Practical Lessons Drawn From Israel's Deliverance From Egypt
By R. D. Quinn
PERHAPS no part of the Bible is of greater value to the people of God who are living near the end than the experiences of the children of Israel as recorded in the books of Moses, and referred to in the one hundred fifth and one hundred sixth psalms. The apostle Paul tells us that the things that happened to them were for ensamples, and were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. Let us notice the following types, and make the application to our own time and experience. Egypt was a type of the world; Canaan, the promised land, was a type of our heavenly inheritance; ancient Israel was a type of modern Israel; Moses was a type of Christ; and Pharaoh was a type of the devil. Israel could not serve God in Egypt, and so it is written, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." This world, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, has always had a powerful attraction for the people of God. Abraham went down into Egypt, and became rich in cattle, silver, and gold. He denied his wife while there, and never lost the taint of that dark land until he returned to Bethel, and built an altar unto God. Abraham's descendants went down into Egypt, and sojourned there three hundred years, and a thousand years afterward they were still clinging to the golden calf. Sometimes it is well to study the enemy. Pharaoh, true to the spirit of Lucifer, did not want to let Israel go. To-day, Satan, who is the god of this world, holds his subjects in slavery, and opposes every soul who would be free. When sorely oppressed by the judgments of God, Pharaoh was constrained to let the children of Israel go. He said, with consummate cunning, "I will let you go, . . . only ye shall not go very far away." He would have them linger around the border-land of Egypt. This is one of Satan's special temptations even unto this day. He is not so concerned about one's being a nominal Christian, so long as he loves the world and the things that are in the world, and does not come out from among the world and be separate. Let us put three days' journey between us and Egypt. "And Moses and Aaron were brought again before Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go?" Moses said, "We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters." But Pharaoh answered, "Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord," but the little ones he would have left in Egypt. Ex. 10:8-11. Is there not something in this by way of analogy that carries with it an important lesson for our own time and experience? Have we done all we could in the past, and are we doing all that might be done now, for our youth and children? Is it not highly probable that unless we become thoroughly aroused to the dangers that beset our youth, and work diligently for them, many of these dear young people, when the final exodus takes place, will be left in this world? As Israel neared the time of their deliverance, and it was seen that their young and their old, and their sons and their daughters were going with them, Pharaoh made one final stand, knowing that if he could gain his point, the exodus movement would fail. "And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, and serve the Lord; only let your flocks and herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you." In his desperation, he was now even willing that the children should go, if only the Israelites would leave their property in Egypt. Moses replied, "Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind," knowing full well that where the treasure is, there will the heart be also. Read carefully the chapter in "Early Writings" entitled "Covetousness," and see if there is not a striking parallel between the last temptation Pharaoh brought to bear on ancient Israel and the special snares of Satan that have been laid for the people of God just before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain and the final exodus.