Dr Paul Allen

Underlying the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt is the motif of God making Himself known. He comes not merely to rescue His people, but more importantly to reveal something of His glorious nature to them. From beginning to end, Exodus describes how God reveals Himself through both powerful supernatural events and spoken words. In Exodus God moves from being perceived as a distant deity to becoming a God who dwells in the midst of His people.  The experience of the Israelites is contrasted with that of Pharaoh who refuses to know the Lord: “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and moreover, I will not let Israel go” (5:2). Yet, while the Israelites were given every reason to believe in God because of all that they witnessed in Egypt and in the wilderness, even they were rebellious.  Having covenanted to worship God exclusively, they soon committed apostasy by fashioning a golden calf. While they ful...

Crossing of the red sea (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I’ve been reading through the book of Exodus again. When I look at all that Moses went through as a leader, it tends to make me feel a bit better about my own challenges. This time as I read I paid close attention to every time the Israelites grumbled against or quarreled with Moses in the early days of their exodus from Egypt… and it was a lot! But here is what is curious to me… each time they grumbled or quarreled with him, Moses went to God . He didn’t argue with them. He didn’t try to reason with them. He didn’t try to explain himself or his decisions. He didn’t try to make them happy. He went to God.  Moses got what I often forget – He knew that he was simply an instrument for God. Moses understood that he was leading these people for and with God. I get this wrong all the time. I’ve never considered myself a people-pleaser and yet if I’m honest I feel a whole lot better about my leadership if people like me ...

( ) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation .” ( Hebrews 9:28 ) There are two specific references in the New Testament to Christ “bearing” our sins as He died on the cross. In addition to our text above, the other is 1 Peter 2:24 : “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” However, the same word ( Greek anaphero) is also used with a similar thrust in Hebrews 7:27, where it is translated “offer up”: “Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice , first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” When Christ died, He died as a substitutionary sacrifice, “offering up” our sins for judgment and punishment by a holy God , as He simultaneously “offered up” Himself as the One who would submit to that judgment and bear that punishment. He was able to do this...

( ) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation .” ( Hebrews 9:28 ) There are two specific references in the New Testament to Christ “bearing” our sins as He died on the cross. In addition to our text above, the other is 1 Peter 2:24 : “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” However, the same word ( Greek anaphero) is also used with a similar thrust in Hebrews 7:27, where it is translated “offer up”: “Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice , first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” When Christ died, He died as a substitutionary sacrifice, “offering up” our sins for judgment and punishment by a holy God , as He simultaneously “offered up” Himself as the One who would submit to that judgment and bear that punishment. He was able to do this b...

English: Moses Pleading with Israel, as in Deuteronomy 6:1-15, illustration from a Bible card published 1907 by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I am stunned every time I read the story of the Exodus . How can the people of Israel complain like they do? How could they be so ignorant, so stupid, so forgetful? The God of the universe had just tossed around the most powerful man on the face of the earth like a toddler with a rag doll. God didn’t just humble Pharaoh ; he broke his spirit and revealed Pharaoh’s impotence. A slave people and their God left him and his nation in shambles. This display of power sent vibrations throughout the world, inspiring fear and awe. The Deadly Disease of Spiritual Amnesia Yet Israel ’s response to this spectacular deliverance from Egypt is not mainly praise, worship, and whole-hearted trust. Instead, Israel responds with  grumbling  — complaining, murmuring, quarreling. “No water, Moses ! Where’s the bee...

Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Philipp Otto Runge, 1806 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “ Matthew ’s use of Hosea 11:1 in Matthew 2:15 ″ Matthew 2:14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt . 15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” There are three very difficult problems in this text. 1) First, the verse in Hosea 11:1 is a reference to the exodus of Israel from Egypt. How can Matthew take a historic reference and convert it into prophecy? 2) Second, in Hosea 11:1 the “son” refers to the nation of Israel . But Matthew applies it to an individual. How can he do that? 3) Third, Hosea 11:1 is quoted right at the point where Jesus and His family are about to go into Egypt, not when they leave Egypt. Many modern commentators see this as troubling. Some regard it as a mistake, such that it calls into question the le...

Rahab and the Emissaries of Joshua (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Three common systems of ethics Christians subscribe to: 1) Graded ethics. E.g. when lying to save a life, a lie is clearly the lesser of two evils. 2) Situational ethics . E.g. when lying to save a life, if the life is an innocent one and the person you are lying to doesn’t deserve the truth, then in that situation the lie is not evil at all, but justified by the situation. 3) Absolutism . E.g. God never permits us to sin, a lie is always a sin, and your only responsibility is to refrain from sinning; thus either refuse to co-operate with the request and deal with the consequences, or tell the truth and deal with the consequences. Here is a Bible passages that seem to contradict absolutism.  The Hebrew midwives (Exodus 1:15-20). If you read the account carefully you will notice that Shiphrah and Puah did not lie to save the lives of the Hebrew babies, they lied to save their own skin. They had already saved the ...

The various statements that are made in the Scriptures in regard to God hardening Pharaoh ’s heart have also perplexed a great many young Christians and have frequently been made use of by unbelievers in their attacks upon the Bible . It is said that if God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and, in consequence of this hardening, Pharaoh rebelled against God, then God Himself was responsible for Pharaoh’s sin, and it was unjust to hold Pharaoh accountable for his rebellion and to punish him for it. In Exodus 4:21 ( RV ) we read: “And the LORD said unto Moses , When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go” (see also Exodus 7:3; 14:4). Now from reading these passages it does seem at the first glance as if there were some ground for criticism of God’s action in this matter, or of the Bible account of it. But when we study carefully exactly what the Bib...

English: Moses striking the rock (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Timed for a Christmas season release, director Ridley Scott ’s intended blockbuster, Exodus : Gods and Kings hit the big screens this past weekend. On its opening weekend the movie shot to the top of the box office charts, displacing the latest Hunger Games movie, but falling considerably short of expected receipts. The best single line analysis of the movie and its failure to garner either critical acclaim or more viewers was offered by Eric D. Snider of Geek Nation: “This big dud isn’t blasphemous enough to be outrageous, emotional enough to be inspiring, or interesting enough to be good.” Well, I partly agree with the first two points of criticism, but I did find the movie interesting. Indeed, I even liked much of the movie, and I would not argue that mature and thoughtful Christians should not see it, even if the concerns about it are major. And make no mistake, the concerns are major. Earlier this year, director Dar...