Psalm 122:1 - "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go unto the house of the Lord."

There was a movie years ago called "The Great Escape," but I want to talk about something far greater—the greatest escape in human history.

When Kingdoms Collide

The children of Israel were exiled in Egypt for 400 years. They were in slavery because of their disobedience and sin, working under the hard task masters of the Egyptians for four centuries. Then God delivered them and brought them out in a day. You and I, before we knew God, were under the hard task master of Satan and his demonic forces. We were in bondage, imprisoned in sin and slavery, and God brought us out in a day.

The night that Israel walked out of Egypt wasn't a jailbreak, and it wasn't a political revolution. What happened that night was nothing less than a collision between the Holy Kingdom of God and the unholy kingdoms of this world. That night wasn't a jailbreak or a revolution; it was a collision. It was the night that God's power and God's kingdom met the satanic kingdoms. The kingdom of light clashed with the kingdom of darkness, and out of that came a miracle of setting God's people free.

Breaking Bondage in a Single Night

For four centuries, they had endured backbreaking labor. They had felt the whips of their task masters upon their backs. They had seen generations born and generations die in captivity. There seemed to be no end to it, but God can bring an end to your bondage in a single night.

In one single night, God brought an end to their bondage, just like in one single night God brought an end to my bondage and your bondage by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This wasn't done in stealth; undetectable, unseeable, unknowable. This was for the whole world to see. God sets you free openly, in front of the whole world. Pharaoh's empire was humiliated that night. Egypt's gods were exposed for being fraudulent and having no power. Egypt, the greatest superpower on Earth, which 14 million people a year still visit as tourists to see the ruins of that empire's greatness, stood and watched 2 million ex-slaves carry away the wealth of Egypt and walk out into the vision that God had cast for them.

The Redemptive Gift Box

This Exodus was more than just Israel's story. This exodus is the story of how God came into our slavery, saw our chains, saw our bodies sick and our aching backs and the misery and the pain that we had, and brought us out. He set us free, giving us freedom and health and honor and provision and favor, just like he did for Israel.

Three days after their departure, in Exodus 15:26, God begins to make a covenant with his people that have been released. It's like the salvation covenant—sozo: saved, healed, delivered. God begins to tell them about the covenant, about the "stuff" in this covenant.

You see, a lot of people know Jesus, but they don't know about the stuff. You've got to learn the stuff because the good stuff is in the stuff.

In Exodus 15:26, God said: "Harken unto the voice of the Lord. Do what is right in his eyes. Give ear unto his commandments, walk in his statutes and I will not put upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians for I am the Lord that healeth."

God says, "You've got this box I've given you now. It's a deliverance box, a sozo box—saved, healed, delivered. And the first thing I want you to know is that you're not just redeemed, but you're healed."

Four Treasures in the Box

1. Healing and Health for the Journey

When God brings someone out, he doesn't do anything halfway. God doesn't just break the chains of slavery; he breaks the cycle of slavery. The Egyptian task masters had worked them to exhaustion every day, fed them scraps, exposed them to diseases from their conquests all over the world. They were sick, ill, hurting, and diseased. But God came in and said, "In one night, get under the blood," and the Spirit of God washed through the camp, giving them divine health, divine wholeness, divine deliverance, divine power, and divine victory.

Psalm 105:37 says there was not one feeble person among them when they left that day.

Remember the last thing God instructed them to do? Slay the sacrificial lamb and put the blood over the doorpost. Twenty-four hours under the blood washed away all of their sickness, illness, malady, and pain. It was all gone in a 24-hour period under the blood.

What does this mean? God doesn't just take us out of prison; he takes prison out of us. First Corinthians 11:30 says, "For this cause many of you are weak and sickly and many have prematurely died." What causes that? Failing to discern the body of the Lord, the cup and the bread. The stripes that were placed on his back were placed there as part of the atonement for your healing.

