God’s strategy to leave Egypt is not the same as His strategy to prepare for inheritance. The strategy for entering into inheritance is different from the strategy of preparation for inheritance.
God preserves inheritance for a faithful generation who pass the tests of preparation in the desert, the tests of growing and maturing that reveal the true motives of the heart.
Once you leave Egypt you immediately face the “Red Sea test.” Here, you cannot go one step without a miracle. pharaoh is coming behind you and you realize that although you just walked away, you still have a fear of Pharaoh in your heart. God will so defeat this enemy that enslaved you that you never fear that enemy again.
The Red Sea test forces you to face your fear of the past catching up with you, whether or not you actually hear God’s voice, and just how much you can trust God so you can walk with Him in preparation wilderness experiences.
If you don’t pass the Red Sea test, you just go back with Pharaoh and take your lumps for running away in the first place. If you do pass the Red Sea test, you never have a problem with that enemy again, preparing to face the enemies that possess your inheritance instead.
God wants to settle some issues in the wilderness before you enter the land of promise. But to get into this preparation, you must face the Red Sea and walk the way where there is no way.
The Pharaoh you once feared must be so defeated that you do not fear him; his gods so destroyed that you do not desire them when you are looking for another source and resource; and, the taste of being a victim removed from your mouth so you aren’t attempting to survive when you should be learning to overcome in preparation to rule. Israel didn’t worship Egypt’s gods: the Bible says they worship new gods, never heard of before, new gods they dreamed up when they were seeking new source and resource. They were cured of the worship of Egypt by the defeat of Pharaoh before their eyes.
God removed them from Egypt because they had no inheritance in that land. Even when Pharaoh is defeated, they do not go back to take that land because they are called to inherit Canaan. What they receive from Egypt, going out rich with Egypt gold as payment for their slavery, is not the inheritance provision. Gold doesn’t buy anything in the desert where there is no store to buy anything. The gold had purpose to build the tabernacle, not to become their source and resource.
Jehovah cared for them as children in the wilderness, but expected them to grow up so they could take Canaan. Their kingdom inheritance was reserved and preserved for a nations of rulers who could govern families, cities, regions, and nations.
God gave them the material to prepare Him a place among them, a place of worship and intercession. God lived in a tent among them. He was teaching them how to live in Glory, be led by Glory, experience Glory’s daytime and nighttime changes from cloud to fire to separation.
The Red Sea test reveals our fear of the past. We stand there knowing we must go forward. We have a new leadership. We have a new anointing. We have a new income as source and resource. Then, a new wind blows into our dead end, and we learn to walk the way where there is no way so we can trust God as a Father in the desert preparation.
The way where there is no way isn’t open all the time. It is only opened by God. The way where there is no way is a deliverance for us but a trap for our enemy, a final victory. We can look back on the other side and see an angry sea bury our fear of the past and begin the journey toward a new identity.
Are you still living at the Red Sea? Are you still afraid of the enemy of your slavery? Do you still see yourself as Egypt’s slave even though you have walked out of Egypt?
At some point you have to take the steps that lead you through the Red Sea with water piled up on either side. You have to stop attempting to lead yourself, do it yourself, and remake yourself. You haven’t lost a master but gained a new One! You must learn how to please the new Master. He has a totally different strategy for your future!
The strategy to crossover to desert preparation is different from the strategy to leave Egypt. Immediately we are born again, set free, and ready to be discipled, a crossover is required. A surrender to God’s way where there is no way cures us of being in charge of our own redemption. God doesn’t bring us out of Egypt so we can be in charge of our lives. This is not the definition of freedom!
Many Christians see freedom from Egypt as God telling them to go make something of themselves. They buy the humanist idea that “you can be anything you want to be.” Hogwash! There is no be whatever you want to be in God! All transformation is restoration. God sets you free so you can become the person He created you to be, to do the things He called you to do.
After the freedom comes the preparation, the strong arm of God sets you free and strong hand of God grips your life in the desert to grow and mature you into a champion who can inherit what He reserved and preserved for you in the land of Promise!
