Message 26
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 12:29-42, 51; 13:1-22
In the foregoing messages, we considered the Passover. Now we come to Israel’s exodus from Egypt, an event which followed the Passover. As we all know, the word exodus means a going out.
The points we shall cover in this message concerning the exodus from Egypt are all to be found in the New Testament. However, if we read the words of the New Testament without considering the picture of the exodus presented in the Old Testament, we shall not be impressed very deeply. Hence, we need to consider both the words in the New Testament and the picture in the Old Testament.
Often we are able to grasp spiritual things more adequately through pictures than through words. In New Testament terms, to have an exodus is to get out of the world. However, without the picture in the book of Exodus, it is difficult to say just how we are able to get out of the world. To talk about this matter without consulting the picture may lead only to confusion. Therefore, we thank the Lord both for the picture in the Old Testament and for the plain words in the New Testament.
The children of Israel did not make their exodus from Egypt of their own accord or by their own power. If they had been left to themselves, they never could have come out of Egypt. The exodus was accomplished by the saving God. Firstly, God subdued Pharaoh, the one who had usurped the children of Israel, and then He subdued all the Egyptians (12:29-33). As we apply this principle to our experience, we see that God comes in to subdue Satan, everything and everyone that stands with Satan, and also our environment. When the children of Israel made their exodus from Egypt, the whole environment was subdued by God. Everything was set for the children of Israel to leave Egypt. Even if they had wanted to remain in Egypt, the environment would not have allowed them to remain. They had no choice except to leave.
According to the picture in the book of Exodus, God’s salvation includes the aspect of the Passover and the aspect of the exodus. It was easy for God’s people to observe the Passover, but it was not easy for them to have an exodus. The difficulty lay in the fact that the exodus required a suitable environment. Suppose the situation in Egypt did not allow God’s people to leave. How then could they have made their exodus? It would have been impossible. The exodus required a thorough subduing of the environment. Israel’s exodus was the result of a long struggle between Moses and Pharaoh. It was preceded by twelve negotiations with ten plagues. This indicates that it is not easy for God to deliver His chosen people from the usurping hand of Satan and from the world. All genuine Christians have experienced the Passover, but only a small minority of believers have experienced the exodus. The reason for this is that certain aspects of their environment have not yet been subdued.
If our environment has not been subdued, we may have the Passover, but not the exodus. Perhaps your wife, husband, or relatives need to be subdued. When some hear that their environment must be subdued, they may be discouraged and want to give up. However, not even the matter of giving up depends on us; it depends wholly on the Lord. Instead of giving up, we should cooperate with Him. To be rescued from the usurping hand of Satan and from the world, we need God’s hand to subdue our environment.
In this record we are told twice that “by strength of hand” the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt (13:3, 14). God’s people were saved not only by the blood of the Passover lamb, but also by the hand of God. The blood saved them from God’s righteous judgment, but the hand saved them from Pharoah’s usurpation. It is the same with us today. Through Christ as our Passover we are saved from God’s judgment, but by God’s subduing hand we are saved from Satan and the world.
Pharaoh and the Egyptians were subdued to such an extent that they actually drove the children of Israel out of Egypt (12:33, 39; 11:1). The Egyptians could not tolerate the presence of God’s people in their country any longer. When Moses and Aaron first asked Pharaoh to let God’s people go, Pharaoh refused. But by the time of 12:33, “the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste.”
This is not only a story in the Bible, but a principle that applies to our Christian experience. Sooner or later, our environment will encourage us, even compel us, to make our exodus from the world. Our wife, husband, or relatives may charge us to go out; they may tell us that it is better for us to leave the world than to remain in it. This means that the world will cast us out. If we are not willing to go, the world will drive us away. As long as we remain in the world, those in the world have no peace. Eventually they realize that only when we leave the world will they have peace and will we have joy. I can testify that this has been my experience. If I were to try to go back to the world, the world would beg me not to return. As far as the world is concerned, the farther away I am, the better it is. It is the result of the Lord’s strong hand that the world wants us to leave.
Because the children of Israel were driven out of Egypt, they had no time to bring leavened food (12:34, 39). We have pointed out that leaven signifies sinfulness and corruption. The fact that the children of Israel did not have the time to prepare leavened bread indicates that the Lord will deal with our environment to such an extent that it will give us no time for sinful things. If we still have time to prepare leavened bread, it will be difficult for us to get out of Egypt. This means that if we still have time for sinful things, it will be hard for us to make our exodus from the world. After God subdues our environment and causes us to be driven out of the world, we shall discover that no time remains for sinful things. Exodus 12:39 says, “And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were driven out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any food” (Heb.). This verse indicates clearly that the Egyptians did not give the children of Israel time to leaven their bread.
