The
journey from Midian back to Egypt was difficult for Moses. He was apprehensive
about the task God had commissioned him to accomplish. Fortunately, Aaron his
brother met him on the way and together they mulled over plans to speak to the
elders of the Hebrew people. The children of Israel had entered Egypt under a
banner of protection, due to their relationship with Joseph who had risen to
great prominence in the country. The family was assigned a place in Goshen to care
for their animals and build their lives. Some time later, a new pharaoh came to
power, who didn’t know Joseph, and who was fearful of the increasing number of
the descendants of Jacob. Thus it was that the children of Israel became slaves
in Egypt. Some four hundred years after Joseph, Moses was told to lead the children
of Israel out of Egypt. Their destination was the land promised to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. Moses remembered like yesterday, the event forty years
earlier which led to his flight from Egypt. When an Egyptian overlord was
beating a Hebrew, Moses intervened killing the Egyptian. Not long after, he
attempted to reconcile two Israelites, when the aggressor asked if Moses was
going to kill him, as he did the Egyptian. Moses remembered the stinging words
made at that time, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us?”[1] Now
back in Egypt, Moses and Aaron summoned the elders. Aaron the spokesman for
Moses, spoke all the words of God. His words, confirmed by miracles, moved the
elders to believe. It is recorded that, “The people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had given heed
to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and
worshiped.”[2]
Moses
and Aaron while breathing a sigh of relief that things had gone well with the
Hebrew leaders, were sobered by the task of going before Pharaoh to tell him
what God wanted. On their arrival before Pharaoh they announced God’s demand;
Thus says
the LORD, the God of Israel, “Let my people go, so that they may
celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.” But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go."[3]
Unperturbed,
Moses and Aaron told Pharaoh that the God of the Hebrews had revealed himself
to them, instructing the Hebrews to offer sacrifices. The Hebrews would be in
grave danger should they neglect to worship as required by their God. Pharaoh obstinately
refused to give in to God’s demand. Instead, Pharaoh added hardship to the
already weary brick makers’ task; they would have to gather straw for
themselves. And, there would be no reduction to the number of bricks required. Prompted
by this, the Israelite supervisors went and spoke to Moses saying, “You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his officials, and
have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”[4]
Moses spoke to God about the adverse conditions, showing his frustration, “Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated
this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people."[5]
On this one
commentator wrote; “What perversity of the natural heart!
They call upon God to judge, whilst by their very complaining they show that
they have no confidence in God and His power to save.”[6] I’m not sure
we should be critical of the frustration of the Hebrews. None of those living
at the time would have known anything other than their subservience to the
Egyptians. Everyone then living, had been born into slavery, as had their
parents. Yes, the people complained about the situation, but it was all they
had ever known. What they saw was that Moses had just made life a whole lot
more difficult for them. After hundreds of years in captivity, adversity had
become the norm for the children of Israel.
Pharaoh
stubbornly resisted God’s command. He also rejected the advice of his own
magicians and advisers. His obstinacy caused immense grief and suffering to the
Egyptian people. From the first plague to the last, the impact on the Egyptians
escalated with each new plague. Anguish over the last plague moved Pharaoh…
Pharaoh
arose in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians; and there
was a loud cry in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. Then
he summoned Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, "Rise up, go away from
my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD, as you said. Take
your flocks and your herds, as you said, and be gone. And bring a blessing on
me too!" The Egyptians urged the people to hasten their departure from the
land, for they said, "We shall all be dead."[7]
One
would think that as a result of the suffering felt by every family in Egypt,
including his own, Pharaoh would have recognized the hand of God in rescuing
the Hebrews. However, it wasn’t long until Pharaoh had second thoughts about
releasing the Hebrews. He mustered his army, led by many chariots, and pursued
the people of God. The Hebrew people when they saw the Egyptian army in the
distance, forgot the wonders and signs performed by God in rescuing them. They
despaired, and cowered in fear:
As
Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians
advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the LORD. They
said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have
taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us
out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, 'Let us alone
and let us serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve
the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."[8]
It is not for us to criticize or disparage a people who were
hemmed in by the sea in front of them, on both sides endless wilderness, and to
the rear, the quickly approaching army of Egypt. Servitude in Egypt was a
better alternative to being slaughtered in the wilderness, and for many that
appeared to be the imminent consequence of their escape. However, God opened a
way for the Hebrews to escape through the sea. The path that took them to
freedom would turn out to be the path that led to the destruction of the entire
Egyptian army. One might think that experiencing a miraculous redemption from
slavery, and a miraculous escape through the sea, the Hebrew people would have
great confidence in God. If there was any, that confidence was short-lived. The
people constantly rebelled against Moses and God, which turned out to be
calamitous for them.
