New Easter Hymn... "Pharoah, let my people go!!!"

by anti-absolutist 3 Replies latest jw friends

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  anti-absolutist

  I went down to a church around the corner for an Easter egg hunt, this morning, with the kids. I had never been to any other church before, but it was great fun for the kids. Before they had the hunt, there was a puppet show and some songs were sung.

  I was impressed with the upbeat, positive atmosphere of everybody there. It was much more positive than my memories of the Kingdom Hall meetings.

  Without wishing to insult their good intentions, I still find it amazing at what is taught as being from God. The one song, (with slides to show the drama of the event) recreated the exodus from Egypt and the demise of the pursuing Pharoah and his armies, in the Red Sea.

  Is it just me or does anybody else find it slightly disturbing that Christianity teaches little kids that their God does such things as kill all of the Egyptians' kids' daddies?

  Don't get me wrong, I believe in instilling good morals in my kids, but to suggest that if they think someone else doesn't agree with them or their spiritual belief, that they don't deserve to live is odd.

  Your opinions are appreciated. (And I won't even want to kill you if they differ from mine!!! )

  Brad
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  Kenneson

  Hi Brad,

  And what would have happened to the Israelite kiddies, their dads and moms, had not Pharoah's army been drowned?
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  anti-absolutist

  They would have been taken back to be slaves. How do you think the Egyptians made the pyramids? You don't get much production out of dead slaves!!!

  By the way, I don't suggest that keeping slaves is a fair and just thing to do, either, but right up until 150 years ago, it seemed OK to even theU.S. The Isrealites were also guilty of having slaves.

  Brad
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  bebu

  I've been thinking about this question. Here's what I've come up with:

  Soldiers are men who are trained to fight and kill, and also to be prepared to die for the cause the leader sets them to. They were coming up to fight a kind of war ("come back as slaves to Egypt or die") of sorts against a crowd of people who were not soldiers, nor very likely able to defend themselves. Basically, God fought the Egyptians on behalf of the Israelites. Another army could have stepped in to fight the battle, and we would most likely not mourn about Egyptian losses. If you die by sword or by drowning as a soldier, it's still the same fate of death--a hazard of the job.

  Sometimes God's eternal messages are painted on an "epic" canvas: "When God rescues you, even when the enemy tries to recapture you, you are safe; and God gives grace even when you have fear."

  ...But, then there are always other questions that can be asked about other battles that were fought under different circumstances. Some of them are more difficult to "comb out" than others.

  One thing I've discovered is that when I get a lot more background info, I can understand the reason why a battle was fought.

  Another thing is that sometimes we think that the Bible promotes all the actions of all "good" characters. But that is not necessarily the case--the Bible sometimes reports some things without comment, at times. Some of these things are NOT good, such as certain events in the times of Judges, or before the exile; or of certain characters, like Judah and Tamar.

  I am a parent, and I think most parents know that there are times when we do/allow something that looks quite unfair from the point of view of the child. We often get accused of being unjust, even as we try to train our child to respect justice. Unfortuanately, there ARE times when I am unjust, because I still do sin. But God is perfectly just, and there is sometimes a question if He is being fair, since we don't see all the info/see into hearts like He does.

  At this point, I always remember the incredible death of Christ, and I think, God knows justice; God knows mercy. God knows these things better than I do, and if His character is like this, then I can trust Him even when I don't understand everything. (And, it is still okay for me to try to learn answers to questions like these, too.)

  bebu