Upcoming Sunday
Old Testament Readings
Sunday 27 August
2017
Exodus
1:8-2:10
Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said
to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful
than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in
the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the
land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced
labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more
they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians
came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks
on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and
brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks
that they imposed on them. The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one
of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you act as midwives to the
Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if
it is a girl, she shall live.” But the midwives feared God; they did not do as
the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So the king of
Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and
allowed the boys to live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew
women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before
the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people
multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave
them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born
to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl
live.” Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The
woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she
hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus
basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in
it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at
a distance, to see what would happen to him. The daughter of Pharaoh came down
to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw
the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it,
she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, “This must be one
of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s
daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the
child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and
called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and
nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child
and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter,
and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew
him out of the water.”
–––––––––––– –––––––––––– –––––––––––– –––––––––––– ––––––––––––
How
quickly we can forget our history! And
how great a price do we pay when we fail to remember. Joseph had brought deliverance to Egypt. This nation owed a great debt to this Hebrew
man made second only to Pharaoh, King of Egypt.
Joseph’s family had come to Egypt at the invitation of Pharaoh. They thrived in the land. In this reading we find that time has
passed. Joseph is no longer alive. A new Pharaoh reigns in Egypt. The people forgot their history. And now the sons and daughters of Joseph
become the object of scorn and oppression.
This reading also introduces us to Moses, who shall in time lead the
family of Joseph, the House of Israel, from bondage to the promised land where
the patriarchs once lived. From the
perspective of preaching, there is so much in this reading. The challenge then is to keep focus.
–––––––––––– –––––––––––– –––––––––––– –––––––––––– ––––––––––––
Father Timothy
Alleman
No comments:
Post a Comment