Interestingly, we always assume, because of our social location, that people think of America as the new promised land instead of the new Egypt. We assume that immigrants to this country are coming here because they view it as the promised land full of “milk and honey.” Many immigrants just do not see it this way.
An excerpt from a blog post, "Is America the Promised Land or Egypt?" by Jimmy McCarty
2 comments:
Is there a right answer here? McCarty's observation that many immigrants coming to the United States to so with plans to leave and go back home at some point, as did the early Israelite visitors to Egypt. As it turns out, Egypt became a place of slavery for Israel and an emblem of sin throughout Scripture. But does that mean all large and wealthy nations to which refugees come are places of slavery? It seems to me he's written America into an unjust corner.
It seems to me that the larger question here is whether the Promised Land can be found on Earth at all. Yes, God gave the land of Canaan to the Israelites; yes, the United States is an incredible nation; yes, the homes from which refugees flee but to which they hope to return are wonderful too. But NONE of these places can be a final home. That was part of the problem the Sadducees of Jesus' own day had: they were too content to live in Jerusalem and worship God in the Promised Land, rather than pushing on to the true promised land of intimacy with God, found in its fullness in heaven.
In that sense, the whole of the Earth is our Egypt, a place of exile, separated from God. But in His goodness He transforms our exile into pilgrimage and calls us home.
Great point, bro!
We all must be careful not to loose sight of our true homeland.
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