Barnabas File

The relationship between God and Israel recounted in the Hebrew Bible is a bit of a roller-coaster ride.     A good example is found in Exodus 32.     God has delivered the Israelites from Egypt. They have gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai to worship God, receive the Ten Commandments, and affirm a covenant with the Deliverer God.     Moses goes up to the mountain for 40 days to receive the commandments etched on stone by God and full instructions for a Tabernacle to symbolize God’s presence with the people.   Then it all falls apart. For their own reasons, the people despair of Moses’ returning and are afraid that this God he has proclaimed has forsaken them.  They call on Aaron to help them create a golden idol that they can see and worship.  They rebel. God sees this happening and declares to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.”  (32:7, NIV)....

Our Bible study lesson on Sunday came from Exodus 1 and 2.    The text presents the status of the Hebrews under a Pharaoh “to whom Joseph meant nothing” (Exodus 1:8, NIV), the attempts to marginalize the descendants of Jacob, and the birth and growth into manhood of Moses, the one who would lead God’s people out of bondage. A key insight was provided by James Semple, the writer of the teacher commentary.  Semple points out that all the heroes in this story are women. The Hebrew midwives,  Shiphrah and Puah, who are instructed to kill all the male children participate in an act of civil disobedience by ignoring the order.  When questioned, they simply reply,  “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” (1:19). When Pharaoh commands the Hebrews to cast their male children into the Nile, Moses’ mother Jochebed complies but she does so by placing the child in basket that will...