Transcript for Introduction to Egypt & Exodus (with Jeff Cavins) - 2023
SPEAKER_00
00:04 - 02:46
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible Anyer podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible Anyer podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the great adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. Today, I am joined by Jeff Kavens to introduce the third time period of the Great Adventure Bible timeline. This third time period after the Patriarchs is called Egypt and the Exodus. And before we begin a couple things, one, stuff you probably already know about this point. The Bible translation that I'm using is the revised standard version, the second Catholic edition, and I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from a sentient. If you want to be able to follow along, you can download your Catholic Bible in a year reading plan by simply visiting ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. If you haven't done that yet, No problem. No worries. No pressure. But also, if you have not yet subscribed, you can click that subscribe button in your podcast app. I don't know why you would have gotten this far without subscribing, but it's possible. And you are free to do whatever you want to do. Speaking of being free to do whatever you want to do. One thing that I have been has been just placed on my heart. I just want to encourage people is I know the hardest day to read the Bible or the hardest day to pray is the day after the day you don't. It's it's that I had a busy weekend and I just I fell off the wagon. How do I get back on? I need to catch up. I'm falling behind. There is truly no such thing as falling behind when it comes to this Bible any year. What it is is You probably have noticed it, but up until this day, I have not said, oh, today is January 24th, start today is March 2nd. I've just said this is the day 23 or this is day 34. That's on purpose. And that's so that you don't feel bound to listen every single day in being perfect. No, please no, please no. The hardest day to break is that I have to the day you don't. And the hardest day to read the Bible is that day after the day you don't. But simply pick it up and start again. It's no problem. If you don't finish by December 31st, 2021, that is okay, because it means you are still allowing the Lord to speak to your heart. God is not asking for perfection in this. He is just asking for faithfulness. And so, just be faithful. And when you drop it, pick it back up. That's all I just wanted to encourage you. But as I said, I'm joined today by Jeff Cavan's Jeff. As I said, is the inventor of the Great David Shepherd Bible and the Great David Shepherd Bible timeline. And he has he's joining us today as we launch into this next time period Egypt and Exodus and Jeff thank you so much for for being willing to help all those who are listening to this podcast. Now where we are and give us some bearings about this next step that the people of Israel. Our family tree is taking
SPEAKER_01
02:46 - 03:06
Well, thank you. It's a privilege to go on the journey with you. And, you know, it's one thing to have your Bible in front of you. It's another thing to know where you're at, in it where you were and where you're going. And I think that by the time people are done, they're going to have a good picture of the overarching story of salvation history and hey, we've only gone through one book so far in two periods.
SPEAKER_00
03:08 - 03:43
Yeah, and that sense of like, I think up to now is a lot of the stories that people are familiar with, the stories that people are like, okay, yeah, these are the stories of Adam and Eve and Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and now we're going into that story of what they do know it from the Prince of Egypt or from the 10 Commandments movies, but there's so much more that happens that aren't in those movies that aren't in the stories that we necessarily read to kids and the detail of that can be a place where this episode of talking with you can be so helpful for people or they know, okay, here is where we are now they give some kind of context.
SPEAKER_01
03:43 - 05:00
Well, one of the things we're trying to do, Father, is to help people to navigate the complicated areas of the story. And this is probably the first one that we're going to encounter where if you don't understand what's happening in the book of Exodus, then you're going to kind of miss out on the narrative. And that really begins with you finished up Genesis. And now we're starting Exodus. but what a lot of people don't know is we have 400 years that just went by and there's no story in between there it's you guess you know and so when we pick up with Exodus it's after 400 years of being down in Egypt and during that 400 years the the current Pharaoh doesn't respect the relationship that Joseph had 400 years ago and so We find Israel in bondage in Egypt. And they are tired of it as we all are. And we could say they were quarantined for 400 years. And they cry out to God and say we've had enough. We're crying out to you. And God raises up a deliver by the name of Moses. And that's where we pick up on this particular, this particular book. And this whole event that we're going to go through now.
