Out of Egypt

I’ve been trying to write this entry for weeks now.  But, every time I sit down to put it into comprehensible words, the wonder of it all just takes over in inexpressible, unintelligible joy. 

It all started when I was in LA last month.  I was praying for God to show off in a big way one morning and was reminded of Psalm 81:10, “I am the Lord, who called you out of Egypt, open wide your mouth and I will fill it.”  It was such a beautiful reminder of the extravagance with which God demonstrates His love to us.  He holds nothing back. 

In the days and weeks that followed that reminder, I kept coming across that phrase, “out of Egypt” and I began to study it a bit.  Throughout Scripture, Egypt is equated with a place of bondage, servitude.  There was the literal exodus of God’s people, the Israelites, from the rule of the Pharaoh, but there was also an allegorical application for all of us who’ve ever found ourselves enslaved.  Over and over again, God identifies Himself as the one who sets His people free.  And, He did so with a purpose. I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of Egypt

… so that I might dwell among them. (Exodus 29:45)

… to be your God. (Leviticus 11:45)

… to give you the land of Caanan (promise) and be your God. (Leviticus 25:38)

… so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. (Leviticus 26:13)

… to be the people of [His] inheritance as you are now. (Deuteronomy 4:20)

As I began to contemplate this, that’s when the wonder-filled joy began bubbling up inside of me.  I have an Egypt, a place of captivity, where I spent far too many years enslaved, yet, all the while the Lord, my God, was calling me out of Egypt.  In fact, Hosea 11:4 says it like this, “I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.”

I believe it is significant that God refers to himself repeatedly as the One who brought His people out of Egypt.  He reminds us over and over again that His heart for us is to bring us out of captivity into a land of promise, to be our Companion on every step toward freedom. 

I am mindful of several things as I contemplate this truth today:

1. God’s arm is not too short to reach me.  He is mighty to save.
2. Nothing is too difficult for Him.  There is no bondage more powerful than His love for me.
3.  It is God’s delight to show off in extravagant displays of love and grace. 
4. I was delivered with a purpose, to an inheritance, for a relationship with Him.

Charles Wesley said it this way,

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?