Part 2 of Out of Egypt: In Egypt

This is part two in my wilderness wanderings series: Out of Egypt. It has been almost six months since my last post. All I can say is that life over this time has given me great lessons to draw from. Starting in the month of March, I am committing to posting at least two times (I'm going to try), one post will be an installment in the Out of Egypt series and the other will be general post of encouragement or relevant current events. Now to part two which I am calling: IN Egypt.

 We left off being in Egypt  (the place/house of bondage). Joseph (Jacob’s son) died and a new king did not know him or the Israelites, so they received no more favor – at least in the natural realm. The descendants of Jacob were oppressed and put to work. While the Egyptians profited from their oppression, the children of God cried out and God heard them and prepared the Israelites (also known as the Hebrews) to exit Egypt – and they exited in style (more detail in the next installment). Are you crying out? Remember that freedom is never freely given by the oppressors, but must be demanded by the oppressed!!! Are you demanding your freedom or are you accepting your oppression (bondage/Egypt). Is God hearing your cries come up to Him – cries of freedom? Three points I think we as GLBT people can learn from the experiences of the Israelites:

They got comfortable:  Because of the favor that Joseph received from the Pharaoh, Joseph’s father and brothers and their families enjoyed a time of peace in  Egypt – in the land called Goshen while a famine was crippling everyone else.

Circumstances change:  The Pharaoh that favored Joseph died and the generation of Joseph and his brothers died.

They were not vigilant:  For a period of time after the generation of Joseph and his brothers, life for   the Israelites  was still somewhat good. There were indications before Joseph   died that the Egyptian court was becoming less tolerant of the Israelites. This   should have been one of the red flags for the Israelites to seek God for direction.

So what happened? While the Israelites were enjoying a good life in Goshen and multiplying, the new Pharaoh and Egyptians were beginning to fear the Israelites will grow so large they will establish an army and fight against the Egyptians. So the new king commanded them to be slaves and put taskmasters over them (Exodus 1:11). The Taskmasters sole purpose was to “afflict them.”

As GLBT people, what or who are our taskmasters? May I suggest the following:

1. Addition (alcohol, sex, drugs)
2. Apathy
3. Low self esteem
4. Promiscuity (leads to sexual transmitted diseases)
5. Materialism
6. Narcissism
7. Fear (spirit of abandonment/rejection/acceptance)  

How did the Israelites deal with their taskmasters before they were led out of bondage? And how do we deal with our taskmasters and bondage? Our lesson from the Israelites is to cry out to God. Let's name our bondage (individually and as a community) and cry out for deliverance.  The Bible records in Exodus 2:23-25:

IsraelThen the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel and God  acknowledged them. 

Further on, in chapter 3:8, God says “I have come down to deliver them out of the land of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”

So I leave us here, with the children of Israel crying out to God because of the taskmasters and the bondage place on them. The good news is that God heard them and answered mightily. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and came down to deliver them. My GLBT brothers and sisters know that God hear your cries and God is there to deliver and if you haven’t cried out yet, remember God’s promise in Psalms 91: 

14 " Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him {securely} on high, because he has known My name. 15 "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 "With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation."