Reflecting the Image

Scripture:

Exodus 3:21–22

21 I will bring this people into such favor with the Egyptians that, when you go, you will not go empty-handed; 22 each woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman living in the neighbor’s house for jewelry of silver and of gold and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters; so you shall plunder the Egyptians.

Observation:

God is providing a way out of Egypt for His people. He knew that the journey ahead would be challenging and that they would need resources. I find it fascinating that He specifically uses the women to go to the Egyptian women and ask for help. These people had lived alongside one another for many years, and relationships must have developed along the way. The Israelite women are told to ask their neighbors for jewelry of silver and gold, as well as clothing.

I find it fascinating that these gifts were given to the Israelites. And evidently, not just in a small amount, but enough that it was considered “plunder.”

God didn’t want to send His children out of Egypt empty-handed. He had a plan. And as they eventually left Egypt, the sons and daughters were wearing the plunder.

God was making provision.

Application:

We lived in Russia for many years and read many stories about Russian history. One sad moment is the execution of the last Czar and his family. From the accounts written of the event, the executioners were shocked that it took so many shots to actually kill members of the family. Why? It was discovered that they had sewn their wealth — money and precious jewels — into their clothing. Firsthand accounts described it as if they were wearing armor. In today’s terms, it was almost as if they were wearing bullet-proof vests. The story is strangely reminiscent of the Israelites leaving Egypt, carrying their wealth with them — but with a much more tragic ending.

This moment in Exodus fascinates me because it shows the way in which God was making provision for the Israelites. God would take care of them, not just from the moment of leaving Egypt, but throughout their journey toward the Promised Land. The original journey would not have been that long. The forty years of wandering were the result of disobedience along the way.

Sadly, we know more of the story. What God had intended for provision, they ended up using for selfish purposes. The golden calf they built to worship while Moses was up on the mountain was made from the gold jewelry they were carrying with them.

What a tragic use of God’s provision.

But later, when building the tabernacle, the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting gave up their bronze mirrors to create the basin used for the cleansing of the priests. These mirrors belonged to the world the Israelites had left behind in Egypt. Egyptian women used polished bronze mirrors, sometimes hanging them by cords around their necks, and carried them as they prepared themselves for worship. After generations in Egypt, this was the culture the Israelite women had known.

And yet, here they were, still carrying those mirrors from their former life. But now something had changed. They surrendered them to God. The mirrors that had once been associated with appearance and the worship practices of Egypt were melted down and transformed into a basin of holy cleansing for the priests.

God had been making provision all along.

What God had provided could be used in very different ways. Some of the jewelry carried out of Egypt was fashioned into a golden calf. The mirrors, however, were surrendered to God and fashioned into something holy. The same people who had carried the wealth of Egypt into the wilderness had to decide what they would do with what was in their hands.

Sometimes God asks us to hold onto something and to be its steward until the moment when it can be offered back to Him. The Israelites demonstrate that we can take what God provides and use it for our own purposes and instant gratification, or we can surrender it to Him and allow it to become part of His holy purposes.

God’s desire all along for the Israelites was that they would be His holy people. God made provision for that to happen in their lives, but they still had to respond. They could take the gifts of God and make a golden calf, or they could surrender those gifts and allow God to use them for something holy.

We were created to be reflections of God’s holy image in this world, and God has made provision for that to happen. Jesus lived, died, was resurrected, and sent the Spirit — all as provision for us to become His holy people. God has acted, but we are invited to respond and participate in what He desires to do in us.

What are we doing with God’s provision? Are we taking His gifts and making our own golden calves along the way, or are we holding them with open hands, ready to surrender them for His holy purposes?

God will make provision.

The question is what we will do with what He provides.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for the provision that You have made in my life. Help me not to be short-sighted about what that provision means, but to trust You throughout this entire life’s journey. Teach me to be a faithful steward of all that You place in my hands, ready to surrender it to You for Your holy purposes. Amen.