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Israel was to be a place of freedom and justice, a nation where the rights of the weak and oppressed, the fatherless and widow, would be defended. Israel was a nation of redeemed slaves, and Yahweh told her never to forget what it was like to be in bondage.
Israel forgot, and repeatedly returned to Egyptian ways. Solomon imposed intolerable burden, so Jeroboam challenged Solomon's son Rehoboam to lighten the weight. When Rehoboam refused, Jeroboam led out 10 tribes (1 Kings 12). The prophets compared Israel to Egypt. Instead of being liberators like Moses, many of Israel's rulers were more like Pharaoh, devouring sheep rather than feeding them (Ezekiel 34).
At the beginning of Jesus' life, it's happening again. The "king of the Jews" murders small children. Joseph flees, so that Jesus, the new baby Moses, can escape. Matthew describes Joseph's return to Israel by alluding to a passage in Exodus that describes Moses' return from Midian to Egypt (Matthew 2:19-20; Exodus 4:19-20).
If Israel was a nation of freed slaves, the church is even more so. Where the Spirit is, there is liberty, and the Spirit is the Spirit of the church, which is the temple of the Spirit.
But if Israel could revert to Egypt, so can the church. The church can quench the Spirit of liberty. And it has, not infrequently. Luther complained that the medieval Catholic church had placed the faithful in a new Babylonian captivity. And every mainline church that turns against those who cling to the Scriptures and the church's historic witness has become Egypt.
When the church becomes tyrannical, however, the Lord is already getting ready for a new exodus. He is already rolling up His sleeves to turn the Pharaoh's oppression against Pharaoh. He does not leave slanders unanswered or blood unavenged. Somewhere in the night, He will gather the faithful to lead them to a broad and bright place.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, June 17, 2007 at 07:59 AM
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