Shemot {13:17} It happened, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that G-D didn't lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for G-D said, "Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Mitzrayim (Egypt);"

When I read this short introductory passage in Parsha Beshalach it reminded me of my own salvation/redemption experience and perhaps as I explain why, it will remind you of yours.

HaShem could have led the bnei Yisrael (children of Israel) by way of a more direct route to Har (Mount) Sinai but He did not. The reason He gave for not doing this, was that He did not want them, as His newly redeemed people, to have to face the possibility of a conflict with the Philistines, who have always been Yisrael’s mortal enemy. (Interesting, is it not, that the Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza have adopted this name!) I view this decision by HaShem as not only a good political strategy, but also as Yisrael’s honeymoon period, however short it may have been.

As a newly redeemed people, Yisrael needed a period of time to experience their freedom, the joy of their redemption. Surely, had they stepped out of Mitzrayim and into a war, they would have been discouraged, disenchanted, and could have very well returned to their former slavery, a state, however horrid, they were still comfortable with. So HaShem took them the long way around.

This method is much like marriage today. First comes the courtship, and then comes the wedding. After the wedding comes the honeymoon where the bride and groom get to explore their love for each other and enjoy their new relationship. After the wedding however, comes the marriage, in effect reality! Well, that is what I believe HaShem was doing here with the bnei Yisrael. They needed a little honeymoon period, all be it a short one, before the actual reality of what their new life with Him would require.

The salvation/redemption of the bnei Yisrael was a free gift. There is absolutely no indication in Scripture that Yisrael merited it. Scripture does not tell us that they were religious, nor does it say that they were righteous, in fact the exact opposite is revealed in subsequent Scriptures. Yisrael came out of Mitzrayim with many of the Mitzrayim’s pagan practices.