Revisit: The UNchosen: What if you were a gentile slave in Egypt?

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[This is part of our series on THE OTHER, i.e. the UNchosen or anyone who is not in the line of the CHOSEN, the line of Jacob/Israel.  Related posts:

• The UNchosen – Esau/Edom – A Second Look
• The UNchosen — “Call me Ishmael”
• The UNchosen – My servant Caleb – a different spirit

We Sinaites connect with the UNchosen who nevertheless ended up choosing the “God of Israel”  and choosing to worship Him,  YHWH, the God of the Chosen, Who is the God of all humanity, Jew and Gentile, Israel and the Nations.  Why do we always go to so much trouble and repetition in identifying this God by His Name and His role in biblical history (Torah)?  Because Name and Identity is Key, in our thinking; as we always say, ‘name your God and let’s see if we’re on the same page’.  As for identifying with those who were not chosen?  One simply needs to understand why there has to be a ‘chosen’ people and to disabuse your mind of misconceptions about that, please read this series:  

• Must Read: Who are the REAL Chosen People? – by Reuven Firestone
• Must Read: Reuven Firestone – 2 – The Language of Chosenness
• Must Read: Reuven Firestone – 4 – Chosenness in the Ancient Near East
• If Israel was ‘the chosen’ in the “Old” Testament, are the New Testament believers “the new chosen”?

—Admin1]

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This is the gentile version of:   What if you were a Hebrew slave in Egypt?

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Do the Hebrew Scriptures record any miracles wrought in behalf of non-Israelites?   And if so, what would have been the purpose?  Because that is the question we should ask each time we hear about a ‘miracle’ happening then or now.

Should YHWH the God of Israel and the nations perform one today— the purpose would be to bolster the faith of both believer and unbeliever, including accidental, disinterested, indifferent bystander-witnesses.  Faith in what or in whom?  Obviously, faith in Him, the One True God who has to compete with false gods and false teaching, false religions,  false scriptures, agnostics and atheists, indifference.

Here’s one example of miracles where non-Israelites also reaped benefit and blessing.

YHWH through His emissary and mouthpiece Moses attempted to turn around the obstinate Pharoah through unmistakable signs although these were not so much for Pharoah’s sake as they were to authenticate Moses as YHWH’s handpicked emissary and chosen spokesman.

It was also for the sake of others, namely:

• the Hebrew slaves for whom Moses was negotiating a temporary release so they could worship their God out in the wilderness;
• the unmentioned-because-overlooked/forgotten-but-presumed population of non-Israelites who would have been observing from the sidelines, (i.e.,  gentile slaves from different captive nations interacting and working side by side with Hebrew slaves);
• as well as  the rest of the Egyptian non-slave population, (nobility, commoner).

Surely, word would have gotten around about this Pharaoh challenging the God of Moses with these arrogant words:

 Who is YHWH that I should obey him and let Israel go?

I do not know YHWH and I will not let Israel go.”  

[Exodus 5:2]

Well, we know how that back and forth warning and rebuff progressed to its inevitable climax and if you don’t, please read the rest of Exodus.  In fact,  why not do virtual time-travel and place yourself in the sandals of a gentile slave and imagine what might have gone through your mind at the time you heard about preparations in the Hebrew Ghettoes for their liberation from Egyptian bondage by their God .

As a gentile slave, would you not start wondering if the God of Israel might consider including you?  What if you believe in His message, unlike Pharaoh?  You have witnessed the strange phenomena happening one after another in the land of Egypt, affecting the Egyptian population but not the Israelites who appear to be exempt from the consequences of the plagues. Have you yourself been affected . . . like the Egyptian . . . or not affected like  the Israelite?  Surely, you as a non-Egyptian, non-Israelite,  gentile-bystander now find yourself caught between the God of Israel and the non-gods in Egypt’s pantheon (who are probably your own gods if you belonged to the ‘nations’).  You could remain neutral . . . but is that an option?  Does a slave have a choice?  Why not make a decision? You have nothing to lose as a slave and who knows what is in store for believers in a God who does wonders and liberates slaves?  Freedom by itself sounds good!

