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Dwell #8 -- The 3,400 year Time Machine
O... M... G... what a week!! First of all, Andrea's husband, Matt, is back in the hospital after falling and sustaining a head injury and broken neck at the Nursing Home. Now, she found out they are falsifying records pertaining to his use of motility equipment!! I gave her the number for NH Legal Aid after seeing her post on FB. Prayers for Matt's healing from that, as well as from the series of strokes he's still recovering from as of 4 years ago this November.
Meanwhile, the latest from Mike's end is that one of his friends has been in the hospital for Anxiety. She was there 3 days and released to go home. He's been hearing her moving around upstairs and stuff, so she seems okay for now. Her name is Alice. She lives right above Mike. Also, his friend downstairs, Barb, is under threat of a 7 day eviction notice. He took her up to SEVCA Wednesday after she had received it. (County Aid Office) Prayers for all to navigate life successfully amidst the chaos. (I'm thinking of asking my oldest for a ride over there Monday, but we'll see.)* Mike also has MRIs being done this Wednesday and possibly a Tele-health consultation sometime soon, as he told them he can't afford to keep renting cars to get up to the hospital in Hanover. Prayers for the doctor's wisdom in determining next steps and scheduling.
In other news, a lifelong friend of mine lost her sister yesterday. Prayers for family and friends.
Also, my granddaughter, Brandi, starts High School this coming Monday. Prayers for her success and safety!!
Social Media is a form of idolatry many people get caught up in these days. I've been somewhat guilty of it myself, which is why I've decided recently to limit my FB time in the morning to about 2 hrs. rather than 3 or 4. I've never allowed the notifications on my phone, nor do I allow emails to do that.* For the most part, I prefer to be the one to reach out to others. I accept Messenger and Text, of course, as well as website hits and Quora, but that's it aside from regular calls. I also spend at least a few minutes on Pinterest before going to bed, just depending on what time I turn of Netflix for the night. I'm not one of these people who see Social Media as an evil thing. I have the wisdom to understand that anything you could mention can be either good or bad. It just depends on the intentions of the individual using it. For example, I thank God for Facebook because it's where my Sermon Summaries originally started, keeping them brief enough to stay in the bigger lettering. I also never would have reconnected with either Jeremy* or Mike without it. For the day-to-day, it can often be my main source of social interaction, aside from Mike's and my video chats, of course.
In today's lesson, we will discover how God exposes the lies of our personal gods to lead us to New Life in Him.
Now, just to preface our Scripture today, be reassured that we are only covering highlights here. You can turn to it in your Bible if you want, but the key points will be in this post. That being said, Pastor Joe assigned these chapters for homework during the week. (Which I haven't done... lol. Hey, I just read them a while back in my Bible in a Year thing, okay??)
Actually, I've just decided not to even copy and paste them right now. Just read Exodus 8-10 after you're done here. (Honestly, I'm not sure my laptop is even capable of that much text to highlight.)
Now, you're probably wondering about our message title today. To explain, our church has been doing this thing for a long time now called "All Together August". During this time, there is no Sunday School for the kids. It provides an opportunity for parents to train their kids to sit still and be quiet for the duration of the service. There are spaces with screens streaming the service for those who absolutely need it, however. That being said, Pastor Joe thought it would be good to engage the kids a bit for this message. Thus, the adventuresome title of this post.
Today's message, as indicated by the 3 chapter reference above, covers plagues 2-9 in the ongoing saga of Moses and Aaron ahead of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.
Pastor Joe opened his sermon with the thought for the day. "God exposes the rot and ruin of our idols so that we might give Him our allegiance and experience new life." During this time, God was giving the Egyptians over to their gods to prove the worship of them futile.
Among the pantheon of Egyptian gods was Ma'at, the goddess of wisdom and "divine order". This draws a direct parallel to God's promise to the world through the Abrahamic Covenant. In fact, we will see in this passage how each plague was in direct opposition to a specific Egyptian god. We will also find that God is not only opposing Egyptian government here, but powers of spiritual realms.
Pastor Joe had a slide showing the list of plagues and the Egyptian gods defeated by them. I'll include it below.
Okay, so here are the highlights, as promised --
Frogs -- The stench of the rotting animals after the fact related to the fact that Pharaoh had expressed his opinion of the Israelites in that same way.
Lice/gnats (depending on your translation) -- Typically, when there's a case of lice in a school setting, it's likely just the one family's belongings that need to be cleaned. Here, we find that EVERYBODY was affected.*
Flies -- While flies are usually a sign of order, as they consume human and food waste, these were biting flies that were EVERYWHERE.*
Livestock -- A major source of both food and milk, completely destroyed by no fault of their owners.
Boils -- Skin disease presented a challenge for the medical experts of that time; but also prevented the Priests from performing ritual sacrifices due to blemished skin and infection.
Hail -- While the desert sandstorms were seen as a form of protection against invasion, hail was an untamable source of trouble.
Locusts -- Typically known for destroying crops, these buggers finished off whatever may have been left after the previous devestations.
Darkness -- In this, even the Sun god, Ra, was proven as a failure.
