The Exodus: The absolute critical event "born again"
"Let my People go!"
Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Hebrews "born again" under a new law code
Oppression Under the Rule of Law
"And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the
Egyptians oppress them."
For thousands of years human authority has taken advantage of the most vulnerable; those without a voice. Whether it be a slave, a servant, the poor, others outside the larger people group or those that didn't fit the expectations of society. The Hebrews arrived in Egypt, under the protection of Jacob's son Joseph, who had risen to be the second most powerful political influence just below the Pharaoh. But as their numbers grew over the course of 400 years, the Hebrews fell out of favor with the Egyptian government and transitioned from herders to mostly laborers for massive building projects.
Resistance to Absolute Authority
Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”
Pharaohs saw themselves as gods who were the givers of divine law and mandates. When ADONAI sent Moses to have Pharoah release the Hebrews, the Pharaoh viewed this as an insult to his perceived worldly divine authority. The Pharaoh knew who Moses was which made it even more offensive demanding the release of Egypt's largest
non-union brick producing collective.
Battle of the Gods
Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.
The Creator demonstrated an immense amount of leniency toward the Pharoah in order to get him to change his mind in releasing the Hebrews. The plagues were designed to demonstrate the inferiority of the so called gods of Egypt. Each plague directly attacked the Egyptian culture and how humanity had seriously errored in understanding who the Creator is and how humans are to serve Him.
A Change of Scenery
But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.
As the Hebrews were led out of Egypt proper, the familiar surroundings soon disappeared and was replaced by a barren landscape which was depleted of food sources and access to water. They were entirely dependent on the Creator as they were led eastward toward the mountain where they would be provided a Law Code which was to rule the new Kingdom of Israel in the Promised Land. It will be almost two months before the Hebrews arrive at
Jebel al-Lawz in modern day Saudi Arabia.
Ratification of a New Law for a New Kingdom
Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.”
“Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’"
The Law Code given to the Hebrews acted out in two parts. The first was a formal indictment against every human political system and its rules that ever existed; past, present and future. The second was that the Hebrews were to take the Law Code given by the Creator, also known as the Torah, into the land northeast of Egypt and establish a kingdom that would rival every other nation for thousands of years.
Gods of Geography
"But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel."
"I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet."
While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
The ancient world believed that the gods had geographic domains. The Egyptian god that ruled the wilderness (desert) was Set (Seth or Seti). Set was the destroyer of life, chaos, irresistible power, brute force, violence, storms and disorder. Culture groups would assign different names to their gods that had the same attributes. The Hyksos and the Hitittes referred to this god as "Sutech". ADONAI gave the name Azazel to this being which are the same attributes of Hasatan (Satan). The forty years in the desert were to prove to the Hebrews that the God of the Hebrews was the only true God; the Giver of life, sustenance, order and peace. Likewise the Son of Man spent 40 days in the wilderness and confronted Hasatan, demonstrating that those who serve the Most High and
obey His laws will pass the test of life.
Ignoring the Law Code of the Creator
The Hebrews learned very quickly that ADONAI's Law Code had serious consequences for violation. Aaron's two sons were destroyed by approaching the sacred area without a sober reverence for the Almighty. An adulterous couple were stoned to death. A man who violated the Sabbath was executed. Ten tribal leaders complained of the expectations that ADONAI had for the Hebrews to enter the Promised Land and subdue it by warfare and establish the kingdom so that other nations would come to understand who the Creator is and how to serve Him. The first two generations of those ten tribes never entered the Promised Land. The Creator means what He says and says what He means. The Hebrews were to listen and obey with their whole heart, mind, soul and strength.
Anything less, meant destruction.