The beginning of the book of Exodus records the story of Moses going down to Egypt at the command of the Lord to lead the children of Israel from bondage. The word “exodus” means “the departure” or “the way out.” The word “exit” is derived from the same root word. The Exodus was the departure of Israel from the land of Egypt.
God is always interested in setting before His people away out of the situations that have harassed them and been a burden and a source of bondage to them. He always seems to have a way to deliver them. We could compare it to the process used in silver plating or gold plating. He puts you into a solution of “acid,” and then He starts blessing you and changing you. You are thankful to get out of these dealings, but you discover that during the process you have become a little more “gold plated”; more of the divine nature has been imparted to you.
God puts you through things so that you might become a partaker of Himself and of His holiness. Your concept of God may be very wrong. Do you think of Him as the great Spirit who wants to do good, who sends the rain and the sunshine and makes things grow? If you do, you have the wrong idea. He set those laws of nature in motion millenniums ago, and now they work automatically. God is not only concerned about doing good for you. What He has in mind is way beyond that.
God is an infinite, tremendous, beautiful, wonderful, loving Father. He is not just trying to give you things; He desires to share Himself with you so that you come to partake of His nature. He wants you to be born of Him, to develop, and to have in yourself His very attributes and a growing awareness of Him. That is why He puts you through so many dealings. When you come out of them, you are a little more gold plated. A little more of the divine nature has been fused to your very being. He must increase and we must decrease. If He continues His work on us, people will look at us and not even see us at all, because we will be so covered with the divine nature. It will be so fused to our being that when they see us, they will see the Lord.
In all that the Lord puts you through, and with the delightful way He works out His will for you, all He is asking you to do is to be totally unreserved in your dedication to walk with Him.
You do not know what God will require of you in the future, and it is probably good that you do not. However, within your spirit you must be prepared to give the Lord everything that He would require. The enemy will constantly propose a compromise, saying that it is all right for you to serve the Lord, but that you must not become too involved.
That was the problem of Ananias and Sapphira. At that time of total dedication, when everyone was laying everything at the apostles’ feet and no one had any lack because they shared everything, Ananias and Sapphira decided they had better hold back a little. They conspired together to sell a piece of property and bring only part of the money to Peter; the rest of it they kept for themselves. That incident marked the first sign of judgment in the early Church, and it would be good for us to remember it.
After the day of Pentecost, the early Church lived with a total dedication. Nothing was held back from the Lord. Now the Lord is bringing us to that same level of dedication. Everything that He requires of us we must do. There can be no reservation in our minds or in our thinking. We must determine that we will walk with the Lord, and it makes no difference whether or not we are understood, or what price we have to pay, or how long it takes. Whatever He requires of us, we must be ready to go through with it. We will to be what He wants us to be. Let us ask the Lord to accelerate it in its time, as we determine to work at it the best we can.
That is exactly what Moses and the children of Israel were facing in Egypt. Then Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be detained. Even your little ones may go with you.” But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice them to the Lord our God. Therefore, our livestock, too, will go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, for we shall take some of them to serve the Lord our God. And until we arrive there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve the Lord.” Exodus 10:24–26.
This is true of us also. We do not know with what we shall serve the Lord; neither do we know what it is going to cost us. But we do know that everything we are and everything we have is dedicated to serving the Lord. Not one little hoof will be left behind.
But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Beware, do not see my face again, for in the day you see my face you shall die!” And Moses said, “You are right; I shall never see your face again!” Exodus 10:27–29.
Moses was saying just what God wants you to say. No matter what this is going to cost you, as far as you and your family and your flocks are concerned, it all has to be at His disposal. The entire Exodus was presented on the right basis. God never told the children of Israel that He was bringing them out of Egypt so that they did not have to make bricks anymore. He did not say that He was bringing them out in the wilderness to test them and to try them. He said, “Moses, tell Pharaoh that I am bringing them out to worship Me.”
That is what God is doing for you. He is not just concerned about releasing you from the rigors of making bricks and being a slave. He is loosing you so that you can become what He wants you to be—a worshiper of the Lord. God is going to have an entire nation of worshipers. Later on, God told the Israelites that they were going to be a kingdom of priests who would serve Him (Exodus 19:6). He chose the Levites—and many of them did not turn out too well—but His intent and purpose was that they would all be worshipers. That is also why He is bringing you out of your bondage.
You are not being set free so that you can go out and make more money, or live your life with a greater incentive to be happy. The only problem with that attitude is the fact that circumstances do not bring happiness. Real joy comes when you do the will of God. When Jesus was washing the disciples’ feet, He said, “You ought also to wash one another’s feet. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them” (John 13:14, 17). Your joy and happiness, even if it involves washing someone’s feet, is found in doing the will of God. You cannot walk in humble service of the Lord without finding a joy that overflows in your heart. It comes simply by doing what God tells you to do.
