Restarting Exodus; A Covenant View of the Exodus

By F. Michael Colacuori

Many books have been written about the Exodus. Most seem to place the greatest emphasis on understanding the historical aspects of that event. Restarting Exodus will take a different approach. The emphasis will be on understanding the spiritual picture being presented. While most people understand that the Exodus is telling of the great spiritual deliverance of the Hebrews, they underestimate the degree to which the spiritual is incorporated. Here you will find the Exodus to have been “restarted” using covenant theology. The covenant view will cause many portions of the Exodus to come alive with fresh ideas and an understanding from the theological perspective. If you want to read a book based on traditional thinking, this is the wrong book. Only read this book if you are interested in a fresh look into the Exodus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638850410

F. Michael Colacuori

F. Michael Colacuori was born in 1941. World War II ended in 1945. Perhaps he might be thought of as a baby boomer. But he was a baby while things were still booming. Mike does not fit well within either the “greatest generation” or the baby boomers. He is a man without a generational matchup. While he does not fit well into a time slot, neither does he fit well into a pigeonhole that defines his thinking. While much of what he has learned has come from others, he is perfectly willing to step up and do his own thinking. “What is the next question?” the author continually asks. When we think we know the answer, nearly always there is one more question. Pushing the envelope just a little farther often brings us to the most important part of the story. It is the overlooked part that he wishes to uncover.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Should I Pull an Ox from a Well on the Sabbath?

Chapter 1: Setting the Stage

The Game of Risk

The Key Location

The Theological Orientation of the Bible

Should Archeological Findings Align with Scripture?

Chapter 2: Reorienting Our Thinking

Understanding How the Bible Presents the Exodus

The 2450 BC Date

The Way Numbers Were Used in the Ancient World

Chapter 3: The Plagues

What Is Your Name?

Evaluating the Plagues

Chapter 4: The Jewish Use of Literary Devices

Understanding Hyperbole

A Look at Apocalyptic Language

Chapter 5: The Descent into Egypt

It Began with Joseph

The Onset of the Captivity

Chapter 6: The Reality of the Exodus

Was the Exodus an Actual Event?

How Many People Were in the Exodus?

Chapter 7: The Key Locations of the Exodus

Five Key Locations

The Starting Point

The Ultimate Destination Part 1 (The Spiritual Destination)

The Ultimate Destination Part 2 (The Physical Destination)

Chapter 8: The Middle Locations

The Location of the Red Sea Crossing

The Location of Mt. Sinai

The Rock that Moses Split

The Budding of Aaron's Rod

Chapter 9: The Overlooked Exodus

The Dual Crossing

The Preparation of Moses

From Bark to Ark

Chapter 10: If God Was Not in the Box, What Was?

Which Rod Was God Using?

No Box Is Needed Today!

The War Tent

Chapter 11: The Conquest

The Location of Kadesh Barnea

What Is the Evidence for the Conquest?

The Nature of the Conquest

Distinguishing between Military and Spiritual Battles

Chapter 12: The Promised Land

The Promises of God

The Area of the Promised Land (as described by the Bible)

The Exact Parameters of the Land

Chapter 13: The Unanswered Questions

The Big Three

Establishing a Date for the Exodus

Identification of the Pharaohs of the Oppression and of the Exodus

Chapter 14: The Interpretation

Finding the Hidden Meaning

The Wide Net of the Lord

The Meaning of the Exodus

Conclusion

Bibliography

About the Author

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Restarting Exodus; A Covenant View of the Exodus

F. Michael Colacuori

ISBN 978-1-63885-040-3 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63885-041-0 (Digital)

Copyright © 2021 F. Michael Colacuori

All rights reserved

Revised Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

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Should I Pull an Ox from a Well on the Sabbath?

When we restart our computers, it is because nothing is working. It may have gotten locked up and it's not responding to anything we try. For sure, that can be frustrating. All we can do is stop, back up, and attempt a new beginning. A fresh start is sometimes all that is necessary to get us back on track.

