Same Ways. Same Places.

"We don't have God's perspective. That's the problem."

“The Torah tells us: ‘And the Egyptians were burying those whom God had struck down among the firstborn in the land of Egypt and upon their gods the Lord had executed judgment.’ Why is it specifically that this first stop adds the description of the great miracle of the plague of the firstborn, the great miracle in which the Holy One, blessed be He, struck the gods of Egypt? There is a message here. The Egyptians witnessed an enormous miracle. The Holy One, blessed be He, struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt. They saw how their gods were struck by the Holy One, blessed be He. The wood shattered, the metal melted, and yet they buried it. They ignored it as if nothing had happened and simply moved on. They did not stop to learn the lesson and say: ‘Maybe we need to change direction. Maybe we need to choose a different path.’ This was the tragedy of Egypt. The Egyptians were burying. They buried what they had seen.” - Rebbe @westernwall

THESE WORDS from a Rebbe struck me when I heard them. He called the death of the firstborn sons in Egypt a miracle. And it was. But I’d never heard it called that. A miracle, to us, is a good thing, a benefit. This miracle, calling it by that name, was to the blessing of Israel. The wood and metal the Rebbe refers to are the doors and doorposts Israel was told to coat in blood (Exodus 12:22). Israel’s firstborn were protected by the blood.

Another Rabbi, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, called this event, not the “Passover” but, more accurately translated from the Hebrew, the “hover over”. For God, he said, turned the homes of Israel into tiny temples filled with the Presence of God. We, the Gentile church, don’t think of it this way either.

We quote the Word, which says we are the temple of God, but make the Jews empty buildings. They are FAR from it.

They are full of Him, aware of Him, and in continual worship. We should be the same. We should walk in the Spirit when we read and study His Word so that we continually see new revelation … and DON’T DO as we are doing, being stuck in the same familiar places. I hear the same sermons preached the same ways on repeat. Same expressions used, same vocabulary repeated in the same ways, without explanations. One example is saying “we are redeemed,” that “Jesus purchased our redemption.” These words are true, but “redemption” being a word meaning purchase, what was God buying? And why did He owe anyone anything?

Another example is Jesus having the keys of hell and of death. We quote this from Revelation 1:8 without knowing its fullness. Most assume He recaptured them from the devil. But a simple series of logical thoughts makes that idea foolish. Jesus said He saw Satan fall like lightning (Luke 10:18). We know the devil sinned (John 8:44) and this caused his fall. Since God is Creator of all things, including hell (the devil could not create anything, even as an angel), how did Satan, as he fell, manage to get hold of the keys of hell and death? Some would say Satan stole them from Adam. But this doesn’t work either. Adam didn’t have the keys of death and hell. He was cursed with death, like Satan, because of sin (Genesis 3:19).

We don’t have God’s perspective. That’s the problem. We read of His wrath, His vengeance, and assume what that is, applying all kinds of ungodliness to His behavior. God is peace. 1 Corinthians 14:33. In everything we ascribe to Him, to His nature, His behavior, we must apply peace. He is also patient and kind, 1 Corinthians 13:4. Reading onward in this chapter, He doesn’t rejoice in iniquity. So these must be Him in everything we see Him doing. Meaning, He didn’t get angry and kill Egypt’s firstborn in hate, in retribution. Meaning, He owed nothing to no one. He was not in financial debt He had to pay. Meaning, He has forever had secure the keys of death and hell. Which also applies to the previous statement. God did not die on the cross to retrieve our authority. He died to prove He has it.

When death had done all death could do, life came. Death had no further action. Jesus was as dead as He could get in His physical body. But He was alive, has always been alive, in the Spirit. He’s always had authority over the devil and devils.

And destroyed them with it (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8).

Photo by Edryc James P. Binoya on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com