The Haggada begins with the words: "We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and G-d took us out from there. If the Holy One Blessed Be He had not taken out our ancestors from Egypt, we, our children, and our children's children would [still be] enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt." A famous question is raised by many of the commentaries in slightly different ways. Would not the vicissitudes of history, the rise and fall of nations, and the change of rulers and government models have eventually led to the freedom of the Jewish people much as these led to the freedom of other enslaved peoples? How can we say that the Jews would still be slaves in Egypt? Why was it crucial that Hashem directly take us out, as stressed by this paragraph; would not Pharaoh's releasing us through his own free will, not forced by the makkos, lead to the same result? Here, we present and answer by one of the classic commentaries with some elaboration.
Rav Yaakov Loberbaum of Lisa, famous for his Nesivos HaMishpat, in his commentary Ma'aseh Nissim to the Haggada on this opening paragraph, develops a major theme permeating the entire Haggada. When Hashem took us out of Egypt with great miracles transcending of all of the known rules of nature, he "threw His lot in," so to speak, with the Jewish people. He linked "His image" in the world to the fate of His beloved nation. If the Jews subsequently would be threatened, due to their sins, with severe punishment, or G-d forbid, elimination, Hashem automatically would consider the fact that the downtrodden state or worse, chas v'shalom, of His nation would be interpreted as a lack of Divine power to save His nation. This of course was the basis of Moshe's powerful prayers which saved the Jewish people from destruction after the disastrous sin of the Golden Calf and, later, the Sin of the Spies. We continue to utilize this theme of prayer throughout the centuries by reciting in Shemone Esrei, Hallel, and Selichos and many other places: "'asei l'ma'ancha, 'im lo l'ma'aneinu!" - "Act for Your sake, if not for ours!" This theme also serves as the means for the ultimate redemption of the Jewish people as stated by Yechezkel (36:22-23): "Say to the Children of Israel, 'So says Hashem Elokim: not for your sake do I act, O House of Israel, but for [the sake of] My holy name which you desecrated among the nations to which you came. And I shall sanctify My great Name which is desecrated among the nations which you desecrated among them, and the nations will know that I am G-d, the word of Hashem Elokim, when I am sanctified through you before their eyes.'" Even if the merits of the Jewish people are insufficient, G-d will redeem them in order to avoid further desecration of His name.
At first glance, this is a result of G-d having redeemed us from Egypt. In other words, since He chose to form a nation to carry His word to the world, G-d chooses to save us at subsequent points in history in order to uphold this mission. However, explains the Nesivos, G-d could have redeemed us in another way. He could have orchestrated the redemption about in a much more natural way, similar to the Purim salvation, so that his "reputation" would not be at stake since the nations of the world would not necessarily attribute the redemption to G-d's actions. He precisely chose a direct, openly miraculous redemption. Even Pharaoh's consent, under the duress of the plagues, was rescinded when he and his armies chased after the Jews. Only another miraculous, Divine intervention led to the utter destruction of the Egyptian forces and the deliverance, once again, of the Jewish people. He chose to redeem us precisely in this way so that His image in the world should be linked to ours.
This act of Divine love which assured eternal Jewish survival is one of many themes motivating us to truly feel gratitude toward the One Who created us twice, first as a people and then as members of the Jewish nation (see B'raishis 1:27 and Yeshaya 43:21). Gratitude and recognition of the multi-faceted acts of Divine kindness are major themes of the night of the Seder. As pointed out by the Nesivos, knowledge of the eternal ramifications of the Exodus further motivates us to investigate and analyze how every detail concerning this event was not just for our immediate benefit but for our eternal advantage. The Nesivos calls this: "the absolute greatest of kindnesses with none greater!"
May we merit to absorb all of the deep, eternal messages of the first Exodus and see the fulfillment of the promise of the prophets, "As when you went out of Egypt, I shall perform miracles for you" (Micha 7:15) in the final redemption.