Johan Malan, Mossel Bay, South Africa (September 2014)
Scripture reading: “… brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. … Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:1-6, 11).
Paul urges the New Testament church to heed the lessons of God’s dealings with Israel, and to also learn from their mistakes, as we are all on a journey to eternity. Israel’s exodus from Egypt is an example of this pilgrimage. They departed on a journey which started during the slaying of the paschal lamb and eventually brought them into the Promised Land. Only a small group of them took to heart the spiritual lessons of sanctification and deeper dedication which the Lord had taught them on this journey. The great majority of the nation faltered spiritually and often sinned grievously.
Israel’s liberation from Egypt and their exodus from the land of their sinful past to move out and serve the Lord away from their oppressors, is a type of the salvation of sinners and their subsequent separation from spiritual bondage in order to live a new life of serving the Lord without any compromise with the world. The journey on which Israel embarked from Egypt to Canaan is a type of the New Testament way of holiness. The spiritual callousness of Israel and their repeated refusal to subject themselves to God’s guidance, foreshadowed the attitude of New Testament Christians who persist with their fleshliness and love for the world, thereby failing to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord (cf. 2 Cor. 7:1).
Paul says that we must take to heart the warnings about Israel’s apostasy, particularly in view of the fact that so few Christians persevere on the way of holiness and complete surrender to the Lord. If we continue to pursue bad, fleshly lusts we will retard or even completely block our spiritual growth.
Israel’s journey of redemption started right inside Egypt where the people were powerless slaves of Pharaoh. The paschal lamb which was sacrificed in Egypt prophetically foreshadowed the Lord Jesus as the spotless Lamb of God who was sacrificed for the sins of the whole world. Paul says: “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7). “In Him we have redemption through His blood” (Eph. 1:7). Peter says that we were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (cf. 1 Pet. 1:18-19). The glorified church will sing out to the Lamb around His throne: “You were slain, and has redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).
After Israel had been saved from Pharaoh’s power, they immediately moved out of Egypt towards a new destination. When we have been delivered from Satan’s power and crossed over from spiritual darkness into God’s marvellous light, we are on a journey to fulfil God’s purpose with our lives. We are called to walk the way of increased holiness, on which we often meet with new challenges from which we should emerge stronger in the Lord every time. Our salvation is only the beginning of a long journey of spiritual growth, on which we should persevere until all the wonderful promises of the Lord have been fulfilled in our lives.
Shortly after Israel had been liberated from Egypt, they were confronted and attacked by another enemy, i.e. the Amalekites. Armed horsemen of Amalek overtook and killed Israelites who moved slowly and lagged behind. In this case the enemy penetrated the migrating nation and attacked those who trailed behind the main group as they were the easiest target. Amalek is a type of the devil who attacks God’s people from the inside, and as such he depicts the innate sinful nature which needs to be conquered. Pharaoh is a type of the devil who attacks from the outside, thereby trying to rule over people, enslave them and kill them. After the Lord had saved Israel from Pharaoh’s domination and broke the power which he wielded over them, they urgently also needed to conquer this other enemy who operated from within.
In the New Testament, we as believers are in the same situation. After a person has been saved from Satan’s power, the devil still has an ally in this person’s life which is his old, sinful nature or the old man. The devil therefore works from the inside through the flesh to attack a believer spiritually, to incapacitate him and render his life fruitless. We also need to prevail over this enemy from the inside if we wish to make spiritual progress.
Israel arrived at Rephidim where water flowed from the rock. This was not only the beginning of a peaceful phase after gaining victory over Amalek, but they were also inwardly refreshed. God cleft a rock for His people and availed them with a stream of water from which they could drink. After this uplifting experience there was a positive turn of events in the war against Amalek, and Israel achieved a resounding victory. The clash with Amalek was very intense. When Moses raised his hands in blessing, Joshua and his men prevailed over the forces of Amalek. But when Moses lowered his hands, Amalek prevailed. This is a typical situation of falling and rising again. As a solution to this problem, Aaron and Hur supported his hands to keep them up, and so Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Aaron, the priest, personifies prayer while Hur (Whiteness or Purity) personifies holiness. We cannot gain victory in the struggle over the flesh without continuous prayer and wholehearted surrender towards holiness.
