Psalm 105:37-38

Psalm 105:37-38

The dread of Israel

By the time the angel of death had passed over the land, the Egyptians were not just sick and tired of the Hebrew slaves, they were terrified of them! Even Pharaoh urged them to leave immediately and to do so with their God’s blessing upon him! The fear of death hung over Egypt and the Israelites took full advantage. They asked for articles of silver and gold and for clothing from their captors, and the Egyptians delivered big time! So much so that the account in Exodus talks about the slaves “plundering” their hosts before they left the land for good. The Lord had promised Moses, “And I will make the Egyptians favourably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. Every woman is to ask her neighbour and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.” Exodus 3:21-22.

It must have been a strange looking procession that left Egypt because while the youngsters carried the valuable plunder, the adults carried “dough without yeast upon their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing”! Exodus 12:34. The people were not only taking the dough that would be their essential sustenance until the manna from heaven was given to them, but they also carried the articles that would allow the Tabernacle and its furniture to be produced. Sadly, some of the gold was used to make an idolatrous golden calf which goes to show that it is not what we possess that matters so much as what we do with it!

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