Monday, February 15, 2016

February 16, 2016

The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:7-10

The story of God’s people is played out on three different stages across the pages of the Old Testament; (1) Egypt, (2) Wilderness, and (3) Canaan.

For 400 long miserable years the Israelites were subjected to the suffering of slavery at the hands of Egyptian taskmasters. They received no relief, no rest and no recompense for backbreaking work they were driven to do in the searing desert sun. It’s hard to imagine a worse existence.

Think about the duration of their plight! Four centuries represents nearly twice as long as the United States has existed. Can you imagine that?

As real as that suffering was for God’s people it also served as a metaphor for the sinful condition of man prior to conversion.

Some ten generations of Israelites had the misfortune of being born into slavery through no fault of their own. Such is the condition of every man and women born since Adam’s fall. You were born into the slavery of sinfulness. So was I. It is called moral depravity. It is absolute and absolutely miserable because the sinful nature inherited from Adam causes separation from a Holy God. Unless something supernatural happens to bring us into relationship with God we will live and die as lost sinners.

God saw the desperation of His people and heard their desperate cries. He sent them a deliverer named Moses. Through the obedience and courage of Moses God was able to see His people free from the bondage of the Pharaoh.

Likewise, God sent a Deliverer for those of us trapped in the bondage of sin. His name is Jesus. He is the Son of God. He left Heaven and came to earth conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin making Him fully God and yet fully man!

This is what John referred to when he wrote, “For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  

Jesus came to deliver you from the bondage of your spiritual Egypt. He will lead you out but He won’t drag you out against your will. You must confess your sinfulness, repent and turn from your sins, and trust Him as your Savior. That is your only way out of your spiritual Egypt.

Spiritually speaking, you were born in Egypt but you don’t have to die there. Please don’t die in Egypt.