Ya’ think so?
Let’s review the record:
- From my post #9 in Salvation:Faith or works?
- Terry_Sampson
- salvation = getting out of undesirable circumstances
- Jewish phylogeny
- Jews living in Egypt
- Yahweh appears to Moses and says: I want Israel, but not as slaves in Egypt, so I’m going to save them. Go break the news to Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go, but don’t expect him to do it, because he doesn’t know who I am and doesn’t have the motivation to set my chosen people free.
- After a number of lessons in what Yahweh can do, Pharaoh gets to know a little about Yahweh, decides that he doesn’t like Him, and figures he can avoid him, by avoiding Moses and Aaron.
- Question: At this point, Pharaoh is annoyed and treating Israel worse, Moses and Aaron are starting to think they;re on fools’ errands, and Israel is still in Egypt and worse off than before Yahweh took an interest in them. How many “faith” points should we give to Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh, and Israel? How many “work” points should we give to Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh, and Israel?
- Then, Yahweh establishes the calendar and tells Moses and Aaron, to tell Israel to obtain year-old, male lambs without blemish, slaughter and roast them whole, paint their doorposts with lamb’s blood, and eat their last meal with their hiking clothes on, because it’s time to leave Egypt.
- Then Yahweh passed through Egypt and killed the firstborn of everybody–from Pharaoh down to prisoners in Pharaoh’s dungeon, including the Egyptians’ livestock. The Egyptians decided it was time for Israel to leave and told them so. Israel high-tailed it out of town.
- That’s the end of the 1st phase of Israel’s salvation from Egypt.
- Now how many “faith” and “work” points would you give to each of the parties in this story, so far? From where I sit, the only one doing any work is Yahweh, and Moses, Aaron, and Israel get “faith” points, but no “work” points unless someone wants to give them a point for leaving Egypt, which would seem weird to me to do.
- Next comes the one-day bus ride into Canaan; oh, wait, … Israel didn’t ride a bus into Canaan, did they? How long did Israel take to get into Canaan? Check our source material: I think it was about 40 years wasn’t it? whining and complaining most, if not all, the way; following a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
- How many “faith” and “work” points do you want to hand out for this second phase of Israel’s salvation, and to whom? IMO, I’d say “1 faith” point for each of the humans, and “1 work” point to Yahweh
Correct me if I misunderstand your position, but it seems to me that you’re inclined to give Israel a “work” point for killing a lamb and painting their door posts with its blood, and another “work” point for putting one foot in front of another on their trek through the desert for 40+ years following the Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night.
- Christian Ontogeny (i.e. the Christian version of Israel’s salvation):
- Jesus of Nazareth, the unblemished Lamb of God, provided by the Father, was crucified, died, was buried, and was resurrected by the Father.
- What part of believing that Jesus died for you do you want a “work” point for, when you wouldn’t even know that he did if someone else hadn’t told you?
- Then there’s what I call “the second phase of salvation”: putting one foot in front of the other, through the desert, in response to the call: “Come follow me.” Do you want a “work” point for leaving “Egypt” and trusting the Lord?