In 1 Corinthians 10:4 Paul says that the cleft rock points to Christ. The stream of water alludes to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit after Christ was “struck” on the cross and subsequently raised from the dead. He invites all of us to drink from this stream and become spiritually revived: “‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive” (John 7:37-39).
Through the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus and the filling of the Holy Spirit we can prevail over the innate sinful nature. This struggle must go hand in hand with continuous prayer and a holy walk. Persevere with spiritual warfare until Amalek has been utterly defeated. After this victory you can also rest in the Lord and in His strength as the inward conflict between the Spirit and the flesh has been settled. Amalek will again return to try and revive the flesh, but if your relationship with the Lord is sound the evil one will never again achieve his purpose to control you. Only persevere on the way of prayer and holy living and give no place to the devil (Eph. 4:27).
It is important to note that the struggle against Amalek never ends but continues throughout all generations: “The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Ex. 17:16). Every new generation of people has to be delivered from their indwelling, sinful nature. After that, the resistance against the flesh should not be diminished as it must remain in a crucified position and not be allowed to be revived and regain its lost control. The Lord Jesus emphasised that a daily commitment is needed to this end: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). After Amalek has been defeated and we have entered into the victorious life, we should continuously be conformed to the crucified Christ in order to keep on walking by the Spirit and not by the flesh.
When the Holy Spirit in His fullness has gained control over a person’s life and endued him with power to prevail over sin, He will also guide the person to more thoroughly understand the Word of God. The Lord Jesus said: “[W]hen He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). The same principle also applied to believing Israelites, which enabled them to say: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11).
The liberated people of God arrived at Sinai on the 50th day after their exodus from Egypt, and sojourned there for about a year. A new life awaited them as the Chosen People, and for this purpose new principles of life had to be instilled in them. They needed to have a thorough knowledge of the laws of God, and conscientiously walk in accordance with His precepts. If they would have fully embraced the lessons of faith, prayer, holy living as well as victory over evil forces, Sinai would have been a marvellously fulfilling experience to them. Unfortunately, with only a few exceptions, the contrary is true. Most of the Israelites only had an outward form of godliness as their hearts still yearned for the pots of meat in Egypt. When Moses stayed too long on the mountain to the people’s liking when he received the laws of the Lord, they made a golden calf, danced before this abominable image and honoured it as their god who had led them out of Egypt (Ex. 32:1-6). This is completely unthinkable but it nevertheless happened. That is why the Lord says that Israel’s lusting after evil things has been written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. If we backslide and start insulting God by our actions, we will also ignite His anger over us. We cannot bow down before idols such as Mammon and think that God will be tolerant of our blasphemous behaviour.
The spiritual meaning of Sinai is that the Word of God should be written in our hearts. Paul says: “… clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:3). We should grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour (2 Pet. 3:18), so we can have a working knowledge of God’s Word. We should dedicate ourselves to continued Bible study after we have surrendered ourselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Whether we conduct a formal Bible study by enrolling for one or other course or whether we gain this knowledge through self-study does not really matter. The basic fact is that we need to do systematic Bible study as then alone can we be used by the Lord. Have you studied the Word of the Lord so your footsteps can be firmly anchored to it? “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16), then you will be able to proclaim it to others with good results.
Israel did not positively react to the spiritual lessons which they had learned during their journey through the wilderness, and were therefore not well prepared to face the challenges that awaited them on the border of the Promised Land. Moses sent out twelve spies to explore the land and then report back. Joshua was one of them (Num. 13:17-20). The great majority of these explorers (ten of the twelve) became terrified at the sight of the inhabitants of the land and advised Israel not to try and occupy the land. After 40 days of investigating they reported as follows to Moses:
“We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan. Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it. But the men who had gone up with him said, We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored” (Num. 13:27-32; NIV).
However, Joshua and Caleb encouraged the people and tried to restore their faith in the omnipotence of God: “Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them. But the whole assembly talked about stoning them” (Num. 14:6-10; NIV).
Moses also confirmed what Joshua and Caleb said: “The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place. Yet, for all that, you did not believe the Lord your God” (Deut. 1:30-32).
