Another aspect of God’s calling is to bring His chosen people into the wilderness by a journey of three days (3:18). Elsewhere in the Bible the term wilderness is not a positive term. But in 3:18 it is used in a positive sense, for here the wilderness is opposed to the world. It is the place of separation from the world. As soon as one is saved, he should be brought out of the world into the wilderness where there is no Egyptian element. When the children of Israel entered into the wilderness, they were set free from Egypt. In the same principle, if we would get out of the world, we must get into the wilderness. However, not many Christians have been brought into the wilderness. This means that some have been saved, but have not been delivered from the world and separated from it.
As a young man who was altogether in the world, I was full of ambition regarding my future. But when I was saved, I was saved not only from the lake of fire, but also saved from the world. On the day I was saved, all the worldly elements fell away from me, and I was brought into the wilderness. We need to pray that the Lord will grant us the ability to bring His children out of the world and into the wilderness.
According to 3:18, Moses and the elders of Israel were to say to the king of Egypt, “The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.” In the Bible three days signifies resurrection. A complete and perfect salvation must involve a three days’ journey, that is, a journey in resurrection. In our preaching of the gospel, there must be the power of resurrection. However, our gospel preaching today is short of impact. People can listen to our preaching and even repent and receive the Lord, but still remain in their tombs in Egypt. We need to have the power of resurrection in our preaching so that others are raised out of their tombs and brought into the wilderness by a journey of three days. Such a journey is signified by baptism. Every believer in Christ must be baptized to bear witness to the fact that he is leaving the world and is entering into another realm in resurrection.
We must pray that our ministry of the Word will have impact. We do not want to give mere knowledge to people. Rather, we desire that something in our preaching will touch their hearts and cause them to leave the world and journey into the wilderness in resurrection.
In 3:12 the Lord told Moses, “When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.” This indicates that the purpose of God’s calling is also to bring His chosen people to the mountain, where they may serve Him and sacrifice to Him (3:18; 19:1-2, 11; 24:16-18). Many Christians have never entered into the wilderness, much less come to the mountain. They are truly saved, because they believe in the Lord Jesus and they have been washed in His blood. However, they are still in Egypt. Others have come out of Egypt into the wilderness, but they have not come to the mountain. The divine revelation concerning God’s purpose was given to Moses on the mountain. The law was given to Moses there. It was also on the mountain that he received the revelation concerning the design of the tabernacle. Although most of the children of Israel did not actually ascend to the top of the mountain, they were nonetheless camped close to the mountain. Moses, Aaron, and more than seventy others went up to the mountain to meet with God (24:1, 9).
The mountain in 3:12 refers to an elevation in the wilderness. Not only do we need to be separated from the world, but in this realm of separation we need to ascend to an elevated place. Only when we are on such a high level can we receive the revelation regarding God’s eternal purpose.
Although certain preachers may be eloquent and knowledgeable, their preaching has no impact on us. After listening to their messages, we are still in the same realm and atmosphere as before. The only difference is that we have acquired some new information. However, the preaching of a called one is different. After hearing such a one preach God’s word, we cannot remain the same. His speaking delivers us from Egypt; it rescues us from the usurping hand of Satan and from the tyranny of the world. Furthermore, it brings us into the wilderness and even to the mountain. Here on the mountain, where the sky is clear (Exo. 24:10), we see the vision of God’s economy. Here we come to know what is on God’s heart, and we see what God desires to have on earth today. We realize that He desires to have a people who walk according to His statutes and who build Him a tabernacle that He may dwell among them.
The purpose of God’s calling is also to build a tabernacle to be God’s dwelling place on earth (25:8-9, 40). The vision and the building of the tabernacle occupy nearly half of this book. Moses received the vision on the mountain, and there the tabernacle was built. This was for the further journey of the children of Israel toward the final goal, which was to enter the good land and to build the temple there.