[thechat] Religion - a way of life (was: what the...)

[Michele Wandrei]

> > > I haven't studied Bible although I have some chapters of it
in my PC in
> > > MS Reader eBook format. But I know that God never approved
so-called
> > > "Killing all first-born in Egypt". It was Pheron (the king
of Egypt) who
> > > ordered it.
> >
> > wrong.  Exodus 12:29 ...
>
> > Moses called down the plagues onto Egypt, God sanctioned and
enacted them,
> > ergo God slayed the first born of the Egyptians.

Actually, you're both right.  To really get the full story
though, you should read the books of Genesis and Exodus, the
first two books of the Bible.  The Old Testament (before Jesus)
is sometimes hard to deal with, even for those of us who study
it.  The New Testament (from the birth of Jesus) is quite
different.  The Old Testament basically lays out the law, or
God's expectations.  First you have to know the rules.  The New
Testament builds on the law, but also brings in God's grace.  The
law is there, but because no one is perfect, no person can follow
it to the exact letter.  (This topic is a whole discussion in
itself.)

Genesis lays out the creation story and the early days of God's
"chosen people (Israel -- the group of people, not the nation).
They were God's chosen people because they were the ones that
followed God.  The others had pretty much gone their own way by
then.  Jacob and his descendents (Israel) took up residence in
Egypt and their presence threatened Pharaoh's power, so he
enslaved them.

In Exodus, God calls Moses to lead his people out of slavery.
Moses didn't call the plagues on Egypt, God did THROUGH Moses.
Moses actually put up an argument ("why me, God?  Can't you pick
someone else?").  In order to free the slaves, God tells Moses to
show Pharaoh how powerful he (God) is.  He started out by having
Moses throw his staff onto the ground where it turned into a
snake.  It progressed through turning the water to blood, cutting
off the water supply for the Egyptians (slave holders at this
time), through the plagues of locusts, etc.  Pharaoh held his
ground, trying to hold on to his own power.  It was a classic
power struggle.  Pharaoh against God.

In the end of this story, God tells Moses to warn Pharaoh that
the first born sons of all Egypt would die unless he let the
slaves go free.  Moses warned Pharaoh and Pharoah pretty much
laughed in his face.  Pharaoh had seven chances to listen to God,
but still refused.  He had free labor, so letting the slaves go
really did threaten him.  The Hebrews (Israel) were told to mark
their doorways with the blood of a lamb and they would be "passed
over" -- this plague would not touch them.

So Pharaoh stubbornly held his ground, and God sent the plague on
the first born sons of Egypt.  That's what it took to convince
him to let the slaves go free.  They fled Egypt, but Pharaoh
changed his mind and went after them.  Pharaoh's army drowned in
the Red Sea after the people had passed through it.

Interestingly enough, the freed slaves wandered in the wilderness
for 40 years.  They would follow God for a while, then revert
back to their old ways.  They called on God when they needed to
be rescued and, to put it too simply, he got a little tired of
it.  The generation of slaves who fled Egypt never made it to the
promised land.  Their descendents did.

The second "kill all the first born sons" story is after the
birth of Jesus.  The three wise men saw the star and went to
Jerusalem to find the newborn king (not a king in the worldly
sense, as the people expected him to be).  King Herod told them
to find the child and report back to him.  Well, they found the
child and went off a different way.  When Herod realized that he
had been duped, he gave orders to kill all boys in Bethlehem who
were two years of age and younger.  He had to feel extremely
threatened -- his power was being challenged by a baby. In the
meantime, God sent an angel to Mary and Joseph (Jesus' parents)
and told them to flee to Egypt (their ancesters had fled FROM
Egypt).

The Bible stories are really important to understand the whole
picture, but the New Testament is what Christianity is all about.
Love God and love each other.  To do that, I need to stop
worrying so much about "what's in it for me" and reach out to
other people.  But that discussion could go on for many hours as
well!

___________________________________________________
Michele Wandrei
inThree Design
www.inthree.com