by: Cris Corzine-McCloskey

I am an Old Testament fiend. I must admit, I love those Israelites, because all of the attitudes, fears, and problems they had in their journey can usually be seen in ours. I found this especially true last night when I was looking at their story right before the parting of the Red Sea. Here they were, newly delivered out of the harsh slavery of Egypt by ten, count ’em, ten miraculous plagues that fell on Egypt (and not the Israelites). Their faith as they left Egypt had to have been at an all time high. Moreover, they left Egypt loaded down with silver and gold because God caused their enemies to give them treasure as they left (Exodus 12:35-36).

So picture with me, if you will, the joy and excitement of the Israelites as they left Egypt. I bet they were singing songs of praise and comparing their treasure and making plans for the new future they had. Glory, what a day! Furthermore, in Exodus 13:21 we discover that not only did the Lord go with them, but He showed it by giving them a cloud over them during the day and a pillar of fire at night, so they could see the tangible presence of their deliverer. Does it get any better than that?

However, just ten verses later (Ex. 14:10-12), when they discover some opposition (Pharaoh is chasing them) they begin to panic and tell Moses that they never wanted to leave Egypt in the first place. They even go so far as to say that they believed the Lord had led them out of Egypt to let them die in the wilderness, and that they had been content as slaves. Wow! Truth be told, God delivered them because they were groaning in their slavery (Ex. 3) and their were suffering horribly in their bondage. They wanted out, so God got them out. Now, when things looked hard, they wanted to go back, suddenly forgetting that they were miserable there.

Before you get down on the Israelites, let me remind you that this is human nature at its finest. We pray for a job, and when it turns out to be harder than expected we reminisce about life before that prayed for position. We pray for marriage and when it gets hard we long for single life. We want children and when we get them…well, you get my point. We all have our Egypt, that place where we romanticize that we were happier than what we really were, and long for when times get hard. I know I have mine, and I have to fight my tendency to want to go back there. Truth is, many of us are living in what we prayed for (marriage, family, career) and the enemy wants to make us long for something else. Resist, because it is a lie, and God wants us to be joyous and thankful in the blessings that He’s provided.

So, how did the story of the Israelites turn out? In the midst of their panic God parted the Red Sea for them, marched them across on dry land, and drown their enemies in the waters He closed after they were on the other side. Pretty spectacular. They sang songs of joy and praise on the seashore. Three days later they ran out of water and the same saga started again. They freaked out and forgot to trust God. As the old saying goes, it was way easier for God to get the Israelites out of Egypt than Egypt out of the Israelites. They had developed a mindset of bondage and failure. That, however, is a lesson for another day. For now, just remember, odds are you are living in your Promised Land. Learn to enjoy what you prayed for.

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