Source: Douglas A. Knight and Amy-Jill Levine, The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us (HarperOne, 2024)
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This podcast explores the recurring biblical theme of exile and the search for a home, beginning with Adam and Eve's expulsion from Eden and tracing it through the narratives of the patriarchs and the Exodus from Egypt. It highlights how human attempts at security and permanence, like building cities or relying on earthly rulers, often fail, emphasizing instead divine intervention as the ultimate source of redemption. The podcast concludes by examining how later prophets and apocalyptic literature anticipate a future eschatological age brought about by God, often involving a messianic figure, where the promises of a true and eternal home will finally be fulfilled.
The Narrative of Exile, Displacement, and the Search for Home: The biblical story is depicted as a continuous effort to find or create a home after being displaced. This pattern begins immediately with Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden, their original paradise, which is subsequently blocked off. Finding immortality, according to most of the Bible, is framed through human continuity via children and memory, rather than through eternal life in a fixed paradise. The theme continues with Cain, who, after killing Abel, becomes a fugitive but eventually settles and builds the first city, though cities are viewed with ambivalence, being founded by a murderer and unable to provide true security. Noah and his family are displaced by the flood, and after the waters recede, they are blessed to be fruitful and fill the earth. However, the people at Babel refuse to spread out, attempting instead to establish a permanent home and achieve immortality through building a city and a tower. This human endeavor is seen as an attempt to recreate Eden and counter the divine command to fill the earth. God intervenes by confusing their language and scattering them, thus ironically fulfilling the command through divine action. The story of Abraham begins with displacement from Ur, a journey to Haran where his family settles temporarily, and then a divine command to go to Canaan, which was his original destination but had been interrupted. The promise of the land is given, but it is for his future offspring, not for Abraham himself to possess fully in his generation. Abraham and his family live as sojourners in Canaan, experiencing famine that drives them to Egypt, continuing the cycle of displacement. Subsequent generations of the patriarchs (Isaac and Jacob) also experience displacement and sojourning due to famine or conflict, moving between Canaan and other regions like Gerar and Paddan-aram. Joseph's story leads to the entire family settling in Egypt, fulfilling a prophecy that Abraham's descendants would be aliens and slaves in a foreign land. The Exodus is a story of liberation from this state of enslavement and displacement, but it leads into forty years of wandering in the wilderness, delaying entry into the promised land. Even Moses, who leads the people out, is himself an exile who fled Egypt for murder and does not ultimately enter the promised land. The Babylonian exile is another major iteration of displacement, forcing the community to again seek home. This recurring narrative underscores the instability of human existence outside of a divinely ordained state and highlights the ongoing human search for security and permanence.
The Exodus Story as a Central Paradigm: The narrative of the Exodus, particularly Israel's liberation from Egyptian slavery, serves as a foundational model for understanding God's relationship with Israel and the nature of redemption. The story begins with a new, unnamed king in Egypt who does not remember Joseph, symbolizing the transient nature of human rulers compared to the enduring memory of God. This king, later identified by the title Pharaoh (meaning "great house," linked to the quest for royal permanence), is depicted as a cruel and inept tyrant who enslaves the Israelites and commands the killing of their male infants. This divine-human conflict, or theomachy, pits Pharaoh's lordship, characterized by enslavement, against YHWH's lordship, characterized by liberation. Unlike Pharaoh's forgetfulness, God remembers the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prompting divine intervention. Pharaoh's actions are portrayed as lacking political foresight; for example, enslaving a powerful population is counterproductive to preventing their potential alliance with enemies. The biblical text also raises questions about why the Israelites initially submit to this enslavement, leaving room for reader speculation. Key to defying Pharaoh's commands are women, including the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah, Moses's mother and sister, and Pharaoh's daughter, who collaborate to save Moses, highlighting the unexpected agency of those presumed to be no threat. Moses's own story, including his rescue from the Nile in an "ark" (using the same term as Noah's boat), parallels other endangered infant narratives and foreshadows the salvation from watery death for Israel and the drowning of the Egyptians. After fleeing Egypt for murder, Moses returns, commissioned by God, demanding Pharaoh let the people go. When Pharaoh refuses and increases their labor, Moses protests to God, resembling other biblical figures who challenge divine inaction in the face of suffering. The narrative includes the plagues sent to persuade Pharaoh, whose heart God sometimes hardens, and sometimes he hardens himself. This variation creates narrative effect but also raises complex questions about free will and divine control. The plagues are also presented as a just punishment for Egypt's abuses. The Exodus culminates in the Passover, where the Israelites are protected by blood on their doorposts, and their escape through the Sea of Reeds (yam suf), which is interpreted symbolically as Israel's rebirth, mirroring the separation of waters and emergence of dry land in creation. This liberation event becomes the basis for Israel's covenant with God, forming the introduction to the Ten Commandments and providing the rationale for practices like observing the Sabbath and treating strangers justly, emphasizing the memory of their own experience as strangers and slaves in Egypt. The Exodus serves as an enduring paradigm for hope and liberation for future generations and other oppressed communities.
