Abraham was promised by God all the land of Canaan as his inheritance and the inheritance of his descendents after him but to bury his wife Sarah, he had to purchase a plot of land in Hebron near Mamre. As per Scripture, his descendents went into Egypt, became slaves of Pharaoh and were finally led out of that by Moses. We have also been redeemed from the clutches of slavery to sin and the devil by Lord Jesus in a like manner. How does a believer while on earth in this life, ensure the fulfillment of the promises of God in the Scripture?
Why was Moses, the chosen leader, stopped from leading the Israelites into the Promised Land? The close relationship that Moses developed with the LORD God resulted in the Lord speaking to ‘Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend’ (Exodus 33:11). Moses had been brought up as a prince in the house of Pharaoh by his daughter and though he was aware of his Jewish roots, he had no knowledge of their customs. God permitted this to ensure that he was well versed with the ways of the palace, learned in all their ways without being too familiar with the Jewish people to be of them but different from them. As their leader no one could claim special closeness to him to exploit him in any way and he could also represent God before Pharaoh in the best way, countering all of Pharaoh’s claims of his special status.
From the Burning Bush God revealed Himself to Moses as ‘I AM WHO I AM’, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob (Genesis 3:14-15). Listing the names of each of the Patriarchs, God revealed Himself to be the God of each individual but not of a family or tribe as the local gods of the region were. Pharaoh not only refused to let the people go to worship their God but increased their workload after Moses sought their release. The LORD God then told Moses another special fact that ‘though I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God-Almighty (El-Shaddai), but by My name LORD (Yahweh) I was not known to them’ (Exodus 6:2). In the creation narrative God is first mentioned as Yahweh Elohim, the LORD God in Genesis 2:5. When the first time God called out Abram to move out of his father’s house and land, He is known to him as Yahweh (Genesis 12:1 & 8). Again a few verses later Abram built an altar and ‘he called on the name of the LORD –Yahweh.
God was revealing some different trait of Himself to Moses that was about his mission to Egypt that was not revealed earlier. In the Book of Genesis, God is the God of creation, of nature and though seen in various nuances but overall the Creator of heaven and earth and though with them but detached. As compared to many gods of rain, crops, sea, the earth, harvests and storms but essentially the same One God. To Moses the new revelation is of God who gets directly involved in His people to free them from slavery, shape them into a nation, be their God and lead them into the Promised Land. He was going to be with them to make them a people governed by His laws and His ways. God was now going to form His people into a new kind of faith, a new type of society. Earlier God was seen to act separated from people but from then on He was to be with them to make them His representatives before the world. This aspect of God was not revealed to Abraham.
This was to be the first change in history that a people were to have God as their King, ready to dwell among them, receive their worship and allow access to Himself through sacrificial offerings for forgiveness of sins. Since even in this stage also God would not be fully known to and by mankind, they would still fear Him, not out of reverence but for judgment and death. Moses became a good leader of the Israelites but from the wilderness, where God formed the people into a nation, into the Promised Land required another transition. In the Promised Land, God was to be with them, a God who is loving and forgiving where everything was to happen not by force or power alone but by verbal commands.
Moses moved with a staff and used that to enforce the power of God in any situation but Joshua had no such rod or staff with Him. In their new life, people were to use God’s name and authority and not the rod of force. Joshua was to lead his people across the Jordan river that was in flood and God promised to exalt him in front of all Israel (Joshua 3:7-8 & 13). He was told to ‘command the priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan’. He was then told, ‘as soon as the feet of the priests who bear the Ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream shall stand as a heap’. There was no striking of the waters by the staff as Moses did to part the Red Sea (Exodus 14:16).
