We have seen quite number of details regarding Israel’s exodus from Egypt in Exo. 12:29-42 such as being delivered by the saving God with His mighty hand, plundering the Egyptians on their way out, watching with and to Jehovah throughout the night of the Passover, leaving Egypt as an army arrayed for battle, and breaking away from Egypt to go toward the good land.
Today we want to see more crucial points regarding the exodus of the people of Israel in Exo. 13:1-22, and their application to our spiritual experience today. The Bible is full of significance, and in Exodus especially the people of Israel typify both us individually and corporately as the church; their experience points to our Christian experience today.
The children of Israel were not only redeemed by God but also sanctified unto Him (Exo. 13:2). Redemption is for our security: we offer Christ as the perfect Lamb of God to replace us in God’s eyes, God accepts Christ, and we are redeemed. Sanctification, however, is for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
God wants not only to redeem us from the world or sin but to have us separated unto Him from anything else so that we may be saturated with Him and accomplish His purpose.
Our exodus from the world is in the month of Abib, that is, in a new beginning of life with budding and sprouting, where there is no leaven. We need to daily have a new beginning with the Lord in life, opening to Him in a fresh way, dealing with any sin that He exposes, and enjoying Him; every day we enjoy the Lord is a memorial day unto Him. May our days be a memorial between us and the Lord, and may the Lord save us from having to repent for wasted days!
Our exodus from the world, our genuine sanctification to the Lord, and a new beginning of a sinless life – all this can be accomplished by the resurrection life (as typified by Joseph’s bones being taken out of Egypt by the people of Israel when they left).
Hallelujah, the Lord today is the life-giving Spirit as the resurrection life in our spirit, and by the constant dispensing of the resurrection life in our being we are strengthened to exit the world, be sanctified to the Lord, and have a new beginning day by day to live a sinless life unto Him!
All God’s Redeemed Ones are Sanctified to the Lord
In Exo. 13:2 God commanded His people, Sanctify to Me all the firstborn: Whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast, it is Mine.
On the one hand the firstborn were redeemed by God by the lamb which was sacrificed on their behalf, thus God’s judgement passing over that house; on the other hand, all God’s redeemed ones need to be sanctified to the Lord for His purpose. The purpose of the exodus of God’s people from the world is to be sanctified to the Lord.
According to God’s requirement, all those who were redeemed by Him need to also be sanctified (Exo. 13:12-13); we need to be sanctified by being separated unto the Lord by our exodus from the world and baptism (the crossing of the Red Sea).
To be sanctified is to be separated to the Lord so that we may be saturated with the Lord. The more we separated ourselves from anything else unto the Lord, the more we are saturated with Him. If we desire to have a genuine breaking away from the world, we need to be both redeemed by God and sanctified unto God for His purpose.
Redemption is for our security: we offer Christ to God as our substitute and we are spared from God’s judgement; sanctification is for God’s purpose: as we separate ourselves unto Him, He saturates us and accomplishes His purpose through us.
We were redeemed from God’s judgement through the blood of Christ, but we need to also be sanctified unto Him from Satan and the world by being one with the Lord, feasting on Him, enjoying Him, and staying in union with Him unto our sanctification.
Daily we need to present our members as slaves to righteousness unto sanctification for the sake of the Lord’s testimony, His building (Rom. 6:19, 22). Every day that we enjoy Christ and are sanctified to the Lord is worthwhile!
Lord Jesus, thank You for redeeming us by becoming our Substitute, bearing our sins on the cross, and being judged on our behalf. Lord, we separate ourselves from anything else unto You so that we may be saturated with You. Thank You for giving us the security of our salvation through Your redemption; now we sanctify ourselves to You for Your purpose! Lord, we want to be one with You, enjoy You, and be saturated with You!
Having a New Beginning of a Sinless Life Every Day
As Moses was reviewing the details of the exodus from Egypt, he mentioned, “On this day in the month of Abib you are going out.” (Exo. 13:4) Abib means sprouting, budding, and denotes a new beginning of life. The month of Abib signifies our whole Christian life in which we enjoy the new divine life budding and sprouting.
For us to be sanctified to the Lord for His satisfaction we need a new beginning of life. We need to forget all the things behind and stretch forward to the new Christ available for us before us (Phil. 3:13), living a life of new beginnings with the Lord every day.
We shouldn’t be set or settled in any kind of way or habit but be one with the Lord as the budding and sprouting One. The Lord wants us to experience Him as the Abib every day.
