Looking Back

Today in our morning service our pastor, Byron Williamson's sermon was from Exodus chapter 14.  This passage deals with God delivering the Israelites from Pharaoh and his army by dividing and leading His chosen people through the Red Sea.  Byron was preaching on how the Israelites wavered between trusting and following God, and looking at the "enemy" and their possible destruction as Pharaoh's army bore down on them.  As the sermon progressed, we were taught that when we look at Satan and his plans we often forget who and how powerful our God is.

While thinking about the points of the sermon, several of the verses jumped out at me and a thought was given to me that paralleled Byron's points.  As I read vs. 10-12 the historian in me came to life.  These verses are as follows:

  ¹⁰ As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

As I read these verses it occurred to me that the nation of Israel had lost sight of God, their protector.  They looked back and saw the Egyptian army and sat in fear of what was going to happen, in their eyes.  They looked back to the splendor of Egypt, even though it was a false, secular splendor and wanted to go back.  They looked at their "certain and stable" life as slaves and longed to return.  All of this was rooted in fear because they took their eyes off of God!

They remembered the splendor and grandeur of the tombs in Egypt, forgetting that as slaves they built these ornate tombs for their taskmasters,  and died and were buried in unmarked and even mass graves dug in the dirt, because they were expendable.  The Israelites wanted to return and serve their former masters, forgetting the oppression and misery that they prayed to God to be freed from. They were looking back at their old lives.

Before we chastise the Israelites to severely, are we not a great deal like them?  Don't we often take our eyes off of our great Provider, forgeting the hand of protection and guidance God offers, just to look back at our sinful past.  To succumb in fear to Satan and his attacks.  Unfortunately, all to often I do. I start complaining about events and "things" going on in my life.  How often do I look back to "Egypt"?  How much fear do I allow into my life because of looking back?  After events that have occurred over the last several weeks, I find myself not keeping my eye on God as I should.  I keep looking back and the fear and uncertainty creeps in.  I have to force myself to stop, look to my "pillar of cloud" moving before me, and wait on my God to protect and guide me.  Only then can I be a part of those "who were going out triumphantly" (vs. 8) because they were looking to God their Deliverer!

Aromas

We all like things that smell good.  Fresh roses, homemade bread or cinnamon rolls, the smell of fresh cut hay (though that smell invokes a nasty round of hay fever with me) a good cologne or perfume, or any of a thousand of other scents that bring us pleasure. 

The other side of that coin are the things that offend out sense of smell.  Rotten food, a boys locker room or teenagers room, and the one that gets me, a dead animal decaying.  Any of the smell makes you recoil and back away to different degrees, but we do not want to be around them. 

This last week a passage out of 2 Corinthians has been twirling around in my mind.  I have contemplated verses 14 - 17 of chapter 2.  Read these verses with me.

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. ¹⁵ For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; ¹⁶ to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not like many, ^[d]peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

As I have meditated on these verses especially in light of the events of Easter week and the profound realization that Jesus Christ died and was raised from the dead, paying the price I owed for my sins.  I would be dead if not for His sacrifice, dead with the "aroma of death".  That smell of rotting flesh and decay!

Thinking of this, verses 14 - 16 jumped up at me.  We as believers should have the sweet aroma of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  That aroma should be "sweet and enticing" as we live our lives for Christ, spreading this among the people around us.  In the real world I have come to see that verse 16 is so true.  As I go through my daily routines, work, home, errands, and even church there are two responses to our "aroma".  To many it will be the "aroma from life to life", but to many more we will be the "aroma of death to death".  Unfortunately to many of those around us our witness will turn them away.  They have or will reject God and Christ for a multitude of reasons and whether consciously or not we will be the smell of death to them.

The reaction of those individuals is at the least indifference and to the extreme persecution of believers.  They smell the aroma of death and instinctively back away with revulsion as they head down the path to destruction and judgment due to their rejection of Christ, often striking out in various ways at those who bring the truth of God's word to the world.  This is a sad situation but we should not take it personally.  Rejection from those around us will happen. Christ told us through Luke 10:16 "“The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”  We can only hope that those we do come in contact with will smell the "sweet aroma of life"