2. Honor and Elevation

God's plan wasn't just to make them healthy; there was way more in the box. It was to elevate them. Isaiah 60:1 says, "Arise, shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee. Kings and queens and princes and princesses shall come to thy side and they shall cast their crowns at your feet."

That's promotion! That's going from being a slave to having kings, queens, princes, and princesses cast their crowns at your feet, indicative of their wealth, power, influence, and position being laid at your feet. This goes back to Genesis 1, when God said, "Let's give them dominion over the whole earth."

Every day I pray: "God, I thank you today that the kings and kingdoms of this earth say yes to me when they mean no, and no to me when they mean yes. They don't know why they do it, but they do it."

3. Transfer of Wealth

Exodus 12:35-36: "The children of Israel went to the Egyptians and asked for articles of silver, gold, and clothing. And God gave the children of Israel favor so that the Egyptians granted them everything they requested. Thus the children of Israel plundered the Egyptians."

Four hundred years of slavery, and the slaves go to the rulers of Egypt and say, "We want your gold, your silver, all your exotic fabrics from all over the world." And the Bible says God gave them favor so that the Egyptians granted everything they requested.

The Hebrew word for "plunder" is a military term, nasal, when the victors who have won the battle strip their defeated foe of all their goods. When they left, they had everything the Egyptians had worked for. This was victory without a battle. Exodus 14:14 says, "The Lord said, I will fight for you. You just hold your peace."

When God delivers you, He also resources you. God isn't just interested in getting you out; He's interested in getting you ready for where He's taking you.

4. Favor for Life

Finally, God gives them favor. Psalm 5:12: "For thou, O Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield."

Deliverance is an event, but favor is a lifestyle. Favor is like a shield.  It's always positioned between you and the enemy, between you and danger. Favor goes before you, stands beside you, guards your back, and surrounds you like a force field.

Favor isn't seasonal; it's the environment you're meant to live in every day, in every moment of your life. Grace is the unmerited favor of God and is unconditional, but favor is the partner of obedience and faith.

Unpack Your Box

I recently ordered a small trimmer and when it arrived, there were several attachments in the box that I almost threw away. But when I read the instruction manual, I discovered what each attachment could do. I found a place for every one of them in my life.

Some of you need to get the instruction manual out of the box. Our instruction manual is the Bible. The Bible contains 39 books in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament, 1,189 chapters, 32,000 verses, 800,000 words, and 7,000 promises in the box. That's a lot to unpack!

The Bible tells you what's in the redemptive gift box that God gave you. Don't just open the box and see the card on top that says "forgiven" and take off running. Unpack the box and see what's in it. Get into the Word of God and find out what all God has sent you in the box.

The package holds more than a pardon, there's promotion. There's more than just canceling the cycle of debt, there's righteousness credited to your account. There's not just removal of guilt, but restoration of your dignity. God didn't just pull you out of the pit; He gave you a place at the table. He didn't just save you from something; He saved you for something, and right down in the corner of that package, you'll find purpose.

First Corinthians 2:12: "For we have not received the spirit of the world, but we have received the spirit which is of God that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God."

God gave you the Holy Spirit so you could explore the box and know the things that are freely given to you by God.

Your Greatest Escape

When God staged the greatest escape, He didn't just open a way out, He opened a way in. God gave them healing for the journey, elevated them, orchestrated a wealth transfer for them, and wrapped all of it in favor.

God said this: "In one move, in one night, I'm going to take you out, lift you up, fill you up, cover you up, and be with you everywhere that you go."

The same God who delivered Israel is the same God who has delivered you. The same power that broke their chains has broken yours. The same covenant he made with them, He's made with you. You've got to believe it, speak it, decree it, and declare it. If you don't, you'll never walk in it.

It's all in the box. Just keep digging around in that box; you'll find it there. Healing, honor, provision, and favor. It's all yours. You just need to unpack what God has already given you.

The greatest escape isn't just about getting out, it's about getting everything God intended for you to have on the other side.