BEMA Episode Link: 20: With All Your Heart
Episode Length: 31:17
Published Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2017 01:00:00 -0800
Session 1
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings look at the story of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea in Exodus 14, and then dissect their first test on the way to Mount Sinai in Exodus 15.

With All Your Heart Presentation (PDF)

Discussion Video for BEMA 20

Transcript for BEMA 20

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

  • Review
    • Talked about the book of Genesis, the preface (ch 1-11) and introduction (12-50) to his larger narrative.
      • Genesis 1-11
        • Introduces the the basic premises of his story
        • He’s made a good creation
        • He invites that creation to trust that they are good; that they are enough… and to not live in fear and insecurity
      • Genesis 12-50
        • We meet the family of God through Abraham, the father of faith.
        • This is a family that G-d wants to use. They have hutzpah, hospitality, compassion and that’s the kind of stuff that G-d wants to use.
      • G-d’s narrative then begins
        • Empire vs Shalom
        • They way of Pharaoh
          • Empire is about greed, wealth, and power.
        • If Empire is about fear, Shalom is about trust.
        • If Empire is about coercion, Shalom is about invitation.
        • If Empire is about a particular type of power–a dominator power, Shalom is a kind of power that comes from self-sacrifice.
      • G-d is after Pharaoh’s heart and want’s Pharaoh to experience him as G-d–To yeda G-d just as his people yeda him.
        • Will Pharaoh bow his knee and adopt a worldview that puts that world back together or not. The answer is no.
        • G-d then invites his people to adopt this worldview and to work with him to put the world back together just as their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, partnered with G-d to do the same thing.
  • Exodus 14
    • Exodus 14:1-4
      • G-d tells Moshe to tell the Israelites to camp between Migdol and the sea in order to confuse Pharaoh who will think they are wandering around in the desert.
      • Red Sea in no way can be interpreted as Red Sea. It should be interpreted the “Sea of Reeds”. See the presentation for more info.
        • Is it possible that the Red Sea as we know it could be known as the Sea of Reeds? Yes it is but we do not have any record of that.
        • The Text talks about the Israelites walking through WALLS of water.
        • G-d tells them to head South and Pharaoh will think that you’re crazy. Once the reach further south, they will cross the sea.
        • There are 19 respected opinions of where Sinai is. There are about as many opinions of where they crossed as well. BEMA will not try to make a decision about that.
    • Exodus 14:10
      • The people become angry with Moshe and ask why he brought them out to the desert to die instead of leaving them in Egypt to serve the Egyptians like they asked.
      • Moshe responds by telling them to stand firm and they will see G-d deliver them.
      • Verse 16 mentions Moshe’s staff which is used to symbolize the power of G-d.
      • Verse 21 mentions ruach, “with a strong east wind”.
        • Brent mentions how interesting the mention of “east” means.
        • If it’s coming out of the the east and toward the west, it would symbolize judgement. Would that be judgement of Pharaoh? This will happen a lot of Tanach which will symbolize the judgement of G-d.
      • Three-Fold Coming of Kingdom
        • Ingredients
          • The finger of G-d works
            • You can find examples of this in lots of ways. G-d works over and over.
            • The magicians told Pharaoh after one of the plagues, you need to stop resisting G-d because this is the “finger of G-d.”
            • Not only the plagues but also on the Western beach of the Red Sea, we see the finger of G-d moving.
          • People call him Lord
            • When you get to the Eastern beach of the Red Sea, they call of the name of the Lord as a people (first time this has happened as a group) saying “He is our G-d.”
            • This would be the name that G-d revealed to Moshe. YHWH (Yod-He-Vav-He).
          • People respond in obedience
            • Once they get to Sinai, the respond in obedience once they are given the law and you get a kingdom of priests.
        • Where does this idea of kingdom come from?
          • In Exodus 19, G-d tells the Israelites if they enter into a covenant with him, they will be for him a kingdom of priests.
          • Later in Judaism they connect this idea to a kingdom with this story in Exodus 19.
          • Looking at this Exodus story they identified the three things that always happens when kingdom comes.
