Wilderness Fallacy: Egypt is the World;
But, Is Egypt Type of the World System?
Nothing is more quintessential Jewish and Biblical than the Hebrew people marching out of Egypt after God humiliates Pharaoh through the Ten Plagues. Their glorious exodus from slavery to freedom is resurrected in modern times via the motif of black versus white racism that refuses to seek peace in Christ today. Indeed, it is the center piece of Critical Theory Wokeness ushering in The Great Reset, New World Order. But, what if evangelical Christians were not the only ones to get this metonmy incorrect? What if deception were the point to keep all of us from understanding the Wilderness’s Truth: It is about Separation.
The conservative evangelical movement for the past two hundred years or more have depicted Egypt as a type of the world and its associated system. Egypt held the Hebrews in bondage after the Hebrews helped them survive catastrophic drought a century or so earlier under Joseph (Ge 41:17-45). God told the Hebrews to not go back to Egypt yet they did go back to Egypt and copied Egyptian ways frequently throughout their history (De 17:16; Je 42:11-19).
The warnings ring out: Do not return to the World once saved! Do not follow the world’s system! Follow God into the Wilderness which represents the path of purification, sanctification and separation from the World until one is able to enter the Promised Land of Freedom! Yet, there is not one verse that supports this thesis. It is as much a Christian as a worldly myth designed to guide your belief to a desired motif that leads you astray (2Ti 4:3-4).
I struggled to understand this acquired interpretation though I did accept it as valid. In my earlier years, I struggled to understand the basic doctrines and theology of salvation, church, Christ, Satan and so forth. I struggled to implement the idealistic into a praxis viable in daily life. In other words, the Wilderness Journey just did not seem a very high priority in comparison to other aspects of my Christian experience. So, though this story did not resonant with me, neither did I question it; I simply put it on the back shelf for a few decades.
It is impossible to study every aspect of the Bible with the same intensity at the same time, people have finite attention spans and must prioritize their studies. This applies to every field of study. The quality and focus of a person is defined by the priorities they assign and many Christians assign biblical doctrine a much lower priority than practical aspects such as psychology and politics (2Ti 3:1-7). Hence, many never come to a thorough knowing of God’s Truth. They give lip service to the Bible but in reality they live pretty much like the World does using the same methodologies to achieve the same ends: survival in this physical Creation.
Who needs or cares about events that occurred millennium ago? Who cares what the ancients may have thought about Truth. We are Modern people of Science who struggle to keep liberty in place in a hostile world. We need to understand the challenges of today to survive and help our families survive. Thus, our attentions are diverted. Our priorities are reassigned. We become engaged in pursuits that do not lead to truth or understanding. Ever rushing about from one crisis to another, people are kept off balanced chasing one fleeting thought after another meaningless fleeting thought into oblivion. This is the path of emptiness; of futile vanity that ends only in the sudden realization of death when it is too late to find Truth: It is about to find you!
So, if Egypt is not the World, and there are no verses that make this association, then what does Egypt represent? Indeed, what does the Wilderness Journey and Promised Land represent? Is this metonmy limited to an abstract and ancient period without relevance today? We will explore these subjects over the next several posts showing their relevance to one’s understanding of today’s burning challenges. We shall do this through two different events that occurred during the Wilderness Journey: Waters of Meribah, which occurred twice, and the Golden Calf worship choice.
The Hebrews were guided by God out of Egypt via a pillar of Cloud by day and of Fire at Night (Ex 13:21-22). After the Tabernacle was erected, the Lord’s Presence hovered above this tent until it was time to move to onward; this continued throughout the Wilderness Journey (Nu 9:15-23). This light was their guidance keeping them alive until they were ready to enter the Promised Land. Yet, everyone is guided by light whether it be the while light of Christ or the dark light of self and sin (Mt 6:22-24). The question becomes: “Which light will you follow?” Perhaps this is the key to understanding the Wilderness Journey. Perhaps the Wilderness Journey did not end with the Hebrews entering the Promised Land but continues even today!
We will explore this for I believe this motif runs throughout Scripture and will continue to do so until this current physical, material Creation passes away (He 1:10-12; 2Pe 3:10). We are being torn between two different belief systems: that which is In Christ and that which is Anti or against Christ and this is epitomized in the Wilderness Journey (1Jo 2:22; 4:2-3). The essential question that rings throughout the Bible was postulated by Elijah, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions (1Ki 18:21)?”
What does Egypt represent? Egypt is the birthplace of Hermeticism which traces its roots back to the Very Ancient Kingdom but extends into our modern era. It is our term for all faiths that stand against the one biblical faith found in Christ (Ep 4:4-7). Egypt was one of the very few Very Ancient Kingdoms to survive the Bronze Age Collapse, Assyria the other and the only one to continue down to the end of the Ancient Period even finding itself under Hellenistic influence. It began with the desire to know apart from God’s guidance and continues holding out the promise of escape from judgment via Posthumanism through modern technology or science(tism),
There is no compromise between The World and Christ. The World is passing away and will continue to do so until this Creation is dissolved (Ja 4:1-4; 1Jo 2:15-17). There is no compromise between Christ and the World; hence, there should be no peace between Egypt and God if Egypt represented the World. But, Scripture depicts a time when both Very Ancient Kingdoms, Egypt and Assyria, will be unified with Israel in Christ (Is 19:16-25). Isaiah refers to the Millennial Kingdom of Christ on earth established after His return after the Great Tribulation. Egypt will throw off its Hermetic, Hellenistic philosophic Dialectic delusion and embrace Christ just as the True Jews did millennium earlier; but, not the Jews of the Wilderness Journey. Most of those Jews rejected Christ and chose to embrace the hermetic works-based dialectic embodied in their calf idolatry; and most of them died in the Wilderness because of their lack of faith (He 3:7-19).
Waters of Quarreling and Testing of God;
Which Waters Do You Drink from Today?
The mixed multitude of Egyptians and Hebrews marched out of Egypt into the Wilderness (Ex 12:37-39). They constantly quarreled with God, putting Him to the test and finding Him lacking! This is the meaning of the waters of Massah and Meribah (Ex 17:1-7; Nu 20:2-13). They accused God of leading them into the Wilderness to kill them. They constantly longed for the pleasantries of Egypt (Ex 16:1-3; Nu 11:1-6). Even the generation that had not known Egypt, for they were born in the Wilderness, longed for the goodness of Egypt which they heard from their parents. But, if the goodness was so good; why did they leave Egypt? What did they hope to find? What do you hope to find? Even Christians today quarrel with God and find Him lacking in their expectations showing how little things have changed since that period only now they use the waters to wash down their antidepressants.
Today’s world would have you sink into the oblivion of drug-alcohol-medication induced numbness under the guise of treating mental illness. In fact, it promotes emotional-mental instability in order to continue pushing its Hermetic Dialectic Socialism agenda onto a people lost in their current Wilderness Journey of hopelessness. As we shall explore in future posts, the Wilderness Journey continues today and its lessons are essential to understanding modern events and pitfalls. Nothing is new; everything continues as it has from the beginning (Ec 1:9-11). It is designed to delude you so you believe it is different but it is the same; a path to keep you from Christ and the gospel of life He offers you (2Th 2:3-12). Would you keep drinking from the waters of bitterness vacillating between confused fear and bitterness until death overtakes you? How long will you be torn between two different opinions: Between In Christ and Anti Christ?