Devotion for the Thirty-Fifth Day of Lent: Monday in Holy Week (LCMS Daily Lectionary)

Above:  A Crucifix with Votive Candles

Exodus and Hebrews, Part II:  Judgment, Mercy, and Apostasy

APRIL 3, 2023

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

Exodus 9:1-28

Psalm 119:73-80 (Morning)

Psalms 121 and 6 (Evening)

Hebrews 2:1-18

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A Related Post:

Prayer:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/prayer-for-monday-of-passion-weekholy-week/

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Before I arrive at my main point I choose to indulge myself in raising two points.

ALPHA

All the livestock of the Egyptians died in Exodus 9:6.  That is what the text says.  Where, then, did the Egyptians get the livestock mentioned in 9:19?  My inquiring mind wants to know.  The source of both verses is presumably the Elohist (E), so I cannot explain away this detail by pointing to the editing together of different documents.  And I assume that the Hebrews kept all their livestock, of which we will read later in the Book of Exodus.

I did find one attempt to explain this detail.  The NIV Study Bible (1985), page 98, offers this weak explanation:

That is, all that were left out in the fields.  Protected livestock remained alive (see vv. 19-21).

But that is not what 9:6 says.  It does not say that all the unprotected livestock died.  No, even in the New International Version, it reads:

All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but one one animal belonging to the Israelites died.

The sooner we abandon misconceptions of Scriptural infallibility and inerrancy, the better off we will be.  We ought not to transform texts into allegedly error-free idols.  No, an error crept in somewhere during the transmission of the saga of the plagues.  That is the simplest explanation.

BETA

Hebrews 2:15 is one source for the Conquest Satan theory of the Atonement.  One finds three understandings of the Atonement in the writings of the first five centuries’ worth of the Church Fathers.  The other two are Penal Substitution and the Incarnation itself.

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Now for my main programming….

Exodus 9:20-21, for the first time in that book, makes a distinction between those Egyptians who obeyed God’s instructions and those who did not.  Those who did as Moses said reaped the benefits.  And, in Hebrews 2:1-4, we read a stark warning not to neglect salvation

so that we do not drift away.

–2:1b, The New Jerusalem Bible

Yes, I affirm Single Predestination and its partner, free will, and therefore recognize the possibility of committing apostasy.  I do not advocate apostasy, however.  Free will plays a vital role in gaining and retaining salvation for many people.

The original audience for the Letter to the Hebrews risked suffering for the Gospel.  So here in Chapter 2 we find yet another passage which contradicts the idea that suffering necessarily equals punishment for sin.  In fact, the text tells us, Christ’s suffering “perfected” him, that is, completed the divine plan of salvation.  So Christ, who has suffered, can identify with and help suffering Christians.

This is excellent news.  It should encourage us in our struggles.  But if we drift away, there remains the possibility of returning.  I do not presume to know the extent of divine mercy.  It is vast, however.  But there is also judgment.  All of these matters are for God, not me, to decide and decree.  If we are prodigal sons or daughters, may we return to home and stay there.  And, if we are elder brothers or sisters, may we not resent divine mercy.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 30, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA, HISTORIAN AND ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF APOLO KIVEBULAYA, ANGLICAN EVANGELIST

THE FEAST OF JOACHIM NEANDER, GERMAN REFORMED MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOSEPHINE BUTLER, WORKER AMONG WOMEN

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/exodus-and-hebrews-part-ii-judgment-mercy-and-apostasy/

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