The Irony of Gender
Read Exodus 1-2:10
"Then Pharaoh's Daughter went down tot he Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it..." v. 2:5
Moses saves a nation, but some girls do so first? The first two chapters of Exodus is riddled with irony and perhaps we will spend the next couple days talking about the various ironies witnessed in these two chapters, but first we have to look to the irony of gender. For centuries the scriptures have been used to subjugate women to masculine systems of oppression. Men have been quick to run to the various one-liners scattered throughout the scriptures to voice our "divinely sanctioned" prejudice and egotism. Women have been viewed by a primarily patriarchial system as less than the man and we have used the bible to support that system.
Now please understand, I am not a feminist. Various "ism's" quickly become worship of individual causes. What I am is a Christian who is attempting to take seriously the scriptural story. Throughout the story, we encounter important, dare I say, essential women in the fulfillment of God's plan in this world. Exodus 1 and 2 are primarily such a place. Throughout two chapters, the main characters that are used as vessels of salvation are two midwives, a sister, a mother, the daughter of the Pharaoh, and her attendants. Notice that Moses isn't, if the women hadn't acted. Perhaps the entire story of Israel is delayed if these women hadn't acted. Under the nose of the supremely important male Pharaoh are some forgotten "less thans" that are used by God to offer to the people the hope that "The Man" was attempting to squash.
What might this mean? Perhaps each person and each community of faith need answer that question for themselves, but I am left asking the question..."Is the overarching story of the scriptures one of dominance and oppression?" Or "Does the story of God redefine our manipulative and egotistic systems and offer the hope that even "less thans" can be used in significant salvific ways. And if the latter question be answered to the affirmative, then in a mathematical formula do the <'s become = to.
2 comments:
I have a question about this one that I dont understand. When the Pharohs daughter found the baby, why did she send for a Hebrew mother to take care of the baby? Why di her servants not care for it?
There is a tremendous amount of providence that takes place at the critical moment in Moses' and indeed the Hebrew's lives. Moses' sister, as I am sure you remember, was not far away and witnessed the heart of the Pharaoh's daughter grow soft for the defenseless Hebrew child floating among the reeds, no doubt soon to die by the elements or as a snack to a hungry Nile creature. She, like Moses' mother, was a slave and it was their duty to see to the Egyptian's wishes. Moses' sister seized the opportunity and presented Moses' mother as a suitable person to care for the child as she was already lactating and was a Hebrew herself. Who better to understand a Hebrew child's needs? God took care of Moses and his family with a dramatic supernatural intervention. That is exactly what God wanted in this time and place in history.
I hope that this helps!
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