The Problem of Theodicy and Divine Justice: The question of how a just and powerful God can allow suffering and evil, or even actively cause it, is a significant theme, particularly highlighted within the Exodus narrative. Readers are prompted to consider why God waited four hundred years before acting to free Israel, despite remembering the covenant. The plagues themselves raise questions because they involve widespread suffering, including the death of innocent Egyptian firstborns. The biblical text states that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, which seems to undermine Pharaoh's free will and make God responsible for his continued refusal and subsequent punishment. However, other passages indicate that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, creating a tension in the narrative. While source critics might attribute this to different textual sources, the text itself presents this vacillation, reflecting both the psychological dilemma of human stubbornness and the theological problem of divine action. The text explicitly states that God hardened Pharaoh's heart and the hearts of his officials so that God could display signs and power among them, ensuring that future generations would know YHWH. This explanation, that suffering is for the purpose of demonstrating divine power, is acknowledged as challenging, as power could presumably be shown in less destructive ways. Ancient and later readers grappled with this, with interpretations ranging from Paul's view that divine sovereignty is a mystery beyond human questioning to readings that see the hardening and plagues as deserved punishment for Egypt's participation in and benefit from the enslavement and killing of Israelite sons. For oppressed communities, the recounting of the plagues offers comfort, assuring them that oppressors will be punished and justice will ultimately come, a justice brought about by divine action rather than requiring violent human retribution. Some traditions, like the spilling of wine at the Passover seder, acknowledge and temper the joy of liberation with a recognition of the suffering inflicted, providing a ritual response to the ethical discomfort of the plagues.
The Rise and Purpose of Apocalyptic Literature: Emerging particularly in the postexilic period, the genre of apocalyptic literature represents a shift in how the community understood history, suffering, and the future, often arising when traditional prophecy seemed less effective. After the destruction of Jerusalem and the experience of exile, when suffering appeared to be out of proportion to justice and the present world felt devoid of sacred meaning, prophecy's calls for righteous behavior to avert disaster no longer held the same force for a people who had already endured the predicted punishment. Apocalyptic texts, whose name comes from a Greek word meaning "to uncover" or "to reveal," draw upon prophetic interest in the future and wisdom's focus on the fate of the world, encompassing creation to the end times. They were also influenced by foreign cultures encountered during exile, such as Zoroastrian dualism (good vs. evil) and Hellenistic ideas about the afterlife. Key characteristics often include bizarre and supermundane symbolism (like multi-headed beasts from the sea) that requires interpretation, typically by an angel, in contrast to the more straightforward signs and wordplays found in earlier prophecy. These texts often present "prophecy after the fact," recounting past historical events (like the rise and fall of empires) in symbolic language, only breaking down in accuracy when they reach the author's present time. While they might seem to predict the future, their primary purpose is understood not as offering cryptic forecasts for distant generations, but as providing comfort, reassurance, and meaning to their original readers who were enduring hardship. They assert that the world is ultimately ordered and controlled by a divine hand, that suffering has an end point, and that those who persevere will be rewarded, often with resurrection and eternal life. Apocalyptic texts typically include visions of eschatological battles between forces of good and evil and vivid descriptions of the punishment awaiting the wicked, but their central message focuses on the coming justice and the vindication of the righteous.
