As we saw in “Enduring As Seeing Him Who Is Invisible,” Moses gives us a two indicators of walking by faith:
By faith he [Moses] forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:27)
We discussed the first indicator of faithfulness in: Enduring As Seeing Him Who Is Invisible.
Now we will look at the second indicator of faithfulness that Moses gives us — forsaking Egypt!
The Worldly Wisdom of ‘Egypt’
In Scripture, ‘Egypt’ is a term that speaks of the spiritually dark wisdom of this world — its false values, false practices, and false gods. This is what Moses forsook and abandoned! And as we shall see below, this is what Moses did to avoid the ‘strong delusion’ (2Thessalonians 2:8-12).
If we desire to walk by faith with Yahuwah Elohim [the Hebrew name for the LORD God], then we will follow Moses’ example by forsaking the worldly wisdom of this world — forsaking the world’s false values, false practices, false religions, and false gods!
As we grow in our faith, we will encounter many things that would try to hinder our walk of faith with the heavenly Father. One of the greatest hindrances to our faith is to feed upon Spiritual Mixtures. Spiritual Mixtures combine truth with counterfeit. Spiritual mixtures are the deceptive, worldly wisdom systems of ‘Egypt.’ Spiritual mixtures mix Truth from Yahuwah’s written WORD [the Bible], with the dark wisdom of this world.
Spiritual mixtures cause us to put our confidence in man-made twistings of God’s Word. Spiritual mixtures cause us to trust in the false gods of false religious systems. This is the ‘spirit of Egypt’ (Isaiah 19:1-17). It brings about divisions in the Body of Messiah because it promotes and idolizes the dark wisdom of this world rather than honouring and respecting the pure Word of God.
The frightening thing about spiritual mixtures is that they appear to be right:
There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).
This verse is given twice in Proverbs, and it should be a double warning for us!! The many pathways and practices of the so-called ‘wisdom’ of this world appear to be good, right, and wise. But in reality, they are deceptive pathways, and result in curses and and delusion and death!
The apostle Paul expressed a clear warning regarding the nature of counterfeit, spiritual pathways:
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled [deceived] Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2Corinthians 11:3)
This verse describes for us what these spiritual counterfeits do. These subtle, beguiling teachings from Satan corrupt us, and rob us of the simple truth of God’s written Word! These spiritual mixtures contain the corrupt widsom of this world, and they lead downward to death. They are earthly, soulish (sensual), demonic (James 3:15).
Satan is capable of transforming himself into an angel of light (2Corinthians 11:14), so his deceptions can allure anyone who desires spiritual insight. Have we ourselves become beguiled — captivated and deceived, and led away from the simplicity that is in Messiah? We should never underestimate the ability of Satan to duplicate religious truth or experience. We must avoid the notion that sincerity equates truth!!
It is crucial that we learn Yahuwah’s written Word for ourselves, because it is the source of authority and truth for all our beliefs and actions. When we know and obey God’s Word [the Bible], then we will know the truth, and thereby, we will not be led down into the destructive bondage of a ‘spiritual mixture!’ What may SEEM to be right, what may be popular; what “everyone-else-is-doing!” is often a ‘way’ that appeals to our carnal nature, appeals to our own soulish, human wisdom and desires.
What may ‘seem‘ to be right is appealing to many! The Scriptures confirm this: “Broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are which go into destruction in this way” (Matthew 7:13).
Counterfeit Wisdom
Many Born-again Thirsty Souls do not realize the dangers of embracing a spiritual mixture, and are therefore following other ‘gods.’
Those who are seeking to follow the true, Almighty God, and His wisdom [Yahuwah’s written WORD], those who are searching for true, eternal wisdom, are often looking in the wrong places! They are doing what seems to be right, what feels right to them. But they are falling prey to popular, counterfeit, spiritually dark wisdom — the wisdom of ‘Egypt’ — the wisdom of this world.
Sadly, many Thirsty Souls have not forsaken Egypt! They are feeding on one or more of the myriads of Spiritual Mixtures — the corrupted teachings of ‘worldly wisdom’ — the twisted thinking and false gods of religious systems.
Spiritual mixtures do two things: either they take away from, or they add to, the Scriptures. This is a direct and dangerous violation of the written Scriptures (see Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Revelation 22:18-19)
What does Father have to say about spiritual mixtures?
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! (Isaiah 5:20-21)
These verses are a very good description of spiritual mixtures —
- mixing good with evil,
- mixing light with darkness,
- mixing sweet with bitter,
- mixing a little bit of the false with the true.
What does Yahuwah say about those who accept and embrace such mixtures? — “Woe unto them!!” Woe to them because they have rejected the pure truth of Yahuwah’s written Word, leaning on their own human understanding, trusting in their own imaginations.
