Our church is now in week 10 of a series in the Book of Exodus. We have just two or three more sermons to go and we are done. During that time, we had several great sermons that were no just great, but somehow timely with some of the events in our church. For example, in the week when Jethro, Moses’s father in law, tells him to delegate lesser responsibilities so that Moses could focus on the more important things, our volunteer leaders’ book discussion also addressed why leaders need to delegate and train others. Whoa!
As ten weeks have gone by and as we draw near to the end, I started thinking about what I have actually learned besides that leadership lesson (see Ruth Haley Barton’s book Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership which used the life of Moses as illustrations).
Should I focus on the historical and cultural contexts? I have a theory that if the Exodus did happen, then none of the traditional dates are true. I blogged about that years ago. No one challenged me on this. Hmmmmm… maybe an issue of readership?
Or should I focus on the Ten Plagues of Egypt? A friend asked me to watch this documentary called Exodus Decoded. The documentary was made by this liberal Jew named Simcha Jacobovici who argued that all Ten Plagues were not divine in origin but explained by naturalist causes such as a volcanic eruption to explain the plague of darkness and poisonous swamp gases which killed all the first born sons. I have a huge problem with all that.
Or maybe the Ark of the Covenant? And its true contents? Contrary to what Harrison Ford, Karen Allen and John Rhys-Davies or the Nazis think, it is not “divine” electricity:
Although, I do think people will die if they open it carelessly:
Hmmm… maybe let’s not go there. Don’t even get me started on the most recent movie Exodus; Gods and Kings. If you want to talk movies other than Raiders of the Lost Ark, then the only one worth talking about is Charlton Heston’s The Ten Commandments – 6 hours of epic cinematography. Two boxes of pop corn, two sodas, and 3 bathroom breaks.
Movies. Theories on the Ten Plagues (natural or supernatural?). Archaeology. These are only the outer layers when people, Christian or non-Christian, think about the Exodus and the Ten Commandments. I challenge all of us to set them aside and go deeper into the heart of the matter.
Next post.
amicusveritae 
Reblogged this on mfmcfcohealthtechoffa.