Judaism: Why thank G-d for exodus?

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Why thank G-d for the Exodus if He sent us to Egypt?

JewishAnswers.org

Question: If G-d intended for the Jewish people to be strangers in a foreign land, Jacob’s decision to leave Israel was not out of his own free choice. So why do we thank G-d so much for taking us out of Egypt, when He put us in there in the first place? What are we thanking Him for?

Answer: Thank you for your wonderful question; I’m excited to see it. I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but I’ve been asking people this since I was a teenager. Why would we thank someone for releasing us from jail, if he was the one who put us there?

I suspect that on some level you know the answer already. We are thanking G-d for the whole process. Abraham was incomparably great, but he could not have received the Torah. For that, G-d needed a nation. And no nation in existence could have done it. Only a nation descended from Abraham. But more: Only a nation that had passed through “Kur HaBarzel”, the iron crucible, that had experienced what it meant to be far from G-d (“slaves of Pharaoh”), and had begun to understand what it would mean to be close to him – only that nation could ever have been able to accept the kindness and love for which G-d created this world.

Wishing you a Happy Passover,
Michoel Reach
 
God took Joseph and his brothers to Egypt to save the 12 tribes of Israel from famine. He took them there to start a nation of people carrying the linage of the Messiah. Satan had tried so many times to thwart the birth of the Messiah. He had caused the impurity of the bloodline of mankind before the Flood which caused Giants and such corruption and wickedness…he tried to stop the Messiah’s blood line. He tried to have so many of Jesus forefathers to sin or to fall away…he tried to keep David off the Throne…he tried to keep Solomon off the Throne…tried to keep the Temple from being built…the Ark of Covenant from staying with the people…he tried to keep the Israelites in Egypt under cruel slavery…he tried to have Moses killed as a child and to keep him in the religion of Egypt and the Pharoah’s home…he tried to tempt Moses into having no confidence to go back to Egypt…he tried to tempt the Israelites from worshipping God or getting the Ten Commandments from Moses and God after their idolatry. he tried to kill off the twelve tribes in wars…he tried to have Jesus mother killed by stoning…he tried to have Jesus killed as a child…IF THE EXODUS HAD NOT HAPPENED…IF JOSEPH HAD NOT FORGIVEN HIS BROTHERS…IF SATAN’S ATTEMPTS OF KEEPING THE JEWISH NATION DOWN AND JESUS FAMILY FROM BEING BORN IN FREEDOM…JESUS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BORN AND WE WOULD ALL BE IN ORIGINAL SIN AND THE WAGES OF DEATH WOULD BE OURS INSTEAD OF SALVATION THROUGH CHIRST OUR LORD… Thank you for the question out here on this forum…this morning writing this to you has blessed me with my own realization of all this in looking for an answer for you. I am a Messianic Jewish by blood, Protestant Christian. I loved your question. Donna.
 
Donna777 said:
God took Joseph and his brothers to Egypt to save the 12 tribes of Israel from famine. He took them there to start a nation of people carrying the linage of the Messiah. Satan had tried so many times to thwart the birth of the Messiah. He had caused the impurity of the bloodline of mankind before the Flood which caused Giants and such corruption and wickedness…he tried to stop the Messiah’s blood line. He tried to have so many of Jesus forefathers to sin or to fall away…he tried to keep David off the Throne…he tried to keep Solomon off the Throne…tried to keep the Temple from being built…the Ark of Covenant from staying with the people…he tried to keep the Israelites in Egypt under cruel slavery…he tried to have Moses killed as a child and to keep him in the religion of Egypt and the Pharoah’s home…he tried to tempt Moses into having no confidence to go back to Egypt…he tried to tempt the Israelites from worshipping God or getting the Ten Commandments from Moses and God after their idolatry. he tried to kill off the twelve tribes in wars…he tried to have Jesus mother killed by stoning…he tried to have Jesus killed as a child…IF THE EXODUS HAD NOT HAPPENED…IF JOSEPH HAD NOT FORGIVEN HIS BROTHERS…IF SATAN’S ATTEMPTS OF KEEPING THE JEWISH NATION DOWN AND JESUS FAMILY FROM BEING BORN IN FREEDOM…JESUS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BORN AND WE WOULD ALL BE IN ORIGINAL SIN AND THE WAGES OF DEATH WOULD BE OURS INSTEAD OF SALVATION THROUGH CHIRST OUR LORD… Thank you for the question out here on this forum…this morning writing this to you has blessed me with my own realization of all this in looking for an answer for you. I am a Messianic Jewish by blood, Protestant Christian. I loved your question. Donna.
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I love this thread!

