Is Our Country ‘Choosing to be Slaves in Egypt?’

 

Once again, I was blessed to spend Passover with the @iwe family this past week. And as always, I loved the experience. Of course, key to our celebration was embracing the Exodus from Egypt as if we had made the journey with the Jews when they escaped Pharaoh’s tyranny. As I contemplated the gift of freedom, I realized that we are struggling with the issues of freedom and enslavement in our own time.

Only instead of reveling in our joy of living in a land of freedom and opportunity, we are going backward.

We are returning to the bonds of our past.

We are returning to the slavery of Egypt.

Let me share the parallels that occurred to me when looking at the Exodus of old, and our circumstances today.

When the Jews left Egypt with Moses, it didn’t take long for them to become disillusioned and unhappy with their decision. They regretted leaving the predictability of their conditions, even though they were enslaved and mistreated. Some of them declared that they wanted to return to Egypt, regardless of the consequences. Their fear of the future also fired up their regret.

Today, we complain about the absence of an ideal society. Instead of focusing on the gifts we enjoy, including material wealth, there are those who accuse our citizenship of being racist and greedy. Too many people want to try, again, to resurrect the disastrous Marxist governance. Or they want to essentially return to the leadership of the elite while whittling away at our freedoms (remember King George III?) Or they gradually implement the Great Reset, trying to blend us with the international community, rather than supporting the uniqueness and leadership of our country. Many in our country are regressing to failed and dangerous ideas.

The Jews had little understanding of how to exercise their freedom on their journey. They lacked food. They lacked water. And they didn’t trust that G-d would step in to help them—so they complained even more. The idea of agency had no place in the beginning of the Jews’ journey.

In our times, people focus on the expectation that government will take care of them. Welfare checks, COVID checks, relief checks will arrive on a regular basis to not only take care of us, but to make the pursuit of work unnecessary. We are plagued with apathy, indifferent to the values of learning, growing, and contributing. Too many people are unconscious of their own power or could care even less.

The Jews had escaped the culture of idol worship, which was embedded in Egyptian culture. And yet they made the Golden Calf on their journey, the epitome of primitive worship, disregarding their commitment to G-d. They were driven by their fear of being without Moses, and looked for a symbol of connection.

Today we have our own idols: commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and their accouterments. Those who embrace these ideas expect everyone to bow down to them, and when they don’t, they are punished or condemned.

The promise to Abraham, to not only multiply the Jewish people but to lead them to a land of their own, seemed to be lost in the demands of leaving Egypt. At least temporarily the Jews had forgotten their history; the degree to which the story of the future survived their 400+ years under slavery is unclear. During the Exodus, the Jews were narrowly focused on the journey and their survival. Their history, which was such a significant part of their story, was put on the back burner.

In this country, we are not only losing our history and its significance, but some people have chosen to distort and misrepresent the story of our founding in tragic and treacherous ways. The history they try to present is one of decadence, greed, and hate. And we have, up until now, been unable to stop them.

The Jews were continually reminded of G-d, His presence, and His intervention to protect them when they left Egypt. They were given laws to live by, to remind them that they were a chosen people, that they were to strive to lead holy lives, and had a responsibility to be a positive example to the world. And yet they repeatedly disappointed G-d, disregarding His guidance.

Today people are ridiculed and denigrated for their belief in G-d and their practice of faith. The “new religion” that has emerged has a cult-like quality, demanding allegiance and practice of its tenets. Those who do not join in are marginalized and excluded by the true believers. Respect for the rule of law is disappearing all over the country. Criminals are shown more consideration than their victims.

We are also reminded repeatedly that we are no better than any other country; in many respects, we are told that we are worse than the rest of the world, regardless of all the evidence to the contrary.

*     *     *     *

In many respects, people have chosen to live according to the new rules of society. Only the rules are not new. They have emerged from a primitive, unrealistic, and selfish mindset that demands relinquishing our freedoms and complying with the expectations of the elite. Although the elite insists that they are progressing, improving upon, and replacing a belief system that has produced, in my estimation, the greatest country in the world, they are lying and intentionally misrepresenting their actions.

We are not a better society. We have become more narcissistic and lawless.

We have chosen to return to the slavery of Egypt.

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There are 14 comments.

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  1. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    The psychopathic irony of progressivism is how regressive it actually is. 

    • #1
  2. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Rodin (View Comment):

    The psychopathic irony of progressivism is how regressive it actually is.

    And of course they are clueless about the actual outcomes they will incur. 

    • #2
  3. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Rodin (View Comment):

    The psychopathic irony of progressivism is how regressive it actually is.

    And of course they are clueless about the actual outcomes they will incur.

    Because, of course, they are convinced that they will be at the pinnacle of their new progressive society.

    • #3
  4. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):
    Because, of course, they are convinced that they will be at the pinnacle of their new progressive society.

