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In the Steps of Moses a Nine-Day Trip to Egypt Brings History Recorded in the Bible to Life

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In the Steps of Moses a Nine-Day Trip to Egypt Brings History Recorded in the Bible to Life The British & European Supplement to July/August 2007 In the Steps of Moses A nine-day trip to Egypt brings history recorded in the Bible to life. A highlight was seeing the mountain believed to be Mount Sinai, from where God spoke the words of His law. t seemed rather peculiar to be going year earlier, I had suffered a heart attack included several church elders and into Egypt towards the end of the and was also told I was diabetic. For brethren from a number of countries. IDays of Unleavened Bread, since four months I was off work, during I was the only Scot. these days celebrate the Israelites leav- which time I received the prayers and We started our tour in Luxor and the ing Egyptian slavery in Exodus. support of United church members. temple at Karnak. This vast complex Organised by the United Church of A minister prayed for and anointed me God as part of an educational pro- for the condition (see James 5:14). I gramme, the trip, which took place in considered this a trial and spent much the Spring of 2007, included visits to time in prayer and Bible study. To be many well-known tourist attractions well enough to go on an expedition like such as the pyramids at Giza, the this, after such an ordeal, was amazing. Temple at Karnak and the Valley of the Kings and Queens. The intent behind the tour was to bring to life biblical accounts and give a physical context to enhance scriptural under- standing. Hatshepshut’s temple between the valley of the queens and A personal quest the valley of the kings. When I first heard about the trip was built and enlarged over a 1,300 I jumped at the opportunity and year period and consists of several thanked God in prayer for it. About a temples dedicated to false gods such as Mut, the mother goddess and goddess of fertility; Montu, the war Above: Huge pillars of the temple at Luxor. god, and Amun-Ra the sun god. As we were to find out, the ancient Visiting Luxor and Egyptians had gods for everything. the Valley of the Kings Little wonder that when God sent the At Cairo airport we were greeted by plagues on the Egyptians, He said: our guide for the duration of the tour, a ‘And against all the gods of Egypt I will young man called Yousef. He was a execute judgement’ (Exodus 12:12). Coptic Christian. About ten percent of The next day we visited the Valley the Egyptian population of 73 million of the Kings and Queens and the mortu- are Coptic Christians, but the majority ary temple of Queen Hatshepsut, who Peter Corrigan at the Tomb of Rameses. are Muslims. Our group of around fifty ruled Egypt for 15 years in the fifteenth Published by the United Church of God – British Isles. Address: The Good News, PO Box 705, Watford WD19 6FZ. Telephone: 020 8386 8467. Fax: 020 8386 1999. Website: www.ucg.org.uk. century BC. Hatshepsut was the first an open question-and-answer session Very early in the morning, with a woman pharaoh, although apparently about Joseph in Egypt. (If these biblical black sky full of huge bright stars over- she often dressed as a man. She reigned festivals are somewhat unfamiliar to head, I declined the offer of a Bedouin the longest of all the female pharaohs. you, please request our free booklet camel to take me up the mountain, and Sabbath services took place at the God’s Holy Day Plan: The Promise of began my climb. About halfway up the hotel in Luxor, with split sermons by Hope for All Mankind.) 7,498 feet, I took a break. Looking Randy Schreiber, an elder from Arizona down I could see a snake of torch lights (‘Against All the Gods of Egypt’), and by In the steps of Moses coming up the mountainside. We esti- Robert Berendt from Canada (‘That You Our next visit involved a six-hour mated that there were more than two May Be Sons’). The following day we bus journey to Jebel Musa, which thousand climbing that night. flew back to Cairo. means the ‘mountain of Moses’. This Then I climbed onward and upward. mountain is However, just when I thought I must be The Great believed to be Pyramid almost at the top, the path was replaced Mount Sinai, by a flight of steps. These were cut by While in Cairo where God came monks in the fifteenth or sixteenth cen- we visited the down in cloud and tury and there were more than 750 to Great Pyramid at fire and spoke the negotiate before reaching the