When you think about it, the Israelites went through an intense program of redirecting their entire lives through the events of their exodus from Egypt. After a lengthy period of living in Egypt they went from “the people multiplied and grew very mighty” to “the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.” The bondage of Egypt was mind destroying – at least as far as knowledge of God and His way was concerned.
Did God cause this grievous situation of slavery to make a point for us? By being under Satan’s system, the mind loses track of God’s standards and values. The Israelites minds were so seared that even after being delivered, if some difficulty came up, they wanted to revert to the former way. They needed a complete re-organization of their social, religious and work customs.
This re-organization began with Passover. The passing over of the Israelites while God struck down the Egyptians’ firstborn was significantly enhanced by the depth of their bondage. This act helped to set their minds on a different path.
All of this is recorded to help us learn deep spiritual lessons. Because the human mind is deceitful above all things, we need reinforcement of the point that our lives also needed complete reorganization as God called us out of Satan’s “Egypt.” The natural mind easily makes accommodations to its environment. We need to remember that we once walked according to the course of this world. And like the Israelites, when difficulties arise in our lives, it is natural for us to want to revert to the former mind-set. Many in God’s Church have done just that over the years.
The past seven days have served to reinforce the position of redemption and justification that Christ’s sacrifice has placed us in. By working on getting the leaven of sin out of our lives, symbolized by eating unleavened bread for seven days, we are once again reminded of the continual re-organization of our minds that must be a fact of life for us.
Tradition has it that the miraculous opening of the Red Sea and the completion of the Israelites’ escape from slavery took place before dawn on the seventh day of Unleavened Bread. By the end of the seventh day, Israel was safely through the Red Sea and had witnessed the destruction of their enemy. They turned their backs on Egypt and struck out for Mt. Sinai and a covenant rendezvous with God.
As we complete the seven days of Unleavened Bread let’s determine to more completely turn our backs on Egypt and walk a determined walk away from sin and into a deep relationship with our Father through Christ. This determination grows stronger as we move away from Egypt and embrace God’s admonition to “Come out of her, My people” (Revelation 18:4).
Brian Orchard