Flight into Egypt - He Qi
Last fall I spoke to several groups on the theme of leadership, power and authority in business, civics, church and family. Instead of using sociology or other social sciences models for leadership, I attempted to think within the framework of Biblica revelation. Starting with a study on Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of Torah, I noticed patterns of contrasting leadership models in the Old and New Testament. For simplification, I focused on the contrast between two Semitic words used for leaders: adon and baal. (For a more complex set of comparison, check out Eugene Peterson’s “Follow the Leader“) In Hosea 2:16-17, the Lord rejects the name of baal for himself:
16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. (Hos 2:16-17)
Why does he reject that name? And what might we learn about lordship, rule and authority by contrasting the two words for lord: adon and baal? That’s what I explored in the talks and what I hope to explore in these blog entries. I am also attempting to record each entry, so you can listen along if you choose (provided I figure out the audio upload part).
As you think about the contrast between adon and baal, look at the picture above by He Qi. Jesus, the Lord Supreme of the Universe, is seen as an infant, relying on frail human parents to escape from the threat of the power-mania of Herod. In the background of the same picture, we see the symbol of Egyptian power and rule, a Great Pyramid. This contrast of Jesus, power in embodied in human form, with Egypt, power embodied in overwhelming images, might help us begin to think about adon and baal in our own realms of power relating to family, business, church and civic spheres.
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