Author: Erin Newton

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When All Hail Breaks Loose

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Exodus 9 Listen: (5:31) Read: Matthew 20 Listen: (4:22)

Scripture Focus: Exodus 9:16–18

16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. 18 Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now.

Reflection: When All Hail Breaks Loose

By Erin Newton

Years ago I was crouching in the closet of my friend’s house while the deafening sound of a storm pounded the roof with softball-sized hail (11cm) that damaged our roofs, destroyed our cars, and demolished plant life—a typical spring day in Texas.

Hailstorms in Egypt, however, are rare. Exodus 9 says it was “the worst … ever.” A common hailstorm is a nuisance; a record-breaking hailstorm is a devastating catastrophe.

The signs and wonders from God escalate in intensity and destruction. Gnats and boils were things that caused a disruption, but nothing too extreme. The bloody river and the dead livestock—these signs were all bad, but not as bad as what was coming.

There is no real escape from hail if you’re caught outside. Everyone was at risk from servants in the fields to children in the street. Small hail stings and bruises. Large hail kills.

The hail was so damaging “it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree” (v. 25). It was not just a nuisance. Crops were ruined. Trees were laid bare.

All those years ago, I remember walking out of the house to see everything shattered. The lawn was glistening white, covered in unfathomably large chunks of ice. Limbs and leaves were scattered everywhere. We were spared a tornado that day, but the hail had done equal damage.

Pharaoh thought of himself as a god. He was the sun. He was the cosmic power—at least in his own eyes. There was nothing he could not do, or so he thought. But the hailstorm in Exodus 9 was a display of real divine power.

The Almighty God did not challenge Pharoah to a duel as if he were an equal. He rightly affirmed, “I could have … wiped you off the earth,” (v. 15) if he had wanted. But he is also mighty in mercy—hoping that Pharaoh would repent.

The scene echoes the words later penned in Job: “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you. … Have you … seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?” (Job 38.3, 22-23).

The battle between God and a self-important ruler was on. Pharaoh soon learned, it was not a battle he ever had hopes of winning.

Signs and wonders show us not only how powerful God is, but how powerless humans truly are.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful, for I have taken refuge in you; in the shadow of your wings will I take refuge until this time of trouble has gone by.
I will call upon the Most High God, the God who maintains my course.
He will send from heaven and save me; he will confound those who trample upon me; God will send forth his love and his faithfulness. — Psalm 57.1-3

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Idol-Destroying Plagues

The plagues systematically and categorically destroyed everything that Egypt trusted in and worshiped. 

Idol-Destroying Plagues
Read more: Lasting Revivals and Normal Idols

It’s easy to be judgmental of ancient people’s idols…But these gods were normal…practical SOP that promised financial ROI.

Lasting Revivals and Normal Idols

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Subverting a King’s Order

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Exodus 2 Listen: (3:18), Read: Matthew 13 Listen: (7:23)

Scripture Focus: Exodus 2:6, 10

6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. …

10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Reflection: Subverting a King’s Order

By Erin Newton

The final words of Exodus 1 are a genocidal edict from Pharaoh. An entire generation of foreign workers were targeted simply because there were a lot of them. The king thinks the Hebrew community will “join my enemies,” thus prejudging them as a sort of problem.

But we see the subversive plan of God at work in chapter 1 when many babies were saved, because Shiphrah and Puah saw each person as valuable and defied the pharaoh’s orders. And just a few verses later, a baby survives by the hands of an Egyptian woman!

Here she is—a member of the powerful, royal family and the majority ethnic group—looking at a Hebrew baby with compassion. In the narrative she stands as a parallel to the same bravery displayed by Shiphrah and Puah.

Pharaoh’s daughter defies her father’s order, not out of some hormonal weakness, but because she sees value in humanity. Despite her family—her community of influence—she made a choice based on principles.

Shiphrah and Puah are among the targeted community. Their actions are strategic, successful, and brave. Pharaoh’s daughter is among the abuser’s community. Her actions are thoughtful, merciful, defiant, and morally right. Shiphrah, Puah, and Pharaoh’s daughter looked at the law of the land, saw it for the evil it was, and did the opposite.

As in ancient history, leaders today are promoting decisions that cast people out, labeling them as the enemy, and pursuing any avenue to eliminate them. When leaders (even leaders we like) choose power over people, over peace, or over principles, we don’t have to follow them or obey them.

