How does one get out of Egypt? What does that mean in light of the current events? Does the scriptures in the bible reveal the answers? Does the physical events represent what is happening in the physical world?
I do believe that the physical events (happenings currently) do represent what is happening in the spirit. We see a people fighting for freedom. Let’s take a look back in scripture to see the spiritual links.
When rereading the Exodus story of the Israelites plight of being enslaved/oppressed in Egypt and their final freedom after ten cataclysmic plagues which beset Egypt by the hand of God who used Moses to speak HIS words, I believe that Egypt story depicts our spiritual lives. With the final plague, the death of every first born who where not under the blood of the lamb on their door post, the Pharaoh was more than happy to hasten their departure out of Egypt. The Israelites has been enslaved and now were free. The Israelites were released from prison of Egypt. Independence Day for the Israelites. When I think of out of Egypt I don’t think of the country of Egypt but the enslavement of people to SIN who aught to be FREE from it. Sin twist people making them miserable. This might come in the form of enslavement to money, a person, work, TV show/s, shopping, alcohol, drugs or other grievous addictions due to sin. It is a “white elephant” that we are constantly looking at and tiptoeing around, and around, and around. We may complain like the Israelites, but yet we keep going around and around and around annoying others with our complaints that seem to go no where but around again. We are in a prison with bars that we hold onto and rant and rave. The only one who can unlock the door and let us off this merry-go-round prison is Jesus. He came just for that purpose – to set us free from the enslavement of sin. Jesus our savior and redeemer. His KEY WORKS everytime. God knew his son and knows that KEY OF THE CROSS leads us into God’s presence. He is the only HOLY ONE who can do that. God’s grace set this scenario up from the beginning of time because of HIS LOVE for us.
Now in Isaiah 19 it speaks of in verse 1 of “lord is riding in a swift cloud and comes to Egypt.” That is Jesus. He is coming again. Nothing seems to work quicker than bringing one to their knees and it says in verse 3. “the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out.” The sin will have to go. Bringing pressure and no where to turn the people who are enslaved will be flattened and have to come face to face with the living God. He will do what he has to do to bring us to this point. He LOVES all and wants a clean and pure bride. CLEAN up is hard, just like ground in burnt meat in an iron skillet lots of elbow grease is necessary. God knows HOW to C LEAN. It will hurt, you will cry out, but when it is all over you will be fit to used by God – pliable, humble and clean so when you are held up the reflection of Jesus is seen by others. You’ll wonder why didn’t this happen to me earlier in my life.
I think Isaiah 19 is telling us that time grows short. Pressure of trouble is on and will continue until all who are enslaved come to the feet of Jesus , look full in his face and say, Jesus I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and this key of death on the cross has set me free of sin (enslavement, oppression to Satan).
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Amen Rena. The Pressure of trouble is on and will continue until all who are enslaved come to the feet of Jesus, look full in his face and say, Jesus I believe you died on the cross for my sins and this key of death on the cross has set me FREE OF SIN…..Amen. I agree! I have been set free from my sin because of what happen that day on the cross. My bondage is lifted. Moses lead God’s people out of the bondage of Egypt and Jesus lead God’s people out of the bondage of their sins. Amazing!!! GOD IS SOOO GOOD TO US!!!!!!
Isaiah 19:1-3 “This message came to me concerning Egypt. LOOK! The Lord is advancing against Egypt, riding on a swift cloud. The idols of Egypt tremble. The hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear. 2″I will make Egyptian fight against Egyptian- brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, province against province. 3 The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will confuse their plans. They will plead with their idols for wisdom and call on spirits, mediums, and those who consult the spirits of the dead.” Man this sounds like it’s happening not only in Egypt but all over the world.
