Psalm 136:11

Psalm 136:11

He brought us out!

There is a phrase here that is often overlooked, the verse tells us that the Lord God “brought Israel out” from among the Egyptians. This is a reflection of the words of the Lord to Israel at the time, “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgement.” Exodus 6:6. On the day that the Israelites left Egypt Moses instructed the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand.” Exodus 13:3. It was the Lord who released His people, He initiated and carried out their deliverance and ever since, annual feasts such as Passover and Unleavened Bread have been celebrated and the Jews to this day continue to remember the deliverance of their ancestors from the misery of slavery.

Have we not also been delivered from slavery? Has God not also brought us out of darkness into light, out of the world into His Kingdom? Are we not just as liberated and free as the slaves of Egypt? Paul expounds this whole subject in great detail in Romans 6:1-23 and it’s a text that is worth reading today. Have we truly realised the transformation that has taken place? Do we recognise the stranglehold that sin had over us and that only the power of the cross could bring liberation. A firstborn Son was killed who became our Passover and today we are free because of this. We were “brought out from among them” and now we are willing slaves of Jesus Christ. If I had to be slave to someone, I would choose Him any day, wouldn’t you?

This prompts the final thought. If the Jews celebrate annually their deliverance from Egypt through Passover, shouldn’t all believers celebrate their own deliverance from slavery? Let’s  make sure that we never forget what the Lord has done for us. 

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