          • There are times when people simply call on the name of the Lord and believe that Kingdom has come but the Jewish Sages would argue that you HAVE to respond in obedience in order for kingdom to come.
          • Marty argues that Jesus taught this:
            • Jesus said, If I cast out demons by the finger of G-d, then the kingdom of G-d has come among you.
            • Later in his teaching Jesus said, Not everyone who has said to me, Lord Lord, will enter the kingdom of Heaven but only those who do the will of my father who is in Heaven.
            • Marty believes Jesus directly taught this three-fold coming of kingdom.
        • The Israelites finish crossing the Red Sea and G-d takes them on a 40-day journey Mount Sinai.
          • On this 40-day journey, G-d is going to test them three times.
            • Brent: Three is a number of community.
          • God wants to test their heart, their soul, and their might.
          • The idea of testing
            • The Hebrew idea of testing is NOT Pass-Fail like the Western view of testing is.
            • The Hebrew idea G-d of testing his people is for G-d to “know” what was in there heart.
            • Doesn’t G-d already know everything?
            • G-d wants to yada what is in the heart of his people experientially. This is not a cerebral kind of knowing.
            • Yada has a lot of sexual overtones. It’s a very intimate kind of knowing. Adam yada-ed Eve.
            • This means that a testing is an opportunity and there are two gifts that can be given with a test.
              1. A gift that we get to give to G-d. A test is always an opportunity to show G-d what’s in your heart and to show him your willingness to be obedient. Not to be perfect but he gets to experience where you are in your growth.
              2. A gift from G-d to us because a testing is always an opportunity to learn a new lesson from G-d.
          • Marah, the place of water.
            • Exodus 15:22-27
              • This is test number one on the way to Sinai and G-d wants to know what’s in their heart.
              • The Hebrew word for heart is levav and when the Hebrew says heart, they mean “your will.” Worship comes from your will. To the Jewish mind, they connect worship to obedience.
                • The fact that you would willingly obey G-d is an act of worship because you’re submitting your will to G-d’s desire.
              • The Rabbis go back to Deuteronomy 8:1-5 to teach that this is a test of their heart. They want to know if they would willingly wait on every word.
              • Moshe should know about this well because this is where he spent 40 years himself as a shepherd after leaving Egypt.
                • He leads them to this well knowing that they’ll be able to drink.
                • When they get to the well it’s bitter so this is why the call it Marah, yes? No. Marah has a much deeper meaning that just a bitter taste.
                • There seems to be a dual edge in all of the rabbi’s teachings because there is a sense of a rebellious son. To be marah is to be defiantly and stubbornly rebellious.
                • You would stone a rebellious son.
                • It’s not about bitter water, it’s about a rebellious people.
                • Moshe takes a stick, not his stick but a different stick, and throws it into the water and the water becomes fit to drink.
                • G-d then issues a law and a ruling.
                • Some people read what’s next, they think this is the statute but it’s not really a law or a statute and so the Rabbis ask, “what was the law and what was the statute?”
                • The Midrash tells that the law and the statute was that when they went to drink from the well, they had to let the lame, elderly, sick, and marginalized go first.
                  • The Midrash goes on to teach G-d is wanting to teach the Israelites with every test in the desert is supposed to teach some aspect of community.
                  • They are supposed to learn that obedience and how obedience impacts community.
              • After they drink the waters from Marah, they turn the corner and come upon 12 springs and 70 palm trees and they camped near the water.
                • Significance of 12.
                  • There is enough for everybody–one well for each tribe.
                • Significance of 70.
                  • This is also a communal number.
                  • It will come back later in the text.
              • If they would have only waited on the word of G-d, he would have given them enough for everyone. G-d uses this first test to not only experience what was in their hearts but to also teach them a lesson.

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