“Don’t Run to Egypt”
Introduction:
A worldly kind of person came to the preacher, defending her practice of attending worldly entertainments. She said, "But, preacher, I can take Jesus Christ with me wherever I go." The preacher after a few moments of thought quietly replied, "Indeed, is that so? I didn’t know that was the order of the Bible. Is it for you to lead Jesus to where you want to go or for Him to lead you where He wants you to be?"
All throughout the Scriptures Egypt is used as an analogy of the world or of the life apart from God and Zion is used to refer to the church or to a life with God. On many occasions the prophets had to call the people back out of a spiritual Egypt and back to spiritual Zion, and still today the same thing is going on.
I never have understood why people in the church would want to go back into the world. Perhaps through trials and times in the wilderness people start wanting to go back into the world. You may remember as Israel wandered in the wilderness things got tough for them at times, and without fail when things got tough the people began to murmur and wish they were back in Egypt. I wonder how badly they missed the point, i wonder if they had forgotten what Egypt was really like, I wonder if they forget the forced labor and the feel of the Egyptian whips on their backs. Sometimes through the wilderness and through trials we can start to get the notion and buy into the Devil’s lie that Egypt might be appealing. There were times in Israel’s history also when they didn’t like the standard that God had set, they thought they knew better how they should live their lives and instead of submitting they without fail would grumble and start talking again about Egypt. I wonder if they had forgotten what Egypt was really like. I wonder if they forgot the forced labor and the feel of the Egyptian whips on their backs. Sometimes when we want to live by our own standards we start to desire to go back into the world thinking we know what is best for us, but really we are the ones missing out.
Sometimes we forget what the world was really like. Have you forgotten what it was like to be in bondage. The Bible teaches us that apart from Christ we are really in slavery, and that to be without Christ is to be separate from Christ, without citizenship, without covenant of promise and without hope and without God in this world. Perhaps at times through our desire to sin the allure of the world of Egypt seems so great that we forget what it was really like to be apart from him. The point is that there was danger back in Egypt. Can you imagine as Israel was in the wilderness wandering around if the people would have gone back. How would they have been welcomed. I would assume it would not be to a welcoming party and a feast. They probably would have been executed, the may have been lucky and put back into slavery, but probably a harsher slavery. Do they forget the false idols that were there that may have been a temptation to drag them away from the living God. Where do you think Aaron and crew learned of crafting the golden calf, I would imagine it was through the corruption in Egypt.
C. S. Lewis, “Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Text: Isaiah 30:1-7
I. We Don’t Need to Go To Egypt
On many occasions Israel wanted to go back into their slavery in Egypt. For example when they were getting tired of the Manna they received the grumbled against God ans said life would be better in Egypt. Had they forgotten that God was leading them to the Promised Land, which was described as a land flowing with milk and honey. They were willing to give up the Promised Land for a land of slavery and oppression just so they could get what they wanted right away. We live in a society that wants instant gratification. People want to please themselves and do it immediately, but they forget sometimes they need to delay gratification. I see people on a regular basis consciously choose to give up what God has to offer in this life and in eternal life in Heaven for the pleasure of their flesh right now. They want to go into Egypt, but I want to warn you, don’t go into Egypt, because they have nothing to offer you in reality. Whether we want to admit it it or not we are influenced by the things of this world. We are influenced by the things we watch, the things we see, and the culture in which we live in, we cannot escape that. Some of the ways we are influenced are not bad in and of themselves. For example, we can be influence by technology in ways that other cultures were not, but more often than not that influence is negative.
