Let My People Go!

Satan, like Pharaoh, does not want you to "Go." The message was clear and simple, "Let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness" (Ex. 5:2). After it became obvious that Moses was not going to give up, Pharaoh attempted to negotiate. Satan also wants us to settle for something less than full salvation. He offered four alternative proposals to substitute for God’s plan. 1. Stay in Egypt. Stay "in the land" Ex. 8:25. It was as if he was saying, "You can be a worldly Christian. You can believe all you want, just stay where you are." The problem with that is "we can’t stay where we are" and be where God wants us to be. Salvation is a Journey. We must forsake Egypt. Abraham had to leave Ur, Lot had to leave Sodom, the Prodigal must leave the pigpen. Noah "condemned" the world. It is a lie of the Devil, that we can have faith without following, life without leaving, or a crown without a cross. Stay in Egypt? We would just as soon stay on the Titanic, for with all its splendor it is destined to the deep. Don’t compromise. 2. Don’t go too far. Don’t "go very far" Ex. 8:28. If Satan can’t keep you from going he will at least try to keep you from going far. The modern day Pharaoh’s say "don’t get carried away" with all this religious stuff. Don’t be an extremist or a fanatic. A little religion is alright, but just "don’t go too far." Many take his advice. They settle right on the border of worldliness. They hug the boundary. They live in the shadow of the Sphinx. The problem with listening to Pharaoh’s advice to not "go very far," is that in your spiritual life you will "not go far." Those who hug the shore line never see God’s wonders in the deep. Only those who are willing to "go far" with God enter the gates of his Kingdom. Let’s determine from the beginning that once we agree to going, we must go all the way. 3. Keep it Private and Personal. "Ye that are men" go but leave your families behind (Ex. 10:11). It was as if Pharaoh was saying, "If you have to embrace the Bible, please keep it to yourself. At least don’t be one of these Evangelicals. If you want to go, fine, but leave those you love here in Egypt. Just the men, please. " Today he would say, "just the women and children please" for that is what most churches are made up of. Somehow he has convinced people that this Church stuff is alright for women and children. When children are no longer willing to be called children (teens and young adults) they will forsake the church and leave in droves, because, of course, church is for "women and children." 4. Salvation without Service. Go if you must, but may "your flocks be stayed" (Ex. 10:24). Leave your cattle here. Cattle constituted their wealth, their food, their basic necessities of life, but it was something more than that. The cattle were necessary if there was to be sacrifice. Satan does not want us to have a faith that involves any sacrifice. There is, however, no real faith without it. Service and sacrifice are the evidences of a genuine life of faith. Moses, Hebrews tells us gave up the riches of Egypt to have Christ. Faith can do no less. We are saved to serve. Moses was faithful in delivering God’s message to Pharaoh, the representative head of the world. May we faithfully declare the plain "thus saith the LORD" making not concessions which may lead to false professions.