Transcription of the Video: How Big is Our God?

Amazing. When you stand on the plateau of Giza, as the ancient Egyptians called it, and come within sight of the pyramids, it's unbelievable. It raises the question, I guess, how did they do it?

Well, actually, that's a Western question. It's a good one. Scholars debate it. You'd be interested to look at the various theories. But I think a more Eastern question would be, why did they do it? Because, you see, in the East, things like this aren't simply functional. It had a function. It's the tomb of a pharaoh who called himself god on earth. It's his tomb. 

But in the East, story is always put in concrete language, in picture and metaphor, so really what we have here is a story. I'd like to invite you to join us in looking at the god story as it's rooted and set in Egypt. Come. Let's go see.

We've come several hundred miles south of Cairo to begin our study of the story of the Exodus. Here in Thebes, I stand in front of one of those wonderfully decorated temple walls. But there are a couple of things we need to talk about first. I think it helps to remember that God had a story. It went like this. There was a watery chaos - it's called - formless and empty in Genesis. But hovering over it was the presence of the Creator, God, and he spoke. And out of that watery chaos came order, beauty, harmony. It was amazing, and God said it was good. 

Then, sin entered the picture, and God's beautiful order began its slow but sure descent back into chaos. Chaos first affected individuals, and Cain killed Abel. His blood cried out and God heard it as only God can do. Then, the chaos caused by sin became a kingdom, and the whole world is affected. And then, they build a tower because they want to be like God themselves. And we get what you might call the anti-kingdom. That is evil that has become a system - really a whole civilization in a way. So when God brought Israel here, there were really two stories that were being told. One is the Egyptian story in stone. The other is the story that God gave his people in the Book. And I think we'll see that part of the reason God brought Israel here was so they could see more clearly both stories.

We could ask the question, "Who was the Pharaoh of the Exodus?" Scholars have argued about that for a long time. I'm sure you have an opinion. I have an opinion. There is some great material to study to decide what you think. But we're going to do what God did. He didn't name him. I think there's some humor in that. He simply goes down as Pharaoh, and that was good enough for God's story. So we're just going to call him Pharaoh, and we're not going to enter the discussion of which one. So let's read their story as we begin our study of this story. Come.

We're standing at the entrance to the Temple of Amun-Re in what today is called Karnak. In the Greek period, they named it Thebes. Now, what I'd like to do is to have us imagine in our world, we have our Scripture in a book like this. We read it. We study it. We teach it. In their world, they're Eastern. They prefer their scripture in pictures. They prefer to see it, to smell it, to watch it, to experience it. That's how an Easterner thinks. So what I'd like to do is to ask ourselves this morning, if we had lived here with the Israelites (way back before the Exodus), what was the scripture of the Egyptian people we live among? What did the scripture say? 

Imagine a mile of a road like this beautifully paved-- we're talking 1500 B.C. here-- a walkway like this all the way from the Nile up to this temple, and lining both sides, these rams. Now, notice the ram. That's a very unusual shape that lived in this part of Egypt. It became the symbol - the ram's head at least - on a figure of the creator god, Amun-Re - one form of the sun god. So you can see that strong ram with a lion's body and the ram's head, those curled horns. 

So in a way, what these statues say is, "As we come to the temple, this is the presence, the place of Amun-Re. It's protected by Amun-Re. Here's where we come to learn and to know Amun-Re." Notice Pharaoh. He's tucked nicely under the chin of the ram. 

Now, there's all kinds of discussion about exactly what that means, but I know this much. Clearly, this guy has a very unique relationship with the gods. You don't put Pharaoh a thousand times - maybe 10,000 times - under Amun-Re's chin without making some kind of a point. So it's probable that we're also saying, "You know who is responsible for Amun-Re's presence here, to make sure it's here, to make sure his power works the way it's supposed?" Pharaoh. Okay?

Now, if you turn your eyes this way, all Egyptian temples have a very unique structure by way of entrance. We call them pylons. You would just say gates, because that's basically what the Greek word means. Every temple has these gigantic pylons, but the pylon also talks. Originally, this pylon-- called The First One-- originally, this stood about 140 feet high. So double the height. Always in the center is a square - like this - opening between the two sides. There would have been a top across the gate, but up at the top is a square opening. That represents the horizon. So as the sun rises and sets, it would rise and set in those slots as if to say somehow what goes on in this temple is responsible for the sun rising every morning and setting every night. 

This pylon here said, "Inside of here is order. There is shalom. It's a little heaven on earth. Out here is chaos. Here, things don't work right." So who's job is it to take the order from here and to transfer it so that it's also true here? The answer is, of course, Pharaoh. Pharaoh's job is to keep order. Here's a word you need to know. We use it often. It's called maat. Maat means order. So who makes the sun come up? Well, the gods do if Pharaoh does his job. Who makes the Nile flood? Well, the gods do if Pharaoh does his job. Who makes sure your wife's baby or your baby is healthy? Pharaoh does. The gods do if Pharaoh does his job. 

