Before I begin, let me just start by saying that I am, in no way, shape, or form, condoning violence; I'm just looking for a biblical perspective on recent events. As I have taken a short break from social media to pray about, and reflect upon, George Floyd's murder, recent racial tension, and the protests and riots, there was one particular story that immediately came to my mind; Moses in the book of Exodus. For those of you who may not be familiar with the story at all or may not be aware of some of the details, I'll recap a few of the highlights for you.
The Egyptian people had enslaved and oppressed the Hebrew people for centuries (by most accounts, roughly 400 years). As a result of their slave labor, Egypt had become a very wealthy and powerful nation. Moses was a Hebrew child, who should have been born a slave, and, in that particular period of time, would have been killed as an infant in order for the Egyptians to reduce the Hebrew population. Through a series of events, Moses was adopted by an Egyptian princess and lived as royalty, with his Hebrew birth mother raising him as his wet nurse/nanny, so he probably grew up feeling very strong ties to both groups of people (the Hebrews and the Egyptians), while at the same time, never really feeling like he totally "belonged" in either group.
According to Exodus 2:11-22, when Moses had "grown up" (so I would speculate that he was a young man)***, he "went out to where his own people were" (the Hebrews) "and watched them at their hard labor" (at the hands of the Egyptians). He witnessed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, "one of his own people". ... In spite of being raised as an Egyptian, Moses was identifying with his race (which, incidentally, being of middle eastern descent, would have been a person of color; I did a Bible study on the life of Moses once and Moses was actually portrayed as a white man on the cover; he wasn't white, people! Neither was Jesus!).
"Glancing this way and that and seeing no one" (i.e. - looking all around to make sure the coast was clear ... which is a clear sign of premeditation), "he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand." Let's be clear here: one of the greatest biblical figures of all time intentionally murdered a man and covered it up! And this was not self-defense. Why did he become violent? Because he felt a righteous anger at the oppression the Hebrew people were experiencing at the hands of the Egyptians.
Apparently, the coast wasn't totally clear, though. Some Hebrews must have seen him do it and word got back to Pharaoh (the leader of Egypt and Moses' adoptive grandfather). But instead of Pharaoh sympathizing with Moses and being upset that the Egyptian was beating a Hebrew or being upset with the oppression the Hebrews were experiencing at the hands of the Egyptians (the real problem), Pharaoh identified with, and chose to sympathize with, the Egyptian, seeing him as the "victim" (Acts 7:24-25). And he decided to kill Moses, his own grandson. ... This is probably one of the greatest biblical examples of slavery, racial oppression, systemic racism, and a justice system that serves only those it identifies with.
So Moses fled to Midian (yes, that's right: he "fled the law"; you might even call him a "fugitive"). It's interesting to me that, at this point in the narrative, the Midianites identify him as an Egyptian (as opposed to a Hebrew or an Israelite), and for the next several decades, Moses lived a quiet life married, raising children, and living pretty uneventfully as an "alien in a foreign land" (today, we might call him a "refugee" or someone seeking "political asylum").
Moses' father-in-law was a priest, so I am guessing Moses spent his adult life doing some, what I would call, "spiritual maturing", and when he was an old man, God tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to go to Pharaoh and tell Pharaoh to release the Hebrews from slavery. Why? Because God was pissed! (Sorry to use that expression, but it seemed appropriate given the circumstances). Was God angry with Moses? No! He was angry with Pharaoh and the Egyptians! God asks Moses to be His spokesperson, and warn Pharaoh that if the Egyptians didn't do the right thing and let the Hebrews go, God would enact His own form of supernatural judgment. Interesting to me that Moses doesn't want to go; someone who felt so strongly about this "cause"/"movement" as a youth asks God to send someone else! ... Because, as Moses tells God, he is not good with words. ... My guess is, like many young men, Moses found it much easier to express his anger and frustration by demonstrating it rather than talking about it.
The rest of the story is about God sending the 10 plagues until Pharaoh finally releases the Hebrews from their slavery and oppression .... but you're probably far more familiar with that part of the story. I hear many of my non-Christian friends talk about the God of the Bible being angry all the time or "mean" by sending plagues, etc. ... But let's be clear: God is not just loving and kind and patient ... He is also righteous and just and fair. He gave the Egyptians 400 or so years to change their ways, and when they refused to do it of their own free will, He gave them 10 warnings and 10 opportunities to do the right thing. That's pretty "patient" if you ask me!
