In my last post, I finished the series through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. At this point, I feel led to talk about an important subject before going on to the next New Testament book.
Recently, I was out hiking and praying. Usually when I go out for a few days, I hear from God, and this trip was no exception.
God started speaking very clearly to me that we’re entering the “Moses Generation”. He brought me to the book of Exodus. At that point in history, Israel was in slavery in Egypt.
For a little background, in Genesis we see the children of Israel going to Egypt to escape a famine. One of their own, Joseph, was the head of the government. Now, years later, new leadership is in power.
This new Pharaoh begins to fear the Hebrews because of their great numbers. They made the determination to enslave the Israelites as a labor force to build up their cities.
They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.
Exodus 1:14 NIV
The Hebrew people were forced to build up the kingdom of Egypt. As I meditated on this, I began to see the parallels with our society. The world is increasing the pressure for the church to conform to their way of doing things.
It’s gotten to the point where many believers refuse to share their beliefs for fear of ridicule or worse. Whether you want to accept it or not, God’s people are in a form of slavery right now to the world system. Were told, “Agree with us, or stay silent.” All the while, the enemy’s kingdom is being built up in the USA.
Back in the book of Exodus, we find that in spite of all this, Israel continued to increase and prosper. It got to the point where Pharaoh ordered that the male babies be killed at birth.
It’s really no different for us. Satan’s agenda rarely ever changes. There is pressure in our society to make the men irrelevant. Look at how men are portrayed on TV and in the movies. Men are either vilified or ridiculed. Even “good” men have an evil, dark side.
When I look at the church, I see men standing on the sidelines. In many places, women are doing most of the ministry.
No, I’m not one of those who believe women can’t be in the ministry. But I do want to see everyone rise to the place God has called them to. Right now, it seems that there is a shortage of Godly men who are willing to stand up for Christ.
We find that in Egypt, the males were either killed or building Pharaoh’s kingdom. Then, along comes Moses. He was raised in Pharaoh’s household. As he matures, he sees the problem.
Just like today, many believers are waking up to the spiritual problems around them. They see God’s people oppressed or in slavery to the world.
What does Moses do? He attacks an Egyptian. We see this all the time, especially on the internet. There are Christians verbally attacking the people of the world. We think we’re making a difference by telling them they’re wrong. THAT’S NOT THE ANSWER!
Then, Moses sees two Hebrews fighting. There was one clearly in the wrong. It makes me think of Christians fighting each other on the internet about politics or social issues. Even if one of the views is clearly anti-biblical, that’s not the place for it.
Look at the response of the one in the wrong.
The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?”
Exodus 2:14 NIV
How many times have we heard that in our generation? Moses’ response – he ran away to the wilderness. Just like us. God’s people are in hiding, afraid to speak up for fear of ridicule or persecution.
The goal of this post was to get us to see the problem. Over the next few posts, I want to share the things that God spoke to me about where we are and where He wants to bring us in this period of history.
Question: How have you seen the pressure of society on the church?
© 2023 Nick Zaccardi
The Spirit and the Word 