N-INTRO-2: Could you in one year transform from being thoroughly pagan to thoroughly Godly?

You lost patience.

Day in and day out you woke up, went to work, got through the day, came home, ate dinner, played with your kids, watched some TV, and crashed.

And this same dreary pattern repeated itself daily for years.

There was no reason for you to anticipate anything awesome and exciting happening.

But what did Yeshua say?

“For the Son of Man’s coming will be just as it was in the days of Noach. Back then, before the Flood, people went on eating and drinking, taking wives and becoming wives, right up till the day Noach entered the ark; and they didn’t know what was happening until the Flood came and swept them all away. It will be just like that when the Son of Man comes.”-Matthew 24:37-39 

These verses make it clear there aren’t going to be huge cataclysmic events that’ll happen before Yeshua returns.

The world will be carrying on like it always has, unaware and without faith.

Now think about the Israelites who had been slaving away for a good 400 years under their Egyptian taskmasters.

They weren’t expecting God to show up and rescue them.

And when Moses showed up, they didn’t give him a warm welcome either.

But once God started moving, boy was it a roller coaster ride!!!

First, He devastated Egypt with plagues.

Then, He poured out the ultimate judgment on Egypt by killing all of their firstborns.

Next, within a mere 24 hours of that event occurring which was the first Passover, the Israelites hightailed it out of Egypt.

However, Pharaoh wouldn’t let them go so easily.

He took his army and chased after the Israelites only to end up being drowned in the Red Sea.

There’s another important takeaway here.

Those of the world who sided with Pharaoh ended up dying with him.

But those who joined the Hebrews after seeing God’s power ended up living!

I’m talking about the Egyptians, the Canaanites, the Hittites, and others of the mixed multitude who left with Israel.

After Israel and the grafted-in mixed multitude left Egypt, a mere few weeks later they arrived at Mount Sinai where another momentous event occurred: the Giving of the Torah.

This was the first time in the history of mankind the Creator of the Universe verbatim handed down to a group of people His wisdom in the form of teachings, rules, and regulations.

It was unlike anything man had ever seen because it wasn’t man-originated.

Following the giving of the Torah, the Levitical Priesthood was established and God’s earthly dwelling place, the Tabernacle, was built.

It was inside this portable tent where God met with Moses face-to-face.

Think about it.

After only one year of leaving Egypt, YHWH had accomplished all of the following: 

-He had redeemed Israel!

-He had given Israel a new constitution (the Torah)!

-He had kept Israel alive in the desert by feeding them MANA which if you think about it is one the greatest miracles ever!

-He had enabled Israel to triumph over their enemies when they were attacked!

Imagine how your average Hebrew must have felt after all this.

Mind-blown to say the least!

I don’t think there are words to describe how they felt.

Everything important in their lives was in the blink of an eye rendered worthless!

Here’s the thing and I’ve said this countless times before.

Just because the Israelites had left Egypt doesn’t mean the Egypt inside of them had departed.

Have you ever tried to break a bad habit like smoking or drinking alcohol?

It was darn hard, wasn’t it?

Well, that’s the situation the Israelites found themselves in.

Yes, they had been chosen by God…

But it was going to take serious work for them to overcome their entrenched Egyptian customs, mindset, and traditions.

Keep this in mind as we walk through the Book of Numbers.

In a sense, we’re dealing with new believers.

Consider how you were when you began your walk with the Lord.

It was pretty tough and you stumbled quite a bit didn’t you?

Well, this was Israel’s situation in the Book of Numbers.