Travel On

The movie “The Queen of Katwe” is the true story about a young girl named Phiona who lives in the largest slum in the world. There is a saying, “Once in Katwe always in Katwe”. The poverty is oppressive; slowly crushing the life out of those caught in its press. Most people in Katwe are barely existing; clinging to slim hope of ever knowing anything different. Young women turn to prostitution as early as 13 years of age. They become pregnant and have to continue in the same work in order to feed their babies. Some hope to find a “sugar daddy” who will take care of them. Phiona’s mother is determined to provide a different hope so she has her family sell corn on the street hoping to earn enough money for the family to eat that day. And even after Phiona discovers that she has a natural skill at playing chess, she feels stuck. “Nothing ever changes” she tells her coach. No matter how many trophies she wins, she and her family are struggling against the crushing weight of lack. In her darkest moment of despair, when she wonders if she will have to go find herself a “sugar daddy” to survive, Phiona’s coach tells her that she must keep fighting. And because she does fight, chess does become the family’s way out of Katwe. Sometimes, when there is no way out, you have to get up and fight. Or maybe you could set out on a journey.

It is important to remember that the Israelites are hemmed in. The Egyptians have shown up and there is now no way out. The key word in Exodus 14:15-20 is “set out”. Yahweh asked Moses why he was crying out to him. We don’t know what Moses was crying out to God about. Maybe the people didn’t respond well to his encouragement. Maybe he realized the situation was more dire than he originally thought. What we know is that God told Moses to tell the Israelites to get up and set out on a journey. Wait a minute! Set out where? There is no way out. Who do you trust in when there is no way out? God tells Moses to lift his staff up and stretch his hand over the sea. Can you see him, one hand holding the staff up in the air, the other hand stretched over the sea? God assures him that he will cleave the sea. But here’s the thing; they had to set out before he broke apart the Reed Sea; before the land was completely dried up for them to walk upon. They have to trust that God will take care of the angry Egyptians. So, Yahweh assures them that he will indeed make the Egyptians acknowledge that he is the “I Am”. The Egyptians will give him weight. The God which Pharaoh tried to dismiss will be honored.

And then we are introduced to a new character in the story. Well, the character is not actually new. The angel of God; the messenger of Elohim seems to suddenly appear on the scene. But we are told that this angel had been walking before them. Some see here another reference to the pillar of cloud. I suppose that is possible, but both the pillar and the angel are mentioned here and there is no indication that we are intended to see them as the same entity. So, not only do the Israelites have this impressive pillar of cloud guiding them, they also have the angel of God walking before them. This angel sets out on a journey from the front of the Israelites to take a stand between the Israelites and the Egyptians. And the cloud pillar also set out on a journey to position itself between the two nations. When there is no way out, God tells them to travel on. The angel and the cloud set out and travel on to take a stand between them and Egypt.

The cloud was the day time guide, but here we find it functioning in the night along with the darkness. The function seems to be to make it impossible for the Egyptians to advance on the Israelites; working alongside the darkness to make it impossible to see. And cloudy darkness is no time to advance on an enemy. Many years ago, a group of friends chucked corn stalks at each other on a foggy night. It was scary to see those stalks appear as they descended upon your head. To make things even more threatening, lightning flashed from the pillar. Okay, just so you know, many believe the light was all about helping the Israelites to see, but the context seems to imply that all of this was so that the two nations could not approach each other. Cloudy darkness combined with flashes of lightning. Yep, that’ll do it.

Life can feel like there is no way out sometimes. Whether it is overwhelming poverty or an approaching army. Maybe it is a lost job or the word “cancer”. And what do you do when you are hemmed in? Do you lay down and give up? I pray not. Do you stand up and set yourself on a journey? Do you keep fighting? I hope that is your choice. And even though we don’t often see it, there are angels of God before us. And sometimes they take a stand between us and the enemy. Travel on, my friends. Travel on. Walter