Sarah did not wait for God’s promise of a baby → Hagar/Ishmael
Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery → Jacob’s family into Egypt → eventual slavery
Caleb scouts the Promised Land → the people’s grumbling leads to 40 years of wandering
David murders Uriah → delay of building the Temple because of blood on his hands
Solomon and his 700+ wives → division of the nation

Etc, etc. I see God continually having to “re-write the script” because of our disobedience. But God’s Plans cannot be frustrated, so the glory goes to Him anyway!
 
God cannot be blamed because the sinful Egyptians eventually enslaved the Israelites. Therefore, God is to be thanked for liberating the Israelites from their Egyptian slavery.
 
BouncingBall said:
I love this thread!

Sarah did not wait for God’s promise of a baby → Hagar/Ishmael
Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery → Jacob’s family into Egypt → eventual slavery
Caleb scouts the Promised Land → the people’s grumbling leads to 40 years of wandering
David murders Uriah → delay of building the Temple because of blood on his hands
Solomon and his 700+ wives → division of the nation

Etc, etc. I see God continually having to “re-write the script” because of our disobedience. But God’s Plans cannot be frustrated, so the glory goes to Him anyway!
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A lot of the Old Testament reads like a comedy, so many tricks and twists and turns!. No wonder Jews make such great comedians!😉
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
A lot of the Old Testament reads like a comedy, so many tricks and twists and turns!. No wonder Jews make such great comedians!😉
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Ouch. I know you meant that in a nice way, I guess.

I look at the people of the Old Testament as … us. I see the fortunes and misfortunes, the turning to and way from God as … us. I can’t say “oh, those Jews” in any way other than by pointing the finger at … us. Even the chosen people had bad days – a lot of them! Just like us. It’s why we all need a Savior.
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
A lot of the Old Testament reads like a comedy, so many tricks and twists and turns!. No wonder Jews make such great comedians!😉
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A comedy? Which version are you reading and why are you giving the impression that it is funny?
 
So why do we thank G-d so much for taking us out of Egypt, when He put us in there in the first place? What are we thanking Him for?

Rejoice always, never cease praying, render constant thanks; such is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Th5:16-18 We should give thanks to God in all circumstances whether we care for the circumstances or not.

When Paul and Silas were thrown into prison unjustly, after a flogging of many lashes, they were up at midnight praying and singing hymns to God. (Acts 17) They knew to give praise to God in all circumstances and did not say to God “Why did you put us here? Why, for doing your work, should we be flogged and thrown into jail unjustly?” They gave praise and thanks in such a difficult circumstance.

For the exodus, there never was before or after, such a marvelous and powerful manifestation of God for his chosen people. He opened the Red Sea, the people traveled on dry ground, their enemies were swallowed up with the sea returning to it’s place. If you cannot give thanks to God for such a powerful deliverance, and promise of the Promised Land, what is going on in your heart that you cannot render him praise and thanks? The saints before us gave praise and thanks under difficult circumstances. Cannot we at least thank him when something goes well and to our favor? The opening of the Red Sea is worthy of praise and thanks, don’t you agree? A tale worthy to tell to the generations!

Acts 17 continued: In their praise and thanks, there was an earthquake, their chains fell off, and the doors of the prison opened. That’s what happens when we praise God in all circumstances; His power comes forth to help us.

When the people of God crossed the Red Sea and came out of Egypt, they foreshadowed the time of Christ when the holy family had to flee to Egypt, where they stayed until the death of Herod. “Out of Egypt I have called my Son”. Matt 2:15.
The citation of Hos 11:1, relates Jesus to Israel. Just as God called Israel out of Egypt to create a people peculiarly his own, so he called Jesus out of Egypt into the land of Israel to accomplish his purpose of creating the new Israel or People of God.

How marvelous are your works Oh Lord! In wisdom you have wrought them all!
 
