We recall how the Israelites found themselves in Egypt; Jacob and his sons went there because of a famine. Jacob's son, Joseph, was a powerful prince in Egypt and invited them to stay. Because of Joseph the Israelites were treated well and enjoyed a peaceful existence for over 100 years.
Eventually a new king arose over Egypt, who did not remember Joseph. He said, “The people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. Let us deal with them, or else in the event of war, they will join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and leave". So taskmasters were appointed over them and they were subjected to slave labor...building storage cities for Pharaoh. The more they were abused, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they became a potential threat. The Egyptians increase the labor demands and made the Israelite lives bitter.
Then the king of Egypt directed the Hebrew midwives to kill any male children who were born. The midwives feared God, and did not do as the king commanded. God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. But...things only got worse. Finally, the sons of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and God heard them and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them...
Abraham Harold Maslow (1908 – 1970) was an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization. The most important thing to take away from Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs is his assertion that all human beings start fulfilling their needs at the bottom levels of the pyramid. In short, we fill our lower physiological needs first.
So...Yahweh called on Moses to fix things. He commanded Moses to tell the King of Egypt “Let My people go, that they may serve Me". In Maslow's terminology, quit abusing them; provide for their safety; treat them with care; make them feel valuable. Of course, Pharaoh would never do this so God intended to take them out of Egypt so He could do these things for Israel Himself.
It took time. In today's vernacular, the entire tribe probably exhibited symptoms of PTSD. Only God's faithful loving nurture could overcome the trauma. Eventually the children of Israel grew back into a trusting obedient relationship with God...and began serving Him
When we are enslaved by temptations and struggles in this world we are unable to remain intimate with God and walk faithfully with Him as He desires. We have more immediate survival concerns. God is surely disappointed but, in truth, we are the ones that suffer most from the estrangement. We lose peace, we lose fellowship, we lose confidence, we lose hope.
Whatever is preventing us from moving close to God is not important. What is important is...we need to cry out to Yahweh as the children of Israel did. When we do, God will hear us. He will demand of Satan, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me". It may be a struggle. We see it took a multitude of plagues before Pharaoh finally relented and submitted to God.
But...our God won. He always does...
When sin and Satan finally release their grip, the results are transformative and we can serve God joyfully the way we have always wanted to...but couldn't. King David explains in his first Psalm...
Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God. They delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely. They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper. For the Lord watches over all the plans and paths of godly men, but the paths of the godless lead to doom.
Live boldly out there today...