In our new beginning with the Lord every day there should be no leaven; we need to reject and deal with any sin or corruption. As we contact the Lord, He exposes our sins and transgressions; we need to confess them and deal with them.
Those who are sanctified by having Christ as their substitute and who have a new beginning of life without sin will have a daily living that is worthy of being a memorial. If we have a proper experience of God’s salvation, we shall have a marvelous spiritual history. After our Passover, we shall be sanctified to the Lord by taking Christ as our substitute to live in us. Then we shall have a new beginning of life, and all exposed sin will be dealt with. Such a living will be a memorial, a remembrance. (Witness Lee, Life-Study of Exodus, msg. 27)
Every day should be a memorial day, otherwise it is a day of defeat. If we live Christ as our substitute and have a new beginning of life, deal with all exposed sin, we will have a great deal to remember for eternity. May we enjoy Christ every day as our new beginning and partake of Him as the sinless life.
May the Lord save us from having to repent of the wasted days, days in which we didn’t have a new beginning of life with Him and we didn’t deal with sin.
Lord Jesus, give us a new beginning with You in the divine life every day. We want to experience You as our substitute, have a new beginning in life, and deal with all the sins that You expose in us. Lord, save us from not experiencing You and not enjoying You. Save us from having wasted days, days in which we don’t have a new beginning with You and we deal with any exposed sin. May all our days be a sweet memorial between us and You as we enjoy You and experience You!
Experiencing the Resurrection Life to have an Exodus from Egypt
It is very interesting to notice that the record of the exodus of God’s people from Egypt includes this verse, “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the children of Israel solemnly swear, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall bring my bones up from here with you.” (Exo. 13:19)
Why was this detail mentioned, while many other seemingly more important details were not? A bone signifies an unbreakable life, a life in resurrection; the bringing of Joseph’s bones out of Egypt into the good land signifies resurrection (Gen. 2:21; John 19:33, 36).
The mentioning of Joseph’s bones being taken out of Egypt to be brought into the good land is similar to the record in Ezek. 37, the valley full of dry bones; in God’s eyes, the people of Israel were “dry bones” in Egypt, a large cemetery. But when the breath of life came, resurrection life got into the bones, and they stood up and were formed as an army ready to fight for God’s purpose.
The exodus from Egypt was a resurrection for the people of God. In our natural life we cannot get out of the world; to break away from the world we need to be a people in resurrection. When we enjoy Christ as the passover lamb, resurrection life is infused into us and we are made alive, we rise up, and become full of life as God’s army in resurrection.
Christ is the living One who became dead and is now living (Rev. 1:18), and He is right now the life-giving Spirit with our spirit imparting resurrection life into us to break away from the world.
The exodus from the world, the genuine sanctification to the Lord, and a new beginning of a sinless life – all these can be accomplished by the resurrection life. We need to experience resurrection life so that we may exit the world, be sanctified to the Lord, and have a daily new beginning of a sinless life!
Lord Jesus, bring us fully into resurrection so that we may break away from the world, be sanctified unto You, and have a new beginning of a sinless life! Lord, infuse us more with Your resurrection life for the fulfillment of Your purpose. We want to experience this unbreakable and indestructible resurrection life with our spirit day by day!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Dick Taylor’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Exodus (msg. 27), the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1), week 6 / msg 6, The Exodus from Egypt and the Crossing of the Red Sea (you can buy this morning revival book here via LSM and here via Amazon).
- Hymns on this topic:
# Holy, happy separation! / They alone are truly blest / Who from all besides retiring, / And Himself alone desiring / Find in Jesus only rest. (Hymns #440)
# Forgetting the things which are behind, / Press on, pursue with this mind. / By any means each hour now redeem; / Stretch forth, lay hold of Him. (Song on Phil. 3:13)
# Life is uncreated. / It’s divine and it’s eternal. / And this is the life that’s indestructible. / And this life came in us / In our spirit through the Spirit; / This is where we were made alive! / Now this life is spreading. / Lord, don’t stop—just keep invading. / For this, Lord, we must be daily revived. (Song on the Resurrection Life)
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In the eyes of God all the children of Israel had been dead and buried in graves in Egypt. That was their situation before the passover. The land of Egypt was a huge cemetery in which God’s people had been buried. Hence, from God’s point of view, His people in Egypt were dry bones. The picture of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37 illustrates the condition of the children of Israel in Egypt: they were dry bones that needed to be resurrected and formed into an army (Ezek. 37:1, 10). The exodus from Egypt, therefore, was actually a resurrection. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Exodus, p. 310)