"...know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" James 4:4
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Egypt and Sodom
Both of these represent the world.
Egypt is the world in its oppression, in which man is treated as the slave of the enemy (Satan), represented by Pharaoh, its prince. Man may groan under it [rejecting the truth; ed.], as he will, when the light shines in, or he may be ignorant of the chains that bind him. In either case, he is but a helpless slave in this world.
Sodom represents the world more in its friendly aspect. It is thus not oppression, but patronage. It is that active side of the world's policy which seeks to make me contented with the order of things here. It made a great man of Lot. Everything which has the tendency to make me satisfied with the present order of things, is Sodom.
The opposite of "Egypt," is Canaan, and the opposite of "Sodom," is the Wilderness, the pilgrim character seen in Abraham, in contrast to Lot. That is "going on," and not settling down in things here.
If I accept Sodom instead of the wilderness character, I forfeit communion with God. God declined friendly intercourse with Lot, but sought it with Abraham. To lose communion with God is no small loss. Many Christians are living without present communion. H. C. Anstey (1895)
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The cross: the only way out of THIS WORLD alive... (A.W. Tozer)
Crossless Christianity 2008 (A.T. Pierson classic: 'Another Gospel' 1900)
***
Egypt and Sodom
Both of these represent the world.
Egypt is the world in its oppression, in which man is treated as the slave of the enemy (Satan), represented by Pharaoh, its prince. Man may groan under it [rejecting the truth; ed.], as he will, when the light shines in, or he may be ignorant of the chains that bind him. In either case, he is but a helpless slave in this world.
Sodom represents the world more in its friendly aspect. It is thus not oppression, but patronage. It is that active side of the world's policy which seeks to make me contented with the order of things here. It made a great man of Lot. Everything which has the tendency to make me satisfied with the present order of things, is Sodom.
The opposite of "Egypt," is Canaan, and the opposite of "Sodom," is the Wilderness, the pilgrim character seen in Abraham, in contrast to Lot. That is "going on," and not settling down in things here.
If I accept Sodom instead of the wilderness character, I forfeit communion with God. God declined friendly intercourse with Lot, but sought it with Abraham. To lose communion with God is no small loss. Many Christians are living without present communion. H. C. Anstey (1895)
________________________________________________________
The cross: the only way out of THIS WORLD alive... (A.W. Tozer)
Crossless Christianity 2008 (A.T. Pierson classic: 'Another Gospel' 1900)
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