My own computer does not like me. It takes great joy in thwarting my attempts to type properly. It constantly makes unexpected changes to words that I have just typed fouling up the meaning completely. It will incessantly type three of the sameee letter when only one was intended. There are times that I wonder if it might be possible to find a typewriter in an antique shop and go back to the old way. Somehow, some way, something has to change. My computer has not learned obedience and needs to be confined to its room for at least an hour. Then maybe it will learn.

As we approach the Exodus, perhaps a restart is also needed. It is easy to lose sight of the idea that it is a book of beginnings. The nation of Israel was just being created. The Exodus actually was the event which created the tiny nation that has been the subject of such a huge amount of interest, fear, love, hatred, scorn, and derision.

How could such a small nation be the subject of so much focus? It was the beginning of Judaism and eventually led to the very beginning of Christianity. It was not only the beginning of Israel, but ultimately, it was the beginning for many of us. I suspect that much of this readership will have come from a background of either Christianity or Judaism. Regardless whether one is actively pursuing either of those religions, it is important to understand how our background had its beginning. Can you think of another instance in which God Himself was intimately involved in the formation of a nation?

When we look at the Exodus, we find events are often described using extreme language. This extreme language may cause us to think that something is amiss. Could it really have happened that way? I seem to be told about things that are clearly impossible. I know it is impossible because it is telling me stuff that is greatly different from what I hear from historical or archeological sources. Those fields surely must have it all together.

Yes, if we try to compare the findings of archeology or history with the Bible, problems may seem to abound. Multiple sources seem to produce multiple solutions, none of which are in agreement. We don't like that. We want a tidy solution, one in which history, archeology, and the scriptures agree with one another.

During the classic period of Egyptology about one hundred or more years ago, during the lives of Flinders Petrie or James Henry Breasted, much information about Egypt was relatively new and conflicts with the Bible were just beginning to surface. While that may have been disconcerting, new archeological findings were coming thick and fast, and it was possible to overlook conflicts and assume that additional research would gradually resolve the problems. In that era, the Bible was viewed as correct, and it could be assumed that archeology would eventually catch up and confirm the truth.

Indeed, archeology has been very busy since the days of Petre and Breasted, and much more about the history of both the Egyptians and the Hebrews has been uncovered. However, the old conflicts which existed in 1900 have not been resolved. Some have actually become worse. On matters pertaining to the Hebrews, the widely held positions of the Bible, Egyptian history, and archeology, have not dovetailed and apparent conflicts remain. The three most common questions concerning the Exodus might be: Who was the pharaoh of the oppression? Who was the pharaoh of the Exodus? And when did the Exodus take place? Since the Bible does not provide this information, searching for answers to those three questions may cause some to turn to Egyptian history or archeology.

However, Egyptology has not provided those answers either. After over one hundred years of research, these three questions remain controversial. The very fact that answers to these questions are still elusive has caused some to feel that the Exodus never happened. If it never happened, then the Bible might be viewed as wrong. If it is wrong about the Exodus, some may conclude that it is not to be trusted on other issues. It looks like a pretty slippery slope with no handrails to stop the downhill slide. My grandchildren would probably love it.

Those who choose to use the Bible as their only source and completely ignore Egyptian history or archeology are gradually being looked upon as totally uninformed. Those who lean most heavily on Egyptology might not only view Christians as wrong, but they may also view them as being out of touch with reality. If Christians are out of touch with reality, why associate with them at all? Let's kick back with someone who has his head on straight. However, information provided from secular sources is continuing to mount, and it is increasingly difficult for Christians to turn their backs on it. It would appear that the conflicts are now producing unbelievers. Church attendance is down, and it seems that these conflicts between archeology and the Bible might be one factor.

Perhaps it's time to rethink the Exodus. In this book, we will attempt to restart our thinking from the very beginning. I will not be proposing that the Bible is wrong on any count; indeed, I will be asserting that it is entirely correct. What then will be the nature of this restart? If the Bible is entirely correct, archeology has learned much, and apparent conflicts with Egyptian history remain, how will we resolve the problems?