When I was a child in northern China, we ate a great deal of leavened bread. I learned that it takes much less time to bake unleavened bread than to bake leavened bread. Often before going to bed at night my mother would prepare dough with leaven and let it stand until morning. When my sister prepared the dough, sometimes she would forget to add leaven. In the morning, when my mother saw the situation, she would be displeased. She knew there was no time to make leavened bread, and she had to prepare something else for us to eat. This illustration shows that it takes time to prepare leavened bread. Just as it takes time to bake leavened bread, it also takes time to commit sin.
Thirty years ago, many of us moved in haste from the mainland of China to Taiwan. The environment was such that we did not have any time to spare. If we had tarried, we would have found ourselves without any means of transportation. Also, we were forced to leave many things behind. Before that time, we who ministered the Word tried to help certain people get rid of the “leaven” in their lives. But they were not willing to listen. Instead they held on to the sinful things, to the things that are “leaven” in the eyes of God. However, being forced to leave the mainland, they had no choice but to forsake all the “leaven.” When we arrived on the island of Taiwan, I was happy that so much “leaven” had been left behind.
Sometimes God may even use physical weakness or illness to separate us from our “leaven.” You may still want to practice certain sinful things, but because of physical infirmity you are no longer able to do so. God works in your environment to force you to leave your “leaven.”
The children of Israel left Egypt in a pure way, that is, without leaven. Many of us can testify that we also have left the world in a pure way. Because God dealt with our environment, it was not possible for us to take leavened bread out of the world with us. Rather, the environment compelled us to make our exodus in a pure way. Praise Him for purging out the leaven!
Exodus 12:35 and 36 say, “And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they gave to them what they asked. And they plundered the Egyptians” (Heb.). Although the children of Israel had no time to prepare leavened bread, they did have time to plunder the Egyptians of their silver, gold, and raiment (3:21-22; 11:2-3). This indicates that in God’s salvation He desires that we plunder the world of its wealth.
God’s economy is different from man’s religion. For example, Buddhism teaches that we should take nothing out of the world. God, on the contrary, commanded His chosen people to ask the Egyptians for silver, gold, and raiment. In this way, His people plundered the Egyptians. This was not robbery; it was a belated payment for a long period of slave labor. God in His righteousness arranged for the Egyptians to pay the children of Israel for their labor in Egypt.
Many saved ones can testify that God’s strong hand has worked in their environment to give them the opportunity to plunder the world of its wealth. God’s goal in doing this is not the enrichment of His people; it is the building of the tabernacle, His dwelling place on earth. The children of Israel needed the gold, silver, and raiment for the building of the tabernacle. For the sake of God’s dwelling place, we should not leave the world as the Buddhists do; we should plunder Egypt of wealth to be used in building the tabernacle.
On the one hand, when Peter and John were asked for money by the beggar, they had no silver or gold to give him (Acts 3:6). But on the other hand, they were among those who had plundered the world of its wealth. When we, the chosen people of God, come out of the world under God’s sovereign hand, we have no time to leaven anything. However, we do have the opportunity to plunder the Egyptians. All those who are raised up by the Lord are those who plunder the world. For the Lord’s purpose, they bring certain riches out of the world and present them to the Lord. For instance, Paul could say, “As poor yet enriching many, as having nothing and possessing all things” (2 Cor. 6:10). This matter of plundering the wealth of the Egyptians can be illustrated and confirmed by the experiences of many Christians.
Apparently, it was unjust for the children of Israel to plunder the Egyptians of their gold, silver, and raiment. As we have pointed out, by plundering the wealth of Egypt, they were actually receiving righteous payment for their forced labor. In a sense, the pay they deserved for their labor had been deposited over the years in the “bank” in Egypt and then was withdrawn at the time of the exodus. Furthermore, God’s people did not take the gold, silver, and raiment for their own use or purpose. On the contrary, the riches of Egypt were used through God’s chosen people for the building of the tabernacle.
The tabernacle was the testimony of God, which typifies Christ with the church. The church today is God’s tabernacle constituted of Christ and the saints. Such a testimony is built with the offerings of God’s people. Therefore, the riches of the Egyptians came through the labor of God’s people and were spent for God’s testimony. This is what it means to plunder the world of its wealth.
The saints in the Lord’s recovery should not be lazy. They should get a good education and then work diligently at a proper job to earn an adequate living. However, the money they earn should not be used only for themselves or for their enjoyment; it should be used for the Lord’s testimony. On the one hand, we must labor in the world and receive just payment for our work. But on the other hand, what we earn should be used for the testimony of God.
Although we work in the world, we do not work for the world. Instead, we work in the world for something that is not of the world, just as the children of Israel labored in Egypt for something that was not of Egypt. Pharaoh forced God’s people to work as slaves. Eventually, they received for their labor the riches of Egypt that were used for the building of the tabernacle, God’s testimony, not for Egypt.
