In their following God, God’s people must know not only God and His will, but also that God has an adversary: Satan, along with the world that is under his power. God has a desire to build His dwelling place, but Satan seeks every way to damage and hinder God’s plan. The book of Exodus has detailed records regarding the building of God’s dwelling place, but it also depicts God’s judgment of the world that is against God, exposing its evil nature. Through this exposure, God’s people are willing — even desperate — to leave the world, typified by Egypt, after seeing the darkness and death behind the camouflage of worldly prosperity.
Since the beginning of time, God has never stopped calling and preparing His people for the purpose of building His dwelling place. At the same time, Satan never stops corrupting God’s people and damaging God’s plan. Today, the current world situation is undeniable evidence that this circumstance is worsening. The convenience of the present age exacerbates our dependence on the world and deprives us of our simple reliance on God, even making God’s people forget His will and altering the nature of the church life from manifesting the testimony of Christ. Nowadays, online media, social platforms, and e-commerce enable us to work, study, shop, and be entertained without leaving home. People’s dependence on smartphones is greater than their dependence on God. Seemingly we have established countless connections with people, but in fact there is no real connection. Even worse, we gradually lose the ability to interact with people heart to heart. Outwardly, our life may appear fulfilling and busy, but, in reality, it is a great deception. Especially since 2019, the pandemic has impacted the whole world and no one is able to escape from it. This is a great exposure to the beauty and attraction portrayed by the world. Through this disaster, the reality of the world is once again revealed to us: nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, media filled with lies and controversies — all of these expose human selfishness and ignorance to the uttermost.
The Lord is using this pandemic to expose the vulnerability of human beings and the fragility of the world, and also to test our churchlife. As God’s people, we have to ask ourselves: is our living of faith, and are all of our spiritual activities in the church life — our prayer, meeting, and fellowship — true? Are we Egyptians who live by the world, or are we true Israelites who live by God’s eternal life? We refuse to be Israelites who live in Egypt, and we refuse to let the world live in the midst of the church.
Dear friend, after reading this, has your genuineness, long untouched, been revived again? Has the flame in your cold heart been rekindled? Exodus should not just be an old, tired story of the Israelites, nor should it be a casual topic for believers to chit-chat about. It should not be just a topic for children’s Sunday school. It must be our daily experience.
As I contemplate these things, I see that God has no intention of making our physical bodies leave the world; rather, He wants us to stay in the world but not depend on the world. We are a part of that group of witnesses who live by God only; we may live in the world, yet do not belong to or depend on the world. A soft, gentle voice urged me to look on — the king of the world has been judged, his lies exposed, the attraction of the world dissipated, and the lifeline to the world cut off. He has lost his power forever, and in me he has nothing. My world — my Egypt — has been completely buried in the death waters forever, far, far behind me. Dear saints, today is another exodus into glory and freedom — out of Egypt, out of the world, out of bondage, out of darkness — for we are Israel and have left Egypt behind forever to serve our God!
(The text above is enjoyment and testimony shared following a gathering on 09/17/2021.）