A man once went to see a prophet and said, "Prophet, why do you bother? You have been prophesying for over fifteen years, and still things are the same. Why do you keep going?"The prophet replied, "Don’t you know? I’m not prophesying to change the world, but to prevent the world from changing me"
A. For Our Entertainment
We the church do not need to take a back seat to the world in any area of life. We live in a society where entertainment is a very large part of our society. The entertainment industry is a multi-billion dollar industry annually. I saddens me that many in the church seek to find their entertainment from Egypt or the world. Every now and then I will hear people who have been around for awhile talking about the changes they have seen in society over their lifetime. One of the changes that always is talked about is the changes in the entertainment industry and the morality that is displayed on television and movies. Hollywood is busy seeking to portray to our society images that are contrary to God. If you watch television and even commercials you will see that there is an agenda there that they are trying to promote. You will see tolerance taught, you will see fornication condoned and modeled, you will see homosexuality glamorized, suicide mocked and a joke, you will see things like witchcraft and the occult glorified and even portrayed on children’s shows, you will see drinking and drug use presented as the norm, you will see a message telling people that if they would just have more things then their lives would be better off. I am telling you that these are the things that our world go to for entertainment and even people within the church are watching. One of the most popular shows on television is a show called “Desperate Housewives” which just from watching the commercials I feel dirty, violated, embarrassed, and my intelligence insulted. The sad thing is that Christians are watching those things without ever the conscience being bothered and even parents are allowing their children to find their entertainment from shows which degrade what we hold dear and then they wonder why in their teenage years and adult years they go astray. The reason is because they are receiving a mixed message. They are watching TV and movies that tell them that everything is okay and glamorous and then they go to church and they hear something different and see something even different from that portrayer from their parents.
Some suggest that TV is just giving the public what it demands. There is some truth to that, but don’t be misled, there is also a gay agenda that many in Hollywood push. Will & Grace star Eric McCormick said, "When little old women say, ’I hope he finds a nice man," the show will be successful." In other words, McCormick isn’t just acting on the show to earn a paycheck; he’s attempting to change the way Americans view homosexuality. As much as I hate to say it, that agenda is working. According to a Roiters News survey, 85% of high school seniors now believe being gay is okay. Nearly that same percentage believe that gay marriage is acceptable.
I want to tell you church that we should not have to seek entertainment from the world.
Romans 1:27-32
B. For Our Role Models
Today, if you were to ask a kid who their role models are, you will hear names such as these: Britney Spears, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Kid Rock, Puff Daddy, Usher, Terrell Owens or many other celebrities. These people model through their lifestyle; divorce, abuse, poor stewardship, lack of respect for authorities, pride, vile language, and many other negative traits. We are far removed from the days of having people like Andy Griffith being our role model. I want to tell you that the church does not have to take a back seat to the world for it’s role models. I wish today parents would encourage their children to have godly role models within the church or maybe even within the home who model and display Christ through their lifestyles. We do not need to run to Egypt for our role models because there are plenty within the church.
C. For Our Learning
We also don’t need to run to Egypt for our learning. You may remember when King Ahaziah got injured after falling off of the lattice of his palace, he sent his messengers to the prophets of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron to tell him if he would live. Elijah stopped the messengers and told them to bring the king back a single question, which was “is there not a god in Israel to consult?” One problem in our world is that people today are seeking their wisdom and learning from other means, they seek yo learn from pop culture and pop psychology rather than from the Word of God. I want you to know that we can still learn things in the Church from the Word of God.
In case you have missed it, the public school systems and the colleges and universities around this country have been working in every way possible to drive God and out and kill Him. They have removed prayer from schools, they have barred the mention of Jesus at any function, they have forbidden the prayer in Jesus’ name, they have taken Bible reading and Bible classes away, and even removed the Ten Commandments from all areas. On top of all of that the worldly education system will attempt to make you feel that you are less intelligent because you believe in God and have faith. They will try to tell you that it is more intelligent to believe that life just developed over millions of years rather than had a creator. They want you to believe that the fact of creation is less accurate than the theory of evolution. They will mock God, they will mock the Bible, and they will mock the church, and yet many still run to Egypt for their learning. The last I checked is that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding, and I have no desire to go to any person who misses the single most important and foundational fact and that is God created the Heaven and the Earth for any other learning or knowledge. I want you to be aware that you do not have a less intelligent belief system for believing God created the Heavens and the Earth in six days and you do not have a blind leap of faith, but rather have a logical and sensible faith that is founded on something many of their educators fail to have and that is Truth with a capital “T”.
I hope you have caught that we for any reason do not need to go to Egypt because the church can satisfy. During Isaiah’s time they wanted to go to Egypt for their protection, but they would have found no protection there, God is our refuge and our fortress. The church can indeed satisfy and fill what you think you must get from the world. What the world offers is a temporary fulfillment of your fleshly desires and what Christ offers through the Church is a permanent fulfillment to your greatest needs. We need to learn though that we cannot have both. You cannot reside both in Zion and in Egypt at the same time. You cannot live in Zion even longing for Egypt. In the same way you cannot be in the church and be in the world at the same time.
