Recently I was conversing with an acquaintance who was explaining to me how God wants His Christians to have physical health and material wealth and every other bounty while we are yet here on earth.
Our story today is from Exodus 12. Prior to the Angel of Death passing over the land, the children of Israel went to their Egyptians neighbors and asked for gold, silver, and clothing. And God gave His children favor in the sight of the Egyptians. The Egyptians just handed over the wealth.
Why? So that God's people could be rich rich rich?
About 10 chapters later in the book, we find out why. Those riches would be brought to Moses so that the artisans who made the ark and the altar and the tapestries could build the tabernacle according to God's plans.
So in gratitude and faith, the people turned all that wealth back over to the Lord who had delivered them and given them the wealth. And what did God do with it? He appointed that tabernacle as the place where His people would receive the true wealth. In that place -- made of the gold and silver and cloth that they'd plundered from the Egyptians -- in that place God forgave their sins, He covered them with the blood of atonement, He heard their prayers, He put His name upon them, He gave them all the wealth of heaven instead of the measly wealth of earth.
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I had just read that story to my children also. It seems so amazing that the egyptians handed gold over to their slaves that were leaving. I guess after all they had been through with the plages, God changed them and they wanted the Israelites gone, no matter what the cost. It is so amazing to His hands at work.
ReplyDelete>>I guess God changed them
ReplyDeleteCharity, yeah, you're right, the Egyptians wanted the Israelites gone. I don't know whether God changed the Egyptians, but we do know that God "gave them favor" in the sight of the Egyptians.