Why Egypt?
I'm reading through the book of Ezekiel in 7 days, and of course I'm taking notes along the way. Here's what I'm discovering:
Something that really kept my attention about Ezekiel was that he really lived out his message. He told the people what was coming to them as long as they continued to be disobedient. He prophesied about famine and captivity. To symbolize this, Ezekiel laid down, for 390 days, tied up, eating rationed food (Ezekiel 4). Dramatic? Yes! But was the point made? Definitely. God wasn't playing, and neither was Ezekiel! Then in chapter 24, Ezekiel's wife passed away, and he was ordered NOT to mourn her. She was described as the "delight" of his eyes. That means he loved him some her! But he couldn't show his grief. When I say I was blown away by his obedience, I was seriously like "Man. Could I do that?" I'm sure if the Lord wanted me to and helped me, I could. But, Lord, please don't make me!
Anyway, I just finished Chapter 35, and I'm feeling pretty good about my progress and my commitment to follow-through. As I was reading through the last few chapters, though, I realized something. God was placing a lot of emphasis on Egypt. He kept threatening to tear down the kingdom, scatter all the people, and then rebuild them into a weak nation, never to return to its majestic reign again. It's all very poetic and dramatic. But I was kind of perturbed. I was like, "why is He putting so much focus on this one country?" I had to ponder. Then, like a burst pipe, it all came flooding back. I started to piece together everything I knew about Egypt and its relationship with Israel, and I started to understand the importance of this one nation.
Egypt started out as a place of refuge and provision for the people of Israel before the death of Joseph, who saved Egypt from famine twice (Genesis 41:53-57, 47:13-27). His brothers, who had sent him there as a slave, were now hungry and destitute. Now they needed him, and were afraid because he was now a man of power. They just knew he would get his revenge on how they treated him. Instead, he forgave them, fed them, and invited them to settle down with him in Egypt (Gen. 45:3-7). Here is where the 12 tribes of Israel quickly grew in number.
Then, Egypt became a place of oppression and enslavement. Joseph had died, and the new Pharaoh did not know or care who he or his family was. He felt that there were too many Israelites and that he'd better make them work for him or else they might become formidable enemies and overtake his country (Exodus 1:8-11). Boom. Just like that, they were slaves. And they weren't slaves like "you're in bondage, but we'll be nice to you." It was rough. The Bible says "The Egyptians used them ruthlessly" (v.11). So, the place they originally turned to for support ended up kicking them in the face. Sounds like some relationships I've had (figuratively, of course). To argue, you could even say Egypt started out as a place of enslavement, since that's why Joseph was there in the first place. I chose to be positive about it. But I digress.
Moving on...
God made it so that the Pharaoh eventually let the Israelites go, and their time of enslavement became a thing of the past. All of a sudden, Egypt became a thing of nostalgia for the Israelites. When the hard times came, the people wanted to go back. They weren't happy to be free again. They wanted to go where they always knew that they would have food, and some type of security (Ex. 16:1-3). All of a sudden, they could only remember the good times and make excuses to justify the bad. I call it the 'Battered Partner Complex." To want to return to the very same people who used you, abused you, dehumanized you, and took away your choices for a meretricious sense of security is a sickness of the mind, and you need help. We all do it. Women and men do it with one another, African Americans and other oppressed people do it with the dominant race, children do it with their parents, and people who are not saved do it with the devil. So we can't be too mad at the Israelites. Because the biggest lie that you're being told when you're in that position is that you won't survive without the person or party who's systematically killing you anyway.
So, by the time we get to Ezekiel, we've gone through numerous kings, including David and Solomon. Some obeyed God, others spat in God's face. Some were wishy-washy, others were adamant about their decision. Ezekiel came along in the time of Jehoachin, who was the next to last king of Judah before it's total demise and exile to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:9-23). Jehoachin was part of a line of kings who, back-to-back decided that they were going to completely ignore God and do whatever they wanted to do. He warned them, they didn't listen, He got fed up. There they went, into exile and captivity. So Ezekiel was one of the people God was using to warn the people that their time was running out and they needed to get it together.
So it's in Ezekiel that I'm realizing that, God is being exceptionally hard on the Egyptians. I mean, He calls out other nations that mock Him, but he really seems to have it out for Egypt. I mean, he goes on for about 4 chapters on what the Egyptians can expect to have coming to them for being so boastful and dismissive. And it's not a pretty tale! The Nile would flow like "oil" because there would be no people or animals left to trouble the waters (Ez. 32:14), the people would be scattered and dispersed throughout nations (Ez. 30:26), and then the Lord would bring them back from captivity, and make Egypt the lowliest of the kingdoms, so weak that it would never rule over the nations again (Ez. 29:15). I mean, this is deep stuff. So I had to meditate and try to get an understanding.
