Life in the Desert

John 7:37

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink."

Every person in this world is in one of three places:

- Egypt - Under the slavery of sin and Pharaoh. In need of deliverance.

- The Desert - Grasping of the Moral Law. The beginning of deliverance.

- The Promise Land - Under Grace. The completion of deliverance.

The progression is not just the story of the Israelites' of Exodus. It is also our individual story. We don't take sin seriously until we experience how harsh a taskmaster it is. We labor under oppression. We discern that sin will always be more brick and less straw. When sin is an experiential reality, we see that there is a moral law that is operating in the Universe.

For how can we assess anything unless there is a standard that applies to all. Post-moderns like to dismiss objective morality as culturally subjective--as if gravity is a personal choice rather than a reality. The Bible uses the word Fall intentionally. We Fall when we sin just as a ball would fall off of a building. Often those that are most adamant about physical laws are most opposed to moral laws.

The Desert is a place of testing and trying. God puts us in a desolate and dry place for us to understand that our own souls are desperately desert-like. Addictions are either broken or believed in the desert. We want to go back to the onions, melons, leeks and garlic of Egypt, forgetting the whips and chains and ceaseless work. God calls us ahead. Like Bilbo is Gollum's cave, we "Must go forward. Only things to do." 

In reading Exodus this morning, I was reminded that the Ten Commandments came from God only 3 months after the people of Israel were delivered from Egypt. The next 40 years of trial, disobedience, and progressive deliverance, were still ahead. We may leave Egypt quickly, but it does not leave us. The Law points us to Christ, who is both the Pillar of Fire in the dark cold night or the Cloud of Cooling in the scorching heat of the day. Water of refreshment comes from the Rock, Christ is the Rock and the fulfillment of the Law in the Flesh, the Water is grace and points us to the eternal Christ in the Promise Land.

John the Baptized in the Jordan River. It is an act repentance.Jesus identifies with us in our baptism, taking on what was not His, so that we can take on His nature. We cross over Jordan on the Cross.

When I see Isis and other Islamic extremist do their terrible atrocities I wonder how much blood will satisfy their swords. How many victims do they have to set aflame before there are no more ashes necessary? Where the price of their revenge has been paid in full? Their thirst for violence slaked? Never. Only an infinite God can price such a price. And did. On Calvary. His blood cries enough.