New Israelites
LEARN THIS IMPORTANT LESSON FROM HISTORY

It has been said that, "Those who refuse to learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them." That makes sense, doesn't it?

If that quote holds true, then in order to understand your situation of today, and avoid making the same tragic mistake(s), it would be helpful to search back in time for an identical situation, then examine and compare it to yours. What created those circumstances, both then and now? How were those times the same as today, and how were they different? Can you think of an identical situation? If none comes immediately to mind, then please allow me to pick one that can be found in what has proven to be the MOST (ONLY) reliable and accurate history book in the world: The Holy Bible (King of kings' Version; and previously, the Authorised king James Version).

The beginning of our story takes place nearly 4,000 years ago. Through a unique sequence of events, as described in the Book of Genesis, chapters 37 - 41, Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob/Israel became the governor/ruler of all of Egypt; second only to, and as appointed by, the pharaoh. When famine struck Egypt and the rest of the known world, including the land of Canaan where Jacob and his family dwelt, Joseph saved all his kin, as detailed in Genesis chapters 42-45, by bringing them from Canaan, feeding them for the remaining five years of the famine, and the pharaoh giving them land in the Goshen territory, which was the best land in all of Egypt [Genesis 47:5-11].

The Israelites in Egypt, initially under Joseph and in succeeding generations, prospered and multiplied immensely. They were a separate nation within the geo-political boundaries of another nation, but were not under man-made Egyptian law. Under God's Perfect "Royal Laws of Liberty", with Him as their only Ruler, each Israelite family was economically independent. They had their own land within Egypt, they grew their own crops, raised their own livestock (cattle, dairy cattle, sheep, and possibly fowl & other small game), and made their own clothes from their own wool, cotton, and animal skins, and did so in such abundance that they could share or sell their surplus goods. In short, God supplied more than all that they needed to sustain themselves. They knew their neighbors well and there was a strong sense of community. Except for the busy planting and harvesting seasons, they had plenty of free time to enjoy the blessings of living free, quiet lives and also the time to pass on their Godly knowledge and customs to their children:

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.[Deut. 6:7].

Without having a formalized system of written laws, for several generations the early Israelites were giving God's demonstration of how wonderful it was to live under His Laws, with Him as their only sovereign; living in joy, peace, freedom, self-reliance, and prosperity, and their number grew from the 75 that initially occupied Goshen, including Jacob/Israel, to around three million Israelites:

And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.[Exodus 1:6-7].

Then a pharaoh and his advisors came to power in Egypt, who didn't know (or didn't care to know) how God had used His servant Joseph to save Egypt, and were very fearful of being overrun by the Israelites, so they sought to bring them under Egyptian control. Instead of marvelling at their system of success and wanting to join them, the pharaoh plotted with his government advisors to take them and their property another way:

Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.[Exodus 1:8-10].

They couldn't attack the Israelites militarily because the Egyptians were far outnumbered, and the Israelites were a closely knit community, despite their vast numbers.

The Israelites would have to be tempted, seduced, and deceived, into volunteering into bondage - gradually and subtly - and then the pharaoh could "legally" (under men's laws) confiscate their wealth. The details of this process are sketchy at best, but it appears that Egypt underwent a huge program of "public works construction projects," of such a grand scale that created enough steady-paying jobs in the cities to offer/entice the flourishing and industrious Israelite population.

If the pharaoh's target audience, the Israelites, already had all that they needed, as provided by God, then exactly what could have possibly influenced them to give up that idyllic way of life to work in the cities? That is hard to know for certain, but the Israelites were giving God's demonstration in the midst of the Egyptian Empire and at the crossroads of the entire known world at that time, so it was only a matter of time before outsiders and travelers would see their example and desire to reject Satan's market-system and man-made Egyptian "laws" themselves, and want to join Israel, spreading the word, and enlarging Israel's borders. God's Plan was to gradually graft-in the surrounding peoples & nations until the entire world became the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth [before the scripture came, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done; on earth as it is in Heaven..."].

Since Satan's plan is the opposite of God's plan, he couldn't sit still and let that happen. He HAD to get the Israelites away from giving God's demonstration and into his worldly market-system; it is all-important for him as it was back then to thwart God's Plan, so he not only influenced the Egyptians with the most appealing things to say, but was also whispering in the mind's ears of the Israelites the things that would most cause them to believe those lies. [Platitudes and Hyperbole are the earliest form of neuro-linguistics used by politicians.]

