Mark Buchanan has a chapter entitled, "We're Not in Egypt Anymore". Egypt was that place were Israel was oppressed. A place loaded with demanding taskmasters. Pharaoh's hungry empire was never done seeking to achieve new levels of accomplishment and development. Pharaoh's drive for wealth and power was, in part, built upon the backs of people like the Hebrews. It was from that enviornment that God rescued His people and gave them Sabbath rest. No longer did they have taskmasters breathing down their necks and whipping them to submission.
I feel that so much of our modern society is mentally driven to build our own little empires. We feverishly press on 24/7 to achieve success. Maybe Sabbath rest is a time to leave the Egyptian empire. To ignore the taskmasters.
That academic assignment is not done.
You've got 4 people to call.
Those bills aren't paid.
The house needs cleaning.
The car needs repairing.
The boss wants this job done yesterday.
You get the point, and you know better than anyone who your taskmasters are.
When it's time for each of us to take a Sabbath rest, may we be able to say to our taskmasters (maybe not always to a real person but just in our hearts), "In the name of the Lord, I command you to leave me alone. In fact, I'm leaving your presence for now".
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