SPEAKER_00
05:01 - 05:36
Yeah, and that's so good, especially because you turn one page and you go fast forward 400 years. And as you said, the last pages of Genesis are the people of Israel, on top of the world, they've been given some incredible land. They've been given blessing by the Lord and also by Pharaoh. And he turned a page. And it's like, wow, 400 years later, and they have not been blessed. Now, you had mentioned before that there are some problems that arise when people encounter Exodus. and that kind of can trip them up. What are some of those things that they sure become obstacles for folks?
SPEAKER_01
05:36 - 06:16
Well, up until now is kind of a basic story, but now in Exodus we're going to be introduced to a number of new major major things in the story. And I guess we can kind of move up to that. They cry out to God and God raises up Moses. His name is Moshe, which means to draw out. And that's what is calling is going to be to draw them out of out of bondage, but it comes at quite a price. And it is an amazing story of how God tries to break them from Egyptian bondage. They are eating like the Egyptians or worshiping like the Egyptians. They even dress like the Egyptians. I won't get into it.
SPEAKER_00
06:17 - 06:20
They walk like Egyptians. Sorry, we're going to say that.
SPEAKER_01
06:20 - 06:24
I said I was going to avoid that, but you got it in there. That's good.
SPEAKER_00
06:24 - 06:27
Sorry. Are you going to not say this he has to.
SPEAKER_01
06:27 - 07:44
So we, you're right. I mean, everything about their life, they were addicted to idolatry. And so God had to do something amazing to draw them out and turn them to himself. And that's where we have the ten plagues. And the result of that is They they're freedom comes and they go through the Red Sea and the Egyptians follow them and the sea collapses on them and then for three months in the book of Exodus they travel down to Mount Sinai and and God says to them you know your clothes aren't gonna wear out I'm even going to I'm gonna provide food for you which we know as mana Manna, exactly. Manna, and manna means, what is it? You know, what, what is it? We're not used to that. We have garlics and leeks back there and what is this? And so God had said something very important during this period. He said, I brought you out here to show you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of my mouth. And so after three months of traveling south, they end up at Mount Sinai. And they're going to be there for one year. And this is where everything changes in that one year. And if you don't get it, right? And you're not going to understand most of the rest of the Old Testament, right?
SPEAKER_00
07:44 - 09:13
It's that sense of like here is God who brings them from that place of slavery, that house of bondage, set some free in this miraculous way. As you said, those plagues oftentimes, we can just hear them read them as one bad thing upon the next that it seems like God is simply punishing the Egyptians. It seems like in fact the tenth plague being the death of the first born can be really troubling. I think we have really sensitive consciences and really sensitive hearts these days, which is a good thing that that can be disturbing for us at the same time. What you're pointing out is God is setting these people who are addicted. Yeah, he's he's setting them free and I mean think about into some I would if this if this isn't too much of a stretch I did some reading about like the the early stages and research when it came to chemotherapy and how There were people who really desired the lives of these patients who like even children who had leukemia, these people had cancer. But no one was willing to give the dose of chemotherapy, those drugs that could kill the cancer or kill the leukemia because of the pain at cause, these children, the pain at cause, these people until there were a couple doctors who said, we have to do this because to set them free from this thing that is killing them requires some pretty serious actions. And it seems like in some ways that's kind of what God is doing with these 10 plagues, even leading to that, that 10th plague being the death of the first born. Well, from there, yeah, good.