The large majority of Israelites who did not believe that God could give them the land of Canaan, forfeited God’s promises because of their unbelief, and that generation perished in the wilderness. Only members of the young generation, who put their faith in the Lord under the leadership of Joshua, were worthy to take possession of the land. The exploration of the Promised Land was an important turning-point on Israel’s journey from Egypt. If the nation had accepted the Lord’s instructions by faith, they would have been well prepared and spiritually strong enough to accept the big challenge of crossing over into the land. However, unbelieving Israel preferred to permanently stay in the wilderness rather than, together with the Lord, taking possession of their inheritance across the Jordan. Many of them were even prepared to return to Egypt and again become slaves of Pharaoh. They chose the easy way of the least resistance, and because of that they impoverished themselves to the point where they were unworthy to inherit the promises and rich blessings of the Lord.
Modern Christianity is in precisely the same situation. We regard ourselves as Christians who have already been delivered from the “Egypt” of our sinful past. As in the case of Israel, many of the members of Christian churches only have a form of godliness without a testimony of rebirth. They are hangers-on who are far from saved and mostly behave contrary to what the Bible teaches. Some of the others are truly saved but still in the infant phase of their new life of faith. Only a small group is spiritually mature because they are able to testify about sanctification after repentance, and they proceed resolutely by faith to appropriate the promises of the Lord.
The spiritual problems and lack of insight associated with the majority of believers incline them to be overly dependent on religious leaders, and they trust solely in them to inform them on how to live as Christians. Like Israel, they also rely on explorers to survey the road ahead and then advise the people of God on the appropriate way to take. These explorers, the religious leaders, claim that they have the knowledge to correctly advise people on how to reach their spiritual destination. They probe the theological landscape by studying the Bible, offering guidelines on how God’s promises in His Word should be interpreted, compiling doctrines, and suggesting solutions on how crises should be solved. The enormous influence which the teachings of some church fathers like Origen, Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Wesley, and others, have had over the centuries, cannot be overlooked – some of them proclaimed biblical truths while others promoted unbelief and deception.
It is especially in the field of theology where the devil has been very active to deceive millions of people by robbing them spiritually and inducing them to take the wrong road, and this onslaught is becoming more intense. As in the case of Israel, the majority of modern explorers offer completely wrong advice to the people. They do not focus on the salvation of Christ, hence they regard the victorious Canaan life as an unattainable ideal and tell their followers that they are weak people who will never prevail over sin and fleshliness. The enemy is perceived as being too strong for them; consequently they should reconcile themselves with the idea that they are destined to be wilderness sojourners – nothing more. They have been liberated from Egypt and should be content with their present position. Christians should not strive after the victorious life as that will not be realised.
Do you recognise this type of language which is not only fatalistic but also reveals unbelief in various biblical promises? Such theologians, and church fathers, undermine the credibility of the Bible because they are mainly inclined towards denial. Not all of them renounce all biblical doctrines, as some of them do recognise the doctrine of salvation as depicted by Israel’s salvation from their Egyptian bondage. However, they are contented with this fact, and deny that there is a further transition to the Promised Land, thereby depriving themselves from a large number of biblical promises. Because of their self-imposed theological limitations they deny the following doctrines and promises in the Bible since they boldly declare: There is no further work of grace related to sanctification and the filling of the Holy Spirit as all Christians have already received the Holy Spirit in His fullness; there is no such thing as carnal Christians who walk by the flesh; there is no rapture, no personal Antichrist or a literal tribulation of seven years; Israel is no longer God’s people, and the restoration of modern Israel has no bearing on the fulfilment of biblical prophecies; the throne of David will not be restored in Jerusalem, and there will not be a thousand-year reign of peace after the second coming of Christ. This group of theological explorers do recognise Jesus as Saviour but they are not Spirit-filled, they do not understand the whole counsel of God, and are completely stuck in the wilderness life with its spiritual poverty and precarious existence. Their knowledge of biblical eschatology is also very scant.