At Rephidim, when the Israelites complained about lack of water, God commanded Moses to ‘strike the rock and water will come out of it’ (Exodus 17:5-6). However, later at Kadesh when the people complained about lack of water, God told Moses, ‘take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together; speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield water’ (Numbers 20:8 & 12). This was about transition into the new spiritual arrangement for blessings, to speak to receive the result but Moses failed in this. The reasons given are that the rock represented Lord Jesus and He was to suffer only once, the first time when the rock was hit and not the second time. God rebuked Moses that ‘because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore, you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them’. The event was to teach all the Israelites about God’s love for them despite their murmurings and His willingness to answer each one of them when they seek Him in prayer. Thus Moses’ failure was in doubting the Word of God and instead using his force to get water from the rock.
Relevance of Promised Land to a believer – The promise of life and that too abundantly for all believers is not for some future life but here on the earth (John 10:10). Life itself is a close relationship with God, for separation from Him is death. Thus the Promised Land for a believer starts here on earth and carries him into eternal life. Our Saviour prayed to the Father in heaven, acknowledging our relationship with Him and the Father, ‘all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine’ (John 17:10 & 15). And then He prayed for our safety and security on the earth, ‘keep them from the evil one’. Apostle Paul further elaborates this, ‘If God is for us, who can be against us’ (Romans 8:31). The Apostle further assures all believers that ‘we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us’ (Romans 8:37-39). And then he further confirms our victory in the Lord that nothing, not even ‘death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is Christ Jesus our Lord’.
The Promised Land for a believer is a life of victory and close relationship with God, for he dwells in us. With His mighty presence in us we are fully equipped to ‘do all things (which He has called me to do) through Christ who strengthens me (to fulfill His purpose – I am self sufficient in His sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace)’ (Philippians 4:13). As per Scripture, ‘we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end’ (Hebrews 3:14). Thus Promised Land for us is spiritual inheritance from which we draw as we live in obedience to His Word, to improve our life on.
Apostle Paul clarifies that our salvation is not dependent on our works but on our faith in the Saviour. (Ephesians 3:8-10). Our new birth is thus God’s doing and we are ‘created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us’. These are works of obedience which reflect our inner transformation in Him and are seen by others to get them into the light of His kingdom. He then defines the type and method of these works and that ‘we are God’s fellow workers’ and we work according to the grace of God which is given to us (1 Corinthians 3:9-13). He further said, ‘as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation and another builds on it’. We all lay the foundation and build on the Word of God for salvation and eternal life in Him. Our work is essentially a continuation of the works of the Messiah and we continue on the foundation laid by Him.
The quality of our fruit bearing is not in numbers but of quality like ‘gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw’. The gold and silver were used with the precious stones in construction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Since we are God’s fellow workers, He is actively involved in these works. Straw is good for fodder but poor building material, just like human wisdom and fleshly attractions are, for building the Church. Our works will be judged by God’s fire, just like the rich man sought accounts from his servants on return back (Matthew 25:14-23). The good and faithful servant will be commended and called to ‘enter into the joy of your lord’.
Caleb and Joshua were the only two who boldly entered the Promised Land. Others, like the first type of soil of the wayside where the seed is taken away and does not grow, refused to go and perished (Matthew 13:19-23). The fourth type have thorns also growing around but continue to grow in faith that the Lord of the crop will take them into His rest. God repeatedly promised the Israelites about the land of Canaan as their inheritance that He had given to them but they refused to believe and walk in to claim the reward and perished.
We are encouraged by the example of Lord Jesus, our ‘great High Priest who has passed through the heavens’ and He looks at us with mercy in our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:14-16). We must therefore step forward boldly ‘to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need’. Apostle Paul then defines our role and the way to enter is with boldness, ‘that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known through the Church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He (God) accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Ephesians 3:10-12). The battle has already been won by our Lord, the Cross and the empty tomb, being witnesses of His victory. Our walk of faith in that, with power over the forces of darkness as given by the Lord, proclaims that victory to the devil and his evil forces. We may not enter this Promised Land of victory through fear, like the Israelites, though He has promised to move ahead of us to level the mountains and break open the gates of bronze (Isaiah 45:2).