Many Bible readers are willing to accept the idea that the Bible is first and foremost a spiritual book and that its teaching is offered at the spiritual level. Even though in principle that idea is accepted, it seems more difficult to turn one's back on the physical aspects of the Scripture and concentrate on the theological. We are a people who want immediate answers to the who, the when, and the how, and we may not be quite as interested in the why.

The book of Exodus seems a little different. Readers seem more ready to delve into the why, the spiritual teaching, and the principles being taught. However, sometimes people are surprised as they read Exodus to discover just how frequently a spiritual teaching is being offered up. It is there on nearly every page.

Our tendency to look first to the historical aspects of the Exodus may cause us to lose sight of the spiritual material present in nearly every passage. My hope is that once we see that the focus of Exodus is on the spiritual teaching, it will become easier to do a 180 and put less emphasis on the historical aspects and more on the supernatural.

I have included several teaching moments along the way. Hopefully, they will make it easier to spot the application for our own lives today. The Bible is not simply about the ancient world. It's about our relation with the living God, today.

My belief is that we have traditionally attempted to interpret the Bible in a way in which the ancient Hebrews would not have done. The conflicts between the historical and the theological are only apparent. What we may think is providing a historical view of biblical events is often presenting a theological picture which can differ considerably from the customarily held historical view.

Once we understand the orientation of the Bible, these apparent conflicts should no longer be a problem. My effort will be to point out the theological side of each issue all along the way. I hope that you will not tire of continual reminders of that orientation. Perhaps once the conflicts are removed, not only will Christians find their faith strengthened, but unbelievers will no longer see the biblical view as misinformed.

Interest in the historical aspects of the Exodus runs high. The three major historical questions mentioned above often dominate the discussion. I will take the reverse approach. Information on the historical will be included, but it will not be treated in as thorough a manner as will the spiritual issues. While many have attempted to provide literal answers to the most difficult historical questions, few seem to have provided totally convincing answers. I will not have definitive answers to the historical questions either. However, I believe I can come closer to providing answers to the spiritual issues in such a way that historical issues will no longer seem disconcerting.

That being said, it will not be the unbelievers who care enough to gain the best understanding. They are perfectly happy with the view they now hold. Indeed, they feel that their understanding is totally correct and there is no reason to consider any other position. Since they may view Christians as an unreliable source, it will require a very well thought out and understood interpretation to gain an audience from the unbelievers. It will have to be the believers who make the first move to correctly understand the difficult issues that are present both in the Exodus and in other parts of the Bible. Even though many people may be unaware that difficulties exist, for many, the discomfort level has risen considerably. They have become a significant problem.

I have recently heard that millennials (Generation Y) are leaving the church at an unprecedented rate. Obviously, this has become a major concern for the church as we may be facing the loss of an entire generation and perhaps the generation that follows (Generation Z) as well. The next generation might never find its way into a church if their parents do not attend. In conversation with Matt Love, director of a local Christian summer camp, he confirmed that camp attendance is also down. That next generation has already been affected.

A quick look at many congregations may reveal that there are more older people in the pews than one might expect. The older group may be content to stay with their church while the younger people seem to be leaving. Where might this lead? Is Christianity itself at risk? Has it become obsolete?

Those who have examined this issue are suggesting that millennials think Christians are too hard on the LGBTQ community or they are too politically conservative. There is evidence that they have democratic leanings and do not list a church preference when asked. While the evidence does seem to point out these leanings, I am wondering if the root cause of their leaving the church has actually been identified.

Perhaps their present beliefs are not the reason for their leaving but may actually be the result. I believe we need to ask why they have adopted these positions. Since we are talking about ex-church people, their present leanings or beliefs were probably not their original positions. It represents some sort of change. What has brought this change about? Is the reason they leave the church more deeply seated?

My observation is that the millennials are a very socially connected group. Many are all about helping people. They are very interconnected via iPhone, Facebook, Twitter, etc. While most people use today's technology, it seems nearly addictive for the millennials. When I need help with my computer, it isn't those from my own generation that I call. It's my grandchildren! Perhaps the information age has totally overtaken our young people.

If the phone is a more significant factor in maintaining relationships than the church, my guess is that it might include more associations with unchurched people. Since this expanded group of contacts presumably comes from somewhere other than the church, it makes sense that these technologies bring a less godly influence into our lives. Many of us have hundreds of friends on Facebook while we may have only a few dozen who we actually know. We are all influenced by those around us.

If the church does not seem to have answers to their questions, some may decide to look for greener pastures. The world may seem to have answers where the church does not. Millennials may have left due to dissatisfaction and subsequently have adopted new beliefs acquired from their new associates. They might no longer believe that the Bible or the church is relevant for them. Perhaps they don't believe the Bible at all anymore. If they don't, the church has not met their spiritual needs, and that could easily be cause for a change.

Still, that does not answer the question as to why they have changed their beliefs. If their needs were being met within the church, wouldn't they have stayed with it? Perhaps what had met the needs of previous generations is not meeting the spiritual needs of today's millennial. What has changed? I doubt that people's needs have changed. The Bible has not changed and the church has not changed. Something is different.

I am going to suggest that it is our culture that has changed. Culture is always changing, and ours, today, is changing at a rapid rate. Perhaps our culture has changed in a way that has caused our needs to no longer be met by the church. Why should that be? Isn't the Bible supposed to be for all people from all cultures from all generations from all millennia?

We live in a culture which prefers a highly literal understanding of the Bible. In ancient Israel, that was not the case. Words did not always have the same meaning that we would expect, and the actual use of words is also sometimes different. The ancients could extract a nonliteral meaning from the text where we might prefer a literal rendering. A major part of this book will be my attempt to help us restart and learn how to better interpret inadequately understood portions of Scripture. The Bible continues to be for us, today. However, we may have to go the extra mile to glean the greatest understanding from it. Those who adopt a highly literal understanding of the text may never spot the need to go the extra mile.

The need to go the extra mile runs counter to what is taking place in our culture today. The possibility of getting instant answers on the internet or from total strangers on an iPhone may lead to expectations of quick and easy answers from the Bible as well. Walking an unbeliever through the four spiritual laws or the Romans road may actually be our attempt to provide a quick easy answer.

However, with the information age offering many opinions that run counter to our standard biblical teaching, we may have to overcome more than was necessary in previous generations. At the same time while some parts of our Bible are easily understood, gaining a good understanding of much of it is more difficult. It will require many years to master some of its teaching.

Think about this. While at the same time an unbeliever can quickly grasp enough truth to come to the Lord, it may require a lifetime of learning to understand much of what the Bible has for us. The Gospel message itself is a very simple message. Even so, parts of the Bible include much more difficult concepts. It is not an ordinary book.

In today's culture, people are able to view a huge amount of information in seconds. This instant information can be presented by persons who are completely unknown to readers and who may be offering opinions on issues about which they have no experience or training. The reader may have no way to determine if those expressing opinions have any background which would make them a reasonable voice to which one might want to listen. This can put a reader on dangerous ground.

As we will soon see, the Bible does contain passages that may be fraught with difficulty. If there is no qualified teacher giving a good explanation, the reader will be left to his own imagination. Even worse, those who do appear to be qualified teachers may not be understanding its message the way the ancients did.

I am wondering if millennials are not the only group that is being lost to the church. Where are the new converts? While I have not seen figures on this, we do not seem to be seeing many from outside the church showing up on Sunday morning. Why does this group seem to have no interest in hearing the Gospel? Could the issues causing the millennials to leave the church be the same reasons that the unchurched are not being converted? Is the Bible not speaking to the needs of today's people?

