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Stand up against the grooming of the bullies (Exodus 13:17–15:27)
When I’ve read through the book of Revelation, I often wondered why the unrighteous will attack the New Jerusalem, God’s stronghold on Earth (Rev. 20:7–10). It seems utterly illogical and futile to face such power, right?
But we see this same chutzpah personified with Pharaoh and his army, chasing down the Israelites even after they experienced the 10 supernatural plagues on their nation and even as they confront Israel near the Red Sea. There was a supernatural cloud obstructing their view of their enemy. God gave Pharaoh plenty of opportunities to exercise some humility, but he stubbornly refused.
He was like a school yard bully. When children lose their fear of the bully, the bully loses his power over them.
The Day of the LORD, as foretold in Revelation and elsewhere, is all about dismantling the power of the Adversary1Ha Satan in Hebrew means “the Adversary” or “the Accuser.” on the Earth. That’s why there are a number of parallels between, for example, the trumpet prophecies in Revelation and the plagues in Exodus.
The children of the Adversary are always after the children of Heaven. There’s a lot of talk today about “grooming.” What is it? We think of it very narrowly, but what it means in the broadest sense is preparing one for a specific duty, such as when an employee starts a new job. The employer trains the employee for the position within the company.
However, what we are observing is that those who are in power and/or authority, either because of their governmental office or because of their massive wealth, are using their money and their authority to groom children, who are the most vulnerable to persuasion, away from the authority of their parents and toward themselves. They use various tactics and and may pull the children in many directions, but all those directions are to pull the next generation away from the natural, God-given authority of their parents.
God tells us in the 10 Commandments that children are duty bound to honor their mother and father (Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16). The parents are the ones who have been given the authority and responsibility by God to train their children.
God tells us that it’s the duty of parents to prepare their children for adulthood. The Bible describes children as arrows (Psalm 127:14), which are to be to sent towards a target. Those arrows are not to be shot willy-nilly, but with forethought and with a goal in mind. And that goal should be towards teaching them to become righteous, upright adults.
Road to compromise and collaboration can be paved with good intentions
Let’s go back to the schoolhouse bully for a second. There’s a high likelihood that many of the taskmasters over Israel in Egypt were actually Hebrews who had been elevated just a little bit, given a few more perks, so they would have a reason to manage their fellow Hebrews.2David Fohrman, “Passover, The Holocaust & Beyond: What can we expect of divine justice?” AlephBeta.org
We’ve seen from history how this is rationalized:
- It will make my life easier.
- I can make it easier for those under me.
Problem is, history also shows us that this calculation crumbles under oppressive quotas. Now, the managers feel under threat and become so worried about losing their slightly elevated positions that they become more oppressive than those above them.
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busy bodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may be at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
C. S. Lewis, “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment,” in God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics, ed. Walter Hooper (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), 287-294. The essay was originally published in 1954.
How was Israel washed by a cloud? (1Corinthians 10:1–14)
We were all slaves in our “Egypt,” but we are also to remember what slavery actually is and how easily we can be ensnared into it. The Apostle Ya’akov warned us that we can become “enticed” into sin (James 1:14). We are called to pull out the malice and wickedness in our hearts and to replace it with sincerity and truth, and that’s a part of the annual spiritual discipline of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
God used the deliverance of Israel to break the yoke of an oppressive superpower. God used the plagues to take out the gods of Egypt. The plagues targeted the gods of Egypt and each of the Egyptian deities were defeated by God’s power.
We have to ask ourselves if we are willing to give up “our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor,” as the founders of the United States pledged? We have seen in recent times, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic, how many people have had to give up their jobs, their licenses to work to stand for what is right. They have had to count the cost, and they have willingly paid it.
How does a cloud baptize?
The Apostle Paul reminds us that Israel were baptized, not just in the sea but in the cloud.
- The cloud blocked the pursuing Egyptian army.
- The parted sea delivered life to Israel and death to the Egyptian army.
The sea is strongly connected to baptism and the mikvah. The manna represents the words of God, the Word of God and the Bread of Life. The Rock was The Messiah, the water that came from the rock was the living water of the Holy Spirit. All of these stand in direct opposition to the Golden Calf. The Golden Calf was a symbol of their old way of life in Egypt in the pagan world of Egypt and also a symbol of the gods that the people in Canaan, who God wanted them to wipe out, worshipped.
Paul then warned against idolatry (1Cor. 10:14). Idolatry is a diversion that sends us right back to the house of bondage yet again.
Flee idolatry: ‘Earth Day’ vs. Creator Day
The seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread in 2022 was April 22 — by coincidence, Earth Day. It is promoted as a holiday to remind us of our duty to protect the Earth. But the Earth is held up as a deity in and of itself.3EarthDay.org, the official organization behind the celebration, started in 1970, calls for protecting “Mother Earth,” seconded by the United Nations. Mother Earth in Greek mythology was Gaia. It’s not a bad thing to protect what God has given us, including this created world. When you are entrusted with something by someone you respect and love, you will want to protect what they have given you. It becomes an heirloom you safeguard for the next generation.
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”
Exodus 20:8–11 NASB
The Apostle Paul warns us what happens when we give offerings to the earth, such as solar panels, as though the earth is a deity in and of itself. We are warned that such things do not really show a respect for the earth as a gift from God.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”
Romans 1:18–23 NASB
Even today, we see many examples of people who have more respect for creatures than people. They respect baby animals more than baby humans. That is what happens when people move from a belief in God to unbelief. It’s a natural progression that when people lose their faith in God, they also lose their respect for themselves and for their fellow human beings. The blind lead the blind and they all fall into the pit, into the grave.
Can we trust Heaven without signs and miracles? (John 19:38–20:29)
Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
John 20:28–29 NASB
We seen in the book of John, how the Apostle Thomas responded to the news of the resurrection. The Apostles had been reeling from the death of Yeshua and a fear of the authorities. Thomas said he needed to touch and see before he could believe that Yeshua had risen from the dead. Thomas wanted a tangible demonstration of Yeshua’s resurrection. When Yeshua came to see him eight days after His resurrection, Thomas believed, but Yeshua said that those who did not see the Red Sea or Yeshua in His resurrection and yet believed are very blessed.
The world trusts only in what they can see and what they can do. But without a faith in God, the secular environmentalism, as personified in Earth day is empty.
Look at the former Soviet Union. Environmentalism was a large part of its constitution, yet what actually happened under the Soviet Union? Huge environmental disasters happened under their watch, such as Chernobyl and Lake Baikal. Both of these sites are an environmental blight that happened because the people don’t respect God or the earth properly. Their supposed respect for the earth was all talk and no action. Their actions did not match their words.
‘Train up a child’: Children don’t know what they don’t know
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.
2Corinthians 10:5–6 NASB
How are the next generation supposed to bring their thoughts captive to Christ, if they are being taught eight hours a day, five days a week in the government indoctrination centers, to disregard parental and church authority?
We call on God to guard the hearts and minds of the youngest among us and to protect them from the attacks of the adversary and those who are wishing to turn them into something contrary to His nature.
Summary: Tammy