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God didn't take you out of Egypt... to let you die in the wilderness!

I was a sight!

I was covered in mud from slogging around in the slime pits. The few scraps of clothing I still retained were rags that hung shapelessly from my skeletal frame.

From time to time, for no discernable reason and when least expected, the sting of the lash would spread liquid fire across my bony back. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, brick after brick – unending, monotonous, hopeless slavery.

Oh!I was a miserable sight!

That was Egypt! That was sin! And I was a slave!

Sound familiar? You have read it in Exodus, heard it preached about, even seen it on the movie screen. It’s the story of the nation of Israel enslaved in Egypt and their ultimate rescue by God through Moses.

The idea, of course, was that God was going to take them out of Egypt and, in a brief time, take them into Canaan, the Promised Land.

Well, He got them out of Egypt, all right, and even to the southern borders of the promised land. Unfortunately, however, the Israelites weren’t about to go into Canaan.

Oh, they loved the fruit of the land they had seen but…man! The Giants! No bunch of grapes was worth having to fight those guys!

Well, the story is as sad as it is well-known. The ones God brought out of Egypt ended up dying in the wilderness. I’m sure you know that this story, while it is historically true, is also given to us as an analogy of sin and salvation. If you didn’t know that – or believe that – before, you do - and should - now. It is historically factual.

Yes, I was a sight – just as you were. We were enslaved by sin just as surely as the Israelites were enslaved by Pharaoh. But God wasn’t content to leave us there. He sent Jesus to die for us and then sent the Holy Spirit to make that fact real in our hearts and we accepted Him as our Savior – we crossed over the Red Sea on dry ground! What a wonderful day that was!

It happened for me when I was 7. But I turned around and went back to Egypt about 10 years later. I guess I got too hungry for the leeks and garlics. And I stayed there, back in that bondage, for the next 10 years before God again was able to bring me out. This time I didn’t go back to Egypt but, ever since, I have been wondering around in the wilderness.

You know the wilderness don’t you? No water, no food, sandy, rocky, rugged and hot. Just like it was for the Isrealites.

Oh, there is the manna every morning. But that’s not really the feast God has prepared for us – the corn and grain of Canaan.  It’s a bland and formless substitute – just enough to keep body and soul together; just enough energy to get through the day.  And, every once in a while, when the thirst is really bad, there is a refreshing stream that flows from the rock, enough to keep life going on. The wilderness is a drab place.  No joy, no relief, no direction, no shelter.  Just the same dull plodding along, day after day.

Well, maybe you are one of those blessed saints who have not experienced the wilderness for more than just a few short days. Maybe the giants didn’t scare you.  Maybe the fruit of the land was worth any struggle to achieve.  I don’t mean this to sound sarcastic – believe me.  Most Christians, I believe, are in your group and God bless you.

But I think there are some of you who identify with what I am describing.  Born again, even filled with the Spirit (for us Pentecostals – for the rest of you, you are but don’t know it yet), fully convinced of the truth of the Word of God and the reality of the Kingdom but not able to enter in. I know how it has been for me.

Every once in a while – maybe during an especially anointed service or a song or something I see on TV – there will be that upwelling of Spiritual life, that recognition that my spirit still lives.  These are, of course, fleeting glimpses across the Jordan river to that land of milk and honey just a few yards away.  There is that pull, that desire to go over, that deep hunger for what lies over there.  But, sadly, I turn around and walk back to the familiar drudgery and guilt of the wilderness.

There are Christians who live and... …die in the wilderness!

So, what am I talking about?

Perhaps a few definitions are in order, for those of you who haven't attended Sunday School in some time. I'll try to make it simple.

EGYPT:

It is universally accepted that Egypt is symbolic of those who are held bondage by sin. This is upheld by certain considerations: They were born into it, they are totally under the control of someone else and they are unable to escape it on their own. The control exercised over them comes from two sources, according to the Bible. The first is the influence of sin, spiritually and environmentally. The second is the natural tendency of the unregenerate human spirit - called the "flesh" in the Bible - that without intervention results in sinful thoughts and practices.

WILDERNESS:

The wilderness is generally accepted as symbolic of the Christian walk prior to entering into Canaan, the promised land. It is a time of purification and discipline. Each and every Christian must go through the wilderness. The problem is how long the Christian remains there.

Although every believer must spend some time in the wilderness, those who live there do so through the very motivation that caused nearly 600,000 Israelites to die there - disobedience. This is not to say that disobedience, purification and discipline do not also belong to Canaan but they are not the way of life. They are anomalies.

CANAAN - THE PROMISED LAND:

Unfortunately, preachers and song writers have given us a completely inaccurate picture of what Canaan symbolizes. Too often it is taken to symbolize Heaven, but this does not coincide with the Biblical experience of Canaan - and a symbol must be consistent with its interpretation.

No, Canaan is symbolic of the victorious Christian walk. The walk of the believer who has been freed from sin (Egypt) and been purified and trained by the wilderness (sanctification, perhaps) and has entered into the fullness of "walking in the Spirit" and has indeed entered the land flowing with milk and honey. This is that life that Jesus was referring to by "more abundantly". Certainly there are enemies to be faced there and battles to be fought. There is territory to be won for the Kingdom of God. THAT is "Canaan".

But, as opposed to the wilderness, there is power and victory there, also. Each successful conflict adds more power and discipline for encountering the next.

DISOBEDIENCE IS DEADLY:

There is no reason to believe that the Christians who choose to spend their life walking around in circles through the wilderness will not go to Heaven when they die. They are not in Egypt; they have been "saved".

Unfortunately, however, they have not surrendered totally to the control of the one who saved them. Nearly everyday is spent in regret and struggle against the flesh. Nearly everyday is consumed with "if onlys".

Read the account of Israel in the wilderness. It is an unrelenting account of failures, complaints, murmurings, hunger and thirst, punishments and disobedience. What makes the torment even worse is that there are periodic visions of the "holy land" but, chained by fear, there is no entering in but rather a sad turning back.

The fear is the result of the disobedience.

Remember when the Israelites under Joshua were ready to cross the Jordan river? Before the waters were stopped and the way prepared the priests had to step into the water. If their feet had not touched the water there would have been no crossing over. This was obedience.

Another point to remember. Two tribes, Reuben and Gad, and one half-tribe, Manasseh, chose to remain in the wilderness. True, they went into Canaan with their brethren and fought valiantly by their sides until each of the tribes had achieved their allotted portions but then they returned to the wilderness to live. These tribes, by the way, became a thorn in the side to the rest of Israel.

Why? What does their remaining in the wilderness mean? They had been to the promised land. They had experienced it's beauty and pleasures. They had fought the battles and won the victories. BUT THEY COULD NOT ESCAPE WANTING THEIR OWN WAY. They and their descendants would live and die in the wilderness.

OBEDIENCE:

Obedience is the key. Don't die in the wilderness. God didn't bring you out of Egypt for that. Obey His command to enter in. There is no reason to leave your carcass to lie in the wilderness when you can be living on milk and honey, in houses you didn't build, eating fruit from trees you didn't plant, harvesting grain you didn't sow.

Even today, even while you're reading this, if you are tired of trudging through this dry and thirsty land, determine to obey the voice and leading of the Lord.

Forget the giants - they're already defeated and they know it. There's nothing to fear in Canaan and everything to gain.

Don't die in the wilderness.

So! How do I get out of this wilderness and into Canaan?

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