O Zion ! ESCAPE ,... whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye '” ( Zech 2 : 6- 8 ). For a brief moment He deserted us . We became slaves of the devil . But still we are the apple of His eye . He calls us to escape from our captivator , satan .
Paul writes to Timothy about opposers , who oppose the truth , who are unrepentant , who were trapped by the devil and taken as captives to do his will . They need to come to their senses and ESCAPE from the trap of the devil . God has to grant them repentance . We can only gently instruct them and hope for the best ( 2 Tim 2 : 25 , 26 ).
How does one escape this awful trap ? As long as we live in this world we will have evil desires . James says that one is tempted when , by his own evil desire , he is dragged away and enticed . When we go along the path of this evil desire , it becomes sin which culminates in death ( Js 1:14,15 ). Can this process be stopped somewhere , or is there no escape ? Let ' s see what Peter has to say about it . There is a way of escape . That is through the very great and precious promises that God has given us . When we read and re-read these promises and absorb them , our very nature starts changing and we participate in the divine nature . When we meditate on God and Jesus Christ our Lord , that very knowledge gives us everything we need for life and godliness . It is not of us , it is the divine power that gives us all these . That is how we ESCAPE the corrupt world ( 2 Pet 1:3,4 ).
The remnant who were left behind came to Jeremiah to pray for guidance . But when God told them to remain in Israel , the message disappointed them ; for they felt if they fled to Egypt they would be secure ( Jer 42 ). In fact they had already determined to go to Egypt and they hoped Jeremiah would prophesy likewise . But when it turned out to be otherwise , they refused to listen . So the majority of the remnant went to Egypt . Only a small percentage remained in the land , trusting the word of the Lord . Is this not what we do often ? We rebel against the word of God and say , “ We will walk according to our own plans , and we will every one obey the dictates of his evil heart ” ( Jer 18:12 ).
See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks ( through the Bible ). If they ( Israelites ) did not ESCAPE when they refused Him who warned them on earth , how much less will we ESCAPE if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven ? ( Heb 12:25 ).
God is making a way for us . He will dry up rivers for the remnant to walk through . “ The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea with a scorching wind .