Schoolmaster to Christ
EXODUS CHAPTERS 7-11
Schoolmaster to Christ
EXODUS CHAPTERS 7-11
Scripture Reading: Exodus 7-11 (KJV)
These five chapters form one distinct section, the contents of which may be distributed into the three following divisions: the ten judgments from the hand of Jehovah; the resistance of "Jannes and Jambres;" and the four objections of Pharaoh.
The whole land of Egypt was made to tremble beneath the successive strokes of the rod of God; from the monarch on his throne to the menial at the mill – all were made to feel the terrible weight of that rod.
"He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron whom he had chosen. They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies and lice in all their coasts. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He smote their vines: also, and their fig-trees; and brake the trees of their coasts. He spake, and their locusts came, and the caterpillars, and that without number, and did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength" (Ps. 105:26-36).
Here the inspired Psalmist has given a condensed view of those appalling afflictions which the hardness of Pharaoh's heart brought upon his land and upon his people. This haughty monarch had set himself to resist the sovereign will and course of the Most High God; and, as a just consequence, he was given over to judicial blindness and hardness of heart.
"And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had spoken unto Moses. And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh: and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out my hand that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth" (Ex. 9:12-16).
In contemplating Pharaoh and his actions, we are reminded that Divine grace must find its object; and every one acting as a barrier of that grace must be taken out of the way. Whether it be Egypt, Babylon, or any other barrier, it matters not. Divine power will clear the channel for Divine grace to flow, and eternal woe focus all who stand in the way. He has said to His people, "no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper," and His infallible faithfulness will always make good what His infinite grace has promised.
Thus, when Pharaoh persisted in holding God’s people, the vials of Divine wrath were poured on him; and the throughout its entire length and breadth, the land of Egypt was covered with darkness, disease, and desolation.
We now briefly consider the opposition of "Jannes and Jambres," the magicians of Egypt. We would not know the names of these ancient opposers of the truth of God, if they had not been recorded by the Holy Spirit, in connection with "the perilous times" of which the Apostle Paul warns Timothy. It is important that we clearly understand the real nature of the opposition given to Moses by those magicians. In order that we may have the subject fully before us, we shall quote the entire passage from Paul's Epistle to Timothy. It is one of deep and awful solemnity.
"This know, also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all, as theirs also was" (2 Tim. 3:1-9).
It is peculiarly solemn to mark the nature of this resistance to the truth. The mode in which "Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses" was simply by imitating whatever he did, as best they could. We do not find that they attributed his actions to a false or evil energy, but rather they sought to neutralize their power on the conscience by doing the same things. In other words, what Moses did they could do – there was no great difference; one was as good as the other; a miracle is a miracle. If Moses used miracles to get the people out of Egypt, they could use miracles to keep them in; so where was the difference?
From this we learn the solemn truth that the most Satanic resistance to God's testimony is offered by those who, though they imitate the effects of the truth, have only "the form of godliness," and "deny the power thereof." Such people adopt the same habits and forms, use the same phraseology, profess the same opinions, etc. When the love of Christ constrains us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, circulate the Scriptures, supports the Gospel, engage in prayer, sing praise, preach the Gospel, the formalist imitates them all. This is the special character of the resistance offered to the truth “in the last days'' – this is the spirit of "Jannes and Jambres." How important it is to understand and remember that, "as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do those self-loving, world-seeking, pleasure-hunting professors, "resist the truth." They would not be without "a form of godliness;" but, though adopting "the form," they hate "the power," because it involves self-denial. "The power" of godliness involves the recognition of God's claims, the implanting of His kingdom in the heart, and the consequent exhibition thereof in one’s whole life and character – the formalist knows nothing of this. "The power" of godliness can never comport with any one of the hideous features set forth in the foregoing quotation; but though "the form," covers them, it leaves them completely unsubdued; but the formalist likes this. The formalist does not want lust subdued, pleasure interfered with, passion curbed, affection governed, the heart purified. The formalist wants just as much religion as necessary "to make the best of both worlds." He knows nothing of giving up the world, because of having found "the world to come."
