“The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.” –Exod 15.3 NRSV
The LORD is a warrior. This statement calls to mind many conversations I’ve had with people about the Old Testament, which almost also go something like this: “I just don’t like the vengeful, violent God of the Old Testament—I prefer the merciful God of the New Testament.” It’s true, the OT and NT have some strikingly different themes, but “choosing” the God of the NT over the God of the OT is impossible; by choosing God, we choose the God of the universe—not the God of half the canon.
So, with that being said, I’d like to reflect a bit on this idea of God as warrior. In Exodus 14, we get a good description of what it means for God to be a warrior. Moses proclaims to the Israelites, “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to keep still” (14.14 NRSV). Because God is a warrior, the Israelites are not warriors; they need only to keep still and trust in God.
Further, God tells Moses, “The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers” (14.18 NRSV). God’s purpose as a warrior is to reveal Godself and God’s power to the Egyptians by proving that God is abundantly more powerful than Pharaoh. In the context of the ancient Near East, where earthly rulers were worshiped as gods, God’s victory over Pharaoh proves two things: first, Pharaoh is not God; second, the LORD reigns over even the world’s greatest powers.
As someone who is committed to nonviolence, the depiction of God as warrior is one that tends to make me uncomfortable. However, I have found that often the most difficult texts are the most important ones to engage. With that in mind, I have found these three observations helpful in understanding the war imagery in this text:
1. God is the warrior, which means that God’s people are not warriors.
2. As God’s people go to battle, God’s people are only to be still and trust in God’s power (14.14).
3. The purpose of God’s waging war is the establishment of God as the ruler over even the world’s greatest powers.
God as warrior means that I am not a warrior; I am called only to be still and trust in the God who rules over all that seems powerful in the world.
“Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.” –Exod 15.21 NRSV
what would you say about all the suffering innocent in exodus?
ReplyDeleteI would say it makes me tremendously uncomfortable-- which is sometimes what the Bible is meant to do. The Bible isn't something to be solved-- it is something to get us thinking and talking about how to live (or not live) as God's people in the world. Check out my blog on the rape of Dinah in Genesis 34. :)
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