“Then He led them out with silver and gold,

And no one in His tribes staggered.

Egypt rejoiced when they left

Because terror had fallen on them.”

(Psalm 105:37-38)

Here we find the account of the plundering of Egypt. The Israelites went to their former masters and asked for things of wealth. This was given to them not because the Egyptians were generous, but because the Egyptians feared the power of the God of Israel. The term translated here as “terror” is פחד (pachad), which means to tremble and shake so greatly due to the fear and dread you have. Egypt was living through a nightmare as God brought them low in bringing his people out of Egypt.

There is an interesting clause in the first verse. The psalmist states that none of the tribes “staggered” or “stumbled” as they went out. The term used in that verse is כּשׁל (kashal), which refers to stumbling under a great burden of weight. The simplest reading is that the Israelites were given wealth and they were strong enough to carry it all out of the land. Yet, I think that there is also a note of irony being used here. While in slavery, the Israelites stumbled under the yoke of Egypt. In their deliverance, they no longer stumbled or staggered under Egypt’s yoke. The phrase seems to anticipate the words of our Lord when He says, 

“Take up my yoke upon you and learn from me,

For I am gentle and humble of heart

And you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

(Matthew 11:29-30)

In the case of Jesus’ statement, you will notice that He is not saying that yokes shall be broken and cast aside. He is saying that His yoke is a better yoke to bear than the yoke of the oppressors of our world. Why is Jesus’ yoke easy? It is because Jesus is a benevolent master. Why is His burden light? It is because He frees our souls from such oppressive masters as the world imposes upon us. It is good because the masters that this world will provide have a habit of crushing you under their boot. Jesus, as Master, gives life and life abundantly. 

Too often, professing Christians behave as if they are their own masters. That is certainly not the case. Jesus says that the nature of taking on His yoke is that we learn from Him. If you are not learning from Christ, through His Word, you are not a disciple (for a disciple is a student) and you are most certainly not under Christ’s yoke. Further, a student not only learns facts given by his teacher, but they put those facts into application in life. Whenever I have taught students, I have consistently told them that success in the classroom is not about whether you can earn an “A” on an exam. Success is whether you are living out the principles you have been taught even when you lie down to die. 

Another question that sometimes gets asked is whether it is proper to take wealth from pagans. Shouldn’t we only accept benevolence from those who share our faith? This was certainly not the case with the Israelites coming out of Egypt. They were happy to pillage the wealth of Egypt and then repurpose it for Holy things as they traveled to the Promised Land. Nehemiah gladly accepted pagan wealth to fund the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus’ parents arguably used the pagan wealth of the Magi to fund their flight to Egypt to protect the Christ child from Herod. Examples abound. If a pagan wishes to give money to a Christian cause, we should welcome it with thanksgiving to God so long as the pagan is not seeking to make us beholden to him.

Why did Egypt rejoice when Israel left? The plagues ended. God removed His people (and thus His influence) from their land. In doing so, God left Egypt devoid of wealth and power, and left them to their wicked idolatry, which eventually destroyed them. Remember, though the presence of God may seem a hard thing if you are trying to justify sin, when God removes His hand of restraint, that sin will consume and destroy a people. This, we are seeing in the western world as we collapse into paganism, idolatry, and the permitting of all sorts of moral evils: homosexuality, pedophilia, adultery, vulgarity, and irrationality. While many of us still pray for revival here in America, it looks like we are on a trajectory for final judgment as a nation. Today, the western world is much more like Egypt than faithful Israel. Dedun was the god of wealth in the Egyptian pantheon…and he seems to be the god that many Americans bow down to today.