by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
Getting ourselves out of the world is hard. Getting the world out of us is harder.<\/p>\n
“O Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares Yahweh, “For I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, but I will not make a full end of you<\/em>” (Jeremiah 46:28).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The oracle of Jeremiah 46 concerns Egypt, and it isn’t the first or last time God has given a special message to the once-nighty world superpower. Already defeated once by Babylon at Carchemish, a battle of huge historical significance, Egypt is promised that she will again suffer defeat by the Babylonians. Despite her prestige, power, wealth, and military strength, Egypt will be toppled from her perch.<\/p>\n
For Israel, Egypt had been a place of slavery, hardship, and tyranny. Yet strangely, as they were freed from that bondage, they fondly remembered the food there and the life they had there. Despite the way they were treated, they often wanted to return there, conveniently forgetting their slavery! Even in Jeremiah’s time, they believed that Egypt would save them from being another of Babylon’s conquests.<\/p>\n
This strange allure has always been a bane to believers throughout the ages. In a way, the ancient nation is a picture of today’s world, even the United States. The world, that is, the system of belief that is decidedly anti-God, is what we, as Christians, try to escape. Yet, when we think of what we give up to follow Jesus, we feel the tug to return.<\/p>\n
Just as God promised defeat to Egypt, He’ll defeat the way of the world and will take us out of it for good. The question is, when that time comes, will the world still be in us?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Zeke Flores Getting ourselves out of the world is hard. Getting the world out of us is harder. “O Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares Yahweh, “For I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, but I will not make a full…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[353,179],"class_list":["post-69271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-influence","tag-sin"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36720,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/in-the-midst-of-evil\/","url_meta":{"origin":69271,"position":0},"title":"In the Midst of Evil","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 1:3-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Abraham was told that his descendants would be strangers and slaves in a land before being brought back out 400 years later - Genesis 15:13 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That nation, Egypt, was one of the more wicked places on earth, totally given over to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22793,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-go-into-egypt\/","url_meta":{"origin":69271,"position":1},"title":"Don’t Go Into Egypt","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Jeremiah 42:1-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Imagine living during the last days of Judah \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Josiah was a wonderful king - II Kings 23:25 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But he was killed by the king of Egypt - II Kings 23:28-29 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But Jehoahaz, the king who succeeded him, only lasted three months - II Kings 23:31-33 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0D.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1806,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-the-queen-of-heaven-in-jeremiah-718\/","url_meta":{"origin":69271,"position":2},"title":"Who is the Queen of Heaven in Jeremiah 7:18?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 21, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If there are no female gods, then who is the Queen of Heaven in\u00a0Jeremiah 7:18? Answer: Just because man worships an idol, it does not make the god represented by the idol real. \"Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88008,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-take-so-long-to-bring-israel-into-the-promised-land\/","url_meta":{"origin":69271,"position":3},"title":"Why did God take so long to bring Israel into the promised land?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Jeffrey, I have a question and would like to seek your wisdom. This pertains to God's purpose in the various journeys involving the children of Israel. What does the scriptures say or infer about God's purpose? God asked Abraham to pack up and move to the land of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92185,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/out-of-egypt-i-have-called-my-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":69271,"position":4},"title":"Out of Egypt I Have Called My Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton There are different kinds of prophecies. Some are direct and some are indirect. Some are in the form of typology, and therefore, when Jesus fulfills them, it is not always obvious how it is a shadow, and then Jesus fills in the form. I want to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83576,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/in-their-hearts\/","url_meta":{"origin":69271,"position":5},"title":"In Their Hearts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson In his address to the Sanhedrin, Stephen said, \"Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him [Moses], but repudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt\u2026\" (Acts 7:39 NASB). \"We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}