His Ways -- February 11, 2009

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the LORD your God. According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.
Leviticus 18:1-5

The Lord was clear to Moses that the children of Israel were not supposed to follow the old, comfortable ways of Egypt or the new, exotic ways of Canaan. They were to follow His ways so they would live. The Egyptian ways for us today are representative of the ways of the world, while the Canannite ways represent demonic involvement in worship. Both have deep association with the flesh. They are the way our flesh tries to achieve self-esteem without God.

Egypt represents accomplishment through society. They built a great society and even named their king as a god. This is the way our flesh will take many off course from the Father all the way to eternal separation from Him. Our flesh cannot accomplish our salvation using worldly methods. Those methods will never change the basic characteristics of our nature. We will continue to spiral down into a worse view of who we are because we will know who we are deep inside no matter what we do. We don’t need make-over or even some serious cosmetic surgery; we need a complete re-creation of our person.

Canaan represents numbing our pain through illicit worship of demonic things, usually involving sexuality. At the Asheroth poles and beneath the Balaam idols the Canaanites committed atrocities with the idols and each other attended by demonic spirits to inhabit them and contribute to the debauchery of their behaviors. At the idol of Molech children were burned when laid in the idol’s bronze arms that held them over the fire. We are still worshipping the same things. Sacrificing sexuality for pleasure to cover pain. Men in our society often worship at the altar of pornography which is still ministered by demonic beings. Through abortion and neglect children are sacrificed on the altar of self-fulfillment ministered by demonic spirits of deception. Our challenge today to not practice the ways of the world or the demonic in our fleshly attempt to meet the needs that God has provided for.

Exiting Egypt to Conquer Canaan,

Pastor Jason