The World and the Flesh Won't Help
9/14 Reading Portions: 2 Samuel 10; 2 Corinthians 3; Ezekiel 17; Psalms 60-61
Ezekiel 17:17
Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives.
Just before Israel entered the Promised Land, Moses warned them that when they begged YHVH God for a king, their king must not cause the people to return to Egypt (Deut 17:16). Why? Because the LORD brought them out of the bondage of Egypt? Yes, but much more than that. Egypt represented the world; and Israel’s slavery illustrated mankind’s bondage to sin. Israel’s deliverance from Egypt foreshadowed mankind’s salvation from the bondage of sin. Approximately 1,000 years later, Zedekiah’s request to Pharaoh for horses and men to help against Babylon’s armies was futile according to the LORD through His prophet Ezekiel. Why? Because of their sin, God declared His holy judgment.
Egypt is a spiritual type of the ungodly, faithless world. Pharaoh is a spiritual type of the work of the flesh. God’s judgment upon sin was poured out upon His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, when He hung upon Calvary’s tree. Therefore, anyone, saved or unsaved, who flees for refuge to the world or the work of the flesh, will actually find themselves opposing God and His decrees. As far as the unbeliever is concerned, because he has rejected Christ, his sin is far more wicked before God and exceedingly more offensive to the LORD because it defies Christ and implies His sacrifice is worthless. For the believer who sins and fails to confess it, this grieves the Holy Spirit, and therefore, it spiritually weakens the professing believer; moreover, it also weakens the church because, when…
…one member suffers, all suffer together. 1 Corinthians 12:26
We should never seek help, refuge, or relief, from the work and power of the flesh (Pharaoh with his mighty army). Jesus Christ alone is our Help, our Rock, our Refuge (Psa 61:4). Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Seek not assistance from the world,
Nor from the work of flesh;
It’s futile and just brings sorrow,
It will not bring you rest.
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