After the breathtaking events captured in Exodus 14 (it's obviously the parting of the Red Sea I speak of), we are suddenly met with a burst of song: The Canticle of Moses. After experiencing the total awe-inspiring power of God, the children of Israel are compelled (rightly so) to triumphantly sing God's praises. The whole Canticle is so full of glorious praise, it's hard not to feel the unbridled jubilation of the Hebrew people while reading it.
According to Origen the Canticle of Moses is the most ancient piece of poetry! And what is so fascinating is that this song, this vibrant poem, is still today triumphantly sung! Churchmen the world over (monks, priests, bishops, missionaries, etc.) sing the Canticle of Moses (among other Old Testament canticles) weekly during Lauds.
Here is a sampling:
"Who is like to thee, among the strong, O Lord? who is like to thee, glorious in holiness, terrible and praise-worthy, doing wonders?
Thou stretchedst forth thy hand, and the earth swallowed them.
In thy mercy thou hast been a leader to the people which thou hast redeemed: and in thy strength thou hast carried them to thy holy habitation." (Exodus 15:11-13)
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Exodus 7-12: Agnus Dei
As fascinating as it was reading about each of the ten plagues that God unleashed on Egypt, it was Exodus 12 and the explanation of the Paschal Lamb that really caught me. The paschal lamb as a symbol for Christ is obviously as old as the hills, but digging deeper into this sacred symbolism reveals an amazing depth to the comparison. In Scripture, the Jews are so instructed: "On the tenth day of this month let every man take a lamb by their families and houses" (Exodus 12:3). "And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; and the whole multitude of the children of Israel shall sacrifice it in the evening" (Exodus 12:6). The "month" spoken of in Scripture is the Hebrew month of Nisan, which coincides with our March-April period. And as my commentary states, "[Christ] came to Jerusalem on the 10th day of Nisan, on Sunday. He gave himself to his disciples on the evening of the 14th." The comparison continues when the Hebrew people are instructed to take the blood of the sacrificed lamb "and put it upon both the side-posts, and on the upper door-posts of the houses, wherein they shall eat it" (Exodus 12:7). The blood of the lamb shall be their salvation, as the Blood of Christ is ours. So much more could be said about this fascinating association of the paschal lamb and Jesus Christ, but I just wanted to at least make mention of it here.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Exodus 6 - Mysteries of the Name
"And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I am the Lord
That appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty: and my name ADONAI I did not show them." (Exodus 6:2-3)
Instead of posting my musings as usual, I'm going to quote verbatim my commentary on Exodus 6:3, the famous verse in which God reveals His name to Moses. In a previous entry on Genesis 32, I had commented on the fact that God apparently had withheld His name from the ancient Patriarchs, and that He seemingly reveals Himself only gradually. Still, His actual "name" (I'm sure the term name is quite limiting in that we're dealing with the Supreme Being here, Who doesn't need a "name" in the sense that you and I do) is forever lost to us due to reasons revealed in the following passage from my Biblical commentary:
"The name which is in the Hebrew text, is that most proper name of God, which signifies his eternal self-existing being, which the Jews, out of reverence, never pronounce; but instead of it, whenever it occurs in the Bible, they read Adonai, which signifies the Lord: and therefore they put the points or vowels, which belong to the name Adonai, to the four letters of that other ineffable name Jod, He, Vau, He. Hence some moderns have framed the name Jehovah: unknown to all the ancients, whether Jews or Christians: for the true pronunciation of the name, which is in the Hebrew text, by long disuse, is now quite lost. This name was first clearly revealed to Moses, that he might have confidence in his special protection and love. To know one by his name, is to treat him with familiarity and distinction. The pronunciation of the name of God might be known to Abraham, etc. but it was not so fully explained, nor the power and excellence of it declared in such a stupendous manner, as it was to Moses. Or perhaps Moses made use of this name in the history of the patriarchs, because he wrote his account of them after this revelation. The Septuagint always put Kurios, "the Lord," instead of the ineffable name; and our Savior and his apostles , citing texts where it occurs, follow their example. Philo informs us, that it was death to pronounce it out of the temple; and since that was destroyed, it has never been heard. Galatinus, who wrote in 1518, is supposed to have invented the word Jehovah, the year after the pretended reformation began. St. Jerome explains the ten names of God, but never reads Jehovah."
