Out of Egypt I called my son
“OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON”
Part 2
“And Israel [Jacob] died and was buried by Joseph in Canaan in the field that Abraham bought to bury his dead. Joseph also died being one hundred and ten years old. All the children of Israel were in Egypt when Joseph died and God was with them so they prospered and increased in number. But there arose a king in Egypt who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, `Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.' Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel” (Ex 1:9-12).
Many years later God remembered the children of Israel: “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them” (Ex 2:24-25). God raised up Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses was eighty years old when he brought the children of Israel out. God had to show the Egyptians His power and might by punishing them and their puny gods.
During the exodus from Egypt, God showed the Israelite's His appointed feasts, which picture His plan of salvation. On Pentecost, God gave them the 10 Commandments, along with the statutes and judgments. “Ye shall therefore keep My statutes, and My judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD” (Lev. 18:5).
Moses lead them out of Egypt, but he did not go with them into the promise land. Joshua, the son of Nun brought the Israelites into the promise land, which was the land of Canaan. Yet, Joshua died without driving out all the inhabitants of Canaan, nor destroying their temples, their images and idols! We read in the book of Judges, that the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel! “And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not” (Judg 2:20-22).
After the death of Joshua, God raised up Judges to lead the children of Israel. Whenever Israel was in trouble they cried out to God, so He raised up Judges like, Othniel, Ehud, Deborrah, Gideon, and Samson [not to name them all]. The time came when Israel rejected God leading them. They wanted a human king like the nations around them. God acceded to their demand and gave them Saul. But the time came that Saul became big in his own eyes and disobeyed God. Samuel the prophet said, “When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, `Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.' Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? And Samuel said, `Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee from being king'” (1 Sam 15:17-25). When a man becomes big in his own eyes, his fear of the Lord is gone and he will begin to do things his own way. We too, being future kings and priests under Christ in His kingdom have to learn to be little in our own eyes, lest we be rejected as was king Saul! To replace king Saul, God had already found for Himself a man after His own heart. “But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought Him a man after His own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over His people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee” (1 Sam 13:14). This man was David!
God had known David since he was a young and courageous lad watching his father's flock. He was wise, strong and valiant - fighting lions, and even killing the giant Goliath. David believed and trusted in God, and because of this, God assured him his seed and his throne would continue forever. “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips. Once have I sworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah” (Psa 89:34-37). The fruit of trust and obedience toward God will indeed establish a man and his ways forever!
When looking back in history, we can see that all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen, from David to the captivity in Babylon are fourteen, and from the captivity to Jesus Christ are fourteen generations. Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, the Son of the Living God, who was to come to save the children of Israel from their oppressors.
In the New Testament, it is clearly revealed that God became man. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-3, 14). This reveals to us that the second being in the God family shed His divinity to become a flesh and blood mortal like us for a supreme purpose: God had to become man, so that man could become God. This equation should remind us always of the love of God for us mortals. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).
Isaiah had prophesied this many centuries before. “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isa 7:14). Chapter 9 of Isaiah, sums up the purpose of bringing the good news of the kingdom from the Father. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isa 9:6-7). We must realize that Christ was prophesied to come a second time with His kingdom. He was announced as king during His birth. Wise men came, “Saying, `Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him'” (Matt 2:2).
Christ spent His entire ministry preaching the kingdom of God! He was crucified for His message about the kingdom, and even after His resurrection He still spoke concerning the Kingdom of God: “Until the day in which He was taken up, after that He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen: To whom also He shewed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:2-3). The Kingdom of God which Jesus Christ will establish at His second coming, is undoubtedly man's only chance to be part of the ruling family of God. This is the good news, the gospel that Christ brought from the Father.
Christ came primarily for the purpose of bringing the good news to mankind. This is the reason why Satan the devil, who was disposed by Christ, does not want mankind to inherit sonship with Christ! Satan knows that he will never have the opportunity to be in the family of God. Satan has now turned his anger and hatred toward those who follow Jesus Christ - knowing that he has but a short time. Satan the devil, who has deceived the whole world, knew God's plan of salvation for man, and he hates it and does all he can to thwart it! The devil wanted to kill Jesus when He was born. Satan inspired Herod, the king of Judea, to kill all male babies from two years and younger. But God is a step ahead. In a dream, He had Joseph, the husband of Mary, escape with the child to Egypt, thus Jesus escaped the massacre which people today, in the Philippines [where I reside] call the day of “Ninos Inosentes,” or “Innocent Children!” “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, `In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not'” (Matt 2:17-18). Matthew relates to us how God intervened in the escape of Jesus and how God called His Son from Egypt. “And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, `Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.' When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, `Out of Egypt have I called My Son'” (Matt 2:13-15).
Egypt is a spiritual symbol of sin. Sin enslaves a man just as Israel was in bondage and slavery in Egypt. One former minister of the Church of God said, “SIN stands for: Separation from God; Imprisonment from the truth; and Nullification of one's future in the family of God.”
Satan wants to be like God as he said, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isa 14:14). Satan wants to be a God, a position God has reserved for man! And the devil does not want us to have it!
In summary, we look back to see where we are now. Israel [Jacob] was in Egypt because Joseph brought him there to save his life and his posterity! When Joseph died, the descendants of Israel became slaves in Egypt and they cried out to God to deliver them. God raised up Moses to lead them out of Egypt. When Jesus Christ was born, His father Joseph brought Him to Egypt to escape death. When those who wanted to kill Him were dead, God called His Son from Egypt.
In this present time, God is still calling His sons from Egypt. Only this time His sons are no longer in the physical nation of Egypt, but through-out the world. Likewise, the promised land is no longer the land of Canaan, but the Kingdom of God! We know that this world and its societies are “spiritual” Egypt. The sons of God are to come out of this spiritual Egypt!
But, who are the sons of God? They are those whom God the Father has called out of this evil world and who, with the help of God's Spirit, “overcome” in this life. They are spiritual “Israel,” the Church. The Apostle Paul called them, “... the Israel of God” (Gal 6:16). Therefore, the sons of God must be over-comers. Paul also stated: “And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, `Ye are not My people;' there shall they be called the children of the living God” (Rom 9:26). Paul also says, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Rom 8:9-11). The sons of God, that He is calling out of spiritual Egypt, has God's Spirit dwelling in them and it will quicken them (make them alive - through the resurrection) in the day of the firstfruits!
When God brought out His children from Egypt, He did it with His mighty arm. Israel could not do it by themselves. Today, God will also extend help to His sons who are in their journey out of spiritual Egypt. God has assured His sons this help by giving them the Spirit of power, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, as He also said in Zechariah. “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, `This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.'” (Zech 4:6). Paul tells us in Romans 8, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified” (Rom 8:26-30).
What assurance this is for those who are being called now! As mentioned earlier, the promised land is no longer the land of Canaan, but the Kingdom of God. There is the shift from mere physical to the spiritual as we have learned during God's Feast days. We have learned our purpose, our goal, our vision! We must look beyond the physical reality to the spiritual reality. This is our vision as we strive (to overcome) in getting out of this world's societies, which are spiritual Sodom and Egypt!
God is calling us, “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Rev 18:4).
“When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my Son out of Egypt” (Hos11:1).
Sotero Sonza