Here's what I came up with. God was trying to get his people to understand that Egypt was not meant to be a permanent place in their lives. Throughout history, they kept running back there, and God was looking, mouth open, palms up, like "what?" Egypt had a lot of flash, a lot of bling, a lot of empty attractions. Yes, Egypt was a place of refuge SOMETIMES, especially when Joseph took Mary and baby Jesus there to escape the massacre (Matthew 2:13-21). The thing that God wanted His people to understand was that Egypt was never meant to be a place to STAY or to KEEP in the Israelite lifestyle. When Ezekiel was on the scene, the Israelites were turning to Egyptian gods and rituals, thinking that they would get everything they needed that way. On top of that, the Egyptians themselves were declaring that they were gods, greater than our God, and could never be taken down. They laughed at the concept of God and His might. Sound familiar? We've got a lot of atheists and agnostics telling the same tales. I feel sorry for them.
I read somewhere that Egypt represents the world, that is, the population of those who won't believe in God and keep His commandments. Egypt was a place to go to for resources, but once you've gotten what you need, it's time to move on. You can't stay there, or you'll die. Sometimes we have to work with people who won't respect your faith. We have to learn to love them anyway, and get along with them for the time we work with them. That doesn't mean we stay in their presence and participate in their activities, if they're not pleasing to God. We have family members that we love who won't submit to God. We can love them, but we can't do everything that they do. We can't look to them for our help and our confidence. Sometimes it means breaking away if they are pulling you further from God. He's trying to tell us, that it's okay. Yes, it hurts and feels scary sometimes, but that's what He's there for. To heal all our hurts, and relieve all of our fears. As long as we keep trying to "mix it up" He can't fully operate in us, and that's when things start to go downhill.
God wasn't so focused on Egypt solely because of their arrogance. A lot of the surrounding nations were arrogant and disbelieving. God had a problem because the Israelites were actually buying what they were selling, and always seemed willing to go back into bondage to them. Who wants to keep delivering somebody from the same thing over and over again? God was sending out the message. Although at one point the Egyptians were seen as the greatest, wealthiest nation in the world, God was greater. Putting your trust in anything other than Him was a big mistake, and the thing you've been building up all this time, will fall harder than them all, and take you down with it. Get out of Egypt. Live.
Something that really kept my attention about Ezekiel was that he really lived out his message. He told the people what was coming to them as long as they continued to be disobedient. He prophesied about famine and captivity. To symbolize this, Ezekiel laid down, for 390 days, tied up, eating rationed food (Ezekiel 4). Dramatic? Yes! But was the point made? Definitely. God wasn't playing, and neither was Ezekiel! Then in chapter 24, Ezekiel's wife passed away, and he was ordered NOT to mourn her. She was described as the "delight" of his eyes. That means he loved him some her! But he couldn't show his grief. When I say I was blown away by his obedience, I was seriously like "Man. Could I do that?" I'm sure if the Lord wanted me to and helped me, I could. But, Lord, please don't make me!
Anyway, I just finished Chapter 35, and I'm feeling pretty good about my progress and my commitment to follow-through. As I was reading through the last few chapters, though, I realized something. God was placing a lot of emphasis on Egypt. He kept threatening to tear down the kingdom, scatter all the people, and then rebuild them into a weak nation, never to return to its majestic reign again. It's all very poetic and dramatic. But I was kind of perturbed. I was like, "why is He putting so much focus on this one country?" I had to ponder. Then, like a burst pipe, it all came flooding back. I started to piece together everything I knew about Egypt and its relationship with Israel, and I started to understand the importance of this one nation.
Egypt started out as a place of refuge and provision for the people of Israel before the death of Joseph, who saved Egypt from famine twice (Genesis 41:53-57, 47:13-27). His brothers, who had sent him there as a slave, were now hungry and destitute. Now they needed him, and were afraid because he was now a man of power. They just knew he would get his revenge on how they treated him. Instead, he forgave them, fed them, and invited them to settle down with him in Egypt (Gen. 45:3-7). Here is where the 12 tribes of Israel quickly grew in number.
Then, Egypt became a place of oppression and enslavement. Joseph had died, and the new Pharaoh did not know or care who he or his family was. He felt that there were too many Israelites and that he'd better make them work for him or else they might become formidable enemies and overtake his country (Exodus 1:8-11). Boom. Just like that, they were slaves. And they weren't slaves like "you're in bondage, but we'll be nice to you." It was rough. The Bible says "The Egyptians used them ruthlessly" (v.11). So, the place they originally turned to for support ended up kicking them in the face. Sounds like some relationships I've had (figuratively, of course). To argue, you could even say Egypt started out as a place of enslavement, since that's why Joseph was there in the first place. I chose to be positive about it. But I digress.