So there's a whole theology here of who brings order and chaos in the world we live in. Does that make sense? Let's find out what will have to happen and how that shalom can become-- how that maat, they would have called it-- can become part of my chaos or can push away my chaos. Come.

Okay, we're now in what's called the First Court. In this temple, that's the only court before you get to the Inner Court. Some have two, three, and four. This is where the public would come. So if you were an ordinary Egyptian or a Hebrew here back at the time of Exodus, you could come this far. 

Just look around you a moment. Around the outside here is a colonnade, and what I'd like to have you become sensitive to is how many different column styles they are. This is called the open papyrus or the open lotus. Look at it. Over here, one of those large statues - a colossi, they call it or colossus, plural. This, again, happens to be Ramesses, and Ramesses stands here in his position like this, which claims deity and authority. And in his hand, notice the two sticks - the shepherd's crook and a flail. That's always part of Pharaoh's equipment that he comes with. 

In a sense, what he's saying here, "All right. Here you came out of the chaos out there. In here is what brings order - maat - meaning, purpose to life. It's my job to bring it off." There's no question that his standing by the entrance is a dramatic statement about his role. 

From here, we begin to move into the more sacred courts. At this point, we ordinary people - Hebrews, Egyptians - we can come. It probably would be too full to get in most of the time. But we could come here. Once we move this way, now it's going to be the domain of the priests. Come.

We are in what's called the Hypostyle Hall. Let me tell you a little bit more from the Egyptian scripture. Way back at the beginning was this watery swamp, just chaos. Rising out of it was a small mound, and the creator god stood on the mound-- in this temple I think you would say Amun-Re-- and he spoke out of the chaos. And he created a space in the cosmic ocean. Imagine a cosmic ocean and in the center of it, an air bubble. It's shaped like this (oval). Above, he made the waters above the sky. They become a god too. Below is the earth. That becomes a god too. Geb, they called it. And in between, the space where all life is. 

For the ancient Egyptian, one of the most significant things, order/chaos, is the daily journey of the sun. Now, everything the Egyptians knew was by boat. So the sun makes a daily journey by boat from east to west and back again. So the gods are often shown in a boat called a barque. The sun circles that space on that ocean, back in the ocean under the earth, and back again in its barque - the sun god, Re, obviously. What we do here re-enacts the journey of the sun across the sky. Now, you say, "Okay, they were doing the god thing." Listen, it's much deeper than that, because the idea is the ritual that's done here is necessary or the thing that it ritualizes doesn't happen.

So what brings the sun across the sky every day? What we do here. Now, notice the columns. There are 134 of them in here. The big ones are 70 feet high. The smaller ones, just over 50. 134 of them. If the ceiling were still here, you would notice-- and some of the paint is still on here. All of these columns would be painted. That ceiling represents the ocean above - the sky. We're standing on the earth beneath, and in a sense, these columns keep that ocean up there.

What would happen if that ocean came down? You'd have a pretty big flood, and the space would fill up, and everything would turn back to chaos. So fortunately, the gods, mediated by Pharaoh, keep that up there. It's all designed to say, "There's a system." What keeps the system running? Whose system is it? What's order? What's chaos? It's all defined here. And you imagine-- and it moves my heart so deeply-- you stand with millions of Egyptians and Hebrews who came here, traveled sometimes hundreds of miles to get here at great expense, just to stand longingly outside the door, seeking a little bit of relief from the chaos of their lives. Come. Let's wander a bit.

Remember that bubble? Remember the sun makes a journey of this shape (oval)? If I want to say, "I'm responsible for keeping that bubble working, and I'm responsible for keeping the sun on that daily journey," I might choose to put my name in something shaped like this (oval) - the bubble. So guess what? Pharaoh's name ends up in a cartouche. Usermaatre - the name of one of the pharaohs. That says, "I maintain the space. I'm the one who keeps the system going." Pharaoh was the one who did all religious ritual in Egypt. His job was to keep the gods happy. Now, there's no way he could have done that because there are literally thousands of temples - maybe as many as 3,000. So even if he did five a day, he couldn't do them all in a year. But you'll often find in places like this, the ritual that went on twice a day-- we'll talk about that a little farther on-- twice a day, it's always carved in stone as if it's Pharaoh doing it. 

And when the priests did it, they would stand before the gods and say things like, "We're here doing this because Pharaoh sent us." In other words, Pharaoh saw himself as the highest religious authority in his world. And he was the one who kept the maat going by carrying out all the necessary rituals to keep the gods happy. 

Here's Pharaoh in ritual, making an offering. And if you look closely, in his hand, he's got a miniature maat statue. What that stone says is that in the ritual here, Pharaoh presented to Horace, order. I've made an offering. I've maintained order in your world. I've made Horace happy, so the system is working.

Pharaoh is an integral part of the function of the universe. That's so essential to see in Egypt. From here, this is the Hypostyle Hall where various rituals begin. But we still need to move to where the god himself is. Come.

