Links for today’s readings:
Read: Exodus 8 Listen: (5:07) Read: Matthew 19 Listen: (4:04)
Scripture Focus: Exodus 7.22b-23
22 …Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. 23 Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart.
Exodus 5.2
2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”
Reflection: Pharaoh’s Epistemology
By John Tillman
The first person God called “prophet” was Abraham. Moses and Aaron were next. It is interesting to compare the results.
God warned Abimelek in a supernatural dream to let Sarah go. God’s prophet, Abraham, would pray for the king and bless him if he did. If Abimelek did not, all his people would die. Abimelek could have hardened his heart and doubted his dream but he didn’t.
God warned Pharaoh through Moses, Aaron, and supernatural signs, to let his people go. If Pharaoh did not let the people go, he and his kingdom would suffer. Pharaoh could have believed the signs but hardened his heart and the hard-hearted find excuses not to listen.
Pharaoh questioned the prophets’ motives, their political alignment, and their honesty, calling them lazy, troublemakers, deceptive, and divisive. Pharaoh had an identity-based epistemology. “Who is the Lord that I should obey him…?” (Exodus 5.4)
Pharaoh doubled down and reaped disaster. Abimelek relented and reaped blessings. How kings and citizens respond to prophetic warnings matters.
Before being too hard on Pharaoh, consider whether we share his identity-based epistemology. Today, we don’t distrust supernatural prophets. We distrust everything.
If our news source says it, it’s true. If your news source says it, it’s biased. If the facts make our side look bad, they are fake. If scientific results challenge us, it’s a conspiracy. If the courts rule against our side, they are corrupt.
This skepticism extends to biblical teaching. We too often judge the trustworthiness and orthodoxy of pastors by their politics rather than their theological claims. We are in an epistemological crisis. Hard hearts find excuses not to listen. We only trust ear-tickling prophets.
How do we escape this crisis of truth? How can Christians reclaim the mantle of being people devoted to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God?
If I had 10,000 words instead of 400, I still couldn’t answer that. However, I know one step is not asking like Pharaoh, “Who said this that I should believe it?”
We need an Exodus from Pharaoh’s epistemology even if it means wandering in the desert. How we respond to prophets of any kind, matters. Let’s recover a commitment to the truth, no matter who says it or benefits from it.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Show your goodness, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are true of heart. — Psalm 125.4
– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more: Tortured Prophets Department
Conspiracy, disloyalty, and financial gain are common accusations used today to discredit whistleblowers and victims. Amaziah is alive and well.
Read more: Conspiracy Theology
“Trust no one” is the mantra for our day. We have seen the news turn from a daily source of information to headlines judged for signs of misinformation.