Some may think that because we labor diligently in the world we labor for the world. However, our labor is for God’s testimony. What we receive for our labor in the world is given to the Lord. According to the promise in the New Testament, the more we give to the Lord, the more He will give to us (Luke 6:38). The Lord intends to plunder the world of its wealth through our labor so that we may give this wealth to Him for the building up of His dwelling place.
The experience of a certain brother in England illustrates this. Early in his Christian life, he gave ten percent of his income to the Lord. Because he was faithful in this matter, the Lord caused him to prosper financially. The brother then increased the percentage of his giving from ten percent to fifteen percent. The Lord caused him to prosper even more. As the years went by, this brother gradually increased the percentage of his giving. But no matter how much he gave to the Lord, the Lord always gave even more to him. This brother surely was one who plundered the riches of the world and presented them to the Lord for His testimony.
Another illustration is found in the experience of some brothers in the Lord who opened a tailor shop with the intention of helping the Lord’s people and the Lord’s work. Eventually their business expanded so that they had a hundred chain stores. All the profit they earned from this business went to support the Lord’s testimony. They also plundered the world for the Lord. All those who realize what it means to come out of the world will work diligently not for their own welfare, but for the Lord’s interests.
The building of the meeting hall in Anaheim also illustrates this principle. A great deal of volunteer labor went into the construction of this facility. This labor saved a very large amount of money. Those who worked on the hall plundered the world through their labors. I believe that the Lord has made a record of their faithfulness.
Throughout the years, many of the saints who have been faithful to the Lord have been enriched by Him. However, the crucial matter is what use the saints make of this material increase. If this financial gain is used for the world, this will be a great failure in the eyes of the Lord. But if it is used for God’s testimony, it will be another case of plundering the wealth of the world under the sovereignty of God. To plunder the world is not to take anything from the world unrighteously: it is to labor in the world and to use the gain from our labor for God’s testimony.
The children of Israel went forth from Egypt with all their children and their flocks and herds (12:37-38, 31-32). According to 12:38, a “mixed multitude went up also with them.” If there had been only a small number of people making their exodus out of Egypt, there would not have been a mixed multitude. But because the number of God’s people was so large, approximately two million, a mixed multitude went with them. God’s people were very prevailing, and some who were not Israelites wanted to go out of Egypt with them. Hence, the presence of the mixed multitude here was a good sign. According to the book of Numbers, however, this mixed multitude later was a cause of trouble. But even this trouble taught God’s people some valuable lessons. We in the Lord’s recovery today have also learned a great deal through the mixed multitude that has been with us.
The children of Israel made an absolute exodus from Egypt. Everything they had was brought out with them. This is the kind of exodus, the kind of departure from the world, that is ordained of God. Our exodus must be so absolute that it makes others willing to follow us and join us.
Exodus 12:40 and 41 say, “Now the time of dwelling of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the armies of Jehovah went out from the land of Egypt” (Heb.). These four hundred thirty years began in Genesis 12 when God made the promise to Abraham that He would give the good land to Abraham’s seed. From that day until the night of the exodus was exactly four hundred thirty years. Thus, the exodus marked the termination of this period of time. For all these years the people God had chosen and to whom He had promised the good land had not been dwelling in the land of promise. Instead, they had been sojourning in a Gentile land represented by Egypt.
According to Genesis 15:13-14 and Acts 7:6, the children of Israel were under persecution for four hundred years. These four hundred years began with Ishmael’s mocking of Isaac in Genesis 21. This means that from Genesis 12 to Genesis 21 there was a period of thirty years, and from Genesis 21 to Exodus 12 there was a period of four hundred years. Therefore, for four hundred thirty years God’s people were in a strange land, and for four hundred years they suffered persecution.
You may wonder what this has to do with us today. If we have not had an exodus from the world, then we are still sojourning in a strange land. We are not dwelling in Christ who is our good land. According to God’s promise and ordination, we should live in Christ as the good land and enjoy Him as the land. This, however, requires an absolute exodus. As God’s chosen people, we should dwell in Christ. Our exodus from the world marks the end, the termination, of our sojourning in a strange land.
Although God has chosen and ordained us to live and dwell in Christ, many of His people are not dwelling in Christ. Instead, they are still living in Egypt. This indicates that even after we have been saved, we may still sojourn in the world. Only when we leave the world in an absolute way do we terminate the time of our sojourning in a strange land. Hence, our exodus is the termination of our four hundred thirty years.
Many Christians have not experienced such a termination because they have not yet had an exodus. They have been chosen by God and ordained of God to dwell in Christ. Nevertheless, from the time of their second birth, they have been sojourning in the world. Only when they have an absolute exodus will they terminate their period of sojourning in Egypt.
