Exodus-two stories in one

Here is a downloadable file of this excerpt.

This is the complete text of Exodus 14.21 – 13.31 as we have it (NRSV). It is actually two stories, one from the J source (plain type) and one from E, edited by P (bold type—with one line of mixed source in italics). The redactor of the book of Exodus spliced them together to make one story, but each is retrievable, and complete in itself, so you can read either version by itself and get the whole story. The stories differ in many details. For example the pillar of fire and cloud is peculiar to J; In J the wind blows the water back, drying the land; in E Moses raises his staff (looking like a priest, no?) and the water piles up.

_________________

13.21 The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

14.1Then the Lord said to Moses: 2 Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall camp opposite it, by the sea. 3 Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, “They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.” 4 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, so that I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. And they did so.

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” 6 So he had his chariot made ready, and took his army with him; 7 he took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.

8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly. 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. 10 As Pharaoh drew near…
the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear…
the Israelites cried out to the Lord.

11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, “Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.”

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. 16 But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground. 17 Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.”

19 The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them;
and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. 20 It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.

21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.

The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land;
and the waters were divided. 22 The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers.

24 At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. 25 He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and
at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea.

28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. 29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Ducks, February

Ice makes and unmakes and makes again the bed
of the pond. It’s February: moody, adolescent,
with assaults and disappointments still to come.
Snow repents halfheartedly of its cheeriness
and becomes sleet, then ice, then rain, then ice.
A hardship of frozen cattails rings the pond.
On the black water two ducks, companioning,
cruise placidly, as if unfamiliar with February.
Beneath the silvered surface their little orange feet
work steadily, but they glide as if pulled by strings.
Eating from the bottom they upend their butts
without shame and find what they need,
their eyes soft among the clicking reeds.
Together, without guile, they explore the bank,
in whose mess I imagine they’ll build a nest.
They wait. They don’t watch the sky.

It is possible to live with grace.

__________________
Listen to the audio version:

Ducks, February

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Published
Categorized as Reflections

Nicodemus

I come at night
in the dark

secure in my maturity
but you say be born

I want something to cling to
but the wind, the wind blows

I take a breath, this one breath
life now, for now

and then another, given
All of life is breath

received and released
beginning again

like a birth
through the dark tunnel

received into hands I can’t see
trusting what I can’t grasp

given
beginning again


               [John 3.1-19]

__________________
Listen to the audio version:

Nicodemus

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Published
Categorized as Reflections

Inward being

Snow covers the branches,
covers the ground.
But it doesn’t hide the earth,
it is the earth.
As the snow covers
grasses waiting beneath it
the grasses cover soil,
the soil covers bugs and microbes
which cover roots
over layers of earth
over the water table,
where the snow will go…
Nothing is a cover. All of it is part.
Look beneath the visible.

           You desire truth in the inward being,
           therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
                           —Psalm 51.6


________________
Weather Report

Low visibility,
thick clouds, blankets of snow,
heavy fog,
and all manner of obscurity,
all of which, as much as solid stone,
is certainly true.

__________________
Listen to the audio version:

Inward being

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Published
Categorized as Reflections

Mend my wants

           Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness
           to be tempted by the devil.
                           —Matthew 4.1

O Steady One, steady me.
I am unbalanced by secret weights of fears,
tugged at by invisible strings of desires,
and I stumble, crash into folks, break things.
I don’t act because I’m afraid I can’t succeed—
I wish I could turn stones to bread.
I don’t love because I’m afraid of getting hurt—
I wish I could jump off cliffs fearlessly.
I cling to things because I’m afraid of being without—
I wish all the world could be mine.
But my wants are wayward, my fears are lies.
The power, the security, the belonging I seem to want
are all in you and you alone.

Touch my desires, Beloved,
and bend them back toward you.
Lay your hand on my hungers and steady me.
Mend my wants with your generous grace,
sweeter than bread with honey.
Heal my fears with your perfect love,
the earth from which I cannot fall.
Calm my anxieties with your steady presence,
for you are the world to which I belong.
You settle me with trust, courage and gratitude,
for I have all I need, abundantly.
You whisper to me gently, Oh, fretting soul, relax.
I have you.

