You Shall Not Return That Way Again

Now, since I won't be here for the Holy Days, what I'd like to do is share with you today my message that I'm taking over for the Passover in the Days of Unleavened Bread. So hopefully I don't step on anybody's message too much here, that they'll be rolling out during those days. But it is amazing how much material there is to cover and just the inspiration that God gives to bring this out in the multifaceted way that it's recorded. So everyone can take a piece and we'll hopefully get a complete picture of what God is doing through these days. The title for the message is, You Shall Not Return That Way Again. You shall not return that way again. It's an instruction God gave Israel shortly after they came out of Egypt following His lead in their lives. You shall not return that way again. I want you to take a moment and imagine in your mind somebody that has spent years in captivity. And as such, their life has been run by someone else. Someone else told them when to get up, what to do, when to go to bed, what to eat, what to drink, what to wear. Their life in that sense was not their own. Day in and day out, somebody else structured their routine, told them what to think, told them what to do. And again, they were under literally the watchful eye and bondage of their captor. Now imagine an incredible act of rescue. One day a strong liberator comes in and essentially opens the prison door before this person. Having spent years or maybe their entire life in captivity, the door is open and the invitation is walk free. Imagine what that would be like then to step out. I imagine maybe a person would do more than step out. Maybe they'd leap out or skip out or just in some way be celebrating as they are giving their freedom and they're leaving behind the bondage that has regulated their life all along. Now imagine that something very surprising happens. A few months later they begin talking about how life in that captivity really wasn't so bad. They start to remember things such as the structure, maybe the routine, these things that they became familiar with day in and day out. Somebody telling them when to get up, when to go to work, what to do, what they're going to eat, what they're going to order their life according to. And they remember the routine. They remember the familiarity. And they might even begin to miss it somehow. And eventually as they're rolling these thoughts over and sharing them, they eventually come to say something like, you know, I think I might go back. How shocking would that be to us? You know, it's interesting, over the years I've had interaction with various prisoners in and outside the area and even not necessarily directly church-related prisoners either, but there's been individuals at times that have spent years incarcerated for one reason or another. And then the day comes when they are released. And then they step back out into the world with their freedom. And the question is, now what are they going to do with what they've been given? And then there's almost now a challenge, because you've left the familiar, the routine that had been in place for years. And now actually, you're facing a level of uncertainty.

A level of, well, I don't know exactly what today is going to hold. I don't know what I'm going to face. And as they step out into that, it can almost be frightening in some ways. And in a case or two that I can think of, the person pretty quickly ended up back incarcerated. And it was almost like, for them, they felt like they did better under that structure, under that familiarity. But the problem was they went again from freedom back into bondage. So as a shocking as it may seem for someone to say, I think I might go back, back to my captivity, after being rescued from the oppression, we would struggle to understand that. But in many ways, that's what Israel did in their hearts and in their minds, as they considered what God brought them out of, and what it is they remembered. As we approach the Passover in the days of 11 bread each year, one of the most powerful sections of Scripture is that liberation of the children of Israel from bondage. And we rehearse it every year at some point, certain elements of that. And if you feel like you haven't got the complete story, go back and read through it yourselves. And remember what it is that God did to bring that nation out of captivity and into liberty. It's a story we know well that through many mighty miracles and mighty power of God, He brought their freedom, opened the door of their prison in that sense through the Passover. And they were delivered a nation now to walk free and serve Him. Now what happened in the minds of the Israelites was that after their deliverance, challenges came because, you know, you've walked through what you knew, but there's a lesson that comes when you were free. After leaving Egypt, they thought about going back time and again, didn't they, as we know their story. They talked about going back. At times, they yearned to go back saying, if only we could, or if only we had remained there to begin with. And they wrestled with that, even longing to go to the very oppression which God had freed them. And we might think, what is with those people as we read the story? But you know the reality is, it is something that we sometimes, as people of the Church of God, liberated by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, can struggle with as well. After all, God has called us out of spiritual Egypt, out of bondage to sin and death, through the sacrifice of His Son. And yet, at times, we may still wrestle with the same question they faced. Will we move forward in freedom, or will we return again to the ways of our past? God said, you shall not return that way again. Understand, this struggle is not just the historical one that the nation faced. It's actually a modern struggle as well. It's a spiritual struggle. And even at times, you could say it's a psychological struggle. In fact, modern psychology has a name for such an unreasonable yearning. It's called captivity trauma.

