“Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for
I will make of you a great nation there.”
« N’aie
pas peur de te rendre en Egypte, j’y ferai de toi un grand peuple. »
If the
Israelites had known how things would turn out for them in Egypt, they might
have hesitated to follow this instruction, even to save themselves from famine.
Not only are they going to become slaves in Egypt – where they are already
regarded as “abhorrent” – but in leading them there God is actually bringing
them away from the Promised Land where they were already living.
Times of
trial prompt vexing questions. Sometimes it is vital to hold onto the belief
that our difficulties are enfolded in God’s plans; at other times that makes us
angry with God for subjecting us to suffering. As the story of Exodus unfolds
the Israelites lose faith again and again in the face of opposition or need,
but God is there for them at every turn.
God is
not a distant puppeteer. He makes a promise to be with Jacob and his family in
Egypt: a promise which he keeps, though Jacob will not live to see it
fulfilled. And it is the God who stayed close by his people in Egypt, and heard
their cry, who comes to us in Jesus to share completely in our humanity and to
carry our suffering and our sin upon the cross.
“I myself will go down with you to Egypt,
and I will also bring you up again.”
« Moi-même
je t’accompagnerai en Egypte, et moi-même aussi, je te l’assure, je t’en ferai
revenir… »
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