James 4:4
I want somebody some day tell me what the world has to offer people that Christ cannot match and more. I tell you the same thing the prophets did, come out of bondage and understand true freedom.
The prophet Jeremiah was appalled at the people for their sins and one of the most appalling to him was their forsaking of God.
Jeremiah 2:13
The people were leaving something great for something second rate. I tell Stephanie she never has to worry about me cheating on her, because why would I go for silver when I have gold at home. The same is true of my faith, why would I abandon that for anything when I have the real thing. Israel was seeking after broken cisterns that cannot hold water when they had the spring of living water. Sometimes we as people do that though, we turn away from that which is good, perfect, pure and right and exchange it for something that cannot satisfy us in the world.
A lot of the Bible heroes ran to Egypt for their help, but never really found it. Jacob and sons ran to Egypt to escape a famine and it resulted in slavery.
On top of that Israel had a history of slavery and oppression. Not only were they slaves in Egypt, but they were slaves in Babylon at one time. Israel as a nation was divided into two parts in about the year 922 B.C. The North was called Israel and the South was called Judah. In 722 B.C. The North fell to the Assyrians and in 586 B.C the South fell to Babylon and many of the people were taken into captivity there. They remained in slavery there for 70 years. Finally, they were allowed to return back to their land, but some of them choose to stay in Babylon. They thought they had it made and their lives were great, but they had no idea what freedom really was.
Revelation 18:4-8
Obviously, this is talking about spiritual Babylon and her destruction, but the point remains that God is calling us out of the world, our of Egypt, out of Babylon and into the Promised Land and many still choose to go to Egypt for their help, when the whole time God is our refuge, God is our shelter and defender, and in him alone can we find true hope and joy.
Dr. George Sweeting once went on a trip to Niagara Falls with his family. Being springtime, they watched as ice rushed down the river. Frozen inside the ice he could see the outline of dead fish. They made an easy meal for the seagulls. They would land on a block of melting ice, chip away until they could get to the fish, eat it, then fly off just before the ice disappeared over the falls. One feasting gull was not so lucky. As it approached the falls it spread its wings and sought to fly away, but it had spent so long on the block of ice that it’s claws and frozen into it. It struggled and struggled, Until finally it went hurtling over the falls, unable to break its hold.
Perhaps today you have been feeding too long in the world, perhaps you are close to being stuck there, perhaps you need to let go. If that is the case it better be done before it is too late. Don’t got to Egypt, don’t go to the world, Christ has plenty to offer through the church, his called out ones.
II. We Don’t Need to Run Ahead of God
Israel had a habit of not waiting on God. Many times when they were in trouble they would seek out help in some other way rather than looking up to God for their help. You may remember the story of Abraham and his wife Sarah. They were advanced in age, but God came to them and gave them a promise that they would have a child. Some time passed and they still had not child so Abraham and Sarah took things into their own hands. Abraham and Sarah agreed that Sarah’s maidservant Hagar might be a good potential mother for Abraham’s child, so he went to her and she had a child, and named his Ishmael. This was still not the child God was promising to Abraham, soon they would have a son named Isaac. Much of the fighting in the world is a result of Abraham not waiting on God, but taking things into his own hands. The Muslims trace their lineage back to Ishmael, so much of today’s violence came from not waiting on God.
There came times when God’s people became afraid of the attacking armies that were coming against them, so they made for themselves alliances with other countries without seeking the Lord. Specifically, they would make an alliance with Egypt to hope for protection. The right thing to do would have been to trust in the Lord to deliver them, but they refused to wait on God instead they ran ahead of him. They thought they knew what was best. They were so confident of their own ways, that they failed to even seek God’s guidance and protection. They saw Pharaoh and Egypt as a wise ally and a good protection, but they were wrong, they had a much better protection in the Lord. God said, what they did was not by His Spirit and that they were heaping sin upon sin.
We need to insure that we are people that do not run ahead of God and that we wait on him.
Psalms 27:13-14
What we have to trust in our lives is that God is in control and He knows what He is doing. Sometimes we may like to take things into our own hands, sometimes we may feel more secure when we have things in our control, but we need to wait on the Lord. A lot of times it is our habit when faced with difficult situations to pool our wisdom or the wisdom of others and sometimes we fail to get God’s help for us.
