Interpreting

Interpreting Exodus
4/7/05
George Poulo

The overriding truth of the Exodus experience may be summed up in the following way. God can liberate us from external bondage. He can give us the Law (covenant), a spiritual director (Moses), and the means to sustain the body (manna), but in order to possess the land, to enter into the fullness God has for us, requires us to actively pursue faith, righteousness, obedience, and holiness. Nobody, not even God, can undermine our free will.

Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians,
And how I bare you on eagles' wings, and
Brought you unto myself.
Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed,
And keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar
Treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth
Is mine.
And ye shall be a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.
Ex.19:4-6

Here it is in a nutshell... obey his voice, keep his covenant, be a holy nation. God gave the Israelites all the help he could, until Pentecost, but to actually become whole and complete, to experience the shalom of God, the need for discipline was mandatory. The failure of the desert travelers was their inability to remain faithful to God and His covenant, to shift the influence of the mind from the flesh to the spirit.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
Of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
Service. And be not conformed to this world: but
Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that
Ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
Perfect, will of God. Rom.12:1-2

Once we have been born-again and our spirits have become regenerate, we have become converted to Christ. It is a free gift and we enter into a new realm, a new kingdom, and we need to be adjusted to a new way of living. To do this, our minds must be renewed and we must be transformed to the Spirit. Our bodies must serve the Spirit and our lives conform to the living Word of God.

My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear
Unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine
Eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they
Are life unto those that find them, and health to all thy
Flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it
Are the issues of life. Prov. 4:20-23

The key to transformation is conforming the life to the Word. It is being so attuned to God, that the flesh must follow the dictates of the mind, and the mind, the leading of the Spirit. It is a question of rulership. If the flesh rules, one subverts the will of God by not living by faith. (Rom. 1:17) "Without faith it is impossible to please God." (Heb. 11:6) If the Spirit follows the Word, and the mind and body line up with the Spirit, we enter the promised land.
Now God does not do the renewing or the transforming. He only does the converting. He liberates but He does not manipulate. For the Israelites, the means of transformation was being fed by manna.
Then said the Lord to Moses, Behold I will rain
Bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go
Out and gather a certain rate every day that I may prove
Them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. Ex. 16:4

Only a certain rate of manna was given for the day. Only enough food was given to walk by faith and not by sight. Only enough was given to test them to see if they would be obedient. God engineers circumstances; He could not engineer the results (our response). The trial of our faith is much more precious than gold (1Peter) and it is in the trial that our faith is proven and we are made whole. God gave only enough to show that He was faithful, that He would sustain, and not the idols of wealth, power, or prestige. To cultivate the Spiritual life, to make the spiritual the natural way to live, required trial and testing. They were to grow strong in their faith and in their experience of God. God could give them the tools, manna, Moses, and the Law, but God could not give them the ability to choose. (Deut. 30:19) That ability is left to us. We are the ones who have to muster courage and faith. It is we who must exercise our faith, obedience, and righteousness to be established and inherit the land. " That the righteous requirements of the law might be met in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:4 It is we who must make the time to transform and renew ourselves in the life of faith. It is we who must conform to the Word and not to the dictates of the flesh, the world, and the devil. God can convert. It is we who must transform. Amen.