theoretically, once the children of israel were released from their bondage in egypt, they moved onto a nomadic lifestyle. essentially, they were a wandering homeless tribe. this blog is meant to explore what life and relations would have been like leading up to the ten commandments.
reliance: there was a reliance the egyptians to provide the necessities of life. this can be viewed as an infrastructural issue. egypt possessed sophisticated agriculture and trade. it can be assumed that even the those at the bottom of their society fared better than those outside of it. an example of this is the reporting in the torah that as a result of the famine, jacob and his family went to reside in egypt in the first place.
the cost of freedom and independence means responsibility for oneself and building one’s own infrastructure. this can be difficult and time consuming work. there is a choice, hard work and struggle versus comfort and submission.
relations: with respect to relations, they had their families, their tribes, and the unification of the tribes under the leadership of moses. families have internal conflict, tribes have internal conflict, and the unified tribes have conflict with leadership.
in such a society, especially one that was in a proverbial limbo- on their seemingly never ending journey to the promised land, it was ripe for theft, murder, coveting, and adultery. no land possession, needs and wants, and uncertainty. this group was confronted with many unusual challenges. in modern times, one major complaint of homeless people is that their possessions are routinely stolen.
the ten commandments needed to address these two issues. how do they? please think about it.
be well!
The Ten Commandments Project 