No doubt the happiest people among the remnant of God today are those who serve the most, those who are true servants. They receive genuine joy and blessing from it. They discipline themselves so that they have more time to devote to ministry and to serving God’s people. They strive for greater efficiency so that they can do more. If God blesses them with money, it is so that they can give more. How we should long to be channels to serve the Lord!
The plagues of frogs and lice were vicious. God sent them as a persuasive process. Then followed some clever maneuvering by Satan. And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” Exodus 8:25. He did not want them to get too far away. He was not too concerned about their serving God as long as they were still in Egypt.
Christians today are told something similar. They are allowed to get up and make all kinds of prayers, as long as they never leave Babylon to do it. The truth is that Christians do not know what it is to prophesy or to sing in the Spirit of the Lord until they are out of Babylon.
When they are in Babylon, they may sing psalms; but they will be like the songs the Israelites sang while in exile, when they hung their harps on a willow tree and cried, “How shall we sing one of the songs of Israel while we are in Babylon” (Psalm 137)? They cannot do it. First they must come completely out.
Pharaoh wanted the Israelites to stay in the land. But Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God what is an abomination to the Egyptians.” Egypt worshiped idols and each plague was directed against one of the gods of Egypt; this gave the plagues special significance.
Moses continued, “If we sacrifice” (to the Lord our God) “what is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not then stone us? We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He commands us.” And Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Make supplication for me.”
Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you, and I shall make supplication to the Lord that the swarms of insects may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only do not let Pharaoh deal deceitfully again in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” So Moses went out from Pharaoh and made supplication to the Lord. And the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of insects from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people; not one remained. But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go. Exodus 8:26–32.
A compromise was proposed, but it was not acceptable. Then followed more plagues: murrain on all the beasts, boils on man and beast, and hail that destroyed all vegetation. And Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not realize that Egypt is destroyed?” Exodus 10:7. Egypt was literally being destroyed. Its whole economy was changed, and after the Exodus it never again became a world power.
Tracing the history of Egypt reveals that it was one of the original, as well as one of the most glorious countries of the ancient civilization. At one time they made cornea transplants. Their knowledge of chemistry would baffle modern science. They practiced embalming techniques that were unique to the times. Mummies have been preserved for thousands of years, even down to this present time, which proves the advanced knowledge they had of chemistry.
We know that the Egyptians were talented in metallurgy. In the old Egyptian tombs, straight-edge razors have been found that were made of copper. They were tempered in such a way that they have retained a cutting edge, sharp enough for shaving, for thousands of years. Since that time, no one has been able to learn how this was done. In fact, several companies today have standing offers of a huge reward for anyone who can discover the process by which copper can be tempered in that way.
The ancient pyramids of Egypt are a miracle and a wonder. Engineers speculate on the way they were built, how massive blocks of stone, weighing several tons each, could be transported and lifted into place. Building the pyramids required also a knowledge of astronomy. Some shafts were open to certain stars. The pyramids sometimes had a special system of ventilation in certain areas. Even today it is claimed that when foods, such as eggs and meat, are placed in a properly constructed pyramid, they can be preserved and kept from spoiling.
Who can understand how far advanced Egypt really was? And yet suddenly all of that seemed to be eroded away, and millenniums passed before people could even begin to accomplish the same fantastic things. Traces of Egyptian culture were taken to Greece, which explains the similarity between some of the Greek philosophers and the early fathers of science. There are records verifying the fact that the Greeks borrowed parts of their culture from Egypt. What caused the downfall of Egypt? They had oppressed God’s people. That was enough.
After the Israelites were out of the land of Egypt, God brought the troops of Pharaoh to pursue after them. The Israelites were the decoy to bring them out. God gave them the promise: “The Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will see them no more forever” (Exodus 14:13). God drowned them in the sea. He punished them for harassing His people and for destroying the male children.
Do not think that our release is going to be without judgment upon the earth. God is going to bring judgment. I think that God is going to judge every blasphemous word that has come against Him and against His people.
Sometimes we can become conditioned to being harassed and oppressed and downtrodden until we think that there will never be any release. Just keep in mind that the Lord remembers everything that is voiced against His people, and He identifies with it personally. Jesus said, “Inasmuch as they do it unto the least of these, they do it to Me.” Upon that one principle, He bases everything of judgment. If you visit His people, He will say, “I was in prison and you visited Me.” If you clothe His people, He will say, “I was naked and you clothed Me.” If you feed His people, He will say, “I was hungry and you gave Me to eat.” They will ask, “When did we do this, Lord?” and He will say, “Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:35–40).
Does everything always seem to go wrong for you? Day by day does the boss harass you, and does your family give you a bad time? It seems as if the Christian is always getting the bad end of things. Do not worry about it. The Lord understands, and the time of Exodus is upon us. God said, “In the day that I make, then shall you know the difference between him that serves the Lord and him that serves Him not” (Malachi 3:18). “I will make them like ashes under your feet in the day that I prepare” (Malachi 4:3).