Captivity trauma. And there's other variations of names, and they kind of collect back to the same foundational core. I mean, we've heard stories of people being kidnapped, held captive in that way, and then they begin to relate to their captor and have sympathy for their captor. And even then, after it's said and done, defend their captor. So there's various aspects of captivity trauma, but in some ways, it seems that is what Israel struggled with, and indeed something, if we're not careful, we can struggle with as well. Captivity trauma describes a people, after years of oppression, finding freedom strange and frightening. And as such, even harmful routines feel familiar.

Things that they were once wrapped up in as a regular progression of their lives. It's something that they become accustomed to, and they want to return to it, even if it's bondage. And Israel experienced this quite dramatically, and I think it's a lesson for us today to remember God by extension tells us, I've called you out of this world, out of sin, you shall not return that way.

Again, to understand this lesson, we need to remember just how severe Israel's captivity was. Let's go to Exodus chapter 1 to begin today. Exodus chapter 1, let's understand the bondage they lived under and what it is that was so ingrained in them that they carried it with them outside the borders of that land. Exodus chapter 1, and beginning in verse 8, says, Joseph, of course, one of the sons of Israel, of Jacob, his brother sold him into slavery in Egypt, and he rose to high prominence within the land. But time had passed. Joseph was dead. His family, who had collected into Egypt to save from the famine, are there and multiplied, but would come down quite a long ways, and the foundation of who this man was is forgotten by the leadership. They did not know Joseph. Verse 9, and Pharaoh said to his people, Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply. And it happened in the moment of war, in that event, that they also join our enemies and fight against us and go up out of the land. Therefore, they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pythium and Ramses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. This was actually a result of God's blessing upon his people. He'd made promises to Abraham, You, Abraham, will be the father of a great nation. So even in captivity and oppression and all that was laid upon them in this burden, they flourished as a people by God's blessing. It says, And they built this great empire for Pharaoh. Verse 12, The more afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor, and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage and mortar and brick and an all manner of service in the field. And all their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. This word rigor essentially means cruelty, hardship. It's more than just service. It is just the oppression and the cruelty that was laid on top of the work that they had. It was a brutality laid on top of it. And though it was hard labor, the Israelites, you know, what else could they do? They served, but they flourished by God's blessing. And they built for Pharaoh. They served Egypt. They worked long days making bricks. And it was an extremely difficult life. By the time of their deliverance is something that had existed for hundreds of years, generation after generation. You were born into that captivity. You grew up, you lived it, you had your families, you died, and your children carried on as well with that captivity. So for this generation of Israel, all they knew were the mud pits of Egypt and the sting of the taskmaster's whip. And then the oppression got worse. You recall that God called out Moses and sent Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and say, let my people go.

And I can't hardly say that without hearing Charlton Heston in my head. We just finished the Ten Commandments movie again last night, you know, that rich voice of Charlton Heston. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, let my children go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. And of course, Pharaoh said, I don't know your God. Nor will I let the children of Israel go. He increased their burden, didn't he? Exodus chapter 5 and verse 4.

Exodus 5 verse 4. And then the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor. And Pharaoh said, look, the people of the land are many, and now you make them rest from their labor. You know, they're thinking, we're getting ready to leave. And Pharaoh says, okay, you're slacking. So the same day, Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, you shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.

Exodus 5 verse 8. You shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle. Therefore, they cry out, saying, let us go and sacrifice to our God.

Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.

So their workload is increased dramatically. Again, this wasn't comfortable living. This was harsh slavery. This was oppression. This was bondage to the point that the people of Israel, even though they were the descendants of this covenant of Abraham, and they were God's people, they couldn't live as a nation. They truly couldn't serve God free. They were under the bondage of another, which is why God would have to bring them out. But again, this was such a harsh place, and yet later in the wilderness, they would begin to look back to Egypt with great longing, as if it was a better option there than to follow where God was leading them and how He was allowing them to be tested. And you know, brethren, it tells us something important about sin, about spiritual bondage, which is it can enslave people so deeply that even after being freed from it, the familiarity of the old life can still pull at the heart. You know, in our case, maybe the things we used to do, the groups we used to be involved in, the routines maybe we had before God called us out, some of those things can become so deeply ingrained that even after deliverance, they can still, if we're not careful, tug at our hearts. And this was the case with Israel, especially when the new way became uncertain or challenged. Other times God tested them, He wanted to see what was in their heart, whether they would look to Him in faith or not. Israel said, we like the routine back there, we like the familiarity back there. We don't know what's happening in this wilderness where Moses and his God lead us. And so in their mind, they kept reverting back, even when God was there. Captivity trauma, it's a real thing. The Israelites demonstrated it vividly.

