The Exodus Symbolism
(chapter three intro to "Rise Above")

America is actually in the middle of Egypt, and it doesn't even know it. Like the Israelites, we have invested our energy in Egypt (see Appendix B for Egyptian symbolism). Just as the Israelites became professional brick makers, we have become professional dieters. We have let the food become our master. We have let it call our names and summon us from the pantry, and we have then become enslaved to the ensuing constant dieting, eating tasteless foods, counting calories, counting fat grams, and becoming obsessed with exercise and bulimia. The Israelites built pyramids, but we have built relationships with the kitchen and have built weight loss institutions across the world. We have acted as if God has forsaken the land. The coins that we have inscribed with In God We Trust have been used to pay for Egyptian (worldly) remedies and concoctions to get us out of this mess. When the white coats told us that the answer was in the form of a pill, we bought it and we swallowed it. Then when they told us the answer was in the form of a liquid, we emptied our pocketbooks and guzzled it. Then when they told us the answer was stomach stapling and suction-assisted lipectomies, we took out a loan and tried them. These remedies have not saved us from loving food. The Israelites stayed in Egypt for 430 years, and then they cried out for a Savior. America has been in a mess for decades, and we have cried out to God again and again to remove this fat and save us from this burden. Does it surprise us that after we have finally lost faith in the world's methods-only after recycling the same diet one hundred times, of course-we turn to God? That is just like mankind-we resort to God instead of making Him first. After 430 years, it would seem to the Israelites that God had deserted the land-and after years of obesity and dieting, it would seem to us that God has deserted us. But of course, He hasn't! However, just as He didn't respond until the children of Israel wanted out and cried out for a Savior, He will not respond until we want to be saved from the enslavement of food! We have to ask ourselves: Do we really want out of this relationship with food? For some, it may take 430 years of repetitive bricklaying-that is, using the same diets over and over-to be convinced to call out to God. God knows that it takes a response from the bottom of our hearts to want out of the love of food. Otherwise, when He reaches down to save us, it is like pulling a twelve-month-old away from his mother. The baby would want to go right back to the mother's arms. Wanting out puts many things into motion. In Genesis 46:4a, God spoke these words: I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. Even though God was talking to Jacob, He is talking to us today. Why would God want us to go to Egypt? Well, I look at it this way: God is so good-looking, so athletic, so powerful, and so charming that upon first sight, we would all immediately bow down and adore Him. So He made Himself invisible to make the contest a little more fair. On top of that, He is such a humble gentleman that He took us to Egypt and allowed us to meet His rival face-to-face. Although God did not allow us to touch, see, or hear Him, He put us in the middle of His competition and allowed us to use every sense to experience it. In other words, He let us taste the world and flirt with the world, but unfortunately, some of us have become married to the world. That was the chance that God was willing to take. He didn't want us to wind up in heaven and in His arms without a choice, never having dated around, so to speak. God wasn't going to lock us up in some castle where we couldn't see the opponent. He's a gentleman. As good-looking as He is and as athletic as He is, He is not going to let Himself be visible because He knows that we would all bow down and worship Him immediately. There is no competition-there is no one else in His league. So, yes, He is going to let us date around-that's Plan A-so we can appreciate what a great choice He is. But unfortunately, some of His children-in fact, a lot of His children-have lost their focus and become distracted, and therefore found their hearts enslaved to Egypt, with no idea of how to get out of this relationship. This was not part of Plan A. So God had to resort to Plan B: a duel-a boxing match-a fight. God's fight would be with the pharaoh of Egypt and with the one whom Pharaoh symbolizes, Satan. Satan, or the devil, is a very powerful spiritual being whom many people do not take seriously. Some see him as a cartoon character with a pitchfork. Others imagine him as a repulsive creature they have seen in a horror movie. But the Bible teaches that Satan and his angels rebelled against his heavenly Father and were cast out of heaven (Rev. 12:7-8). God has allowed Satan to roam the earth and compete for the hearts and minds of the people. Ephesians 6:11-12 says that the devil is the leader of the spiritual forces of evil. Sometimes Satan is very direct, as in the biblical incidents of demon possession or the time he murdered Job's family by causing a windstorm and caused the financial ruin of Job's estate (Job 1). Other times, particularly when he wants us to follow him, he is more covert or deceptive, as when he lied to Adam and Eve about the consequences of eating from the one and only tree that God had clearly forbidden. Satan also is the source of temptation, which people give in to through their own lack of self-control (1 Cor. 7:5), doing what is sinful or evil (1 John 3:8). And the consequences of sin are devastating-as in the poor health or death that results from overindulgence in food. But we have the power, through devotion to our heavenly Father and His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to defeat the dark force of Satan. James 4:7 states, Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. In the Exodus story, God demonstrates His overwhelming power over Egypt and Egypt's master, Pharaoh, who represents Satan. God wasn't going to leave what was rightfully His in the arms and clutches of Egypt. The Israelites' backs were breaking under the strain of the labor, and they cried out to God. Once the children of God cried out to the Father from this pain, they were ready for the Exodus-one of the most incredible stories on earth. If you, too, are crying out to our heavenly Father to save you from this heartless slave driver called food, then you are ready for the exodus as well. You are ready for salvation from the love of this earth. The problem has been that it has never occurred to us that our hearts needed to be saved or rescued. We didn't know that it was superglued to the food. But since the key to unlocking obesity is in our hearts, it cannot be found in the nutrition books, and we must go to God's Word for answers.