The final resolution of things in the earth is upon us. For a little while, it may seem as if you are being pushed down, and you may think that you cannot possibly become any meeker. Go ahead and become more meek. Then you will inherit the earth. If you feel poor in spirit, then yours is the Kingdom. If you have been in such heaviness and battle that you are mourning, you will be comforted while the rest of the world is mourning. God is bringing a reversal. In a little while you shall enter into the triumph of the Lord with Him.
We stand on the threshold of a Passover that is a time of coming out and leaving everything behind, a time of new release, the springtime of a new age. We enter into it with faith in our hearts. When the children of Israel ate the Passover lamb, there was a change in status. When they went out of Egypt, they did not slink out at night as slaves.
The Word says that they went out in the broad daylight, in the sight of all the Egyptians who were burying their dead. Not only that, they were loaded with jewelry. They had been instructed to go to the Egyptians and ask them for their wealth (Exodus 12:35). God caused them to plunder the Egyptians (verse 36). Does that seem unfair? Why would God do something like that? Consider the labor that the many generations of Hebrews had performed without receiving any pay. Now they were finally collecting their wages.
They went out with the spoils of Egypt. They had gold in such abundance that when it came time to build the tabernacle in the wilderness they had plenty. The ark of the covenant (a chest forty-five inches in length and twenty-seven inches in width and height) was overlaid with pure gold. The mercy seat with the two cherubim, which was on top of the ark, was one solid piece of gold. It would be worth a great fortune today. That was part of the gold which had been given to them by the Egyptians.
The Egyptians gave them their brass mirrors also. Those Egyptians were rather vain. Most likely they were the first people to develop a sophisticated use of cosmetics. They had not learned to make glass mirrors, but they had a way of polishing brass until it would really shine. In the wilderness, the time finally came when Moses asked the women to give up their brass mirrors and rid themselves of any vanity. The mirrors were used to make the laver of brass where the priests washed before they entered into the sanctuary. It was significant that the Lord required the women to give up their mirrors.
When the Israelites went out in the wilderness, the Lord asked many different things of them. He asked for the wealth they had taken out of Egypt, and they had to be willing to give it all. However, when God brought them out, they were not like beggars, scurrying in the dark. They came out in the light of the day, in the sight of all the Egyptians. God made that a glorious victory. What about the Egyptians? They were hurrying them along, anxious for them to leave. They thrust them out.
When God is ready, He will really bring us into a new day—a day in which children are brought to birth. We have been in the womb of God’s dealings, anxious to get out of the restrictions and into the new day. What we have been feeling is similar to what an unborn child feels. A baby does not have enough strength to work out of his mother’s womb; but as her muscles contract, and her body goes through great upheaval and change, that little baby is thrust into a new day. This illustrates the way God brought the Israelites out of Egypt. The pressures built up until finally Egypt thrust them out. They walked forth into a new day, thoroughly prepared. They all went; not one hoof was left behind. None were left.
The pressures that have been upon us for many months are leading to the birth pangs that will be upon the whole world. Jesus said it would be so. Paul also said it would be so. They said it would be like travail upon a woman with child. The world is not going to escape; however, we will be released through it. Childbirth pains are not a judgment: they are endured to bring forth new life. Similarly, the travail of your spirit is necessary so that you will be ready to enter into a new day and a new life. Children are come to birth, but the cry today is not like the cry of the Old Testament. Today there is strength to deliver. God is bringing us forth. Isaiah prophesied it: “Shall I bring to the birth and close up the womb?” says the Lord. No, before Zion travailed she brought forth (Isaiah 66:7, 9). This is a promise of God. People are coming out of Babylon and they are going to walk in a new day and a new environment.
It is a day of change. It is a day of deliverance. You may be doing things that you never dreamed of doing before. You may be preaching the Word, you may be starting churches, you may be writing songs. You may be thinking thoughts that human beings upon this earth have never thought before as God opens up the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Upon the little flock rests the Father’s good pleasure to give them the Kingdom (Luke 12:32). Believe it. Believe that everything is going to change for you. Have faith to enter into a new life, a new status, new relationships, new activities, a new effectiveness, and new appropriations, in the name of the Lord. Press on as God’s heir to possess fully the blessings that are yours, casting aside the fears and the old set ways of thinking that have conditioned you to the restrictions of Egypt.
Why be slaves anymore, automatically going about, making more bricks? Let us ask the Lord to deliver us from the conventional way of thinking that makes us tolerant of things that are not scripturally imposed upon us. Instead of being the oppressed, let us become the oppressors—the oppressors of principalities and powers that have resisted the Kingdom of God. We have put up with the restrictions long enough. My soul has chafed under them, yet my heart has not murmured. Now I am believing that I will rejoice greatly and move into this new phase of victory just as fast as I can.