Why would God cause such destruction, we may ask?? Our answer is found in the opening line of Pastor Joe's sermon. God wants to bless the world by revealing our own gods as useless so that we rely solely on Him. (This is not Narcissistic, as some may think. God didn't NEED to Create the World, or us. Rather, He did it in order to expand the bonds of love already existing in the Trinity.)*
As you read through these chapters after this, you will find in chapter 9, verses 15-16 that God loves us ALL and wants us to join Him. You will also discover the truth that was hinted to earlier. Some Israelites had gotten caught up in worshipping Egyptian gods, and had turned away from God.
If you've been reading the messages from this year in particular, you'll have noticed the theme of how only God can truly fulfill our human desires. At the same time, you would have seen it repeated that none of these desires are wrong UNLESS they become disordered. Once again, we look back on Adam and Eve in Genesis 1-2. During that time, they have a good relationship and fellowship with God. By the time chapter 3 rolls around, everything changes. The deceit of the Devil results in shattered relationships across the board. (As I've said before, it wasn't that the pomegranate itself was bad; it was about Eve's disobedience that made the ACT of taking and eating bad.)* The fact of shattered relationships in this scenario is why it equates to sin. The basic definition of sin is "missing the mark". When Eve disobeyed God's command, she missed the mark He had set for the both herself and Adam. As we know from Jesus' Words in the Gospels, "the mark" for Christians is simply to love God and others.
The truth is that death and disorder result from people deciding right and wrong for ourselves. This is how we end up worshipping false idols. Likewise, wooden likenesses, even of Jesus, CAN LEAD to falsehoods of God. When we ask a created thing to do for us what only God can provide, then we've set that thing (or activity) up as an idol. In other words, it's a problem when we worship the creation above the Creator.
In closing, Pastor Joe revealed what he had brought with him in the tote bag we had observed earlier. These were examples of things that people most commonly make idols of in their lives.
The first was a dollar bill. While God has provided resources and tools for us, and expects us to plan wisely for our future, He had NOT given us money to hoard for selfish reasons or power. The desire for security is good; but greed is not.
Next, Pastor Joe removed his wedding ring, just long enough to talk about how relationships, wrongly treated, can become an idol of belonging in our lives. The desire for love and belonging is good, but not at the cost of another's heart being mistreated. (Or worse, their body.)
Education and achievements are good. Pastor Joe pulled out his Seminary Diploma, in the frame, for all to see. The problem can come when we pursue these things above all else, in an effort to get fulfillment from the recognition and status it may provide.
He then pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket. As recently as 30 years ago, most people needed a dictionary or encyclopedia to gain knowledge of the world around us. Today, we have super computers we can hold in one hand. While curiosity, connection, and entertainment are all good, healthy desires in our lives, they can be harmful when our phone is our only source of these things. The last item Pastor Joe took out was a small American Flag. This speaks to our core desires of both identity and belonging. He then shared briefly about how his grandfather had come over from Italy with a dual citizenship, looking to build a better future for his family. This is all well and good. It's what the Statue of Liberty is all about. But it can be harmful when we identify with country first, and God second. Amen??
As I said before, anything can be an idol just like the Egyptian gods. But the truth is that ONLY GOD can truly satisfy. Pastor Joe compared us to Prodigals who finally come to our senses when we realize this and return to God.
He called our attention to Colossians 2:15, which reminds us that, in Christ, God has disarmed the demonic spirits of the air, making a spectacle of them. This is the same as He did back in Egypt by revealing their false gods as ineffective. He ended by reading from Matthew 11:27-30 about how Jesus invites us to rest in Him.
We then partook of Communion a week earlier than usual, so grab a small snack and read Exodus 8-10 as you meditate on these truths.
-- God Bless!!
Footnotes:
When I was in the middle of the plague list, Mike called me on video chat. He explained that he misinterpreted my idea of coming over on Monday, thinking that I had only intended to stay for a few hours and come home. He also expressed that it's actually better for everyone if he comes here. So, when I do talk to Carissa about this, it will be for the week after next instead.
Of course, if I WERE to allow email notifications, I wouldn't have over 26,000 unread, either... 😉🤪 Just goes to show how little attention I DO pay to my phone...
Speaking of Jeremy, I have yet to hear from him again. As I said before, it's his loss, not mine.
A brief search shows how God included the Israelites in the first few plagues, but starting with #4, made a division, both physical and spiritual, that protected them from the later ones.
I don't know how it is in other countries, but here in the New England, we have something called "Black Fly Season". It has been determined that this lasts from Mid May to Mid June, and annoys everyone in range. We may never know why God has allowed this.
As I've said before, aside from a few select things like murder, rape, adultery, and theft, sin is actually subjective. The truth is, that while the ISSUE of sin is universal, the DEFINITIONS of sin may differ according to various cultures and places over time. Since the Biblical definition of sin is basically "anything that negatively impacts our relationship with God", that's mostly an individual thing. (To cite my reference of the ISSUE and DEFINITION bit again, it comes from the book, "Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes", by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O'Brien.
As always, be sure to catch the podcast, Dive in With Matt and Joe, every Wednesday afternoon.
I almost forgot to mention that our community help organization, CityHopenh.org, has announced expanding the scope of classes, starting soon. Check it out for information and/or donations.
Music -- Never any rights, I promise!!
Unfortunately, Wix no longer allows me to choose images downloaded from my phone; but there are numerous charts you can look at online that relate to this issue.
