I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the very modern hymns.
Today’s song is Egypt from 2020.
Egypt seems a strange title for a hymn. But Egypt features in both the Old and New Testaments. You could argue that Moses was an Egyptian Hebrew. And Egypt provided a refuge for the baby Jesus and His parents in the New Testament. There were conflicts between Israel and Egypt down through history, but all neighbouring nations tend to fight at times. I remember reading a nice, optimistic prophecy about Egypt in Isaiah 19. And Egypt and the general region of North Africa was very influential in early church history.
But the hymn uses Egypt as an analogy in the way that many hymns use Jerusalem or Israel as an analogy. Just as the Hebrews escaped by crossing the Red Sea, we escape the consequences of sin by believing in Jesus.
But the writer and singer, Cory Asbury, seemed to have freedom to worship in mind. And it’s true that all sorts of things can bind and enslave us.
And the Red Sea incident is used for all sorts of illustrations – everything from liberation theology to the title of an old punk rock album by the Adverts (Crossing the Rea Sea) – one of my favourite punk groups when I was 16 😀. And 20 years later, I remember the DreamWorks movie about the life of Moses – and the song When You Believe:
I heard that song back in 1998 and found it a little annoying. It sounded like it was trying to create something like My Heart Will Go On – the Titanic song from earlier that year. But I listened to it again in 2022, and now I love it. I always feel a little tearful when I hear it – in a joyful way.
I remember meeting two Egyptians at the Irish Bible School back in the late 1980s. I don’t think that I’ve met any since then. I do hope that religious tolerance keeps improving there. It seems like a place that people want to emmigrate to rather than escape from these days – that’s what Ireland is like too. Another memory I have of Egypt is hearing all about Tutankhamun in school back in 1972, when I was 10. I even wrote and sang a song about Tutankhamun at the time – the only song that I ever both wrote and performed – but it was just at my friend’s house 😀. How come Cory Asbury is famous and I’m a nobody? 😩. But at least I have my little blog 😀.
Anyway, back to today’s hymn. Here are some other versions:
Hibernia Gospel 