Beware the Land of Wealth and Ease!

Have you been considering making a certain decision that would make your life easier? Did you USED to think that you are in the right place, on the right path–but now, you’re not so sure because things are so hard?

If so, the Lord has an urgent word for you today.

Yesterday, I was studying and the Lord hit me right between the eyes with this word. He took me to Exodus 1:6-8, which says this:

“And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:6-8).

When I read that, I immediately wondered:

Why did the Israelites stay in Egypt so long?

The children of Israel came to Egypt originally due to a famine in their own land–the land to which God called Abraham. They had an inheritance there and were occupying the land to which they were called.

But one day, a famine came and they were not prepared. So they went to Egypt, made contact with Joseph, and ended up moving all their families to Egypt.

That’s all well and good when you’re fleeing a famine.

The Bible says that Joseph told his brothers the Lord had made a way for HIM–Joseph–to save them all alive, by sending him ahead of them and making him the prime minister of Egypt. But the famine didn’t last forever. The Israelites’ need for help didn’t last forever. When the famine ended, they could have gone back to the land of Israel (the land that would eventually become Israel, anyway).

Why didn’t they?

We don’t know every reason, but we can take an educated guess at what may have been the reason when we look again at Exodus 1:6-8:

“And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:6-8).

Egypt at that time was one of the world’s greatest civilizations. It was a land of wealth and ease. It was fertile and had a good infrastructure. It was well-governed. It was one of the great models of human splendor and majesty for the whole world.

And the Israelites prospered there. They had lots of children, and presumably wealth–since they did arrive with livestock, and were later called “mighty.” (Poor, beggarly people generally aren’t called “mighty.”) The land “was filled with them,” the Bible says.

With Joseph as Prime Minister, the Israelites could have returned to their own land after the famine.

Their vocation of shepherding was offensive to the Egyptians anyway. The Egyptians thought sheep were uncouth. So all eleven tribes (except Joseph) could have said “thank you,” “we honor you,” and “goodbye.” And they could have gone back to their inheritance–to the land to which THE LORD had called them.

But they didn’t. And the only reason that we can infer from Scripture is that they enjoyed the land of wealth and ease too much to leave it. They stayed in Egypt for so long because of the wealth and ease they experienced there.

This assumption is even more reasonable when you look down through the years at Israel’s history.

In Jeremiah 42:7-18, we see Israel eyeballing Egypt again. The remnant people of the Israelites that Nebuchadnezzar didn’t take into captivity are all having a meeting with Jeremiah the prophet. They want to go down to Egypt and dwell there, and they asked Jeremiah to pray about it for them.

This is what God had to say about that plan:

“And it happened after ten days that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, and said to them,

‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: ‘If you will still remain in this land, then I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. For I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought upon you.

Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ‘for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand. And I will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.’

But if you say, ‘We will not dwell in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God, saying, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell’–then hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah!

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

‘If you wholly set your faces to enter Egypt, and go to dwell there, then it shall be that the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; the famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.

So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to dwell there. They shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. And none of them shall remain or escape from the disaster that I will bring upon them.’

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘As My anger and My fury have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more’” (Jeremiah 42:7-18, emphasis mine).

WHOA!

Did you see that? The Lord came right out and said in that passage that these backslidden Israelites wanted to go to Egypt because:

• They would not see war there;
• They would not be disturbed by the sound of the trumpet; and
• They would not be hungry for bread there.

The people wanted peace.

They didn’t want to fight for anything. They didn’t want to contend. They were tired of war–even though they had survived a war!

They also didn’t want to be disturbed.

This remnant of Israel also didn’t want to hear the sound of the trumpet anymore. The trumpet was used in ancient Israel for a lot of things, including:

• To sound the alarm when an enemy invasion occurred;
• To call the people to war;
• To call the people to worship;
• To alert the people that it was time to confess or shout out something, together in one accord; and
• To make important announcements that the people needed to know about.

So the people didn’t want to be made to get off their “blessed assurance” to worship, to defend what was theirs, to dwell in unity with the brethren, to confess God’s Word out loud, to attend church, or to know relevant information that pertained to THEIR LIVES.

They didn’t want to work or be bothered, and they didn’t want to be hungry.

They only wanted to dwell at ease. They wanted what the Sons of Korah specifically spoke out against in Psalm 84:10:

“For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else]; I would rather be a doorkeeper and stand at the threshold in the house of my God than to dwell [at ease] in the tents of wickedness” (Psalm 84:10 AMPC).

This remnant of Israel wanted to dwell at ease, without worship, war, or responsibility, in their tents of wickedness. They didn’t want to be hungry; didn’t want to fight; didn’t want to have to put forth any effort anymore.

“Give us the land of wealth and ease,” was basically what they said.

But you know what God thought about that plan? Not much.

Not only did God tell them not to go, but He also told them that all the things they were trying to flee WOULD come upon them if they ran to Egypt for safety, security, shelter, and help. However, He told them that–IF they would stay where He put them, even though it would be hard–then He would protect them, prosper them, and provide for them.

We see God’s opinion about this “let’s go down to Egypt” thing in Jeremiah 2:36-37 as well:

“How much you go about, changing your way! You shall be put to shame by Egypt as you were put to shame by Assyria. From it too you will come away with your hands on your head, for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper by them” (Jeremiah 2:36-37).

Yes, the descendants of Abraham had a long and sinful problem of looking to Egypt for help.

