Hi all, I’m back from a short vacation. For you who were not aware, I finished my Masters program in theology at the Claremont School of Theology this past May and I turned 30 in June. From mid-June through today, it’s been a blur . . . We celebrated for a month (from graduation through July 7). I’m just now getting back into a routine.
Recently, I have been hearing the phrase “Out of Egypt, I called my son.” It has been resonating very strongly; I’m sensing the Lord leading me to expound on this phrase and various teachings associated with wilderness wanderings. So I invite you to journey with me.
As I reflect on this phrase, I am reminded of the quote in Hosea 11:1 "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.” In understanding the backdrop of this phrase, first I want to talk about who Israel is. We often hear the following words and phrases: Israel, the nation of Israel, the people of God, God’s chosen people, etc. Well who were they and why were they called “the people of God” and why were they chosen?
We trace the group of people called God’s chosen people or “the nation of Israel**” to God’s covenant with Abraham. In Genesis 12:1-3, we find the call of Abraham and birth of the people now called Israel. Specifically, we find the conversation between God commands Abraham to leave the country of his father, Ur, and give up the other gods that his family worshipped and commit himself to worshipping YHWH only. With this command, a blessing was promised.
Here is the coversation in Genesis 12:1-3: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Another point to be made is that there was nothing special about the nation of Israel for them to be chosen. They did not have to do anything, it wasn’t in their size or any special devotion they had for God. They were chosen and called chosen because of God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. This doesn't mean that God loved Israel more than other people, as scripture points out; it was God’s covenant to use Israel as His means to love and bless the earth. It was and is all about covenant!!!
Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. The Covenant of God to Abraham is traced through Isaac. Isaac had two sons as well: Jacob and Esau. Jacob had twelve sons, one of them was named Joseph. Joseph was favored by his father Jacob, which made his brothers jealous. God revealed to Joseph in two dreams that his eleven brothers would bow to him. When they had the chance, Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, where he ended up being sold to an officer of Pharaoh in Egypt. While in Egypt, Joseph rose in stature and favor with the officer of Pharaoh. During this time, a famine came upon the land (Canaan), so Jacob sent ten of his sons to Egypt; they found food in Egypt and reported to his father that Joseph was still alive. Jacob said he had to see for himself before he died, so Jacob and his family (seventy in total) went to Egypt where there was food, but most importantly, his beloved son, Joseph. Although they did not intend to stay long, they did and eventually settled in, multiplied and were eventually enslaved by the Egyptians.
I will leave you here for now, in Egypt, before being called out, and eventually journeying through the wilderness. You may be asking, what does this have to do with the GLBT community? I believe there are spiritual truths and parallels to learn from the experience of Israelites in Egypt (the house of bondage), their call out of Egypt (Exodus), and their spiritual growth during their walk through the wilderness on their way to their promised-land.
** the actual name Israel comes from Abraham’s grandson Jacob. In Genesis 32:28, it is recorded how Jacob wrestled the angel and had his name changed after a all-night struggle at Jabbok.**
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