Exodus 3:22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”
Have you ever heard the term “blood sucking lawyers”? This term is not a statement about all lawyers, but about a certain type of person who is in the profession for their own gain and not their clients. They are not about justice, but about getting everything that can be gotten for themselves and their own client. Not justice, get even, or get even more.
Lawyers are not the only ones who can take advantage of other people. We see it in the public square all the time. The rich lobby their legislatures to pass laws and regulations that favor their business over others. They get special protections that normal people and companies just don’t get. Not justice, get even, or get even more.
We see it among kids as they play. It is about fairness, until one child seems to have an advantage. Then the scales are weighted against the others, and tears or anger burst out. Not justice, get even, or get even more.
But surely the LORD deals justly with humanity, doesn’t He?
Our text drops us right at the beginning of the Moses’ role as Deliverer of Israel from Egyptian slavery. His role is pivotal. The LORD gives Moses the big picture of what is going to happen. The LORD”s hand is going to be for Israel and against those who oppose Israel.
Our text tells us about the exit strategy. Part of that strategy is to take advantage of the Egyptian’s fear as the LORD rains down plagues upon the Egyptian gods. As the plagues come, the Egyptians are increasingly affected by the disasters that happen to them, while the Israelites are spared.
Here is a slave people with nothing to their names. They own nothing. They have no wealth. It has all been worked out of them over the centuries. They came to Egypt with more than they have now. All they have now is numbers! Even Pharaoh fears their numbers.
The LORD instructs the women to as Egyptian women for fungible assets, things that can be easily exchanged for goods and services. The gold and silver objects and clothing would be easy to carry and easily exchanged for needed resources when the time came. Where did the Egyptians get this wealth? Off the backs of the Israelites.
You see, the LORD was bringing about economic justice in that moment. He wasn’t imposing a tax or a regulation. Instead, He was using the Egyptian’s fear against them.
But wait, isn’t that mean of the LORD to do that? Well, as we continue to read the story, we will discover that any Egyptian who desired could follow the LORD and even escape the final plague, the death of the firstborn. They could even leave Egypt and join the Israelis community as they left. They had a choice.
The profit that the Israelites earned through their labor was being returned. The promise of blessing to a people the LORD had chosen was being fulfilled. It wasn’t that the people were any better than anyone else, it was that the one true God was showing His greatness to the world. It wasn’t about them. It was the LORD demonstrating His character through His actions in a people.
This is what we are supposed to be doing and being. We are created in HIs image and likeness. We are supposed to be demonstrating His goodness to the world. His justice should be our justice. His economics should be our economics. His love should be our love.
Is this how we are living?
The Arnold Journey 