Does God Need a Defence Attorney? (Part 1)

One of the things I teach my students, in the Religious Studies classes for which I am their TA, is that, before they can read any text with as objective a perspective as possible, they must take everything they think they know about that text and "put it on a shelf." Then they can try to read the text with fresh eyes, unencumbered by preconceived ideas and personal agendas.  Is that easy to do? No, in fact, it is quite challenging and even when consciously striving to do so, we are unsuccessful.

I am part of a group of men who have committed to reading through the entire Bible (Hebrew Bible and New Testament) in 2018. We come together (online) to discuss what we are learning from our readings. Everyone of these men have been followers of Jesus for at least 10 years, and most for more than 25 years. I, for one, am trying to read, what I do by faith consider Scripture, from as objective a perspective as I possibly can. As a result in our discussions I think I might be developing a reputation of being the proverbial "devil's advocate." I can only hope that these men understand that I'm not trying to undermine or tear down anyone's faith. Rather, I am personally striving for a more authentic and honest faith--a faith that recognizes the historical, ethical and moral challenges that reading the Hebrew Bible objectively (i.e., from an academic rather than confessional perspective) raises.

A good example this past week came from reading the early part of the book of Exodus with a special focus on the plagues that Yahweh brought upon the people of Egypt and the resulting horrors they experienced. Most scholars do not believe this describes any events that actually happened, but even if that's the perspective one has, this is how the author of Exodus wanted its readers to see how God works. The reason that the Egyptians experienced ten absolutely horrible plagues is because of Pharoah's hardness of heart. He refused to let Moses take the Hebrews away for a time of worship and sacrifice to Yahweh. Under the pressure of a certain plague he would agree and then he would renege, withdrawing his approval, because "his heart was hardened."

At least 19 times from Exodus 4 through 14, the text talks about Pharaoh's heart being hardened. What people often miss seeing, however, is that it is the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, who credits himself as the one who hardens Pharoah's heart. Even before Moses meets with Pharaoh, he says, "And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go" (4:21. See also 7:3; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17). Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, "hardened Pharaoh's heart" so that he would not let the Hebrews go. This was, according to the author of Exodus, Yahweh's plan all along. It's not just that God foreknew that Pharoah's heart would be hard, but that God, himself, would harden his heart.

The result of Pharaoh's heart being hardened was that not only he, but all the Egyptians had to suffer terrific and, at times, personally devastating, disasters. Imagine, as I do as a father of two sons and a grandfather with two (of my six grandchildren) grandsons, waking up one morning and find my firstborn son and my firstborn grandson had died in the night. But then when I share my grief with my family, friends and neighbours, I find that each of them has suffered the death of their firstborn sons. In fact, this unspeakable loss was experienced by every family in my country!  Then, imagine again, that your fathers, husbands, brothers and sons who serve in the army follower their commander and chief on a mission that fails terribly. How terribly you ask. So terrible was the defeat that not a single man survived! Not one father, husband, brother or son returned. The reason this reputedly happened in Egypt as that Yahweh, the God of Hebrews, hardened Pharaoh's heart.

When I read story of the Egyptian plagues from an objective perspective, this is what I "hear." But then I want to jump to God's defence. I know people are going to put the God of the Bible on trial for this action and I try to create a strategy with which to justify God's actions. But is that really what I need to do? Will that result in my having an authentic and honest faith?

More to come...