There are moments when reading the Bible honestly feels like an act of disobedience.
Yes, sometimes the text says something offensive or archaic, but the deeper disturbance often comes from somewhere else. From the way certain questions refuse to be wrangled into surrender. From passages that will not submit to the theological boundaries we place around them. A story we learned to pass over quietly suddenly presses back. A familiar verse reveals a burred edge we were never encouraged to touch.
One such moment arrives in Exodus 4, with a brief and bewildering scene in which God appears to seek the death of a child, or at least threatens it. The text is spare. No explanation is offered. An infant’s life is imperilled, blood is spilled, and the danger passes almost as quickly as it arrives. The narrative moves on, reticent to loiter longer than necessary.
For those formed by a faith that insists every verse reflects divine intent without remainder, the passage feels like a trap. What are we meant to do with a story like this? And what does it say about the God it depicts?
Continued on Substack… Click here to read the rest.
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