Vol. VII No. 3 Feb. 3, 2008

I’m Going to Egypt!

Written by Christopher Mentzer

The Superbowl takes place this afternoon and, if tradition holds as it has since 1987, at the end of the game the winning team will be approached and asked this question: You’ve just won the Superbowl. What are you going to do now? The Player responds: I’m going to Disneyworld!

But what about the losing team? No one asks them what they are going to do because, well no one really cares. They’ll just return to their hometown and prepare for the next season. What if the loser was more popular that the winner? Don’t think it’s possible? Here’s an example— Go back several years and think of the television program called the Wide World of Sports. As you do so, visualize the opening title sequence. Here’s the script to help you remember:

Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport! The thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat! The human drama of athletic competition! This is ABC's Wide World of Sports!

What do you remember more in the opening above all the rest? Perhaps one person who stands out more was the athlete for the “Agony of Defeat”. He was Ski Jumper, Vinko Bogataj. From Wikipedia, I found this snippet concerning his legendary accident:

World Ski Flying Championships in 1970. Midway through his third run, Bogataj felt he was going too fast and tried to slow down. Unfortunately, he lost his balance and tumbled spectacularly over the side of the ramp. Bogataj suffered only a concussion, though apparently he never again jumped with quite the same "abandon."

Now suppose the losers had to announce: I’m going to Egypt! Sounds silly but in the scriptures a lot of people with a defeatist attitude did so. When the Israelites were freed from Egypt (Ex. 12: 31-32), they spent a lot of time complaining about being stuck in the wilderness and left to die. They looked back at their time in Egypt as something special because they didn’t have to fend for themselves for food and water. This was a common theme in Ex. 16 and 17. Even in Numbers, they wanted to go back. In chapter 11: 1-4 they thought back on the fresh vegetables. And in Numbers 14 they complained about the ‘Giants’ in the promise land and wanted to go back to Egypt.

But what was waiting for them in Egypt? Death. In Jeremiah after the majority were carried away captive to Babylon, the small remnant packed up and left for Egypt (Jer. 43: 5-7).

Today many Christians new to the faith have the same defeatist attitude and they look back on their former way of life as easier. Jesus warned about this in Luke 9: 62, “No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” And again in Luke 17: 32 which he simply says, “Remember Lot’s wife.” You recall when Lot and his family fled Sodom and Gomorrah, they were told not to look back nor dwell in the plain (Gen. 19: 17). But as they left, his wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt (vs. 26). Why? Because she looked at her former life as something better. We are told by God to put away our former life (old man) and renew our spirit (put on the new man) (Eph. 4: 20-24).

Don’t be one who wants to go back to Egypt but rather get on the path of righteous (Matt. 7: 14) and look toward heaven as your final resting place (Col. 3: 2)