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Online Summer Bible Study, 2004
Week 6 (July 11-17): Exodus 17-30

Hello all,

Yet more Terence Fretheim, from his book "Exodus" (John Knox Press, 1991), which is part of the "Interpretation" series.

Before getting into Exodus 17-30, I wanted to put out this interesting tidbit re: Exodus 16--"There is an interest in a detailed description of the manna...which corresponds quite closely to a natural phenomenon in the Sinai Peninsula...A type of plant lice...excretes...a yellowish-white flake or ball. During the warmth of the day it disintegrates, but it congeals when it is cold. It has a sweet taste. Rich in carbohydrates and sugar, it is still gathered by natives, who bake it into a kind of bread (and call it manna)" (p.182). Two immediate reactions: eeeewww! & hmm, I never heard that before.

OK, on to the reading for the week...

Exodus 17:1-7, water from the rock--

"This brief but composite story highlights the character of the *divine leading*, the continuing *human complaint*, and the unsurpassable *graciousness of God*, who opens up the sustaining *powers of creation* for Israel." (p.187)

Exodus17:8-16, the response to the attack by Amalek--

"This section concerns a *Pharaonic conflict revisited*. Once again God's new creation is threatened...*Trustworthy human leadership* and *active community defense* will be needed to join with the divine will in the elimination of [the] threat...it will take generations for God's goals to be accomplished...*Even for God, such things take time*, given the divine way of working in and through historical realities and not always dependable people." (pp.192-194)

Exodus18:13-27, Moses as judge--

"However much redemption may bring with it new perspectives and energies for such tasks, those who are redeemed are in need of other resources for life beyond the salvific experience...In other words, the Creator has blessed the world with numerous gifts quite apart from God's redemptive activity. The *redeemed community should be anxious to discover what those gifts are and to make use of them with gratitude*, no matter their source within God's wide creation...Hence it is not surprising that Moses is presented as a somewhat inept administrator...[Jethro's] wise counsel has its origins essentially outside the chosen community...drawing on a range of experience in God's creation quite untouched by the redeemed community...*The ordering of human affairs is integrally related to the cosmic order*...Justice is not simply God's responsibility; it is also the task of the community...And so Jethro gives Moses some excellent 'worldly' advice...*Wise discernment of what seems prudent in this situation is believed to be just as much the will of God as a specific divine verbal communication*." (pp.198-199)

Exodus 19:1-24:18, law and covenant--

"*God is the subject* in both law and narrative...Law is more clearly seen as a *gift of God's graciousness* when tied to story...the law is grounded in a personal and gracious divine will...never to leave the people without an indication of what it means to be a community of faith...Narrative keeps the *personal character* of the law front and center. Experience has shown how easy it is for law to become an impersonal matter...The law must thus be understood in personal and interrelational terms...This integration keeps *divine action and human response* closely related to each other...the law insists that there are important human initiatives and responsibilities to be undertaken...*Law emerges from within* the matrix of life itself...the law is not simply a matter of special revelation...obedience to the law becomes another form of *witness* to God and to what God has done...a commitment to obey *whatever words God may command over the course of Israel's history*...an *open-ended* commitment to God." (pp.201 -212)

To summarize and distill these interpretations...

1. God and God's people are constantly responding to each other in the face of new challenges arising from a disordered and broken world.

2. God's will on earth cannot be accomplished without human agency.

3. God's will for God's people (i.e., the law and its application) is therefore not fixed, but changes depending on historical context, because different actions will be needed at different times to move towards God's will on earth (i.e., a restored and whole creation).

To what extent can Christianity be seen as a response to humanity's obvious failures in moving towards a restored and whole creation? To what extent can Christ be seen as having undertaken the "important human initiatives and responsibilities" for the rest of us? How could such an understanding of Christ's mission inform a theology of atonement?

Peace,
Mark Kille
John P. Webster Library

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