Of course, God did intervene dramatically for them. And He flung open the door and broke the chains of bondage that were upon them, gave them the opportunity, at least, to leave that bondage of Egypt. Exodus chapter 3. Exodus 3, here God appears the Moses from the burning bush with a message of deliverance. Exodus 3 and verse 7, the Lord said, I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt. I've heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. To me, this is comforting. I underlined, I know in my Bible, God says, I know their sorrows. He knows about us as well, brethren. And what it is that we deal with day by day, the things we cry out to Him about. Verse 8, He says, So I have come down to deliver them out of the land of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from the land to a good and a large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, Amorites, the Parasytes, the Hivites, the Jebusites. Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me.

And I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them. God didn't ignore their suffering. He saw their affliction. He heard their cry, and He intervened dramatically for them.

And you know, God hears our cry as well. He heard our cry, right, from oppression.

In our day and age, oppression to, say, bondage to a physical man, like such as Israel, was in bondage. That's not so common for us, but we're in bondage to the penalty of our own actions so many times, right? The sin that we've stumbled into throughout the course of our life that created consequence. There's a natural cause and effect to those things. And it was in our place of oppression and bondage that we cried out to God, and He heard, and He responded. He says, I will offer the means of your deliverance, just as He did for the people of Israel. Chapter 6 of Exodus, verse 1, God did not ignore their plight. Exodus chapter 6 and verse 1, Then the Lord said to Moses, You shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land, like the point's going to come where he will push you out just as quick as he can. Verse 2, And God spoke to Moses and said, I am the Lord. I appear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, El Shaddai. Okay, study into that name. That was the nature of the relationship God had with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He says, But by my name, Lord, or Yahweh, I was not known to them. He says, I have also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were soldiers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians kept in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. Verse 6, Therefore, say to the children of Israel, I am the Lord. Okay, there's actually a relationship here through the name by which he is becoming known to them as the covenant God, as the one who is all-powerful, who will bring the pass, the fulfillment of the covenant he promised. You know, Yahweh is a covenant name.

He says, I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rescue you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. God says, I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land, which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I will give it to you as a heritage.

I am the Lord. So we notice here the promises God makes in verse 6 through 8, and he repeats. He says, I will do these things. And he repeats, I am the Lord. In case you have any question whether this will come to pass, I am the one who declares the end from the beginning, and I have the will and power to bring it to pass, God says. And I will do these things. He makes great and precious promises to the children. He says, I will. He says, I will bring you out, right, out of bondage. I will rescue you. I will redeem you. I will take you as my people. I will be your God. And I will bring you into the land. Again, verse 6 through 8. Notice how many times God says, I will. Brethren, deliverance begins with God. It began with him in Israel's existence, right? Nothing they could possibly do to break the bondage of Egypt upon them. Nothing we could do to break the bondage of sin upon us, that penalty. But deliverance begins with God. God says, I will. The question is, for Israel and for us, will we? Will we respond? Will we follow his lead?

Will we move forward and never turn back?

You know, God's not the weak link. We're the weak link. He is faithful. He will. And the question in each and every one of our lives is, again, will we? Now, you recall that God's deliverance of Israel was a process, right? They didn't come out exactly in that day. Certain things had to happen to loosen Pharaoh's grip. So we sent ten plagues upon Egypt, striking their water, striking their land, their crops, their livestock, their homes, their bodies, their health. You know, boils.

He rained hail down from heaven and it burned his fire upon the ground. I mean, just imagine the destruction that took place in Egypt. And time and time again, Pharaoh said, I won't.

I won't let Israel go. But these things showed God's power. These were not random plagues with each one God struck at the gods of Egypt. Small gee, right? There was a Nile god. There was the god over the crops. There was gods of all these things that God struck specifically at. And he says so in the verses that I will strike against the gods of Egypt. Pharaoh was a god in the sight of the people anyway and in his own eyes and the Lord struck even against him. So these plagues came and they progressively broke the grip of bondage upon his people. Ultimately, God's deliverance reached its culmination through the Passover. Exodus 12. Exodus chapter 12. Let's pick it up in verse 21. I'll leave it for you to read the entirety of the chapter in detail. But Exodus chapter 12 in verse 21 says, Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families and kill the Passover lamb. Lamb is italicized, but it is directly implied the lamb was the Passover sacrifice. Verse 22, and you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, strike the lentil in the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin, and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. So this was an all-night proposition. You know, the destroyer would Passover in its timing, but he said, you know, you're going to consume this meal. You're going to eat it in haste with the staff in your hand, the sandals on your feet. None of it's going to remain until morning. You'll burn by fire what remains, and you shall remain in your house until morning. This is a part of the command of that night and all that God would accomplish on their behalf. Verse 23, then, for the Lord will pass through and strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lentil and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door. He will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. Okay, so notice what God says he will do. He says, I will pass through the Egyptians, but I will pass over you.

