To evoke “Egypt” as a literary theme and place in the Bible is to paint a picture of oppression… and refuge. The Old Testament constantly reminds its audiences of the great liberating work by God to free Hebrews from the tyranny of Egypt. Later generations of Hebrews in prophetic discourse use Egypt as a rhetorical device to recall the first significant national-religious moment in Hebrew memory. Freedom from Egypt and crossing the Sea of Reeds served as a theological milestone on a journey to discover the nature of I AM (YHWH). Egypt reminded the Hebrew of God’s great strength against enslavement and powerlessness.
However, the biblical narrative often finds a breath of relief in the land of Egypt. The stories of matriarchs and patriarchs in Genesis show Egypt as a place of security and wealth. Abram and Sarai fled to Egypt twice to avoid death by famine or plague. The son of Hagar finds a wife and rest in Egypt after his father abandoned him and Hagar in the desert. Joseph most famously overcame a series of oppressive circumstances and rose to political power in Egypt. Joseph’s place allowed his family to survive seven years of famine. When Israel suffered invasion and exile, Egypt became a safe haven to avoid death and deportation. In the New Testament, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus fled to Egypt to avoid infantcide.
Our American view of Egypt today regards Egypt as the custodian of many ancient wonders such as the Sphinx and Thebes. The archeological wealth of pyramids, tombs, religious icons, hieroglyphs, and ancient libraries capture our pop culture imaginations in movies like The Mummy and Cleopatra. Politically, Egypt has sided with Western sensibilities and Israel to support some stability in a tumultuous region of the world. Media naturally falls to Egypt’s contentious neighbors and returns to Egypt when historical rarities surface.
Now attention to Egypt has arrived not out of a distant past, but out of an urgent need for justice. Here are some highlights of current events:
· Tuesday, January 25, 2011, known as the “Day of Rage” (inspired by Tunisian demonstrations) was the first large scale protest against the ruling National Democratic Party.
· Thursday, January 27, 2001, protest movements spread and gained influential participants. The government offered to open dialogue with no concessions. Later in the evening, the government shuts off internet service in the country.
· February, 1, 2011, protesters respond to the reshuffled appointments among the President’s advisors with a demonstration in Tahrir Square. Hundreds of thousands come out to demand the President’s immediate removal from office. The President says he will not re-run for election in September.
· February 2-4, 2011, pro-government ‘thugs’ infiltrate demonstrations and instigate violence against protesters and foreign journalists.
Egyptian protesters call to resist a governing body that tortures and exploits Egypt’s people. Egypt is by no means an impoverished state, but visitors quickly notice comparatively the poor living conditions for the average Egyptian citizen to their own. Since 2005, the Egyptian government systematically sold off its national banks and real estate interests to foreign firms. The relinquished control of Egypt’s financial system for a quick profit contributed to higher unemployment and inflation. In one sense, the Egyptian people were “sold out”—the government traded the financial well-being of its citizens in the way a private company “goes public.” Outsiders competing in global markets become a determining force of internal government decisions. Thus, the present government structure oppresses its people.
The Egyptian people, from farmers to dentists to UN representatives, described in interviews how the present government violated the Egyptian people’s civil rights over 30 years. Protests call for genuine democracy in the face of a corrupt governing body and decades of injustice. Some American news commentators say this movement was instigated by Communists and the government will shortly be taken over by the extreme Muslim Brotherhood. Such commentary uses fear-saturated buzzwords connected especially to the War on Terror to diminish American political support of these demonstrations. “Anti-Americanism” labels have some commentators questioning whether democracy should be allowed in the Middle East. Additionally, political instability in Egypt threatens the fragile state relations in the Middle East which affects American oil interests.
But, perhaps, the perceived threat of a popular governing body in Egypt is not a political question, but a question of affirming an Islamic influenced democracy. How can we support the religion persecuted in the War on Terror? The Egyptian people ask Americans to remember their humanity and right to flourish in this world. The popular media discourse largely offers a fear driven political-religious dichotomy lens, but I see this issue fundamentally as an issue of economic justice.
How should American Christians respond to Egypt’s road to economic justice? To answer, it seems we need clarity about the American and the Christian threads of our identity. The United States wants to hold superior political and economic power among the world nations to enrich United States citizens. Our shared identity as Americans is bound to competitive fears and anxieties when foreign powers become unpredictable. National worries can paralyze the Christian call to celebrate each person—who is a reflection of our Creator God. Jesus exhorts listeners in Matthew 6 to seek first the kingdom of God and to not worry about the material concerns of tomorrow (v.27-34). This can only be accomplished by acknowledging whether your master is God (YHWH) or material power (v24-25). As Christians, we must overcome fear so we can embody the work of God via the Holy Spirit.
Prioritizing Jesus’ call in the Gospels now forces us to wonder what action is necessary to seek the kingdom of God. As strangers in the land of Egypt, our greatest and immediate support to those risking all for democracy and justice is prayer. Prayer shares both the public and private world with wide opportunities in our unique communities. We step into solidarity by proclaiming a word of hope with those who suffer oppression under human structures. We defy the power of sin when we evoke the power of the Holy Spirit to breathe life into broken relationships. We must trust the power of God, through the witness local and global religious communities, to transform the oppressive government state of Egypt into a land of justice and refuge.
We must pray.
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