Considering the forms of Satan's opposition to the truth of God, we find that his method is to first oppose it by open violence; and then, if that does not succeed, to corrupt it by producing a counterfeit. Hence, he first sought to slay Moses (Ex. 2:15), and failing to accomplish this, he sought imitation.
The same is true regarding the Church of our Lord. Satan's early efforts were demonstrated by the wrath of the chief priests and elders, the judgment-seat, the prison, and the sword. But, in the passage just quoted from 2 Timothy, we find no reference to such efforts. Often violence has made way for the far more wily and dangerous instrumentality of a powerless form, an empty profession, a human counterfeit. Instead of appearing with the sword of persecution in his hand, the enemy walks about with the cloak of profession on his shoulders. He professes and imitates that which he once opposed and persecuted; and, by so doing, gains appalling advantages, for the time being. The fearful forms of moral evil that have stained the pages of human history from age to age are to be found carefully arranged beneath the drapery of a cold, powerless, uninfluential profession – one of Satan's grand masterpieces.
That man, as a fallen, and corrupt creature should love himself, be covetous, boastful, proud, and the like, is natural; but that he should be all these, beneath the fair covering of "a form of godliness," reveals the special energy of Satan in his resistance to the truth in "the last days." That man should seek to exhibit those hideous vices, lusts, and passions – the necessary results of departure from the source of infinite holiness and purity – should be expected, because man will be what he is to the end. But, on the other hand, when we find the holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ connected with man's wickedness and deadly evil; when we find holy principles connected with unholy practices; when we find all the characteristics of Gentile corruption referred to in the first chapter of Romans, associated with "a form of godliness," we can then say, these are the terrible features of "the last days" – this is the resistance of "Jannes and Jambres."
However, there were only three things the magicians of Egypt were able to imitate: turning their rods into serpents (Ex. 7:12), turning the water into blood (Ex. 7:29), and bringing up the frogs (Ex. 8:7); but, in the fourth, involving the exhibition of life, they were confounded, and obliged to own, "this is the finger of God" (Ex. 8:16-19). The same is true with latter-day resisters of the truth. What they do is by the direct energy of Satan, and lies within the range of his power – its specific object to "resist the truth."
The three things that "Jannes and Jambres" were able to accomplish the serpents, the blood, and the frogs were characterized by satanic energy, death, and uncleanness. Thus, they "withstood Moses;" and "so do these also resist the truth," hindering its moral weight and action on the conscience. There is nothing that tends to deaden the power of truth as those who are not under its influence doing the same things as those who are. Satan seeks to display his followers as Christians. He wants us to believe that religious organizations, creeds, and dogmas of men are truly Christian; but Satan is a counterfeit Christianity, designed to withstand its purifying and elevating influence.
In short, true servants of Christ and witnesses for God’s truth are surrounded on all sides by the spirit of "Jannes and Jambres;" and it is well for us to remember this – to thoroughly know the evil with which we have to grapple; to bear in mind that Satan's has many imitations of God's reality, not produced by the wand of an openly-wicked magician, but by the actions of those who have "a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof," who do things apparently right and good, but who have neither the life of Christ in their souls, the love of God in their hearts, or the power of God’s Word in their consciences.
"But," adds the inspired apostle, "they shall proceed no further, for their folly shall be manifested unto all, as theirs also was." Truly the "folly" of "Jannes and Jambres" was manifested when they not only failed to imitate the further actions of Moses and Aaron, but actually became involved in the judgments of God. This is a solemn point. The folly of all who are merely possessed of the form will in like manner be manifested. They will not only be unable to imitate the full and proper effects of divine life and power, but they themselves will become the subjects of those judgments, resulting from the rejection of that very truth they have resisted.
