Exodus: Out of Slavery

     This week I have been traveling with my daughters.  Along the way we visited Tuskegee University, the Historical Museum in Montgomery, drove along US 80 from Montgomery to Selma, and walked across the bridge.  At the University we saw the stained glass window at the Chapel which highlights spirituals sung by slaves.  In Selma, we also saw pictures: both contained scenes from Egypt.
     >see pictures on Facebook, type in the link "KosherCopy"
     The Passover story has meaning in every generation.  It is so full of meaning the Jewish people have been telling the story, celebrating our freedom, and incorporating concern for others through 3,500 years.  The African American also celebrates this story, as well as their own freedom.  And we need to look today at those who still need freedom, for the story is meant to teach us compassion.
     One celebrated verse in the book of Exodus says, "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that they may worship me." (Ex 9:1) Enslaved people need a God who will give them boldness and the way to ask for freedom.
     God tells us, "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt." (Ex 22:21)  We are to take this teaching and apply it to our world today.  What of children of aliens born in this country?  This seems to be a political hotbed.  The Bible would teach us not only to care for the children born in this country; but also their parents (yes, some are illegal), who have come to make a better life for themselves.  We are to care for them and help them.  We live in a land of immigrants.  (We saw at the History Museum how white men displaced the Indians illegally).  
     We, as parents set the example for our children.  We are to "On that day tell your son, 'I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt." Ex 13:8.  Certainly we are to take the teachings of Passover and put them to use, so all will be able to hear the Gospel, and live in the land.