What a volume of truth is contained in this sentence. It sets forth in plain and forcible language the blessed purpose of the Lord God of Israel to have His people completely delivered from Egypt and separated unto Himself in order that they might feast with Him in the wilderness. Nothing could satisfy His heart, but their entire emancipation from the land of death and darkness. He would free them not only from Egypt's brick-kilns and taskmasters, but from its temples and altars, from all its habits and associations, and from its principles, maxims, and fashions. In fact, they must be a thoroughly separated people before they could hold a feast to Him in the wilderness.
So it was with Israel, and so it is with us. We, too, must be a fully and consciously delivered people before we can worship and serve God properly. The world is to the Christian what Egypt was to Israel; only, of course, our separation from the world is not local or physical, but moral and spiritual. Israel left Egypt in person; we leave the world in spirit and in principle. Israel left Egypt in fact; we leave the world in faith. It was a real and thorough separation for them, and it is the same for us. "Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness." To this rigid separation, Satan had and still has many objections.
1) His first objection was set forth in the words spoken by the lips of Pharaoh, "Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. chap. 8:25. These were subtle words-words well calculated to ensnare a heart that was not in communion with the mind of God. It might (with great plausibility and apparent force) be argued, Is it not liberal on the part of the king of Egypt to offer to tolerate your peculiar mode of worship? Why not take common ground with your neighbors?
This might seem very reasonable, but notice Jehovah's high and holy standard! Listen to the plain and positive declaration, "Let My people go." There is no mistaking this.
There is something uncommonly fine in Moses's reply to Satan's first objection: "It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as He shall command us." Exod. 8:26, 2726And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? 27We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us. (Exodus 8:26‑27).
There would have been a lack of moral fitness in sacrificing to Jehovah the objects of Egyptian worship. But, more than this, Egypt was not the place in which to erect an altar to the true God. Abraham had no altar when he turned aside into Egypt. He abandoned his worship and his stranger ship when he entered that land, and if Abraham could not worship there, neither could his seed.
Beloved, "The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not." The motives which activate and the objects which animate the true believer lie far beyond the world's range of vision, and we may well understand that in the proportion in which the world can enter into and appreciate a Christian's motives, must the Christian be unfaithful to his Lord.
We speak, of course, of proper Christian motives. No doubt there is much in a Christian's life that the world can admire and value: integrity, honesty, truthfulness, kindness, care for the poor, self-denial. All these things may be understood and appreciated, but, admitting all this, we return with deeper emphasis to the apostolic statement that "The world knoweth us not," and if we want to walk with God-if we would hold a feast unto Him-if it is our heart's true and earnest desire to run a consistently heavenly course, we must break with the world altogether.
2) Satan's second objection is very much like his first. If he cannot succeed in keeping Israel in Egypt, he will at least try to keep them as near to it as possible. "I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away." chap. 8:28.
There is more damage done to the cause of Christ by an apparent, partial, half-hearted giving up of the world, than by remaining in it altogether. Wavering, half-and-half professors injure the testimony and dishonor the Lord far more than thorough out-and-out worldlings. And, there is a wide difference between giving up certain worldly things, and giving up the world itself. We may lop off some of the branches, and yet cling with greater tenacity to the old trunk.
We must carefully see to this. We feel persuaded that what hundreds of professing Christians need is to make a clean break with the world. It is utterly impossible to make a proper start, much less to make any progress, while the heart is playing fast and loose with the holy claims of Christ.
One of Satan's masterpieces is to lead Christians to rest satisfied with looking to the cross for salvation while remaining in the world, or occupying a border position-not going "very far away." This is a terrible snare, against which we must solemnly warn one another. Every believer should be devoted to and walk in fellowship with a rejected and glorified Christ. To walk with Christ and to delight in Him, we must be apart from this godless, Christless, wicked world- apart from it in the spirit of our minds and in the affections of our hearts.
Here, however, we may be asked, Is Christianity merely a stripping, an emptying, a giving up? Does it only consist of prohibition and negation? We answer with hearty emphasis, NO! Christianity is preeminently positive-divinely satisfying. What does it give us in lieu of what it takes from us? It gives us "unsearchable riches" in place of "dung" and "dross." It gives us "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven," instead of a poor, passing bubble on the stream of time. It gives us Christ, the joy of the heart of God-the Object of heaven's worship-the eternal sunlight of the new creation-in lieu of a few moments of sinful gratification and guilty pleasure. And finally, it gives us the eternal sunlight of the eternity of ineffable bliss and glory in the Father's house above, instead of an eternity in the awful flames of hell.
Men do not find it very hard to give up cinders for diamonds, ashes for pearls, and dross for gold. In the same way, when one has tasted the preciousness of Christ, there is no difficulty in giving up the world; no, the difficulty would be to remain in it. If Christ fills the heart, the world is not only driven out, but kept out. We not only turn our backs upon Egypt, but we go far enough away from it never to return. And for what? To do nothing? To have nothing? No, but to "hold a feast" to the Lord. True, it is "in the wilderness," but then the wilderness is heaven begun when we have Christ there with us.
We have already considered two of Satan's objections, and we shall now proceed to the third.
3) "And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. Not so; go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence." Exod. 10:8-118And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go? 9And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. 10And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. 11Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. (Exodus 10:8‑11).
These words contain a very solemn lesson for the hearts of all Christian parents. They reveal a deep and crafty purpose of/the arch-enemy. If he cannot keep the parents in Egypt, he will at least seek to keep the children, and in this way mar the testimony to the truth of God, tarnish His glory in His people, and hinder their blessing in Him. Parents in the wilderness and their children in Egypt would be a terrible anomaly-a thing wholly opposed to the mind of God, and utterly subversive of His glory in the walk of His people.
"Thou and... thy house" is a phrase of deep practical import. It involves the very highest consequences, and conveys the richest consolation to every Christian parent, and we may truly add, the neglect of it has led to the most disastrous consequences in thousands of family circles.
What is involved in the weighty expression, "Thou and... thy house"? There are two things involved in it. In the first place there is a most precious privilege, and in the second place, a holy responsibility. It is unquestionably the privilege of all Christian parents to count on God for their children, but it also their duty-do we dislike the homely word?-to train their children for God. We are to begin at the very beginning and go steadily on from day to day, month to month, year to year, training our children for God. Just as a wise and skillful gardener begins, while his fruit trees are young and tender, to train the branches along the wall where they may catch the warm rays of the sun, so should we, while our children are young and impressionable, seek to mold them for God. It would be the height of folly on the part of the gardener to wait till the branches become old ass' gnarled, and then seek to train them. He would find it a hopeless task. And most surely it is the very loftiest height of folly on our part to allow our children to remain for years and years under the molding hand of Satan, the world and sin before we rouse ourselves to the holy business of molding them for God.
Let us not be misunderstood. Let no one suppose that we mean to teach that grace is hereditary, or that we can by any act or system of training make Christians of our children. Nothing is further from our thoughts. Grace is sovereign, and the children of Christian parents must, like all others, be born of water and of the Spirit ere they can see or enter the kingdom of God. All this is as plain and as clear as Scripture can make it, but, on the other hand, Scripture is equally clear and plain as to the duty of Christian parents to bring up their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." And what does this bringing up involve? One thing is certain, namely, that Christian training means a great deal more than drilling our children in religion, teaching them to repeat texts and hymns like a parrot, and turning the family circle into a school. It is good to store the memory of a child with Scripture and sweet hymns. No one would think of calling this in question. But also, it is very important to surround our children with a thoroughly Christian atmosphere from their earliest moments, to let them breathe the pure air of the new creation, and to let them see in their parents the genuine fruits of spiritual life-love, peace, purity, tenderness, genuine kindness, unselfishness, loving thoughtfulness of others. These things have a mighty moral influence upon the impressionable mind of a child.
On the other hand, who can attempt to define the pernicious effect produced upon our children by our inconsistencies, our bad temper, our selfish ways, our worldliness, and covetousness? Can we be said to bring our children out of Egypt when Egypt's principles and habits are seen in our whole career? We may use and teach the phraseology of the wilderness or of Canaan, but if our ways, our manners, and our habits are those of Egypt, our children are quick to mark the gross inconsistency and the effect upon them is deplorable. The unfaithfulness of Christian parents has contributed to swell the tide of infidelity which is rising around us with such appalling rapidity.
There is a great deal more involved in child training than many of us realize. Only by the power of the Spirit of God can parents be fitted for the great and holy work of training their children in this present day. That word, "My grace is sufficient for thee," falls upon the heart with heavenly sweetness and power. We can, with fullest confidence, reckon upon God to bless the very feeblest effort to lead our dear children forth out of Egypt. But the effort must be made, and made, too, with real, fixed, earnest purpose of heart.
We have to remember that the foundation of character is laid in the nursery. Christian training begins in the early days of infancy, and it must be steadily pursued from day to day, month to month, and year to year, in simple, hearty dependence upon God who will, most assuredly, in due time, hear and answer the earnest cry of a parent's heart and crown with His rich blessing the faithful labors of a parent's hands.
We would in true brotherly love offer a suggestion to all Christian parents as to the immense importance of inculcating a spirit of implicit obedience. Are we then to be continually chucking the reins and brandishing the rod? By no means. This would be to break the spirit of the child instead of subduing his will. Where parental authority is thoroughly established the reins may lie gently on the neck, and the rod may be allowed to stand in the corner. There is no need whatever to be continually asserting our authority. There is a quiet dignity about one who really possesses authority, whereas the spasmodic efforts of weakness only draw out contempt.
4) We close with the briefest possible reference to the enemy's fourth and last objection which is embodied in the words, "And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you." chap. 10:24. He would let them go, but without resources to serve the Lord. If he could not keep them in Egypt, he would send them away crippled and shorn. Such is the enemy's last objection.
Notice the noble reply of a devoted heart. It is morally grand. "And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God. Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God; and" [ponder these suggestive words] "we know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither." chap. 10:25, 26.
We must be fully and clearly on God's ground before we can form any true idea of the nature and extent of His claims. It is utterly impossible while surrounded by a worldly atmosphere and governed by a worldly spirit, worldly principles, and worldly objects, to have any just sense of what is due to God. We must stand on the lofty ground of accomplished redemption, apart from this present evil world, before we can properly serve Christ.
Moses, the man of God, meets all Satan's objectives by a simple but decided adherence to Jehovah's demand, "Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness."
This is the true principle, the true method, the true course, at all times and under all circumstances. The divine standard must be maintained in all its integrity, at all cost, and in spite of all objections. If the standard be lowered the breadth of a hair, the enemy gains his point, and Christian service and testimony are wholly out of the question.