It is a sacrifice. It is response in faith, but it is also a action of passing over that God accomplished through the event that is called Passover on that night. Verse 24, and you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. So you recall the story, the blood of the Lamb was placed and it protected the Israelite firstborn from death. Egypt suffered the penalty all the way into the house of Pharaoh, a supposed God. The firstborn was struck.

So this was a big move, the main move that broke the hold of bondage upon the people.

If we go down just a couple more verses, Exodus 12 and verse 26, and it says, and it shall be when your children say to you, what do you mean by this service, like as you're keeping the Passover perpetually as a nation in the years to come, what is this? Verse 27, that you shall say, it is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord who passed over the houses of the children of Israel and Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households so the people bowed their heads and worshiped. So great and deep significance to that. When we come forward to our day, the New Covenant Passover, and what it is that God fulfills through that, we understand an even deeper spiritual meaning through the sacrifice we embrace. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 5. 1 Corinthians 5. We're going to go back and forth some between Israel's story and our story today because, you know, that is the type we are in that sense, the spiritual fulfillment, but what God does is consistent in their lives and in ours today. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 6, the apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth, at the time of year we're approaching as well ourselves. 1 Corinthians 5 verse 6, your glorying is not good.

Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore, he says, verse 7, purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened, for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. What an incredible blessing, brethren. What an incredible deliverance that God in his mercy would extend what it is that was required for us to break out of the chains of bondage and to walk free. Not free to do our own thing, but free to follow him. The pillar of cloud, the fire, the way he guides and directs our lives by his Spirit, freed through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And it's through that sacrifice that God says to you and I, I will. And you can search the Scriptures and find all kinds of things that God promises through this relationship. God says to us, I will bring you out, right, out of the slavery you're living in because of the penalty of sin. I will rescue you from that through my son. He says, I will redeem you. You're sold under sin and death. I will pay the price to buy you back. The price was his only begotten son. He says, I will take you as my children.

I will be not just your God, I will be your Father. A relationship which steps up even more than the children of Israel that you are my, I'll be your God and you'll be my people. That is a true statement for us today, but beyond that, through this covenant relationship, he is our Father and we are his children. And he says, I will bring you into an eternal, eternal inheritance.

And so just as the Lamb's blood was on the doorpost and on the lintel and as it saved Israel from bondage, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Passover, saves us from the penalty of sin unto death. And we're called the walk free. Romans chapter 3 and verse 20, Paul continues with the concept of what God has done for us through the Passover. And again, as I mentioned in the sermon a couple weeks ago, when I say Passover, oftentimes I'm referring to not just the event, but also the sacrifice. Romans chapter 3 and verse 20, Paul says, therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. Justified means made right in God's sight. So he's like, you know, by the deeds of the law, that's not what makes you right in his sight. We must keep the law, but we can't save ourselves by keeping the law. It is Jesus Christ's sacrifice. And embracing that, then it makes us right in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. So we must follow it. We must keep it if we're going to walk as he walked. But now the righteousness of God, verse 21, apart from the law is revealed being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all have ownership in that. None of us is clear apart from the mercy of God. Verse 24, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God sent forth as the propitiation, that atoning, that covering sacrifice by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance God has passed over, passed over. What an incredible blessing! He has passed over the sins that were previously committed to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness, that he might be the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. And so as a result of this sacrifice, again, the prison door is open. It has allowed us to walk free out of bondage, following God's lead in our lives. An incredible gift, but we must still do our part. Israel had their part to play. God opened the door for them to walk out of Egypt, but whether they would continue walking in faith or turn back in their focus depended on them. And what we do depends on us as well.

Can we do what God has given us to do? God will do what God only can do, but we must do what he has given us to do to walk free, to follow his lead, and never return that way again.

Notice Israel's walk out of physical bondage on the night following the Passover. Exodus 12. Let's go back.

Exodus chapter 12. Remember when your children ask, what does this service mean? You're going to tell them it's the sacrifice of the Lord who passed over the houses of the children of Israel, and that flung the gates open, so to speak, so that they can then assemble and gather and walk to freedom. Exodus chapter 12 and verse 33. And the Egyptians urged the people. Remember, they weren't to go out of their house until morning, but now this great plague of the destroyer has come through, and by the light of day this is pretty desperate.

And the Egyptians urged the people that they might send them out of the land in haste, for they said, We shall all be dead. So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes and on their shoulders. Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses. They had asked from the children, the Egyptians, articles of silver, articles of gold and clothing. And the Lord had given people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. Verse 37, and the children of Israel journeyed from Ramses to Sukkoth, about 600,000 men on foot besides children. You know, this is an incredible multitude.