We humans have a very long and consistent history of listening to Satan's seductive lying voice, believing it, and giving in to temptation; we need to understand that our God-given freedom of choice is an important responsibility in learning our earthly lessons. Humanity needs to understand that a people with God are the only truly free people. We need to understand that giving into sinful temptation traps our hearts in a small cage of earthly desires. Giving into earthly desires traps our minds within the confines of our earthly flesh instead of expanding our minds to the life around us; in essence, giving into sinful temptation causes you to be spiritually dead. A person given to sin can have all the money in the world, but still be spiritually impoverished; those who are spiritually impoverished are robotic and predictable in their needs, almost sub-human. Such people become a form of walking, talking cancer because they are so devoid of spirituality, I'm sorry to say; this kind of person is a usually stone cold "emotional desert" who is never satisfied with their worldly possessions no matter how much he accumulates and never satisfied with his relationships because their souls are so empty. You only need to read the stories of Adam & Eve, Cain & Able, Noah vs. the rest of the world; and Abraham vs. the people of Sodom & Gomorrah for proof of that. Given our Free-will, God allows Satan to tempt us as much as he wants [Job 1:6-12, 2:1-10], which provides God with countless opportunities to know which voice we prefer to listen to: Either God (through the Holy Spirit) or Satan (through the selfish human nature) [i.e. whether we choose to do good or evil].

Also, human memories are short, and humans tend to get complacent when everything is going great. They are more likely to relax their standards and over time forget the very foundations and principles they followed that brought them to that "everything is going great" situation. Complacency can breed the mind-set of wanting to try "new, foreign, exotic, etc." things - because "having it all" isn't enough for humans: the selfish, greedy, the human "id" always wants more (this is the unbehaved "child's mind" we are supposed to out grow). This also seems to foster a short-term or short-sighted perspective. Perhaps, especially to the young adults, life in the city appeared more exciting than "just watching the grass grow." The easily accessible shops with their availability. Amounts and varieties of foods, clothing, goods, idols, entertainment, and "modern conveniences" of those times, could have been very dazzling and seductive. They probably started out just working in the cities and commuting from their farms, maybe believing the jobs would only be temporary, but then actually sold the farms and bought houses in the cities to be closer to their jobs, after it appeared the "employment" was permanent, thereby losing their independent ability to feed and clothe themselves. [Do you see a recognizable pattern in how pharoah enslaved the people? Did your "friend" swoon you or chide you into giving up your freedom because "you should work with 'great men' - not wallow in the dirt with 'the ox?'.."]

Whatever the specific "carrots on the sticks" were, the Israelites were lured into leaving the land to initially work in the Egyptian government/market system as "employees." Because they had volunteered into joining the Egyptian economic system, and were receiving "benefits" from it, they were then bound by Egyptian law and required to pay the 20% "increase tax" previously established for the Egyptians by Joseph:

Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones. And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants. And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's.[Gen. 47:23-26].

After a couple of generations of living in the cities/flesh-pots of Egypt, the Israelites lost their knowledge and experience of agriculture and would have found it difficult to return to that simpler more healthy way of life. Once they became dependent on their Egyptian government jobs, the Israelites became economic slaves, and then later turned into out-and-out slaves.

As a people, the Israelites went from enjoying an unequalled existence of peace and abundance, letting God provide for their earthly needs, under His Royal Laws of Liberty, to joining Satan's market system and putting their faith in the "market forces" influences of supply and demand, their inherent fluctuations, and even artificial manipulations [e.g. requiring a percentage of the food supply to honor their pagan gods]. These fluctuations may have created boom & bust cycles, and under those conditions, the Israelites may have had to borrow (usury) during lean times. They also may have borrowed during plentiful times in order to buy "big ticket" items that they felt they needed immediately [instant gratification - sound familiar?], instead of putting money aside over time to save up and buy them without usury. The Israelites had assimilated into, and adopted, the idolatrous Egyptian ways and customs, and were no longer giving God's demonstration. The descendants of Jacob/Israel had clearly fallen a long way from believing only God, as Abraham did - and they had to be humbled, before God would fulfill His unconditional promises made to Abraham.

Allowing the Israelites to fall into Egyptian slavery served an important purpose in God's Master Plan: To train and prepare them to be His SERVANT nation and DEMONSTRATION people.