Sect-5 Appendix B – Israels Birth from Egypt

(From Chapter 10 – The Mystery of God Fulfilled)

In Chapter 10, we saw God’s commitment to the seed of Adam expressed again when he called Abram from the heart of Mesopotamia as the beginning of a new nation; the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet the birth of Israel from Egypt as a people and a nation would come about in the midst of tragedy and betrayal in the life of Joseph, Jacob’s son. What’s important to note is that God worked through Joseph to save two nations, Egypt and his burgeoning nation, from a drought and famine of his own making (Genesis 41:25,28-32). If we trust in God’s purpose, we’re able to ask what the context of God’s work in Christ is to bring about this blessing and eventual struggle onto both nations.

 

From the pages of Scripture are the stories of God’s interaction with his children, whether Israelite or Gentile. In those stories and divine interaction, there is a revelation about God’s work with us and for us; a theme that illustrates a principle that underlies his work:

Whether in blessing or in struggle by the hand of God, our walk through the water and the fire is a test for the development of our character.

 

Where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob followed God mostly as a result of God’s divine interaction, blessing, and promise,[1] Joseph’s commitment to God is refined more by the unjust suffering he endured in faith. Israel’s conception as a people, eventual enslavement, and subsequent deliverance from Egypt is a perfect example of this principle.

• Joseph’s being sold into slavery saves his life, but tests his faithfulness.
• In the context of this enslavement and testing he is tested further by Potifar’s wife.
• His faithfulness to Potifar is initially rewarded with further unjust enslavement in prison.
• His faithfulness in prison is eventually rewarded with an audience with Pharoah.
• His audience with Pharoah is a test of his faithfulness to the God who enables him to interpret dreams.
• His faithfulness to God is rewarded with Pharoah’s trust.
• Pharoah’s trust leads to greater responsibility; to act wisely in the face of future periods of plenty and drought.
• His wisdom and resulting actions would impact the future of two nations; Egypt and his own burgeoning nation.
• Buried in Joseph’s actions were the fruit of God’s glory revealed to save Israelite and Gentile alike.

 

But the real test and blessing for this new people of God were not over. A new Pharoah would arise that did not know of Joseph and his faithfulness. This Pharoah was motivated by fear for his nation, which had been saved by the very people he now saw as a threat. Through shrewdness this Pharoah enslaved the descendents of Jacob and laid upon them heavy burdens. Yet by God’s hand, the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied, contradicting the desire of this Pharoah to direct the future of God’s people. In fear this Pharoah lashed out at the numerous descendents of Jacob and killed all the first-born males of the Israelites in order to stop their growth (Exodus 1).

It appears to me that in this one act, the Pharoah of Egypt sealed the fate of his nation in regards to the character of their ongoing relationship with the descendents of Jacob. His harsh treatment of God’s chosen would echo in the demise of his own people and well into the future for both nations.

 

As we should well know from the continued story of Israel’s eventual deliverance from this fearful Pharoah and the land of Egypt, the real battle taking place was between the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the gods of the nations (Deuteronomy 4:15-20). In this case, the lesser gods of Egypt would suffer a great fall by the deliverance of God’s people from their bondage and servitude.[2] Yet even for the people of these disinherited nations, of which Egypt is a part, God would eventually ensure their opportunity to be grafted in among his chosen people Israel (Romans 11). But before God equips the Israelites to serve as a conduit for the restoration of nations through Yeshua the Christ and begin their role as a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:1-6), they must first have a share in the futility experienced by the nations for a time.[3]

• Israel is not to think it is by their righteousness that God is acting on their behalf. Instead it is because of the wickedness of the inhabitants that God displaces them and gives their land to Israel (Exodus 23:23-33; Deuteronomy 7:1-5; 20:16-18). This will be an ongoing test for Israel (Romans 10:1-4).
• And for the nations surrounding the land God has claimed for his people, their ongoing test will be their treatment and dealings with those God has set apart for his special purpose.

 

The story of Israel and the nations continues throughout the pages of Scripture. From the supernatural worldview, Dr. Heiser characterizes it as “Israel verses the disinherited nations, and Yahweh verses the corrupt rebel elohim of those nations.”

“The covenant language reveals that it was God’s intention, right on the heels of his decision to punish the nations, that the Israelite’s would serve as a conduit for their return to the true God. This is one of the reasons Israel is later called “a kingdom of priests” (Exod 19:6). Israel would be in covenant with “the God of gods” and the “Lord of lords” (Deut 10:17). Those disinherited would be in spiritual bondage to the corrupt son of God. But Israel would be a conduit, a mediator. Yahweh would leave a spiritual bread-crumb trail back to himself. That path would wind through Israel and, ultimately, Israel’s messiah.”[4]

 

Yet God’s people do not stand as entirely separate from the other nations in the challenges and struggles they’ve encountered. God saw to it that even their birth as a nation of people came through struggle and hardship. In this way, they cannot boast upon their own might and power but can see and rest on the arm of the Lord to deliver them now and in the future.

The pattern of unjust suffering experienced by Joseph on behalf of his people is an echo of the last Adam’s unjust suffering on behalf of all humanity. As the apostle Paul indicated, all suffering, just or unjust, reflects the futility to which the whole creation was subjected to by God (Romans 8:18-21), which God himself in the person of Yeshua willingly shared in, and by whom he would lead all those willing to receive Christ into righteousness and eternal life; the new creation (Romans 5:17-21).