From Blessing to Enslavement: Heaven is O

The story of Exodus is not just one of the central narratives of the Old Testament; it is not only passed down from generation to generation in Israel to remind the nation of God saving them from slavery, but it is also a perfect picture that reflects human nature being slaves to sin and rescued by a loving God to lead us to the Promised Land.  Through the story of the Exodus, our minds jump straight to Moses, the burning bush, the parting of the Red Sea, and the Israelites receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. But how did the children of Israel end up in Egypt in the first place? Why did they stay so long in that place of refuge, and how did it eventually become a place of slavery?

Looking back in the Book of Genesis, we see the path that took the Israelites to Egypt in the story of Joseph.  Through God’s sovereign plan, Joseph was preserved through hardship and elevated to second-in-command over all of Egypt. When a severe famine struck the ancient world, Joseph’s brothers traveled to Egypt to buy food. Realizing his family’s desperate need, Joseph invited his father Jacob and his entire household to join him.

Through this story, we see that God preserved the Israelites from a massive famine in the land through his providence.   Joseph was sold into slavery because of the sins and hatred of his brothers. Through God’s love for His people, even while they were in sin, He worked it out that Joseph would survive death, salvary, and prison to save not only Israel but Egypt from this famine.  Pharaoh welcomed them with open arms, offering them the choice of the land: "The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen" (Genesis 47:6).

The initial blessing that God provided for His people by moving them to Egypt was an act of survival ordained by God to preserve the family line of Abraham. God reassured Jacob before he made the trek: "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation" (Genesis 46:3).  It was His will that they would be spared from this disaster.  It was meant as a blessing.  So how did this blessing become tormented slavery for the people?

Goshen was meant to be a temporary shelter during seven years of famine—not a permanent destination. Egypt was comfortable, prosperous, and secure. Pharaoh treated them well, and Joseph’s high position shielded them from hardship. Through archeological findings and historical records kept by the Egyptians, we know that Joseph passed down his position of leadership to his brother Benjamin.  The people became comfortable in the land.  They prospered.  They multiplied.  

Genesis 47:27 says, "Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly."

They settled, they gained possessions, and they multiplied - notice the progression. Instead of viewing Egypt as a temporary pit stop on their journey as pilgrims, they established their lives there. They integrated into a culture that was not meant for them.  When the famine ended, they didn't pack up and return to the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Generations passed, and leadership changed hands.  The protection they once knew no longer was there.  "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8). The land of comfort that they had become accustomed to would no longer protect them but instead enslave them.  They were subjected to harsh labor and severe oppression.  From a comfortable home to a house of bondage.  

There is a profound warning in Israel's journey for people of faith today.

As Christians today, we live in our own land of Goshen - comforts and blessings that make the unknown “promise land” of heaven too far off to think about. We too easily fit in with the world. It is easy to gradually blend into the surrounding culture without realizing it. We adopt the world's standards of success, its values, and security in earthly things.  It is the very things that appear to be our comforts that will eventually enslave us to this earthly world, giving up the ultimate promise and blessing of a relationship with our heavenly Father and His home.

Yet, God calls His people out of Goshen and into the Promised Land.  A land whose location they do not know, nor what it holds for them.  They simply have a promise from their God that he will show it to them and that they will be His people and He will be their God. God allowed them to sit in their comfort until it became their bondage and master.  It was then that he sent a rescuer, a redeemer, to pull them out of that bondage.  

He warns us throughout Scripture not to conform to the practices and mindsets of the culture around us. In the Old Testament, God repeatedly reminded Israel: "You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes" (Leviticus 18:3).

In the New Testament, the Apostle Peter reminds us of our true identity in this world: "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul" (1 Peter 2:11).

We are not citizens of this world; we are sojourners on a journey. Earth is not our final destination—heaven is. When we forget our pilgrim identity, we risk letting the world shape us instead of letting God transform us.  In the same way, we will be chained to the things of the world instead of being focused heavenward.  Romans 12:2 instructs us, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what the will of God is, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Being set apart does not mean withdrawing from the world or failing to love our neighbors. Jesus prayed to the Father concerning His followers: "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth" (John 17:16–17). We are meant to be in the world to share His truth and grace, but not of the world in our allegiance or lifestyle.

Let’s check our hearts today. Have we made ourselves too comfortable in "Goshen"? Are we holding tightly to the possessions, status, and approval of the world around us, or are we keeping our eyes fixed on our eternal home?

May we live with open hands, courageous faith, and set-apart hearts—remembering that this world is just a place we pass through on our way home to God.