It is complete foolishness to insist that our own human wisdom and understanding is greater than God’s pure Word.
Those who refuse the superior authority of God’s written Word place themselves in dangerous territory. To rely solely on human understanding and man’s twisted teachings of God’s Word makes our ‘own’ human understanding into our own fabricated ‘god.’ Such thinking is idolatrous! How could any one of us, as mere human beings, say, “I know better than my Creator!”?
King Saul’s Example
Consider what happened to King Saul when he refused to obey the Word of Yahuwah:
And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly: you have not kept the commandment of Yahuwah Elohim [the LORD your God], which He commanded you: for now would Yahuwah [the LORD] have established your kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now your kingdom shall not continue: Yahuwah [the LORD] has sought Him a man after His own heart, and Yahuwah [the LORD] has commanded him to be captain over His people, because you have not kept that which Yahuwah [the LORD] commanded you. (1Samuel 13:13-14)
The prophet Samuel warned Saul, saying “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Yahuwah.” King Saul had acted on his own wisdom and initiative, refusing to wait patiently to fulfill the Word of Yahuwah. From that moment onward, Saul was on a downward spiral.
King Saul never recovered from his lofty way of thinking about himself; he never truly repented for following his own carnal wisdom and desires. As a result, King Saul gradually became more troubled, more unpredictable, more angry and hateful. His understanding eventually became so dark that he sought for wisdom from a witch — a woman with a familiar spirit, a spiritist (see 1Samuel 28:7-25).
Saul’s example is a warning for us today!
Rejecting the Word of Yahuwah is a very serious thing (1Samuel 15:23). The dark and deceptive pathway that Saul chose led him further downward. Saul eventually violated Yahuwah’s instruction, by consulting a spiritist [a witch] (Deuteronomy 18:9-12; Leviticus 19:31). This was a greivious violation of the Word of Yahuwah, and illustrates the eventual outcome of those who embrace the worldly wisdom of Egypt!
Be Alert!
It is good to yearn for understanding of the things of Messiah’s eternal kingdom (see 2Corinthians 4). Yet we must be vigilant to learn for ourselves, the true, undefiled wisdom that comes from Yahuwah’s written Scriptures! And then we must be willing to follow the simplicity of what Yahuwah’s written WORD actually says.
The wrong pathways are those that appeal to our natural, human understanding, pathways that ‘seem’ to be wise and right, but contradict the written Scriptures.
We need to be very guarded against accepting any spiritual ‘awakening’ or spiritual ‘fire’ or spiritual ‘wisdom’ that is a mixture of darkness and light. Receiving false spiritual enticements will cause us to stumble spiritually, bring curses into our lives, and prevent us from walking with Messiah, who is the true ‘Light of Life.’
We must love the Truth of the written Word of God, so that we will avoid the strong delusions of spiritual mixtures (see 2Thessalonians 2:8-12)!
Walking in Darkness
Yahushua Messiah [Jesus Christ] tells us:
If a man walk in the night, he stumbles, because there is no light in him. (John 11:10)
Yahushua is telling us that if we are walking, or living our lives, in ‘the night,’ or in spiritual darkness, then we will stumble, because there is no light [no Truth] in us! Living in spiritual darkness causes stumbling!
Only by studying the Words of Messiah for ourselves [all the written Words of Scripture], with the enlightenment from the Holy Spirit — only by a firm commitment to obey Yahuwah’s WORDS, and none other — can we then begin to be alert to dangerous spiritual mixtures. This is key to avoid stumbling!
Yahushua tells us how to avoid walking in darkness:
Then spake Yahushua [Jesus] … saying, I am the light of the world: he that followes Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)
Those who follow [obey] Yahushua, and His Words, will NOT walk in darkness! They will have the LIGHT of Life!
To follow Yahushua Messiah, is to walk in His path. To follow Messiah is to do what He did, and avoid what He avoided.
Spiritual Darkness is Very Dangerous! Spiritual darkness prevents us from seeing the incorruptible LIGHT and truth of Yahushua’s message! Spiritual darkness prevents us from recognizing the great importance of what King David said: “I have kept [guarded] the ways of Yahuwah, and have not wickedly departed from my Elohim!” (Psalms 18:21)
- [See some indicators of walking in Spiritual Darkness in the list below.]
