The Magi and the Gnats - Part 5
An attempt at application.
Posted
Monday, July 07, 2008
by
Sam Yeiter
Categories:
Old Testament;
Theology
Some of you, Charlie in particular, thought this post series was finished...but that was only wishful thinking. In this, the last in this series, I attempt to provide some thinking about the application of this paper. I have not forgotten those of you who have commented on the previous entries. I will do my best to respond to you within the next 2 months. Actually, in Charlie's case, this may provide some manner of response.
This paper has explored several issues related to conflict between God and the demonic forces involved in the Exodus account. Certainly I have not proven many of the assertions I have made, but rather have mustered plausibility for my views. Hopefully, this work can serve as a starting point for more complex exploration in the future. An important question for further study as it relates to Demonology would be to further explore the question of whether demons are capable of producing the sorts of plagues the Magi seem to perform.
This paper may be relevant to the intersection between Demonology and Theology Proper. My concluding paragraphs in the previous section are a first effort in this endeavor. It would be worthwhile to compare this passage with the complex of 1 Chronicles 21:1 and 2 Samuel 24:1. Interestingly, in Jubilees 48:2-4, we see a similar situation where the author of Jubilees attributes the near-death experience of Moses in Exodus 4:24-26, as well as the subsequent empowerment of the magi, to the satanic agent Mastêmâ. This attribution to Satan of the work which for which Yahweh takes responsibility (see also 1 Kings 22:20-23) creates curious questions.
A further point of interest would be to consider this passage as it relates to power encounters today. There are few encounters described in Scripture where we have as many details given to us as in the plague narrative. We learn much about the reluctant vessel, the object of wrath, and our God who drives the events. If this event is evaluated on the basis of how effectively it caused repentance and conversion, it is likely to be viewed as a failure. But Moses was told the reasoning and the timeline and shared it with his readers, and God carried it out; this is something modern missionaries and power evangelists are not typically given.
On a more pastoral note, Enns suggests, “Perhaps the central point of this passage is that counterfeit power, although real power, is not lasting power, and neither the Israelites nor the Egyptians should be fooled by appearances.” This seems to easily extend to the modern reader as well. At the outset of this paper I asserted that most Evangelicals would affirm that we are in the midst of a spiritual war. The plague narrative, and particularly God’s mastery of the magi in the passage we have explored, is a vivid testimony to God’s supremacy despite appearances. In an age when darkness has assumed many new and old guises and dominates the popular culture of the West, we should not lose heart. Yahweh remains sovereign.
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