DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Monday, December 17, 2007 Nativity Fast Holy
Prophet Daniel & Three Holy Youths
Kellia: Exodus 6:16, 18-20,
23-7:6
Epistle: Hebrews 8:7-13 Gospel:
St. Mark 9:42-10:1
Foreshadows ~ I * Deliverance:
Exodus 6:16, 18-20, 23-7:6, especially vs. 27: “It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this
Aaron.” Following the Gospel reading from St.
Luke at the Third Royal Hour of the Nativity, the exclamation is offered:
“Blessed is the Lord God, blessed is the Lord day by day; the God of our
salvation. Our God is the God of
salvation” (from Psalm 67:20,21 LXX), and His
record of saving covers all history.
Two of His major saving acts are the Exodus and the Passion of Christ,
the deliverance of His ancient People from slavery in Egypt, and the
deliverance of mankind from bondage to sin, Satan, and death. As man, Christ our God achieved this
second and greatest deliverance, which is why, at His birth, “a multitude
of the heavenly host” sang: “Glory to God in the highest; and on
earth peace to men of good will” (Lk. 2:13,14).
Although God delivered men in both saving
events, should the two acts rightfully be compared? In the first, God brought out just a
single, specifically chosen People,
Israel. But, in the latter, the whole of
benighted mankind received salvation “that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16). In the first, the Lord
raised up spokesmen, Moses and Aaron. Then, at the Incarnation, the angelic
host heralded the Saving God-Man Who spoke and acted for the entire Godhead in
the Passion that has saved and is saving many.
In both of God’s mighty acts, He drew
upon members of the tribe of Levi.
Today’s Exodus reading details the genealogy of Moses and Aaron
from Levi (Ex. 6:16-20). The
lineage of the Most Pure Theotokos, the Mother of the
Word of God in the flesh, was from both the tribe of Judah and the tribe
of Levi. St. Demetrius of Rostov reports that Joachim, the father of the Virgin
Mary, was from Judah,
while “her mother, the holy righteous Anna, was the daughter of Matthan the priest, who was of the line of Aaron. Thus, the most pure Virgin was by her
father of royal descent, and by her mother, of high-priestly lineage,”
that is from the tribe of Levi.
God raised up
spokesmen in both instances to declare freedom for His People before a reigning
tyrant: “the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, I Am the Lord: speak
to Pharaoh king of Egypt
whatsoever I say to thee’” (vs. 29). Christ our God Himself spoke directly to
men’s greatest slave-master, the one who sought to tempt Him away from
His mission of salvation (Mt. 4:1-11).
The Lord made His spokesmen “as
God” to Pharaoh (Ex. 6:29), and Jesus told Pilate: “You could have
no power at all against Me unless it had been given
you from above (Jn. 19:11).
In both cases, the goodness of God only
hardened the heart of the tyrants.
“I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my
signs and wonders in the land
of Egypt, Pharaoh
will not listen to you” (Ex. 7:3,4). Though Satan left the Lord Jesus after
he tempted Him, he returned with more sinister intent when he entered
“into Judas surnamed Iscariot” (Lk.
22:3).
Neither tyrant would listen to the word of the
Lord. Pharaoh did not, and Judas,
one of the Twelve, after receiving Life from Life Himself, still gave his heart
to Satan (Jn. 13:27).
God has great judgment for all tyrants. The Egyptians slave-masters met the
Lord, for He stretched out His hand upon all of Egypt (Ex. 7:5). The Lord Jesus’ defeat of death by
death was judgment upon Death and Satan, “because the ruler of this world
[was] judged”
(Jn. 16:11).
What God did in Egypt foreshadowed the great
Salvation He worked once and for all for His People in the coming of Christ Who
brought us from death to life.
Let God arise and let His enemies be
scattered, and let them that hate Him flee from before His face. As smoke vanisheth,
so let them vanish; as wax melteth before the fire,
so let sinners perish at the presence of God, and let the righteous be glad.
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