Will any one say this has no voice for us today? It should speak to each conscience in living power; it should speak to each heart, in accents of impressive solemnity. It should lead each of us to enquire seriously whether we are testifying for the truth; whether we are walking in the power of godliness or hindering it, neutralizing its action by having only the form. The effect of the power of godliness will be seen by our "continuing in the things which we have learned." Only those taught of God will continue; those who, by the power of the Spirit of God, have taken in divine principle, at the pure fountain of inspiration.
Blessed be God, there are many such throughout the Church of our Lord.1 There are many whose consciences have been bathed in the atoning blood of "the Lamb of God," whose hearts beat high with genuine attachment to His Person; whose spirits are cheered by "that blessed hope" of seeing Him as He is, and of being eternally conformed to His image. It is encouraging to think of such. It is an unspeakable mercy to fellowship with those who can give a reason of the hope that is in them, and for the position they occupy. May the Lord add to their number daily. May the power of godliness spread far and wide, so that a bright and well-sustained testimony may be raised to the name of Him who is worthy.
The third point in our section yet remains to be considered, namely, Pharaoh's four subtle objections to the full deliverance and complete separation of God's people from the land of Egypt. The first of these we have in Exodus 8:25. "And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land." It goes without saying, that whether the magicians withstood or Pharaoh objected, it was actually Satan who stood behind the scenes; and his object in this proposal of Pharaoh was to hinder the testimony to the Lord's name – a testimony connected with the thorough separation of His people from Egypt. In other words, eventually there could be no such testimony had they remained in Egypt, even though they were to sacrifice to God. They would have been on common ground with the uncircumcised Egyptians, and Jehovah would have been put on a level with the gods of Egypt. If that happened, then an Egyptian could have said to an Israelite, "I see no difference between us; you have your worship and we have ours; it is all alike."
As a matter of course, men think it proper for every one to have a religion, no matter what it may be. Provided we are sincere, and do not interfere with our neighbor’s creed, it does not matter what shape our religion may wear. Such are the thoughts of most people regarding what they call religion; but it is obvious that the glory of the name of Jesus finds no place in all this. The enemy will always oppose the demand for separation, and that is something the heart of man cannot understand. The heart may crave religiousness because conscience testifies that things are not right; but it also craves the world. It would like to "sacrifice to God in the land;" and Satan's object is gained when people accept a worldly religion, refusing to "come out and be separate" (2 Cor. 6). From the beginning, His unvarying purpose has been to hinder testimony to God's name on earth. Such was the dark tendency of the proposal, "Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land."
We should ponder this deeply. The effort to induce Israel to worship God in Egypt reveals a far deeper principle than we might, at first sight, imagine. The enemy rejoices, at any time, by any means, or under any circumstances, to get just the semblance of Divine sanction for the worldly religions. He has no objection to worldly religious organizations. In fact, Satan gains his end as effectually by what is termed "the religious world" as by any other agency; therefore, when he succeeds in getting a true Christian to accredit religious organizations of the day, he gains temporary advantage. As a matter of fact, nothing elicits more intense indignation from Satan than the Divine principle of separation from this present evil world. You may hold the same opinions, preach the same doctrines, do the same work; but if you seek to act on God’s commands, “from such turn away" (2 Tim. 3:5), and "come out from among them" (2 Cor. 6:17), you can count on the most vigorous opposition. Why? Mainly because of the fact that in separation from this world's hollow religiousness, true Christians bear a testimony for Christ which they could never bear if connected with it.
There is a wide difference between human religious organizations and Christ. The apostle does not say, "If there be any consolation in religion;" even though the votaries of organized human religions no doubt find therein what they deem consolation. On the other hand, Paul found his consolation in Christ, having fully proved the worthlessness of man’s religion, in its fairest and most imposing form.2
True, the Spirit of God speaks to us of "pure religion and undefiled;" but the unregenerate man cannot participate therein. How can an unbeliever take part in what is spiritually "pure and undefiled?" This religion is from heaven, the source of all that is pure; it is exclusively before the eye of God; it is for the exercise of the functions of that new name, with which all who truly believe on the name of the Son of God are endowed.3 Finally, pure religion ranges under two comprehensive heads: active benevolence and personal holiness; "To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27).
