“I’ve often observed two pathways at work in the human heart.  One is directed back toward Egypt, that place of emotional and spiritual enslavement, difficulty, and division.  The other is directed toward Home, toward life with God (Leaving Egypt, 222).”

My family moved around a lot growing up.  Every 3-4 years my parents would pack up our house (that we had just recently finished fully moving into) in search of new opportunities that would give meaning to their life.  I remember every time we’d arrive in a new city thinking to myself ‘maybe now we’ve arrived, maybe this will be home.’

Reflecting on this experience in light of the Exodus narrative we’ve studied the past 8 weeks, I’ve been trying to imagine what it would be like to go back in time and tell the Israelites, after they had experienced all the events we’ve studied the past eight weeks and entered the promised land, that they would enjoy relatively few good years there.  What if I could have warned them that they would be conquered by the Babylonians and exiled into a foreign land... again.

I remember the distinct moment when I began to wonder if our frequent moves had any purpose.  When I was 12, only one year after we left a beautiful house where I had many friends on our street and extended family nearby, my parents announced we were moving... again.  Since the initial move I had become a lonely child and missed my old neighborhood terribly.  I began to doubt that my suffering had any purpose.  For the first time I realized that my parents were leading us on an endless journey and I wondered if it was a pointless journey as well.

As we wrap up the Leaving Egypt Study, I think many of us are wondering what the point is for us to take this journey.  Why should we move away from the things that keep us in bondage if we know we will eventually return to them?  What is the point of moving forward if we know we’ll have to suffer again?  Is Leaving Egypt a pointless journey like all the moves I experienced growing up?  What would the Israelites say?

When you read through the Old Testament, you see that the Israelites included all of their story, the Exodus, the Exile, and later the Return.  They had hope that their whole story as a people was all a part of the unfolding drama of their redemption, and ours.  It would all culminate in a savior who’s destiny would also appear to be a failure for a few nights after his execution.  They thought he had failed too until they saw him alive and whole.  For those who saw it, this fit right into their whole story as a people.

So how do I move forward confidently knowing I’ll often go in the wrong direction? By seeing with new eyes that hold the death and resurrection of Jesus as their lens.  When I do this my winding rode makes more sense.  I’m able to remember all the ‘Egypt’s’ God has rescued me from and will continue to rescue me from until he brings me home.