Egypt is Not Only a Place
It is also a metaphor for being where one doesn’t want to be.
Egypt in the Old Testament symbolizes a place of hardship for the Jews. For them it represented a land of harsh rulers and alien gods, and they left it as soon (and as often) as they could. I’ve been told that in Hebrew, Egypt also means “a narrow place, or a place of bondage.”
Yet several of the Bible’s most successful spiritreneurs spent a great deal of time there. Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s court, and Joseph spent years of slavery and hard times in prison before he rose to become number one on Pharaoh’s hit parade. For whatever reason, Egypt was a formative force in the lives of God’s spiritreneurs. Jesus also spent time there, although we are uncertain as to how long.
We are told of the prophecy in Matthew 2:15: “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” I believe Egypt is not only a place but also a metaphor for being where one doesn’t want to be.
As we each evaluate our own history there may be a lot of Egypt in our past. An unhappy marriage, perhaps. A previous business failure. A work environment where we were made to feel put down and devalued.Yet the joyous cry of every Christian is ultimate freedom, and freedom from “living in Egypt” is a right I believe belongs to all spiritreneurs.
Famed retail store designer J’Amy Owens, president of the Retail Group, worked for several years in an architectural firm as a sales representative. When her sales commissions out-paced the salaries of the principals themselves, they fired her. Only after she left did she realize how confined she had been. Teaming up with another architect who valued her visionary skills, she started a company that specializes in dramatic redesign of retail shops so shoppers have a more welcoming and stimulating experience. Her time at a drab, dull, architecture firm—Egypt—forged in her soul a passion for freedom in design which has made her legendary. All of us have to come from somewhere, and an unhappy place is just as good as any other place to “be from.”
In the film Music of the Heart the mother of the woman played by Meryl Streep encourages Meryl to thank her ex-husband for leaving her. “Why should I thank him?” she asks as she straightens her ball gown on the way to performing a concert in Carnegie Hall. Her mother answers, “Because if he hadn’t left you, none of this good would have happened.”
Steve Jobs was exiled from his own company, Apple Computer, for several years. And what a difference it made. He returned with fresh ideas that repositioned the company in a new and powerful way.
Jesus spent formative time in Egypt, and it only made him better prepared for his mission.
So, on your way out of town, kiss that Sphinx on the nose. God used it to teach you something you will soon need to know.
~ Laurie Beth ~ Live. Breath. Joy
Thoughts and Questions
Have you spent time in Egypt metaphorically?
Are you there now?
Describe what it was (is) like.
