אנכי יהוה אלהיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים מבית עבדים
“I am The LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
-Shmot/Exodus 20:2 (KJV)
Intimacy with Sovereignty
אשר הוצאתיך
“….which have brought thee out” = “that which has brought you out/forth” To bring “a thing” along (as opposed to just forcing or compelling it to go) implies a certain type of proximity that can only occur when a certain level of intimacy is present; for not only is that thing being carried and led, but the one doing the leading is also accompanying that which is being led on the journey. Consider our system of offerings (kwarbaniym) at the time of the tribes consolidated into a people. A man was commanded to bring his offering to the Khohen/Priest as opposed to throwing it, casting it, or have someone else bring it for him by proxy. He himself was required to be there alongside it – for it represented him – and its importance required his presence.
For the people of YisraÉL, this close acquaintance and a deep intrinsic familiarity is characteristic of the relationship between a man and his wife and between a man and his family. We see it echoed throughout the text when the people of YisraÉL are identified by The Great Father as either HIS wife, son, or children. So - when it is declared that the great Yod Heh Wav Heh “brought you (us) out/forth” the text connotes a precise type of intimacy that existed between HIM and our forefathers. HE will only perform this type of action for those that are HIS (The type of intimacy was articulated when it was declared that HE is your ELOHIYM/Power Source - see Part 2 for more of an explanation on what this statement entails).
What can also be gleaned from the statement is additional insight into what our relationship with the place we were “brought out from” should not have been. (1) It should not have ever been in us. When placed in a land as babes not yet reaching maturity our duty was to build up our people – both in amount and in capacity. When the hardness and cruelty was inflicted upon us it was for the sole purpose of having us to be subdued. This was not a permanent fixture but a test of our will – to try us – to ascertain whether we truly were committed to Yod Heh Wav Heh despite such attempts at domination. Their ways (of thinking, doing, communicating, loving, etc…) should never become our ways no matter what they throw at us. (2) We should not be fooled in assuming the temporary shelter provided by The Great Father as a sign that we were in a place of dominion – or making ourselves to believe falsely that we were equipped (or approved) to enter into the nation in its entirety due to our privileged position within one of its districts. We were not yet mature. And were neither authorized nor prepared to assert any true dominion there. At times men can operate from an “eyes bigger than our stomachs” scenario – where we lust after things that have not been given to us. In these circumstances of false realities, once we “acquire” that which we lusted after we soon realize that we’ve literally bitten off more than we could chew – thereby creating thorns in our sides. These two additional takeaways are important to remember because the level of “hardness” and “cruelty” is increased when we are dealing with not just people, but an entire system that can further entrench such treatment and recreate itself perpetually.
מארץ מצרים
“of the land of Egypt” = “of the land of Mitzrayim”
What is Mitzrayim?
Mitzrayim is translated in most texts as “Egypt” but do we truly understand what that means? “Egypt”, for one, was not referred to as “Egypt” prior to the Greeks invading the Nile Valley in the 4th century BCE/BC. This area, prior to Grecian invasion, was known by the many names that its indigenous people groups referred to it as. Some to its south referred to it as Ta-Seti (The land of the Bow) while others referred to it as Ta-Meri (The Beloved Land). Others identified it as “Kemet” after the dark rich soil of the land. The people of Yisrael (our forefathers) referred to the entire region surrounding the Nile Valley (encompassing modern day Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, etc.…) as “Kush”, and later, in the specific area in and surrounding its northernmost Saharan parts between the Mediterranean Sea and the Lower Nile, specifically as “Mitzrayim”. The Greeks, referred to the entirety of the people groups from the African Continent extending as far east to the Indus River Valley Peoples (in modern day India) by the name “Ethiopia” (“Black Heads”) after seeing the dark skin of the people of these regions, and after more direct interactions identified the specific area of the Nile Valley as “Egypt” – a mistranslation and corruption of the local name given for the White Temples devoted to Ptah (Hekeptah).
