To any Jew, the word Exodus is a metaphor of hope in the face of hopelessness, renewal in the midst of nothingness and unparalleled victory over their most malevolent adversaries.
The Exodus is where the Jew first met with the God of heaven and earth and saw his glorious display and majestic power. It was where they first started trusting Him and freefalling into their worst situations, knowing He is the sturdy cloud that goes before them and the pillar that protects them against all odds and dangers. It is where they embarked on a journey in the wilderness to know their God.
But what they left behind, the land of their slavery, the land of their restriction and lack — EGYPT — was left more stripped than the desert wilderness they were heading into, ironically.
Their resources were devastated. Their land lay bare. Their firstborns dead. Their ruler decimated. And they also, like the Israelites, witnessed a show of power from the God who made heaven and earth and were left stunned, fearful and in awe.
Egypt — the land that has to go down for the children of Israel to depart in greatness and wealth and under the hand of the Most High riding on the wings of the dawn.
Exodus 9:13-16 JPS Tanakh 1985
"Hashem said to Moses, “Early in the morning present yourself to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says Hashem, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go to worship Me. For this time I will send all My plagues upon your person, and your courtiers, and your people, in order that you may know that there is none like Me in all the world. I could have stretched forth My hand and stricken you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been effaced from the earth. Nevertheless, I have spared you for this purpose: in order to show you My power, and in order that My fame may resound throughout the world."
Sometimes, it’s too late to make restitution. Pharaoh was too deep into the path he chose. From here, merely reestablishing Israel from being a slave to a first-class citizen wouldn’t make the cut. But the axe of vengeance would cut the taproot that Egypt gloated upon. The whole grown tree had to come thudding down for little Israel to take root in a land of their own, the Promised Land, where the eyes of the Father are affixed. Sometimes, it’s just Life for Life.