For many of us, we are not in the demographic targeted by these decisions. Pharoah’s daughter couldn’t overturn the mandate, or save everyone, but she did what she could for who she could.

When laws or policies are cruel or unjust, what can you do where you are for those affected? Can we be like the brave women of this story? Are we speaking Pharaoh’s words, “throw them into the Nile” or his daughter’s, “I drew him out of the water.”

We are standing by the Nile. The cries of the children and their parents call out. We can stand against evil edicts and save lives or stand by and watch the once-cleansing waters soon turn to blood.

Choose principles over power. Be ready to recognize when your own people are wrong.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Jesus said: “In all truth I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave. Now a slave has no permanent standing in the household, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free.” — John 8.34-36

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Exceptional Emperors

Nero was an exceptionally bad emperor but Peter made no exception for the character his readers must demonstrate.

Exceptional Emperors
Read more: Resisting in Faith

In the midst of one of the most powerful and evil governments in history, Daniel understood…Their calling was to speak to power, not to strike at it.

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Reconciliation in the Family of God

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Genesis 45 Listen: (4:10), Read: Matthew 6 Listen: (4:35)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 45:1-2, 4-5, 24

1 So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.

24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way!

Reflection: Reconciliation in the Family of God

By Erin Newton

The events in Genesis 45, according to Sibley Towner, “are the stuff of shalom-making.” The stuff that makes happy endings. The stuff that we can use as an example.

And that is saying a lot, especially after all those chapters of misbehavior, scheming, abusing, and traumatizing done by the hands of God’s chosen family. Suddenly, the clouds break and the sun shines on the text with a story of peace, happiness, and wholeness.

What can we learn about reconciliation from Genesis 45?

1. Reconciliation is an emotional event. Joseph rattles the neighborhood with his weeping. I’m sure he cried and wept when thrown into the pit when his brothers tried to kill him. These are not the same sort of tears. These are the tears of joy—the impossible has become possible. Joseph was left for dead (or worse, wished dead!), and any hope of seeing his estranged family was zero. The tears at their reconciliation are tears for a renewed life together.

2. Reconciliation doesn’t ignore the pain caused by one another. Joseph’s brothers are nervous to answer his question about their dad. They were probably filled with shame for their actions and anxiety over whether he would retaliate in kind. Joseph encourages them to throw off self-loathing for their past behavior. He’s obviously reached a place in his heart to forgive them. (Mind you, it’s been decades since that fateful day.)

3. Reconciliation can end with blessings that outweigh the prior pain. Joseph recognizes the place of privilege he now has over the land as well as his brothers. He has the power to give them life, even when they dealt him death. Joseph’s reconciliation is enhanced by his own virtue of generosity.

4. Reconciliation avoids further conflict. Joseph yells after his brothers as they go home to fetch their dad, “Don’t quarrel on the way!” He seems to know the emotions would be tense. They’d likely want to argue over whose fault it really had been. Joseph’s attention is on the present peace.

Some of the worst conflicts happen between members of the same family. The family of God is not exempt.

How have we lamented over division with our fellow believers?

How have we addressed the real pain dealt to one another?

What power or privilege can we use today to help our brothers and sisters?

And are we willing to try and keep such peace?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Show us the light of your countenance, O God, and come to us. — Psalm 67.1

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Spiritual Twins

Forget the birthright-stew debacle. Remember when Esau showed unmerited forgiveness. He loved his brother…ran to him…hugged him…wept.

Spiritual Twins — Readers’ Choice
Read more: From Darkness to Light

Psalm 105 tells Israel’s story of moving from light to darkness to light. Joseph goes from favored son to slave and prisoner, then rises to the bright pinnacle of power.

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Women Interrupting History

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Genesis 38 Listen: (4:24), Read: Mark 15 Listen: (5:16)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 38:26-27

26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.

27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.

Ruth 4:11-12

11 Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”

Reflection: Women Interrupting History

By Erin Newton

The story of Tamar interrupts the narrative of Joseph. It is a jarring interruption at that. The scandalous nature by which the men withhold their duties of levirate marriage and her tactics are both perplexing as well as sordid.

The narrator doesn’t cast much of a critical shadow over the actions. Was such behavior acceptable in the ancient world or did the author simply prefer to focus on the greater purpose of the text (to tell the history of Israel’s genealogy)?

