Pastor Scott Jonas
6/2/19
Exodus 13-15
Crossing the Red Sea
The is a lot
of evidence for the Exodus. Last year in
Adult bible class we watched a documentary called “Patterns of Evidence:Exodus.” In it the talked about a famous papyrus called
“Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage.” When
you hear its’ words, it is obvious that is is a first hand account of the plagues. Here are some of the words written down as a
historical account by an ancient Egytian, not a Hebrew, scribe.
“Take some
water from the nile and pour it on dry ground and it becomes blood. If you
drink it, you lose your humanity, and thirst for water. All the Egyptian livestock died.. lightning
struck the earth and the Lord rained hail on the land..the flax and barley were
destroyed…Those who had shelter are in the dark of the storm…Behold plague
sweeps the land, blood is everywhere, with no shortage of dead..He buries his
brother in the ground is everywhere…woe is me for the grief of this time…There
is a loud wailing throughout the land, mingled with lamentations.” Those are the excerpts of a much longer
accounting of the plagues from an eye witness.
History and
the Bible agree that the plagues were devastating. I can’t imagine living through them. St. Louis has experienced a tornado in 2011,
flooding in 1993, an earthquake in 1811, a mass shooting in 2008, cholera
epidemic in 1849, locusts in 1875, and ice storms of 1951. Imagine going through them back to back. Even if you didn’t die, even if none of your
family died, it would be traumatic to say the least.
Pharaoh is
letting the Hebrews go but they are in wretched shape. Slavery is a daily trauma where your basic
human rights are stolen. You have no
agency. You have no freedom of assembly,
freedom of speech, freedom to protect your family and freedom of religion. The Hebrews were worked to death. They existed on little food. If they didn’t comply then they were physically
abused or murdered. The Lord’s wrath on
Egypt has released his people but they aren’t free from the ravages of their
captivity. Add in witnessing the plagues
themselves and we are dealing with people who are shells.
Today we
call it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
It’s hard to imagine that any Hebrew, Moses included, could have
survived slavery and the plagues without it.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that develops in
some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event. It is natural to feel afraid during and after
a traumatic situation. Fear triggers many split-second changes in the body to
help defend against danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a
typical reaction meant to protect a person from harm. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or
frightened, even when they are not in danger.
Symptoms may include intense fear, flashbacks, nightmares, memory loss,
avoidance, guilt, anxiety, anger, and many others.
Moses is
Shepherding these people through God’s guidance. Pharaoh’s Plague induce weakness turns to fury
and he and his army frantically pursue them.
The people are terrified. Moses takes
these thousands of refugees to the edge of the Red Sea and at God’s command the
Sea splits. The waves pile up on either
side. He tells God’s people to run to
the other side. It is almost more than
anyone could take in. I wouldn’t blame
any of the former slaves if they just plopped on the ground and said, “No more.
I’m done. It’s too much. Death is better
than this.”
You and I
have never been through plaques. But I
guarantee that people listening to my voice have experienced trauma such as witnessing
death, experiencing a car crash, sexual assault, combat, abuse, and any number
of horrors. As a pastor, I believe that
it is rare to get through life without trauma.
Either you’ve endured it or someone you love has which is just as
traumatizing.
What do we
do as people of faith when we’ve been traumatized? First of all, there is no shame in admitting
it. Trauma is the result of a fallen
sinful world. It is not pay back or
justice for your sin. The Israelites did
not deserve the agony of being slaves.
They didn’t earn their trauma, it was imposed on them. The most powerful and life altering trauma is
childhood trauma and they certainly do not deserve it. If you want to be free you have to recognize
that you do not deserve your trauma.
The Hebrews instincts
are all wrong. They’ve been shaped by
generations of abuse. When they get to
the edge of the Red Sea they cry out, “We’re going to die!” and “Let us go back
to serve Egypt!” They may be technically
free of their masters but they aren’t fully free. So God creates a miracle to show so they will
trust him. The parting of the Red Sea is
a gate way towards healing. It will take
40 years to begin to mend this trauma. Some
healing can only occur in the new heaven and the new earth. But they listen to Moses and to God, and go
through the gateway towards healing.
Behind them is only death, fear and helplessness.
One of the
reasons Jesus gives us the church is for these times. He doesn’t want you to go off on your own to
suffer alone. God doesn’t want you to go
back and live in your trauma. He wants
you to go forward side by side with His people.
When you go through something horrific, you have to realize that the
survival instincts that got you through the trauma may not help you make good
decisions afterwards. That’s when you
need to rely on a Pastor, a Moses or sorts to lead you to a better place.
The beaten
down Hebrews did not want to walk through the Red Sea. It’s terrifying. It’s not natural. But it was the right decision and God lead
them to that decision through the help of Moses and the church. Picture that scene at the Red Sea. Thousands of God’s people helping each other
get through the scariest time of their life.
Men carrying the injured. Women
holding children. Everyone was in it
together. We all make it through or no
one makes it through. Death is
approaching from behind but God has something glorious in front of us. Jesus defeated death on the cross and God
defeated the Egytian army through the crashing waves.
If you’ve
been through a horror as a child, an adult or recently, let the church get you
help. We have access to counselors like
Lutheran children and family services, addiction support groups like Alcoholics
anonymous and crossroads, support groups for families with a prison member,
grief groups, and so much more. We are
in this together through the waters.