I find it fascinating that the Egyptians are plunged into darkness while the Israelites walk in the light. While you might look at this as literal and miraculous, one could also take this spiritually. It allows us to examine ourselves, and ask, "Am I living in the light?"
We also see the breaking of final ties here between Pharaoh and Moses. It appears that Pharaoh is on the verge of losing it.
Then we have the warning of the final plague. The death of the first born is difficult to understand if we live outside the culture of inheritance. Within the Hebrew people, the first born represented the future of the family line. It was about identity. To cut off the first born is to cut off one's vitality. Their stability in their expectation comes crashing to a sudden halt.
They would be asking, "What will become of us?"Just like that, God can change our path and the road we thought we were on comes to a dead end.
Sometimes abrupt changes in our lives are very disruptive and full of grief. But these abrupt changes can also allow us to wake up in a sense. To reset our lives is sometimes necessary for us to embrace life. We may find that we've been walking in darkness for too long.
What does it mean for us during Lent to step into the light?
Photo by James Walpole, Flickr.com creative commons license.
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