(Exodus 20:2) "I am the LORD your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
There
are many similarities we can draw from God saving the children of Israel out of
Slavery under the hand of Moses. Typology (the study or systematic
classification of types) is helpful for us to glean connections as we mirror
our journey with theirs.
It
was a treacherous time for Israel as they were under the whip of severe slavery
and ruled by the Egyptians without mercy. They had no control of their conditions
but were dictated to by the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was heartless! Times were
tough for them; however we understand from scripture that they were well fed.
If that wasn’t true, why did the trouble makers stir them up to complain about
their conditions in the wilderness? “Now the rabble that
was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again
and said, "Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing,
the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our
strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look
at." (Numbers 11:4-6) – Although they
were slaves they enjoyed some benefits, the food they ate seemed to be
pleasurable and they were now looking to go back to those benefits, even though
they had been saved from slavery. They forgot about their hard backbreaking
conditions as their hunger overshadow there memory of that tough time, a
perfect example of sin crouching at the door, lying to the one taken by it. Sin
blinds us to the truth of any given situation, it is a destroyer, but Christ is
our Saviour!
How
often do we fall into a similar trap, may God forgive us! We too have been
saved from slavery (sin that held us captive) – The Apostle Paul puts it like
this; “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I
keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
(Romans 7:19-20) - Sin had power over us
that kept us in bondage as slaves to it! However I see the same war taking
place in my heart even as a believer, this we must guard against. Why would we
want to be enslaved to what Christ has freed us from? We are carnal beings and
in character no different to the children of Israel, we have a tendency to long
for the traps of sin that so easily besets our minds with lies. We should know
better! I am thankful that God is patient with all His children and that the
Lord Jesus intercedes on our behalf, praise His name!
As
Christians we are no longer classed amongst sinners, even though sin plays such
a daunting role in our lives. We have been sanctified by the blood of the Lamb;
Jesus has paid the price for our sins, this covers all of them, past, present
and future sins. This is why the writer of Hebrews has this to say about
Christs sacrifice; “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice
for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,” (Hebrews 10:12)
– We are now classed amongst the saints, the Lord Jesus Christ has earned that
title for every true believer and God sees us as saints and not sinners. It is
not about what we have or haven’t done but about what Christ has done. He is
our Saviour, we can and never will have the capacity to save ourselves that
type of mentality is “dead religion”!
With
that now established we can now no longer live like we once did, many of us may
have fallen into that mind-set along our journey, if so it is now time to
repent from it. We are commanded to come out and be separate. Our journey will
be wilderness experiences, we will witness others around us prosper from the
lures of sin; wealth, wine, woman, and song their motto. We have been saved
from that trap but it will persistently press home looking to trap those caught
off guard.
My
encouragement to all would be that if the old man rears his head, hankering after
any form of slavery, it must be avoided at all costs. It would be better to
suffer loss or suffer reproach than to let him have his way. We are at war and
the battle will rage on up until we breathe our last. We have a new set of
rules that we must learn to live by; grace is one of the greatest weapons in
our arsenal and will help to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one. The Lord
Jesus sympathises with our struggles, He is touched by them, and He feels them;
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet
without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and
find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews
4:15-16)
Just
like the children of Israel were set free by God under the hand of Moses we too
have been set free by God under the hand of the Lord Jesus, let us therefore
heed the counsel of our beloved brother and Apostle Paul; “What
shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no
means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of
us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We
were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as
Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk
in newness of life.” (Romans
6:1-4)
Traps
are a plenty but we now have a light that illuminates the road that will
eventually end at the pearly white gates of eternity. Our hope finally materialized
and we will forever be with our God and Saviour; nothing that defiles will ever
be permitted to enter through those gates. Our journey has already begun and we
must encourage each other not to yearn after the vomit of sin that glitters on
the outside but is rotten to the core!
I
am aware that we do not only wrestle against flesh and blood but against powers
and principalities and rulers of this world that oppose the glorious gospel of
Jesus Christ, but of this I am convinced, our King will see us home!
Times
were tough for the children of Israel in the wilderness, but God always came
through for them and He will certainly come through for us. Thank you Lord
Jesus for your perfect finished work…
In
honour God we must learn to seek out His grace, anything that takes preference over
Him is nothing more than idolatry. There are many areas in my life that needs
attention. We need to start by evaluation our own lives and then maybe we will
be fit to help our brothers with the specks in their eyes.
Signing
off
Tyrone
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