Parting with Slavery Is a Tough Job!
Ukraine’s Christian churches recently marked the centenary of publishing the first unabridged Ukrainian translation of the Bible, its Old and New Testaments. The translation was done by the writer, historian, and ethnographer Panteleymon Kulish. Word has it that Kulish was inspired to do this work by his friend Taras Shevchenko who, judging by his oeuvre, never parted company with the Bible. It took Panteleymon Kulish decades to do this translation, but dramatic circumstances prevented him from living to see the work of his lifetime published. Today, the Ukrainian Bible is accessible to everybody and can be heard in any church.
Although the Bible’s texts were formed several millenniums ago, they also discuss what is going on in today’s society: “...and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) (hereinafter quoted the King James version — Ed.). The Bible says the time changes everything but the human nature, for all the transformations “under the sun” boil down to the outer and ephemeral change of forms and words rather than the essence.
The Bible’s first part, Mosaic Pentateuch, recounts the history of the Israelites’ Exodus from Egyptian captivity, where “the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field... and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried.” (Exodus 1:13, 14). Then came the most terrible: “And Pharaoh [Ramses II] charged all his people, saying, ‘Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river [the Nile], and every daughter ye shall save alive’ “ (Exodus 1:22). The powerful pharaoh thus planned to destroy and assimilate a nation, leaving it without males. The Hebrews understood at last that it was impossible to live on in Egypt and that they must save themselves.
Ancient Israel was lucky enough to have some devout and bold leaders who decided to take the people out of the hard Egyptian slavery and protect them from the pharaoh’s tyranny. God Himself heard their groans, descended to the Hebrews, and sent the horrible “Egyptian plagues” upon the country that oppressed them. The Lord advised the Hebrews to flee Egypt, encouraged and promised all kinds of aid to their leader Moses. So, in spite of a fatal danger, the Hebrews safely left Egypt and headed cheerfully for the Promised Land “flowing with milk and honey.” The Lord never left His people in the lurch: He fed and kept them as they came across the desert, sided with them in battles against enemies, and sometimes personally led them on, disguised as a cloud. En route, the Lord taught the Hebrews to live a self-sustained life: He gave them the Ten Commandments and many other useful and obligatory regulations, for example, “Thou shalt not raise a false report... Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil, neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment... If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again... And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous... Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 23:1-9).
Yet, despite a constant heavenly support, the Exodus story is full of the Hebrews’ lamentations and discontent: whenever they came across the slightest difficulty or danger, they would reproach not only the prophet Moses but also the Lord Himself for rousing them to leave the familiar and habitual Egypt. Just fancy what the runaways spoke as they fled to the Promised Land of freedom and abundance!
“And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would God we had died in this wilderness!” (Numbers 14:2). “And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?” (Numbers 14:3).
“And the children of Israel said unto them, ‘Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger’.” (Exodus 16:3). “Because the Lord hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us” (Deuteronomy 1:27). “Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover... there we saw the giants...” (Numbers 13:28, 33).
“And they said unto Moses, ‘Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?... Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians! For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness!” (Exodus 14:11).
“...and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way... And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread” (i.e. “manna from heaven” that the Lord gave them — Ed.) (Numbers 21:4,5).
Seeing that the Israelites were unable to overcome hardships, God visited His wrath upon them. “And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?’ “ (Exodus 16:28). God finally understood that people raised in captivity are incapable of duly appreciating freedom and sacrificing themselves for its sake. So the Lord, instead of letting the tribe corrupted by Egyptian slavery into the Promised Land, sent it to wander across the desert. He waited for almost forty years until all the elders, who remembered Egypt and were afraid to go to a new and unknown life, had died. Only after this did He give Palestine to the people of Israel.
During the Exodus, the elect nation had great prophet leaders who were honestly following their vocation. All they thought about was how to carry their people out of captivity and provide them with a decent and God-willing life. But how can a people go out of captivity if its “prophets” are only busy worshipping the golden calf?