Obviously this doesn't even begin to answer all the questions. But I think it adds to the discussion, and hopefully creates questions worth pursuing.
That appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty: and my name ADONAI I did not show them." (Exodus 6:2-3)
Instead of posting my musings as usual, I'm going to quote verbatim my commentary on Exodus 6:3, the famous verse in which God reveals His name to Moses. In a previous entry on Genesis 32, I had commented on the fact that God apparently had withheld His name from the ancient Patriarchs, and that He seemingly reveals Himself only gradually. Still, His actual "name" (I'm sure the term name is quite limiting in that we're dealing with the Supreme Being here, Who doesn't need a "name" in the sense that you and I do) is forever lost to us due to reasons revealed in the following passage from my Biblical commentary:
"The name which is in the Hebrew text, is that most proper name of God, which signifies his eternal self-existing being, which the Jews, out of reverence, never pronounce; but instead of it, whenever it occurs in the Bible, they read Adonai, which signifies the Lord: and therefore they put the points or vowels, which belong to the name Adonai, to the four letters of that other ineffable name Jod, He, Vau, He. Hence some moderns have framed the name Jehovah: unknown to all the ancients, whether Jews or Christians: for the true pronunciation of the name, which is in the Hebrew text, by long disuse, is now quite lost. This name was first clearly revealed to Moses, that he might have confidence in his special protection and love. To know one by his name, is to treat him with familiarity and distinction. The pronunciation of the name of God might be known to Abraham, etc. but it was not so fully explained, nor the power and excellence of it declared in such a stupendous manner, as it was to Moses. Or perhaps Moses made use of this name in the history of the patriarchs, because he wrote his account of them after this revelation. The Septuagint always put Kurios, "the Lord," instead of the ineffable name; and our Savior and his apostles , citing texts where it occurs, follow their example. Philo informs us, that it was death to pronounce it out of the temple; and since that was destroyed, it has never been heard. Galatinus, who wrote in 1518, is supposed to have invented the word Jehovah, the year after the pretended reformation began. St. Jerome explains the ten names of God, but never reads Jehovah."
Obviously this doesn't even begin to answer all the questions. But I think it adds to the discussion, and hopefully creates questions worth pursuing.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Exodus 3-5
"And you shall lay upon them the task of bricks, which they did before; neither shall you diminish any thing thereof, for they are idle, and therefore they cry, saying: Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
Let them be oppressed with works, and let them fulfil them; that they may not regard lying words." (Exodus 5:8-9)
Thus speaketh the Pharaoh after learning that the Hebrews want to be set free. In these chapters of Exodus (3-5) the central event is obviously God speaking to Moses via the burning bush. But I just want to quickly focus on a parallel I noticed between our society today and the Pharaoh's words above. For when Moses (through Aaron) requests that the Hebrew people be released so that they may properly sacrifice to their God, the Pharaoh decides that the Hebrews obviously are too idle, that they don't have enough work to do, since they're sitting around thinking of crazy things like leaving Egypt so they may sacrifice to their God. In a much more conniving way, our culture today doesn't take kindly to idle-ness. We are a culture of work work work. And surprisingly enough, by working ourselves to death we've left little to no time for properly sacrificing to God. In fact, we work so much we've left no time to even think about Godly matters: the meaning of things, the broad questions, the ponderings of life. There's a reason the Church prescribes
holy days: we need time to dwell on spiritual things. Holy days are a chance to put aside everyday work and focus on God. But today even secular "holy days" (i.e., vacations) are limited to practically nothing (Americans take the fewest amount of vacation days compared to every other country in the world; in one study, Americans took on average 13 days of vacation per year, compared to 42 taken by Italians!). The point? If we are only ever working, when do we have a chance to think? And if we're never thinking, how are we contemplating God? The Pharaoh knew exactly what he was doing -- shut them up by making them work more! Well, I'd say today we are effectively shut up, for I don't see anyone complaining that we don't have enough time to give to God.