One who goes through the entire catalogue of the genuine fruits of Christianity, will find them all classed under these two heads; and it is interesting to observe that whether we turn to Exodus 8 or the first of James, we find separation from the world put forward as an indispensable quality in true service to God, Nothing can be acceptable before God; nothing can receive from His hand the stamp of "pure and undefiled," that is polluted by contact with an "evil world."
"Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Cor. 6:17, 18).
There was no meeting-place for Jehovah and His redeemed in Egypt – with them, redemption and separation from Egypt represented one and the same thing. God had said, "I am come down to deliver them," and nothing short of this could either satisfy or glorify Him. A salvation that left them in Egypt could not possibly be God's salvation. Also, we must keep in mind that Jehovah's purpose in the salvation of Israel, as well as in the destruction of Pharaoh, was, that "His name might be declared throughout all the earth." What declaration could there be of that name or character, if His people attempted to worship Him in Egypt? Either none; or an utterly false one. Therefore, in order for the full and faithful declaration of God's character it was essentially necessary that His people should be wholly delivered and completely separated from Egypt. Today, in order to have a clear and unequivocal testimony for the Son of God, it is essentially necessary that all who are really His should be separated from this present world. Such is the will of God; and for this end Christ gave Himself. "Grace unto you, and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (Gal. 1:3-5).
The Galatians were beginning to accredit a carnal and worldly religion – a religion of ordinances – a religion of "days, and months, and times, and years;" and the apostle commences his epistle by telling them that the Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for the purpose of delivering His people from that very thing. God's people must be separate, not on the ground of superior personal sanctity, but because they are His people, and in order that they may answer His gracious end in taking them into connection with Himself, attaching His name to them. A people still amid the defilements and abominations of Egypt, could not have been a witness for the Holy One; nor can one today be a bright and steady witness for a crucified and risen Christ, while mixed with the defilements of corrupt worldly religions.
The answer given by Moses to Pharaoh's first objection was a truly memorable one. "And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God; lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us" (Ex. 8:26, 27).
Here is true separation from Egypt – "three days journey;" nothing less than this could satisfy faith. In the power of resurrection, the Israel of God must be separated from the land of death and darkness. In other words, the waters of the Red Sea must roll between God's redeemed and Egypt, before they can properly sacrifice to Jehovah. Had they remained in Egypt, they would have to sacrifice to the Lord the very objects of Egypt's abominable worship.4 This would never do. There could be no tabernacle, no temple, no altar, in Egypt – no site there for anything of that kind. In point of fact, as we will later see, Israel never presented as much as a single note of praise until the whole congregation stood on Canaan's side of the Red Sea, in the full power of accomplished redemption. Before we can be intelligent worshippers, acceptable servants, or effectual witnesses, we must know where the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ forever sets us.
In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle sets forth the death and resurrection of Christ as the foundation of everything. "Moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (vv. 1-4).
Here in one brief and comprehensive statement is the Gospel. A dead and risen Christ is the ground-work of salvation. "He was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification" (Rom. 4:25). Seeing Jesus by the eye of faith; nailed to the cross and seated on the throne, gives peace to the conscience and liberty to the heart. We can look into the tomb and see it empty; we can look up to the throne, and see it occupied, and go on our way rejoicing. The Lord Jesus settled everything on the cross on behalf of His people; and the proof of this settlement is that He is now at the right hand of God. A risen Christ is eternal proof of an accomplished redemption; and if redemption is an accomplished fact, the believer's peace is a settled reality. We did not make peace and never could make it; indeed, any effort on our part to make peace could only tend more fully to manifest us as peace breakers. But Christ, having made peace by the blood of His cross, has taken His scat on high, triumphant over every enemy. By Him God preaches peace. The Lord of the Gospel conveys this peace; and the soul that truly believes the Gospel has peace – settled peace before God, for Christ is his peace.5 In this way, God not only satisfied His own claims, but, in so doing, found a divinely-righteous vent through which His boundless affections may flow to the guiltiest of sinners.
