Delivered Out of Empire (Walter Brueggemann) - Review

DELIVERED OUT OF EMPIRE: Pivotal Moments in the Book of Exodus. Part One. By Walter Brueggemann. Series Foreword by Brent Strawn. Discussion Questions by Julie Mullins. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2021. Xvii + 95 pages.

                If you want to study the Old Testament there are few scholars better equipped to guide you than Walter Brueggemann. Of course, if you read Brueggemann, you will get a social justice element. It's just the way it is. With that in mind, you might decide to check out Brueggemann’s Delivered Out of Empire, which is part of a series of study guides written for a general audience that invites the reader to read scripture in a way that speaks to contemporary concerns. It is a contribution to a series of study guides edited by Brent Strawn titled Pivotal Moments in the Old Testament. As Strawn notes, the series focuses on places where Scripture pivots and "turns us toward something new, something deeper, something transformative." Thus, in the course of reading these texts, we can “pivot toward another world—another divine world—that can change our own for the better, forever" (p. xiii).

                In this first contribution to the series Brueggemann focuses on the chapters in the Book of Exodus that takes us from the moment of enslavement to the crossing of the sea that leads to the songs of Moses and Miriam (chapter 15). In between, we watch as God confronts Pharaoh through the ministrations of Moses and Aaron. Brueggemann offers the book up as a "readers guide" to the book of Exodus. In Part 1, which we have before us, we watch how God frees Israel from Pharaoh’s control, while the second, yet to be published volume will (we assume) focus on the wilderness sojourn where God covenants with Israel.

                According to his preface, Brueggemann reads the text through a "liberationist hermeneutic." He divides the guide into ten relatively brief chapters, each of which is about eight to ten pages in length. At the end of chapter one finds discussion questions provided by Julie Mullins. Chapter 1 focuses on the first two chapters of Exodus, setting up the call of Moses. Here Brueggemann sets the table by describing the nature of slavery in Egypt and the cry of the people that got God's attention. It is a cry, Brueggemann suggests, that continues to be heard in the efforts of the Civil Rights, anti-Apartheid, Black Lives Matter, and other movements of liberation. It is a reminder that Pharaoh continues to live on. From there we move on to chapters three and four where God appears to Moses and calls him to this ministry of liberation. Here we learn a bit about the God who hears and calls. Then in chapter 3, we read Exodus 5, along with passages from Deuteronomy. Here we watch as Moses confronts Pharaoh demanding that Pharaoh let God's people go. As you might expect Pharaoh won’t give in easily, which means that Moses must persuade Pharaoh to act.

                Having entered the court, we move on in chapter 4 to Exodus 7 and 8. Here we watch the chess match pitting Moses and Aaron against Pharaoh's priests. We witness the first of the plagues, which ironically Pharaoh's priests can duplicate, though at the detriment of their own people. But only the first two are duplicated. From then on, the priests are powerless. Nevertheless, Pharaoh doesn't get it. He's going to need more convincing, but, as Brueggemann points out, the self-deception present here isn't the exception it is the norm among those who have power and aren't eager to let go of it. Chapter 5 takes through Exodus 10 along with chapters 12-13. Here we see more encounters with Pharaoh along with plagues and Pharaoh's resistance to the moment. The story continues because, in the author's mind, God wants to keep showing signs of divine power. This is for our instruction as much as for Pharaoh. Brueggemann notes that chapters 12 and 13 of Exodus reveals that the Book of Exodus is designed for liturgical enactment. Here we get the instructions for celebrating Passover. We see how the children are instructed to ask the leading questions that reveal what God is up to.

                Chapter 6 takes us back to Exodus 10, where Moses negotiates with Pharaoh, demanding that the livestock goes with them when they head out to pray. Pharaoh is willing to permit the worship, but not the taking of livestock. Letting the people take their livestock would mean letting the people go and Pharaoh had no interest in letting go of cheap labor. He wants to keep the flocks as hostages, but Moses won't give in. So the stalemate continues. In chapter 7, we move to Exodus 11 and 12, which takes us to the tenth plague, the angel of death. This will be the moment when Pharaoh gives in. He's ready to see them leave. This was too much, even for him. Chapter 8 keeps us in Exodus 12, where we learn a bit more about this group of escaping slaves. It appears this is a mixed multitude. Not just Israelites, but slaves in general headed off with Moses. Ultimately, as Brueggemann writes in the closing paragraph of the chapter: "Empire depends on nameless nobodies to do the heavy lifting. When these anonymous heavy lifters become 'a people', they constitute, in their comradeship, a threat to the empire and a force for an alternative." (p. 60).

                As we move on to chapter 9, which is titled "Fear Outflanked by Holy Resolve," Brueggemann explores Exodus 14. Here we watch as Pharaoh has second thoughts and tries to bring the people back. So, Moses has to encourage the people to stay firm and not give in to fear. Moses lets the people know that God will fight on their behalf. If in chapter 14 of Exodus Moses rallies the people to stand firm, in Exodus 15 (Brueggemann, ch. 10) we read the songs of victory as the people move through the sea and find freedom. Brueggemann writes that "Slaves do not sing and dance much, except for an occasional respite allowed by coercive masters . . . But ex-slaves are a different matter. When they are emancipated from work, brick making, and production schedules, they may sing and dance." (p. 81). That is what we see happen here as Moses and Miriam lead them in song and dance.

                This is, of course, only part one of the story. God has delivered the people out of the hand of Pharaoh, but now this disparate group of ex-slaves will have to become a people. That occurs in the second half of Exodus and thus in Part Two of Brueggemann’s two-part series of study guides. Ultimately, chapter 15 focuses on God's enthronement. No longer does Pharaoh rule, but a generous God is king in Jerusalem, a vision that Brueggemann sees re-enacted in Jesus and the liturgical seasons of Christmas and Easter, which "all are exhibits of God's rule that is anticipated in the formula of Moses. It is for this reason that the exodus narrative remains paradigmatic for the church as for Israel" (pp. 89-90).

                Too often in Christian circles, Old Testament texts are either ignored or misappropriated. Here Brueggemann brings the text alive and helps us appropriately read it for today. This is a liberationist hermeneutic that takes us beyond mere literary interest in an ancient story. This is a story that still speaks, and as Brueggemann reminds us, it is paradigmatic for us. While Delivered Out of Empire will make an excellent study guide, in its brevity it also serves as an insightful introduction to this key biblical story. Since Brueggemann is the author you know you are in good hands. 

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