Depart From Your "Egypt" Or Remain In Bondage
Exodus is not just the second book in the Bible. Exodus is the title of the historical event of the Hebrew people leaving Egypt on the strength of God’s coming out party. God was about to add onto His earthly resume with this historical and supernatural event. The exodus from Egypt for the children of Israel is a parallel for everyone God rescues from sin and bondage, or in other words everyone God rescues from “their Egypt”.
The reason I entitled this “DEPART FROM YOUR "EGYPT" OR REMAIN IN BONDAGE” is, as we will see when we go through the Word, that God wanted the Israelite’s obedience to flow from the gratitude and thankfulness of His rescuing them from their place of bondage—Egypt. Thus, God kept reminding them of their exodus. And the same is true for us. We have to daily remind ourselves that God delivered us from our Egypt and calls us to not be conformed again to the way we lived and thought in our old life, but be transformed and become holy as He is holy; or remain in bondage—which is the very thing we cried out for Him to rescue us from—and then die in the wilderness, not the promise land, but die in the wilderness ungrateful and deceived.
Let’s look at some passages that explain this for us:
Ex. 1:13-14—While sin presents itself as fun and something not to be missed, truthfully, sin is just like the Egyptians in this passage. Sin makes us serve its desires with harshness, and makes our emotional, psychological, and physical lives bitter with hard bondage.
Ex. 2:23—We are the same. We cry out to God to rescue, save, and deliver us because of our bondage, whatever that bondage may be.
Ex. 6:5-7—This is our salvation. This is exactly what God does for us through Jesus Christ, He brings us out from under the burden of sin and bondage.
Ex. 19:3-6—As I said, God kept reminding them of their exodus so that their obedience would flow from the gratitude and thankfulness of His rescuing them from their place of bondage. This is also true for us.
Ex. 20:1-2—Again, God kept reminding them of their exodus so that their obedience would flow from the gratitude and thankfulness of His rescuing them from their place of bondage. I keep repeating this because it's the sole purpose for me sharing this.
Remember what your bondage to sin was like.
Remember how cruel and deceitful sin is.
Remember how you groaned in your private time for someone to save you.
Remember that God was the only One who saw and heard your groanings and responded with His Son’s death on a cross to pay for your eternal punishment for your sin and your deliverance from your present Egypt.
I cried out to God from a jail cell. He heard my cry and saved me in jail. Remember yours.
Does your life show God how grateful and thankful you are for what He’s done for you? Because if not, you’re telling God, like the children of Israel did, “I rather go back to Egypt and die in the bondage I cried out for You to deliver me from.” And if you continue to live like this, God will do you just like He did the children of Israel: you will die in the wilderness and not enter His promise land.
I’ll close with this passage:
"For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2Cor. 5:14-15, NIV)
Live your life no longer for yourself or sin; but live your life for Him who died for you, delivered you, and conquered the grave for you! Either depart from your Egypt (by following God's way) or remain in bondage (by following your own desires, rules, understanding, etc). Your choice! Choose wisely people.
2010