As a child, I must have been strongly influenced by an album
my mother gave me. There were songs on it which told stories of the
Bible. These weren't cute, childish songs. They were songs of Strength
and Faith from the old Testament. I played that album till the grooves
were almost worn out! There were songs about the Creation, Cain and
Able, Noah, the tower of Bable and others. But the one which seems to
remain in my heart most vividly is the story of Moses. You may have
heard it. In my "Family Songbook of Faith and Joy", it's said to be the
first Negro Spiritual to be published in 1861, in the "National
Anti-Slavery Standard."
"Go down, Moses, Way down in Egypt's land.
Tell old
Pharaoh, Let my People go!"
And since I've come out of my own time of ignorance of God's promises
("Egypt's Land"), I know from having studied the Word and having
listened to various preachers telling us about the Word, that "Egypt"
now represents oppression and bondage. We can see now that Moses was a
precursor of Jesus - that is, one who leads his people away from
bondage
and oppression.
Jesus was anointed of God, we're told in Luke 4:18, to:
-
Preach the Gospel to the Poor
-
Heal the brokenhearted
-
Preach deliverance to the captives
-
Preach the recovering of sight to the blind
-
Set at liberty them that are bruised
-
Preach the acceptable year of the Lord
Moses and Jesus both had their work cut out for them. In Moses' case,
the Pharaoh was difficult to deal with, as seen in Exodus 5-15. Even
more difficult for Moses to deal with were the hearts and minds of
those
who had been delivered.
Although the Israelites had been afflicted and oppressed 430 years,
and although they prayed for deliverance and worshipped God because He
had sent someone to deliver them, they had gotten used to their
bondage.
In other words, the Israelites had come to think of themselves as
Egyptian Slaves, not God's chosen people.
The Israelites were privileged to see the signs and wonders of God
used on their behalf: insects, frogs, plagues, rivers of blood and
darkness. They left Egypt with all the gold, silver and clothing they
could carry - not stolen from the oppressors, but freely given. Then
there were more signs and wonders. A pillar of cloud by day and a
pillar
of fire by night. A sea dividing into walls with a path of dry land
between. The sea covering the host of Pharaoh as they attempted to
follow and recapture the slaves
After seeing all these miracles of God, done so they might be made
free, the people chose to see only Pharaoh's army with its chariots and
horses and warriors which had followed them. Did they trust in the
Father who had sent Moses to lead them? Did they trust in God who had
caused such miracles to come to pass for their prosperity and freedom?
Did they worship God with Joy and Faith in hearts? Did they remember
all
their people who had been killed as slaves in Egypt? No. They feared
and
lied and mocked Moses saying:
"Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken
us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore has thou dealt thus with
us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did
tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the
Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than
that we should die in the wilderness." Exodus 14:11-12
This complaint was just one of many complaints lodged by the people
against the man of God who had been sent to deliver them from bondage.
They complained that they had food to eat in Egypt but none in the
wilderness. They complained that they wanted water. God called them
"stiffnecked" when they turned aside from the ways He had commanded and
began to worship false gods. Egypt had to let the Israelites go, but
they would not let Egypt go!
We're told in Luke 4:18 that Jesus was sent to preach deliverance to
the captives, as well as healing. He was sent to liberate those who had
been oppressed and beaten down. In the same way that Moses was
persecuted by his own people, the people of Nazareth, when they heard
Jesus speak of freedom from oppression and sickness, attempted to throw
Jesus over a cliff! They were still holding on to the oppression and
bondage of Egypt!
The message hasn't changed and neither have the hearts of the
oppressed. Instead of embracing freedom, most people cannot and will
not
grab hold of the promises of God. Instead of receiving the freedom of
the Lord with Joy and Thanksgiving, we see people complaining and
fearful because they see no immediate change in their circumstances.
Generations of people passed between the time of Moses and Jesus and
the people had not changed at all. They were still "Stiffnecked -
stubborn and refusing to change." In the intervening years, God had
sent
one prophet after another to tell the people to look for a Messiah who
would free them. When Jesus got here, they refused to see the one who
had been prophesied. They heard of the healing miracles and saw only a
carpenter's son. They saw the blind and lame made whole, the hungry
being fed, the dead living again and saw only a man, not the promise of
God living and walking and doing what God had spoken.
Now we learn, in John 1 that we still have Jesus in the form of His
Word. We have His character, His mind, His body, his gifts, His Blood,
His name, His covenants, His annointing, His Holy Spirit and many other
aspects of God which have been given to us that we may be free and
whole. Because he died and rose from the dead, Jesus will always be
alive - annointed and present within us spiritually to remove the
burdens of oppression and break the yokes of bondage.
We should be rejoicing and praising God for our freedom from
oppression. Every day, we should be singing with rejoicing, speaking
our
Praises to God for the gift of His Son, Jesus. We should never be able
to even think of fear or complaint no matter what our circumstances
are.
Jesus has set us free if we only choose to follow Him.
Will you follow Jesus out of the Land of Egypt, the land of fear and
oppression, or will you be stiffnecked, fearful, and stubborn;
preferring complaint and disbelief and faithlessness. Will you receive
healing and prosperity and hope or reject these things that God has
promised and paid with His very life to bring to pass? Do you look at
the world around you and at your present condition, then seeing no
immediate change, say to Jesus,
" hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast
thou dealt such with us?"
Are you willing to believe that God wants you healed and prosperous
as we are told in III John 2? "Beloved, I wish (pray) above all things
that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul
prospereth."
Are you willing to speak words of praise and not complaint? Are you
willing to expect to be healed because God said so in His Word? When
our
circumstances seem unchanged, is it more convenient to believe that God
doesn't want us healed or that healing has passed away?
Is it easier to say that God doesn't care when we allow fear and
depression to fill our hearts. Do we prefer the comfort of not knowing
God's Word, His promises to us because we're not willing to work at
learning what His Word tells us? Do we want someone else to pray for us
and learn for us and believe for us so we'll have someone to blame when
those things God has spoken don't come to pass in our lives? Do we get
offended when someone has the audacity to ask, "Will you be made
whole?"
It's your decision. Will you let Egypt go?
By the Holy Spirit and to the Glory of God
Merrellee Moore
10/15/1999
