Christmas 2018 Born in Bethlehem (Part 6-Out of Egypt)
Hello this is Eric again. A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?” So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.
(Read the previous blogs here)
We have been walking through the story of the Israelites with our kiddos this past season. The whole story of God’s rescue of Israel is truly amazing. Today we are used to special effects, and a surround sound experience—but even that doesn’t compare to God showing up and “flexing His pinky finger” and displaying His glory.
Egypt was THE world superpower. They had the most powerful army. The strongest economy—thanks to the Nile river overflowing it’s banks annually. Egypt was the intellectual powerhouse—consider their architecture, and writing, and medicine—and, Egypt was the spiritual power. Pharaoh was considered a ‘god’ by their culture, and the magicians were able to perform with demonic power. When God came and displayed His glory, He showed that the most powerful ‘god’ created by man through idolatry—even though it was backed by demonic forces—had nothing on God (Hence the “flexing His pinky finger” comment.)
Israel was in slavery. They were small. They were helpless. There was nothing about them that stood out, except that God made a promise out of love and faithfulness to Abraham and his family—and God keeps His promises
When God rescued Israel, He conquered Egypt soundly. Through miracle after miracle (you really should go read the story—it starts in Exodus 1) He led them through the wilderness, and fed them daily, and gave them water and cared for them tenderly. Deuteronomy 29:5 talks about God’s miraculous care,
“For forty years I led you through the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out.”
God took care of the big and little details in Israel’s life, and then…Wow. God met with them, defined their whole culture, and told them that He—Yes, God—He was going to go with them, and live with them!
The God that created everything and everyone was going to move into a tent, and hang out with, and do life with, and rule all creation from…the center of Israel. Where He would go, they would go, and God would care for them. Why? Because He loved them.
The thought is absolutely astounding. What kind of God does this? An amazingly humble, loving, passionate, promise-keeping, truthful, beautiful, holy God.
How did Israel respond?
By complaining. By stubborn refusal to obey God. By thanklessness. And… by idolatry—making other things/people/experiences, even good things—an ultimate thing, in God’s place.
Hosea is a book in the Bible that reads like a supermarket tabloid. Really, it does. God tells one of His prophets to go and marry a prostitute, and have a family with her. He does, and yet, she is not faithful. It’s salacious. God uses this picture to describe His relationship with Israel. God describes His passionate, faithful love for His wife Israel, and how she has pursued other lovers instead of Him. Hosea reads as if you are talking to a cheated on spouse who wants, on one hand, to lash out in anger at their unfaithful spouse, and on the other hand, longs for the wayward spouse to come back and be faithful and intimate once again. This kind of pain and emotional passion is how God describes how Israel has responded to Him.
God longs for His people that He has created to come back to Him. That’s us folks. He aches that we have pursued illegitimate and illicit idols and ‘gods’ that we use to try and take the place of God in our lives. This kind of stubborn refusal to see, to understand, and to receive God’s goodness and love in our lives is rampant and describes the brokenness of sin in us. So, how did God respond?
Matthew 2:14, 15 says,
“That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: ‘I called my Son out of Egypt.’”
These two passionate stories intersect. This prophecy is directly out of Hosea 11:1 and this is where God in a fit of passion describes His passionate love for Israel in the book of Hosea. Listen to God’s heart in Hosea 11:8-10a,
“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows. No, I will not unleash my fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy. For someday the people will follow me.”
How will God rescue? He will call His Son out of Egypt, and Jesus will respond to God’s love with the love and faithfulness Israel should have—and we should have. Then, Jesus will love God’s people with His life, and ultimately; God the passionate lover will die for His beloved, so that by His sacrifice, we will be rescued out of our slavery, and God will be able to draw us into His embrace once again, and we will be forever His.
“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”—Ephesians 3:14-21
Do you want to hear about how to respond to God's gift of love for you?--This post will show you how.
Do you want to walk on this journey with us?
Subscribe here
(Read the previous blogs here)
We have been walking through the story of the Israelites with our kiddos this past season. The whole story of God’s rescue of Israel is truly amazing. Today we are used to special effects, and a surround sound experience—but even that doesn’t compare to God showing up and “flexing His pinky finger” and displaying His glory.
Egypt was THE world superpower. They had the most powerful army. The strongest economy—thanks to the Nile river overflowing it’s banks annually. Egypt was the intellectual powerhouse—consider their architecture, and writing, and medicine—and, Egypt was the spiritual power. Pharaoh was considered a ‘god’ by their culture, and the magicians were able to perform with demonic power. When God came and displayed His glory, He showed that the most powerful ‘god’ created by man through idolatry—even though it was backed by demonic forces—had nothing on God (Hence the “flexing His pinky finger” comment.)
Israel was in slavery. They were small. They were helpless. There was nothing about them that stood out, except that God made a promise out of love and faithfulness to Abraham and his family—and God keeps His promises
When God rescued Israel, He conquered Egypt soundly. Through miracle after miracle (you really should go read the story—it starts in Exodus 1) He led them through the wilderness, and fed them daily, and gave them water and cared for them tenderly. Deuteronomy 29:5 talks about God’s miraculous care,
“For forty years I led you through the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out.”
God took care of the big and little details in Israel’s life, and then…Wow. God met with them, defined their whole culture, and told them that He—Yes, God—He was going to go with them, and live with them!
The God that created everything and everyone was going to move into a tent, and hang out with, and do life with, and rule all creation from…the center of Israel. Where He would go, they would go, and God would care for them. Why? Because He loved them.
The thought is absolutely astounding. What kind of God does this? An amazingly humble, loving, passionate, promise-keeping, truthful, beautiful, holy God.
How did Israel respond?
By complaining. By stubborn refusal to obey God. By thanklessness. And… by idolatry—making other things/people/experiences, even good things—an ultimate thing, in God’s place.
Hosea is a book in the Bible that reads like a supermarket tabloid. Really, it does. God tells one of His prophets to go and marry a prostitute, and have a family with her. He does, and yet, she is not faithful. It’s salacious. God uses this picture to describe His relationship with Israel. God describes His passionate, faithful love for His wife Israel, and how she has pursued other lovers instead of Him. Hosea reads as if you are talking to a cheated on spouse who wants, on one hand, to lash out in anger at their unfaithful spouse, and on the other hand, longs for the wayward spouse to come back and be faithful and intimate once again. This kind of pain and emotional passion is how God describes how Israel has responded to Him.
God longs for His people that He has created to come back to Him. That’s us folks. He aches that we have pursued illegitimate and illicit idols and ‘gods’ that we use to try and take the place of God in our lives. This kind of stubborn refusal to see, to understand, and to receive God’s goodness and love in our lives is rampant and describes the brokenness of sin in us. So, how did God respond?
Matthew 2:14, 15 says,
“That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: ‘I called my Son out of Egypt.’”
These two passionate stories intersect. This prophecy is directly out of Hosea 11:1 and this is where God in a fit of passion describes His passionate love for Israel in the book of Hosea. Listen to God’s heart in Hosea 11:8-10a,
“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows. No, I will not unleash my fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy. For someday the people will follow me.”
How will God rescue? He will call His Son out of Egypt, and Jesus will respond to God’s love with the love and faithfulness Israel should have—and we should have. Then, Jesus will love God’s people with His life, and ultimately; God the passionate lover will die for His beloved, so that by His sacrifice, we will be rescued out of our slavery, and God will be able to draw us into His embrace once again, and we will be forever His.
“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”—Ephesians 3:14-21
Do you want to hear about how to respond to God's gift of love for you?--This post will show you how.
Do you want to walk on this journey with us?
Subscribe here
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