The Exodus was a central event in the history of Israel. It was the experience of their flight from Egypt and their forty years in the desert that shaped them as a nation. But what if they were not really liberated from their slavery in Egypt but instead were expelled because they were becoming too many to feed and to unruly to rule? What if they were not led in the desert by the signs and wonders of God’s presence but were literally lost in the wilderness until they chanced upon the fertile lands of Canaan?
Two thousand years later, a man comes from the wilderness after spending forty days in the desert and begins proclaiming the Kingdom of God. He gathers many and they follow Him. The crowds began to become too many and too unruly it got the authorities worried. And they have this man crucified. The cross is a the supreme penalty reserved for the worst criminals; but this man transforms it into the sign of victory and of His divinity. The cross becomes the symbol of a new life that gives countless people the courage, bravery and heroism to live lives dedicated to love.
Another thousand years later, I sit here wondering, was God really at work among the Israelites during the time of the Exodus or did they just all make it up? Was God really incarnated in Christ or was that all simply symbols and myth? Hard questions and difficult to answer. As many of the things I see around me pose hard questions which are difficult to answer.
In quantum physics, an observed particle changes its “behavior” in response to an observer. Can’t I change the reality around me through my mind and my thoughts? The Israelites in the desert did. Jesus during His life did. I shut down all the noise around me and there is still a voice I hear deep within me. I shut out all the light around me and there is still a light that shines deep within me. I keep still and keep quiet and I can feel the beating of my heart; but there is another beat that throbs within me. I know that throbbing is the scintilla of my origin, a trace from my Creator. It is the same spark that led the Israelites in the desert and the same Spirit that inspired and indwelled in Jesus.