Moving on...
God made it so that the Pharaoh eventually let the Israelites go, and their time of enslavement became a thing of the past. All of a sudden, Egypt became a thing of nostalgia for the Israelites. When the hard times came, the people wanted to go back. They weren't happy to be free again. They wanted to go where they always knew that they would have food, and some type of security (Ex. 16:1-3). All of a sudden, they could only remember the good times and make excuses to justify the bad. I call it the 'Battered Partner Complex." To want to return to the very same people who used you, abused you, dehumanized you, and took away your choices for a meretricious sense of security is a sickness of the mind, and you need help. We all do it. Women and men do it with one another, African Americans and other oppressed people do it with the dominant race, children do it with their parents, and people who are not saved do it with the devil. So we can't be too mad at the Israelites. Because the biggest lie that you're being told when you're in that position is that you won't survive without the person or party who's systematically killing you anyway.
So, by the time we get to Ezekiel, we've gone through numerous kings, including David and Solomon. Some obeyed God, others spat in God's face. Some were wishy-washy, others were adamant about their decision. Ezekiel came along in the time of Jehoachin, who was the next to last king of Judah before it's total demise and exile to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:9-23). Jehoachin was part of a line of kings who, back-to-back decided that they were going to completely ignore God and do whatever they wanted to do. He warned them, they didn't listen, He got fed up. There they went, into exile and captivity. So Ezekiel was one of the people God was using to warn the people that their time was running out and they needed to get it together.
So it's in Ezekiel that I'm realizing that, God is being exceptionally hard on the Egyptians. I mean, He calls out other nations that mock Him, but he really seems to have it out for Egypt. I mean, he goes on for about 4 chapters on what the Egyptians can expect to have coming to them for being so boastful and dismissive. And it's not a pretty tale! The Nile would flow like "oil" because there would be no people or animals left to trouble the waters (Ez. 32:14), the people would be scattered and dispersed throughout nations (Ez. 30:26), and then the Lord would bring them back from captivity, and make Egypt the lowliest of the kingdoms, so weak that it would never rule over the nations again (Ez. 29:15). I mean, this is deep stuff. So I had to meditate and try to get an understanding.
Here's what I came up with. God was trying to get his people to understand that Egypt was not meant to be a permanent place in their lives. Throughout history, they kept running back there, and God was looking, mouth open, palms up, like "what?" Egypt had a lot of flash, a lot of bling, a lot of empty attractions. Yes, Egypt was a place of refuge SOMETIMES, especially when Joseph took Mary and baby Jesus there to escape the massacre (Matthew 2:13-21). The thing that God wanted His people to understand was that Egypt was never meant to be a place to STAY or to KEEP in the Israelite lifestyle. When Ezekiel was on the scene, the Israelites were turning to Egyptian gods and rituals, thinking that they would get everything they needed that way. On top of that, the Egyptians themselves were declaring that they were gods, greater than our God, and could never be taken down. They laughed at the concept of God and His might. Sound familiar? We've got a lot of atheists and agnostics telling the same tales. I feel sorry for them.
I read somewhere that Egypt represents the world, that is, the population of those who won't believe in God and keep His commandments. Egypt was a place to go to for resources, but once you've gotten what you need, it's time to move on. You can't stay there, or you'll die. Sometimes we have to work with people who won't respect your faith. We have to learn to love them anyway, and get along with them for the time we work with them. That doesn't mean we stay in their presence and participate in their activities, if they're not pleasing to God. We have family members that we love who won't submit to God. We can love them, but we can't do everything that they do. We can't look to them for our help and our confidence. Sometimes it means breaking away if they are pulling you further from God. He's trying to tell us, that it's okay. Yes, it hurts and feels scary sometimes, but that's what He's there for. To heal all our hurts, and relieve all of our fears. As long as we keep trying to "mix it up" He can't fully operate in us, and that's when things start to go downhill.
God wasn't so focused on Egypt solely because of their arrogance. A lot of the surrounding nations were arrogant and disbelieving. God had a problem because the Israelites were actually buying what they were selling, and always seemed willing to go back into bondage to them. Who wants to keep delivering somebody from the same thing over and over again? God was sending out the message. Although at one point the Egyptians were seen as the greatest, wealthiest nation in the world, God was greater. Putting your trust in anything other than Him was a big mistake, and the thing you've been building up all this time, will fall harder than them all, and take you down with it. Get out of Egypt. Live.
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