The Manager Who Thought He Was an Owner

November 26, 2013 at 12:39 pm | Posted in Exodus, Luke, parables | 24 Comments
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In the Book of Exodus there are many ways to view the role of Pharaoh, but it seems that the Holy Spirit intends for the reader to see him as a vassal or a husbandmen given stewardship over a “vineyard” known as Egypt. Jesus taught a parable about how the Jewish religious leaders had rebelled against God and His messengers, and it is interesting to note some of the parallels to the Exodus account.

Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.

Luke 20:9

God had placed the Jewish people in Egypt to survive a famine. They prospered there at first, but eventually were placed into bondage and servitude by the Egyptians.

And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.

Luke 20:10

This reminds us of God’s servants, Moses and Aaron, going to Pharaoh with God’s demand to let the people go, then being sent away “empty” again and again.

And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.

Luke 20:11-16

Egypt belonged to the one true God, but Pharaoh neither acknowledged that fact, nor did a good job managing God’s property. It was time for him to give an account, and to learn a lesson about making God’s people serve a man who saw himself as a god.

And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

Exodus 7:5

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  1. […] these themes are present and relevant, although I stated last time that I believe that the theme of God punishing an unfaithful steward (Pharaoh) was the more […]

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  4. […] be reclaimed by its rightful Owner one day soon, and that He will deal accordingly with those who pretended that they owned it, and that He will demand an accounting from those He sent to be His […]

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  5. […] through the leadership of Moses had delivered His people from the bondage of the Egyptians. They had crossed the Red Sea into the wilderness. The plan was that they would follow the guidance […]

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  7. […] over them, I have a responsibility to control they way they behave, so that they glorify their true Owner, God. Discipline is not easy, but if I don’t do it, I’m being a hypocrite. I’m focusing on my […]

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  16. […] there, he was also letting everyone know that, if his enemies (and God’s enemies) insisted on forgetting that “their” property was really God’s property, and marking their territory like dogs, they might very well be treated the way David treated the […]

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  17. […] get them to “hit the bricks,” so to speak. God’s people had been serving Pharaoh when they should have been serving God. As Christians, we have to be be intentional about who we serve. The world will have us in bondage […]

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  23. […] In the Old Testament God often gave His people the possessions of their enemies. God owns everything, and when pagans mismanage God’s property He may very well take it from them and give it to new man…. […]

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  24. […] covenants are comparable to covenants between powerful kings and subjects, or between suzerains and vassals, with the exception that the covenants of God are 100% pure grace. They place obligations and […]

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