Embedded Files
Moses:
Mar 12-18, 2023
"Joey" Alan Le, Ph.D.
Icebreaker:
Would you rather lose all your money and valuables or lose all the pictures you have ever taken?
Would you rather be popular, but have fake friends or be unpopular, but have real friends?
Subversive Witness 5 Moses - 20230311.pdfIntroduction
Introduction
Moses’ call to service takes the challenge of subversive witness a step further. Rather than merely leveraging his privilege for the sake of those who suffer, Moses is asked to abandon his privilege altogether…twice.
Enslavement in Egypt
Enslavement in Egypt
Israel’s experience of slavery was not like the experience of African people in the Americas, where people were bought and sold by individual owners (what is called chattel slavery). This was state slavery or serfdom: the state owned the land and allowed ordinary people to farm it on the condition that they paid taxes and fulfilled the government’s requirements. This means that they had to work on state projects from time to time (Goldingay 295).
Regardless, even if it wasn’t as horrific as chattel slavery, the Hebrew people were miserable under slavery, bondage, and oppression. Read Exodus 1:11-14. Compare and contrast the state slavery of ancient Egypt with today’s modern societal problems.
Exodus 2:11-25
Exodus 2:11-25
2:11 HE WENT OUT…AND SAW. If you have it, share of a time when you left the comfort zone to witness someone else’s suffering and misery.
2:11 ONE OF HIS KINSFOLK. What do you think moved Moses’ heart to start seeing the Hebrews as his kin?
2:12 HE LOOKED THIS WAY AND THAT, AND SEEING NO ONE. Compare this language with that of Isaiah 59:15b-16. Is it possible that Moses was acting like Yhwh, intervening where he saw no one intervening?
2:13 HE SAW TWO HEBREWS FIGHTING. Is it common for God’s people to fight amongst themselves, despite being oppressed by someone else? Why is this so?
2:15 PHARAOH…SOUGHT TO KILL MOSES. How had Moses acted subversively, challenging the basic foundations – social, political, and religious – on which Egyptian society had been established?
2:15 HE SETTLED IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN. How do you think Moses felt, going from a privileged prince to an exiled criminal? Was it worth it?
2:17 MOSES GOT UP AND CAME TO THEIR DEFENSE. If Moses had already tried to be a defender before and failed, why would he do it again? How much courage and strength did Moses need for this rescue?
2:19 HE EVEN DREW WATER FOR US AND WATERED THE FLOCK. Considering how it was unthinkable for a man to perform such menial tasks for a woman in those times, what does this say about Moses’ humility?
2:23 AFTER A LONG TIME THE KING OF EGYPT DIED. THE ISRAELITES GROANED UNDER THEIR SLAVERY, AND CRIED OUT. One implication is that the people had suffered for a generation or more and not cried out. Have you ever experienced this dynamic, suffering so much that it left you numb and silent? Why is crying out and lamenting, in fact, a healthy thing? Why is it unhealthy to suppress someone else’s lament?
2:23-24 THEIR CRY FOR HELP ROSE UP TO GOD…GOD HEARD THEIR GROANING. When God hears a cry, he responds. Do you respond when you hear a cry? What prevents you from responding?
Exodus 3:1-12
Exodus 3:1-12
3:1 MOSES WAS KEEPING THE FLOCK. Read Genesis 46:34b. What do Egyptians think of the occupation of the shepherd? What does this say about Moses’ character?
3:1 OF HIS FATHER-IN-LAW JETHRO. What does this say about Moses’ status and wealth?
3:7-8 I HAVE OBSERVED THE MISERY OF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE IN EGYPT; I HAVE HEARD THEIR CRY ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR TASKMASTERS. INDEED, I KNOW THEIR SUFFERINGS, AND I HAVE COME DOWN TO DELIVER THEM. Which of God’s actions above encourages you most (hint: look at the verbs)?
3:10 SO COME, I WILL SEND YOU. If God can deliver his people by himself, why does God usually invite human agents to go do his work?
3:11 BUT MOSES SAID TO GOD, “WHO AM I?” Do you think Moses is qualified for this job? Is he unqualified? Does it matter? What admirable qualities does Moses have that we could imitate? Why do you think God waited till Moses was eighty years old to call him?
3:12 “I WILL BE WITH YOU.” Why is God’s promise to be with Moses enough to cover all of Moses' fears, inadequacies, and doubts? Is this a blanket promise that covers any endeavor you set your mind to, or specifically for the mission to alleviate and end human suffering?
Hebrews 11:23-27
Hebrews 11:23-27
How does this passage shed light on Moses’ sacrifice? What did he give up, and what did he gain?
Abandoning Privilege
Abandoning Privilege
Dominique Gilliard helpfully illustrates Moses’ state of heart:
Imagine Moses’ trepidation upon hearing God’s plan. It had been forty years since Moses was last in Egypt, and he left fleeing for his life. Egypt had been a source of trauma, violence, and oppression for Moses. There he was separated from his biological family, was socialized into a culture that saw him as inferior, and witnessed his people brutalized, exploited, and enslaved. These traumatic experiences legitimated Moses’ resistance to God's plan. Nevertheless, God called Moses to leave comfort and security yet again to reconnect with his people and to identify with their suffering. At forty years old, Moses was compelled by the Spirit to leave the palace, and then at eighty years old, he was commissioned by God to return to Egypt to confront Pharaoh. Moses’ identity, purpose, and mission were fatefully tied to his people’s condition, and though he seemed to escape this reality for seasons, God continued to bring him back to the oppression his people endured. God continued to remind Moses that he could not be truly free until his people were liberated (Gilliard 67).
Is God’s call for Moses mere leveraging of privilege, or an abandoning of privilege? What is the difference?
God challenged Moses to reimagine freedom, to redefine it in a collective, rather than individualistic, manner. The Spirit troubled Moses’ soul when he thought freedom was satiation in the palace as his people suffered beyond the royal walls. The Spirit led him to reconnect to his people and opened his eyes to their suffering (Gilliard 67-68).
Do you tend to think of freedom more individualistically or collectivistically? Why would one’s own freedom be bound up with someone else’s?
Gilliard outlines the reasons why our privilege must be abandoned:
Sometimes we are called to leverage our privilege to further the kingdom and love our neighbor, and other times we must abandon it altogether. In leaving the palace and Midian to confront Pharaoh, Moses demonstrated that God calls us to forsake privilege when it inhibits our witness and prevents us from responding to the cries of agony that arise from our people’s oppression (Gilliard 71-72).
Share your thoughts on this challenge.
What can we do to give up our privileges and serve the least in our city?
Reflection Questions
Reflection Questions
Moses’ faith foundation was laid by three powerful women. How have women informed your faith journey?
How has trauma impacted your life or the life of someone close to you?
Have you ever let your imperfections keep you from heeding God's call on your life?
How do we muster the courage to confront pharaohs? What is at risk if we do not confront pharaohs?
In a world that influences us to do otherwise, how does the gospel empower us to choose collective over individual freedom?
How is God calling you to leverage or abandon your privilege by faith? (Gilliard 81)
Works Cited
Works Cited
Gilliard, Dominique DuBois. Subversive Witness: Scripture's Call to Leverage Privilege. Zondervan, 2021.
Goldingay, John. Old Testament Theology: Israel’s Gospel. vol. 1, IVP Academic, 2003.
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