The Prophets: Isaiah, Hosea, Jeremiah
The prophet Isaiah gives us an important standard for Believers in Yahushua Messiah:
To the law [the Torah] and to the testimony [the words and life-witness of Yahushua and His Disciples]: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no Light in them. (Isaiah 8:20)
This verse teaches us that if we embrace a spiritual ‘wisdom’ from those who do not speak according to the complete Word of Yahuwah – both the Torah (the Old Testament), and the Testimony of Yahushua Messiah (The New Testament) – then it is a worldly ‘wisdom’ having NO light, thus NO truth! Those who reject the validity of the Torah and its importance to the New Testament have forsaken ‘the patience of the saints’: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Yahushua [Jesus]” (Revelation 14:12; see also Revelation 12:17).
To have ‘No Light’ is to be in the darkness of ignorance, deception, and bondage! Receiving spiritual guidance that is not in agreement with the full counsel of God’s written Word, is feeding on a spiritual mixture.
Yahuwah warns us further through the prophet Hosea, telling us that it is God’s people who are ‘destroyed‘ because they lack the knowledge of Father’s written WORD, and because they have rejected God’s law [the Torah] (see Hosea 4:6)!
The prophet Jeremiah gives us another warning, telling us that those who refuse to hear God’s Words are those who walk in the imagination of their heart, and are actually walking after other gods — such people are ‘good for nothing!‘ (Jeremiah 13:10)
These are sobering warnings! We need to earnestly consider the seriousness of Father’s warnings! (See also these warnings: Leviticus 18:3; 20:23; Deuteronomy 12:30-31; Isaiah 47:12-14; Jeremiah 10:2; Ezekiel 20:32.)
To avoid darkness, bondage, and delusion, we must pursue spiritual guidance that is in complete agreement with all the Words of the Bible, because “ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2Timothy 3:16). Yahuwah’s written WORD is the only en-LIGHT-en-ment that is true and undefiled!
Testing Ourselves
The best thing we can do is test ourselves, and ‘see’ if we are keeping our focus on Yahuwah, and on His written WORD; test ourselves to see if we are trusting in twisted, man-made teachings rather than the pure Word of God. We test ourselves by looking to see if we have forsaken Egypt, forsaken the worldly wisdom of this world.
Are we living our lives according to Yahuwah’s written WORD (see 2John 1:6-11)? Are we following Messiah’s example, being humble and obedient to the Scriptures as He was?
Or, are we embracing defiled, soulish, worldly wisdom? Are we feeding on Spiritual Mixtures that are a little bit of truth, mixed with error [poison]? When we are feeding on error, we will not be following Messiah.
Are we committed to following the written Word of Yahuwah [the Bible], even if some parts are difficult to understand (see 2Peter 3:13-18)? Do we know the Word for ourselves, so that we can avoid the deceiving and destructive teachings of Spiritual Mixtures?
Are we loving Father with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength by seeking HIS Word diligently, and then obeying it?
Forsaking Egypt is an essential step in learning to please the heavenly Father, in learning to ‘walk by faith,‘ and in receiving the goal of our faith — ‘the salvation of our souls’ (Hebrews 11:6; 1Peter 1:6-9)!
Forsaking the ways and systems of this world will thoroughly test us! — testing our resolve to follow our Saviour, Yahushua Messiah! Forsaking Egypt will test our willingness to endure rejection for the sake of honouring our Saviour!
- The central, core error of many Spiritual Mixtures is a denial of the deity of Yahushua Messiah [Jesus Christ], and His sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection for the remission of our sins. If we are involved in any spiritual ‘wisdom’ or system that embraces this error, then our eternal salvation is uncertain! We should question whether we have truly become Born-again (John 3:3-21)!
It takes time, commitment, and determination to learn Father’s Word for ourselves, and to forsake worldly wisdom, by genuinely obeying God’s Word [the Bible]. Will we remain true to His Word? Will we be faithful to His Word, even in the small matters? Will we forsake Egypt, regardless of the difficulties?
Understanding Yahuwah’s written Word and Truth requires us to be somewhat ‘mechanical’ in our approach. Without a lot of emotion or commotion, we simply seek Father everyday, by reading/studying the Word of Yahuwah [the Bible], and praying each day — praying for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and praying for a willing and obedient heart. Little by little, we will begin to know what is truth, and we can repent of any involvement with spiritual mixtures, and we can avoid what is false.
Walking In Darkness: Indicators
What are some clues, some indicators that we may be walking in a pathway of darkness — that we are embracing a spiritual counterfeit, feeding on corrupt, worldly wisdom?
Derek Prince explains some very revealing clues for us:
- In the spiritual realm, the Bible is the standard of that which is straight — that which is true! Anything that departs from the Bible is false. Whether it departs by little or much is relatively unimportant. Some of the subtlest deceptions are those that appear to differ only a little from the Bible!