__________________
Listen to the audio version:

Mend my wants

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Published
Categorized as Reflections

Ash

My mind says I don’t understand.
            My body says I’m not ready.
                        My soul says burn me up
                                    and make me into the ash
                                    you place on the Virgin’s forehead.

My words say I’m too mixed up.
            My tears say I’m unworthy.
                        My breath says reduce me to dust
                                    and gather me up in your hands
                                    and breathe into me.

__________________
Listen to the audio version:

Ash

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Published
Categorized as Reflections

Ash Wednesday

I squat beside a smoldering bin
where serpents of smoke
snake up from gravely burning
palm branches into air,
gravelly and gray.

Praise and adoration
burn so easily! – so quickly turn
to nothing, to smoke
and ashes, rising
on a breath of wind.

I stir the fire with a stick,
piercing it in the side.
The smoke brings tears to my eyes.
I turn aside for breath.

This corpse is me, these ruins mine.
My prayers are smoke,
rising on a breath of wind.

Spread my ashes, Jesus,
in the garden where you
always wait for me,
pray for me, long for me.

I am sorry. My sorriness is smoke,
rising into the air, into your prayer.
My sin is ashes, burned up in your love,
rising on a breath of wind. Gone.

All has turned to nothing
and a breath of wind, fresh,
rising.

__________________
Listen to the audio version:

Ash Wednesday

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Published
Categorized as Reflections

Lent

Lent is when we go downstairs,
down into the basement of our souls,
into the dark, dingy, dirty places,
and clear out the junk we need to get rid of.
In Lent we don’t need to beat ourselves up.
We need to lighten our load,
bag up those fears and desires
that are leaking all over everything,
take our guilt and shame out to the curb.
It’s not easy to lay our hands on broken things,
to look deep into the gummed up works.
That’s why Jesus shines with his light,
shines so we can see our way down into the dark,
see to lift up the junk and hand it over,
so he can haul it out into the light
of the dumpster.
The light Jesus shines is good with dark places,
so we know even from the deepest hole down there
we’ll come out. The light will lead us. We’ll be OK.
Mucking around down there we get dirty,
and we come up with grime on our hands
and ashes on our foreheads for everybody to see.
But we’re free of all that blame and disappointment.
And the darkest, deepest cellar hole
becomes an empty tomb.

__________________
Listen to the audio version:

Lent

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Published
Categorized as Reflections

Listen to him

           From the cloud a voice said,
           “This is my Son, the Beloved;
           with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

                           —Matthew 17.5


Listen for the One amid the others,
from so far within it’s beyond.

The voice deep down inside of things,
where God still echoes.

If you don’t turn from this clanging world to listen
you won’t hear.

Listen for the voice that calls you Beloved.
It may sound like sweet nothings.

The voice that knows your wholeness,
sees your gleaming, makes your life run deep.

Listen for the depth of the marbled silence
of one who is listening.

A beckoning, not a command,
toward, not above.

Listen for the love that draws you,
even through the shadowed valley,

the voice that knows life beyond that,
and speaks without guile about joy.

Listen for the voice tinged with hope and delight,
and listen. Listen.

__________________
Listen to the audio version:

Listen to him

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Published
Categorized as Reflections

Transfigured

           Jesus was transfigured before them,
           and his face shone like the sun,
           and his clothes became dazzling white.

                           —Matthew 17.2


Sometimes someone changes and you get to see it.
And sometimes you finally see what was always there.

Maybe this is the real grace of transfiguration,
not that things change but that our seeing does,

that we see with eyes of wonder,
that we see divine presence in this world,

that we see resurrection in every death,
see the gleam that is each person, even the doomed,

that we see them beyond the limits of their flesh,
see them in company with saints, see them divine,

risen already from whatever deaths and disappointments
they will endure, still shining. We see with eyes of mercy.

Maybe the miracle is not in the light that enters our eyes
but the light that shines out from them.

Pray that by the grace of the God who shines
our eyes may be transfigured.

____________________
Listen to the audio version:

Transfigured

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net


Published
Categorized as Reflections
0
Your Cart
  • No products in the cart.