One of the activities LeaderSource has its folks do – which I’m getting used to, this being my first one – is that one day out of the month is a “Realignment Day.” You take it and spend time realigning… with God, with who God made you to be, what you’re doing, etc. LeaderSource makes a priority of intimacy with Christ.
So I thought I’d blog a little here about some of the things I’ve thinking about during my Realignment Day. I’m reading through both Exodus and Mark right now. Today I began with Exodus 1. I’m using http://www.blueletterbible.org to read in the original text (it’s an Interlinear Bible). And I was struck pretty by Exodus 1:7. In the English translation, it’s pretty simple:
“But their descendants had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so quickly that they soon filled the land.”
But if you read it in the original Hebrew, it’s quite interesting:
ben Yisra’el parah sharats rabah m@’od m@’od ‘atsam ‘erets male’
Ok, it’s a transliteration of the original Hebrew and it might not make sense to the first-time reader. But in fact it echoes the Dominion Mandate of Genesis 1:28, which has long fascinated me. Essentially the oral tradition of Exodus, which was in my opinion likely recounted to explain to children the great miraculous way that God rescued them from Egypt (maybe as a Sabbath story-telling time?), begins with something that is parallel to how Genesis begins.
I think a lot about Resilient Communities. It’s my “framework” or “catch-phrase” for what a community that is fully in the Kingdom should look like—sort of. When we’re trying to change the world, we change the world by helping local communities become resilient. I’m still distinguishing between a Resilient Community and a Kingdom Community – I think one is a different level than the other – but in any event this description in Exodus really describes a resilient community that has come under attack.
What is a resilient community? What does all that strange Hebrew mean? This, which parallels Genesis 1:
parah – they were fruitful
sharats – they were abundant (one dictionary says, “they swarmed”—which is where I got the phrase from originally)
rabah – we translate this as “multiplied” but it also means “became great”: strong influence
’atsam – became mighty (which parallels Genesis 1:28’s kabash, or rule)
Obviously this doesn’t say much about being Christ-centered or God-centered or God-fearing. I wonder if after 400 years the Israelites hadn’t lost sight of God. Moses was concerned later on that they wouldn’t know who God was. But these characteristics come out of the Dominion Mandate, and so in a sense if you are God-centered you will be these things.
Who helped set the stage for this fulfillment of the Dominion Mandate? Easy: Joseph. So when you want help build a resilient community, you need to study the life of Joseph. Who helped them when the community was under attack and oppression? Easy: Moses. Wouldn’t it be interesting to do a compare/contrast of the roles of Abraham, Joseph and Moses on the formation of this community? (I suppose Joshua too?)
How did Joseph align with God? Isn’t it interesting that God’s work in Joseph’s life saved his family—but also saved all of the nations surrounding them? This little “resilient community” had an impact on everyone else.
What were the similarities between Joseph and Moses? Differences?
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