PennyinCanada said:
The citation of Hos 11:1, relates Jesus to Israel. Just as God called Israel out of Egypt to create a people peculiarly his own, so he called Jesus out of Egypt into the land of Israel to accomplish his purpose of creating the new Israel or People of God.
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Jesus delivers us from the slavery and cruel bondage of sin.
(Wanted to add that!)
 
I wonder if there were sins that caused God to hand Israel over to the Egyptian into slavery, since in the OT God often chastises Israel for sins…? I have no found any Jewish commentary on this. I do know what Exodus 1 says…they were made slaves by the Egyptians because they were jealous/scared of Israel’s prosperity and size
 
BerhaneSelassie said:
I wonder if there were sins that caused God to hand Israel over to the Egyptian into slavery, since in the OT God often chastises Israel for sins…? I have no found any Jewish commentary on this. I do know what Exodus 1 says…they were made slaves by the Egyptians because they were jealous/scared of Israel’s prosperity and size
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The Jewish Study Bible (Oxford University Press) suggests the explanation is in Gen 12:10. God had brought Abram to the land of Canaan, but when the famine arrived, Abram skeedaddled for Egypt. Abram committed a great sin by not trusting in God’s promise (in 12:2) to make of him a great nation.

I thought there was a different explanation, and I’ll be back if/when I can find what I’m looking for, but this insight, provided by the Jewish scholar Ramban, offers one possible implicit explanation.

[this is an occasion to cite a Protestant minister I heard on the radio once, talking about the temptations of Jesus in the desert. He says that the temptations of Jesus, for food (turn the rock into bread), throw himself off the temple (longing for security), and the temptation for power ( get control of all kingdoms) were symbolic of the perenniel needs of the Abrahamic/Jewish people. Here is one such instance of one of these threats.]
 
What argues against what I said in the previous post is that the Israelites did not go into slavery as a result of that apparent lapse of Abraham.

Instead, we see in Gen 15:13 that the enslavement of Abram’s descendents was foretold in a dream. Neither the verse nor the commentary offers any explanation for this plan. It goes back to the idea in my original post (#1) perhaps.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
Just ran into this Jewish discussion of this question today: Yes, God took us out of Egypt, but He put us there in the first place!

Haven’t read it yet, but it looks interesting.
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I just read the article and it is indeed interesting and touching. Thank you for the link. The article aims to justify the suffering of the Jewish people as a means of fortifying them and discusses the suffering and redemptive nature of the Passover Seder. The discussion involving the Biblical passage in which Moses perceives only the back of G-d and its interpretation is fascinating. I also like the silversmith analogy. Just as the silversmith who places the hottest part of the fire directly under the silver but does not allow the fire to last one moment longer than necessary for fear of destroying the silver, G-d never takes His eye off His people even while testing them, lest they be destroyed. This philosophy of redemption through suffering is also very much part of Christian faith. There is, however, a more mundane view expressed by a Reform rabbi (whose name escapes me) in a book he wrote several years ago entitled “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” (rather than “Why Bad Things Happen to Good People”). The author does not try to justify suffering but instead offers ways to cope with bad events and tragedies in one’s life.
 
meltzerboy - glad it helped you. I really appreciate Aish.com for sending me these. I particularly find the reasoning by rabbis fascinating. They can get a great deal from what I might otherwise overlook.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
Just ran into this Jewish discussion of this question today: Yes, God took us out of Egypt, but He put us there in the first place!

Haven’t read it yet, but it looks interesting.
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Jesus gives us the true image of God, and that image is one of suffering – God suffering.
We could SAY that God suffers because of the sins of mankind, but Jesus proves the point. His suffering is premeditated, brutal, prolonged, cruel, and eventually results in His mortal death. Betrayal is just the beginning of His path of suffering (as was betrayal the root of the enslavement of Israel, starting with the betrayal of Joseph by his brothers).

This is just my opinion of the situation, but I read that human suffering is perfected by uniting it with Christ. The sacrifice demanded of our discipleship is the very least form of suffering and it can be substantial, not to mention all the “ordinary” suffering we encounter in this life. We suffer BECAUSE of our relationship to God. Suffering MAY teach us a lesson, I don’t know. It’s always hard to understand suffering and death. But suffering and death, at their “best” if there is such a thing, directs us to Christ.
 
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