John's Wrap Up Talk For Exodus 5 through 7

In the last few weeks, we have seen how the Israelites became slaves in a land where they were invited to live. In just a few chapters, Moses is born, grows up, flees to the desert, meets God and is given a very challenging mission. God has prepared the man that he will use to free his people and now it is time for Moses to put God’s plan into action.
Moses has everything he needs to successfully carry out his mission. He has the miraculous rod of God with which to display God’s power and he has Aaron to speak for him. Moses and Aaron met with the elders of the people of Israel, spoke the words God spoke to Moses and performed the signs. The people believed and were grateful to hear that God had heard their cries and was working to free them from their plight. That was easy enough.
Pharaoh, however, is not so easy to convince. In fact, Moses’ visit with Pharaoh makes things go from bad to worse. This could not have been encouraging for Moses. Moses knows that God is responding to the cries of the people of Israel and wants to free them from their bondage in Egypt, so why would God have him do something to cause their condition to worsen? Why would God send Moses into a bear trap like this?
How often do we contemplate what God is up to? Do you ever ask questions like:
Why does God seem to give so much power to his enemies?
Why does it seem that evil has the upper hand in the world?
Why does God allow innocent people to suffer?
Why do things have to get worse before they get better?
Why me? Why do I have to endure this pain?
Does God really know what he is doing?
As we know, God is sovereign and those who are in positions of great power are there because he allowed it to be. Jumping ahead in the Bible, when the Israelites asked for a king, they ended up with a series of good kings and bad kings. God allowed every one of them to be king – even the bad ones – and they all had a purpose. God even allowed the Israelites to be taken into captivity by very powerful nations. How did that turn out? Israel cried out the God and they eventually returned home and rejuvenated their faith and religious practices.
In this case, God has allowed this self-seeking pharaoh to rule over his people, subject them to very hard labor and murder them at his will. Then God sends a reluctant man to this hard-hearted, project-minded pharaoh to ask to let his people go to worship him, knowing that the pharaoh not only will disallow it, but he will make things worse for the Israelites and for Moses and Aaron as well.
We do not know God and his ways and we never will. However, we do know that God, although not the author of evil, can, in a mysterious way, bring good from evil. This is a prime example of God's power over evil. Evil can never triumph.
In a way, God has set up a sting operation in Egypt. In the movie “The Sting” with Paul Newman and Robert Redford, Johnny Hooker (Redford) and Henry Gondorff (Newman) con a big-time crime boss named Doyle Lonnegan by using his own greed against him. Hooker and Gondorff know Lonnegan and use his personality to cause his own downfall. In the case of the Exodus, God created Pharaoh and knows exactly how he will react in any situation. He also created Moses, Aaron, all the Israelites and Egyptians and all the characters in the story. He knows what buttons to push and exactly what will happen. Pharaoh and Satan have been “set up” in order to make God’s power known to all.
Is this fair? Certainly it is. To say that God set Pharaoh up may be a bit of a theological conundrum. God actually presented Pharaoh with a series of choices and God, knowing human nature, knew that Pharaoh would choose to be obstinate. Pharaoh, as we all do, exercised free will. Even though God knew how he would act, Pharaoh is responsible for his own actions because he had free will to act any way he chose. God created Pharaoh and created the situation but God did not choose for Pharaoh. Therefore, Pharaoh is responsible for the consequences of his actions.
What does this have to do with the Israelites and why they have to suffer from Pharaoh’s obstinacy? Why does God allow suffering at all? Let’s hearken to the Book of Job. Job was pious, upright and very rich with a big family. Life was good for Job. One day, Job suffers a sudden and complete reversal of fortune. He loses his property and his children; he is afflicted with a horrible disease; and sorrow oppresses his soul. Nevertheless, Job does not complain against God. Job’s friends insist that his plight is a result of wrongdoing on his part and God is giving him an opportunity for repentance. Job rejects this explanation and demands a response from God himself. In response to Job’s plea that he be allowed to see God and hear from him the cause of his suffering, God answers, not by justifying his action before men, but by referring to his own omniscience and almighty power. Job is content with this and recovers his attitude of humility and trust in God, which is now deepened and strengthened by his experience of suffering.
In conclusion, God allows evil only to display his great power to overcome it. We should always put our trust in God and let his strength be our strength. God allows suffering so that we may be made stronger by enduring it; so we will draw closer to him and let God be all that we need.
As we see in the chapters from this week, God is our redeemer. In the Catechism glossary it says, “Jesus Christ [is the] redeemer of mankind. Christ paid the price of his own sacrificial death on the cross to ransom us, to set us free from the slavery of sin, thus achieving our redemption.” Christ paid the price for our sins so we could have eternal life. The question we should ask is, “Why would we ever question a God like that?” or “Why would a God like that allow suffering without having a really good reason?” God wants us to depend on him and him alone. Suffering has a way of drawing us close to him. St. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians, Chapter 12:
Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor 12:7–10)
In the words of David, let us pray:
Hear my words, O Lord; listen to my sighing. Hear my cry for help, my king, my God! To you I pray, O Lord; at dawn you will hear my cry; at dawn I will plead before you and wait.
You are not a god who delights in evil; no wicked person finds refuge with you; the arrogant cannot stand before you. You hate all who do evil; you destroy all who speak falsely. Murderers and deceivers the Lord abhors.
But I can enter your house because of your great love. I can worship in your holy temple because of my reverence for you, Lord. Guide me in your justice because of my foes; make straight your way before me. (Psalm 5:2–9)
Amen!