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| May 2011 |
| Billie Silvey |
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| Egypt in Scripture |
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| Jacobo's Joseph in Egypt |
| Moses before Pharaoh |
| The exodus |
| Giotto's Flight into Egypt |
| The fate of the nation of Egypt was intertwined with that of the Israelites through much of Bible history, and the nation comes to symbolize several different things. The first is plenty. Egypt was the breadbasket of the ancient world, producing much of its wheat. |
| In the 12th chapter of the book of Genesis, Abraham goes to Egypt to escape famine. His wife Sarah was so beautiful, Abraham was afraid the Egyptians would kill him for her He had her say she was his sister. When they were discovered, they were sent away. |
| Abraham's great grandson Joseph (above) was the next Israelite in Egypt. He was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, but he rose to be second only to the Pharaoh (Genesis 41), in charge of distributing grain during a later time of widespread famine. |
| From being a place of provision, a place to escape to, Egypt became a place of slavery, a place to escape from. That's the second theme that Egypt had come to symbolize for the Israelites by the time of Moses, the great deliverer. |
| Moses appeared before Pharaoh to demand the release of the enslaved people of God. At first he refused, but God sent a series of plagues, signs of his power over the natural world, over the gods of Egypt and over the Pharaoh himself. Eventually, Pharaoh sent them out in what has come to be known as the exodus, a symbol of our escape from sin by God's power. |
| The account of the exodus in the second book of the Old Testament moves from symbols associated with only one nation to symbols of a coming deliverer who would be even greater than Moses, who would come to save everyone in the world. The Israelites' escape from Egypt, guided by God, symbolizes our escape from slavery to sin and guilt. Their crossing the Red Sea symbolizes baptism. The pillar of cloud and of fire that led them is symbolic of God's word and will as we offer him control of our lives. His provision of food and water symbolizes his provision of all our needs. |
| Jesus was the one greater than Moses. He was the Rock that followed the Isrealites through the wilderness, providing life-sustaining water. When the life of the baby Jesus was threatened by King Herod, Egypt became for the last time a place of safety. God warned Joseph, "Take the child and his mother and escape: to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him" (Matthew 2:13). |
| Abraham |
| Joseph |
| Moses |
| Jesus |