600,000 men, you do the math. Women, children, two and a half to three million people had to gather that day, as it says, by their armies, which meant by their tribes. They gathered according to their tribal standard. They gathered their family, they gathered their flocks, they gathered their possessions and what they had plundered from Egypt. And they staged now, on the day following the Passover, to move out, to move out out of Egypt. And I may clarify, when I say the day after the Passover, I'm talking about the daylight portion of still the 14th. This is what God has now brought them to in deliverance. Verse 38, a mixed multitude went up with them also, two and a half to three million people and flocks and herds, a great deal of livestock. And they baked unleavened cakes of dough, which they brought out of Egypt. For it was not leavened because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves. Verse 40, now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was 430 years. They weren't slaves entirely for 430 years, but from the promise of the covenant with Abraham until the time of their delivery, they was prophesied they would go into bondage and God would remember and bring them out. Now it was 430 years later. Verse 41, and it came to pass at the end of 430 years, on that very same day it came to pass that all their armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them up out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

I appreciate Mr. Imes mentioning some detail on the night to be much observed because we read that the Passover was the ordinance given of remembrance of that event. And we understand then this is the night to be much observed, a solemn observance, for bringing them out then of Egypt, the deliverance of when they actually walked out of bondage that night. Numbers talks about the fact that they walked out and they departed the day after the Passover and they departed by night, by God's blessing. So we come together, we remember these things. After 430 years Israel walked out free. God had broken Pharaoh's hold through the Passover and now they're walking out of Egypt with a high hand, again assembled by their tribes, following the lead of the pillar of fire and cloud. You know, God in their life, such as we follow. I talk about the cloud and the fire and following his lead, you know, that is the fire within. That is God's Spirit that guides and directs us that we need to yield to as we come out of this world as well. Verse 42 calls it, a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out. Just imagine the jubilation of that night, the freedom, the excitement, the, you know, again the doors of imprisonment are open.

The bondage was the only thing they knew. And in one day they literally went from death to life.

Free to follow the lead of God. As you and I come together in one another's homes for the night to be much observed, we too remember these things. We talk about them, and it's not just as a historic perspective. We recognize God's work in our lives today, that he has delivered us. We're following his lead. He is watching. He is caring. And he is directing us out of spiritual Egypt to live unleavened before him. Some Bible translations call it a night of vigil or a night of watching, because God kept watch over Israel to bring them out of Egypt. And in the same manner, he keeps watch over us, over our lives, guiding and directing and loving, lovingly caring for us. And we watch as well. We watch as well. We watch ourselves. We watch our spiritual condition.

We watch to make sure we're putting one foot in front of the other in the direction of God's lead, remaining unleavened and wholly committed to his call. Of course, this is the first step in freedom.

Passover is the big step, but it's not the only step in our freedom, because as Israel showed, we have to do our part as well to put one foot in front of the other. It is a continual effort to remain free, remain unleavened, keeping our focus from the calling of God.

For that nation of Israel, leaving Egypt was only the beginning of their journey, wasn't it? In some ways, walking out was easy. God did the heavy lifting, as he has done in our lives, to open the way, and for them to say, you're free. Here, take the silver, take the gold, take whatever you will, just get out. Walking out was easy. By comparison, not returning to Egypt and their focus was hard. Freedom is a powerful thing. We cherish freedom so much in this country. Sadly, what we've done as a people is take freedom and really turn much of it into bondage again. But freedom through God's Passover Son, Jesus Christ, is true freedom. But freedom is a powerful thing. It's also, in some cases, an unfamiliar thing. Sometimes it could be even an unsettling thing. This was uncharted territory for Israel to just head out into the desert, leave the civilization and abundance of Egypt behind and follow where it is God would take them.

It's hard, especially if you've been a captive all your life. The sad thing about captivity trauma is that it often makes those who are newly freed long, again, for the familiarity and the routine of what they know, even if it's harmful. And so, there's their cycles sometimes when people will fall back into the destructive behavior. They know it's destructive. They really don't want to be there, but there's actually a fear in stepping forward. But it's not under your own power that you step forward. It is under the lead of God. And if you're focused on Him, you can step forward. Indeed, you must.

We see this play out almost immediately after Israel is released from bondage. They're walking out following God's lead, and suddenly now they're in pursuit, right, or Pharaoh's in pursuit of them.

They're facing the sea at their back as they're now backed up in that canyon, kind of mountains on both sides, the sea at their back, and Pharaoh coming down to close the opening behind them with an intent to destroy them. They're put to the test. What will their response be? Exodus 14 verse 11. Then they said to Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?