- The following are some of the many false religions or cults that are active today: Anthroposophy, Black Mass, Children of God, Christadelphians, Christian Science, Freemasonry, Inner Peace Movement, Jehovah’s Witnesses (Dawn Bible Students), Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), New Age Movement, Religious Science, Rosicrucianism, Scientology, Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Unification Church (Moonies, One World Crusade), Unitarian Church, Christian denominations that twist the Scriptures to fit their ‘pet’ doctrines. Also, Eastern religions or cults, such as Baha’i, Buddhism, Confucianism, Divine Light Mission, gurus, Hare Krishna, Hinduism, Islam, Shintoism, Transcendental Meditation, and the practice of yoga. — Occult and False Gods Listing – a comprehensive listing of occults and false gods, religions, and practices by Derek Prince
Here are some links revealing additional Indicators of Walking in Darkness:
- Should Christians Practice Yoga?
- A Course In Miracles – A Christian Examination — Examining its origins and its tenets
- The Lie of the New Spirituality — exposing heresies and occultism that is packaged and prepared for the Western mind
- Cults and World Religions — 8 pages of links to articles about Cults and World Religions
- Pharmakeia and Sorceries in the Last Days
From the above lists, we can see that a little bit of darkness is often more dangerous than complete darkness! The pathway of a spiritual mixture is a dangerous and hazy pathway.
Those walking in a spiritual mixture — those who embrace a spiritual system that mixes worldly, soulish, even demonic wisdom with the Truth of God’s Word — they are more inclined to cling to their own ways, their own imaginations, rather than to repent. The little bit of spiritual darkness has deceived them, and it prevents them from seeing that they have gotten off Father’s pathway! They are not even aware of their delusion, which is alarmingly strong!
The strength of one’s delusion begins with a refusal to love the truth of God’s Word:
And then that Wicked one will be revealed … whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they would believe a lie [what is false], in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2Thessalonians 2:8-12)
As this Scripture passage teaches us, it is Yahuwah Himself who sends a strong delusion to those who refuse to love the truth — to those who refuse to love the simple truth of God’s WORD!
That is a frightening thought!! A frightening truth!!
May each one of us earnestly pray for, and always seek to have, the LOVE of the truth!
Avoiding the Way that ‘Seems’ Right
Once we become Born-again as followers of Yahushua Messiah, our deepest heart’s desire is to learn Father’s written Word for ourselves, so that we can love Him by obeying Him! Born-again Believers delight in the Saviour, Yahushua, and strongly desire to walk according to Yahuwah’s written WORD, to walk worthy of Him (1Timothy 4:10; Colossians 1:10)!
If we would avoid the strong delusions, avoid the forbidden counterfeits, the false gods of this world, and thus grow in genuine faith, then we must begin to follow Moses’ example — we must forsake Egypt, forsake the worldly wisdom of this world.
Father’s ways are not according to human ways or thoughts. We must be determined to follow the written Scriptures, and not deviate from them, not alter God’s Word in any way! We need to cry out for Yahuwah’s help to walk with Him as we seek the wisdom and understanding that is in agreement with the written WORD of God (Psalms 119:169).
By loving the truth of Father’s written Word, by seeking Father with all our heart, then, by His mercy and grace, we can avoid the delusion of spiritual mixtures — we can avoid the way that ‘seems’ right!
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- See Part 1 of this study: Enduring As Seeing Him Who Is Invisible
- See also the other Companion Articles: Faith Comes! and Walking By Faith and Fight The Good Fight of Faith
- Lead Me In Your Truth: Part 1 – The Basics
- Lead Me In Your Truth: Part 2 – The Ancient Paths
- A Way That Seems Right: Avoiding The Sin Against Our Own Body
- A Way That Seems Right: Avoiding the Deception of Yoga
- A Way That Seems Right: Avoiding the Deceit of Falsehoods
- The Way of the Wicked: A Warning
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- For further study regarding Scriptural warnings, see: Contending for The Faith and How to Keep the 2nd Commandment and The Promised Land: Choosing to Enter In
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Related Articles:
- Seven Biblical Guidelines for Studying the Bible – excellent guidelines for learning how to study the Scriptures for ourselves
- The Holy Spirit Will Guide You Into All Truth
- The Pathway of Purity
- The Key to Gaining Understanding
- The Adventure of Growing Up: Love Not the World
- First the Natural, Then the Spiritual
- Light Arises In The Darkness For The Upright
- Seeking God With All Our Heart
- 9 Truths About the Bible
- Blessed Are They That Hear and Keep God’s Word – what does it take to please God?
- The Way of the Wicked: A Warning
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Cold Waters to a Thirsty Soul
Cold Waters to a Thirsty Soul 
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