Consider for a moment the practical result of all this. The cross of Christ not only put away the true believer's sins, but also forever dissolved our connection with the world. On this ground, Christians are privileged to regard the world as a crucified thing, and to be regarded by it as a crucified one. Thus it stands with the Christian and the world. It is crucified to us and we to it. This is the dignified position of every Child of God. The world expressed judgment about Christ in the position it deliberately placed Him – choosing a murderer rather than Jesus. The world allowed a murderer to go free, but nailed Christ to the cross. Now, if we walk in the footprints of Christ; if we drink into, and manifest His spirit, we will occupy the same place in the world's estimation; and in this way, we will be crucified with Christ, in our walk and experience.
But while the cross has effectually severed our connection with the world, the resurrection has brought us into the power of new ties and associations. If, in the cross, we see the world's judgment about Christ, in resurrection we see God's judgment. The world crucified Him; but "God hath highly exalted him." Man gave Jesus the very lowest place, God the very highest; and, because we are called into full fellowship with God, we are enabled to turn the tables on the world, looking on it as a crucified thing. Therefore, if the Christian is on one cross and the world on another, the moral distance between the two is indeed vast. And if it is vast in principle, so it should be in practice. The world and the Christian have absolutely nothing in common; unless we deny our Lord and Master. We prove ourselves false to Christ in the same degree that we have fellowship with the world.
All this is plain enough; but where does it put us regarding the world? It puts us completely outside, because we are dead to the world and alive in Christ. We are partakers of His rejection by earth and His acceptance in heaven; and the joy of the latter makes us count as nothing the trial connected with the former. To be cast out of earth, without knowing that we have a place and portion on high would be intolerable; but when the glories of heaven fill the soul's vision, a little of earth goes a long way.
But one may ask, "What is the world?" It would be difficult to find a term more inaccurately defined than "world," or "worldliness." However, the Word of God has defined what "the world," when it marks it as that which is "not of the Father." Hence, the deeper our fellowship with the Father, the keener will be our sense of what is worldly. This is the Divine way of teaching. The more one delights in the Father's love, the more the world will be rejected. Defining worldliness is difficult. It gradually shades from white to black. We cannot set a boundary and say, "here is where worldliness begins;" but the keen and exquisite sensibilities of the divine nature recoil from it. Therefore, in order to keep aloof from every form of worldliness, we need to walk in the power of that nature. "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." Walk with God, and you shall not walk with the world. Cold distinctions and rigid rules will avail nothing. The power of the divine life is what we need. We need to understand the meaning and spiritual application of the "three days' journey into the wilderness" whereby we are forever separated, not only from Egypt's brick-kilns and taskmasters, but also from its temples and altars.
Pharaoh's second objection partook of the character and tendency of the first. "And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away" (Ex. 8:28). If he could not keep them in Egypt, he would at least keep them near it, so that he might act on them by its varied influences. In this way, they might be brought back again, and the testimony more effectually quashed than if they had never left Egypt. Much damage is done to the cause of Christ by those seeming to give up the world and returning to it again; more damage than if they had remained in the world; because they virtually confess that having tried heavenly things they believe that earthly things are better and more satisfying.
But this is not all. The moral effect of truth on the conscience of unconverted people is greatly hindered by the example of those going back again into the world. This is not to say that such cases provide an acceptable reason for any one rejecting God's truth, because each one is personally responsible and will have to give account of all actions to God. Still, the effect is bad.
"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to hare known the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them" (2 Pet. 2:20, 21).
Therefore, if people do not "go very far away," they had better not go at all. The enemy knows this well; and hence his second objection. The maintenance of a border position always suits his purpose. Those occupying this ground are neither one thing nor the other.