Why have you dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word we told you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians, and that we should die in the wilderness? I mean, can you imagine? We read this story, and we're kind of in awe of what their response was, and we like to think, I wouldn't be there. I wouldn't say that. It wouldn't be my focus. I hope it would not.

But it's still what we must be on guard for, and frankly, what we must push back against. They said it was better back there in bondage. If only you had left us there, if only we could go back. That's a desperate place to be.

Verse 13, Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians, whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.

Of course, that's just exactly what God did. He fought for them, as He had been doing all along the way. If only they would stand still and look and trust. They wouldn't be in this heart's desire to turn back. We know the story. God parted the Red Sea before Israel. They walked through on dry ground, and as the Egyptians, that army came in and pursued after them. As Israel cleared out the other end, God brought the walls of water back down on that army, and they died in the midst of the sea. Understand, this wasn't tiptoeing across a little marshy area to get out of the way of the Egyptians. This was, as it's described, a wall of water to one side and the other. And as that sea came in, it crushed the oppression that sought to take them back into captivity. Israel, by God's deliverance again, now was completely separated from Egypt physically. No more threat of bondage, no more threat of Pharaoh coming and grabbing and yanking them back in. God cut the tether of Egypt through the Red Sea, and He brought His people out the other side, free to follow His lead wherever He would take them. You know, the Apostle Paul describes this event of the Red Sea crossing. He describes it as a baptism, because it's just exactly what God has done in a spiritual sense in our lives today. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 1. Moreover, brethren, Paul says, do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud all passed through the sea. All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Might seem a little strange. Why baptized into Moses? What does that mean? Well, Moses was the mediator between God and the nation of Israel in that way. So this wasn't a baptism unto spiritual salvation in that sense, but it was a baptism of deliverance of bondage to Egypt.

God closed the waters in on Egypt, and that destructive force was washed out of their lives. But understand, this was like a bondage in a baptism. Excuse me. It was like a baptism, because as Paul says, they were all under the cloud and passed through the sea.

So what you consider again the water as a wall, one side and the other, and the cloud on top overhead. They were under the cloud under this layer of water vapor. It was a type of immersive baptism that God brought them completely out of the clutches of Egypt. He does the same for us through baptism, through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. He cuts the tether of that bondage. We're free to follow Him, unencumbered. If indeed we won't encumber ourselves with our own baggage. Verse 3, all ate the same spiritual food, all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed or accompanied them, as it can be in the Greek, and that rock was Christ. But with most of them, God was not well pleased, for the bodies were scattered in the wilderness. It goes on to say, these became our examples. You know, we look, we read, we consider ourselves in light of their story. These became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted and not fall into all the traps that they also fell into. But God was not well pleased with them, it said, because although He had brought them out of Egypt, they still weren't willing to let Egypt go. He cut the tether, but in their own minds, in their own hearts, they were still very much captives to that place. Captivity trauma. Again, that was their life. That's what they knew. They knew they wanted to be free, but that was scary. That was following a God they had not yet fully come to trust, taking to a place that really didn't look, at least to the eyes, so well. Where's the food? Where's the water? I guess we got to trust Him. And God allowed them to be put to test, to see what was in their heart. And their captivity trauma desire to turn them back again. For us, baptism represents death of the old life and the beginning of the new life in Christ, and we must dedicate ourselves daily to walking anew from that point forward, alive from the dead and unleavened. That's the point. Walk out of Egypt, unleavened, and keep walking. Don't return that way again. Romans 6 and verse 1.

Again, Paul does a huge favor for us to bring out these parallels for us so clearly. Romans chapter 6 and verse 1, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? You know, we're under the sacrifice of Christ. We can't save ourselves. Perfect law giving won't give you salvation. So does that mean we can just do what we want and, you know, send all the more that grace may abound more? Well, verse 2, Paul says, certainly not. How shall we who died in sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many as we're baptized into Christ Jesus, we're baptized into his death? Therefore, we are buried with him through baptism into death. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life. Okay, so it's about carrying forward in a different manner than that which you came from, walking in newness of life. As Paul said, forgetting the things which are behind, reaching forward for the things which are ahead. Baptism represents that opportunity to wash away the sin and the filth and the bondage and walk anew in liberty in Christ. Sadly, Israel's problem was that of wanting to go back to Egypt time and time again, rather than walking anew in their own lives. And the result was a nation who would not truly look to God for the freedom and for the blessing that he really wanted to give them. It was there. God was giving it to them. But they didn't have the heart, really, to receive it. You remember in the desert of sin, the people complained of hunger, lamenting that they didn't die by the meat pots of Egypt. You know, we could have died there with our bellies full, rather than die here where God has brought us. Exodus 16, 1-3. At Mount Sinai, Exodus 32, remember Moses went up to receive the law from God and he's gone. Right? A week, 10 days, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks. I don't know where in that 40-day span that Moses was on the mountain that they suddenly got tired of waiting, but they're like, where is he? He's dead! He's going to take us forward. What are we going to do? I know what we'll do. We'll build and construct a golden calf.