Let them be oppressed with works, and let them fulfil them; that they may not regard lying words." (Exodus 5:8-9)
Thus speaketh the Pharaoh after learning that the Hebrews want to be set free. In these chapters of Exodus (3-5) the central event is obviously God speaking to Moses via the burning bush. But I just want to quickly focus on a parallel I noticed between our society today and the Pharaoh's words above. For when Moses (through Aaron) requests that the Hebrew people be released so that they may properly sacrifice to their God, the Pharaoh decides that the Hebrews obviously are too idle, that they don't have enough work to do, since they're sitting around thinking of crazy things like leaving Egypt so they may sacrifice to their God. In a much more conniving way, our culture today doesn't take kindly to idle-ness. We are a culture of work work work. And surprisingly enough, by working ourselves to death we've left little to no time for properly sacrificing to God. In fact, we work so much we've left no time to even think about Godly matters: the meaning of things, the broad questions, the ponderings of life. There's a reason the Church prescribes
holy days: we need time to dwell on spiritual things. Holy days are a chance to put aside everyday work and focus on God. But today even secular "holy days" (i.e., vacations) are limited to practically nothing (Americans take the fewest amount of vacation days compared to every other country in the world; in one study, Americans took on average 13 days of vacation per year, compared to 42 taken by Italians!). The point? If we are only ever working, when do we have a chance to think? And if we're never thinking, how are we contemplating God? The Pharaoh knew exactly what he was doing -- shut them up by making them work more! Well, I'd say today we are effectively shut up, for I don't see anyone complaining that we don't have enough time to give to God.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Exodus 1-2
And so begins the saga of Moses. Right away, learning of the meaning behind Moses's name was enlightening for me. I never knew that it literally signifies "saved out of the water." Quite interesting; and quite symbolic of the institution of baptism.
It's kind of crazy that Moses kills an Egyptian, but I suppose (as many commentators say) that God allowed that act to occur to show that Moses was to be the one to save his people from their afflictions at the hand of the Egyptians, because no one else was stepping up: "And when he had looked about this way and that way, and saw no one there, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand" (Exodus 2:12). He looked about for help as the Hebrew slave was being beaten by the Egyptian (as all the Hebrews were being oppressed by the Egyptians), and when he saw no one he realized that he needed to take it upon himself to help this man (as he helps all the Hebrews by delivering them). We also must remember that this killing of the Egyptian was done earlier in Moses's life, and therefore he had yet to hear God's voice instructing him to deliver the Hebrews.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Concluding Thoughts On Genesis
Genesis is completed! It took a while, but I'm glad I spent so much time with it, for even though it is my third or fourth reading of Genesis, it's been by far the most illuminating. I discovered so much more in this Book than I ever knew was there. I dwelt much more on the later chapters, whereas before I tended to focus on the early chapters and skim through everything else. Adam and Eve still captured my attention, but Jacob and Joseph enthralled me like never before.
I came to understand something more about Genesis -- its place amongst the other Books of the Bible. Obviously it is most famous for its Creation account, but it goes so far beyond that. It lays the foundation. It is where the "desire of the everlasting hills" is first revealed to us! "Genesis, from the end of the third chapter to its close, is but the history of [the] immortal Hope, and the other books of the Pentateuch do but describe the national institutions, political and religious, by and through which this Hope was to be preserved undimmed among the universal darkness of Heathendom, till the Star of Bethlehem warned Israel that the Light of the World was come."*
The people we meet in Genesis, with all their failings and worries, their weaknesses and mutinies, might otherwise give in to despair had they not been given a Hope. For imagine a world in which Adam falls and no Hope is given afterwards! Such a world would be one of constant gloom and unhappiness. But God in His Eternal Mercy gives the world a glorious Hope in the figure of His Son. And this Hope guides the chapters of Genesis. All eyes point toward the Promised Light. Many men lose sight of this ultimate Hope (as today they still do), but we have holy men to thank (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) for keeping that Hope alive.
And now I embark on the rest of the Pentateuch, which sometimes reads like a rulebook. Though I now understand better why so many rules needed to be established. For, doubtless, men feared that future generations may lose sight of the Hope Who was revealed to the people written of in the Book of Genesis. Men, most notably Moses, realized that our fallen nature makes it too easy to drift away from the Truth, and therefore we need guidance and direction in the form of Rules to ensure we stay the course. But first, there are the extraordinary events captured in the Book of Exodus, which I turn to next.