I believe that it does speak to the needs of today's people. However, the changes to our culture may have caused readers to feel that the Bible no longer speaks directly to them. We cannot change what the Bible says. God has not changed. The Bible has not changed. People's needs have not changed. However, our way of looking at the events of the Bible may have changed. The way people acquire information is different. They are looking into other venues to get information.

Perhaps it may be possible to read the Bible in a way which does speak to millennials. It may be necessary to look at some passages in a slightly different way to see the relevance for today's people. I would like to offer a couple of passages, which when understood in a way in which today's reader may find meaning, the relevance of the passage should be evident.

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at a house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not? But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them,

Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well will not immediately pull him out? And they could not reply to these things. (Luke 14:1–6 ESV)

A casual reading may cause us to feel that the issue is about an ox stuck in a well and about pulling it out on the Sabbath, a literal approach to the problem. Most of us today do not make our living from farming. Even among those who do, an ox is not an animal that most farmers in the western world own. I wonder if pulling an ox from a well is something that will resonate with a 21st century reader. Who cares about an ox anyway? If it is not a story which appears to apply to our own lives, do we pay as much attention to it as we might if it seemed to be more personally applicable?

Would the ox have left behind any residue in the well? What might have washed itself from its body? Whatever had passed through or washed from the ox while in the well would probably be of an organic nature, right? We would then have organically enhanced water! Maybe it even ends up as vitamin water. It might bring $1.50 per bottle. Yuck! Does today's view of that match up well with that of the ancients? Well?

What about doing it on the Sabbath? The pious Pharisees would view the admonition against working on the Sabbath as reason not to rescue the ox. Jesus clearly felt otherwise. The urgency of the situation would trump the admonition against working on the Sabbath. More of that verse centers on the day than the animal. The Sabbath itself might not seem to be very close to home. Many of us worship on Sunday. Others who have jobs that require working on Sunday have long since resolved that they can worship at some other time and comply with their employers' demands. However, how many of us who work on Sunday actually find another time to worship? Once Sunday is past, is our opportunity to worship truly lost? If our commitment is to Sunday more than to the Lord, we may not find a time to commune with Him. Our level of commitment may be revealed by our choices.

Many of us no longer view Sunday as a day for absolutely no work. Perhaps with both the day and the animal being somewhat outside of our wheelhouse, we may tend to think that this story has no real application for our lives. If there is no application for our own lives, why bother?

I would like to suggest that the story is not so much about an ox, nor is it about the Sabbath. It is about the relationship between people. While the ox may need help, it is the owner of the ox that is being helped. It is the relationship between the one who stumbles upon the ox and its owner that is the subject of the incident. Jesus is showing that we should step up to the plate and meet a need when we are confronted with it. That it happens on the Sabbath demonstrates that we should not allow other demands on our time to cause us to put someone's need on the back burner. We are to act immediately when confronted with a need and not be sidetracked by other demands on our time. When someone is in need, help him.

When looked upon this way, the story becomes much more contemporary and applicable to our lives. It is not just for those who lived when oxen were in common use. The Bible is always highly contemporary. However, we may need to rethink things that might cause us to feel it is out of date. The example given above is a scripture in which the most complete understanding may be missed. To extract the most relevant teaching may require more time and thought. Even at that, understanding such passages might be the easy part.

There are other verses which might appear to be a more serious problem. Some seem to be in direct conflict with each other and in turn make the Bible look as if it is in error. Since conflicting verses may come from different parts of the Bible, they may not be noticed at first. When someone spots such a conflict and no explanation is forthcoming, one's faith may be shaken. That's the hard part. Several of these conflicts will be dealt with as we progress.

In developing our discussion, we will look at both the historical and the spiritual aspects of many events. Each of these events will be presented using the view of the physical world and will initially sound as if the event is primarily giving a history of the Hebrews. However, in nearly every case, the principal teaching being offered will be at the spiritual level. The objective will be to portray the relation of man with God or with other people. It will be using the things of the physical world to teach about the spiritual world.

