Roadmap for the soul - Judaism, the bible and the tabernacle

As our story continues once again and we near the end of the book of Genesis, we find that a "famine" 24 has come upon the earth. Eventually, this famine drives Abraham's descendants to the nation of Egypt, in search of food.

For the sake of keeping the story short here, we can summarize things by saying that in the beginning, Abraham's descendants were welcomed by the Pharaoh (or 'King') of Egypt, who said ---

Genesis 47:6 "The land of Egypt is before you...let them dwell in the land of Goshen..."

Genesis 47:27 "So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly".

Abraham's descendants are now in Egypt, where they are soon transformed from a small band of wandering shepherds 25 into a large and thriving group of people (the 'Israelites'). In fact, Israel's rapid growth soon becomes a matter of concern to the Egyptians ---

Exodus 1:8-14 "...there arose a new king over Egypt... (v.9) and he said to his people, 'Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; (v.10) come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.' (v.11) Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens..." (v.12) But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. (v.13) So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. (v.14) And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage... in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor".

Just as God predicted back in Genesis 15:13, as you can see, Abraham's descendants have indeed been brought to a land where they are in 'slavery'.

But what's the real point of this experience?

To understand this experience,
we must first recognize that Egypt is being used to symbolize the 'world of sin' in this story.

Does this mean that there was something especially terrible about Egypt
that made them stand out in God's mind as an example of 'sin'?

No, not necessarily. It simply means that long ago, the ancestors of the Egyptians had also been present 'in Adam's loins', but they had long since forgotten the one true God. They had instead created a whole hierarchy of false 'gods' and a totally different philosophy of life for themselves. Having rejected God's authority and boundaries, the Egyptian culture simply demonstrated mankind's tendency to turn ever further from Him. Although the Egyptians themselves didn't realize it, they were thus a perfect example of the 'spiritual slavery' that results from the 'pervasive leaven' of sin.

God was merely using Egypt as an example of what 'spiritual slavery' leads to... God used Egypt to say, "This is what the world has chosen, and although you (Israel) may not realize it, you are just as 'spiritually enslaved' as these people you serve. Their future would be your own, if I had not chosen you and called you to be different".

The only thing that makes Israel any different,
is that God has chosen them and has given them a 'promise'. 26
As we have seen, God promised Abraham that Isaac's descendants are not destined to remain slaves forever.

And now, God is about to show the new nation of Israel
what it will take, in order to be set free from slavery ---

Exodus 2:23-25 "Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. (v.24) So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. (v.25) And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them".

At this point, the children of Israel have gained some insight into what slavery is like, and they are crying out to be set free. God hears their cries, and chooses a man named Moses for the task of leading them to freedom. In this next verse, Moses is being given the job of a lifetime ---

Exodus 3:10 "... I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt".

God knows however, that Pharaoh is not going to let the children of Israel go without a fight and He tells Moses right up front that it's going to take some work, but ultimately things will turn out fine ---

Exodus 3:19-20 "... I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. (v.20) So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go".

Notice the words, "I will do". .. Remember now... God has previously made it quite clear that only He has the power to restore relationship with man. And thus, since these events are symbolic of the way in which God intends to establish 'everlasting relationship' with Israel, the words "I will do" make perfect sense here... God is using them to once again underscore the fact that it is only by His hand that Israel will be set free from 'slavery' (to sin) and thus be restored to relationship with him. Moses is only acting as God's instrument.

To make a long story short. Moses accepts the job and eventually appears before Pharaoh and informs him that God would like the children of Israel to be set free.

We can summarize the events that follow by saying that not surprisingly, Pharaoh basically says, "Forget it", and then makes Israel's existence even more miserable by demanding more work from them.

Ultimately, Pharaoh's intransigence results in a number of "plagues" 27 being unleashed upon the people of Egypt. After each of these plagues, Moses again asks the Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go.

Amazingly, the Pharaoh continues to refuse.

This brings us to the tenth plague, and it is this tenth and final plague that we will consider next.

NEXT CHAPTER

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