SPEAKER_01
09:13 - 12:48
Yeah, for sure. Well, it's gonna say for sure, this is gonna be a painful freedom. And isn't it always, you know, we say to people, you know, this is what you need to do to become free and they're going, I don't know if I could really, do that and then they come to the conclusion is maybe maybe life wasn't so bad, you know, with my addiction and that's that's what is real. That's what they face and they start to blame Moses. You brought it out here. They kill us. There weren't there enough graves back there, you know, where we were. So they end up at Sinai for a year and something big takes place and that is that God is going to make a covenant with Israel. And we know that there's been this progression of covenants all along since you started reading, starting with Adam and Eve with one holy couple. And then after that you have one holy tribe with Abraham. And now we have one holy nation. We have a family, rather we go from family to from Noah, right? Noah, a family tribe with Abraham. And now, now we have one holy nation and God's making a covenant with them, which means, I'm going to do this for you. You're my people. This is what you need to do in response to me and it goes south. Yeah, very quickly. The covenant was made chapter 24 by chapter 32. We have the golden calf incident and everything looks like it's going crazy, but it's in the midst of that that we have three of the most important things to get during this period of reading. And I'll just give you those quickly. One is that there's going to be kind of a a lay-a-sizing of the nation and there's going to be one tribe that rises up as the priests and those are the Levites and that's where Moses and Aaron are from and so you have the the priests the Levites and and then and by the way this takes place in chapter 32 uh keynote keynote rumble strips this is where Leviticus belongs right exactly That's where Leviticus belongs because that is for the priests and it is for the people, the holiness code. So we have the priesthood, but then there's two other things. It's Sinai that are huge. One is the tabernacle. And this comes as a result of Moses being up on the mountain and seeing like a heavenly vision of what it looks like to worship. And we see that also at the end of the Bible. In John's Revelation, and you'll see at your local Catholic Church, I might ask exactly. The third thing is that God gives him his Torah. He gives him his law. And that law is not meant to put them down. It's not meant to control their lives. Like we think, you know, my dad grounded me. He hates me. He's making my life miserable. No, he loves you. And so the more sin, the more law and the law is to get you to focus. on your relationship with God that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. So as we move forward, we gotta keep track of the Levites, we keep track of the Tabernacle, and once you do this, you know, you're prepared to really start understanding books like Hebrews in the New Testament, the work of Jesus as the High Priest, And certainly his word is given, which we're going to find out in the new testament that Jesus is going to fulfill every single thing that we're reading.
SPEAKER_00
12:48 - 13:59
Right? He is the word made flesh in that great high priest and the worship of him. He's so good. So glad you pointed out, especially because those three elements that come to the surface towards the end of Exodus, That they become handles that you can hold on to. You can see this, that here's the priestly nation that, nope, now of a sudden it's just this one, this one tribe or this one, you know, family in the midst of the people of Israel. And then the worship and the law is so important because that's as you noted. Leviticus comes up at that time. And one of the things I'd like to ask you about is we're going to be going through, I mean, starting as soon as people are listening to Exodus, we're also going to be concurrently reading Leviticus. And something about Leviticus that can be, you know, that's the place that people stop reading a lot of times because it just seems so far and seem so confusing, seem so maybe even at this point. and our lives like unnecessary. We don't have temple worship anymore. We don't have worship like this anymore. So why would it be important? And what should people be, if you don't mind me asking this, what should people be paying attention to on that non-narrative book, a Leviticus as we're going through the story of Exodus?
SPEAKER_01
13:59 - 16:16
No, that's a great question and I would have to say that you know in my studies over the years and in the beginning was like Leviticus skip you know and now now it's it's not it's it's a very critical book and I might add that that in Jesus day All of the children who started their biblical studies in Israel started with Leviticus. Of all the books, not Genesis, not Exodus, not Numbers or Deuteronomy, but Leviticus. And the reason was that Leviticus talks about holiness. It talks about codosh, holiness, to be totally distinct, to be totally separate, to be holy. And I think that the thing that I would add to the reading when people are listening to you during Leviticus is this. God brought Israel out into the desert to do something. And he said in Leviticus, he said six different times. He said, be holy as I am holy. Be holy as I'm holy. And four more times, he said that. And then he went on to say, he said, you need to learn to discern between the good and the bad, that which is clean, that which is not unclean. And then he also said, do not obey the laws of the place you came from nor the place you are going, but obey my word. Now, what we see here, Father, is we see the foundation of discipleship. which is, God is discipling a nation who has come out of bondage, come out of addiction, any saying, if you want to be my people and you want to truly live free, you've got to imitate me and I'm going to be in your midst. I'm going to be in the tabernacle. I'll be with you. But I think that it's really important for people to realize as they read Leviticus, maybe you won't understand everything about it. But listen carefully for how God is forming a nation, what they wear, what they eat, who they hang around with, you know, how they treat their neighbors. All of this really goes back to God is saying, I am I am discipling you. So we learn a great lesson. And that is that imitation is the foundation of discipleship. And that will carry on into the new testament as well.
