And Then

Numbers 11:20b - "'...because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying,  “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?”’”

Oh, Egypt. Israel was in captivity there for many years before Moses arrived and demanded Pharaoh let God's people go, not without a struggle.

Israel saw the miracles, experienced God's hand of protection upon them and were grateful for their release from slavery to the Egyptians. For awhile, anyway.

Israel, God's people. Egypt, the world. I've written many times about this. Us and them! How is it we, like Israel, forget so easily all that God has done for us...from Genesis to Revelation?

Here we have Israel being led by Moses, who is being led by the LORD, from a land of slavery to a land of promise and their freedom. The thought of that alone should have been exciting. Their journey an adventure knowing that the cloud that protected them during the day and the pillar of fire at night was their God. His presence was with them 24/7. But that excitement and knowledge seemed to have waned after a time. They arose and went when God's presence moved and they stopped when He stopped.

Some time into their journey came the dissatisfaction. They were no longer content with the routine of not knowing their next step and collecting manna each day. Their whining showed how they, might I use the same strong language as in Numbers, detested or abhorred God. ...because you have despised the Lord who is among you... Among you...

This was a true test in trusting God and following Him. Not knowing what each day held. For us it is the self-sufficiency of which we must let go. This is difficult sometimes. We as humans think we always know what is best, giving no thought to what God might think. Don't we believe He knows what's best? We are a rebellious lot...we cling to our Egypt and remember the good old days when we thought we had it better.

Israel whined about the good food they had despite their being slaves. Somehow they forgot about the treatment they received and could only think about their physical hunger and physical needs.

This past week as we listened to Jeremy Prochazka preach at The Church in Wisconsin on The Yoke Shall Be Destroyed Because of the Anointing, he brought up an "and then" statement. It was referring to Elijah's mantle of prophet being given to Elisha. It happens to us also. We are asked by God to do something, first to follow, then act. It must happen at the proper time. Elisha said to Elijah in 1Kings 19:20: And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said,  “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”

Like some, Elisha didn't hesitate. The anointing of God was upon him. He immediately turned from Elijah and sought to do as he said, which included giving up all that was seemingly important, and then returned to follow. It reminds me of times when men wanted to follow Jesus but only after they had said their goodbyes to family. Elisha did as he had said he would. Others go back to family and never return because the comfort level was greater there.

Elisha had twelve yoke of oxen. He was a prosperous man and he was being asked to leave it all behind because an anointing was upon his life. We have to free ourselves from any yoke that is upon us that interferes with God's will for us. The yoke is always a worldly thing, whether physical, mental or emotional. We know that each of us is part of the body of Christ, each with a gift that God has given us. I look at that as His anointing, whether great or small.

If God has asked you to move to another level in Him, to seek Him over the things of Egypt, He has also provided the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome...but sometimes you must make the first move...which is to just let everything go and follow. Is our Egypt too great; does it have too much to offer, so we think? Are the things we hold so dear just that, too dear? Might we ask ourselves why we left Egypt?

If we have been called to follow we will be called to make sacrifices, to let things go. It might not always be easy but what is on the other side of obedience will be. As Jeremy stated: the anointing will change us but it will also empower us to make changes. We must be willing to change, to let go of the yoke that holds us captive.

Jesus' yoke, He exerted, was easy and His burden light. He is the one who gives peace that passes all understanding. He is the one who makes us lie in green pastures. He is the tower we run into when our strength fails us. He is the cleft in the rock where we seek refuge in times of trouble. It is His hands which hold us, which have us engraved in them.

Which yoke do we want, the world's or His? Do we want to carry the burdensome yoke or allow His to carry us?

Isaiah 10:27 - It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.