Often, we tend to gloss over the spiritual meaning and try to glean as much as possible about the physical. The reverse should be the approach. The spiritual will be the primary reason for the event being included and will be worded to shed the greatest light on it. The lesson being taught may not line up well with our expectations when viewed at the historical level. Because understanding apparent conflicts requires looking at the Bible in a different way, it may take thinking through several of them before an understanding of what is actually taking place in the text is realized.

For those who tend to take the Bible in a highly literal way, encountering several of these possible conflicts without any resolution can easily have the effect of turning one against the Bible entirely. If the Bible is clearly wrong in these areas, where else might it be wrong? Is God real? Did Jesus actually die for my sins? Why should I believe the Bible when it is clearly wrong so many times? Hang in there. The Bible is not full of errors. It is incredibly accurate and precise. We will see.

Readers of the Bible may become nonbelievers or even atheists if such issues go unresolved. A series of them will take its toll. There can easily be more than one reason that people lose faith and become unbelievers. However, nonbelievers frequently site errors in the Bible as a way to justify their unbelief. We clearly must prevent anyone from going down that road. The Bible is true, and we must be able to show others that it is.

If you missed the best interpretation of a verse, your faith may not be strengthened the way it should. However, what would you do if you spotted passages that you felt were clearly giving conflicting information? Would you be a happy camper? Left unanswered for a long period, whatever doubts you may have had would probably fester until you decided to blow it off. Would you decide the Bible is untruthful and of no use to you? Would you become an unbeliever? Would you end up leaving the way millennials are doing?

The church has not done well at resolving these conflicting passages. Many Bible teachers prefer to focus on the many positive promises of God. That may be a good thing. However, if we fail to deal with things that may, at first glance, seem to present an error or a conflict within the Word of God, we may be allowing a possible source of trouble to remain unchecked. If we fail to explain these difficult passages, it does not mean that they go unnoticed by unbelievers. We must offer teaching that will provide an understanding for those who are questioning, or they will make up their own minds even though no explanation has been provided. Their questions will eventually move from being questions to becoming unbelief. It is unbelief that is causing people to leave the church.

When problems mount and unbelief creeps in, people will also turn their backs on the many positive promises of God with which they may have had no problem while their faith was still in place. Ultimately, because of unanswered questions, their entire belief system may come unhinged. Perhaps the only way to rebuild their faith will be to eliminate the difficulties, the conflicting passages, and provide a better understanding of them.

It may be difficult to bring back those who have already left. However, the first step should be to stop the bleeding. Let's first build the faith of those who have not left. Let's answer their questions and restore their faith in God by building their confidence in His Word. Unshakable faith will be evident to outsiders, and it will be our testimony that spills over and affects the world.

You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read of all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Cor. 3:2–3 ESV)

Everyone will see and understand our faith (or lack of it). It is a two-step process. First, strengthen the faith of the believers; then it will spread to others.

How does all this apply to the millennials? How do we stop them from leaving the church? We will need to help them cling to their faith. That help will need to come in at least two areas. They will need an understanding of verses which appear to be conflicting, and they will need an understanding of passages which might leave them with an unclear picture of biblical teaching. Reasons to doubt the Bible must be overcome.

Millennials are the very ones who put a high value on helping people in need. Without realizing it, they are doing exactly what the Bible would have us do. The Bible, for all people, in all time, would have us step up to help our fellow man whenever he is in need. Yet millennials, those who put a high value helping others, are the very ones leaving the church. I believe they would feel greater satisfaction to know that they were not only helping those in need but that they were doing it in obedience to God's Word.

Now that you know what all this has to do with the millennials, wasn't this book supposed to be about the Exodus? Perhaps more difficult passages are included in the Exodus than in many other places in the Bible. Our effort will be to demonstrate why apparent conflicts are not conflicts at all and that verses which seem to be teaching about something in the natural world are actually offering a more significant teaching and only using the natural world to present this teaching.

