Why Would We Ever Go Back?

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.