Many a man has made a career, and a name for himself along the way, by ringing the "Freedom" bell---from Martin Luther to Karl Marx to Martin Luther King, Jr.... The parade of historic figures is long. Yet slavery seems to persist intractable as ever in the course of human experience....with or without designer jeans or religion. If only "freedom" were an easy thing to gain, experience and hold onto.
Moses rang the bell in the presence of Pharaoh...but only after the ruin of Egypt in a series of divine judgments did he, Pharaoh, let the peopke of Israel go forth into the wilderness to all die a rather ignoble death, unfree indeed! We will come back to Joshua and Caleb---notable exceptions in deed and spirit.
So why would Passover make such a big deal of such a colossal failure of freedom? For sure "the devil is in the details!" Would the people of Israel have been more successful in their journey if they had all been armed with Kalashnikov assault weapons? Or perhaps the people of Israel were way ahead of their time in rejecting the leadership of their God (and Moses) and His purpose... Maybe indeed, as they repeatedly accused their Leader(s), "you have brought us out of Egypt to slay us in the wilderness..."
Clearly and repeatedly they turned that notion over and over in their minds, including even a plan and desire to simply return to their slavery in Egypt. After all the "good things of Egypt...garlic, leeks, flesh pots..." had pretty much caused them to forget the reality of their hard life in Egypt. Toleration was to be preferred, not that hard-line Patrick Henry motto of "Give me liberty or give me death." And even such an illustrious rebellion as the American Revolution almost faltered and failed as the years passed by and goods got scarce...(whatever "manna" was...it didn't fill the hollow stomachs of the Continental Army).
God promised a new "life" but what the people of Israel got was death in the wilderness. They did get out of Egypt, at least physically their bodies made it to the wilderness, but did they choose to carry Egypt with them in their soul and spirit? Did they fail to see that "freedom" from something---Egypt---is not freedom for something?
If "Let my people go..." is the end of our hearing, our end will be the same: either a new slavery (albeit perhaps a mind-game slavery), or death in a new (albeit modern and perhaps urban) wilderness. If our hearing includes not only the "from", that is from Pharaoh's Egypt and slavery, but also the for "that they may hold a feast to me (God)..." then wilderness can be transformed into a place and time of feasting.
If the ring-a-ding-ding of the freedom bell is simple heard as an "I'm outta here" with a get-out-of-jail-free ticket...be assured you will land again in jail on the next go-round of the Pharaoh monopoly game. Freedom has a godly purpose according to the god or God we consult and hear. So, Passover is a freedom plan for the people of Israel put forth by the God of Israel. Freedom from the slavery of Egypt, for sure, but more importantly freedom for the purposes and plan of the God of Israel.
Then in that freedom, and only then, can the further stages of deliverance, redemption, "taking" in covenant relationship, and "marriage" to the Land be experienced. But first, we have to be free (of Egypt and Pharaoh) including our tolerance of even the slightest trace or hint of that life of slavery. If we think we are not free, indeed, we are not free. If we are "free", we are free in-deed for the purposes and plans of our God! Service, worship, and feasting in the wilderness are the first glimpses into the plan and purpose of the God of Israel for his people.
Stay tuned for further stages on the "Freedom Trail!"
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