It must be stated that the phrase “ancient Egypt” when used to refer to one empire – on multiple levels is a type of misnomer, for two reasons. Firstly, as listed above. In the twenty five hundred years before Greek invasion it was never referred to as “Egypt” (the Greeks did not invade unto the 4th century BCE/BC. And secondly, in antiquity, it was rarely if ever one unified region. In fact, there existed several simultaneously operating chiefdoms/kingdoms that ruled alongside one another within its different regions (upper - southern, lower – northern, and middle). At times there were families that were relatively powerful and were able to extend their rule into some of these kingdoms (we read of the times when Upper and Lower Egypt were unified), and at other times the entities competed as separate dynastic entities; with separate political, social, cultural, familial, and economic programs. Since the people of the region mainly came from the similar cultural roots (aside from the Heka Khasut) there was always recognizable elements in their motifs and symbols.
The biblical narrative is mainly concerned here – not with the differences amongst the various centers of rule - but with the long arc of rulership in the region. Taken together, with its different dynasties, chieftains, and kingdoms, the civilizations around the Nile River Valley had a stronghold of rule for approximately thirty-five hundred (3500) years continually. And there’s no doubt that our forefathers – when writing about our experiences with Mitzrayim – were specifically addressing the immovable image that the region had in the mind of the people of the world. Even in these times – scientists are still attempting to figure out who built the pyramids – even some going so far as to reject the notion that the people of darker hue that inhabited the land could have built them (to add insult to injury, many have hypothesized that aliens had to have come down and constructed the monuments). If we consider the long period of rule concentrated in this region – contrasted with even the times we live in today – we must ask ourselves - what nation comes close - or what region compares to it in scope of continual rule? This was the example and personification of power in the ancient mind. And to understand this riddle is to only begin to understand the heaviness of the statement of us being “brought out of the land of Mitzrayim”.
That which encompassed and may have included Mitzrayim represents, even in modernity, the most renowned organization of men and families in ancient history. If all of the kingdoms of Mitzrayim were to be tabulated and counted they would, in terms of continuity, combine to be the longest lasting of them all, extremely diverse in makeup, spiritual power, weaponry, science, etc... but what is really being asserted in this statement in Shmot is that even their might was no match for The Father of them all. Mitzrayim had powerful militaries. They could also boast of a worthy company of mercenaries if necessary. In fact, whatever Yisrael possessed in tangible military might - dwarfed in comparison to what the kingdoms of the Nile Valley had. However, the fact remained that YAH, our power source claimed us as HIS and remembered us due to his relationship with our fathers Avraham (Abraham), Yitzkaq (Isaac), and YisraÉL (Israel).
This is the dividing line. Many will get stuck at this point. Knowing how great Mitzrayim was, they would never be able to fathom that a little clan of twelve families – entering in at just seventy souls could challenge such a long standing - long lasting empire. But that’s precisely the point here in this narrative. The declaration here is about the sovereignty and power of our Elohiym. The point here is the might of our tribal deity – HE that caused the seventy souls to be truly empowered enough to stand on its own two against the greatest empire the world has ever known. In other words. With YOD HEH WAV HEH acknowledged as (1) Sovereign, and (2) our power source, anything is possible – even our ability to prevail against the greatest of the world’s empires. The Eternal “bringing us out” is not only a declaration that what HE will not do is lose, but also a constant reminder to us that if we will allow HIM to cleave unto us wholeheartedly then there will never be any good thing withheld from us. These are the perks of maintaining our intimacy with YOD HEH WAV HEH. No matter what - we must be faithful. Stay tuned for Part 4!
Peace be to you. Peace be to your house. And peace be unto all that is yours! Shalom Shalom!
Bn Shmû ÉL is a loyal son, a committed father, and the founder of HaDBR Media, Chief Editor at Bn Shmû ÉL Publishing House, and author of The Land Of Milk and Honey: The Heart Of The World. https://www.bn-shmu-el.com/shop .
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