"Killing Egyptians"
-Bryan Hupperts (Sep 3, 2003).
It has been wisely said that there is nothing as tragic as premature success.
When success greets someone who is ill prepared for the rewards and
responsibilities it brings, it tends to ruin lives. That which is intended as a
blessing becomes instead a bitter curse. Proverbs 18:12 rings true: “Humility
(abasement) goes before honor.”
Consider Moses, the man of God. He was 80 years old, way past retirement
age, when the commissioning of God to free the Israelites from slavery
came. Curious that the scripture records that when he was 40 he first tried to
deliver his people. That prompting to be their deliverer was already placed
deep within his heart as a thought from God. Acts 7: 25 “He supposed that
his brethren understood that God was giving them deliverance by his hand,
but they did not understand.”
Angered by injustice, Moses struck out prematurely by the hand of his own
flesh. Instead of delivering his people, all he managed to do was kill an
Egyptian! Exodus 2:14 “He answered, ‘Who made you a prince and a judge
over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ Then Moses
was afraid, and thought, ‘Surely the thing is known.’”
Because he did not wait upon God, he became a refugee, a wanted
murderer, an exile in the land of Midian, and he lost it all. He spent 40 years
wandering the desert because of his sin. And as it often is with godly
leadership, he would spend yet another 40 years wandering the desert
because of the sin of others. Somehow or other, sin always leads people to
wandering in scorched, barren places.
Have you ever killed any Egyptians in the Lord’s service?
“Killing the Egyptian” is a metaphor for stepping out prematurely on the
known will of God. It is raising your hand to strike in order to force God to
move his hand to deliver. Everyone who has ever committed sin and reaps an
ensuing debacle learns the painful lesson that God is not easily manipulated.
He has his own timetable and schedules.
How many ministries have tried to fulfill God’s spiritual promises by fleshly
means and failed? How many Christians have sensed the calling of God and
assumed it must mean right now. Funny how God uses such abysmal
failures to work deliverance in the heart of would-be deliverers. When they no
longer think themselves capable of the task, then the commissioning comes.
Ironic, isn’t it that God did not want Moses to strike down a single Egyptian?
His destiny was higher and more terrible than he could have imagined. He
was destined to be the vehicle to strike down the idols of the land, their first-
born sons, the pride of Pharaoh, and finally the entire Egyptian army. His
destiny was not to kill a lone Egyptian oppressor, but to slay the very heart
of Egypt and deliver the people of God!
God offers this counsel to the impatient who are chomping at the bit to rise
up and serve the Lord. Habakkuk 2: 3 “For still the vision awaits its time; it
hastens to the end--it will not lie. If it seem slow, wait for it; it will surely
come, it will not delay.”
Like Moses, you may be sensing the calling of God even now. Don’t
prematurely strike out on your own. You’ll just end up killing Egyptians.
Instead, Leviticus 11:44 “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I
am holy.” Seek the Lord with all of your heart. When the time to fulfill His
purposes is near, He will show you when and how. Don’t bloody the sands or
your hands with Egyptian blood.
When it becomes time for you to strike, instead of it just being your puny
fist, the full authority of Heaven will back the dunimus-empowered blow you
deliver the enemy. False gods will fall, the guilty will pay, and God will grant
deliverance by your hand... if you will wait until God opens the door. Avoid
the temptation for pre-mature success, and God alone will receive the glory!
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