Prospering in Egypt
Genesis 46:31–47:12, 27
And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. Genesis 47:27

If you were entrusted with arranging the circumstances under which the people of God could best be “fruitful and multiply,” what circumstances would you provide? Probably you would choose Canaan—a land of some depravity, to be sure, but still a land with a few righteous men, like Melchizedek. Most important, it provided room to grow. Canaan was sparsely settled. There was room for wandering shepherds like Abraham and his descendants. There, if anywhere, people could grow to be a nation.

But for 215 years the patriarchs lived in Canaan, and during that time the Hebrew clan grew to only about a hundred persons. Under nearly ideal conditions the growth was quite slow. But in Egypt, particularly in the time of persecution, the growth was rapid. In Egypt the people increased to more than two million.

This is God’s way, and it is seen not only in numerical growth but in spiritual growth as well. Consider the church in China. Before the Communist takeover in 1950, there were approximately 840,000 Christians. Four decades later, after the most intense persecutions and great suffering, the church numbered about 50 million. One Chinese leader wrote in reflection, “In my opinion, the church in China is growing by leaps and bounds because it has suffered for Christ’s sake and has learned that suffering is central to Christian maturity and church growth.”

Let’s apply this to the American church. We have a false sense of well-being in the United States, because we have inherited the legacy of an older, more godly generation. We have great buildings, successful programs, television-type personalities. But the church is stagnant. Growth, where it exists, is often artificial, and Christianity has little impact on our decaying culture.

What is the trouble? One great cause is that we are clearly too materialistic. God said that we are to be in the world but not of it. Instead, we are very much of the world and not even in it to a meaningful degree.

What will happen? I suggest that God will allow hard times to come upon the American church. We will be attacked and harassed—as we already are in some matters. We will be forced out of the mainstream of society. We will be made to pay a price for our faith so that it becomes costly rather than beneficial to follow Jesus. That is not bad. Like the church in China, it will be in such circumstances that the strength of true Christian commitment will be seen and the church will begin to be fruitful and increase in numbers again.

Christianity is not something that requires ideal conditions to survive. It thrives best in hardships. In our hardships God’s strength is made perfect in weakness, and godliness springs like a root from dry ground.

Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865

Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.