*Bernard O'Reilly
I came to understand something more about Genesis -- its place amongst the other Books of the Bible. Obviously it is most famous for its Creation account, but it goes so far beyond that. It lays the foundation. It is where the "desire of the everlasting hills" is first revealed to us! "Genesis, from the end of the third chapter to its close, is but the history of [the] immortal Hope, and the other books of the Pentateuch do but describe the national institutions, political and religious, by and through which this Hope was to be preserved undimmed among the universal darkness of Heathendom, till the Star of Bethlehem warned Israel that the Light of the World was come."*
The people we meet in Genesis, with all their failings and worries, their weaknesses and mutinies, might otherwise give in to despair had they not been given a Hope. For imagine a world in which Adam falls and no Hope is given afterwards! Such a world would be one of constant gloom and unhappiness. But God in His Eternal Mercy gives the world a glorious Hope in the figure of His Son. And this Hope guides the chapters of Genesis. All eyes point toward the Promised Light. Many men lose sight of this ultimate Hope (as today they still do), but we have holy men to thank (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) for keeping that Hope alive.
And now I embark on the rest of the Pentateuch, which sometimes reads like a rulebook. Though I now understand better why so many rules needed to be established. For, doubtless, men feared that future generations may lose sight of the Hope Who was revealed to the people written of in the Book of Genesis. Men, most notably Moses, realized that our fallen nature makes it too easy to drift away from the Truth, and therefore we need guidance and direction in the form of Rules to ensure we stay the course. But first, there are the extraordinary events captured in the Book of Exodus, which I turn to next.
*Bernard O'Reilly
Friday, July 17, 2009
Genesis 49 - "The Desire of the Everlasting Hills"
I have a feeling this could get a bit lengthy. :)
It's almost as if the entire Book of Genesis is building to a great crescendo, and in Chapter 49 it all culminates in a climactic explosion of revelation and prophecy. I speak of Jacob's blessings of his twelve sons. So much is revealed in this chapter. It almost takes several readings to truly grasp it all. And of all the prophecies told throughout Genesis, this one is by far the most revealing. We are given not only a more unambiguous announcement of the coming of the Messiah, but we are even told when, and under what circumstances, He will come! I was in a state of amazement while reading Jacob's prophecies, for it is so clearly Jesus Christ he speaks of.
I will begin with a brief statement on Ruben, Jacob's eldest. I found the treatment of Ruben saddening (though Jacob's reasons obviously were valid). Ruben virtually is denied a blessing at all from his father, and he is essentially told that he is a great disappointment and left to go his way. Ruben's progeny will be slight and unassuming.
Simeon and Levi are addressed next, and what Jacob has to say only hints at the great revelations to come. Jacob is clearly angry at these two sons "because in their fury they slew a man" (Genesis 49:6). Now what is interesting is that Simeon and Levi will be the forebears of the Jewish scribes and priests, and it was via the councils of those high and mighty scribes and priests that Jesus Christ was condemned to death.
And next we have Juda. Here Jacob gives his lengthiest blessing, for it is through Juda's line that famously great things will happen. Jacob begins by revealing the prosperity that Juda's posterity will enjoy, that they will be great kings (e.g., David and Solomon). Essentially, it is said that Juda's line will rule over the lines of all the other sons, and this does in fact happen. But then, interestingly, Jacob says that "the sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations" (Genesis 49:10). This verse ought to make anyone stop in his tracks! Suddenly Jacob is speaking of a person who is to be sent? and this person is the "expectation of nations"? These are loaded statements. But what is most revealing (and what should be most troubli
ng to Jews) is that Juda's sceptre has been taken away! The tribe of Juda has long since lost power in the Land of Israel, and the losing of that power can be traced back precisely to the time of Christ, just as the prophecy revealed. In fact, it was Jacob's prophecy (among others, of course) that led people living in the years just before Christ's coming to be expecting His appearance! This is verified not only by St. John, but by the gentile historians Suetonius and Tacitus. I find this all quite fascinating, and I would be curious to know how Judaism reconciles Jacob's prophecy.