The third objection demands special attention. "And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, go, serve the Lord your God; but who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds, will we go: for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. Not so; go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence" (Ex. 10:8-11).
Here again the enemy aims a deadly blow at testimony to the name of the God of Israel; parents in the wilderness and their children in Egypt – terrible anomaly. This would have been a half deliverance; useless to Israel and dishonoring to Israel's God. This could not be. If the children remained in Egypt, the parents could not possibly leave. The most that could be said in such a case was that in part they were serving Jehovah, and in part Pharaoh. But Jehovah had no part with Pharaoh – he would have all or nothing. This is a weighty principle for Christian parents. Regarding our children, it is our happy privilege to "bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. 6). We should not be satisfied with a portion for our children representing less than what we ourselves enjoy.
Pharaoh's fourth and last objection had reference to flocks and herds. "And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you" (Ex. 10:24). Satan disputed every inch of Israel's way out of the land of Egypt. He first sought to keep them in the land, then to keep them near the land, next to keep part of them in the land, and, finally, when he could not succeed in any of these three, he sought to send them out without the ability to serve the Lord. If he could not keep the servants, he would seek to keep their ability to serve, which amounted to the same end. If he could not induce them to sacrifice in the land, he would send them out of the land without sacrifices.
In Moses' reply to this last objection we are furnished with a fine statement of the Lord's paramount claim on His people and all pertaining to them. "And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God. Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind: for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither" (vv. 25, 26).
It is only when we take our stand on elevated ground, in simple Childlike faith, that we can have anything like an adequate sense of His claims on us. "We know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither." That is, they had no knowledge of God’s claim or their responsibility until they had gone "three days' journey." These things could not be known amid the dense and polluted atmosphere of Egypt. Redemption must be known as an accomplished fact, before there can be any just or full perception of responsibility. "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine." We must be out of Egypt, in the power of death and resurrection, and only then, will we know what the Lord's service really is. It is when we take our stand by faith, in that "large room," that wealthy place into which the precious blood of Christ introduces us; when we look around and survey the rich, rare, and manifold results of redeeming love; when we gaze on the Person of Him who has brought us into this place, endowing us with these riches, then we are constrained to say, in the poet’s language: "Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were an offering far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my heart, my life, my all. "
"There shall not an hoof be left behind." Noble words. Egypt is not the place for anything pertaining to God's redeemed. He is worthy of "body, soul, and spirit;" all we are and all we have belongs to Him. "We are not our own, we are bought with a price;" and it is our happy privilege to consecrate ourselves and all we possess to Him – we belong to Him and we serve Him. There is nothing of a legal spirit in this. The words, "until we come thither," furnish a divine guard against legality. We travel the "three days' journey," before a word concerning sacrifice can be heard or understood. We are put in full and undisputed possession of resurrection life and eternal righteousness. We leave the land of death and darkness; we are brought to God Himself, so that we may enjoy Him, in the energy of that life with which we are endowed; in the sphere of righteousness in which we are placed: thus it is the Christian’s joy to serve. There is not an affection in the heart of which He is not worthy; there is not a sacrifice in all the flock too costly for His altar. The more closely our walk with Him, the more we shall esteem it to be our meat and drink to do His blessed will. The Christian’s highest privilege is to serve the Lord, delighting in every exercise and every manifestation of our Lord’s nature. We do not move up and down with a grievous yoke on our neck or an intolerable weight on our shoulder. The yoke is broken "because of the anointing," the burden forever removed by the blood of the cross, while we walk "redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled," in pursuance of those soul-stirring words, "LET MY PEOPLE GO."
Footnotes:
1For more information on the Church see God’s Church in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
2 Compare Galatians 1: 13, 14; Philippians 3: 4-11.
3 John 1:12, 13; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 5:1.
4 The word "abominations" has reference to that which the Egyptians worshipped.
5
See Acts 10: 36; Romans 5:1; Eph. 2: 14; Colossians 1:20.