Right? Here is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of bondage. When Israel faced uncertainty in their freedom, when they weren't fully looking to God and his lead, they reverted back to the practices of the culture he called them out of. Reminiscent of Egypt. At Tabera, Numbers 11, verse 4 through 6, the people cried out, saying, we remember the fish that we ate freely. All that delicious flaky tender fish and the leeks and the garlic and the onions and that blessed land. We remember that place. What a wonderful, beautiful place that was and they remembered it. They talked about it almost as if it was a place where almost as if it was a pleasant place to be desired. Later, when they were confronted with the obstacles of the promised land. Remember, cities walled up to heaven. 10 of the 12 spies said, giants everywhere, impenetrable. We can't take it. What did they say? They asked the question, would it not be better to go back to Egypt?

Rather than going forward, rather than the uncertainty, would it not be better just simply to go back where we came from? Maybe Pharaoh will take us. Maybe we can return to the bondage. Somehow that's better. Or better yet, Moses, you're in our way. Joshua and Caleb, your report is in our way. Why don't we stone them? Why don't we select a leader who will take us back?

That was the place Israel was after seeing God's miracles. Time and time and time again, Israel was looking backward, clinging to the familiarity and the harmful confinement of their past. God was there, visible representation of the cloud and the fire. His presence was there, and how often they wanted to return. In Acts 7, Stephen, a very faithful deacon, is standing before the Jewish leadership and giving an account for his faith and why he's standing for Jesus Christ. Through it, he recounts the history of Israel. Notice the section of this point, Acts 7, in verse 38. Stephen says, this is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness, speaking of Moses, speaking of the one God had appointed to lead. He was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel, with the messenger, with the the malek, as the Hebrew and the Old Testament would say, who spoke to him on Mount Sinai. He was in the congregation in the wilderness who spoke to him on Mount Sinai. And with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles, the law, to give to us, whom our fathers would not obey but rejected, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, make us gods to go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. He says, and they made a calf, and they sacrificed, and they did all these abominable things in the eyes of God. But in their heart it says, they turned back to Egypt. Again, a powerful, powerful example of captivity trauma, experiencing deliverance, experiencing blessing and miracle, and yet their minds and hearts still clung to the familiarity of their bondage. Egypt and the practices of Egypt, though oppressive, felt predictable, felt almost comfortable if you thought about it. It felt known at the very least, and Israel reverted to those behaviors again and again and again in their hearts. They turned back to Egypt. Brethren, could we do the same?

Do we run the risk of doing the same?

Well, that depends on you for you, and that depends on me for me. I hope to God we don't.

Fortunately, God has given us his truth. He has given us his Son. He has given us his Spirit as an indwelling presence to guide us and to lead us forward, but we have to yield to him. We have to relinquish the pull of the old habits and the pull of the life of bondage, and we have to cling to him, for he is our life and our salvation. It was the very mindset which kept Israel from entering the Promised Land for 40 years. That generation, 20 years and older, had to die in the wilderness. Their children had to grow up and go in and possess the land. Hopefully they would have learned the lessons. Not very well. But the lesson was, you shall not return that way again.

When God calls you out, the only way from bondage by his call then is forward. No one putting their hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. To understand the depth of God's instruction to his people, let's look at Deuteronomy chapter 17. Deuteronomy 17.

Appreciate your patience for about five or six more minutes. Deuteronomy 17.

Let's go to verse 14. These were instructions for a king who would rule over God's people. He says, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you and possess it and dwell in it and say, I will set a king over me like all the other nations around me, you shall surely set a king over you who God chooses, who's from among your brethren. Verse 16. But he shall not multiply horses for himself nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. For the Lord has said to you, you shall not return that way again. God made it clear to a king of his people and by extension to the nation, by extension to us, that returning to Egypt again would never be an option. God had brought them out miraculously. He said, I am your God, you are my people, follow me.

And turning our back on him and returning is never an option. Brethren, as we approach the Passover, we're instructed to examine ourselves, to take a look inside, to recognize sin, to seek forgiveness from God and what it is that maybe we have identified as a flaw in our character and to grow. But what happens after the process? What happens after we repent?

