The Bible is a fascinating book on many accounts. To some it is merely the greatest fabrication of all time, to others its a book of moral instruction, but to people in “the church” we know it is the divine word of God. The Apostle Paul was training a young minister named Timothy and he emphatically declared that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (2 Timothy 3:16). It is critical for you to understand that the word of God is not up for private interpretation. The Apostle Peter told the church, “knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (1 Peter 1:20-21).
The word of God is inerrant, infallible and completely incredible! Since God divinely designed this book we call the Bible, surely there is a structure of salvation present in this book. If so then why are there so many opinions regarding this topic? Some point to John 3:16 and tell you that “…God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Others will tell you to rewind that chapter to John 3:3-5 where Jesus instructed Nicademus to be born again of the water and of the spirit, which was fulfilled in Acts 2! Still they will take you to Romans 10 and tell you to walk the Roman road, “if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart you shall be saved.” So the other group takes them to Acts 19:2, and Paul asked this question, “have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”
So who’s right and who’s wrong? Let’s look at this thing from a different perspective, first of all understanding that we are all sinners in need of redemption. Regardless of your doctrinal persuasion or your religious background we must all understand that we are sinners. David wrote of this revelation in Psalms 51:5, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Even in my most righteous state I am nothing more than a sinner saved by grace! I echo the words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian church, “But by the grace of God I am what I am.”
Sadly, the reality of our world is a growing belief system that believes that there are many ways to to get to heaven, each person’s ideologies are irrelevant since we’ll all end up at the same place. That sounds great in theory, however when we study the geography of salvation we find there is only ONE way out of Egypt! Let’s examine this element of exodus and see God’s plan of salvation.
1.) A lamb had to die.
As the children of Israel were in captivity, they needed the blood of an innocent lamp to cover their households! That blood was a foreshadowing of what was to come, the blood cleansed, redeemed and protected them! You should be thankful that Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was slain from the foundations of the world so that you and I could be redeemed!
2.) They had to walk away from Egypt.
In order for God to take them to their Promised Land they had to walk away from Egypt. This is why we have to preach repentance! There are some things God has to do, and then there are some things you have to do! You have to make a decision to walk away from some things, walk away from some friends, walk away from some relationships! Repentance simply means to reverse course or change directions, if you want to be delivered from Egypt then you must be willing to walk away!
3.) They came to the water.
I know there is power in the blood, and I know there is life changing content in repentance; but if we think we can stop with simply walking away we will be devoured! Pharaoh and his chariots are coming after you, the only way to be redeemed is to go through the water! We don’t go through the water any old way, we go through that water in Jesus name! It’s only when you go through the water does Pharaoh lose his influence over you as he drowns in that water! When you go through the water all of your problems, chaos, enemies and addictions stay in the water! We still need the water of baptism to deliver us from sin!
4.) They needed the cloud by day and the fire by night.
It is rather unique for a cloud to lead Israel by day and a pillar of fire to lead them by night, but this is a spiritual typology of the Holy Ghost. It is no coincidence that as the Holy Ghost fell for the first time, the Bible says there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire!
Regardless of whether you believe in the apostolic message or not, there remains only ONE plan to get you out of Egypt and into the Promised Land! This was, in typology form, the the same message Jesus gave Nicademus, if you want out of Egypt and into heaven then you must be born again!
If you desire more information on the subject feel free to email me at joshuamcelhaney@att.net or find me on Twitter @jlmcelhaney
Joshua L. McElhaney's Blog 