The deaths of the firstborn, in Exodus chapter 11, must have been a real nightmare for the Egyptians, filling the entire nation with trauma and grief. And yet God says in Ex 12:12 that His judgement is against "the gods of Egypt." The people of Egypt were not His enemies; in fact we read a couple of time in chapters 11 and 12 that most Egyptians looked favourably on the Israelites and their God. But these dear people nonetheless paid a high price for their idolatry of false gods and for the stubbornness of their Pharaoh. And so it's interesting to read that, when the Exodus began and the people of Israel began to flee from Egypt, they were accompanied by a whole bunch of non-Israelites who opted to leave with them. (Exodus 12: 38, NLT) Were they people who had already begun to worship the God of Israel? Or were they Egyptians who were still reeling from the shock of losing their firstborn children and animals? It's interesting to me that, even on this historic occasion of delivering His people from slavery, God is not exclusive; people are welcome to join the exodus if they want to. Right from earliest times, God has specialised in welcoming His former enemies as friends.
He continues to do that even today. The letter to the Philippians speaks of people whose lifestyles and choices made them "enemies of the cross." But the letter to the Romans tells of how we used to be enemies of God, but can now be reconciled to Him because of the death of His Son, Jesus. We can become His friends. This amazing reconciliation is only one of the things we celebrate at Easter.
I don't know if you've ever seen the animated film, "The Prince of Egypt." Today I was reflecting on the words of one of its theme songs, where it declares, "You can see miracles - if you believe." I made time to watch that particular clip in the movie, and I was amazed to see something that I had never noticed before. As the people of Israel begin to leave Egypt in the dead of night, there's a little scene where one of the Egyptian guards takes off his headdress and bows his head; then two other guards throw down their spears and join the hundreds of thousands of Hebrews who are heading towards freedom. At various points after that, you can spot an Egyptian among the throng that is beginning its journey to the promised land. At one point, you can also see two ladies in African dress, carrying pots on their heads. In the film, as the Israelites exit the gates of Egypt, after 430 years of slavery, they burst forth into celebratory song in their own language, Hebrew:
I suppose that the Egyptians who travelled with them may not have understood what it meant, and weren't able to join in the singing yet. They were only beginning their journey from being enemies to being part of the people of God. Likewise in our own journey, it takes time to get to know God and understand His ways; some things might seem perplexing or hard to understand at first. But once we take that first step; once we appropriate the sacrifice of Jesus and are born again into the kingdom of God, we're on the right track; we're no longer enemies and we have begun the lifelong journey of being friends of God. Watch in this film clip how those Egyptians make the choice to lay down their arms, to abandon all that is familiar to them, and to join the victorious journey of the people of God.
Did you notice the point where an elderly lady stops and a little girl takes her hand to lead her forward? Just before this exodus begins, there's a touching interchange where an elderly lady says, " I fear I am too old to make this journey." And the little girl replies, "No one is too old for freedom."
It's easy for people to feel that they're too old to change their lives and begin a journey with God. It's easy even for Christians to feel that they're too old to go deeper and really pursue a close friendship with God. Let's take to heart the words of that little child: no one is too old for freedom!