SPEAKER_00
16:16 - 17:48
Right? And that's so powerful that you're saying this because the natural temptation that so many of us have is the same temptation that the people of Israel had, which is I want to be just like everyone else. I want to be just like the people with that that be Egypt or in Canaan that that sense of saying wherever I am. that God knows their hearts and that's in so many ways what he's just like he's healing this by calling them again and again or at least calling them out of this like you said discipleship of saying no actually if you belong to me and that's the thing is you you had mentioned this too when it comes to the law these aren't like again a parental laws of someone who's trying to ground someone or trying to keep you under my thumb it's There's first God establishing the relationship where he establishes that covenant and now here is the law, meaning here's how you live out this relationship and that living out is because I know your hearts and we have a law because I know your heart and know your heart is going to want to not be like me. I know you're going to want to be like the people around you and that's so good to be able to hear that because that's our hearts too and that's why I think I am so glad that you pointed out that Leviticus is not just about distant rules that have nothing to do with us right now. Hey, they're fulfilled in so many ways in the new and eternal covenant or new and eternal sacrifice that of Jesus Christ, but also because like you said, this is a key for discipleship that called his people. He said about here's how we worship and sound like he just said, and now worship however you want. It's now he's laying the groundwork for that worship and spirit and in truth that Jesus rushers in.
SPEAKER_01
17:49 - 18:43
Yeah, and I would encourage all of our listeners. I would encourage you to not just look at the life of Israel and say, wow, they sure didn't learn, did they? You know, and can you get a clue? But to look into the mirror and ask, right, what is it in my life? that God is trying to bring me out of. What is the other addictions? Are there ways of thinking? Are there habits in my life where this is really keeping me from the intimacy and that relationship with God that he wants. And as you read, take these principles and apply them to yourself. Your eyes are going to be opened. I know mine are. And I think that this is one of the mistakes that people read, you know, go into or They fall to when they read the Bible is that it's for somebody else. When the New Testament says, this was written for your encouragement.
SPEAKER_00
18:43 - 19:21
Yeah, that's so, so important. Jeff, I thank you for introducing this next time period for us. Before I just offer a prayer, are there any last words? I know you just, that was really inspiring about recognizing that, that call that I can't just say, oh, this is the broken people of Israel. They're unfaithful. I need to see myself that the scripture in those ways can be a mirror to me, right? It shows reveals myself. I can see myself in there. It can be a flashlight where it searches out the dark parts of my heart. And it can be that that sandpaper that like, oh, this is where I'm being. I'm being the Lord's doing some work on me to kind of smooth some things out in my life. Are there any last thoughts as people are journeying through Exodus?
SPEAKER_01
19:21 - 20:03
pay attention to those three major changes during this reading period of the priesthood, the tabernacle and the Word of God. In our lives today, we have the privilege of being under the care of priests. And we have the privilege of worshiping according to a way, and that's the Eucharist, the celebration of the Mass. And we have the privilege of being the people of the word, the sacred scripture and the sacred tradition. And really ask God to give you some illumination on those three things, recognize them at church, recognize them in their life, embrace them and thank God for all three.
SPEAKER_00
20:03 - 21:21
That's awesome. And I thank God for all three, but also for you and for the timeline and for this ability to journey with the people that we've been going with for these last number of days and through the rest of this year. It's been such a gift and so I just want to take a moment and just thank the Lord and ask His continued blessing. We pray in the name of the Father and the Son of Holy Spirit. Father and heaven in the name of Jesus Christ. Your Son, we ask you to please receive our thanksgiving. Receive our praise because you are good and you have revealed your heart to us. I ask that you please continue to reveal your heart to us. As we take this next step, reveal your heart and the holiness code of Leviticus, the reveal your heart and the story of your faithfulness and the midst of our unfaithfulness and Israel's unfaithfulness, but you are steadfast in your steadfast love. Remind us this day of your steadfast love for each one of us personally and individually as well. Lord God, we give you praise. We thank you and we ask If you'd give us the help to keep taking that those next steps forward as we journey through this Bible in a year, we make this prayer and the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. Amen. The Father, Son, Holy Spirit. And then Jeff, thank you so much. And I cannot express how deeply grateful I am for you. And for all those who are listening, I am so grateful that we're on this journey together. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.