God’s Design For the Church

Being called out of Egypt into a state of solitude was the first real adventure they had ever had. They were on an expedition with Jehovah. He brought them into the wilderness where they were stripped of everything and had only Him to depend on. They were forced to depend on Him completely for everything because there was no other way for even the basic of basic necessities in life but through His miracles. He was all they had. There were no neighboring nations that they could depend on. Among other things, they needed water, meat, healing and comfort, and in a barren wilderness, Yahweh became their everything. They were alone in the wilderness for 40 years with Yahweh. While they were in the solitude of the wilderness, their dependency on Him increased. Because there was no water, they had to look to Him; because there was no meat, they had to look to him; they were bitten by snakes and had to look to him for healing. He sustained them in the wilderness. Even in solitude, He will preserve those whom He has chosen. He was the Source of their supplies and is the Source of ours as well. “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 29:5, 6). God was giving them a makeover. He needed to bring them to a place of solitude so that He could get Egypt out of them, and He preserved them and everything about them during the process. It was a time of purging; solitude has a way of purging you from the toxins of life. The Children of Israel were not where the bread and wine of the world (Egypt) was readily available so that they would not be tempted to fall. The Children of Israel were coming from a long way, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically. They were called by God to come out of Egypt, the only place they had ever known. Yahweh had birthed this young nation from the womb of Egypt into the wilderness. They were Abraham’s offsprings. His grandson, Jacob, had migrated to Egypt and his seed had multiplied during the 430 years they had spent there. Because they were born in Egypt, they did not know the land of Canaan personally, but they were on their way to possess it because it was promised to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and God had placed the desire in their hearts to possess this special land. “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations” (Exodus 12:40-42). It was dark when God led them out, but they trusted Him. Their forefather Abraham was called, their forefather Isaac was called, and their forefather Jacob was also called, and now the call had extended to them, the offsprings of their forefathers. God is the Master Builder of all things, including our character. He will construct, reconstruct, organize, and reorganize our lives to fit His will. His intention is to give us a makeover that will cause us to become unrecognizable, even to ourselves, because we have been marred by circumstance and sin, and He must “fix” us. Indeed, we are broken, broken by life. The Children of Israel needed a makeover. They did not know the God of their forefathers, therefore, He was not their God. They served Egypt’s gods, but here is Yahweh, ensuring that His promise to Abraham was kept, He went after his offsprings with the intentions of working on them to conform them to become His people, in that way, the promise to Abraham would surely come to pass. That promise was to give Abraham a seed that would bless the entire world, and in order to do that, He had to preserve Abraham’s descendants. They were abused in Egypt, and God wanted them to have a new life. He called them out of Egypt and they arose, as they were commandment by the Lord, and marched out of Egypt. They did not allow fear to paralyzed them. The unknown could not gobble up their energy despite the risks of being slaughtered by the Egyptians, or being destroyed by animal attacks or other mishaps that could have befallen them in the wilderness. Why was it impossible for them to be destroyed? Because Jehovah was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and they had a leader who had great faith, and his name was Moses. God was their Protector. He surrounded His people and shielded them from their enemies. The Children of Israel left the land of Egypt, and their wilderness journey became a crucial turning point in their development as a nation. They were in a solitary place for 40 years, and at the end of 40 years, the old generation had died off, physically and spiritually, and a new generation was poised at the cusp of the Jordan river, ready to enter into the land of promise. During their wilderness journey, they encountered many obstacles that Yahweh used to strip them of their internal, Egyptian makeup and to prune them to be the people whom He had called them to be. They suffered hunger, thirst, and the discipline of Yahweh as He pruned them, but in the midst of it all, they also experienced His loving care.They saw His glory, but they also saw His judgment on unrighteousness. During their unique wilderness journey, Balaam was ordered to curse them, but what we see in all four of his oracles were prophecies of the glory of their future Messiah. God debunked their enemies and elevated them because they were His uniquely called people. As they traveled through the wilderness, we see them as God’s military army on the Earth, an army that was indestructible despite their rebellious nature. As they set forward in their travels, they travelled in military ranks that were designed by Yahweh, according to their tribes. They finally made it to the border of the Promised Land, and they encamped in the plains of the land of Moab. Moab was located just before Jordan. It was their last stop. Moab and Canaan sandwiched the Jordan river because the Jordan river touched both their borders. The Children of Israel were to cross the Jordan river from Moab, which would bring them to the shore of the land of Canaan. The death of the old generation empowered the birth of the new generation who were now poised to enter into their land of rest; the rebellious adults who left Egypt were now all dead. So, the generation that would enter into the Promised Land would not be the generation that had left Egypt, for the most part. Only Joshua and Caleb, and those who did not rebel were allowed to enter in. This new generation, which included their children who were born in the wilderness, had a new mindset because. Yahweh had brought them through the cleansing process that could only take place in the wilderness.