The Egypt Within Us All

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When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, "If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle. - Exodus 13: 17-18 (NLT)

God sees everything. God sees all time. God sees what would happen in any given situation and always chooses the path that will result in what is best for us and what will be glorifying to Him. We on the other hand do not always understand these truths. Sure we know them. We comprehend them. We even tell others about them. But applying them in our situation is an entirely different story. All we see in our situation is"well"our situation. But God has specifically recorded the events of the Israelite people to leave us an example of how He operates.

A history lesson will show that Joseph was one of the 12 sons of Jacob, who had his name changed by God to Israel. Israel was the son of Isaac who was the son of Abraham. God made a promise to Abraham that his descendents would number more than the stars in the sky and that they would become a great nation. God always keeps His promises.

For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding "Yes!" And through Christ, our "Amen" (which means "Yes") ascends to God for his glory. -- 1Corinthians 1: 20 (NLT)

But God knew there was a severe famine coming that would threaten to annihilate many nations. He chose Joseph as the vehicle through which He would deliver and protect His chosen people. Joseph would serve 80 years as the Prime Minister of Egypt, where the Israelites had to settle in order to survive. But eventually the generation of Joseph died and everyone who knew that he had saved the Egyptian people as well. A new Pharaoh would see the Israelite as a threat and he would enslave them.  

So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became. So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands. -- Exodus 1: 11-14 (NLT)

Oppressed by brutal slave drivers who sought to wear them down with crushing labor. Working them with no mercy to make their lives bitter by their ruthless demands. Correct theology uses these verses to describe the condition we are in before we are saved by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus Christ. But I want to go deeper today and realize that this is the description for anything in our lives that is not of God. We need to be honest with each other and realize that while salvation sets us free, we do not always walk in that freedom. We do not always walk in the freedom Christ appropriated for us on Calvary. If we did, Paul would not have had a need to write this:

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. -- Galatians 5:1 (NIV)

The people in the Church at Galatia were saved already. Salvation wasn't the issue yet slavery still was. They left Egypt but Egypt was still inside them. Unfortunately, the same holds true for us in the walk we have with God. Once saved the devil has lost the war for your eternal soul but he is working overtime to win the battle of what you do with your salvation. If you spend your salvation constantly looking back to Egypt then you never look forward to the Promised Land He has laid out for you. To take the "Christianese" out of that statement what it means is that the more you are struggling with yourself, the less people you affect for the Kingdom of God. The less people are affected, the less people who come to the foot of the cross for the salvation we already enjoy. I understand that a lot of western Christianity has confused the matter to think that somehow this is all about us and our comfort here on earth but the reality is that it is not. Once we are saved it should now be about those on the outside looking in and their eternal destination. Just because we do not discuss it enough in church anymore doesn't mean that there still isn't a heaven to gain and a hell to shun.

So this is not just about salvation. It is about sin in general. It is about anything that hinders our work for God. The Bible says that He has called each one of us to a specific work. That work is hindered if we are constantly dealing with the Egypt still inside of us. It might be a secret sin in our lives. A poll once found that 54% of pastors admitted to viewing pornography within the past year -- that was pastors! And realize that the number must be higher because those were the ones who were willing to admit it! But Egypt might not just be a sin issue. It could be a relationship that is not of God. We are so desperately afraid of being alone in this life that we are too easily willing to compromise. The Bible repeatedly warns us about not being unequally yoked. And realize that doesn't just mean non-believer and believer. Attending church doesn't make you a Christian any more than sitting in a garage makes you a car. Is their life their faith? Is their doctrine rooted correctly in the Word of God? Is there peace in the relationship or constant turmoil? Unfortunately for a lot of us our Egypt is the slavery to a bad relationship. Maybe it is not sin or a relationship issue but it could be guilt about something from our past or fear about our future. Our Egypt can be anything that is hindering our walk with God. Hindering our development in Him. In some cases it is quite apparent. We all know folks who are literally crawling into heaven. They walk with absolutely no power of Christ in their lives. Others see generational curses continuing through them into their children because they refuse to walk in the power God has obtained for them. The result is a church that is overtly inward-focused instead of working on the Great Commission. That is the devils plan beloved. To have us so wrapped up in our struggles that we cannot be at work for God. But God has given us the Bible and the history of the Israelites as a message. The first thing we have to realize is that the pull of Egypt is real and it is strong:

"If only the LORD had killed us back in Egypt," they moaned. "There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death." -- Exodus 16: 3 (NLT)

Look at the glorification of the slavery they suffered under! For 400 years they were enslaved! Remember the verses above? Oppressive and brutal slavery made up of ruthless and crushing labor! That is what they are remembering fondly! That may seem ridiculous to us now but think how sometimes we make excuses for the things we know God wants to weed out of our lives. Think about how we can make the sin seem not as serious as we know it is. Think how we can stretch the limits of reality to excuse the relationship we know we shouldn't be in. Think how we can create a monster out of the events of our past or the uncertainty of our future. The truth is we can do the exact same thing. We can be on our way to the Promised Land God has ready for us. It has freedom from your past! It has assurances about your future! It has the right Godly relationship He intended for you that will lead to a lifetime of joy and not just fleeting moments of worldly happiness. The Promised Land He has for you sees your bondages from sin completely gone! Yet there we too can be -- on the journey and looking back to Egypt. Looking back in fondness at the cruel and harsh slavery we lived in. We are out of Egypt but God is still working on getting the Egypt out of us.

Our key verses today provide three lessons for us to gain more insight into our journey. First of all note that God chose to NOT take the quickest route to the Promised Land. Unfortunately in this country we are used to everything being done on a microwave scale. We want what we want and we want it yesterday. Sorry! God does not operate that way:

But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. -- 2Peter 3: 8-9 (NLT)

Despite what we might feel, the Lord is not dragging His feet beloved. He is not forgetting about us. He is not procrastinating. I know this much, when I have tried to do things according to my timetable I always seemed to have a problem with timing. God never has such problems. When Joseph was released from prison he was ready to be Prime Minister of Egypt. Not one day too early and not one day too late. So we may feel like there has to be a quicker way to that Promised Land and God is letting us know that there is and He chose to not take it. Why? Because the challenges along the easy path are actually worse and harder to face than on the path you currently find yourself on! On the current path you only grumble about Egypt and look back fondly. On the easy path God knows you would actually return to Egypt with the challenges you would face! Let that truth resonate in your Spirit for a second. The path that appears to be easier is actually the harder path for us! The path that appears easier to us will actually break our Spirit faster!

There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. -- Proverbs 14: 12 (NKJV)

The easier way only seems right beloved. God knows the better way even if it may be longer. The second truth we can learn here is that God Himself leads us through the wilderness! How much so? Later in that same chapter as the key verses is this:

The Israelites left Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. The LORD went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night. And the LORD did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people. -- Exodus 13: 20-22 (NLT)

Beloved you have to realize this right now. As you stood on the edge of the wilderness you find yourself in -- God went ahead of you. For the Israelites He constantly guided them. By day as a pillar of cloud and by night as a pillar of fire. This allowed them to move freely towards the Promised Land regardless of whether it was day or night. Regardless of whether it was light or dark. You might be saying to yourself why doesn't He do the same for us? He has done better than that! He has given you His own Spirit inside of you as your guide:

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. -- John 16: 13 (NLT)

The Holy Spirit inside of us is our guide into all the truths we need in this world. He will tell us about the future. He will tell us what habits or sins need to die in the wilderness before we reach the Promised Land. He will tell us what relationships need to die before we can walk into the Promised Land God has for us. He will assure us that our past has been forgiven and our future provided for so we need to leave our guilt and fears in the wilderness. He will guide us into the Promised Land after we have stopped looking back to the slavery of Egypt as something to be admired or embraced.

And that leaves us with the final promise from the key verses today. God did not randomly decide when you were going to leave Egypt. He did not randomly decide when you were going to go through the wilderness. He only decided so when you were ready for the battle before you! God never said this was going to be easy but He has prepared you for the battle. He has armed you with all you need. The Holy Spirit within you as your guide. The Word of God as your sword to fight the lies of Satan. The fellowship of the saints to support you on your way to the Promised Land. Do not fear the wilderness. Do not bemoan the length of time you might be in it. And whatever you do, remember that leaving the brutal slavery behind will allow you to walk in the true freedom and power Christ died for you to have.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- February 21, 2012

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.