There are many workers of the Kingdom of God who frequently complain about and express surprise over receiving very few results in the service of God. During my military academy training period our Platoon Commander, during the first month of our training, issued an order for us to come in battle order every day before lunch and then we were made to run to and back from a place about one and a half kilometers away. The condition was that the day all of us returned within a nearly impossible timing for the whole group, this would be stopped. By the time the Academy competitions started we were made so fit, both mentally and physically that we easily became champions. Those who are surprised by the lack of results in their ministry must examine their diligence in seeking the results. Lord Jesus the Good Shepherd leaves the ninety-nine faithful sheep to go looking for the one lost sheep and searches till He finds it (Matthew 18:12-13). Are we looking as shepherds, looking out for the sheep in our care for signs of their going astray and taking corrective actions in time to prevent that?
Lord Jesus while praising John the Baptist for his great work to lead people to Him, also said a surprising and difficult to understand thing. He said, ‘from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force ‘(Matthew 11:12). How can anyone attempt and succeed in entering the kingdom of heaven by force? Lord Jesus commended the ministry of John the Baptist by saying, ‘since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it/ (Luke 16:16). The Jewish tradition counted a Jew above others and anyone else wanting to enter Judaism, needed to repent and be baptized. The call of John the Baptist, for Jews to repent was seen as derogatory by them, but tax collectors, harlots and such sin laden people welcomed the opportunity and came rejoicing to him. This was an improbable group of people who were seen to have no right over the kingdom of heaven. The Pharisees and Jewish leaders did not bother and the kingdom suffered violence from the hungry for God’s Word who were accepted over them. It is not ill-manners to push for entering heaven before others considered better than us, for it is for the seekers and such push in.
Second, the violence is of strength, vigour, intensity, desire and effort of those who came to be baptized by John. Those who enter must strive to enter; self must be denied, minds and hearts must be changed and commitment to suffer opposition must be there. From such the kingdom of heaven will accept violence to enter before others. This violence is not physical but spiritual through prayer, study and meditation on the Word of God – This is holy violence for a holy purpose and for a holy reward, for such people are willing to pay any cost to pursue and succeed in their efforts. (Genesis 32:26-28) Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the LORD during the night and would not let Him go till he was blessed. Finally his blessing was in the change of his name from Jacob, meaning supplanter, heel grabber, to Israel ‘who struggled with God and with men and have prevailed’. Kingdom of God is not for casual seekers but for earnest people who fight with their fears, their doubts, their evil desires and persecution till they prevail.
Apostle Paul provides the way for this through faith, ‘for GOD has not given us a Spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind’ (2 Timothy 1:7). The first emotion that entered the life of Adam and Eve was fear for they hid themselves among the trees from God (Genesis 3:8). Fear leads us away from God and from our destiny, for we hide and are not willing to pursue the commands of God. We are advised to ‘pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the LORD’ (Hebrews 12:14-15). Our good and peaceful behavior towards others reflects God’s image in us and with this we glorify God in our life. But we are further taught to keep ‘looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God’. It is only through grace and mercy of the LORD that we succeed in entering the hallowed precincts of His Divine presence.
The promise of assured entry is for he who ‘overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son’ (Revelation 21:7-8). This overcoming is of all evil desires and seven vices are then listed and ‘all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death’, the first being separation from God. God in His mercy has promised never to leave us and comforts us by saying, ‘fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand’ (Isaiah 41:10). God will never let His children suffer separation from Him and will help us pursue His ways, if we diligently seek to do so. He has prepared a place for us in His Father’s house and again promised to come back to take us there (John 14:1-3). He even prayed to the Father earnestly for us, that ‘Father, I desire that they also whom You gave, Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me’ (John 17:24). He is willing and ready to lead us in but are we prepared to hear ‘His still small voice’ and follow Him!
Entry into the Promised Land is always through the wilderness where the Lord prepares us to hear, understand and obey His Word to live our life accordingly. But those who hear Him yet turn away from Him, will suffer untold misery here on earth and eternal damnation afterwards. We must vow to permanently focus our gaze on Lord Jesus Christ and obediently walk in His ways to inherit eternal life in and with Him in the Father’s Mansion in heaven!
