Sojourners and Pilgrims

Genesis 50:1 - Exodus 2:10

There is an interesting transition as we move from Genesis to Exodus.  In Genesis, Egypt is a place of BLESSING.  God led all Isreal down to Egypt "to preserve life" (Gen. 45:5).  Egypt is the place of provision and protection. 

As we move into the book of Exodus, a dramatic transition has taken place.  The place of BLESSING becomes the place of BONDAGE.  The place of PROVISION and PROTECTION becomes the place of PERSECUTION.

I am reminded of the continual way God's people are identified throughout Scripture.  In I Peter 1:1 we are called "pilgrims" or "sojourners."  Hebrews 11:13 says that we are "strangers and pilgrims."  Hebrews 13:14 says that "here we have no continuing city."  Again in Hebrews 11:9, it is said that we now live in a "foreign country, dwelling in tents." 

In the natural, I have lived in the same physical city, Monroe, Louisiana, for the bulk of my adult life.  These verses do not, I believe, speak to the natural settings of life.  It is possible to serve God well in the same place for a long time.  However, there is another meaning.  It is spiritual.  We are to KEEP MOVING.

May we never CAMP OUT in the Kingdom of God.  When we do, the place of temporary blessing can become the place of long-term bondage.  So it happened to Israel.