(Nope…not ‘going there’!). I’m talking about the new king that came to power in the Book of Exodus that changed the lives of all of Abraham’s descendants when they were living and multiplying down in Egypt. It all started out good…when Joseph was used by God despite all the ill will brought on him by his brothers. God knows how to turn a bad situation around and use it for good quicker than you can shake a stick at. Trust me on that one. (Gen. 50:20)
I mentioned it the other day and will again here as I find myself drawn back to the story of how so many Israelites went from a place of God’s blessings and multiplying there in Ex. 1:7 to becoming enslaved and in bondage. We should have a basic understanding that all we read about in the OT of Abraham’s descendants is a type or a foreshadowing of the church today. Much truth to be gleaned for sure from those accounts we read and study. And with the change of just one king, these people went from being the ’head to being the tail’ when a new king rose to power. (Ex. 1:8). Best estimates suggest that when Moses appears on the scene much later to be used of God to deliver His people that there were some 2-3 million of them who left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea being led in to the wilderness.
Yes…God did some pretty amazing things leading up to their deliverance and in dramatic fashion I might add too! Lots of ‘signs and wonders’ for sure. Now there was this giant exodus of people who for generations…had lived as slaves for Pharaoh there in Egypt and were coming out. It’s always a good thing when slaves get set free, is it not? But it brings about challenges for sure. We only need to read American history to see that when Lincoln freed multitudes from the bondage of slavery with the stroke of a pen. If all you have ever known is slavery, it can take some time and adjusting to no longer live as a slave. Sadly, if you have a certain mindset that ‘once a slave, always a slave’, living as a ‘free person’ won’t come easy for many.
That’s why God needed to take them out of Egypt and into the wilderness where He could introduce Himself to His people; because clearly, they were clueless. And that is pretty much what all we read about from Exodus to Deuteronomy. There are many parallels to study here that might be beneficial for those who call themselves ‘believers’. Not much is recorded as to how this growing and prosperous people ended up in such a place, but one might suspect it was gradual. That happens to us, spiritually. We can drift from a good place to a not so good place that then sets us up to become slaves ourselves. I’m not sure what life was like for all those Jews in Exodus living under the heavy hand of Pharaoh making brick and mortar day in and day out. I don’t know what the spiritual climate was for the many who had to have some inkling of knowledge to their past. For all I know, they could have woke up every morning and declared to one another that they were descendants of Abraham…but when they walked out the door, they lived as slaves.
Just professing they were a descendant of Abraham did not deliver them from slavery…anymore than you or I professing we are a ‘Christian’ sets us free from bondage. Paul wrote that people who drift from God’s word end up with defiled minds and hearts and that many would ‘profess to know God, but by their actions would deny Him’. (Titus 1:14-16). Jesus spoke of a condition where many would ‘honor Him with their lips…but their hearts…would be elsewhere’, citing the prophet Isaiah.
Sadly…many, many people today…church members…find themselves in a similar place as all those Israelites did back in Egypt. They remain enslaved to sin. How do I know, you ask? Well first of all, they admit every day…not only in their words but by their deeds. It’s not hard to recognize the fruit. And I’m not judging either….nearly everyone admits it…that they ‘sin daily’ or ‘regularly’ because…they are ‘saints who sin’. People will look you in the eye and state it as gospel truth that everyone will always sin until we get to heaven because folks are ‘not perfect, just forgiven’. And to suggest otherwise brings much scorn and resentment and ire from those who should be teaching otherwise.
But here’s the problem. Jesus tells us ‘most assuredly…whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.” (John 8:34-35)
Now what are going to do with that? Please note that in the same breath of that text/passage, Jesus also declared that He was bringing ‘truth that would set you free and if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.”
Now if Jesus sets a person free from sin…and they continue to sin and admit they will always continue to sin…what does that make them? No…NOT a ‘saint who sins’. They remain a ‘slave’. Which hints strongly that you have another master or king. Believe me…I know this sets up a theological quandary of confusion for many. Please note, we are not talking about people’s past, because clearly…we ALL have sinned…we were ALL dead in our sins and trespasses and ‘sons of disobedience and wrath’. (Eph 2:1-3)
But people who get set free from slavery no longer need to live like slaves…unless they want to…or simply are ignorant of the fact to what Jesus did for them. You might be aware of the approaching holiday, Juneteenth Day which is this Sunday. It might be a good idea to brush up on your history and take a quick read as to what that day is all about. U.S. soldiers rode in to Galveston and set free thousands of black slaves informing them that they were ‘set free’ nearly two years previously. Tragically, they had failed to get that news and continued to live…as slaves.
Want to hear some more irony? This Sunday is also Father’s Day. Imagine that! So when Jesus tells us in that passage that a slave (anyone who continues to sin) does ‘not abide in the house forever but a son abides forever’…now we are talking about sons and slaves and fathers on Father’s Day? Wait…it gets good (and even more confusing for some). If you are a slave, then you obviously have a ‘master’. Jesus had much to say about this and how it’s impossible to ‘serve two masters’. (Matt. 6:24). Notice he only cites the option of there being ‘two’. As in, you are either a child of God or a child of the devil. Period. And you are either ‘for Him or against Him’. You can’t be both. (Matt. 12:30; Luke 11:23) You have to choose. Good news is…You Get to!
That passage in John 8 we were looking at…you might read on some more. Jesus got serious with a group of religious leaders who insisted they were descendants of Abraham and felt rather secure in their knowledge of that. Jesus thought otherwise…told them if they were truly that, then they would hear and receive His word but were unable to because their father was the ‘devil’. (8:44)
I don’t read where He suggested there was an ‘in-between’ place. Either God is our Father or …not. John would later write how you could easily tell the difference- (1 John 3:4-10)
If this is starting to make your brain melt…hang in there. Good news is on the way. Like I said at the beginning…if you have had the mindset of being a slave for generations…it can pose some challenges to turn that ‘ship of thinking’ - As in having our minds renewed by the word of God….truth…so we can be set free. And just like the slaves of Egypt who had to be reintroduced and taught a few things…so do we. But good things await many of you who long for true freedom. It’s not ‘positive thinking’ we are talking about either. That, I can promise you.
Can you imagine the task of having to ‘re-educate’ so many slaves that were set free here in this country in 1865? We (our country) did not do a very good job at it.
Neither has the church when it comes to re-educating so many ‘slaves of sin’. But this is for sure…you don’t have to live like a slave anymore. In fact, if you do, it will not end well.
I’m not Moses nor am I Jesus. But I have some really good news to share with you if you hang with me here. You can be free. Free indeed. And what better weekend …than to be re-introduced to your Father above. See you tomorrow? ;-)
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