As apostasy increases, the list of theological denials becomes longer and the falling away from the truth increases in its extent. The following are new additions to this list, and with these heretical statements the basic foundations of the Christian faith are destroyed (cf. Ps. 11:3): According to modern apostates there is no such thing as rebirth as people are saved in a ritualistic way during baptism; Christ was not born from a virgin; He is not God; His crucifixion was a political act which has nothing to do with the forgiveness of sins; He did not rise from the dead and therefore did not ascend to heaven; He is not the only Saviour as there are many other messiahs in the world religions; the Bible is not the inspired and inerrant Word of God; there is no heaven or hell and also no devil; sin is a relative concept and every person can decide for himself what is right and wrong. This group of theological explorers are of the opinion that it was a mistake for Israel to move out of Egypt, thereby confining themselves to a miserable wilderness life. They favour a return to Egypt and the embracing of a multireligious orientation. Religious thinking of this nature represents a transition from a weak faith to no faith at all. According to the Bible, extreme apostatising is the consequence of demonic-inspired deception, and that is particularly characteristic of the end-time shortly before the second coming of Christ (1 Tim. 4:1).
Contrary to the large group of deceived explorers there is a small group of faithful ones who give sound counsel from the Word of God. They do their best to promote faith in the power of God and the truth of His promises. There is in fact a Promised Land to take possession of, and it amounts to unbelief in God if we refuse to accept His promises by faith and to trust Him for full salvation and complete sanctification (cf. 1 Thess. 5:23). Why would He promise a land (or life) to us wherein we can live free from domination by our enemies if it were impossible to achieve victories in His Name? We will spiritually impoverish ourselves beyond measure if we fail to humble ourselves while waiting to be endued with power from on high, as that is the only key to victory over all our enemies.
The two reliable explorers were rejected by Israel, and there were even calls to kill them. It is the same today, and that is the reason why there is so much antagonism and negative emotions among members and leaders of different denominations. Preachers who stand firmly on evangelical principles, which include sanctification as a deeper work of grace, are in most cases not popular spiritual leaders. In their exploration of the spiritual landscape they are fully aware of the extensive power of the enemy. However, this awareness do not negatively impact on their view about the road ahead, because they are also aware of a still bigger truth – that is the power of God to fulfil His Word and all His promises to us. He can and also wishes to make all of us more than conquerors.
The church of the end-time is divided into three different groups. Some of its members only mentally identify with Christianity but they are still in Egypt and not yet redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Another group has already been saved from their sinful past but find themselves in the precarious existence of the wilderness life because they have not yet had the experience of sanctification. Only a smaller, third group find themselves in the Promised Land of a victorious spiritual life. In many cases there are representatives of all three these groups in the same congregation – unsaved members, carnal members, and spiritual members.
Because of the low spiritual standards which are so prevalent in the world, many of the dedicated Christians pray earnestly to the Lord that He will revive the church – that the spiritual ones among them will again be filled with power from on high to serve the Lord with greater commitment; that the carnal ones will make a complete surrender to experience the victory which the Lord has promised to us all; and that the unsaved ones will be saved. We live in a time in which those who are unjust become more unjust, but in which those who are holy are called to higher levels of holiness (Rev. 22:11).
Because of the strenuous demands which are imposed on Christians in the end-time due to more widespread apostatising, children of the Lord should take care that their enthusiasm for the cause of the Lord does not dwindle. It is for good reasons that the Lord Jesus warned us against the rising tide of unrighteousness: “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matt. 24:12). We must not, like Peter in the stormy sea at night, become frightened at the sight of the dark and threatening waves, but keep our eyes fixed on Jesus while expecting His coming: “And everyone who has this hope in Him [the second coming of Christ] purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).
While we are waiting on the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom we should make very sure that we are not spiritually wayward and roaming around in the wilderness of a carnal or worldly way of living. To be in the Promised Land in a New Testament sense, implies that we have accepted all the promises of the Lord Jesus on salvation and sanctification, and daily follow Him (1 John 2:6). That will enable us to become mature Christians who prevail over our spiritual enemies. The key to a life of victory and fruitful service is to remain true to our Saviour. John says: “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:8-9).
May the Lord help us to abide in the doctrine of Christ by always confessing His deity, power and grace, and to daily increase in His grace and knowledge (2 Pet. 3:18). When we experience more of Him in our hearts, our lives and in our churches, we will be able to more convincingly reach out to carnal Christians who are still in a purposeless journey through a spiritual wilderness, and also to an unsaved world who are the victims of their own unbelief.