Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
Ephesians 4:1-16
John 6:24-35
“Manna is not the real Bread of Life, I am,” says Jesus. Jesus fulfills the Scripture, which requires a Spiritual-metaphorical reading of the Bible. Jesus is the
Real Exodus. Let us read for the deeper, Christian mean:
*Egypt is a metaphor for 'Slavery to the passions' (sinful desires which keep
us separated from God. Egypt is a state of mind and heart).
*The wilderness is a metaphor for repentance (Greek metanoia means a new nous) a change in how we think, feel, perceive and judge.
*The Promised Land is a metaphor for union with Abba Father—we are healed and holy.
So spiritually, Egypt is the condition of our hearts. We were
all born in Egypt. For us, Egyptian slavery is the false gods or passions--anything that separates us from YHWH. It started in the womb. Genetic
malfunctions, environmental toxins, and emotional duress all damaged us before
we are born. Family and societal problems made it worse. We are fragile people in hostile world at enmity with God. We never learn how to truly love
and serve God—and the false desires harm us from within.
As small babies we battle the world, the flesh and the devil and choose our identity, never knowing the image of God within us. In Egypt God is not near so He must come to save. But we "Israelites," still slaves in our minds, have doubts and fears so we build our golden calf and murmur that we were better off in Egypt (serving the world, the flesh and the devil).
Yes, salvation is God’s grace, but like the Israelites we
must trust, walk in the hot sun and fight many enemies. Only Joshua and Caleb, trusting and faithful, entered the Promised Land. Everyone else died in the desert; they left Egypt but never escaped it. We must be like Joshua and Caleb, with God's help.
The passions are Egypt in our hearts. The deadly moral sins, like murder, are obvious. Sometimes, however, the sinful desires are disguised as good things. The Enneagram is an ancient explanation of how these false
desires work.
We are not one with God is pain. We
doubt and fear, so we serve false gods. We become
slaves to being good, helpful, successful or strong. We choose the slavery of
duty, observing, being happy, content or different. These things sound positive but they are cover for the passions. We feed on them, but they are not the Bread of Life, so the hunger
of our human soul is never filled.
The deadliest sin works secretly in our unconscious. We live in denial as we seek to do the impossible and save ourselves. The Ancient Church tells us: Be awake and keep watch so Jesus can heal you. I have been preaching this for years, but like you, do not know how to do it.
You are a child of God, but in Egypt you
were made a slave. Jesus is saving you and I offer the Enneagram as a tool to uncover the deadly sins in the wilderness as we journey to the Promised Land.
If interested in enneagram here are some online tests.
https://www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram/test
https://enneagramtest.net/
http://www.9types.com/rheti/index.php
Here is a great overview of the types which should help you clarify
http://www.9types.com/descr/
These are but three of the many excellent books out there.
"The Road Back to You" Ian Cron & Suzanne Stabile (they have lots of podcasts as well)
"The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective" Richard Rohr & Andreas Ebert (Rohr has a website and lots of information)
"The Sacred Enneagram" Christopher Heuertz
The import of the Enneagram is to understand the Passion/Deadly Sin secretly at work within your own soul. It cannot capture all there is to know about you. As you answer questions you might not be consistent or accurate. Reading the descriptions will probably clarify things, or at least narrow down the possibilities. Most people find it to be very useful.
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