After we receive forgiveness? What happens after we reaffirm our covenant through the Passover service? What happens after we walk through these steps? Will we truly leave those sins behind? Or will we return to Egypt again? Because true repentance is moving forward. It's a change in direction. It's not simply saying, I'm sorry, like, you know, I'm sorry the the policeman caught me speeding and now I have a ticket.

No, it's a change of nature. It's a change of character and direction. I was going this way away from God, but now I repent. I turn and I walk following His lead. Indeed, that is what we must do as we identify things in our own character that don't measure up. We must leave that behind, never to return again, continually following His lead. Romans 6, verse 11. Romans chapter 6 and verse 11. For time, I'll just reference Acts 26 verse 20, where Paul said repentance is turning to God and doing works, befitting repentance.

That's true repentance. Turning to Him, following His lead, doing the things with your hands that show forth that heart. Romans chapter 6 verse 11. Then Paul carries on the forward momentum. Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore did not let sin reign in your mortal body. Pharaoh reigned in the lives of Israel. As long as they were bondage under His authority, He was king. He told them where to go and what to do. Don't let sin reign in your mortal body, that you shall obey it in its lust. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

For sin shall not have dominion over you. It won't rule over you. It won't oppress you. It won't keep you in bondage anymore. For you're not under law, but under grace. We still keep the law, but we're not under the portion of the law that says, for you, the penalty of sin is death, because you've been washed, you've been cleaned, you've been justified, and you walk under the grace of that sacrifice and the mercy of God.

His role was never able to break the captivity trauma in their lives, but we can. We can. Indeed, we must. Let's conclude in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, back to a place we were earlier. Let's pick up and carry it forward, because this isn't just about the Passover. It's where do we go as we walk?

What kind of lives do we live? 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7 again, the Apostle Paul, let me get in the right book, 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7, he says, Therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. So you are unleavened if you've come under that sacrifice.

Will you do what is needful to remain that way? Therefore, verse 8, therefore let us keep the feast. You know, if anyone should say those old feasts, those worn out old covenant commands for the Jews are done away. Paul says, on the heels of Christ our Passover for us, let us keep the feast. This is our response.

Not with old leaven, nor with the leaven and malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. It's not just a physical application, it's a spiritual application of what God is doing in our lives. We're reminded during those days that they picture not only putting sin out, but keeping it out while also bringing in sincerity and truth. Because you can't just remove something and not replace it with something else.

You leave a void. And even physics tells us nature abhors a vacuum. As in, you remove something, something else will move into its place. Got a bottle of water under here. If I dump that out, air moves into its place. If you don't want something to move in, undesirable, you replace it with something else. And that's what the days of unleavened bread carry us through. It's not the days of no leavened bread. As in, I put the leavening out, and that's the point of the seven days. It is the point, in part, but it's called the days of unleavened bread.

The command for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. You replace what you've put out with righteousness. So that fills the void. That works throughout your life, and that is what guides and leads you forward each and every day. That unleavened bread is the righteousness of God in Christ. It's His word. It's our relationship drawing near to Him. It's His Spirit. It's Jesus Christ, the bread of life in us. We must take of that every day if we're going to push out and keep out that which God has called us from and never return that way again.

Brethren, Israel left Egypt in one night, but it took years to get Egypt out of their hearts.

Forty years in that generation died in the wilderness, and the next entered into the land of promise. God has brought us out of spiritual bondage through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and He's given us His truth. He's given us His word. He's given us His Spirit and His Son as a way forward. The question for those who have come under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is not whether we have been delivered. We have. Don't question it. You've been delivered.

The question is whether we will go back. God will do what only God will do, but we must do what He has given us to do and put one step in front of the other following His lead faithfully.

God's instructions to His people is clear. Once He calls you out of bondage, you shall not return that way again. So, brethren, let us go forward as we keep the Passover, as we keep these holy days upcoming. Let's go forward in repentance, in obedience, and in faith, embracing the freedom God has given to us, never returning to the chains of bondage. He is already broken. You are free.

Walk out of the prison rejoicing, but this isn't about how we want to live our lives. It's about following the lead of God and where He is taking us to our eternal promise.

Brethren, the Days of 11 bread, the Passover preceding it, and the holy days to follow, we're starting this cycle once again this year. What an incredible blessing. God is teaching us lessons not only of how to live today, but how to lay the foundation of what will allow us to live eternally. So, I'm packing up tonight. I'm flying out in the morning. I will miss you all for these upcoming holy days, but may God be with you and bless you. May you have an encouraging, a strengthening, and a rejoicing in the upcoming Passover in Days of Unleavened Bread.