Day 3: Exodus

Allow me to begin by saying that I can understand why people have a hard time reading through the entire Old Testament. The last half or so of Exodus is really, really difficult to read. It consists of the Biblical equivalent of a technical manual - specifying techniques and dimensions of each and every piece of the Tabernacle. Let me tell you, it's a real snoozer. Nevertheless, I made it through and have two observations:

I Want To Remember

After the Israelites, through God's intervention, escape from Egypt, they are given very specific instructions. They are commanded to celebrate and commemorate God's rescue every single year on a specific day with specific meals and specific rituals. The Passover, as it is known in Jewish culture, is still celebrated in Jewish households around the world today.

I got to thinking about the importance of remembrance. Our modern culture seems somewhat obsessed with it. We build memorials all over the place. There is the Vietnam Wall. There is the memorial here in Oklahoma City to those who were killed in the Murrah building bombing. There is the forthcoming memorial to the dead from the terror of 9/11.

Each of those memorials - along with many of our memorials - share one common characteristic...they memorialize and foster remembrance of bad things, of wars and other horrific events. We don't often create memorials for the good and, when we do, these good memorials tend to not be as well-known.

In the whole scheme of things, I think we should be much better off if we were more like the Israelites after the escape from Egypt. It is important to remember not just the bad things that have happened in our history, but to also remember the great things that God has done on our behalf.

A Different View on Immigration

It seems as though God has a slightly different view on immigration and immigrants is somewhat different from the position held by many Americans. You see, God reminds his people in Exodus that they were once immigrants in a foreign land and, thus, that they should always be careful to treat immigrants well. More than that, they should give preference to those immigrants.

I was somewhat aware of this position but had forgotten how strongly emphatic God is about fair and judicious treatment of immigrants. I won't belabor the point with excessive political comment. Just let it be food for thought.