Ramses II and MP3 Players

Approximately 3,500 years ago (around 1570 BC), the ruler of Egypt (Ramses II) was working on a strategy to attempt to destroy the faith of the Nation of Israel - all of whom were his slaves.

In the beginning of Exodus chapter five, Moses visits Ramses and tells him "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Let My people go" Ramses doesn't want to lose his valuable work-force, and so responds "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go... Why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.”

Angered by Moses' request, the Pharoh brings in a new ruling.

"...Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.” - Exodus 5:6-9

Pharoh's strategy was to so fill the lives of the Israelites with work that they would have no time to congregate together and to worship God. For a people who are pre-occupied with worldly matters will soon lose their trust in God, and instead turn to man and man-made things. Particularly of interest is Pharoh's reference to "false words", i.e. the Word of God. This has to be one of the earliest recorded instances of the State attacking Christianity (or it's precursor, Judaism).

We see this today. The entertainment media is screaming out to us "you need this to be cool... Angelina Jolie is about to have another baby... get this game... watch this movie". With New Zealand's top tax-rate of 33%, dad has to be out long hours to bring in the money for the family. Our Government is encouraging our mothers to deposit their children in early-childhood-institutions from a ridiculously young age - enabling them to get back to work just as soon as possible. The kids wake up, bleary-eyed and wander from their bedroom into the living-room where they eat their breakfast in front of the TV. When they get back from school the TV is on and everyone collapses in-front of it for the rest of the evening. Half the people you see walking down the road are wired for sound, MP3 players of all descriptions are literally flooding the market.

The parallel is definitely there, though the situations are obviously different. In Moses' day it was the rulers of the land who were putting the pressure on God's people. Today it's definitely a mixture of the media and the Government. Christians need to ensure that they are not being sucked in by the media or sold over by the government - which will be detrimental to their Christian life.

Instead, let's be in the World but not of the World, like Jesus says in John 15:19.