How Do We Read Difficult Passages?

Exodus 13 begins with the Lord giving Moses a new command, to ‘dedicate all the firstborn to me ...’ (13:1,2).  This new instruction is clearly important. It is not easy for us to understand the significance of the firstborn to ancient people, but for them, the firstborn represented not just God’s blessing of life, but the promise of future generations. By dedicating the firstborn to God, people submitted both their lives and their hopes and dreams for the future to God.

This episode in the life of the Hebrew people raises tough theological questions.  We see God choosing death for the first-born children of an entire nation because Pharaoh had rejected God (12:19f.) – not just once, but ten times!  Here, God’s particular care for the descendants of Jacob means that not only their oppressors, but also, surely thousands of innocents, die as well.  This seems at great odds with the God of love and mercy we encounter in the person of Jesus who welcomes children on his knee.  So, how do we reconcile this text, or any difficult text we read in the bible?

Here are a few guidelines that have helped me…

1. Embrace the truth of God’s Word. The Bible is inspired, or God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). God is the author of Scripture and the source of all truth.
2. Remember that the Bible was written for us, not to us. The Holy Spirit had an immediate audience in mind when he inspired the writing of each book, working through 40 different authors over a period of 1,500 years. The first recipients of the books of Moses, for example, were Israelites whom God had delivered from slavery after four centuries in Egypt. Even so, the truths of the Torah for each subsequent generation – including ours – may be gleaned from the record of God’s work in his people long ago.
3. Never read a bible verse in insolation, instead, consider the context. Ask yourself: Who is the human author of the passage under consideration? What is the intended audience? When was the book written? What is the book’s main purpose? How do the answers to these questions help you better understand the meaning of the verses you’re studying?
4. Compare Scripture with Scripture. If you’re exploring Paul’s mention of those who have “fallen from grace,” for example, see what else Paul has written about grace and salvation. Then, compare Paul’s teaching with the writings of other biblical authors on the same topic. The whole counsel of God becomes clearer when you do this.
5. Dig deeper into words. Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic words can bear different meanings. And different English words are sometimes used to translate the same word from the original language. For example, the KJV renders the Hebrew word Sheol as “hell,” “grave,” and “pit.” A good Bible dictionary may prove helpful.
6. Seek to interpret difficult Bible passages in light of the entire witness of Scripture from Genesis through Revelation. Consider the over-arching, consistent themes of the bible and how they help to shed light on the difficult passage.
7. Stay humble, continue to be curious, and keep an open mind-set as you dialogue with others in your small group or Sunday School class, or you invite new perspectives from authors, scholars, or other voices throughout history, tradition, and location.

In our lesson from Sunday, the death of Egypt’s first-born sons is held in contrast to the dedication of the first-born sons of the Hebrews and the importance of memory.  The rules for the Unleavened Bread festival are completed by further instructions about remembrance (13:7-10). The story of the Exodus was to be handed down from father to son (13:8), and the feast was to be a memorial (13:8,9). In order to make the point in a new way, Moses likens this to the way people make ways of remembering things, like tying things to their wrists, or writing on their hands (13:9); in order for the people to remember, it seems they need a reminder! Moses also describes such reminders as being ‘a sign on your hand or a pendant between your eyes’ (13:16), objects which remind the wearer of God’s ‘strong hand’ to save (13:16).

We do not know what these objects were, though later in Deuteronomy, Moses gives further descriptions of them (Deuteronomy 6:8-9 and 11:18-20) and their importance to God’s people. Here, a technical word ‘phylactery’ or 'tefillin' is used to describe a small box containing verses of God’s law that was strapped by means of a leather strap around the forehead and arms (see Wikipedia image above). The idea sounds rather drastic to us, but the idea is not too far off from what it means for a Christian to wear a Cross as a sign of faith today.  Of course, all such signs or symbols can degenerate to become meaningless unless the community in which you live helps give meaning to the particular sign, but the whole point of the festival of Unleavened Bread was to do this -- to give meaning and to be shared from generation to generation!

We might say that such objects of remembrance do not matter today, but the truth is that we all need reminders to stay in love with God.  If something reminds us to stay the course of faith, following Christ in practical ways, then it is surely useful!  Moses gave these commands so that the remembrance of God did not become mere words to Israel. So let us make sure that our own worship of God and practice of Christian discipleship is not a matter of mere words.  If we need reminders or tools to help us live out our relationship with God in community, then we should not be afraid to use things like candles, prayer journals, crosses (worn or otherwise) and other artifacts that point us to God and a life of love.  

Review

Exodus 13:1 - 10 (Message)

Pray

Dear God, your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.  Amen.

Learn

Join us on Sunday, July 7 for the Stay & Play Engagement Hour (11:15 am) as Naomi Bartakke shares more about the Passover Meal from her own faith tradition and family experience.