Robert Smith – Page 22 – What Does This Mean?

The First Passover

[Eighteenth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Nine times, God sent plagues on Egypt to show Pharaoh and his people that their gods did not have the powers claimed for them. Nine times, Pharaoh had agreed to let the people of Israel go to worship God. Nine times, God brought the plague to an end, and Pharaoh went back on his word. Now, the last and greatest plague would be sent. Every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, other than those of the Hebrews, would die. This was the reverse of what a previous pharaoh had tried to do by ordering the firstborn male babies to be killed. Now the one that had escaped, ironically at the hand of a daughter of Pharaoh, would pronounce God’s answer to that outrage.

God marked the day by establishing a feast. A young lamb would be killed for each family of the Hebrews. The blood of that lamb would be spread on the doorframe of each of their homes. The lamb itself would be the entrée of a feast called Passover because on that night, the Angel of Death (Exodus 12:23) passed over every house marked in this way. The death of Pharaoh’s heir and every firstborn in Egypt was finally enough. Pharaoh let them go, and their Egyptian neighbors gave riches to the people of Israel, so they would leave quickly.

Every year since that first Passover, Jewish families remember that day of freedom. The Passover is a kind of Old Testament sacrament, bringing union with the God who saves. Luther believed that the Passover, sacrifices, and circumcision drew their power to forgive from the cross, which was yet to come, just as our sacraments draw their power to forgive from the cross, where the Lamb of God, Jesus, was sacrificed for us.

By choosing to institute the sacrament of Holy Communion during the Passover, Jesus used all of its symbols to point to what He was to do for us. Now He offers His Body and Blood to us with bread and wine, bringing with it freedom from slavery to sin and the power of the devil.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Moses, Pharaoh and the Plagues

[Seventeenth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: The Pharaohs of Egypt thought of themselves as gods, the sons of Osiris. They were supposed to be the intermediaries between the gods and people. The people would turn to them for the rains and the floods that caused crops to grow, for fertility and other good things. They would, in turn, approach the gods for these things. To free the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, the true God would do battle with the gods of the superpower of the ancient world.

Having been raised in Pharaoh’s household, Moses was familiar with this. Moses and Aaron would function like the pharaoh of the God of Israel in the view of the Egyptians. Moses confronted Pharaoh and demanded that Pharaoh release the Israelites to worship him. When Pharaoh did not comply, God used disasters or plagues to demonstrate that He is more powerful than the gods of Egypt.

The serpent represented the god of wisdom, fertility, and healing to the Egyptians. When Moses’ snake swallowed those of the magicians, God demonstrated His superiority over them. The Nile River fed Egypt and the ancient world. The Lord showed power over the god that controlled it when He turned it into blood. The Egyptians saw frogs as symbols of the goddess of childbirth. They also worshipped flies and beetles. The earlier plagues showed Yahweh’s power over them.

The rest of the plagues attacked the food supply that the gods were supposed to supply through Pharaoh. While they convinced many of the Egyptian people that the God of the Hebrews was almighty, Pharaoh did not, since it did not touch him personally. He was trying to haggle with God to get the best deal possible for him and his people. When God took the pressure off, he backed down. Eventually, the plagues got to the place where even the advisors of Pharaoh advised him to relent. Pharaoh did not let them go. This led to God unleashing the Angel of Death, the last and greatest plague of all.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Moses and the Burning Bush

[Sixteenth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Just like David, whom God chose to be king, Moses served many years as a shepherd before God called him to lead His people to freedom. Even though Moses did not think so, he was perfectly suited for the task at hand. Raised by his mother in the household of Pharaoh, Moses was fluent in both Hebrew and Egyptian, possessing the best education available in the world of his time. He was humbled by years as a shepherd and fully familiar with living in the desert of Sinai. He was the son-in-law of a tribal chief and therefore had resources available to him during the forty years of desert travel that lay ahead. Not confident in himself, Moses could trust God, who alone could free the people from slavery. In the end, it is not Moses who saves Israel, but God.

Moses had left his old life behind. One day, while he was leading his flock near Mount Sinai, he saw a strange sight — a bush was on fire but not burning up. When he went to take a closer look, he saw the Angel of the Lord, the Son of God, before he became a man in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The Angel (the word means Messenger) appeared to him in the burning bush. He identified himself as the God of his fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and told him to take off his sandals and not come closer. Abraham was afraid to look at the Angel, but he need not have been. The Son of God is the person of the Trinity that can be seen by mortals, and the mortals will not die.

God told Moses that he had heard the cries of his people and would send Moses to free them from slavery and bring them to the Holy Land, which God would give them. Moses was not at all comfortable with the task and so tried to stall and make excuses. Each time, God had mercy on him and provided for him. God revealed his personal name, Yahweh. He gave Moses two miraculous signs — turning his staff into a snake and his hand leprous and healthy — so they would believe Moses. He provided Aaron as his spokesman. Finally, God promised to go with Moses, and he did.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Baby Moses Adopted by Pharaoh’s Daughter

[Fifteenth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: After Joseph died, the descendants of Israel remained in Egypt and prospered. They eventually grew into a small nation, large enough to seem to threaten the Pharaoh. The Egyptian king enslaved them, hoping hard work would reduce their numbers. It did not. So he tried to get midwives to kill any male child born. They did not. So he commanded everyone to kill them anyway. This was especially cruel, given the way both Jews and Egyptians felt about children.

