The Egyptian Emergent Church

Ex.12:11-14 - And thus shall you eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

So the Lord had spoken and commanded all his children to place the blood of a lamb upon the doorposts of their house, eat the Lamb entirely, and be ready to go when He gives Moses the command. But certain men of Israel had gathered and talked about what Moses had said the Lord had told him. After much talk they had agreed that how Moses had interpreted what he said God told him was now open to other views. After all, this lamb’s blood stuff was very archaic and needed to be brought into a place of acceptance in the midst of an articulate and advanced Egyptian culture. How can we relate, they said, to the Egyptians without making it relevant to their culture.

So these new Egyptian emergent men began to write some very interesting views about what God had told Moses and how God wanted them to redefine God’s words into Egyptian language. They decided first that the use of the word blood did not relate adequately to the Egyptians so instead of blood the children of Israel could use other things. Paint, mud, oil, or anything would do as long as their heart was in the right place. As a matter of fact if they felt it unnecessary they could leave the doorposts bare because it wasn’t the blood that was important, it was the intent which had a wide parameter.

Now this open discussion about the Lamb’s blood produced many scrolls of varying thoughts. One scroll suggested it wasn’t the blood itself but the color that was important. Anything red would provide the correct signal that they were on God’s side. Another scroll surmised that the lamb was interchangeable with any other animal, monkeys, dogs, cats, and any animal would provide the blood that God would accept. Another scroll of higher criticism stated that what God really desired was the faith that didn’t need the blood but could prove that they were on God’s side without needing any blood. That was the greatest and most intellectual level of faith. So the blood was an interesting topic for different perspectives which provided great dialogue throughout the Jewish community.

As Moses explained that God would murder the firstborn of every Egyptian the Egyptian emergent scoffed and came to the conclusion that this was just a metaphor, a teaching tool without any literal application. How could God kill anyone, and the Egyptians could not be held accountable, after all, they didn’t even know the Lord. The emergents had been friendly with many of the Egyptians and they knew that although the Egyptians worshiped other gods most of them were good, dedicated, and sincerely religious people. Surely the Lord would take that into account and besides, that “destroying the firstborn” warning had to be taken in context. It was said to a culture that would understand what God was really saying. If God was going to kill children He would be no better than some of the angry, false gods of the Egyptians. Come on guys, think!

So as these new and reasonable views began to be embraced by more and more Jews, and these emergent teachers became more enlightened and prophetic. All of them saw what was coming and many now wrote exciting scrolls that encouraged the children of Israel to prepare for a post-slavery culture that would need higher and more articulate communication of the story of God. What worked in Egypt would not work in the wilderness so they would have to repackage and upgrade the entire story to include issues that the wilderness culture could relate to. The grass that appealed to Egyptian sheep will not taste good to wilderness sheep without some additives.

Now the emergents also revealed that the wilderness people would include many different types of God followers. Some would have come across by going through the Red Sea on foot, but some would have come across on boats of their own making. Some would stick with Moses and that was alright, but some would now espouse more current and younger prophets. They agreed Moses was used of God in his day but now God had moved on. God now could use Moses’ daughter, or Moses’ gay son, or really anyone who could present some cogent perspective about the general topic of God. The dialogue was wide open and exciting.

Now when Moses’ congregation heard these new views being spread by the Egyptian emergent they resisted them and went back and read the scrolls of Moses to see if these things were true. After reading Moses’ scrolls they found that these new views were in conflict with what God had said. But, said the emergents, you cannot rely solely on those scrolls and most of what is written is open to wide and varied interpretations and after all they are just Moses‘ words, not God‘s. So the emergents convinced many that the whole Passover story was instructional and metaphorical in essence, so they need not go through all those commands about the blood. Your sincerity and journey will be sufficient.

And so the night of Passover arrived and as the darkness fell many of the children of Israel went to their doorposts and applied the lamb’s blood as God had instructed them. The emergents continued to dialogue as they watched the others go through these backward and outdated observances which by now should have been discarded by any enlightened Jew. As the emergents sat outside in front of their bloodless doorposts they could smell the scent of cooking Lamb. They ignored the voices that called to them to repent and sacrifice the lamb God had told them to. No, we used to believe what you do but now we have moved on. God will understand.
At midnight the death angel visited Egypt and just as God had warned all the firstborn of every bloodless house were slain.

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Now this little piece of fiction with some fact interwoven within it is in reality a picture of the modern day emergent movement that has left historical orthodoxy and continues to lead a journey through untested and uncharted spiritual territory. There is no map and no guide, and the compass is every man’s opinion and interpretation of the direction. We are still in the embryonic stages of this movement but it has picked up substantial speed and acceptance in just a short time. Many of the leaders were solid evangelicals who became disenchanted with the modern church and once they loosed the moorings they began to stray significantly from God’s Word. That was not their intent and many would disagree with my assertions, but that is the nature of deception. You do not recognize it as deception while you are in it, and your good intentions are proof that you are not deceived. Besides, there are many good and learned men who agree with you and with that take comfort. Although, there are many others who do not.

Who, you might ask?

Edwards, Spurgeon, Whitefield, Calvin, Luther, Wesley, Moody, Wycliffe, - do I need to go on? Oh I forgot one other person who disagrees with you…
Jesus.

You will one day see, not because I say so, but because He said so.
Repent quickly, we pray for you.