Visions of Future Redemption: Messianic Figures and the Messianic Age: The culmination of the biblical narrative and the resolution of themes like exile and the search for home are often tied to the concept of a future time of redemption, referred to as the messianic age or eschatological age, brought about by divine action, not human effort. This future age will have universal significance, not just national. While early prophets like Amos warned that the "day of YHWH" might be darkness rather than light, later texts describe it as a time when God will be king over all the earth, warfare will cease, and a state of harmony akin to the Garden of Eden will be restored. This future redemption is frequently associated with a human agent, the "messiah," a term derived from the Hebrew word for "anointed," which was applied to kings, priests, patriarchs, and even the nation of Israel or figures like Cyrus of Persia who served God's purposes. The most prominent messianic image in the Hebrew Bible is that of an ideal king descended from David. Building on God's promise to David of an enduring kingdom, postexilic prophets envisioned this future ruler not as a militaristic conqueror but as a figure endowed with divine wisdom and justice, judging the poor and meek with righteousness and ruling with authority, like a shepherd guiding his flock. Other potential messianic figures are also presented, including a prophet like Moses (promised in Deuteronomy) and the suffering servant figure in Isaiah, interpreted by some traditions as having a messianic role. The mysterious "son of man" figure in Daniel's vision, originally symbolizing the collective "people of the holy ones" of Israel, evolves in later tradition into a distinct heavenly redeemer figure who receives eternal dominion. The messianic age itself is characterized by a "new covenant" where God's law is internalized, everyone intuitively knows God, sin is forgiven, and the relationship between God and humanity is perfected. This era promises not only the return of exiles to the land but also resurrection for the dead, with some rising to everlasting life and others to contempt, signifying the ultimate triumph of divine justice.
The Pattern of Divine Promises, Covenant, and Delayed Fulfillment: Central to the narrative is a sequence of divine promises made to the ancestors, particularly Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, forming the basis of God's covenant with Israel. These promises include numerous descendants, possession of the land of Canaan, and being a source of blessing for all nations. However, the sources repeatedly emphasize that the fulfillment of these promises is often delayed and not fully realized in the lifetimes of those to whom they were initially given. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob themselves lived primarily as sojourners or resident aliens in the promised land, never fully possessing it. Abraham received a prophecy that his descendants would spend four hundred years as aliens and slaves in a foreign land before returning with great possessions – a clear foreshadowing of the Egyptian sojourn and the Exodus. The Exodus liberation is explicitly linked to God "remembering" the covenant with the patriarchs, indicating that even during the period of slavery, the earlier promises were the underlying basis for divine action. However, the forty years in the wilderness after leaving Egypt further delay the entry into the promised land, and Moses, the divinely appointed leader of the Exodus, is ultimately prevented from entering, seeing the land only from a distance. The land remains a promise to future generations. The experience of exile, particularly the Babylonian captivity, represents a significant disruption and loss of the promised land, perceived by prophets as a consequence of the community's failure to uphold the covenant. Yet, even in exile, the covenant remains in effect, holding out the promise of future liberation and return. The return from Babylon under Cyrus is presented as a partial fulfillment, but the reality of a ruined city and diluted identity falls short of the prophetic visions of restoration. The ultimate and full realization of the promises – including secure possession of the land, peace among nations, abundance, and a perfected relationship with God – is consistently deferred to the future messianic or eschatological age, brought about by divine intervention. This pattern of promise, delay, partial fulfillment, and future expectation highlights the enduring nature of God's commitment despite historical challenges and human failings, anchoring hope in divine faithfulness rather than immediate human achievement.