I’ve noticed over the past few days as I’ve read Moses’ books that there is an echoing reality and a repeating message in the words of the bible. I haven’t got it all figured out yet, but I wanted to show some of the correlations I’ve noticed that run from a mass scale right down into a very personal scale and how each of them allude to one another.
The first thing that really stood out for me was the exodus of the ancient Israelites from Egypt. God had made a promise to Abraham’s offspring that he would make them multiply over the face of the earth. This is also around the same time they were established as one people. We also have a promise that was given to our church fathers and passed down through our generations, right down to us presently, and this promise was through Jesus.
In order for God to establish the ancient Israelites’ kingdom, he had to first free them from their bondage in Egypt. They were slaves to a corrupt system who worshiped pharaoh as a god (Pharoah could be an allusion to satan). In order for us now to be established in God’s kingdom, we first have to be freed from our oppressor, the one we are in bondage to, and this is sin, and ultimately satan. The Israelites’ bondage in Egypt is a direct allusion of our bondage to sin.
God freed them from their bondage, much like he frees us, and it doesn’t happen without trials. To put it bluntly, we find salvation from our oppressor in a rather “violent” manner. For the ancient Israelites it was physical violence, bloodshed, tears, treks into the wilderness for extended periods of time, and all around pain and suffering and correction. For us, it can still be physical violence, but it is mostly a spiritual violence that takes place when God wants to free us from our oppressor. I think this is one answer to the pain and suffering in the world, although most can’t see that as a valid reason. We have to be afflicted before we can be freed. We have to have a reason for grace.
During the time of the exodus, many Israelites had doubts and questions and overall blasphemous behaviors. They kept forgetting the miracles they had just got through witnessing, and they forgot them rather quickly. This blew my mind at first, but then I realized that I do the same thing. I have no excuse for this, just as they had no excuse. I’ve seen God’s power in my life and in the life of others. It’s not a question of if he’s real or not, and it hasn’t been for some time. They knew he was real too, but they still continued in their iniquities, even after being shown his power. What did God do about that? Well he punished them. Every time I start to forget what God has done for me and build arguments in my head, much like the Israelites building their golden calf, God never fails to correct me. This correction is very harsh and very spiritually violent for me. It comes through great pain that I am set back on track, just like the ancient Israelites.
The ancient Israelites’ trials went on over and over, and God got so mad that he delayed giving them the kingdom they were promised until finally they got the picture, repented, and asked for his forgiveness. Once they did this, he starts setting up the tribal kingdoms and fulfilling his promise to them. I see the same thing has happened with me. My salvation came at great pains and a very violent spiritual battle. The same God that rescued the Israelites is the same God that has set up these trials to rescue me, and instead of moaning about them like I used to do (still do sometimes actually), I can now actually find some peace in that. It’s a purifying process and it IS necessary for most people. If you haven’t had trials with sin or great pains, or sorrow, or grief, but you have found salvation, that’s great, and I would do my best not to question your sincerity, but for many of us, our salvation and recognition of what Jesus has done for us has come at a great cost; a cost that I can now genuinely say I am thankful for.
And for those of you who believe perfection comes and never goes, I would have to ask you to reevaluate your beliefs and ask yourself if you really understand what salvation is. Like I said, many of us paid a great price to understand God’s grace, and I find it hard to believe that a “sinless” person would even be capable of recognizing what grace really is… How were you conditioned? What do you compare it to? How do you claim to be in God’s grace when you haven’t had a need for that grace? Trust me when I say this, that I truly did need it, still do need it, and it’s only by a trial of fire that I was able to recognize it.
I would like to add scripture to back up my points but this is already entirely too long. Anyway, I am looking forward to finding more of these correlations as I read through the Old Testament. The stories in the bible just all seem like echoes of a greater reality to me and I wonder if anyone else has noticed this?
The first thing that really stood out for me was the exodus of the ancient Israelites from Egypt. God had made a promise to Abraham’s offspring that he would make them multiply over the face of the earth. This is also around the same time they were established as one people. We also have a promise that was given to our church fathers and passed down through our generations, right down to us presently, and this promise was through Jesus.
In order for God to establish the ancient Israelites’ kingdom, he had to first free them from their bondage in Egypt. They were slaves to a corrupt system who worshiped pharaoh as a god (Pharoah could be an allusion to satan). In order for us now to be established in God’s kingdom, we first have to be freed from our oppressor, the one we are in bondage to, and this is sin, and ultimately satan. The Israelites’ bondage in Egypt is a direct allusion of our bondage to sin.
God freed them from their bondage, much like he frees us, and it doesn’t happen without trials. To put it bluntly, we find salvation from our oppressor in a rather “violent” manner. For the ancient Israelites it was physical violence, bloodshed, tears, treks into the wilderness for extended periods of time, and all around pain and suffering and correction. For us, it can still be physical violence, but it is mostly a spiritual violence that takes place when God wants to free us from our oppressor. I think this is one answer to the pain and suffering in the world, although most can’t see that as a valid reason. We have to be afflicted before we can be freed. We have to have a reason for grace.
During the time of the exodus, many Israelites had doubts and questions and overall blasphemous behaviors. They kept forgetting the miracles they had just got through witnessing, and they forgot them rather quickly. This blew my mind at first, but then I realized that I do the same thing. I have no excuse for this, just as they had no excuse. I’ve seen God’s power in my life and in the life of others. It’s not a question of if he’s real or not, and it hasn’t been for some time. They knew he was real too, but they still continued in their iniquities, even after being shown his power. What did God do about that? Well he punished them. Every time I start to forget what God has done for me and build arguments in my head, much like the Israelites building their golden calf, God never fails to correct me. This correction is very harsh and very spiritually violent for me. It comes through great pain that I am set back on track, just like the ancient Israelites.
The ancient Israelites’ trials went on over and over, and God got so mad that he delayed giving them the kingdom they were promised until finally they got the picture, repented, and asked for his forgiveness. Once they did this, he starts setting up the tribal kingdoms and fulfilling his promise to them. I see the same thing has happened with me. My salvation came at great pains and a very violent spiritual battle. The same God that rescued the Israelites is the same God that has set up these trials to rescue me, and instead of moaning about them like I used to do (still do sometimes actually), I can now actually find some peace in that. It’s a purifying process and it IS necessary for most people. If you haven’t had trials with sin or great pains, or sorrow, or grief, but you have found salvation, that’s great, and I would do my best not to question your sincerity, but for many of us, our salvation and recognition of what Jesus has done for us has come at a great cost; a cost that I can now genuinely say I am thankful for.
And for those of you who believe perfection comes and never goes, I would have to ask you to reevaluate your beliefs and ask yourself if you really understand what salvation is. Like I said, many of us paid a great price to understand God’s grace, and I find it hard to believe that a “sinless” person would even be capable of recognizing what grace really is… How were you conditioned? What do you compare it to? How do you claim to be in God’s grace when you haven’t had a need for that grace? Trust me when I say this, that I truly did need it, still do need it, and it’s only by a trial of fire that I was able to recognize it.
I would like to add scripture to back up my points but this is already entirely too long. Anyway, I am looking forward to finding more of these correlations as I read through the Old Testament. The stories in the bible just all seem like echoes of a greater reality to me and I wonder if anyone else has noticed this?