Friday, December 1, 2017

day no. 14,284: ruthless

Exodus 1:12-14
But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

Israel never gave Egypt any indication that they were preparing to go rogue. They gave no hint of revolt. But the fretful imaginations of Egypt propelled them to treat Israel harshly. Egypt loved itself and was scared of what might happen to them IF Israel ever acted as their suspicions suggested. So they proactively abused those who had done nothing wrong. They oppressed and ruthlessly treated Israel according to their imagined crimes. They enslaved them in order to protect themselves. They imagined that IF Israel revolted and joined a foreign attack; they would become the slaves of others. So they enslaved Israel. They did to Israel what they feared would happen to them. They struck first to avoid the strike they feared. Egypt was so motivated by self-interest that they did to innocent peoples what they feared would happen to them. This is how we act when principle is ignored in place of personal prosperity. This is how the fear of being abused transforms the worrier into an abuser of others. 

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