We've come into what's called the sanctuary. Actually, this surprised me a bit. I expected the sanctuary to be the most beautiful, impressive spot. But it isn't. There are a couple of things you find about these temples. One, the closer you get to the public, the bigger and the grander everything is. There's a picture in that. As we move towards the god, it becomes more and more mysterious, darker and darker, and smaller and smaller - and it almost always rises. Probably standing on here, and my guess would be from what I've learned - in a barque, in a boat - is the statue of the god, Amun-Re. They're usually fairly small-- you had to carry him around after all-- and often made of solid gold or sometimes, like you saw on Tutankhamun's mask, covered with gold leaf or gold foil. Gold is called the skin of the gods in the Egyptian world. And that's god.

Please know, they did not think that statue was a god. That statue was a marker. It tells you where the god's presence is. Imagine a god who says, "Cherubim, I live between them. So where you see the Cherubim, that's where I am." They would have understood such a concept really well, because here, the statue is the marker and, boy, you're sure praying every day that Amun-Re comes and dwells in that statue. Because if he doesn't, maybe the Nile doesn't flood next year. Maybe my wife gives birth to a child that doesn't-- you know what I'm saying. So every day, there's an extensive ritual here twice a day. And that, remember, is Pharaoh's responsibility. Sometimes he actually did it - in his own temple for example. Sometimes the priests did it for him. 

So this isn't, "Let's go through worship today." This is huge, because if it doesn't work, the universe doesn't work. That's so different than we feel. None of you think, "If I don't go to church this week, maybe the sun won't come up tomorrow." You don't think that.

Hey, if the God you go to church to worship decides the sun won't come up tomorrow, don't kid yourself. But fortunately for us, it isn't dependent on what I do in church as to whether God is faithful to what he created. But here, Pharaoh plays a role in all that. 

Now, the question comes up - are these just stones and myths or is there more to it? If you read your Bible carefully, it tends to go both ways. In some places, it says, "The idols of the pagans are just rocks." But in some places, it addresses the gods of the nations as real powers. And in the Exodus, that's exactly what it says. God says (Exodus 12), "I will execute judgement on the Egyptian gods." So I need you to feel however we deal with it, however you think, there was power here. Don't kid yourself. This is not an empty room with a bunch of pre-civilized people creating myths. That's true. There was myth. There was power here and the book of Deuteronomy says (Deuteronomy 31), " The sacrifices you guys offered to idols were offered to demons. 

Paul will pick that up and address it to Corinth in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 10). Don't forget. There is demonic power behind this whole thing. Whether it lived in this statue or this room or not, this is real. There is a story here. If all it was, is an alternative story, now the issue would be simply, do you have this God-- we would say, "The right one."-- or this god-- we would say, "The wrong one." That's a big issue. Don't kid yourself. But the story has a price tag. And so does God's story. Come.

So the Egyptians' story has a price tag. Think about it this way. If their story was the right story - the little bit that we just walked through - then nature (the sun, the sky, the earth, the Nile) is god. And in nature, we all know the strong eat the weak. So if I'm the weak in this system, I'm nervous. This system glorifies and eventually, deifies the human. And do you know what? Morality is going to be what the human says it is. Whether it's the biggest human, the majority of the humans, or each individual human will decide what's right and what's wrong. 

Some are going to pay a high price for the order of this system - the slave, the baby thrown into the Nile, the poor, the old. This system is not going to be very nice for them. Do you know what I find interesting? If you think about it that way, it's exactly the opposite of God's story. God's story is about bringing shalom to chaos, and it's about the weak and the nobody and the hurting, whether it's each one of us in our alienation from the God of the Bible or whether it's the homeless or the single mom or the orphan or the AIDS victim or the unborn. 

I would say, "If you see a culture where life is cheap and where it's okay to sacrifice some - the elderly, the unborn - you've got a culture that's buying into the wrong story."

If you've got a culture that's obsessed with human pleasure and success and power and everything your heart could possibly desire, we ought to ask the question, "Has that culture bought the wrong story?" If we've got a culture whose entertainment is obsessed with death, we ought to ask, "Have we bought into the wrong story?"

Genesis says nature is not God. Genesis says the human is not deified. There's one creator and one God. He's got a story and he'd like to bring shalom to chaos. So I say when you see oppression, think of the story of the Exodus. It began with Moses, continued in Jesus, came to restore us to the creator of the universe and then said, "If they're hungry, feed them. If they're thirsty, give them a drink. The prisoner, visit them. Naked? Give them some clothes. Lonely? Go see them. Bring some shalom." 

Join the story. It's about all of us caring about the broken and the hurting. So I think I understand at least one reason why God brought his people into Egypt. I think he wanted them to understand the two stories. Because we're going to discover he wasn't looking for a messenger only. He was looking for someone to be the message. And to be the message, you have to buy the story. Hang onto the story.