So, how does this relate to today's current events? ... If you haven't already begun to see some of the parallels, then allow me to point out just a few. In white American history, we have not been on the right side of this story ... we are, and continue to be, the Egyptians! We took people from their homes and enslaved them for somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 - 400 years. And we established a very wealthy and powerful country at their expense. We refused to free them without a Civil War that cost 750,000 American lives (more than we have ever lost in all of the other foreign wars combined!) As Christians, we have historically rationalized and justified slavery, segregation, and oppression -- sometimes even using specific bible verses, taken out of context, to do so, when you cannot deny that the whole of scripture is God advocating for freedom and denouncing oppression.
It is interesting to me that God told Moses to direct the Egyptian people to redistribute their wealth, and God had made such an impression on the Egyptians that they voluntarily allowed the freed slaves to take all kinds of "plunder" with them - gold, silver, clothing, etc. (Exodus 3:21-22). God ensured that the freed slaves had something to start out with ... and they didn't have to beg, borrow, and steal to get it! It was freely given to them by those who had been oppressing them. Not so in America! We let them go with, as some might say, "not a pot to piss in"! And then we spent the next 150 years or so enacting laws that were intended to keep them from voting, owning property, getting loans, etc. According to the Detroit News, "African Americans still earn around 60 cents for every $1 in white income. They have 10 cents in wealth (property, savings, etc.) for every $1 whites own. They remain more than twice as likely to live in poverty. And they're about as likely to own a home as they were when Richard Nixon was president."
And then there's our criminal justice system. I must confess, until the past two weeks, I was pretty unaware of how discriminatory our criminal justice system is. Sure, I knew about the really high profile cases, like George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, etc., and I knew and understood racial profiling. But I had no idea what "proactive policing" was or some of the other less obvious forms of systemic racism inherent in our justice system. According to a study at the University of Michigan, "innocent black people are about seven times more likely to be convicted of murder than innocent white people. ... a black prisoner serving time for sexual assault is three-and-a-half times more likely to be innocent than a white sexual assault convict. ... (and) ... evidence on drug use shows that African Americans and whites use illegal drugs at about the same rate. Nonetheless, African Americans are about five times as likely to go to prison for drug possession as whites ... and innocent black people are about 12 times more likely to be convicted of drug crimes than innocent white people."
So, what do we do about it? Well, the first thing we can do is REPENT! Stop denying it! I cannot tell you how many Christians have posted things that diminish the racial inequities in our society. If your first response to the George Floyd video was to question what George Floyd may have done to somehow "warrant" the type of treatment he received, you probably have a political or a racial stronghold. If your first response to the protestors and rioters was to sympathize with the police officers or the store owners, you probably have a political or a racial stronghold. If you were more concerned about the store owners who experienced some broken windows and vandalism than with George Floyd's death and the black community, who has experienced, not months, not years, not even decades ... but centuries of discrimination and oppression, then you probably have a political or a racial stronghold.
The second thing we can do is listen, learn, and believe! Without getting defensive! Listen to what our African American brothers and sisters are saying about what they are and have been experiencing. Believe them! Don't silence them or deny them! Then, Pray! Ask God what He would have you, personally, do about it! Not what He would have other people do about it; what He would have YOU do about it! Maybe it's voting differently in the future, either for different candidates, different parties, or taking a different position on issues that involve race - like voter suppression (i.e. - mail in voting, gerrymandering), etc. Maybe He wants you to donate some of your resources to black entrepreneurs or to non-profit organizations that are making a difference in the black community. If you have a lot of learned prejudice and bias, maybe He wants you to just "Be Still!" and stop posting things on social media that just continue to perpetuate the problem and, instead, just take time to listen and learn about, and acknowledge, your own biases, and ask God to remove them.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." - Psalm 139:23-24 KJV
*** "You don't know what you don't know until you realize you didn't know it."! ***
The Bible is rich and deep and detail-oriented, and, when read with the power of the Holy Spirit behind it, it is "alive and active and sharper than any double-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12). As a result, you can study it much longer and more formally than I have and still uncover new things every time you read it.
When I first published this post, I surmised that Moses was probably a young man when he murdered the Egyptian based upon the translation of scripture I was reading; it turns out he was actually 40 years old! He had lived his whole life within the safety and security (and ignorance) of the palace he had grown up in. I'm guessing he had a very biased opinion and perspective on Hebrew slavery until he finally left the confines of the palace and saw for himself what was really going on. I would imagine that it was a "wake-up call" so-to-speak, and you can look for a future post that will explore that further called, "'Woke' at 40; Called at 80". (I will put a link here once it is completed).
© I Lift My Voice, 2020.