So after hearing about and observing so many unusual happenings around you, your decision is —

• believe in the messenger of this God, Moses,  who was raised in the palace of pharaoh until he fled and disappeared for 40 years (or so you heard from rumors going around);
• believe that this God of Israel will liberate His people;
• believe that if you follow all the instructions for ‘liberation day’ (or Passover night), you could join their exodus;
• believe that this new god will do all that he says he will do because you have already witnessed the fulfillment of all his pronouncements to Pharaoh.

Wonders, signs, miracles in those days (as in these days) should make anyone pause and ponder:  who is causing these unusual phenomena?  And if it’s undeniably clear that a certain god of a people you’ve slaved away with is responsible for these out-of-the-ordinary happenings, you have to

decide which god to believe in:  Egypt’s? Your nation’s gods? Or this god who communicates through Moses? It is  typical of human nature to self-preserve and connect with the more powerful deity who manifests bigger and better miracles, particularly a god who promises liberation from bondage.

So, what to do next?  Listen to the specific instructions for the final plague;  then do exactly as the Hebrew slaves do.  That lamb’s blood on your lintel and doorpost is the protective sign for the angel of death to spare your home and as well as your firstborn.  Has it occurred to you that if an Egyptian had made the same decision as you, his son might be spared too?  Isn’t it all about belief in the Hebrews’ God and in following His instructions?

As the Hebrews start moving out of Egypt at the appointed time,  so should you.   Would that God of Israel allow you and accept you if you are not among His chosen but you took a leap of faith and chose HIM?

37 Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth,

about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children.

38 A mixed multitude also went up with them,

along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.

[Exodus 12:38].

So, there’s your answer, you got included in that “mixed multitude” mentioned separately from the “sons of Israel”.  In effect, the miracles experienced by Israel in their wilderness wandering benefitted the gentiles among them as well.  And that is why instructions issued from Sinai include how Israelites are to treat “the stranger among you.”  That would be you, the gentile slave who earned your freedom by believing in the God of Israel while Pharoah did not.

So the lesson for us today?  Even if the God of Israel did not choose us, gentiles, but we choose Him, we benefit from the teachings, instructions, His Torah, issued from Israel.  The greatest blessing is knowing Him through His original revelation on Sinai, issued to and intended for both Israel and the non-Israelites among the “mixed multitude” who left Egypt.

We are in good company; there are others who placed their faith in YHWH according to the Hebrew Scriptures—

• Caleb the Kennizite:  My servant Caleb – a different spirit
• Ruth:  Your people will be my people and your God my God.

And so, how fortunate and blessed are those who rediscover the ancient paths leading to the One True God.

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Hereunder is the concluding portion of  What if you were a Hebrew slave in Egypt?:

Who was it who said ‘You shall know the truth the truth will set you free?‘ The answer? Jesus, picked up by Dr. Martin Luther King for his freedom march.

Sinaites have come to know the Truth about the One True God and this Truth has indeed set us free! Free from what?

Let’s start with the obvious: IGNORANCE!  And the second obvious:  MANMADE ‘TRUTHS’!

The God we have sought all our lives is the God who commissioned Israel to declare Him to gentiles like ourselves; we have come to believe in the original ‘good news’.

YHWH reigns today and as foretold by the prophet Zechariah 14:9:

And the LORD shall be King over all the earth;

You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

He liberates all who are in bondage to ignorance and falsehood but there is a condition to such freedom:  one must decide, just like the Hebrew slave, just like the gentile slave, to believe in this God and and what He has promised to all who seek Him, take Him at His Word, and let Him have the last word:

Do not add to what I command you

and do not subtract from it,

but keep the commands of the LORD your God

that I give you.

(Deuteronomy 4:2)

But if from there you seek the LORD your God,

you will find him if you seek him

with all your heart and with all your soul.  

(Deuteronomy 4:29)

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me,

and I will listen to you.

You will seek me and find me

when you seek me with all your heart.

I will be found by you,”

(Jeremiah 29:12-14)

Hear, and more importantly, HEED,

O Jew, O Gentile:

 “when you seek Me

with all your heart . . .

I will be found by you!”