The sons of Jacob settled in the eastern part of the Nile delta, also known from the Bible as Goshen. They were among numerous nomads arriving there to settle because of famine. Because of the Nile this was very fertile land. However, a new Pharaoh came to power that did not know Joseph. This Pharaoh was concerned about the growth of the Israelis and (long story short) decided to make them slaves.
Moses having been raised in abundance and friendly with his hebrew cousins wanted to make the slaves free to form their own nation. By the Lord’s orders he tried to free them from the Pharaoh, which on his part declined and declined and declined. The lord sent the nine plagues over Egypt and finally the tenth also known as pass over, the origin to our Easter. Then the Pharaoh rose up at night, called for Moses and asked them to leave Egypt.
It took Moses three days to lead all the Israelis with all their belongings out of Egypt.
Then they wandered around e desert for 40 years. I have oftentimes thought about this and asked why it took them 40 years to reach their promised land. Three days to get out of Egypt, but from there on 40 years. What took them so long? Probably the wisdom of the Lord. It took three days to get the Israelis of of Egypt, it took 40 years to get Egypt out of the Israelis. They were slaves, and as slaves they behaved, because their thinking were the slaves’ thinking. And thinking like a slave their feelings were the the slaves’ as well. These people were destined for their new land, their own nation. There were other peoples to fight on the way. If they behaved as slaves they would be doomed and never reach their land.
So they were kept in the the desert for forty years to prepare for what was to come. They got the the amendments, they learned how to build the temple and how to equip it. This was a real limbo. When Moses stayed away for too long they got frustrated and built their gold calf which they danced around. They felt lack of leadership. This lead to a major set back.
I don’t know if they would have made it faster to the new land if they had not bee guided by the lord, but they would not have been as prepared as they eventually were.
What can we learn from this? We’re having a hard time letting go. We should to a much greater extent embrace transitions. That will bring us forward. We should learn that when things are uncertain, we feel frustrated, we scared, the ground rocks; then we’re growing and we’re on our way to something new. To a new start. Usually in these kind of situations we back up. Back into the known, yes back to the comfort zone if you like. We go through transitions all the time, big and small. Enter into them. We are taught to gather knowledge, information. We’re not taught to let go. We’re taught to learn, not to unlearn. Life would be better and we would move more confidently forward and with less luggage if we learned to let go. Just bring what is necessary for your future. Unlearn something old, learn something new and you are equipped for your new future. That’s what happened in the desert.
Relevant today? Definitely. Just look around you. In our private lives, in our job lives.
