EXODUS (Part 1): LET MY PEOPLE GO!

The word Exodus means, "a going out," and that's exactly what God intended for His people from the very beginning. He wanted man to be separated, or set apart, for Himself, free from the distractions and entanglements that would bring him into bondage. "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." (2 Corinthians 6:17, 18).  Man, however, disobeyed God's commandment, and became a slave to his own passions and lusts, choosing to accept death rather than life. We have inherited the tragic results of that original choice ever since.

In due course, God found one whose heart was after His, and He called Abraham to leave his kindred, and come out of the country in which he was born and raised. God told Abraham to go to the place which He would show him and, in return, He would bless Abraham, and make of him a great nation. "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 12:3).

Abraham was called to sojourn in the land of promise. He became a pilgrim, and a stranger in a strange land; but God had promised that all of the land would be Abraham's, saying, "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever." (Genesis 13:14, 15).  In due time, God's promise to Abraham was fulfilled when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land.

Moses' name means "drawn out," and this became true of his life for many more reasons than just the fact that he had been drawn out of the Nile as a babe, and brought into Pharoah's house. When he came of age, he chose to abandon the riches and pleasures of Pharoah, and suffer affliction with Israel instead. Ultimately, God called him to leave Egypt altogether, sending him before Pharoah to proclaim this message, "Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me." (Exodus 8:1).

God was not interested in forcing Pharoah into reforming the laws of Egypt in order to make life easier for His people, the Israelites. He didn't care about better wages, nicer living conditions, or a welfare system that would take care of the underprivileged. He simply wanted His people to be free once and for all from the tyranny of Egypt. As long as Israel was entangled in Egypt, they would not be able to serve God as He wished. It was not just that they were in cruel bondage under the yoke of the Egyptian taskmasters; there were also a myriad of seemingly innocent things that held them captive as well. At one point, while they were wandering in the wilderness, they grew tired of eating manna from heaven, and began to lust after the melons, cucumbers, leeks, and garlic that they had known in Egypt. They seemed all too ready to forget the bondage they were in just to go back and enjoy the foods that their flesh longed for and missed.

Many of God's children are in bondage today. They have allowed themselves to become slaves to sin, to wealth, to work, to pleasure, to bitterness. They have allowed the serpent to deceive them into making the same tragic mistake that Adam made: choosing death over life. God just wants us to be free. Like His call to Abraham, He is calling us to separate ourselves from the attachments that are dear to the flesh, but devastating to the spiritual man. He is asking us to hate father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and, most importantly, our own life. (Luke 14:26).  That is, to reject their influence over us when it would seek to lead us in a direction, no matter how well-intentioned, away from the Lord's leading.

Self is our greatest enemy when it comes to being a separated people for our God. God has remedied this dilemma by the cross of Christ. By His cross "the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Galatians 6:14).  As the apostle Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20).

God's command echoes across the centuries. Today, He says to the forces of darkness that would entangle us, "Let my people go, that they may serve me." God has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. He is not interested in setting up an earthly kingdom, or elevating some nation to "Christian" status. His is an invisible, but very real, kingdom. Jesus told the Jews, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20, 21).  It is true that the meek shall inherit the earth, but that day will not come until the wicked are destroyed, and God has created a new heaven and a new earth that is full of His righteousness. Until that day, we are but pilgrims and strangers waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. Rest assured that the more entrenched we become in this world, the less likely we will be to let go of it when the Lord returns to call us home. We are not those who draw back, however; we are those who believe to the saving of our souls. Our Lord and Savior is not just the author of our faith, Beloved, He is also the finisher.

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." (1 John 2:15-17).