    Of course. The perks of being part of the elite. Thanks, Jim.

    • #4
  5. Raxxalan Member
    Raxxalan
    @Raxxalan

    I really wonder.  I had an opportunity this last weekend to get to small town USA.  It is very different from the suburbs where I live or the city I live near to.  In many ways it is still America.  We see the elites.  We see the media narrative.  We see the unrest in the cities.  How much of that is real and how much of that is a crafted illusion?   I am not sure what to trust anymore.

    • #5
  6. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Raxxalan (View Comment):

    I really wonder. I had an opportunity this last weekend to get to small town USA. It is very different from the suburbs where I live or the city I live near to. In many ways it is still America. We see the elites. We see the media narrative. We see the unrest in the cities. How much of that is real and how much of that is a crafted illusion? I am not sure what to trust anymore.

    An excellent question, Raxxalan. I have no idea. We certainly experience the elites being loud and demanding. I am gratified to know that you saw everyday Americans in other places; it is reassuring to know that someone is holding the fort. Thanks.

    • #6
  7. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    • #7
  8. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Eustace C. Scrubb (View Comment):

    Cute! Thanks, Eustace.

    • #8
  9. Stina Inactive
    Stina
    @CM

    Eustace C. Scrubb (View Comment):

    I love that song. Bamanna  bread!

    • #9
  10. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    We are not losing our past. We are throwing it away with both hands. 

    • #10
  11. Peckish Cedar Inactive
    Peckish Cedar
    @PeckishCedar

    I apologize because I  know you know this, but the covenant God made with Abraham, then passed along to Isaac, then Jacob/Israel was not specifically with the Jews.  The Jews did not technically exist until the birth of Jacob’s 4th son Judah, but he had 11 other sons.  Nearly a millennia later the tribe of Judah became the dominate tribe of Israel and with the fall of the northern kingdom and elimination of most of 10 tribes. The kingdom of Judah and later the province of Judea was largely made up of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi (with a remnant of the others so small the Bible barely mentions them again as living entities) became the Jews.  All 12 tribes share the promise of Abraham.  The Jews are the segment we can tangibly recognize from 722 BC to today.   

    I think there is some very interesting blessings we should also look at made to Ephraim (the younger son of Joseph) in Genesis 48 and prophesies made about Ephraim (aka the northern kingdom of Israel) in Hosea that give us a clue where to look for the rest of God’s chosen people.  There are many other clues provided elsewhere in the Bible (Old and New Testament).  In short, one way or another, we are all God’s children dating back to Adam, Noah, and Abraham.  We (humanity) are all brothers and sisters and need to start acting like it.

    “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And yet it will come to pass in the place where it was said to them “you are not My people”, there it shall be said to them, “You are the sons of the living God”.  Then the children of Judah (i.e. the Jews) and the children of Israel (“Ephraim”) shall be joined together, and appoint for themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel!”  Hosea 1:10-11

    Despite out worst efforts, God has very carefully guided our past to get us to where we are today.  We can’t escape it.  It made us.  Jezreel is more than a place by the way.

    • #11
  12. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Peckish Cedar (View Comment):
    Despite out worst efforts, God has very carefully guided our past to get us to where we are today.  We can’t escape it.  It made us.  Jezreel is more than a place by the way.

    Thanks so much, Peckish Cedar!

    • #12
  13. Jesse Brown Coolidge
    Jesse Brown
    @JesseBrown

    Raxxalan (View Comment):

    I really wonder. I had an opportunity this last weekend to get to small town USA. It is very different from the suburbs where I live or the city I live near to. In many ways it is still America. We see the elites. We see the media narrative. We see the unrest in the cities. How much of that is real and how much of that is a crafted illusion? I am not sure what to trust anymore.

    It’s an illusion.  I live in “small town USA” in the mountains of NW North Carolina. I can tell you, traditional values still exist and practiced away from the bubble of urban city life. Having lived most of my life in metro DC, I retired here (not far from Boone, NC) and I couldn’t have found a better place to live. 

    • #13
  14. Raxxalan Member
    Raxxalan
    @Raxxalan

    Jesse Brown (View Comment):

    Raxxalan (View Comment):

    I really wonder. I had an opportunity this last weekend to get to small town USA. It is very different from the suburbs where I live or the city I live near to. In many ways it is still America. We see the elites. We see the media narrative. We see the unrest in the cities. How much of that is real and how much of that is a crafted illusion? I am not sure what to trust anymore.

    It’s an illusion. I live in “small town USA” in the mountains of NW North Carolina. I can tell you, traditional values still exist and practiced away from the bubble of urban city life. Having lived most of my life in metro DC, I retired here (not far from Boone, NC) and I couldn’t have found a better place to live.

    If I didn’t love my house and hate moving so much I would probably find a small town to move to.

    • #14
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