Let My People Go!

And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. (Ex. 5:1)

This command still rings off the portals of time; Satan is commanded by God today, to let His people go. It seems that the devil has a death grip on mankind—one that can only be loosed by the Lord Himself, at Calvary. Though Jesus broke the “spell” that Satan has on men, many will not heed the call to go, and commune with the Lord, and sup with Him. Pharaoh did let God’s people go, after much persuading, and today we are free to worship the Lord according to His Word. There is, however, another application for us in this passage—Satan has the church bound up in his trap, and will not let her go.

Collectively, and individually, Satan has the church in his grip again. He has a foothold on us, and we are desperate to be free from his grasp; but there is no freedom from the bondage of sin, aside from the Lord Jesus Christ. Though the devil does not own the souls of men when they accept Christ as Savior, he still has a hold on our lives. Why? Because we are but flesh. Our flesh appeals to him, and he appeals to our flesh. The only solution is to mortify the deeds of the flesh through the Spirit of God; and we cannot do this until Christ gives the command “Let my people go!” He does give that command the instant we accept Him as our Savior, but then we, like many of the children of Israel, long for the memory of “Egypt” and return to our old sinful ways. Yes, the flesh can be our enemy; it seeks to return into bondage, and enjoy the leeks of Egypt once again. Oh that we might mortify the body, and drink from the well of Living waters, and eat from the Manna that came down from heaven, that Manna being the Lord Himself. He is the “Bread of life” to all who hunger and the Waters of life to all that thirst. We must eat from His harvest daily, and bask in the solitude of His grace; only then can we find peace and rest in the walk of life, and only then can we be set free in the flesh. Galations 5:16 says “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Friends, we owe it to our Lord to walk in the Spirit, after all, it was He that set us free in the first place, and we owe Him our lives.