Verses eleven and twelve must be quoted in full:
"Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, O my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.
His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk."
Through His Body and through His Blood, the Jew and the Gentile shall be united. To whom else but Christ could these verses allude?
After running through more blessings, Jacob comes to Joseph, his most special son. Though not given as lengthy a blessing as Juda, Joseph's blessing does go on for several verses. And once more does Jacob allude to a Figure Who is to come. And this time he utters a poetic phrase that has become renowned through the ages: "The desire of the everlasting hills" (Genesis 49:26). I've heard this epithet for Christ before, but I've never really pondered it in its context. It's such a beautiful expression. What I hadn't known is that the prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament were known, in a spiritual sense, as the everlasting hills. This of course gives the epithet a whole new, and more important, meaning.
All of Genesis 49 reads like a poem. Each son is given a powerful message, beautifully uttered by the dying Jacob. For the sake of brevity I focused mainly on the blessings of Juda and Joseph, but there can be a treasure trove of truths found in almost every verse of this profound chapter. For example, even young Benjamin's brief blessing can be seen as a prefiguring of the apostle Paul, who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.
But I better stop there. :)
It's almost as if the entire Book of Genesis is building to a great crescendo, and in Chapter 49 it all culminates in a climactic explosion of revelation and prophecy. I speak of Jacob's blessings of his twelve sons. So much is revealed in this chapter. It almost takes several readings to truly grasp it all. And of all the prophecies told throughout Genesis, this one is by far the most revealing. We are given not only a more unambiguous announcement of the coming of the Messiah, but we are even told when, and under what circumstances, He will come! I was in a state of amazement while reading Jacob's prophecies, for it is so clearly Jesus Christ he speaks of.
I will begin with a brief statement on Ruben, Jacob's eldest. I found the treatment of Ruben saddening (though Jacob's reasons obviously were valid). Ruben virtually is denied a blessing at all from his father, and he is essentially told that he is a great disappointment and left to go his way. Ruben's progeny will be slight and unassuming.
Simeon and Levi are addressed next, and what Jacob has to say only hints at the great revelations to come. Jacob is clearly angry at these two sons "because in their fury they slew a man" (Genesis 49:6). Now what is interesting is that Simeon and Levi will be the forebears of the Jewish scribes and priests, and it was via the councils of those high and mighty scribes and priests that Jesus Christ was condemned to death.
And next we have Juda. Here Jacob gives his lengthiest blessing, for it is through Juda's line that famously great things will happen. Jacob begins by revealing the prosperity that Juda's posterity will enjoy, that they will be great kings (e.g., David and Solomon). Essentially, it is said that Juda's line will rule over the lines of all the other sons, and this does in fact happen. But then, interestingly, Jacob says that "the sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations" (Genesis 49:10). This verse ought to make anyone stop in his tracks! Suddenly Jacob is speaking of a person who is to be sent? and this person is the "expectation of nations"? These are loaded statements. But what is most revealing (and what should be most troubli
ng to Jews) is that Juda's sceptre has been taken away! The tribe of Juda has long since lost power in the Land of Israel, and the losing of that power can be traced back precisely to the time of Christ, just as the prophecy revealed. In fact, it was Jacob's prophecy (among others, of course) that led people living in the years just before Christ's coming to be expecting His appearance! This is verified not only by St. John, but by the gentile historians Suetonius and Tacitus. I find this all quite fascinating, and I would be curious to know how Judaism reconciles Jacob's prophecy.Verses eleven and twelve must be quoted in full:
"Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, O my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.
His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk."
Through His Body and through His Blood, the Jew and the Gentile shall be united. To whom else but Christ could these verses allude?
After running through more blessings, Jacob comes to Joseph, his most special son. Though not given as lengthy a blessing as Juda, Joseph's blessing does go on for several verses. And once more does Jacob allude to a Figure Who is to come. And this time he utters a poetic phrase that has become renowned through the ages: "The desire of the everlasting hills" (Genesis 49:26). I've heard this epithet for Christ before, but I've never really pondered it in its context. It's such a beautiful expression. What I hadn't known is that the prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament were known, in a spiritual sense, as the everlasting hills. This of course gives the epithet a whole new, and more important, meaning.
