In our scripture readings for Exodus Sunday, the Israelites have been released from Egypt on the basis of God's displays of power – in many plagues and especially, in the final plague known as the Passover, resulting in the death of the firstborn of all Egyptian humans and animals. And yet, the Israelites quake in their boots at the sight of approaching Egyptian chariots, and they long for a return to the security of slavery....
What would it take to convince you that God was with you and your group, and that God had your back? Would you be convinced if there was a sudden infestation of locusts in your enemies' territory, such that nothing green remained in the land? Would you be convinced if there was total darkness for three full days, and yet your buildings all had light? Would you be convinced if your leaders conversed with God audibly? Would you be convinced by the presence of God's angel with you? What would it take to convince you that you were secure in God's care?
God had given the Israelites camped at Pi-hahiroth all of these signs and a dozen more. And God recognized that the faith of his people would be shaky – that's why he decided not to take them to Canaan by the direct route, where a fight would immediately ensue. And that's why he provided the shekhinah, the visible sign of God's glory in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, directing the Israelites, and enabling them to travel by night. That's why God planned another demonstration of his power, and hardened Pharaoh's heart to come after the Israelites. Because even after all that God had done for them, when the people saw the Egyptians approaching, their first thought was “What have you done to us, bringing us out of slavery?”
You would think that slavery is the NATURAL STATE of humanity, based on how we respond to opportunities for freedom! You can see it in our relationships – don't flee from the abusive partner, just put up with the bruises and the manipulation and the yelling, a little while longer. Don't confront the family bully, just be quiet and do everything their way. You can see it in our politics – those who advocate for MORE freedom are called “dangerous”, those who advocate for LESS freedom are called “compassionate and responsible”. You can see it in our patterns of behaviour – the comfortable ruts we get into and never get out of, the substances we enslave ourselves to, the sins we find ourselves committing over and over again. It's almost like we WANT a tyrant of some kind, forcing us to do its bidding, because then WE are not responsible for the results. Or, because we want the security of the tyrant's vested interest in making sure we have the meat, and leeks, and onions of Egypt.
But what does God think about slavery? Some point to the Bible's supposed ambivalence toward slavery as a sign that God doesn't care about it. Paul tells the church in Corinth, “whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave belonging to Christ.” Paul says slavery is irrelevant. Some point to Exodus chapter 8, where God says to Pharaoh through Moses, “Let my people go, THAT THEY MAY SERVE ME.” Slavery is only bad in God's eyes in that it inhibits full slavery to God. But the reason the Exodus is the most important story in the Old Testament is that it forges the identity of God's people – the Israelites ARE the people God rescued from slavery in Egypt. That's what GOD is known for. And Jesus himself says to his disciples in the gospel of John chapter 15, “I do not call you slaves any longer, because the slave does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” The Exodus, the book of Judges, the return from exile, Jesus' response to the Pharisees - the overwhelming tendency of God is to steer his people out of slavery in the direction of freedom. And our normal response is, “What is he doing to us, bringing us out of slavery?”