“‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.’”
God wants Moses to remind the
people again of what He had done for them – what He did to their enemies, the
Egyptians, and how He “bore them (the children of Israel) on eagles’ wings” and
brought them to Himself.
I find it interesting that
God keeps referring to what He did to the ‘Egyptians’ rather than to
‘Pharaoh’. Why the people? Why not the leader? I wondered about that. And it made me think of the push in our
society today to distinguish between Islamic terrorists and Muslims.
The word “Egyptians” in the
plural is used 98 times in 87 verses in the KJV of the Bible. Of these less than 5% speak of the Egyptians
in a positive way – when they mourned at the time of Joseph’s death and when
the Israelites found favor in their sight (Exodus 11:3). The remainder of the references deals with
the Egyptians as enemies of God and of His people. This is an interesting contrast to how
Scripture dealt with other enemies of God – in many cases, the reference is to
their leader, usually “the king of . . .” and in there you can put the various
kings that attacked Israel over the years.
Using a feature of www.blueletterbible.org, I was able
to read all the verses containing the word “Egyptians” in order from start to
finish. The last thing I want to do is
to draw conclusions between Egypt and present day Islamic states where God may
well have intended no such relationship.
A few thoughts that did come to my mind, however, were these:
1. The Egyptians were clearly
the people that God most focused on as His enemies in the early parts of the Old
Testament. [Other candidates throughout
the Bible are Babylonia or Jezebel, and then of course, Satan himself.]
2. The Islamic religion had not
yet originated at the time of Scripture.
Although God knew about its arrival much later in history, it would make
no sense that it be referred to in the Pentateuch or elsewhere in the text, by
that name, at that time.
3. As I went through the verses,
I wondered what it would look like if one replaced the word “Egyptians” with
“Islamists” or “Muslims” in those instances that clearly were “after the
Exodus”. Would the result be a
reflection of what was going on in the world today? Could what happened to Egypt and the
Egyptians shed any light on what may happen to the Islamic world?
So I did just that. Here is some of what came to mind:
a. In Ezra 9:1 we read of the
Israelites not separating themselves from the peoples of other lands, including
the Egyptians. [Have we separated
ourselves sufficiently from other false religions today, including Islam?]
b. Throughout Isaiah 19, the
text speaks of the destruction of the Egyptians from within, one fighting
another. [Will Islam so wane? There clearly is a great divide between the
majority of Muslims today and those that are creating havoc around the world.]
c. In Isaiah 19:4, they are submitted to the
authority of a “cruel leader”. [Will the
Twelfth Iman they are expecting turn out to be the one that ultimately leads
them to their own destruction?]
d. In Isaiah 19:16, it was
prophesized that the Egyptians would “tremble like women” because the Lord of
Hosts waved His hand over them. [Will we
see that with the Muslim world?]
e. In Isaiah 19:21, we read of
the Egyptians coming to know the Lord and to worship and serve Him. [Do we not anticipate this for many of
today’s Muslims?]
f. In Isaiah 31:3, we see the
end of the Egyptians and what they represented, as we know of them. [One day we will see the end of all that
Islam stands for.]
The
bottom line for me is that God delivers His people from their enemies. He did it for the Israelites in the days of
Moses, He kept on doing it throughout history, He does it for individuals and
groups of people today, and He will do it again. And what amazes me even more is how He does
it.
God tells
Moses to remind the people that He “carried them on eagles’ wings”. Eagles differ from other birds, as they do
not carry their young in their claws.
Instead, a young eaglet attaches itself to his mother’s back and is
protected while being carried. David
Guzik says, “Any arrow from a hunter must pass through the mother eagle
before it could touch the young eagle on her back.” What a beautiful image that is of God’s love
and care of His children.
The verse goes on to say, “and brought you to Myself.” The Israelites were delivered from their
enemy so that they may have fellowship with God Himself. He did not free them to -- as one commentator
wisely points out -- do their own thing, but rather so that they would be His
People. Sometimes we like the Israelites
of old and perhaps of today, easily forget the purpose of our salvation. It is not dear friends so that we can call
the shots.
_____________________________________________________________________
[Are you
looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken
is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]
Thanks for dropping
by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all
sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on
the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with
your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting. And while you’re here, why not check out some
more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column. Ken.
________________________________________________________________________
It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.
