Jerusalem. Passover is a high point on which the Jewish faith rests and, as we will discover, is related to what Christians call “The Last Supper”.

The tenth plague on Egypt hit at the very heart of the Egyptian family unit. Firstborn males of both man and beast were going to die that night as the Lord passed through Egypt. The memorial of Passover was to become a fore shadow of God’s promised Messiah. In fact, the gravity of this event would one day even change Egypt from a polytheistic culture to a nation that would one day worship only one god. 

In Exodus chapter 12 God spoke to Moses and told him to tell the congregation of Israel that the month that the Passover took place was to become the first month of the year. Each family was to take one lamb on the 10^th day of the month of Nisan. They were to keep it close by (in their home) until the fourteenth day of that same month. The lamb was to be without blemish, a male of the first year. The whole assembly was to kill their lamb at twilight on 14th day of that month. They were to take some of the blood and put it on their home’s doorframe. Then the family was to stay inside and feast on roasted lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Anything left over was to be burned with fire. In Exodus 12:46, we read that not one of the lamb’s bones should be broken.

As God passed through Egypt, He struck down every firstborn male of both man and beast that were not protected by the blood. Remember, the nine other plagues were directed at a specific Egyptian god. This last plague was to be no different.  The key was the blood; the life is in the blood. All of Israel who was obedient to the Lord, who killed a lamb and put its blood on their doorposts, would be passed over. The plague of death would not be upon them but God would see the blood as a sign and Passover them and go to the next house.

What a beautiful picture God was painting for us of the coming future Messiah. Jesus Christ would one day present Himself in Jerusalem to become the final Passover Lamb.  In the gospel of John 1:29 John says of Jesus “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The Israelites were not saved because they were children of Abraham, performed great works or had immoveable faith but only because they were obedient to receive the free gift of salvation God offered them through the provision of the Passover lamb.

Consider the similarities of the Passover lamb and Jesus Christ. First, He was God’s firstborn male child who did not escape being sacrificed.  Jesus came to the earth (our home) and lived a sinless life. He was without spot or blemish. That means He was without acquired and inherited sin. Not a bone was to be broken in the Passover lamb and, if you remember back to when Jesus hung on the cross, He died before the Roman soldiers could break a single bone in His body. Jesus presented Himself by riding into Jerusalem on the 10^th of Nisan and then was executed on the 14^th day of that month. Jesus became the final Passover Lamb. And the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD made it impossible for all Jewish males to continue the Passover memorial.

On the night before Jesus would die on the cross, He and the twelve apostles gathered in the upper room to recline and eat the Passover meal together. This feast was the same memorial that all faithful Jews had been observing for the past 1478 years.  However on this night it would become “The Last Passover”. And while they were all together Jesus blessed and broke the bread saying “Take and eat; this is My body.” which has been broken for you. Then He raised the cup of wine and proclaimed “Drink from it all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

 Jesus Christ fulfilled the Passover that night once and for all by redeeming us with His precious blood. God had to come to earth and redeem us Himself. His blood was the only instrument powerful enough to take away sin and set us free from our bondage to it. All you have to do to be saved is to apply the blood of Jesus to the doorposts of your heart.

Plague

The Webster’s dictionary defines “plague” as “that which smites or troubles; any afflictive evil; scourge; infestation.” Have you ever gone out to your car in the morning, turned the key and…nothing happens? Or maybe there was a time when you had to wait days for the results to come back from an MRI or blood test? For me it’s waking in the morning to strong easterly Santa Ana winds blowing with a very large dark black plume of smoke billowing up to the east of me and the smell of a brushfire that gets my immediate and complete attention.

As chapters 7-12 of Exodus unfold we watch as God allows Pharaoh the opportunity to do the right thing and free the future nation of Israel from captivity. He sends Moses and Aaron first to reason with Pharaoh but to no avail. So then God unleashes the first of ten plagues on the nation of Egypt to try and get the Pharaoh’s attention. It’s interesting to note that the order and the type of plagues that were poured out on the Egyptians were not random at all. They were not like a shotgun blast thrown out into a wide area but more pinpointed, like the skill reflected in the hand of a heart surgeon ready to make his first cut.

At this time in history, the Egyptians worshipped many gods. To the Egyptian people, the Nile River was the source of life in Egypt. It provided water to drink, water to cook with, water to bathe in and water to sustain food crops for both themselves and their livestock. By turning the water to blood God was attacking at least two of the Egyptian gods; Hapi, the spirit of the Nile and Khnum, guardian of the Nile.  He was showing the Egyptians who was actually in charge. And even Pharaoh’s magicians, while they could make water look like blood, they could not change it back into clean water. God was pointing out to them His “Omnipotence” or infinite power, strength and control over all matter.

As the second plague begins, we watch as frogs come out of the Nile in great numbers and inundate the entire nation. They were everywhere, even to the point where people were squishing them underfoot. They were filling up their bath tubs and bread kneading troughs. And while Pharaoh’s magicians could make frogs come out of the Nile too, they could not get rid of them. This second plague focused on the Egyptian deity Heqt; who was fashioned in the form of a frog. Just imagine the horror as all these Egyptians were literally stepping on one of their gods!

The next plague was gnats followed by a plague of flies. If you have ever been camping down by a river during the summer, you know how annoying these insects can be as they buzz around your eyes, in your ears and nose. Pharaoh’s magicians, using their magical arts, could not reproduce these next plagues.   In Exodus chapter 8:19 we read, “The magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God’ But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said.” The finger of God; what a great truth for Pharaoh’s magicians to discover.

One characteristic that defines God is His Omniscience or His ability to see the past, present and future all at the same time. God knew beforehand what decision Pharaoh would make and that it would take all ten plagues to get him to let God’s people go. The text says both that Pharaoh hardened his own heart and that God hardened his heart too. Through the original language we can understand the text’s true meaning.  God hardening Pharaoh’s heart is more aligned with the picture of someone twisting a rope or wet towel squeezing out what was already stored inside of it.

After the flies buzz off, Pharaoh appears to be relenting a bit. He tells Moses that he will allow the Israelites to offer a bull sacrifice but only if they stay in Egypt.  Moses is quick to point out that option is not what God had commanded. Given that the Egyptians had a bull type god named Apis, the slaughter of a bull might not go over so well with the general Egyptian population.

God is the mighty surgeon and He planned these ten plagues to cut at the spiritual center of Egyptian life. He is the cosmic choreographer or conductor and is preparing for the final crescendo. It would take the death of all firstborn in Egypt to break Pharaoh and get him to submit to the Lord’s command. Next week, we will look at the tenth plague and God’s solution for the Israelites, which upon closer examination, will reveal God’s plan for salvation; Jesus Christ.