Without this picture in the book of Exodus, we cannot understand thoroughly the words in the New Testament about being separated from the world. The account of the book of Exodus makes it clear that our exodus must be the termination of our period of sojourning. Apart from such an exodus, it is not possible to dwell in Christ as the good land. Furthermore, as long as we are in the time of sojourning, we are under a kind of persecution that allows us to have no rest, satisfaction, or proper enjoyment. Because they are still in Egypt, many Christians do not have rest, satisfaction, or fullness of joy in Christ. But when they come out of Egypt in an absolute way, they will terminate not only their time of sojourning in the world, but also their years of dissatisfaction and restlessness. Although only a minority of genuine Christians have made their exodus from Egypt, many of the saints in the Lord’s recovery have made such an exodus.
To have the Passover is one thing, but to experience the exodus is another. As we shall see, the crossing of the Red Sea is still another crucial event. It marks the completion of the first stage of God’s salvation. This stage of God’s salvation includes the Passover, the exodus, and the crossing of the Red Sea. Only after the children of Israel had crossed the Red Sea were they fully delivered from Egypt and released to praise the Lord. However, God’s salvation includes more than this. Even the building of the temple is part of the full salvation of God.
Exodus 12:42 says, “It is a night of observation unto Jehovah for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night unto Jehovah, an observation for all the children of Israel in their generations” (Heb.). During the night of the Passover, the children of Israel had satisfaction, rest, and joy, but they did not sleep. As this verse indicates, it was a night of observation, a night of watching. This implies that God was observing, watching, the situation. Actually, as the Berkeley Version makes clear, both God and the children of Israel were watching. As God was observing and watching, His people were observing and watching also. Hence, that night was a night of observation.
Exodus 12:42 says that this night was a night of observation unto the Lord. The children of Israel were watching unto the Lord. This means that they were cooperating with Him. God was doing everything necessary to rescue them from Egypt. He was watching, and His people were watching unto Him.
As we apply this to our experience, we see that our exodus was also a night of watching. This is the reason that in the New Testament we are warned not to sleep. Romans 13:11 says that “now is the hour for you to be raised out of sleep.” Furthermore, in 1 Thessalonians 5:6 and 7 Paul says, “So then, let us not sleep as the rest, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep in the night.” As Paul says in the same chapter, we are “sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness” (v. 5). If we are not alert spiritually, we turn the day into night, but if we are watchful and observant, even our night will be turned into day.
To make an exodus from the world is not a simple matter. Such an exodus takes place during a night of watching. God watches over us, and we must watch with God and unto God. The night of our exodus must be a vigil, and we must be on the alert. Without such a vigil, no one can get out of the world. Christians who are slothful and sleeping cannot make an exodus. Only those who are watchful, vigilant, and observant can come out of the world. God watchfully exercises His sovereignty over our situation, and He commands us to be watchful unto Him. Then our night will turn into day, and we shall be rescued from Egypt.
In the New Testament we are charged not to love the world (1 John 2:15). However, it is possible for us to take this word in a very superficial way. The picture in the Old Testament indicates that the exodus from Egypt should not be regarded superficially. During the night of the exodus, even God was watching and observing. The King James Version of 12:42 says that it was “a night to be much observed unto the Lord.” This does not mean that it was a night for the observation of rituals. On the contrary, it was a night of observing, of watching. God was watching and observing in order to bring His people out of the world. His people had to cooperate with Him by watching unto Him. They had to be watchful because they did not know at what time they would march out of Egypt. By this we see that no sleepy ones or loose ones can have an adequate exodus. If you want to make an exodus from the world, you need to be watchful, observant, and vigilant. Then you will know the right time to go out of the world.
In 12:41 we are told that “all the armies of Jehovah went out from the land of Egypt” (Heb.), and in 12:51, that “Jehovah did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies” (Heb.). Furthermore, 13:18 says, “The children of Israel went up in martial array out of the land of Egypt” (Heb.). The Hebrew in 13:18 indicates that the children of Israel went out arrayed in ranks of five. They did not go out of Egypt in a loose way; they marched out as an army.
After the surrender of the Japanese army in 1945, I watched American soldiers march in rows of four through the streets of the Chinese city of Tsingtao. How excited I was to see those young Americans in martial array! By contrast, I have been very disappointed to see the looseness of certain young people in the United States today. If we would make our exodus out of the world, we cannot be loose. Spiritually speaking, we must march out of the world in martial array. Everything concerning us must be strict, straight, and orderly. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against Satan and the world. For such a battle, we need to be in martial array, ready to fight against the enemy.
Day by day the Christians in the church life need to be in martial array. In everything we do we should be strict, straight, and corporate. Only by being in the army corporately can we be in martial array. The fact that we are to march out of the world as God’s army indicates that it is not an easy matter to make our exodus out of Egypt. Praise the Lord for this vivid portrait in the book of Exodus! May this portrait make a deep impression upon us all.
