The Cosmic Purpose of Creation

The first of the Ten Commandments contains a peculiar fact. God says to the Jews, "I am your God who took you out of Egypt, out of bondage." (Ex.20:2)

Suppose you owned a fine thoroughbred who won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. Would you take pride in your horse by saying "My horse won the Preakness!"? Of course not; You'd say, "He won the Triple Crown!"

Why did God minimize on His accomplishment? A much greater feat God achieved was - creation of the universe! Would it not have been more compelling to say "I am your God Who created the universe!"?

Taking the Jews "out of Egypt, out of bondage" surely cannot compare to the act of creation because the former is a matter of changing or rearranging things already in existence, whereas creation of the universe involves (continuous) forming matter and circumstances - out of literally nothing!

Specifying "out of Egypt, out of bondage" reveals the secret for which the Creator created the world in the first place! It broadcasts the Cosmic Purpose of the Supreme Creative Power. The heavens may tell the glory of God and the wonders of His works, but this 1st Commandment tells the motive for the Universal Frame in the first place!

God thereby is telling the Jewish people He redeemed them from bondage they would thereby be able to serve Him, and be bonded to God. The purpose of a Jew's life is to devote his mindset to worship God, by adhering to God's desires expressed by His commandments, and minimize serving foreign constraints.

A painter likes to have in his house plenty of fine art work; A scholar enjoys having a house full of books. Put the painter to live in the scholar's house, or the scholar in the painter's house, and they'd be most unhappy.

God created people in such a way as to feel as if they can do what they want, just as God Himself can do what He wants. God very much enjoys having people with free will to do as He wants them to behave. That's the house God created and one in which He can thereby "feel at home in".

So why the unusual clause in the 1st Commandment? To make known to Jews what He expects of them. God's wish was NOT simply to create a universe, not any more than someone wants to build a house without it serving a further purpose. God's desire was to have inside this world a people who will seek Him out to serve Him.

He plucked the Jewish nation out of servitude to another nation to have it be His own. They would be beacons of light, representing His light, to elevate this world to its transcendent state of redemption and perfection.

We've come 3,325 years since that exodus. The Jews, says the Rebbe, have already achieved that goal of preparing the world, finally, for the last leg of the arduous journey. Imminently soon, with the Jewish King Moshiach of the House of David, the crown jewel of humanity, at the helm, all people of the world will recognize this transformation programmed for revelation, in this new Era about to dawn.