Exodus 1:8-10 (KJV) Selling Out

Exodus 1:8-10 (KJV)
Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

It is intriguing to me that the Bible doesn’t tell us when the transition happened that Israel became slaves in Egypt. All we really know is that, by the time there was a Pharaoh who “knew not Joseph”, he was already convinced the Jews were not allowed to leave the land.

I think it was almost an unspoken understanding that, when Jacob came under Egypt’s provision, they were no longer free. Certainly Joseph was not free to leave whenever he pleased. Before he died he expressed the desire that, someday, his body be taken to the Promised Land for burial.

It could have been that the Jews too sold themselves to Pharaoh as the famine wore on. Or it could be that, over time, they became increasingly entrenched into Egyptian bondage.

There is a sort of bondage to this world that is inescapable by virtue of living in the world. Locke’s social contract theory[1] is a reality. It is understood that, in order to survive, we will have to:

• Work, 
• Provide for our families and 
• Submit to the powers that be

But sometimes we sell ourselves into bondage. Lack of care for the spiritual and lust for the carnal hooks us and then consumes us. Gradually, almost imperceptibly, we are reeled in to the world’s snare and we are captured.

As Joseph, our longing ought to be freedom from this bondage. We cannot escape the world but we can give our heart to another place.

If our heart be in heaven we can rest assured that, one day, our bodies will be there too.

[1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-contract, accessed 8-26-17

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Exodus 1:8-10 (KJV) Selling Out

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