Get out!

Get out! Get out and leave your captivity, where everything you touch is unclean. Get out of there and purify yourselves, you who carry home the sacred objects of the LORD.

(Isaiah 52:11)

Long ago the nation of Israel was recalled after a long (and precisely prescribed) captivity. Isaiah 52:11 was God’s command to them to return to the promised land and show the nations of the world the holiness and power of the God Almighty. This was the part of the people themselves but God does not leave people to work alone.

You will not leave in a hurry, running for your lives. For the LORD will go ahead of you; yes, the God of Israel will protect you from behind.

(Isaiah 52:12)

God always does his part. He both cleared the way before the people and acted as their rear guard. How does this apply to us in this New Testament age? Note the bit about carrying home the sacred objects of the LORD. We do not have the Temple these days nor the some prescribed ceremonies and objects of worship as in the Old Testament age.

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

(1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

In the New Testament age, the saints (all who accept the Lordship of Jesus Christ) are the sacred objects of the LORD. What is our captivity? Are we not ensnared in the World and its promises, the modern day Babylon? I say to you that while you dwell on the earth that you not be part of the World. Rather, be the recipient of all of God’s promises. The introductions to Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians all state that they are written to God’s holy people–his sacred objects.

So, we have a command, “Get out!” and we God’s guidance for how that gets done. Start walking and see if God will not see you through. It is a straight and narrow path. There is no word that it is smooth and without challenges (quite the opposite) but we are promised passage all the way through with always a way to escape every challenge. Start walking!