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What the Bible says about World, Coming out of
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Exodus 13:4-9

We eat unleavened bread because of something the Lord did—not because we came out of sin, but because of something God did: God released us from our bondage. Whether or not we understand this will determine a great deal about whether we will use His Holy Spirit in the right manner. We must get the horse before the cart. In this case, the horse is God—it is God who did the work; it is God who got us out. The eating of unleavened bread is a memorial of His act.

The eating of unleavened bread directly connects to coming out of sin, but that is not the context in which it first appears. When it is introduced, it is being done because of what God did. Coming out of sin is something we do. In its first appearance, the eating of unleavened bread reflects on what God does, not what we do. The eating of it is a memorial of that.

God intends the keeping of the Days of Unleavened Bread along with the eating of unleavened bread for seven days to remind us of what He has done to bring us out. He made the Israelites go through the literal steps, and we learn the spiritual lesson from them. They went through the steps physically, and we go through the steps spiritually. We will see as we go along how much they actually did in coming out of Egypt, and by comparison, we will see how much we do when we come out of spiritual Egypt. We actually do very little. It is God who frees us, and unleavened bread serves as a reminder of that.

The Days of Unleavened Bread are about overcoming. However, they are primarily about God overcoming Satan, the world, and sin—not so much about us doing it. So, we must see the Days of Unleavened Bread and eating unleavened bread in this context so that we have the proper foundation for rightly observing the festival.

As we consider this analogy, keep this at the forefront of your mind: How much did the Israelites have to do? How much did you have to do in coming out of the world?

Looking back, the extent of their participation was enough for them to believe that God was working through Moses. This belief allowed them to obey his commands to prepare the lamb, to keep Passover, to stay in their homes overnight, to gather in Rameses the next day, and to walk out when the signal was given for them to march. How much overcoming of the world, Satan, and sin did they do to accomplish those things? Very little, if any.

When they left Egypt, did they leave sin? The answer to that is, obviously, no. When they got out in the wilderness, they committed one sin after another! No, they did not leave sin. What they did was leave the place of their bondage. Egypt, then, is not a symbol of sin but a symbol of the world.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Unleavened Bread and Pentecost

Leviticus 19:1-5

Notice that in this five-verse prelude God emphasizes, "Don't copy the people of those nations outside of Israel. Be different by keeping My laws." It becomes clear when this introduction is read along with the laws that follow in this and the next two chapters that God intends that separation from the world begin in the home at the very earliest point in time possible. It should begin in a child's infancy with a right example from the parents combined with their positive instruction.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Fifth Commandment

Joshua 24:2-3

When Abraham was called, he was literally living in Babylon on the plain of Shinar in the city of Ur. He did not come from a God-fearing family, and there is no evidence that he was converted at the time of Genesis 12:1. Every indication is that he, too, was a heathen. As we shall see, every called person begins in idolatry.

God had in all likelihood begun to work with him, preparing him for his calling by guiding his thinking to begin to question areas of life he had previously accepted without question. Historical traditions indicate that his family was of a priestly caste, and perhaps he was already questioning the validity of the false gods he served.

Acts 7:2-4 clarifies a few things relating to the early period of his calling:

And [Stephen] said, "Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.' Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell."

What is included in God's appearance is not known. Whether it was literal, in a vision, or by dream is not explained anywhere else. The element we need to understand is that, as with us, Abraham did not earn his calling. He had done nothing to earn or deserve God's notice.

Isaiah 51:2 adds a further piece of information worth considering: "Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him." While Sarah is at least mentioned, no other family members are included within the scope of this statement. It appears that several members of Abraham's family depended on him, since much of his family left with him, yet God makes clear that Abraham was the only one spiritually called.

To how many of us has a similar thing happened? Why does this happen? Nobody knows! It is unanswerable. God shows mercy to whom He shows mercy. He loves Jacob but loves Esau less by comparison, despite their being twins. He accepts Abel and rejects Cain. He chooses only Noah among millions of others to whom He could have given grace.

This we know: At some time before leaving Babylon, God became a living reality to Abraham to a degree no one else near and dear to him experienced. Even amidst his personal self-seeking and self-pleasing, he was motivated to leave his set routines of life. It must have been similar to what Job experienced when he said, "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You" (Job 42:5).

Whether the opening of Abraham's mind was gradual or sudden, God had graciously revealed Himself enough to make him move, and he did so to the extent of leaving his homeland and journeying over 1,200 miles, probably on foot or at best by donkey or cart, to a land known for violent weather, especially for its high temperatures.

Abraham was already 70 years old, yet he severed virtually every relationship that matters to normal human concepts of life and well-being. For a long time, stability became a thing of the past, considering that he never again dwelt in a home with foundations. This may seem an unusually hard and harsh requirement. Nevertheless, he embarked on a journey into an utterly unknown future.

What can we learn from this God-engineered example? Undoubtedly, He was testing Abraham, a process we should expect a measure of in our calling as well. We may never have to leave our homeland and set out on a long journey without knowing where we are headed, but it is highly likely that disruptions will accompany our calling.

A primary instruction God wants us to understand from Abraham's calling is that we must make a complete break from our old lives. We must clearly begin to sever ourselves from the old, "inner" life that was implanted in our character by our living according to the course of this world (Ephesians 2:2).

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Christian Fight (Part Six)

Proverbs 4:14-17

A popular question during the Vietnam War was, "What if they threw a war and nobody came?" This illustrates that we condone and lend support to activities we attend. If everyone obeyed God by refusing to keep pagan holidays, one of Satan's ploys to obscure God's plan for mankind would be thwarted. The Bible is very clear that we should avoid, flee, or turn away from the ways of this world and beware of their entry into the church of God (II Timothy 3:1-5).

Martin G. Collins
Pagan Holidays

John 17:14-16

The world Jesus speaks of is Satan's anti-God system working in and through men. Within it are the cultures of all nations on earth. Jesus is clearly not of that anti-God system, and He declares that those accompanying Him, the apostles, were not of the world either. They were of the same system as He—the Kingdom of God. The same is true of those in Christ today.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Eight): Conclusion (Part One)

Hebrews 11:8

Paul first draws attention to the fact that, when God called Abram, as he was called then, he obeyed without knowing where he was to go. His reference is to Genesis 12:1-3:

Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

He had to leave his country, which was essentially Babylon; his family, meaning his ethnic kindred, the Semitic people; and his house, his near relatives. Verse 4 implies that he did not dilly-dally around, waiting for further or more specific directions, but that he responded quickly. It is not said how the Lord appeared to him. Perhaps He appeared to him physically, which would explain his quick departure.

Maybe God prepared him beforehand by revealing His existence to Abram, and this brought about social circumstances that added to Abram's urgency. In other words, God provided proof of His existence, which led to Abram receiving a measure of persecution in reaction to what he was learning. This is not unusual for God to do; He often provides incentive by leading a person through experiences in preparation for a more formal calling later.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Christian Fight (Part Six)


 




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