Contemplative Bible Reading

Exodus 2:19 (New Living Translation)
19 “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered. “And then he drew water for us and watered our flocks.”

This is part of the (hi)story of Moses. He fled Egypt and found the daughters of Reuel with their flocks. He “rescued” the daughters and their flocks and then watered the flocks.

We learned in Genesis that Egyptians detested or loathed shepherds. Yet here was an Egyptian shepherd tending to the flocks of stranger.

None of this makes any sense. Yet, here it is—nonsense making perfectly good sense given an odd situation. The Bible is full of this type of thing. The Savior would come from the line of David. The Savior would come from Nazareth. The Savior would come from Egypt. All those statements are in the Bible. Nonsense! Yet, there they are, and once we read all the (hi)stories, it makes sense.

I suppose there is a lesson in here about not judging before having all the facts or something. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions, and the like. When will we have all the facts? Probably never in our lifetimes. I hear people say, “I would only do this and that if I knew that and this.” But we won’t be able to know that and this. We live with incomplete knowledge in a confused world—most of the time.

What are we to do? Seek righteousness and justice. Love one another. Pray. Be patient. Yes, all those things are difficult, especially when I am tired and when I am agitated and when I just want to fix things right now! Please God, help me in my unbelief.