Sunday, October 3, 2010

The long journey to the Promised Land

Sometimes, we have problems that we do not understand. However, later we realize that God brought us through the trial to help us to grow in Him. The beginning of the Old Testament illustrates my point. The beginning of Exodus starts with the story of the Egyptian’s persecution of the Hebrews. The Bible tells us that Pharaoh did not know about Joseph and was worried about the Israelites in Exodus 1:10: "if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us." In this story, I had a question why Israel's people had to suffer at the hands of the Egyptians to the extent that they even had to throw their male children out into the waters as the king's edict demanded in Exodus 1 : 22, "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile." One could assume from the Isralites' situation that because they were immigrants from Joseph's era they could not assert their own human right. However, I want to share what I believe to be the correct answer. I believe that God's covenant with Abraham that He would bring His nation from the land and guide them to the Promised Land.

To illustrate my belief we need to first look back at the covenant between God and Abraham. God called Abraham from his ancestor's land and led him to the land of Canaan. However, God did not give the land to Abraham's family. Instead, God explained why he brought Abraham from the land, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it." (Genesis 15 : 6) For Abraham and his descendants it would not be an easy choice because Abraham came out from his biological father's land. In this part, I believe that Abraham’s choice was connected with God's plan to believe in Him alone without Abraham's fathers' gods. God pointed out that it would take 400 years until his descendants would get back to their homeland. During this hard time, Israel's people were sanctified from worshipping their idols and learned to trust in Him by crossing the Red Sea, eating manna, and drinking the water from the stone. Genesis also shows a different perspective, that of the Amorites. The Amorites were residents in Canaan, and were driven out from the land due to their worshipping other gods Genesis 15 : 16 shows God’s displeasure with the Amorites. "For the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."The Amorites being driven from their land shows result of choosing to believe in gods instead of choosing to believe in God.

Not only can we see how God made Israel His own nation, but we can also catch a glimpse of God's character through this story. God’s covenant was a Suzerain Vassal Covenant because there was time for Israel to trust and follow God. However, God’s covenant also turned out to be the Royal Grant when the Israelites obeyed the covenant from God as they entered the Promised Land. According to this attribute of God the Amorites could not participate in His covenant because they did not worship only one God. Joshua wrote about this in Joshua 24 :15 when he mentions, "the gods of the Amorites." This verse shows why the Amorites were called idolators. But God's covenant with the Israelites was fulfilled through Joshua and his people whom believed in one God. This is shown in Joshua 24:15 when he says, "for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." And God's covenant was fulfilled in 400 years like He promised in Genesis 15.

In conclusion, there is still debate regarding why God chose Israel and led them as a great nation even though their majority stumbled. Honestly, we do not know the reason because it is simply a matter of God's choosing, just as He chose Abel over Cain or Isaac over Ishmael. Based on this, what is our attitude when we meet hard circumstances in our life? No matter how we became Christian, we need to remember we are God’s chosen people and His promise that was given to each of us. It is commanded that we see His plan and that we praise Him when we are going through the deep and darkened tunnel while holding to His sincere plan for us.

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