The Place Of Your Slavery

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. [Deuteronomy 5.6-7] 

Should it not give us great pause that God would refer to Egypt as "the place of your slavery"?

What do we know about Egypt?

Egypt started out as a solution for Israel - the way Israel mitigated a great famine. 

Egypt brought relief to Israel. 

Egypt was provision for Israel. 

Egypt was an improvement to Israel's former condition. 

What's more, Egypt represented the emotional reunion of a divided family.

And yet, God calls Egypt, "the place of your slavery". 

Why would God choose to point out "the place of your slavery" just before demanding, "You must not have any other god but me"? The answer is simple if only we will see it...

Why would Israel go to Egypt if they knew they would become slaves there? They wouldn't! Israel went to Egypt as a way to improve their current situation. Israel had needs and Egypt met those needs. Egypt indeed improved Israel's condition ...until it didn't! What began as a logical and practical solution became Israel's bondage.

So, we must ask ourselves again, why did God point out Egypt for its bondage instead of relief before saying "You must not have any other god but me"? Because all the things listed above (that we know about Egypt regarding Israel) are the things that idols promise up front. In the Old Testament, Egypt is synonymous with idolatry (see here).

Here is something to think about: had it not been for overwhelming emotion of being reunited with Joseph, Jacob might never have agreed to go to Egypt. Where need did not succeed in luring Israel to Egypt initially (ultimately to slavery to idols), emotion effectively 'sealed the deal.'

God's inclusion of "...Egypt, the place of your slavery" before "You must not have any other god but me" warns every person, for all time who would ever follow God, of the danger of having needs met by anyone or anything other than God alone. That danger is idolatry.

Let's fast forward to the 21st Century... 

In light of the 1st Commandment and God's reference to Egypt, should not God's people today be just as leery of the lure of "solutions" that ultimately enslave them having effectively become idols in their lives? These solutions (idols that enslave) abound in our time! And, although this list is not exhaustive, it covers the main slave masters of our day: debt, insurance, medicine and technology. These industries all offer solutions to mitigate life's hard circumstances that God jealously wants to miraculously and distinctly mitigate Himself. Much of the average person's labor today goes to "pay" these slave masters.

And, just as Jacob (Israel) was betrayed by his own emotion of being reunited with Joseph, so the emotion of "family" today lures people into idolatry as well. I will trust the reader here to think this through.

When God commanded "no other god" He did so in direct reference to what happened to Israel in "turning to Egypt." If Egypt had been "God's way" it would not have required rescue from it.

Society today is effectively enclosed in a cocoon of idolatry through debt, insurance, medicine and technology. That cocoon can be broken and escaped from, but not without great resistance and the chagrin of the world - usually starting with family - and, therein is found the fuel of emotion, attached to need, mitigated elsewhere instead of by God alone.

Dear reader, I am not making this up! We have all been warned of this digression into idolatry since God first gave the Ten Commandments. It all started with, "I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery." God was not just employing literary fluff, but instead, giving us a clear warning how betraying our trust in Him starts. It starts with Egypt - with need fueled by emotion that eventually becomes slavery.

We would be amiss here not to remember Jesus' own exclusive command, not dissimilar to the 1st Commandment:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)] 

"Our own way" is the way of man. It is the way of idolatry - trusting man's thoughts and inventions instead of God's miraculous provision. Modern archeology has proven over and again that Egypt (ironically - of all places) was incredibly advanced in knowledge and inventions. Man's inventions today - debt, insurance, medicine and technology - cannot be separated from "the way of man" and must be understood as that which Jesus said must be given up in order to follow Him.

"Taking up your cross" is pure unadulterated faith in God alone (more specifically, Jesus) instead of man's way.

"Egypt" is the way of man and, is the enemy of God's way, the way of faith - the way of the cross.

To abbreviate or simplify the 1st Commandment as "You must not have any other god but me" would be open for logic and reason if it weren't for the preceding phrase, "I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery."

God's Word is clear. We just need to read it for what it actually says.

Father, Your Word is indeed clear on the matter of idolatry and its nefariously subtle and enslaving ways. May our eyes be opened as we read and understand Your Word. So be it.