05 May Biblical Deliverances are Often Untidy
God’s deliverances often are not tidy affairs. They are typically not quick and easy. Instead of a “poof,” they are often – from a human perspective – starts and stops.
Israel’s deliverance from Egypt
Take, for example, the deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land. It was far from quick and easy.
When Moses, following God’s instructions, went to Pharaoh and told him to let the children of Israel go into the wilderness for three days to worship the Lord, things got worse instead of better. Instead of letting them go, Pharaoh increased their workload to backbreaking levels.
Then they languished for however long it took to get through the ten plagues. When Pharaoh finally did let the Israelites go, he later changed his mind and sent his army out into the wilderness to bring them back.
That’s when the Lord delivered them by parting the Red Sea. But on the other side, they ran out of food, throwing them into a crisis of faith. After they got food, they ran out of water, throwing them into another crisis of faith. After they got water, the Amalekites attacked them.
The Israelites wondered, “What kind of a deliverance is this?! Things are worse now than before we got delivered!” They even asked Moses to take them back to Egypt where they at least had food and water.
Then, when God led them to the southern doorway into the Promised Land, they refused to go in because of the military threat that existed within the promised land. As a result, God led the Israelites to wander in the wilderness for the next 40 years until that rebellious generation died. Then, a new generation grew up, and it was that generation that went into the promised land.
A 40-year deliverance
After 40 years and untold crises, the deliverance was finally complete.
However, even once in the land, things were not easy. There were nations of people living in the Promised Land who objected to Israel’s claim to the land. As a result, the Israelites spent years beating back the resistance from the pagan nations who were being displaced.
No, the deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egypt into the Promise Land was not a tidy affair.
A thinking person cannot help but wonder, “Why is that? Why are God’s deliverances not more decisive?”
The answer, of course, is that, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Reasons for the “untidiness”
Building on that, we can draw some observations from the deliverance from Egypt that will help, teaching us that God uses circumstances to bring about a purpose higher than merely delivering His people from adversity.
- To magnify God’s glory
God used Pharaoh’s refusal to let the Israelites leave, and the ensuing conflict with the ten plagues, to magnify the power and glory of God. Exodus 7:5 says, “The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” So… one purpose for the delay the Israelites found themselves in the middle of was for God’s reputation to be magnified to the world.
The result of this is that, when the Israelites left Egypt, God caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave them silver, gold and clothing. (Exodus 12:35-36) Incredibly, some of the Egyptians also voluntarily joined them (Exodus 12:38). We are not told why, but given the context of their having just lived through the ten plagues from God, which struck at the credibility of ten Egyptian gods, my speculation is that they were convinced that the God of Israel was the true God.
God is always drawing people to Himself because He loves them and wants them to come to Him so He can do good for them. This is why He magnifies His name to the world.
- To increase Israel’s faith
When the Israelites ran out of food in the wilderness, God fed them with manna, food which God miraculously provided for the Israelites for 40 years. In Deuteronomy 8:3, Moses wrote, “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know… that he might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”
Moses goes on to say that God did this because He was going to bring them into a land of profound blessing. And when they entered the land, He wanted them to remember that it was God who had blessed them so richly, so that they would not say, “My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.” (Deuteronomy 8:17)
So, God was building up their faith so that they would be able to thrive in a time of rich blessing which would follow the time of testing.
- To prepare Israel for a greater future
After Israel crossed the Red Sea, after they ran out of food, and after they ran out of water, the Amalekites attacked them (Exodus 17:8; Deuteronomy 25: 17-18). God miraculously delivered them from a savage and cowardly attack, to teach them how to conduct warfare.
To take the Promised Land, the Israelites would have to fight many enemies more formidable than the Amalekites. But God started them out small, so they could “learn war” on a smaller level and be prepared by God to win battles on a greater level.
Conclusion
So, we see that God’s “untidy” deliverances were not really untidy at all. They only appear untidy on the surface. Under the surface, we see that God was using the trying circumstances to build up his people and equip them for greater things.
The New Testament says that the things in the Old Testament “happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1Corinthians 10:11) From this, we can learn that when we pray to God for deliverance from a circumstance, and the deliverance is “untidy,” we need to understand that it is not really untidy. Rather, God is accomplishing greater things than merely delivering us from an unpleasant circumstance.
Among other possible things, He might be wanting to magnify his glory in our lives, He might be wanting to increase our faith, and might be wanting to prepare us for a greater future.
Romans 15:4 says, “Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” When we are in the midst of a circumstance from which we are praying for deliverance, let us look at the example of the Israelites to receive encouragement and hope. It may not be tidy. It may take longer than we wish. But likely, God is doing much more than we realize.
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