Leaving Egypt Behind
The Hard Work of Unlearning Falsehood
Leaving Egypt Behind: The Hard Work of Unlearning Falsehood
Israel left Egypt in one night. With an outstretched arm and great judgments, God brought them out of slavery and into the wilderness. But the deeper problem became clear almost immediately: while they had left Egypt geographically, Egypt had not yet left them. The slave master was gone, but his voice still echoed in their thinking. They were free, but they still thought like captives. They had escaped the house of bondage, but they craved its comforts.
The same thing happens today when someone begins to come out of false doctrine, denominational error, or cultural dogma. The initial break is dramatic. Maybe it is a confrontation with plain scripture. Maybe it is the exposure of hypocrisy. Maybe it is a series of nagging doubts that finally tip the balance. Whatever the catalyst, the first step is decisive—but it is only the beginning. What follows is the long, uncomfortable, often painful journey of reordering the heart and mind. It is the work of unlearning falsehood.
They Knew How to Live in Egypt
In Exodus 16:3, the people cried, "Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full." They remembered the food, but they forgot the chains. They remembered the leeks, the onions, and the fish (Numbers 11:5), but they overlooked the fact that Pharaoh had ordered their sons drowned and their backs broken by brick and mortar.
Even in oppression, the system was predictable. They knew the rules. They knew where to get food, when to work, how to avoid beatings. That predictability gave them a false sense of security. Freedom, on the other hand, required daily dependence on God—a God who rained down bread from heaven and made water flow from rocks.
People today are often more comfortable with error than obedience. Tradition feels safe. Creeds offer ready-made answers. Denominationalism offers community. Cultural norms provide ease. Even when those things are wrong, they are familiar. But the comfort of Egypt is not worth the price of bondage.
The Wilderness of Unlearning
The wilderness was not punishment. It was preparation. Deuteronomy 8:2 says, "And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart." The wilderness reveals what slavery hides. It reveals whether a man will live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God or retreat into the habits of flesh and fear.
Coming out of error today involves the same process. It is a wilderness of unlearning. The creeds must be discarded. The denominational vocabulary must be replaced with Bible language. The comfortable lies must be exposed by the light of truth.
That means confronting long-held assumptions. It means admitting that parents or grandparents may have believed error. It means tearing down the mental scaffolding that has propped up a false system for years. Jesus said, "Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up" (Matthew 15:13). That kind of rooting up is not easy work, but it is necessary.
Often, those confronting truth are overwhelmed with emotion. The question comes: "Are you telling me my mother is lost?" The answer must be measured and compassionate: "I am the declarer, not the decider. I just declare the Word of God. But I can tell you this: if your loved one were here today, they would beg you through tear-filled eyes to follow the Word of God and do no more and no less."
False Doctrine Fights to Stay Rooted
False doctrine is not passive. It fights to stay rooted in the heart and in the mind. Paul wrote of "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Imaginations are mental strongholds. They are theological constructs built without scriptural support—ideas accepted without question, practices justified by tradition, identities formed apart from truth.
A preacher in error may be sincere. But sincerity does not sanctify falsehood. Think of well-known figures who teach baptism as symbolic or salvation by faith alone. Some of them may be closer to the truth than they realize, but they are still entangled in systems that resist change. Like Saul before his conversion, many kick against the pricks of conscience until the weight of truth cannot be ignored (Acts 26:14).
Coming out of falsehood means more than rejecting one error. It means a full overhaul. Romans 12:2 commands, "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." The mind must be trained to think in Bible categories, reason from scripture, and evaluate truth based on what is written.
You Cannot Take Egypt into Canaan
Jesus warned, "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62). Looking back is not harmless. It is a sign of divided loyalty. Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26). Her body left Sodom, but her heart stayed behind.
Israel was not allowed to bring Egypt into the promised land. Every adult who came out of Egypt—except Joshua and Caleb—died in the wilderness (Numbers 14:29-30). God would not let the mindset of bondage pollute the land of promise. You cannot take Egypt into Canaan. You cannot take sin into Heaven.
What Leaving Egypt Looks Like Today
It may mean walking away from the denomination where you were raised.
It may mean giving up cherished traditions and names.
It may mean learning to worship according to scripture, not habit.
It will mean obeying the gospel, not merely affirming belief.
It will mean speaking where the Bible speaks and being silent where the Bible is silent.
You cannot serve God while clinging to error. The church is not a reformation of human religion. Christ "loved the church, and gave himself for it" (Ephesians 5:25). He died to create something new—a people sanctified by truth (John 17:17), added by obedience to the gospel (Acts 2:47), and built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20).
Press Toward the Mark
Leaving Egypt is not just about what you walk away from. It is about what you walk toward. Hebrews 11:15-16 says, "And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly." They were not trying to go back. They pressed forward.
So must we. Whether it is the false security of denominationalism, the smooth lies of culture, or the half-truths of tradition, every Egypt must be left behind. Every lie must be forsaken. Every root must be pulled up.
And once we are out, we do not look back. We know what Egypt is. Now we must learn what freedom tastes like.
Philippians 3:13-14 says, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Press toward the mark.
Author’s Note:
This article was developed in part from a post by Ben Grady that articulated the struggle of leaving falsehood. His words served as a helpful starting point for deeper reflection and biblical application. I’m thankful for the brethren who spark good thinking.