summit. Giza. The largest words of His law of three pyramids They call them the ‘steps of repentance’ to the children of – quite appropriate since we had just in the vicinity, it Israel. En route we stands 756 feet tall celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread. and the sides are at Thankfully, by 5.20 am a 45 degree angle. I had reached the summit, It was constructed Above: Our guide Mira and I watched the sunrise around 4,500 years tells our group about with the other brethren. the pyramids of Giza. ago, and took Whether or not this around 23 years to build using between really was the correct loca- 20,000 and 30,000 Egyptian craftsmen. tion of the Mount Sinai There are an estimated 2.5 million blocks of stone in the pyramid. Scripture states that Israelites built store, or ‘treasure’, cities for Pharaoh at Pithom and Rameses (Exodus 1:11), both of which are believed by archaeol- ogists to be in the delta area further north of Giza. Whatever it was the The great pyramid at Giza near Cairo stands 756 Israelites were forced to build, they feet tall. It took 23 years to build it with an estimated were in great distress and were crying 2.5 million blocks of stone. You would have to lay a out to God to free them. It seems block every five minutes to build it in 25 years. unthinkable for a people to dwell in stopped at the Springs of Moses The ‘Springs of Moses’ slavery for so very long. I thank God for (Exodus 15:27). Seven of the twelve His Son and His grace that we are not in springs still exist. of the Bible, it was still an amazing slavery in most nations now. And even Later, I looked out across the Red experience, and a personal triumph of more importantly, with the help of Sea and tried to imagine around two physical endurance for me. I reminded Christ living in us through the Holy million people crossing it with the myself that Moses may have climbed Spirit (Galatians 2:20), we can be freed waters piled up on either side of them. this mountain at least four times, and from being enslaved to sin as well. We also stopped at Wadi Firan, the probably in less time than my three On the Last Day of Unleavened place where it is believed that Joshua hours. Bread we heard split sermons from eld- defeated the Amalekites (Exodus I truly thanked God for allowing me ers David Register, with a message on 17:8-15). We also tried to imagine the to be well enough to participate. ‘Remember the Amalekites’, and Dr children of Israel wandering around Peter Corrigan, Ralph Levy, who spoke on ‘The Cost of this hot, barren and sparsely populated Stirling/Edinburgh congregation Leaving Egypt’. Later on, Dr Levy gave wilderness for forty years. United Church of God 2 The British & European Supplement to The Good News Are We Pleasing God? A survey by Keele University in northern Staffordshire revealed an appalling lack of basic honesty among far too many citizens. Cutting corners in basic morality is more prevalent today than previously thought possible. Is this behaviour pleasing to God? ver a third of our citizens use have been trying to conceal their mis- was quick to forgive, although He cash in order to avoid tax. deeds from God since the time of our imposed severe temporal penalties, sim- ONearly a third keep very silent first parents in the Garden of Eden. In ply because much greater responsibility when erroneously given too much some cases perpetrators have only half- is incumbent on rulers who influence change by a clerk. Nearly 20 percent believed in His existence (see Psalm many thousands and more. They are pilfer small items from the office with 14:1 and 53:1). expected to set the right example, while impunity. Over 10 percent manage to Fortunately for all of us humans, avoiding scandal and corruption. But avoid paying their TV license. And the God is quicker to forgive and forget David’s claim to eternal security is list goes on and on. than members of our own species. Jesus secure: ‘The LORD has also put away Obviously, committing so-called Christ was very merciful to repentant your sin; you shall not die’ (2 Samuel petty crimes is not like robbing a bank men and women even when they had 12:13). Those must have been among in broad daylight. Most people ‘get committed serious capital crimes. the most comforting words ever said to away’ with indulging in these ‘misde- God’s forgiveness, once granted, is the king. meanours’ simply because of the cost total. He even has the capacity to wipe Pleasing God involves far more than and inconvenience of detection.
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