Torn Between Two Minds:
Wilderness Process of Separation
At the waters of Massah and Meribah the people asked if God had brought them out into the Wilderness to kill them (Ex 17:3; Nu 20:4)? This became a consistent accusation during their Wilderness Process (Ex 14:10-12; Nu 21:4-5). Were they correct? Did God bring them into the Wilderness to kill them for all but two died in that Wilderness (Nu 26:65)? Does God bring you through your Wilderness Process of Life to kill you? Well, the answer is: Yes and No; for them and for us.
In my previous post, Wilderness Fallacy: Egypt is the World, I closed with a quote from Elijah which is pertinent to every single person who ever lived and will ever live; “How long will you hesitate or facilitate between two opinions or two minds (1Ki 18:21)?” Christ put it more succinctly, “No one can be a slave of two masters…God and Mammon (World) (Mt 6:22-24). James was certainly more blunt in identifying the issue, “An indecisive (double-minded) man is unstable in all his ways” (Ja 1:5-8). James further declares that from this double mindedness flows degradation and violence that plagues humanity’s history (Ja 4:1-8). So, what is the Wilderness Process designed to reveal which causes each of us to self-separate into one of two groups: For or Against, Anti, Christ?
James points us in the proper direction when he discusses how our desires to possess whatever we want becomes the basis for sin’s expressions; we call this covetousness and it is the root of all sin (Col 3:5). From this root cause of antichrist belief flows the triad modus operandi of temptation that culminates in sin with its eventual eternal separation from God; i.e., Death (Ja 1:13-16; 1Jo 2:15-16, 21-22; 4:1-3).
The Hebrews and Egyptians were given clear, unambiguous demonstrations delineating the distinction between God and not-God or what today we call the Hermetic-Gnostic-Dialectic-Kantianization Process. They experienced three sets of three demonstrations that showed the impotence of Pharaoh as King (Government), Pharaoh as Priest (Works-based faiths) and Society which empowers by following government and its associated religion (Pr 14:28). A mixed-multitude willingly followed Moses, and God, into the Wilderness in the enthusiasm of the moment; however, this was mixed with actual faith for the majority of the people (Ex 12:37-38; He 3:7-19). Why did they not believe even after experiencing the miracles of the Wilderness such as manna, clothes not wearing out and miraculous displays of water flowing from rocks on command (De 8:1-6)? They despised the discipline of the Lord (He 12:5-8). They decided they were not children of God, choosing to remain children of Satan (Jn 8:44).
The Flesh cannot enter the New Creation (1Co 15:50). Indeed, the Flesh wars against the Spirit and will not ever submit (Ro 8:5-10). This is a consistent truth throughout Man’s history. Those in the Wilderness, like us today, cannot enter into a relationship with Christ unless one dies to the flesh (Ro 6:3-8; 1Co 10:6-14). So, in essence, Christ brought these people into the Wilderness to separate them from all other peoples and to Himself so they would be His peculiar people (2Co 5:17). This remains true for all who are Saved today. This is the Call that goes out. into all the World (Jn 3:16).
However, though the call goes into the world, the Lost do not hear the call or may respond to the call weakly before lapsing back into their comfortable habitus of sin (He 4:1-2; 6:4-6). The people in the Wilderness by and large refused to die to self in order to live to God. They rejected to walk by faith choosing instead to walk by sight pandering to their Flesh rather than to Faith in God looking for a city to come as Abraham (He 11:8-10). These people were walking in Abraham’s path but not in his faith. They refused to die to self; therefore, they self-selected their flesh to die in the Wilderness and not enter into His Rest. I do not say all were Lost for some like Moses and Aaron also fell short and did not enter into His Rest; i.e., the Promised Land. However, they were saved and are in His Rest now. But the majority of the people retained their idolatry and failed to enter into His salvation.
No Flesh shall glory before God (1Co 1:29). This is a state of rebellion since Adam. It is the normal state of the Flesh being conceived in sin (Ps 51:5). Man defines this as liberty and freedom from tyranny when it is actually rebellion that embraces slavery unto death (1Sa 15:23). Their refusal to die to self, self-condemned them to eternal death (Lk 16:22-31). Christ offered them Life in Himself because He would die for them so they could have eternal life. The Wilderness Trials were simply physical manifestations so they would know the true state of their spiritual condition; i.e,. Christ was letting them know they were lost so they could pray and be saved (Ps 51:16-17; Ro 10:9-10). Christ was disciplining them as sons in love; but, they rejected His love and discipline leaving themselves enslaved to their hard taskmaster, Satan. This process remains in place today.
Christ Shows Us Our True State;
Flesh Demands to Remain Enslaved
Wives, Husbands and Children choose to follow rebellious sin that destroys the family structure, ushers in violence at the personal and social levels rather than follow Christ’s example of humility (Ph 2:3-8). The public education-healthcare system inculcates rebellion at every stage of growth and development. Rebellion is normal and preventing or disciplining against childish rebellion is punishable as child abuse! The scientisms of psychology are embraced by the state to enforce these unbiblical norms on a willing people who choose to reject truth in favor for lies. They decry that true biblical faith is evil, seeking to enslave them rather than allowing them to live to their full potential. A potential that breeds degradation and violence throughout the society.
Now, we do not live in tents or travel nomadically from one local to another but nonetheless we do live in a barren Wilderness in this life. People lurk from uncertainly to uncertainly, constantly confronted by their inability to control the minutest aspect of their existence all the while embracing and even cheering the wholesale violence that permeates even the harmless entertainments that claim to offer escapism but actually are mechanisms of propaganda perpetuating the same hopeless message of old: Reject Christ’s discipline of Love that attempts to treat you like Children of God preparing you to resist the Delusion and Lie of Satan (2Th 2:3-12).
Christ does not force. Christ will allow you to have your choice of a world without Him; of an eternity without Him. You can even have a family without Him. But, like those who left Egypt, you will also not enter into His Rest. You will remain enmeshed in this garment of the current physical, material Creation. When He takes it off this Creation will melt with a fervent heat and you will feel the blast for eternity (He 1:10-12; 2Pe 3:9-10). You will have your freedom from Christ but not as The Lie promised. For there is no excluded middle; one is a slave to Christ or a slave to sin. As Christ is a slave to the Father and will receive recompense for His Death for us, we shall also receive recompense for humbling ourselves like Christ and find all our needs met in Him (Ph 2:9-12; 3:8-11). Let us therefore press on toward the call of God in Christ and forget what was left behind in the Wilderness (Ph 3:12-16). This should be our daily goal in this life lest we find ourselves castaway as many of them in the Wilderness did (1Co 9:27).