Footnotes: 19:1…riding on a swift cloud… shows God’s sovereignty an power over creation…Psalms 104:3 “you lay out rafters of your home in the rain clouds. You make the clouds chariot; you ride upon the wings of the wind.” He is coming in judgement against Judah’s enemies ..(Deut. 33:26 “There is no one like the God of Israel. He rides across the heavens to help you, across the skies in majestic slendor.” Psalms 18:9-10 “He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet. 10 Mounted on a mighty angelic being, he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind.” Psalms 68:4 “Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the Lord- rejoice in his presence!” Psalms 97:2-3 “2 Dark clouds surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire spreads ahead of him and burns up all his foes.”) …Idols of Egypt tremble…because they are weak and impotent, unable to help (Isaiah 40:18 “To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him?” Isaiah 45:16 ” All craftsmen who make idols will be humiliated. They will all be disgraced together.” Isaiah 46:1 Bel and Nebo, the gods of Babylon, bow as they are lowered to the ground. They are being hauled away on ox carts. The poor beasts stagger under the weight.”) ……..What are our idols? What are we putting before God? What is enslaving us and weighing us down, just as Bel and Nebo weighed down the ox……We are the craftsmen that made these idols and we will be humiliated and disgraced unless we break free. Nothing and No one compares to God!!! He is coming in the clouds to judge not only Egypt but the entire world. He is coming to JUDGE US!!!! Are we going to hold on to our idols and attempt to hid behind them or are we going to let go. Are we going to put God first? Thank you for sharing this Rena. Got me thinking about how I need to change somethings and let go.
When I think of ‘coming out of egypt’, I think leaving because of persecution of faith, political and other areas that calls for great persecution from others. And, so many times it calls for isolation, lack of income and other trials too numerous to mention here. We see, feel, hear and way too many experience this daily. Christians being persecuted for their faith around the world. The Washington Post has some informative articles recently on the Coptic Christians and persecution.
As Rena shares here it is individual coming out of egypt. Yes, faith starts always in my way of thinking with an individual decision to make a life changing decision and then walking it out. I speak from the standpoint of Christianity and it sure is not an interstate highway heading to the warm breezy climates and beaches of high dollar resorts for vacations. It has signs and warnings of persecutions written all over the cover.
But, the inner of the book is a long story. A testing of inner strength and overcoming to the glory and from the help of His glory, the Cross of Jesus Christ.
A Washington Post article that might interest some:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/03/AR2011020307089.html
Chickenfarmer asked about what’s weighing us down. When thinking of prisoners, a picture of ball and chain attached comes to mind…weights… so that the prisoner can’t move far or fast even if thay do manage to get free from the cell. Paul warns about getting rid of them, throwing them off so we can run the race God has set before us to finish our course. When God led the Israelites out of Egypt into freedom they cried to go back and complained because there was familiar food there though God had a new food for them…manna from heaven. Maybe the weight of familiarity, past routine or ‘ranting and raving’ in our cell (as Rena wrote about) is more appealing to us than moving into unknown territory.
God is so good and He does promise peace to us from our bondage and enslavement if we are ‘willing and obedient’ as Isaiah 1:19 says. I find Psalm 85:8 to be a great promise and comfort but with a warning also. “I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people. But let them not return to their foolish ways.”
Thank you for sharing this article. We surely need to be aware of the seriousness of the situation and stand in prayer and with our fellow believers. As the article states…”the situation in Egypt might put the issue of religious persecution abroad back on the radar of American Christians.”
Rena, your article brought to mind another thought, also. Not only “How Does One Get out of Egypt” but also, How does one get ‘egypt’ out of one’s SELF?
I’ve read in different commentaries, as I am sure you all have, too, that it took the Lord a few days to get His people out of Egypt and forty years to get “egypt’ out of His people.
The old, worldly, selfish, enslavement to sin, lust, idolatry and greediness such as the sins you have mentioned above.
The sin of ‘egypt’ is not just those of thousands of years ago.
But “in that day”, just as those who throw off the bondage of sin by accepting and obeying Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, Egypt, the nation, will come to the altar to worship Him.
In reading excerpts from “Discipleship” the author writes, “…anything short of obedience to God smacked of ‘cheap grace.’ Actions must follow what one believed, else one could not claim to believe it.”
Now this gives us a pill for pondering!
Sara, in listening to the Gospel of John where is related the story of the royal official who came to Jesus to plead with Him to heal his son who was at the point of death. Jesus said, “Unless you see signs and miracles you people will not believe, or have faith. The official replied, Please Sir, do come down to my house at once before my little child dies. Jesus answered, “Go in peace. Your child will live.”
