To Be Free
By Terance Clark February 1, 2025 6 Minute Read
Week 15
This Weeks Passage: Exodus 10:1 – 13:16
This week we will learn one of the most important lessons God can teach us but it’s easy to miss when you read it. Because you have to dig a little to find it.
Exodus 11:1-2
And the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.
Why Ask for Gold and Silver
When Israel left Egypt they asked for and were given gold and silver. It seems like a crazy ask when they were in such a rush to leave and who had the room to store all this treasure walking in the wilderness. Why would God tell them to do it. The explanation isn’t given until the book of Deuteronomy 15:12-15. If a person becomes your slave you were to release them in the seventh year and do not let them go empty-handed. You were to supply them liberally from all that you have with food, drink and money. It doesn’t end there for there is one more passage to complete the teaching.
Deuteronomy 23:7 concludes the teaching on the subject when he tells Israel do not hate an Edomite for he is your brother and do not hate an Egyptian, because you were a stranger in his land. Wait a minute! Egyptian. Why would I not hate them, they enslaved us for many years. Anyone would feel resentment towards any other person or group that enslaved them, so why does God forbid it. Now let’s learn one of the most important lessons for life.
“Freedom and hatred cannot co-exist“
A person or a people driven by hate cannot be, nor will they ever be free! If Israel had left Egypt carrying hatred and a desire for revenge they would have left Egypt, but Egypt would not have left them. We have to understand that freedom and hatred cannot co-exist. Israel was told to remember and honor the past not so that they could stay angry, but so that they would never forget how it felt in order to never treat someone else the way they had been treated. They were to remember and honor what God had done for them and become a blessing to anyone else in similar situations.
Giving gifts to a parting slave helps end the pain of the separation by showing good will towards them and a desire to help them succeed as they start fresh. It also helps them leave without anger and humiliation because you’re setting them up for success. God forbid them to hate because He knew they would never succeed as a nation if hatred and revenge were held in their hearts.
A Rule to Live By
Let me finish this week by saying God wants us to live by the rule that whatever we have personally suffered we should never inflict on someone else. Instead we need to remember what He has done for us and how He has set us free, and therefore remember and never allow another to suffer what we have suffered. The final thing is to remember that as long as you carry hatred you are not free and that is why our world is so dark right now. Everyone feels entitled to make others pay for and feel their pain. That’s why Jesus’ last words were forgive them for what they do, He knew he would not be free nor would his sacrifice suffice had He died in anger and resentment towards those who killed him. We are to remember, honor and then bless to be free.