All of Genesis 49 reads like a poem. Each son is given a powerful message, beautifully uttered by the dying Jacob. For the sake of brevity I focused mainly on the blessings of Juda and Joseph, but there can be a treasure trove of truths found in almost every verse of this profound chapter. For example, even young Benjamin's brief blessing can be seen as a prefiguring of the apostle Paul, who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.
But I better stop there. :)
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Genesis 48 - The Younger Shall Prevail
In Genesis 48 we see yet another example of a younger sibling being favored over the older. I don't mean to harp on this theme, but I can't help but find it significant. It would be one thing if such an event happened only once in Scripture and later scholars tried to make more out of it than they should. B
ut in Genesis alone this favoring of the younger one seems to happen over and over and over. It happened with Abel, with Isaac, with Jacob, and with Rachel. And now in Genesis 48 we see Ephraim, the younger, earning Jacob's favor over Manasses, the older. Something is trying to be said. A message is being symbolically conveyed. It seems to me more than a coincidence that the later Church of Christ can be likened to a younger sibling of the more ancient Jewish faith. Obviously the Jews of the time before Christ could not have seen it this way, but Someone Who can see All Time would be more than able to plant the seed of an idea, to foreshadow the significant events ahead, ages before mankind could understand those ideas more fully. We can now see that God was foretelling the blessing He would bestow on His Son's Church, as opposed to the older synagogue. I also don't think it a light matter that Jacob emblematically forms a cross with his arms as he blesses Ephraim and Manasses.
ut in Genesis alone this favoring of the younger one seems to happen over and over and over. It happened with Abel, with Isaac, with Jacob, and with Rachel. And now in Genesis 48 we see Ephraim, the younger, earning Jacob's favor over Manasses, the older. Something is trying to be said. A message is being symbolically conveyed. It seems to me more than a coincidence that the later Church of Christ can be likened to a younger sibling of the more ancient Jewish faith. Obviously the Jews of the time before Christ could not have seen it this way, but Someone Who can see All Time would be more than able to plant the seed of an idea, to foreshadow the significant events ahead, ages before mankind could understand those ideas more fully. We can now see that God was foretelling the blessing He would bestow on His Son's Church, as opposed to the older synagogue. I also don't think it a light matter that Jacob emblematically forms a cross with his arms as he blesses Ephraim and Manasses.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Genesis 46-47
Well, it's been quite a while since my last entry. June was such an eventful month that I never had a free moment to post anything. I'm slowly creeping towards the close of Genesis; and I'm hoping to pick up the pace now that things are starting to settle down.
Just one quick observation after reading Genesis 47: as the people of Egypt are selling their possessions, and ultimately their freedom, to the king in exchange for protection against the famine, I couldn't help but have in mind our current American economic situation. In Genesis 47 we see that the people's loss of liberty is a gradual process. First they must exchange their sheep, ox, cattle, etc. for food. Then they must sell their land. And ultimately they must sell themselves in order to eat and feed their families. This process took years, and some may say they had no choice. I see today the gradual selling off of our liberties to our increasingly powerful government as a striking reenactment of what happened in Egypt thousands of years ago. Jacob's progeny became slaves of the state, eventually prompting them to flee the region altogether. As we, today, become slaves of the American state, what exactly will our Exodus be like?
Just one quick observation after reading Genesis 47: as the people of Egypt are selling their possessions, and ultimately their freedom, to the king in exchange for protection against the famine, I couldn't help but have in mind our current American economic situation. In Genesis 47 we see that the people's loss of liberty is a gradual process. First they must exchange their sheep, ox, cattle, etc. for food. Then they must sell their land. And ultimately they must sell themselves in order to eat and feed their families. This process took years, and some may say they had no choice. I see today the gradual selling off of our liberties to our increasingly powerful government as a striking reenactment of what happened in Egypt thousands of years ago. Jacob's progeny became slaves of the state, eventually prompting them to flee the region altogether. As we, today, become slaves of the American state, what exactly will our Exodus be like?
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