However, in Exodus, there are two additional sources of possible trouble. Sometimes the Bible does not match up well with archeology. Many people today understand that in spite of over one hundred years of archeological effort, there are many unanswered questions. Any artifacts unearthed must be interpreted if they are to be useful. That can be the hard part. Interpretation is difficult and often leads to problematic conclusions.

Likewise, Egyptian history may seem to be at odds with the Bible. It does not provide answers to such questions as who was the pharaoh of the Exodus? Does that mean that no Exodus had taken place? Could the entire thing be only a myth? This alone may cause people to question the truth of the Bible. People often feel that the Bible, archeology, and Egyptian history should provide a clear match. However, history and theology do not have the same purpose and therefore may not be presenting information in the same light.

I believe we need to develop the ability to look past old cultural interpretations meant for another generation or even millennium and see the truth which is there for us today. We must address the difficult passages in the Bible and learn to deal with them. The Bible is not wrong. If our method of presenting biblical teaching allows us to show the reader that its teaching applies to lives today, it will be better received and the needs of the reader will be met. Hopefully, that translates not only to the millennials staying in the church, but the faith of all age groups being strengthened.

Chapter 1

Setting the Stage

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to a land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great.

—Genesis 12:1,2a (ESV)

The Game of Risk

Have you ever played the board game of Risk? If you want a game that may take as long as Monopoly and that takes an equal number of frustrating turns, you might enjoy this game. It is a game of world conquest in which participants attempt to conquer the territories of their opponents. Battles for territory are won or lost by the roll of a dice. Players start with an equal number of armies which are used to occupy territories, and the game ends with one player conquering the entire world. Hitler would have loved it. Can you see Hitler taking a turn and rolling his dice? Perhaps artillery would have suited him better.

Players which hold all countries in a continent earn additional armies for their turn. Those additional armies can be placed to aid either offensively or defensively as the player chooses. The more easily defended places help greatly in putting up not only a good defense, but make a good offense possible as well. For as long as a continent is controlled, it will produce additional extra armies for each turn, making a more aggressive offensive possible. As the game progresses, it becomes very clear that to hold Europe and Asia is extremely difficult and many major battles center around the near east. Does that sound familiar? Where are so many of the world's hotspots?

The nation of Israel can be attacked from Africa, Europe, and Asia, as well. Players attempting to conquer the three surrounding continents are not so much interested in conquering Israel as they are in taking the other continents. Although Israel is not likely to be a major participant, it is often involved in battles to take the surrounding continents. How can such a small country hope to defend itself against attack from so many directions? It can't. Israel is practically impossible to defend. More often than not, the final battles, late in the game, center around the near east. How different does that sound from real life?

It will always be the spiritual aspects that will be at the forefront of any story, event, or teaching provided within the Bible. We, the natural man, are predisposed to center our attention on the physical. If we gloss over the more important spiritual side, we will not glean the entire truth being presented and assume that the physical will tell the entire story. We need to reverse this situation and attempt to put our primary focus on the spiritual. Many of us may think this is easy. It is not. As we read, we may tend to slip back into our view of the physical and let the spiritual take a back seat. At the risk of boring you to death, I will bring this idea up frequently.

Both in Risk and in the real world, conflict is too great for tiny Israel to survive on its own. The magnitude of the oppressor state, as well as several other enemies which surround fledgling Israel, should cause us to conclude that the survival of Israel is not possible in the natural. The opposition is overwhelming. That observation requires us to understand that Israel's survival is only possible because the Lord is the covenant protector of Israel. They were never alone. My effort will center on why God chose Israel and why He placed it at the very center of the world stage even though it does not seem to be a major player.

Have you ever wondered why God chose such a significant location, the very center of the world stage as the promised land? Doesn't the very name promised land sound like a place of peace and safety? Couldn't God have selected a location in a less contested part of the world, one that would leave them alone and without so many enemies? Is it possible for such a