Seder 47: Isaiah 56:1-8--Righteousness is More Important than Pedigree

 Commentators often divide the book of Isaiah into three sections, with chapters 1-39 in the first section, chapters 40-55 in the second, and chapters 56-66 in the third.  

John Oswalt explains one rationale for this structure in his NIVAC commentary on Isaiah.  In chapters 1-39, he observes, "righteousness" usually refers to people following God's Torah.  Then in chapters 40-55, the emphasis is on God's righteousness in the sense of his faithfulness to his covenant with Israel.  Finally, chapters 56-66 put these two meanings of righteousness together, making clear that righteous living is important but can only be accomplished through the grace of God.  

Both meanings of righteousness come together in Isa 56:1, where God tells his people to "do righteousness"  in anticipation of God's salvation.  The ensuing verses make clear that just being one of the chosen people is not enough; instead, it is those who are submitted to and in relationship with God who are his true people.

Seder 47 Sermon: Exodus 4:18, Mark 5:25-34---Go in Peace

 After receiving a commission at the burning bush, Moses let his father-in-law know that he was planning to return to Egypt.  Jethro responded, "Go in peace'' (Ex 4:18).  

In the Hebrew text, the word for "go" is preceded by the letter lamed.  According to one reading, this has the connotation that Moses has a difficult road ahead of him, but Jethro prays that Moses will head in the direction of shalom.  

In the Gospels Jesus conveys a similar blessing to the woman who has been plagued by bleeding for twelve years, then is healed when she touches the tassels of his tallit (Mk 5:25-34).  Kyle Kettering focused on this incident in a sermon at Church of the Messiah on November 23, 2024.  (He previously spoke on it in a sermon on January 22, 2022.)  

One common misconception regarding this woman is the claim that she was some kind of societal outcast because she was ritually impure for a long period of time.  However, ritually impurity was not sin and did necessarily come with a stigma attached.  Ritual impurity was mainly a concern when someone wanted to worship at the Temple---otherwise it was not a big deal.  It was also relatively easy to take care of with a toutine washing.  

Discussions of this subject always raise the question of whether Jesus experienced ritual impurity during his time on earth.  Some claim that Jesus was a source of "contagious holiness" and so imparted purity rather than ever becoming ritually impure.  Kyle mentioned an exponent of this school of thought, Tom Holmen, who has developed his thesis in papers entitled, "A Contagious Purity:  Jesus' Inverse Strategy for Eschatological Cleanliness" and "Jesus and the Purity Paradigm".

On the other hand, it is an important truth of Christianity that Jesus was fully human, and experiencing ritual impurity is a part of life.  For example, Jesus as a teenager probably had a nocturnal emission of semen at some point, which would have made him temporarily ritually impure. 

It is clear that Jesus did not worry about contracting ritual impurity.  He was much more concerned with his mission of helping people and alleviating suffering.  He willingly became fully human in order to serve mankind (Isa 53:2-5).  

Seder 47: Exodus 5---The Initial Confrontation with Pharaoh

 After conferring with the elders of Israel, Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh (Exod 5:1).  God had mentioned that the elders of Israel should accompany them (Exod 3:18).  A midrash proposes that the elders started out with Moses and Aaron but dropped out along the way, finding excuses to leave.  This tradition highlights how intimidating it would to confront the ruler of Egypt.  

God had also instructed Moses to tell Pharaoh, "Israel is my firstborn son.  If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son" (Exod 4:22-23).  Exodus 5 does not record Moses and Aaron conveying this threat.  Dennis Prager proposes that perhaps Moses did not yet have faith sufficient to pass along this message.  Alternatively, Moses and Aaron may have perceived, from the way the meeting started, that it would have not have worked to say such a thing to Pharaoh at this point.  

Pharaoh saw no reason to listen to the representatives of a group of slaves (Exod 5:1-5).  To silence them, Pharaoh increased the burden on the Israelite slaves.  His actions had the desired effect.  The Israelites in their suffering turned against Moses and Aaron.  

