We have recently celebrated the death and resurrection of Jesus, which happened at Passover. But let’s not stop there. There’s so much more to come! God is moving us into a new adventure with Him, just as He did with the Israelites immediately after the first Passover (see Exodus 12).
Passover means leaving Rameses
Leaving Rameses was the very first thing the Israelites did after that very first Passover. Rameses was the district in Egypt where Joseph had settled his family during a great famine in the land of Canaan. It was the place of safety that God provided for them as they grew from a single family into a tribe and then into a nation. However, as they become more numerous, the Egyptians became threatened by their vast number and began to oppress the Israelites, finally bringing them into slavery. 400 years later, God declared it was time for them to leave!
The first step in the journey the Israelites in leaving Egypt after Passover might seem unimportant, but it was actually very momentous. It was a massive faith step away from all they knew, and everything that had brought them life and provision in the past.
“The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth.”
Exodus 12:37 (NIV)
So let’s take a look at why this first step was so significant, and how it might relate to us today.
God is our source
The name “Rameses” means “born of Ra.” In Egypt, Ra was the sun god and believed to be the foundation of all life. But this belief was a lie. God is the Creator and therefore the source of all life and provision. In Hebrew, “ra” means bad or evil. “Ra” includes everything that is devoid of God’s goodness. The Israelites are living in a land ruled by “Ra” who falsely claimed to be the source of all life. In leaving Rameses, the Israelites were leaving the place that professed to provide life, but had instead brought them into slavery.
Sometimes we find ourselves in circumstances we thought would bring us life, but instead, we realise we have been deceived. Staying in any kind of “Rameses” environment, be it our thought life, our relationships, or habits we are involved in, will be detrimental. This is not where God wants us to live. Leaving “Rameses” and all its false promises means stepping out and taking the journey of faith towards God and His purposes for us. True life is only found in God.
God is our provider
Rameses was originally built for Pharaoh to be a city of storehouses (Exodus 1:11). Grain, wine and oil were all stockpiled there. Leaving Rameses meant the Israelites could no longer be dependent on these storehouses. They had to become dependent on God for everything.
Among God’s provision are three key items – food, water and clothing. Looking back on their time of travelling in the wilderness, the Levites of Nehemiah’s time thanked God, saying,
You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.
Nehemiah 9:20-21 (NIV)
It’s interesting that Jesus identifies these same three items – food, water and clothing – when he addresses the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 6:25-34). Jesus tells us not to worry about these things. God will provide all our need, according to His vast riches (Philippians 4:19). The worries of this world are to come into submission to God’s heavenly provision.
Just as the Israelites faced leaving the storehouses of Egypt’s provision, so God is calling us to trust Him as we move further into the new. If you realise you have been living in any kind of “Rameses,” it’s time to leave the security and provision of your previous season. Our God is totally trustworthy to provide all we need.
Moving with God
The first place the Israelites stopped after leaving Rameses was Succoth. The meaning of “Succoth” has to do with a temporary covering such as a tent. It’s a movable structure and symbolises the change from being settled in one place, to becoming a traveler on a journey. For the Israelites, who had lived in Egypt for many generations (400 years), this would have meant a complete rethinking of how they lived. They would not “settle down” again for another 40 years – until they entered the land God had promised them.
Let’s not be tempted to settle when God has called us to move on in Him. Leaving “Rameses” behind, let us take hold of a “Succoth” mentality – positioning ourselves to adventure with God into the fullness of all He has planned for us.
Pull up your tent pegs!
The word for “journeyed” in Exodus 12:37 essentially means to “pull up your tent pegs and move forward.” This was an intentional action. They were pulling out of the soil of Egypt and all that it had meant to them, and beginning journey into the new. This was not just a journey to a new home, but it was a journey to God (see Exodus 19:4 where God states that He has drawn them to Himself).
What are the tent pegs that God is calling you to pull up today? Some of these pegs may have been in the ground a while, and will take some effort, and may even be painful to draw out. It may take some deliberate digging to make the required change.
Into the new
Right now, we are in the time after Passover. In the Bible, Passover always means a shift into something new (this post is the first of two posts that goes through the various Passovers recorded in the Bible and the new things that took place each time).
We are definitely in a new era, and God is calling us to leave the previous season behind. Let’s be those who delight to pull up our own tent pegs, leaving every kind of Rameses behind, and move with Him, into the new.