Now here is the part that came alive and jumped out at me although I have read and heard it many, many times. It’s simplicity was sol strong and bold ….pure, clear, lovely. “AND THE MAN BELIEVED WHAT JESUS SAID AND WENT HOME.” (belief and obedience….both)
Wow! That was it! He believed in those simple words of the Lord and on his way home his servants came jubilantly on the path and said that the boy was revived and he LIVES” Because HE LIVES the boy lives.
As you have written above ‘anything short of obedience….actions must follow what one believes”….
MG, sounds like obedience is the pill for the cure, dosen’t it? I think you have shown from God’s Word that the writer of “Discipeship” just might have the key to a cure.
When reading from Faith’s Checkbook daily devotional by C.H. Spurgeon it talked about a clean up of sin by fire. Seems to me God exposes the sin and we choose the refining by our actions of obedience. We will be tried to see if we have passed through the fires successfully. It seems to start with those in the church. Here is that reading:
The Dross Purged
“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on My Name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God” (Zechariah 13:9).
Grace transmutes us into precious metal, and then the fire and the furnace follows as a necessary consequence. Do we start at this? Would we sooner be accounted worthless, that we might enjoy repose, like the stones of the field! This would be to choose the viler part — like Esau, to take the pottage and give up the covenant portion. No, LORD; we will gladly be cast into the furnace rather than be cast out from Thy presence!
The fire only refines; it does not destroy. We are to be brought through the fire, not left in it. The LORD values His people as silver, and therefore He is at pains to purge away their dross. If we are wise, we shall rather welcome the refining process than decline it. Our prayer will be that our alloy may be taken from us rather than that we should be withdrawn from the crucible.
O LORD, Thou triest us indeed! We are ready to melt under the fierceness of the flame. Still, this is Thy way, and Thy way is the best. Sustain us under the trial and complete the process of our purifying, and we will be Thine forever and ever.
“I speak from the standpoint of Christianity and it sure is not an interstate highway heading to the warm breezy climates and beaches of high dollar resorts for vacations.”
After reading this, I opened up my Bible study lesson by Beth Moore, “Beloved Disciple: The Life and Ministry of John”, and began to study in the book of Acts. Read with me, the scripture in Acts 8: 1-4, then some inserts, from Beth’s book.
“On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” Beth tells us this, in her study book: “Not infrequently it was by persecution that the new faith was driven out of one place into another, where, but for this reason, it might never have been heard of; so that the opposition which threatened to extinguish the fire of the Gospel only scattered its embers far and wide; and wherever they fell a new fire was kindled. What amazing providence! When Christ told His disciples that they would receive power and become witnesses not only in Jerusalem but also to the uttermost parts of the earth, they never expected His means! No, His ways are not our ways. Our ways would always be comfortable. Convenient. Certainly without hurt or harm. We would always ask that God use the favor of the masses to increase our harvests, not the favor of opposition. If you’ve walked with God very long, I have little doubt that He has used what you perceived as very negative means to achieve a positive result.”
Eye popping, ear ringing and mind turning while fingers tingle to think God uses the favor of opposition to help us mature and met our goals. Needles, I think you got it right, ” His ways are not our ways.” What happened to our high dollar retreat?
Needles, God certainly sees things from a different vantage point than we do. Looks like the fire not only cleanses sin as Rena wrote about, but enlarges God’s kingdom.
Job said, “When He has tried me I shall come forth as gold.” Gwen Shaw wrote the song from this Scripture quote, which we’ve published several times here on the LILY…
“WHEN HE HAS TRIED ME I’LL COME FORTH AS GOLD
THE FIRES OF AFFLICTION WILL NOT HARM MY SOUL (REFINES, NOT DESTROYS)
i KNOW THAT GOD LOVES ME MY LIFE HAS A GOAL
AND WHEN HE HAS TRIED ME I’LL COME FORTH AS GOLD.”___g.shaw
Like Spurgeon wrote, the fire doesn’t destroy it refines and purges.