Family and children were important to both the Egyptians and the Hebrews. Egyptians were especially fond of their children. If a couple couldn’t have a baby, they would often adopt children, frequently from among their slaves. The adopted child was treated exactly the same as if he or she had been born into the family. The upper classes of Egypt often used nurses who would move in with the adoptive family. The custom of leaving unwanted children in places where someone would find them was common everywhere, except in Egypt.

Moses’ mother cleverly left Moses where the princess bathed, counting on her horror and pity to give Moses a chance. It worked. Through these events, God prepared Moses to be at home with both Egyptians and Hebrews, making him, his brother, and his sister prepared to lead God’s people.

The Scriptures view the rescue of Moses from the reeds as a theme that began with the flood. God had Noah build an ark in which he saved Noah, his family, and the animal species in creation. Moses’ mother put him in an ark made of reeds, which kept him safe until he was delivered by Pharaoh’s daughter. Later, God would use Moses to part the Red Sea, through which he saved the people of Israel.

St. Paul points out that we are God’s adopted children, treated the same way as if we had been born into His family. So we own everything in the universe with Jesus. (Ephesians. 1:3-6, Romans 8:15-17) In Holy Baptism, God also carries us to safety, through death to life eternal.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Joseph Forgives His Brothers

[Fourteenth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Joseph wasted no time as viceroy of Egypt to prepare the land for famine. He stored grain and enacted other measures to prepare the people. When famine struck, the Egyptians were not only able to feed their people but also to sell grain to neighboring peoples. Among these were Joseph’s brothers.

Joseph arranged for a series of tests to see if his brothers had learned from their sin over the years. The final test, when Joseph demanded his brother Benjamin as a slave as punishment for the crimes he trumped up against them, Judah offered himself in Benjamin’s place. Since Joseph now knew that his brothers were truly repentant for what they did to him, he revealed himself to them.

Joseph forgave his brothers. He realized that what they “intended for evil, God meant for good, to save many lives.” He provided for them from his own wealth and settled them, Israel and his whole household, in Egypt. It took some convincing, but Joseph repeatedly reminded them he was not in the place of God. As God had provided for him and showed him mercy, so he would provide for them the rest of his days.

The Greek word for forgiveness literally means “to let go” or “to release.” When God forgives us, He lets go of our sins, not holding them against us. He does this because his Son, Jesus, paid the price for our sins. His sufferings and death satisfied God’s justice and canceled the charges against us in God’s court. God ordered us to be released because our sentence was completed.

Jesus wants us to release our neighbors from the evil they have done against us. This is not always easy to do, because we remember the pain and betrayal we feel when others hurt us, not only when they hurt us physically, but also when they hurt us emotionally and spiritually. The problem is that often the bitter feelings that we nurse when we hold on to them can ruin our lives more than the evil itself. When we let go of these sins against us, we can live at peace. This is why God offers us help to forgive others. The next time you pray the Lord’s Prayer, ask God to help you forgive others and receive the forgiveness He offers you

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Hymn on Forgiveness: “Remember Christ our Savior”

Joseph Serves in Egypt

[Thirteenth in a series of posts on Bible Stories]Encore Post: People in ancient times believed dreams predicted the future. Kings and other important people hired magicians, astrologers, and other wise men skilled in interpreting dreams. Because of this, God used dreams from time to time to send messages to kings and to his prophets. God sent dreams to Joseph’s father, Jacob. God sent dreams to Joseph to predict his future as the second in command of Egypt. It was this dream that angered Joseph’s brothers enough that they sold him into slavery in Egypt.

Joseph was sold to Potiphar, the captain of the Palace Guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Joseph worked hard for his master, who discovered the Semitic slave had a talent for administration and so put him in charge of his household staff. The captain’s wife tried to seduce Joseph, grabbing his robe as he fled from her. In revenge, the woman accused him of raping her. So, Potiphar threw Joseph into prison.

The warden of the jail discovered the same skills in Joseph, so he ended up in charge of the jail. It was there that he met Pharaoh’s butler and baker. Both servants had dreams that Joseph correctly interpreted. Eventually, he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh himself. From the king’s perspective, all of his wise men, the best in the world at the time, couldn’t explain his dreams. But Joseph could. So he concluded that Joseph was the wisest of them all. Pharaoh appointed him to rule Egypt under his command. God had fulfilled the dreams he had given Joseph.

God used Joseph, then, to prepare for the famine in Egypt and to feed the world. 1500 years later, another Joseph had a dream. God told Joseph not to be afraid to marry Mary, because God was the father of the child she carried. He did and became the stepfather of Jesus, who would save the world from sin.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Joseph and His Brothers

[Twelfth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Israel had not learned his lesson. Like his grandfather and parents, he had favored one of his wives over another, and he now doubled down and favored Rachael’s children over the children of Leah, her female servant, and Rachael’s female servants. When God revealed to Moses later with the Ten Commandments that sins travel to the third or fourth generation, he was not kidding!

Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he was born in the patriarch’s old age, and was Rachel’s son. It did not escape Joseph’s brothers that their father loved him more than any of them, especially when Israel made Joseph a fancy robe (the Hebrew for the phrase “coat of many colors” is uncertain in meaning; it is translated in the Septuagint as “robe with long sleeves”). It didn’t help when God revealed to Joseph in two dreams that he would rule over his family, and used it to torment them.

Eventually, his brothers had had enough. They seized him, took his robe, and threw him into a cistern. When a caravan came by, they sold Joseph into slavery. Then they tore Joseph’s robe, dipped it in goat’s blood, and showed it to Israel. The deceit worked, and Israel thought his favorite son was dead, killed by a wild beast. He mourned Joseph greatly.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Isaac and Rebekah’s Favorite Sons

[Eleventh in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: God blessed Isaac and Rebekah a lot. He gave them a good land to live in, riches, servants, flocks, and twin boys. God promised to make their family grow to become a nation. The Messiah would come from their descendants.

Yet the family of Abraham was dysfunctional from the very start. Abraham loved Isaac more than Ishmael. Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob, and Rebekah loved Jacob more than Esau. Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah and Rachel’s children, especially Joseph, more than all his other children. That really did not work well for them.

God told Rebekah that Jacob would be the family’s leader when Isaac died. But normally, the older son had this blessing. So Isaac didn’t listen to God and intended to give that blessing to Esau. Rebekah was afraid that God would not keep His promise and helped Jacob to trick Isaac. Esau didn’t think his father’s blessing was very important, so he sold it to Jacob for a good meal. Jacob didn’t want to wait for God to give him the blessing, so he tried to get it himself by tricking his brother and father out of it. The story did not end well. Esau was very angry, and Jacob ran away to his uncle Laban with only the clothes on his back.

Still, God forgave them. He continued to bless Isaac, Rebekah, and Esau. He gave Jacob two wives, Leah and Rachel, many flocks of sheep, and riches. When he came back home, he was afraid that Esau would still be angry with him. To remind Jacob that he was still with him, God came to Jacob at night in the person of the Son of God and wrestled with him all night. When the night was over, God renamed Jacob (which means “heel”) Israel (“he struggles with God”)

Soon, Israel discovered his brother loved him still and forgave the mean things Israel did to him years before. So they lived together as a family from that time on. Yet Israel didn’t learn much through experience, as we will discover in later posts.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Isaac and Rebekah

[Tenth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: The story of Isaac and Rebekah sounds very strange to us in America of the twenty-first century. In our culture, people often search for their own spouses, if they decide to get married at all. The thought that a parent finding a wife for their son, much less trusting a servant to search for her and negotiate the marriage as a business deal, seems all wrong. And yet, for most of human history and in many cultures today, arranged marriages were the norm. Many of these marriages evolved into very close and loving relationships.

Abraham knew that he was getting old. He had buried his wife three years earlier. He knew that a wife from the unbelieving world around him would not be God-pleasing or helpful in producing a family from which the Messiah would be born two thousand years later. He also knew he couldn’t make the trip back to Haran to seek a wife for his son among those who believed in God. So, Abraham trusts his servant, who would inherit everything if Isaac didn’t have children. His servant makes the search his own, devoting himself to prayer and seeking a bride with a servant heart. While he was praying for wisdom at a well near his destination, Rebekah came up to offer him and his camels water, which she did not have to do. Recognising a selfless, serving heart in her, the servant sought to arrange a marriage between her and Isaac.

Rebekah’s family shows faith in God and love for Abraham in sending Rebekah to Isaac. When the servant told his story, they also recognized God’s hand in the marriage. Yet they still asked Rebekah’s consent, and she agreed. Isaac was praying when the servant and Rebekah arrived in the land of Canaan. He received her as his wife and loved her from the start. Because of these acts of love and trust, Jesus would one day be born, descended from Rebekah and Isaac.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

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God provides a Lamb for Abraham

[Ninth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: The sacrifice of the Son of God and the binding of Isaac are closely related. Isaac is Abraham‘s son, His only son, whom he loves. Jesus is God’s Son, His only Son, Whom He loves.

When God told Abraham to go to Mount Moriah, He picked the place that Solomon would choose to build the temple. On this spot, Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son. God had promised that it would be through Isaac that Abraham’s descendants would become more numerous than the sand on the seashore and the stars in the sky. Abraham did not know how God would keep His promise. He thought perhaps God would raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-18).

When Abraham was ready to perform the sacrifice, the Angel of the Lord appeared and stopped the sacrifice. Christian theologians believe this figure is the Son of God Himself, appearing before His birth. So, God spared Abraham’s son, but He did not spare His Son, His only Son, Whom He loved, but provided Him as the sacrifice that ends all sacrifice. Two thousand years after this event, Jesus would be condemned to death on the very same spot. God indeed provided the Lamb for the sacrifice for our sins.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana