Ex. 16:3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
**Caught up into slavery, lives nothing but hardship.
Slavery by definition is --slavery (slâ..ve-rê, slâv..rê) nounplural slaveries
1. The state of one bound in servitude as the property of a slaveholder or household. See synonyms at servitude.2. a. The practice of owning slaves. b. A mode of production in which slaves constitute the principal work force.3. The condition of being subject or addicted to a specified influence.4. A condition of hard work and subjection: wage slavery.(Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary)
Being bound in servitude.
Property of another.
Hard work and subjection 1 (1. Being in a position or in circumstances that place one under the power or authority of another or others)
By nature we are not meant to be owned. We are born and raised and in each of us rests a sense of self that demands the right to answer only to ourselves and not another man.
With God as our only master, our Creator, our Redeemer, with God as the only one we are to worship and bow down to it is no wonder that doing so at the demand of another creates within us a sense of powerlessness, a sense of wrongness.
We can be servants and have a master we answer to, but the master is to be just and not demand worship from us. A demand to serve isn't the same as a demand to worship.
Still, within the heart of most servants, of most slaves beats the desire to be the one served rather than the one serving. Servants are used to do hard work, menial labor, they are to do that which the master doesn't want to do.
A lady of a manor may enlist the aid of servants because she does not wish to do that which a servant will do, for whatever reason.
Slavery under the hand of one who is evil is much different than slavery under the hand of one who is just and good, fair and honest.
In our modern world slavery still exists but not like it did before 1865. Slavery today is mostly hidden.
Christ tells us to be servants - Mark {9:35} And he satdown, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If anyman desire to be first, [the same] shall be last of all, andservant of all.
But while serving is all well and good, slavery isn't just serving. It's being under another's power, another who can do with us as they please to cause us harm and hardship.
The Egyptians enslaved God's chosen people. The slavery was horrific, bitter, and truly something appalling. The Egyptians began killing the children of the Israelites because the Israelites were so prolific and they wanted to keep their numbers down some. Killing the children! Murdering innocents. There wasn't anything the Israelites could do to stop their masters from killing their children- they were enslaved to the master and if they even tried to rebel they were killed as well.
Death, hardship, anguish was a way of life for the Israelites and they wanted to be free. Could they worship God as He wanted to be worshipped, as man was created to worship Him? No. The Egyptians had their own gods and they weren't the One and Only true God, the God of the Israelites. Fully in bondage they desired freedom and yet after it was given them they had this to say--Ex. 16:3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
They would rather have DIED with full bellies in Egypt as slaves than died free of hunger.
Death either way was inevitable, but they'd rather die without hunger.Rather die in Egypt where they were captive, where they were slaves, where their children were murdered, where they answered to hard task masters, where they were not allowed to WORSHIP God. Much rather die without any hardship, without any deprivation. Seems normal and logical? A choice many would make?
Maybe.
I know recently I watched a Navy Seals training on tv and it amazed me the hardships the men had to endure to become Navy Seals. As they followed them from week to week and let you get to know various men who were going through it all, it stunned me at how most of those they'd singled out ended up dropping out during Hell week, during the worst of the worst they were put through. In the end it was amazing to see each of those that managed to make it through, knowing some very rugged individuals gave up while some of the smaller men were able to stick through it all. One of the men said it depends on how bad you want it and that's true. It has to be true because their punishments, their exceptionally rigorous training exercises were the same for them all. Some made it, most didn't. Why? Other than it being the sheer desire, why did only 18 out of 83 make it through training?
The hardship was worth it.
The instructors at one point were talking and said Hell Week is only five days long because those left after five days would literally let you work them to death rather than given in, they're that devoted to sticking it all out.
It amazed me but I could see the truth in it by the determination during their suffering to make it through. At that point in the training they were totally at the mercy of their instructors to live or die as they determined, they trusted in them of course to keep them alive- killing trainees wasn't something the Navy could really do and that trust that the Navy would keep them from dying even when they felt as if they might was amazing. These men didn't HAVE to endure the hardship, many didn't, most didn't. When the decision to opt out of hardship or endure through it exists it isn't surprising that the majority opt out of hardship.Jesus said broad is the way that leads to destruction and many will take that way, while narrow is the way that leads to eternal life and few would take that way.
Hardship.
Life itself is hard no matter the circumstances.
Each and every one of us has a hard life in our own way. We all have our obstacles to overcome and we all have our hills to climb, our valleys to walk through. No one is exempt from these things and the mistake we often make is thinking that some are exempt, that some don't have it as hard as we do.
Another mistake is thinking that the future won't hold hardships just because we haven't had many now. To say my life has been wonderful and easy is a marvelous thing to be able to utter.
No matter the guise of the attacks we face on our faith, whether they come by being penniless, or being rich, we will all face the choice the Egyptians in the wilderness faced.
We will all have our own private little hell weeks to endure and we really are given an opportunity to opt out. To go the broad way.
We can murmur and complain and die in the wilderness for our rebellion, it's our choice.
We have to ask ourselves if we are willing to take on the hardships of following the will and the commands of God. They're not easy. We don't have to LIKE doing things.
Jesus was asked by a rich young man what he had to do to get to heaven and Jesus told him he had to love God and love his fellow man, and the rich young man said that he does that already- so what did Jesus tell him? Did He pat him on the back and tell him 'good job you have eternal life', no. He told him to sell all he has and give it to the poor. This was something the rich young man never expected! He could love God and love his fellow man, but...but part with all his riches?! This was something he didn't like and yet he was told to do it. Right and wrong are right and wrong whether or not we approve of what is right and what is wrong.
When we have unjust laws we try to make them just.
God's laws are just and because we might not like them, doesn't mean they aren't just and we can change them to suit us better.
No, it's not easy and we're told it's not easy.
We have a decision to make and we have to make it constantly in all we do, in every part of our life. Are we going to follow God, or follow man, follow God or follow ourselves?
There's a few lyrics of a song that comes to mind- 'Please forgive me I know not what I do.. please forgive me I can't stop loving you'
And it makes me think about the 'I know not what I do part...' Can I really say that, when I'm asking for forgiveness I obviously know I've done or am doing something wrong.
We know what we do.
We know the choices we make and we know that they're not always the right ones and yes, we have to ask for forgiveness often, daily, several times a day. If we sin knowingly we need to confess and repent- repentance being - 'To make a change for the better as a result of remorse or contrition for one's sins.' Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Confess and repent.
James {5:16} Confess your faults one to another,and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. Theeffectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Luke {24:45} Then opened he theirunderstanding, that they might understand the scriptures,{24:46} And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus itbehoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the thirdday: {24:47} And that repentance and remission of sinsshould be preached in his name among all nations,beginning at Jerusalem. {24:48} And ye are witnesses ofthese things.
Mark {1:14} Now after thatJohn was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preachingthe gospel of the kingdom of God, {1:15} And saying, Thetime is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repentye, and believe the gospel.
Mark {6:12} And they went out, andpreached that men should repent.Acts {3:19} Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that yoursins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shallcome from the presence of the Lord
Psalms {32:5} I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I nothid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; andthou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Matt. {3:6} And were baptized of him inJordan, confessing their sins.
*******Luke {24:47} And that repentance and remission of sinsshould be preached in his name among all nations,beginning at Jerusalem
Repentance and remission of sins...
We need to repent, and we need to do so because any sin we have separates us from God.
Will it be easy? No.
Is it possible? Yes. Only in Christ.
We can all say with Paul-- Romans {7:24} O wretched man thatI am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?{7:25} I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So thenwith the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with theflesh the law of sin.
The law of sin says we are helpless and we can't save ourselves. The law of God needs to be served and Jesus will make it possible for us to be saved.
Praise God, all thankfulness to God, all praise, and all honor, by His most holy Son, now and forever.
Don't let us be like the Egyptians who long for death captive to sin, rather than long for death free of sin trusting in Jesus through any an all hardships we may have to endure.
James {4:7} Submit yourselvestherefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.{4:8} Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.Cleanse [your] hands, [ye] sinners; and purify [your] hearts,[ye] double minded.
Resist.
Draw nigh.
Cleanse, purify.
1 Pet. {5:6} Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty handof God, that he may exalt you in due time: {5:7} Casting allyour care upon him; for he careth for you. {5:8} Be sober,be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaringlion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: {5:9}Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the sameafflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in theworld. {5:10} But the God of all grace, who hath called usunto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye havesuffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen,settle [you. ]{5:11} To him [be] glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Amen.Amen.Amen.
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