On the Way Out

Tomorrow, February 22nd, is a significant day on the Hebrew religious calendar as it begins Adar the last or 12th month and ends on March 22. Adar was the last month the Jewish people spent in Egypt before the Exodus. It was the beginning of the Plague of Darkness but serves as the opening to the miracles of Passover. God has a Divine Order for His people and I believe that we can see many parallels with where we are today in the world, in our nation, and in the Church. God is the same yesterday, today and forever . (Hebrews 13:8) In Ecclesiastes 1:9 He affirms it: “What has been will be again, and what has been will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

Years ago, my Bible teacher and mentor told me that the best way to grasp the meaning of a scripture passage is to get into the skin of it—to go back to the setting in time and draw paradigms and lessons. I believe that God would have us to go back to the account of the Israelites and Egypt to gain insight as to where we are today. The word Egypt in Hebrew means shut in, restraint, misery, tribulation, distress and darkness. However, Egypt fulfills a dual role both as a place of refuge and a place of oppression, a place to "come up out of" and a place to flee to. This role begins with Abraham. He seeks refuge in Egypt because "there was a famine in the land" (Gen. 12:10); yet he must leave when Pharaoh wants to place Sarah in the royal harem. This is also the first recorded encounter of the divine ruler of Egypt and Yahweh the God of Abraham.

The story of Joseph gives a much more detailed picture of Egypt and the specifics of its role. Egypt is a place of oppression, as Joseph is initially enslaved, eventually ending up in prison. Egypt is also a place of hope and refuge as Joseph is raised to be second in the land. From this position of great power, he is able to provide a refuge from famine for his family who came to Egypt 70 in number (Gen. 46: 27) in approximately 1650 BC. One of the themes of the Joseph story is that God is not restricted by national boundaries. He blesses the property of Potipher (and, by extension, Potipher himself) when Joseph is his overseer (Gen. 39:5). Egypt had a reputation as a place of wisdom, and Joseph fulfills the appeal to find a man "discerning and wise" (Gen. 41:33). Of course, Joseph is the man they need, one of the Wise, those who know the way the world works in both a divine and a human sense. The Israelites experienced great favor and prosperity because of Joseph. Exodus 1: 7 reveals that they were fruitful and increased abundantly, were mighty and multiplied. (About 600,000 men, beside children according to Ex. 12: 37-38.)

However, the place of wisdom, the land of refuge and hope, becomes the land of slavery when "a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt" (Exodus 1:8-14). They became a threat to the king in his tyrannical rule. Pharoahs were considered to be literal sons of Ra, the sun god and the divine incarnation of Horus. They were thought to embody all the gods of Egypt and to be their representative to the Egyptian people. He set taskmasters to afflict the Israelites with burdens and bondage. The Pharaoh passed an edict to kill the Hebrew male babies to prevent the Israelites from outnumbering the Egyptians. The harsh experience of the Israelites in Egypt colors all later references to the land. Throughout the course of the struggle between Pharaoh and Yahweh, Egypt comes to represent all that is opposed to God. In Exodus 7:1-5 God told Moses that He would do three things: 1. He would bring the Israelites out of Egypt, 2. He would do it “by great judgments,” and 3. He would do it in a way that “the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord”—the true God.”

In Exodus 12:12 God adds that He was doing something else very important: “Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.” So, the judgments God would carry out would be, on a certain level, against the Egyptian gods. In doing this He would teach a lesson to both the Egyptians and the Israelites, who by now had been in Egypt for a number of generations (400 years) and had drifted far from the religion of their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They had become thoroughly immersed in a corrupt Egyptian culture and religion. Egyptian culture was very idolatrous, with a multitude of gods and goddesses. Each of the plagues God sent was a direct challenge to one or more of the gods and goddesses of Egypt. And while the Egyptians would’ve seen such things as locusts and biting insects before, what made these plagues unique is that God divinely intensified these plagues and brought them on the Egyptians at a time of His choosing. So, the plagues were much worse than they normally would’ve been, and they came exactly when God through Moses said they would happen to show that God was the one behind them. The fabled wisdom of Egypt is revealed as false wisdom, powerless to help the Egyptians defeat the God of Israel. Even the divine Pharaoh is unmasked as a man subject to death like his people. There are 87 Bible verses about God bringing Israel out of Egypt! Lev. 11: 45 says: “For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

What is the paradigm for us today?

Israel went into Egypt approximately 1650 BC—Pilgrims came to America in 1620 AD. Israel was God’s chosen nation through whom His Son was born—America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and was ordained to be a client nation for the spreading of the Gospel. Israel experienced great favor from God and prospered in Egypt for 400 years—America has found favor with God as a nation and prospered in the world for 400 years. Israel became thoroughly immersed in a corrupt Egyptian culture and religion—America has become thoroughly immersed in a corrupt worldview pagan culture and religion. Israel suffered oppression and bondage by an evil tyrannical leader who was opposed to God and who mandated the killing of babies—America is suffering oppression and bondage under the leadership of tyranny who is opposed to God and who promotes the killing of babies. In Exodus 3: 7-8 God said to Moses “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrow…I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians…” God sees our affliction and oppression in this darkness we are experiencing as a nation and as His Church made up of true believers not just professors drawn in without a change of heart. GOD BROUGHT DIVINE JUDGMENT! The last plagues were darkness and the visitation of the death angel. God brought darkness upon the land of Egypt for three days but light was upon the land of Goshen of the Israelites. The Israelites did not experience death because of the Blood of the Lamb and likewise is our protection from judgment.

I believe that God is about to manifest Himself in such a way that ALL will know that it is GOD—THAT HE IS REAL, HE HAS A PLAN, HE IS IN CONTROL AND HE LOVES US! Confirmation is being seen as revival is breaking out in this nation and across the world and God is pouring out His Spirit upon His people and will deliver us from evil—that His will may be done on earth as it is in heaven! God is calling His True Church to be holy—which means be separate—to humble our self and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways so that He will hear from heaven and heal our land! (I Chron. 7:14) Get ready to see God’s glory as we are on the way out of bondage!