We are born into the world with a sin
nature. We are plucked from this worldly setting by the grace of God
alone. We are offered an eternity of blissful communion with our Lord
and Savior and a helping hand though the wilderness of this life. We
are to walk away from the perks of the world as we are offered so
much more in comparison. However, we so often we want to return to
the worldly wasteland from which we were rescued. How can we not see
that there is nothing worthwhile to which to return?
By way of example, let us consider the
Israelites. God miraculously plucked them from the chains of the
Egyptians with show of force that has never been rivaled. However,
every time the Israelites felt things were a little tough, they
wanted to go back to Egypt.
Let's consider that option for a
moment. Before they left Egypt, there were a number of significant
events that not only pushed Pharaoh to practically throw them out,
but also undoubtedly left lasting scars an their land of captivity.
I'm referring, of course, to the plagues.
The water of the Nile turned into
blood. I'm fairly certain that there aren't a whole lot of
freshwater, aquatic life forms that can survive when their
environment is switched out for blood. Exodus 7:21 says that the fish
of the Nile all died and the river began to stink. I'm not a
scientist, but I am fairly certain that it would have taken some time
for the fish to replenish after the Nile was returned to it's natural
state. The river Nile was more or less the life source of the
Egyptian culture. It's yearly floods irrigated the farmland and it
was also a source of freshwater fish. Even a temporary removal of
this natural resource would have had a devastating effect on the
Egyptian economy.
Next came the frogs. Frogs swarmed all
of Egypt until Pharaoh begged Moses to make them go away. The Lord
ended the plague of the frogs, but he didn't really make them go
away. They all died. They were piled up all over the countryside in
sticky, stinky, rotting heaps. Eww.
Then came the gnats, followed closely
by the flies. I bet Pharaoh was wishing he hadn't begged those frogs
away. The list goes on. The Egyptian livestock died. The Egyptians
got boils. Then came the hail. Hail, as we know, can be devastating.
This hail was so bad it killed people in addition to destroying the
crops. (I wonder if this plague might be the reason that the sphinx
is missing it's nose?)
The eighth plague was locust. We're
not talking about a couple of insects here. Exodus 10:14 describes
the swarm as one having never been seen before and one never to be
seen again. And these bugs brought their appetites. Verse fifteen
says that not a green thing was left in the land of Egypt. (This may
be the first recorded incident of what eventually became 'Russian
scorched earth warfare.')
This plague was followed by darkness
throughout the land. I imagine this left many an Egyptian child with
a special brand of night terrors. Total darkness would be extremely
unnerving for both children and adults. And Thomas Edison wouldn't
make his appearance for some thousands of years later.
The final blow was the death of the
firstborns. This was the gigantic straw that finally broke Pharaoh
camel's back. Exodus 12:39 says the Israelites were thrust from the
land of Egypt, and for good reason. I would have chased them out to,
had I lost my firstborn because of the God of Israel. (Of course we
know that the plagues were a direct result of Pharaoh’s
stubbornness.)
Israel left is such haste that they
didn't even let their dough rise. But on the way out, they plundered
the Egyptians, but not by force. Exodus 12:36 says that the Lord gave
them favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that they gave the people
of Israel pretty much anything they asked for.
It didn't take long for Pharaoh to have second thoughts, however. He
woke up a some time later with some serious regrets. He gathered his
army of men, chariots, and horses and chased after God's chosen
people. This is where we first hear the Israelites claim that they
would have been better off as slaves in a foreign land. In Exodus
14:11-12 the people of Israel ask “Is it because there are no
graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?
What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this
what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the
Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the
Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (Of course, with the
death of the firstborns, the grave situation may have been an actual
issue.) Then, God parted the Dead Sea, allowing His people to cross
through on dry land. Then, he closed the sea on the Egyptians and
destroyed a huge portion of the Egyptian army.
The reason that I have told you this
whole story is to make a point. They left a country whose economy was
crippled by an interruption of their main resource, the death of
their cattle, and the destruction of their crops (every green thing,
remember?). They left a people group who had been troubled by boils,
prolonged darkness, and intense grief at the simultaneous loss of
every firstborn child in the nation and the subsequent loss of the
chief bread winners of thousands of families. And there were piles of
rotting frogs everywhere, to boot. First of all, why would they ever
want to go back to that? Second, why would they ever think for a
moment that the Egyptians would let them back in?
Once we leave the world, we don't
belong in it anymore. We belong in the Promised Land. We may have to
spend a lot of time traveling through the wilderness to get there,
but going back to Egypt is not an option. There is nothing worthwhile
for us there.