In the homes of Hebrews there would have been great fear anticipating
the final plague. Their instructions were clear, but never having experienced
anything as terrifying as what was about to take place, there was hope mixed
with fear. There was no doubt that night, that every Egyptian family would
mourn the loss of loved ones. All that Moses had said would happen in the
previous demonstrations of God’s power, happened as he said it would. There
would be no change; tonight Egypt would cry. Most of the plagues had not taken
place in the land of Goshen, God had spared the Hebrews. But this night the
Hebrews had been warned to do exactly what God had commanded them, or they
would suffer. That night they would be exempt from sorrow only if they did what
they had been told to do. A lamb had to be slaughtered and some of its blood
put on the door frame, sides and top. Future generations would see the Passover
as a celebration of God’s redeeming Israel from slavery. However, that first
Passover was frightening even for the most faithful, each one hoping the
required preparations were successfully carried out, so that the family would be
safe. As required most had killed a lamb and placed its blood between
themselves and the angel of death. Late that night, groans and wails of despair
echoed throughout Egypt, while silently Israel breathed a sigh of relief, whispering
prayers of thanks for being saved by the blood of a lamb.
The many times God provided for them, the many times God lifted
them up, the descendants of Jacob, should have been filled with awe and faith.
But the record of their journey does not support that supposition. There were a
few people who never wavered, their trust was firmly planted in the Lord their
God. But, for most it was not that way, faith lapsed, trust waned, and their
zeal for the journey failed.
The
rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and
said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in
Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the
garlic; but now our strength is dried
up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at."[9]
God
never abandoned them to the perils of the wilderness, he constantly nurtured
and cared for them. But, they grew tired of the food God provided and longed
for the foods of Egypt. Eventually, the children of Israel reached the Promised
Land. But, none of the older people lived to enter the land, the forty years
wandering in the wilderness as punishment exacted a heavy toll.
The
price paid by the children of Israel pales in significance to the price God paid
to redeem mankind. The account of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, offers a
mere glimpse into the reality of what actually took place. We may speculate on why
Jesus had to die. We can plod through volumes of theological conjecture, trying
to understand the mind of God. In the end, it comes down to faith. As humans we
are incapable of understanding the divine purpose or the infinite intent. We
are not required to understand, we are required to believe.
Jesus did
many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in
this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is
the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in
his name.[10]
We
don’t have to understand what God has done for us, we have to believe that
Jesus was the Messiah, and that by believing we are given life.
There is
therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of
death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he
condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit.[11]
As
I reflect on the results of human interference and meddling in God’s plan, I
wonder if it is not time that once again God would give the order to “Let my people go!” But, let us go from what?
Jesus
said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you
are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make
you free." They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have
never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, 'You will be made
free'?"[12]
A
similar statement and a similar response. The Jews by the time Jesus was on
earth had developed a system of religion quite unlike what Moses intended. Had
you asked the religious leaders, they would have justified their religion as
being God’s law. Ask any Church today about its uniqueness, and its leaders
will go to scripture to defend its doctrines and practices. Christians live in
a fog of confusion. Every Church promotes its beliefs, every Church claims to
be right. Every Church presents itself as the means to acquiring life. Unheard
by religious leaders is God’s order to let his people go! Believers don’t have
to quit going to church, but they have to realize that Jesus alone is the source
of life. There are social and emotional benefits in church affiliation, and as
long as these are not confused with spirituality –enjoy the fellowship. Always
keep in mind your devotion to Jesus, and that he alone is the Saviour.
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