God had told Moses that Pharaoh would not listen to him, but things went even worse than Moses had imagined.  Not only had Pharaoh not listened; in addition, Moses' actions had made things worse for the Israelites.  In his role as intercessor for Israel, Moses in despair prayed about his people's worsening situation (vv 22-23).  Where was the deliverance that God had promised?  

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on March 6, 2021, Rob Wilson noticed a "blame game" going on in Exodus 5.  Pharaoh blames the Israelites for having too much time on their hands, the Israelites blame Moses and Aaron for their increased affliction, and Moses passes the blame along to God. It is tempting to participate in the "blame game." 

Seder 47: Exo 4:18-31---Moses Accepts and Begins His Commission

 After his commissioning at the burning bush, Moses returned to his father-in-law to let Jethro know his intention to return to Egypt.  At this point Moses apparently did not say anything about his conversation with God (Exo 4:18).

God provided more encouragement for Moses to return, letting him know that he was no longer wanted for murder in Egypt (v 19).  Verse 20 notes that "Moses took the staff of God in his hand", an indication that he was accepting the position to which he had been called.  He headed back toward Sinai with his wife Zipporah and sons Gershom and Eliezer.  

On that trip God let him know that he needed to fully embrace his calling and identity as a member of the covenant people.  Apparently one of Moses' sons was not yet circumcised, and God confronted him on that issue.  Verse 24 says that God "met him and sought to put him to death" (v 24).  Zipporah, who knew what the issue was and how to do a circumcision, circumcised the son and saved Moses' life.

Different scenarios have been proposed for the background of these mysterious events.  In one of them, Zipporah has previously resisted having the son circumcised and now grudgingly does so.  In this scenario, her statement that "surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me" (v 25) was meant derisively.  

In another scenario, Moses himself also had not been circumcised properly as an infant because of the threat of death that hung over Israelite children at the time.  In this scenario, Moses was the one who had dragged his feet on the issue, and Zipporah was actually happy to have it resolved.  When she removed her son's foreskin, she "touched Moses' feet" ( v 25), "feet" being a euphemism for his genital area.  In this way, she hoped that God would accept her action as a "circumcision by proxy" for Moses, so that their marriage would be considered a covenant marriage with Moses now a valid "bridegroom of blood."  

In a third scenario, it is Moses' firstborn son Gershom whose life is in danger.  Moses has dragged his feet on the issue, perhaps having given Gershom only a partial "Egyptian-style" circumcision in the past.  Zipporah touches the foreskin to Gershom's genitals and declares Gershom a blood relative as part of the circumcision ceremony, saving Gershom's life (see Douglas Stuart's commentary on Exodus).

In any scenario, Zipporah is the heroine in this episode.

Moses and Aaron had a joyful reunion at Sinai.  At this point, Zipporah and her sons may have been sent back home, perhaps at Aaron's urging.  Aaron would have known what dangers might be awaiting them in Egypt and may have advised Zipporah to go back (see Exod 18:2-4). 

Moses and Aaron went on to Egypt, where they met with the elders of Israel and convinced them  through the special signs that God had given Moses that their deliverance was at hand (Exod 4:28-31).  

A midrash identifies an additional factor that might have helped convince the elders.  Verse 31 mentions that the elders "heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel" (v 31).  This language about God's "visiting" them previously had been used by Joseph at the end of his life.  "God will surely visit you," Joseph had said (Gen 50:25).  In the midrash, the Hebrew phrase for "surely visit", pakod pakad'ti, was known as a kind of password that would identify their deliverer.  Serah the daughter of Asher had preserved the memory of the password, God had passed it on to Moses at the burning bush (Exod 3:16),  and Moses and Aaron's knowledge of the password helped convince the elders. 

Seder 47: Psalm 122---A Pilgrim Prays for Jerusalem

 Psalm 122 is one of the psalms of ascent, which are traditionally associated with the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the festivals of Israel.  Here the psalmist is glad whenever it is time to make the journey, and the pilgrims rejoice when they have reached their destination.  

They find Jerusalem to  be a city "bound firmly together," creating an atmosphere of strength and unity as people from all the tribes of Israel come together.  There is great peace at the celebration, and the psalmist prays that this peace would be present there forever.  This was the city where the line of David ruled, kings that were forerunners of the Messiah.