Jeremiah 11:3-4
"And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:"
When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them out to return no more.
One would never expect Israel to have a desire to go back to the land of Egypt, but their desire to go back seemed to plague them for several years.
In the verse above, God reminds Israel that Egypt was an "iron furnace." These are strong words. Iron was symbolic of severe slavery or captivity. This wording was to remind them of the shackles that they were under in the land of Egypt. God went further to remind them what Egypt was to them by using the word "furnace." The furnace was used to destroy and kill. You'll remember the fiery furnace into which the three Hebrew children were thrown. The furnace was a place to completely destroy after death. It is equivalent to a furnace that a body is put in for cremation; it turns the body into powder. God was saying that Egypt was a place that enslaved them to destroy them. He reminded them that going back to Egypt was going back to the slavery that would cremate them.
A Christian must be careful about desiring to go back to the world. I fear many forget what the world was like before they got saved. Many Christians forget the slavery in which the world put them. They forget the shackles of sin that bound them. They forget how sin was a furnace that literally cremated their dreams and life. The brokenness in which sin left them in is often forgotten. How tragic that many Christians forget the iron furnace from which they came; the bondage in which the world put them.
Years ago when I was a teenager, I worked at a paper factory with men who often tried to get me to party with them. They would talk about going out on the weekend and getting drunk, or "smashed" as they put it. I would go back to work on Monday morning and hear them talk of their escapades of the weekend as if it was something I missed. Then I reminded them that my weekend was not filled with hugging a toilet on Sunday from the recovery of a drunken stupor. I reminded them that I didn't have to deal with a hangover or have to wonder what I did on my weekend because I was sober the whole time. Though they tried to play up their lifestyle, I simply reminded them that their lifestyle brought bondage.
Friend, don't ever forget the iron furnace of the world. Don't ever think that you are missing out on something the world has to offer. The world is an iron furnace that not only wants to enslave you, but enslave you to the point that it will cremate every dream you have. It will cremate your future and your family. Many people have come out of sin with broken lives and broken families. Oh, please take this warning seriously. The world is an iron furnace. Everything the world offers has shackles with which it comes. Those shackles will bind you until everything you have is cremated by the world's furnace.
I challenge you to obey God's Word. God's Word keeps you from the iron furnace. God's Word will bring you joy and happiness. God's Word will help your dreams come to reality. If the world has its shackles of sin on you now, I encourage you to get help to overcome those sins. If you're considering the world's offers, I beg you to look at everyone who has taken that offer and you will find that they live a life shackled by that sin. The only life that will give you complete freedom is the life of serving God.