The outcome of Tamar’s plan is clear in the text. She conceived not just a child but twins. In a culture that did not fully grasp the concept of eternal life, “living forever” was generally seen in one’s offspring. Not only was Tamar’s lineage continued but it was doubled, a blessing for this once discarded woman.

Laying aside the ethical questions of Genesis 38, the birth of the two boys is seen generations later as a blessing on par with the offspring of Rachel and Leah.

Once again the question of levirate marriage is in focus in the story of Ruth. The elders of the city speak of Ruth as a blessing for Boaz. She is not marked by her foreign identity or her status as a widow. She is a woman that can bring blessing.

Women are not often named in the Old Testament and even less are they given central roles in the telling of Israel’s history. But the story of Tamar interrupts the narrative and, I think, intentionally.

The next story returns to Joseph but with his own trouble with a scheming woman. Joseph is not like Judah; the reasons for their situations are different. Joseph is portrayed as honorable and full of integrity. Judah is marked as self-serving and untrustworthy. Even the women are seen differently.

The interruption of Tamar’s story calls attention to her. But such attention to foreign women is nothing new in the Old Testament. It is Zipporah, Moses’s wife who rushes out to save their son Gershom. It is Rahab who saved the Hebrew spies. It is Ruth the Moabite who enables the line of David.

The two distinctions that should have placed Tamar outside or on the periphery of the narrative—being foreign and being a woman—are honored by God and highlighted by the narrator.

We serve a God who honors that which the world dismisses.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy.

Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves. — Psalm 126.6-7

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Tamar’s Story

Tamar is not defined by the abuse she suffered at the hands of men or by her assertive (and questionable) actions…She is a matriarch of Jesus.

Tamar’s Story — Love of Advent
Read more: Ruth’s Story

Ruth stands in the spotlight…Boaz redeemed her, but Ruth’s character is the focus…she decided by faith for “your God” to become “my God.”

Ruth’s Story — Love of Advent

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The Cost of Scheming

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Genesis 30 Listen: (6:10), Read: Mark 8 Listen: (4:29)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 30:16, 34-36

16 So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night. …

34 “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” 35 That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. 36 Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.

Reflection: The Cost of Scheming

By Erin Newton

The story of Jacob’s family and wealth is filled with tricksters. It is Jacob’s trademark personality trait—despite any attempts we make to find good features in the narrative.

Genesis 30 describes the expansion of his family, first through Leah but then through Rachel and two of their servants. Only these two women, Bilhah and Zilpah, bear no signs of scheming in the story. Like many of the stories in Genesis, servant women are used for the benefit of the ruling family—shamefully so.

Rachel and Leah have learned much from their father Laban’s schemes and their husband Jacob’s cunning practices. The chapter ends with Laban attempting to trick Jacob out of what is promised to him. And Jacob performs what can only be described as some sort of magic trick to produce his speckled flock.

The astonishing part is that it works. But is the result of one’s actions the litmus test of its acceptability?

With so many stories of trickery and scheming, is such behavior okay? Can Christians utilize schemes? It seems like God blessed Jacob despite such behavior, but it runs contrary to the biblical call to honesty.

Despite the blessing of progeny for Jacob and his wives, the children are born into a family where mothers are angry with one another, and soon the sons will find themselves repeating the same story of jealousy and deception.

The scheming and deception achieved the result they wanted, but at what cost? Women meant to serve the needs of the family are given as mere sexual favors and convenient wombs. The closeness of the immediate family is now built on how one can trick another for his or her gain. Futures built on deception breed more deception.

John Walton states, “One of the ways in which we suffer the consequences of our behavior is by passing our bad habits on to our children” (NIV Application Commentary: Genesis). Such is true of Jacob’s children.

Even through the deception, scheming, jealousy, and continual return to such behaviors, God is faithful to his promises, not Jacob’s or Rachel’s or Leah’s or Laban’s poor decisions. Walton concludes, “God is capable of overcoming the obstacles of character. . . . Our task is to make sure that we are part of the solution rather than the problem.”

Are we scheming in the supposed name of our God? At what cost?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Protect my life and deliver me; let me not be put to shame, for I have trusted in you.

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for my hope has been in you. — Psalm 25.19-20

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Resisting Culture’s Mold

We must never define our marriages, our sexuality, our politics, or anything else by culture’s mold.

Resisting Culture’s Mold

Read more: It’s In The Bible

Polygamy was never in the Bible because God approved of it. It was there because the culture approved of it.

It’s In The Bible