Sansblogue

I’ve been podcasting my way through the E100 (100 “essential” Bible readings designed to give a good overview introduction to the Bible). Today we got to Exodus 12: E100-19: Exodus12: A great festival, but a huge theological problem. I faced a dillemma, the podcasts are billed as 5 minute Bible, so I can’t go much over 5:30 for even a difficult passage. This chapter tells the story of Passover, vital stuff, not least (for Christian readers) as the NT takes it up as picture language to speak of what God does for us in Christ. But of course, in telling that it also (inevitably) tells of the killing of the first-born of every Egyptian household, even the animal ones (shades of the Ninevites in Jonah?). So how do I deal with that? How do you talk about God the cold-blooded killer in less than 5 minutes? Or at all?

At least, when many of your listeners are conservative Christians, who believe that the Bible is Word of God, and who do not understand that phrase as “liberally” as you do?

My problem is a variant of Lingamish’s, but with existential urgency. He asked about one sort of almost unpreachable text (the vengeance passages in the OT) whether he should not just cut the Gordian knot and hack them from Scripture. I am preaching this Sunday (tomorrow already :(

I have to preach on one of those passages where the vivid pictures cause people to read the Bible as a code book. You know, the helecopter gunships in Joel or the jewels in the priestly breastplate… passages preachers are tempted to read as coded messages. They are two a penny in some parts of the Bible.

My problem is pretty much the usual one, except my topic was announced last month “The Bible is NOT a codebook, it means what it says“. Great idea, right? But how does one of these passages work to preach it straight.

If:

5 As with the rumbling of chariots,
they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble,
like a powerful army drawn up for battle.
6 Before them peoples are in anguish,
all faces grow pale.
7 Like warriors they charge,
like soldiers they scale the wall.
Each keeps to its own course,
they do not swerve from their paths.
8 They do not jostle one another,
each keeps to its own track;
they burst through the weapons and are not halted.

Joel 2:5-8

Is not a prophecy of helecopter gunships in the 20th or 21st century, but of locusts and/or an invading Iron Age army then how is it good news for people in Blockhouse Bay tomorrow?

My problem has greaqter existential urgency as I have a church leadership retreat all day today, so only have a few hours for sermon prep tonight and tomorrow morning, so please help me!
How would YOU preach Exodus 26? Or the beginning of Joel 2?