Interesting discussions can come from rewriting history in our imaginations. What if the USA government had responded differently to the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon? Would we be at war today? What if General Lee had not joined the Confederate army but had joined President Lincoln in the north? What if Hitler had not been elected to leadership in Germany? And what if the Israelites hadn’t stayed in Egypt after the famine?
God had called Abraham away from the wealth in Ur and made a covenant with him promising him descendants as numerous as the sand of the seashore and the stars in the heavens. God’s instructions to Abraham were, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1
Abraham took a few detours on the way, but in the end, he got to Canaan, the land God showed him. When there was a famine, he went to Egypt. (Jacob did the same many years later.) Pharaoh sent Abraham on his way so Abraham didn’t get stuck in Egypt as Jacob and his sons did much later. I wonder if Abraham would have stayed in Egypt had Pharaoh not sent him away.
Through time, Abraham began to understand more and more about what God was asking of him and when it came time for Isaac to get a wife, he made it very clear that whatever happened, his son Isaac was not to go back to where they came from. He sent a servant to go back to get a wife from his relatives, but Isaac was to stay. I wonder why it was so important to Abraham that Isaac not go back. Was it because the wealth of Ur he had left behind could deceive him and keep him from coming back to Canaan where he belonged?
Jacob left Canaan after he made his brother so mad he wanted to kill him – all that over a birthright and blessings. Funny thing is that in the end, Jacob didn’t need the birthright – the inheritance from his father. He did quite well for himself working for Laban for 20 years. God spoke to Jacob and told him to return to Canaan. When he returned, he brought with him wives, children, and large herds of livestock.
But in his old age, when famine struck again, Jacob and his family went to Egypt where Joseph had prepared the way for them and they were well cared for. “Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Egypt will be yours,” Pharaoh instructed Joseph to tell his family. Before Jacob died, he made it clear that his sons were not to stay in Egypt, but to return to the land God had promised them. He said to Joseph, “God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers. And to you, as one who is over your brothers, I give the ridge of land I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.” Genesis 48:22
Joseph had a decision to make. The others would listen to him. He could stay where he was with all the authority and power and wealth of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself, or he could return to Canaan where God had instructed Abraham to go, where Isaac had stayed, where his father Jacob had returned and prospered, and where Jacob was now telling him to return. It seems Joseph could not walk away from everything he had in Egypt. They continued to stay even after the famine was over. And they prospered in the land.
Yet, when Joseph died, he asked his family to make sure his bones got back to the land God had promised Abraham. He told them, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.” Genesis 50:25
If they were prospering, why would God need to come to their aid? Is it possible Joseph foresaw the slavery that was to come? Is it possible that he even saw the slavery to wealth that was already there? I wonder if on his deathbed, Joseph wished he had had the courage to leave Egypt and go back to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?
And so, I wonder… Would the Israelites have had to become slaves in Egypt and wonder in the desert 40 years if they had not lingered so long in Egypt? If they had been willing to give up the wealth they thought they wanted and return to the promise God had given them, could they have avoided all those years of pain and instead have experienced God’s peace?
And I wonder… Would Canaan have been as settled by the other nations and would the Israelites have had to fight so much for the land they were to occupy if they had stayed there in the first place? Were the years after returning harder because they had stayed away so long?
Moses left Egypt. And once he was away from it for a while, his vision was cleared and he was able to hear God’s voice. And God sent him back to rescue the rest of Israel and lead them out. Even though they had been enslaved, the Israelites left kicking and screaming. Their tantrums cost them 40 more years of desert time. And it was their children, who grew up not knowing Egypt, that were finally able to move on to the Promised Land.
I have a friend who is going through a very hard time with a family crisis that has gone on for many months and just can’t seem to end. This friend asked me, “Why is it taking so long to get through this?” And I wonder… Is it because your heart has been deceived by wealth and power and you have not yet learned to yield and let God have control? How much of this struggle could be avoided if God was allowed to have his way instead of trying to get to peace on earth your way using wealth and power?
And I wonder, day by day, how often my struggles are related to whether my eyes are on Egypt (this world’s goods) or on my Father, seeking his wisdom and power. Wealth is so deceitful. It promises everything, but delivers nothing. Yet the human race has been beguiled by it from the beginning of time.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
“And my God will meet all your needs, according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
“God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” II Corinthians 9:8
May God’s grace and provision abound as we seek him daily in life.
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