What we hold

Pharaoh finally told the Israelites that they could leave their place of slavery to go worship their God. As they were leaving, God told them to ask their Egyptian neighbors for jewelry and clothing and things made of silver and gold. In essence, they plundered their captors as they left the country. This must have felt sweet to the Israelites. They were kicking butt!

Some of them probably ate every day from their new silver plates, or toasted their neighbor with the fancy gold goblet that their overlord used to drink from. Some of them probably donned their new beautiful clothing for special occasions. Some might have kept their new treasures tucked away, a bit overwhelmed by all the splendor but quietly very happy.

After a few months, the Israelites watched Moses ascend Mt. Sinai. We know he came back with the Ten Commandments, but it was really more than that. Moses returned from meeting God with a whole new culture, a way for the Israelites to live that included a system of justice and a way to worship Yahweh, the God to whom they had been formally introduced during this Exodus experience. One of the components of the new religion was a Tabernacle, a tent where God's presence would live.

And guess what? Anyone who was willing could donate articles of silver and gold and fine fabrics of all kinds! The Tabernacle would need jewels, too. Can you see Ben looking down at his tunic, Ruth thinking of her bracelet tucked in her bedroll, and Levi considering the fifteen gold plates on which he's been serving manna? God does not require them to give their plunder over. He asks anyone who has a willing heart to give.

When they enter the Promised Land, forty years later, they are forbidden to take any plunder from Jericho, the first city. Subsequent plunder will be theirs to have, and they will settle in a land of wealth. But now, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, with their new goodies in hand, God says, "Do you want to give those things to me?" God is always more concerned with what we hold in our hearts, than what we hold in our hands--but what I'm holding onto physically might actually represent what is holding my heart.

Free to worship

The Israelites followed Moses out of Egypt, the place of their slavery, and wandered around for a while before coming to Mt. Sinai. Everyone, whether they are a bible scholar or not, knows that Moses led the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt--duh. But what struck me this time as I was reading Exodus was what Moses told Pharaoh: we're going into the desert to offer sacrifices to our God. Over and over, Moses and Pharaoh argue over the details of this worship. Pharaoh says only the men can go, or you can't take your possessions, etc. Moses insists that they must go worship God, every Israelite man, woman, and child, and they must take everything they own. After all, you never know what God is going to require of you when you get to the place of worship.

There is a duality even in Scripture over their going: are they going for freedom, or are they going to worship? Obviously, Pharaoh does not think they will return, so this "worship" thing seems like a ruse. Was it really? Why did God direct Moses to ask about going to worship? Couldn't Moses have just approached with the demand, "Let my people go!" All the movies give us the non-confusing version, the simple "deliver us from slavery." Yet God added another dimension: let my people worship.

I wonder if the Israelites should have payed more attention to the worship demand. They were thrilled to be free--until it got uncomfortable. They were thrilled with God's deliverance--until he seemed distant, and then they wanted a god they could SEE. Maybe if they had kept in focus that they were going out of slavery in order to worship, they would not have screwed up as much as they did. When we are leaving our slavery, are we seeking worship? Are we looking to praise and adore and know the God who can set us free? What other reason could we have to leave slavery behind?

What to eat

Is there a situation in your life, where you feel you are moving from slavery to freedom? God took Israel from the slavery they suffered in Egypt, and with signs and wonders, he delivered them to the Promised Land. However, the story doesn't read like a fairy tale.

The Israelites were slaves. They were miserable, and they cried out to God probably for hundreds of years before he sent Moses to lead them away from their slavery. Hundreds of years. . .yet when they found themselves in the wilderness, free men and women, they grumbled that at least in Egypt, they had had bread and meat. In slavery, they had plenty to eat, and now they were hungry! I wonder if their prayers for deliverance hadn't lapsed into just a status quo repetition. Familiar misery is at least familiar.

God did give them food in the wilderness: manna. Manna came every day, and it was just enough. If you are moving from an area of slavery to freedom, ask God for manna to sustain you. Someday you may get to a land flowing with milk and honey, but for the journey, sometimes there's just manna. Enough for the day; it cannot be saved; it rots if you hoard it; a little extra when God says you need it (Sabbath).