Egypt My People (and Assyria, Israel...)

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"Blessed by Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance." Isaiah 19:25

"Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?" declares the Lord. "Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?" Amos 9:7

In 1975, while I was an airman at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, I visited a Christian bookstore. Like many such stores, it had few books but endless "Christian" knickknacks, scrolls, paintings, mugs, pencil holders, key chains, bracelets. Of course, stores stock what sells, so people must not read much (last year I was surprised to find that many malls in America no longer have bookstores!). It was easy to see why some people's understanding of the Bible, or God, was about as shallow as the cutesy sayings on the Christian paraphernalia. That went for the well-heeled, educated store owner as well.

When the shop owner saw me in uniform, she began talking to me about the problems around the world, and how OPEC's rise in oil prices portended the end of the world, but she smiled and added, "Fortunately, believers will be raptured before they must suffer."

I was astonished! "Christians are suffering right now!" I said. "They're being tortured and killed in Russia, Asia, Africa..." What about the martyr John Moiseyev!" (below)

"Oh, but they are overseas!" she said.

I thought she had to be joking, but she was not--and her five-word reply opened my eyes to just how shockingly narrow is our view of ourselves, our world, and our God. True, few Americans are quite that narrow or naive, but we do seem to have the notion that, because we are blessed, we are and always will be immune to accountability. In fact, we will be held more accountable, not less, and if we don't use our blessings to bless others, our Father will use other nations.

1. Sheep in other Folds. The fact that one nation is "chosen" does not mean that others are forgotten, or unloved--or not used. In Isaiah 19:25, the idol-worshipping Egyptians were described as "my people," and the Assyrians as "my handiwork." And Amoy 9:7 says, "Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?" declares the Lord. "Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?"

We talk much about the Exodus of Israel, but our Father has clearly loved, and led, many other nations as well (read Don Richardson's book "Eternity in their Hearts").

2. Accountable. Even if we were the "chosen," that is no guarantee of immunity from harm. On the contrary, Israel has suffered more, not less, than others nations, because it has not used it has so frequently squandered its inheritance. The text notes in the NIV Study Bible say of Amos 9:7, "Israel could not rely on God's past blessings as an assurance of his future benevolence. Her stubborn rebelliousness robbed the exodus of all special meaning for her; her journey from Egypt is reduced to no more significance than the movement of other peoples."

A sobering lesson is in 2 Chronicles 35. Josiah, one of the few really decent kings of Judah, tried to stop Neco, Pharaoh of heathen Egypt, from passing through his land on the way to war with Babylon. Neco said, "What quarrel is there between you and me, O king of Judah? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war." Neco added "God has told me to hurry, so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you."

But Josiah, chosen king of the chosen people, was not afraid. Why should he be? He was chosen! He was God's instrument. As verse 22b noted, "He would not listen to what Neco had said at God's command but went to fight him..." And Josiah was killed.

3. Engage or Escape? If Israel was held accountable, can we expect differently? Can we with impunity preach one Gospel on Sunday and live another gospel Monday thru Saturday and expect to be rescued from the consequences, perhaps with a "Get out of the World Free" Monopoly card? Instead of hoping to escape the world, we should engage the world, without fear. Jesus taught us not to seek escape but to work that "they kingdom come thy, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." In John 15:17 Jesus prayed, "I do not pray that you take them out of the world but to keep them from the evil one." That did not mean none would suffer. Their hearts were kept from the evil one, though all but one was eventually martyred--as was John Moiseyev.

The 20-year-old Christian soldier John (Vanya, or Ivan) Vasilyevich Moiseyev wrote his last letter to his parents on June 15, 1972; he was tortured and killed July 16th. He told his parents not to grieve if this was his last letter. He admitted some fear, but he did not expect or ask for escape, but rather to live, to the last, a life that did not flee the darkness but dispelled it. Here is an excerpt:

Written June 15, 1972
“My dear parents, the Lord had showed the way to me...and I have decided to follow it.... I will now have more severe and bigger battles than I have had till now. But I do not fear them. He goes before me. Do not grieve for me, my dear parents. It is because I love Jesus more than myself. I listen to Him, though my body does fear somewhat or does not wish to go through everything. I do this because I do not value my life as much as I value Him. And I will not await my own will, but I will follow as the Lord leads. He says, Go, and I go.

“Do not become grieved if this is your sons’ last letter...."

One month later Vanya was dead, but he is more alive today than those who live only in hope of escape, neglecting the great opportunities and responsibilities our Father has given us, here and now. To him who has much, much is given. To him who has little, even that little shall be taken away.

www.amoymagic.com