God prepared a Goshen in the land of Ham. Even If we make our bed in the depths, He is there. He knows our coming in and going out. He would help us and love us even if we live where satan has his throne. For all He cares are the people who have remained faithful to His name. He will eventually lead his people to the land of Canaan but till then land of Ham is their refuge. Living in Goshen has its own problem.
Goshen’s comfort vs Canaan’s promise.
The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat round pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you brought us into this dessert to starve this entire assembly to death. Exodus 16:3
God heard their cries and remembered the covenant He made with Abraham and decided to rescue the people living in Goshen. He brought them out of Egypt. But they rebelled against God. They grumbled when there was shortage of food, and water. These people always remembered the comfort of Egypt. They loved Egypt so much that they even preferred the graves of that land. They were ready to serve Egyptians as slaves rather die as free people. In short, the blessings and comfort of Goshen provided by God became an obstacle in the lives of Israelites. They were not ready to leave behind their coziness for a while to receive the land flowing with milk and honey.
It might be true that we have faced lot persecution in the land of Ham but its no secret that we have grown in those situations. There were times when sons were snatched from the hands of their mothers to be killed. But it’s no secret that Israelites grew and multiplied in number. They were only seventy people when they came to Egypt but their number grew to six lakhs in that cursed land. Alas, none of these six-lakh got into the Canaan land. If they grew in the cursed land, their number decreased as they journeyed to the promised land. If we are not willing to leave the comfort of Goshen then the journey to the land of Canaan will not be easy for us.
Canaan a land ruled by the cursed.
Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you. Exodus 23:32,33
The land the Israelites stayed on was cursed, despite them being blessed. But their journey was to a blessed land ruled by some cursed people. God waited for sin of these cursed nations to reach its full measure. In a way Israel waited for more than four hundred years for the Amorites and other nations, so that the measure of their sin was full and the Lord was ready to cast them out of that blessed land.
God wanted Israelites to drive all these nations away from that blessed land. On one place God commands the Israel to show kindness to foreigners for they were also foreigners in the land of Egypt. But here, God wants no friendship with the enemy. He wants Israelites to drive away all the cursed nations from the blessed land.
We may have lived in the cursed land and stayed with the cursed people. But remember to avoid the cursed from entering our promised land. Sometimes we unknowingly make covenant with enemy, and that would certainly be a snare to us. We are required to live in the land of the cursed as blessed and preserve the blessed land by protecting it from the cursed people.
In this journey, from the land of Ham to the land of Canaan, one should keep in mind that the comfort of Goshen is meagre in front of the blessings of Canaan. And to preserve the blessed land one should always drive and stay away from the cursed people. God’s people live as a separate nation in Egypt and same separation is required even in the blessed land.
Goshen is temporary but Canaan is permanent. Blessed are those who are called to live in Canaan. Such people are chosen and kept in the QUIVER OF GOD.
May God bless you all..