But you know what? God will not bless our way of seeking wealth and ease.

This is where this word gets hard, so please listen carefully:

This DOESN’T mean that God will not give you wealth.

The Bible promises wealth to all who will obey God. I believe in godly, Biblical wealth and prosperity. I believe you and I should be dripping with billions of dollars, rand, yen, pesos, or whatever the currency is in your country; and I believe we should be funding the preaching of the Gospel over the whole earth as well as prospering ourselves. This is what the BIBLE says.

I also believe in grace that makes things easy.

I believe the Lord is our ever-present Help in trouble. I believe that His grace is sufficient for us, so His strength is made perfect in weakness. I believe that the manifest, tangible, holy flow of God is one sign you’re in God’s perfect will.

But FLOW does not equal EASE. And SEEKING wealth does not equal HAVING wealth.

They are all very different things. God promises help, but He doesn’t promise that anything will be easy. We have to WORK:

• We must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
• We have to hide God’s Word in our heart, that we might not sin against Him.
• We must press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
• We must labor to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we can prove what is God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will for us on the earth.

All of these things take work. They are all challenging. They are NOT too hard, but they aren’t easy either. They take effort, focus, and concentration. They require a sold-out spirit to God and total submission to Him and His Holy Spirit.

Also, God gives us wealth, but that doesn’t mean we are to seek it.

We are to SEEK GOD, and God alone. And Jesus promised in Matthew 6:33:

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

When we seek first the Kingdom of God, God will teach us out of His Word how to handle money His way. And when we handle money His way, we will prosper. It’s that easy. Wealth comes to the people of God … but we SEEK His face, not His wealth. We seek to obey Him, even when He tells us to do business and make money (which He does, in His Word, if we will simply read His Word).

But our SEEK goes toward HIM. Our love goes toward Him. Our quest is for Him: to know Him … and, having known Him, to know Him more. Our one heart’s desire must be to find Him; and, having found Him, find Him more. To love Him; and, having loved Him, to love Him more.

Our heart is for Jesus, for our Father God, and for His precious Holy Spirit.

But the enemy wants to distract you and get you off-track. The enemy wants to draw you away from the Promised Land into the land of wealth and ease.

Right now, some of you are considering going back to Egypt.

Your “Egypt” may be a bad relationship. It may be a financial decision that would make things easier for you–you think. It may be an old job that God freed you from and didn’t call you to.

Whatever your “Egypt” is, you’ve allowed yourself to get distracted from your Promised Land because things have been SO. VERY. HARD.

I get it. I understand. And so does God. He knows the temptation is very real to go back to Egypt; to seek out the land where you won’t have to contend, won’t have to worship, won’t have to rouse yourself from a slumbering state; won’t have to fight and war anymore.

But if you go to Egypt, beloved, it will kill you.

You know what I’m talking about if Holy Spirit is bearing witness into your heart with this word right now. I don’t know your specific situation. But YOU know …

… and the Lord wants you to know:

If you’ll stay in the Promised Land where HE has brought you, He will build you up and not pull you down. He says, “I will plant you, and not pluck you up.” He wants you to know that you don’t have to be afraid of enemy invaders, because HE will grant you mercy so that EVEN YOUR ENEMIES will have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land.

But this is only available to you if you STAY in your Promised Land.

You know what the funny thing is about the Israelites and their Egypt-habit?

The funny thing is that Israel always prospered in their own land. They had wealth in Israel–great wealth. They just had to work for it. They had peace, but they just had to obey God to maintain it. And they had a holy flow, in which everything they touched prospered …

… as long as they followed and obeyed God.

It was when they took their eyes off God that their thoughts wandered to Egypt.

Only when they forsook God and rejected His discipline did the enemy invade their land. Only when they forsook God’s ways did trouble come. And only after they ate the fruit of their own disobedience did they decide to leave the land God had promised them.

What will you do today?

If you’re thinking about leaving your Promised Land and fleeing to Egypt, beware. Beware the land of wealth and ease! God has called you to the place where you are. He ALONE has made it possible for you to stay there. He has provided all of your needs as long as you have sought Him and obeyed Him.

Have you forsaken Him? Have you grown tired? Are you weary of the sound of the Holy Spirit’s voice, rousing you:

• to worship;
• to defend what is yours;
• to dwell in unity with the brethren;
• to confess God’s Word out loud;
• to attend church; or
• to know relevant information that pertains to YOUR LIFE?

Hmmm. Think about it.

If you have become weary with well-doing and are thinking about going back to Egypt, pray this prayer with me:

“Father God, in Jesus’ name, thank You for sending this word to me today to save my life. Father, I repent. I confess my sins of ___________ to You. Please forgive me of all my sins. Wash me clean in the blood of Jesus and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I confess Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord, and I yield my life to You, Jesus, anew and afresh today.

Holy Spirit, please convict me of my sin. Cleanse me with Your Word and truth, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me know joy and gladness again, and take away my old heart. Give me a new heart–Your heart–and chase me down in every way until I have fully submitted to Your Word, to Your highest and best will, in every way. 

And Father, as I submit to You and obey You and Your Word, I pray that You would bless me indeed; enlarge my territory; that Your hand would be with me; that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.

Thank You, Father. In Jesus’ holy and precious name I pray, amen.”

Have you been considering a move to Egypt? Is God’s Holy Spirit arresting your heart right now and speaking to you about the decision you have been considering? If so, leave a comment below! I love to hear from you, and I will pray for you!