Learn from the Past
I have enjoyed reading the Bible this year. Everyday I have insights revealed through the Scriptures, and some of these thoughts stay with me all day long. I am still pondering the situation the Israelites found themselves in after their escape from Egypt. The Israelites have an amazing history. God was revealing himself to a chosen people, guiding them through countries, and leading them spiritually. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all received the promise of God for their future home. Through a famine, Jacob whose name was changed to Israel, went to Egypt with his family, where there was food. Over the years, the Egyptians turned the Jews into slaves for labour. Joseph was one bookend and Moses the other to their four hundred years in Egypt. After God delivered them from that slavery under the guidance of Moses, he returned them to the promised land. However, because the people neglected to obey God's law, he made them wander in the desert for 40 years until that generation had died. However, the journey to the Promised Land of Canaan should have lasted only two weeks at the max. They were free from Pharoah’s oppression, but they were not free from all of the bumps on the road, that I spoke of last week, idolatry, sexual immorality, testing God and a complaining heart.
By way of introduction here, the wilderness years proved to be a challenging time for the people of God. It was never to be their home. The wilderness was to last a brief time. It was to be a small bump on the road. The Promised Land was the destination and home. The wilderness was a place of wandering, doubts, and discomfort. It was not meant to become the normal way of life for the Jewish people. It was not home. They were not to become acclimatized to the desert. They were to look towards the Promised Land in hope and trust in God. For migrating herders like the Jews, having a permanent home of their own would be a phenomenal blessing. The Promised Land was a place to rest from their continual wandering. The wandering would stop but not the challenges. They would have to cross over into Land of Canaan and overcome the giants and people in the land.
As followers of Jesus we must be cautious that we don’t become comfortable with the wilderness, so to speak. We don’t want to give into the struggles of the wilderness. We don’t want to live in a state of lack or poverty. We must not doubt and grumble against God. Sometimes we enter into wilderness experiences, maybe a spiritual wilderness, or depression due to some difficulty. But these times are not meant to become a permanent way of living. God still has a Promised Land for each and everyone of us. We will talk more about that in a moment.
“Little by Little”
As we come to the end of the Book of Numbers, Moses begins to prepare God’s people to cross over into the Land of Canaan. He begins to speak of boundaries and inheritance in relation to the tribes of Israel. In doing so there are three key Scriptures that relate to each other. One is found in Exodus 23:20-33, the second in Numbers 33:50-56 and lastly, Deuteronomy 7:1-26. There is a key phrase – “little by little” which refers to the Israelites gaining the Promised Land through a long, progressive series of campaigns and displacements as seen in Joshua 1–13. In these passages of Scripture, we discover a partnership between God and the Israelites. Here are key points to consider:
· God is the one going before the Israelites into the Promised Land. God is sending His angel before them. This angel is not to be messed with. “Pay attention to him listen to what he says” (Ex 23:21). In other words, listen and obey. Then God “will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you” (Ex 23:22). This angel of the Lord will be a terror to the enemies of God. Idolatrous worship was one of the problems of the tribes living in Canaan. They would worship false gods and idols on hills and mountain tops. The angel of the Lord would help defeat their enemies, and in partnership the Israelites were to destroy these idolatrous high places. The Israelites appropriate response is that of worship as directed by the Lord and then enjoy the ensuing blessings.
Ex 23:30 – “Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”
· In Numbers 33, Moses exhorts the people to drive out, possess or dispossess, or to inherit the land. He tells them to “Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess” (Num 33:53). Again, we see a working together, a partnership. God is on the move on behalf of his people, and they are to keep in step with him. This involves paying attention, listening, obeying the angel of the Lord going before them. God is fully committed to their success. But there is also a warning given to them.
Num 33:55-56 – “ ‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. 56 And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.’ ” In other words, it was God’s desire and intention to give the Promised Land fully to the Israelites. The partnership between God and the Israelites to dispossess the tribes in the land of Canaan was based on the depth of their participation; this was the degree of their victory.
· In Deuteronomy 7, we see the continued emphasis with regards to this partnership between Yahweh and His people. The first six verses again remind the Israelites to have absolutely nothing to do with the idols found in the Land of Canaan. One of the subtle ploys of the enemy was that of intermarriage. This act would lead to deception and turning away from the ways of God that was given to Moses. God was very jealous towards his people.
Why was God so serious about this? We find out in verses, 6-9 – For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. 7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. Coming into the Promised Land was God’s plan and purpose for the Israelites. He chose them, treasured them, loved them, redeemed them. It was God’s desire to display his faithfulness to a thousand generations through the Jewish people. God initiated this covenant. The Israelites were invited to participate. “The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you;” God moved and they responded, “little by little” as they took possession of the Promised Land.
The Promised Land
What made the Promised Land exceptional? The Land of Canaan, eventually called Israel, was a rich land with brooks and deep springs that gushed out of the hills and down to the valleys below. The fertile soil produced all sorts of grains, along with vines and fig trees, pomegranates, and olives. There, the Israelites would lack nothing. It is described as “a land flowing with milk and honey,” (Ex 3:17; Num 13:27 and Deut 8:6-9). The soil was ideal for farming and shepherding. The ocean on one side and the mountains on the other provided security and protection their enemies.
What is the spiritual meaning behind the Promised Land? The promised land is both a physical place (the land of Canaan) and a theological concept. This recurring theme from the Old Testament is also taken up in the New Testament. The Promised Land speaks of the fulfillment of promises, personal satisfaction, the experience of hopes and dreams realized, and rest for your souls. Here are two passages found in Hebrews. We are told “the promise of entering his rest still stands” (Hebrews 4:1). It was Joshua who led the Israelites into the Promised Land. The writer in Hebrews tells us someone greater than Joshua is on the seen, Jesus Christ, who is our rest, the Promise of God fulfilled. The second Scripture is found in Hebrews 11:8-10 – “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
The New Testament does not negate the Old Testament promises given to Abraham, but rather expands them for all peoples and extends them for eternity. Jesus becomes the fulfillment of the Promises of God and one day He is coming back to completely usher us into an eternal home, a New Heaven and a New Earth, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”
In Conclusion
“Little by Little…” We are involved with a partnership with God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are chosen, treasured, loved and redeemed, just like the nation of Israel. Salvation has been given freely to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the Good News, forgiveness of sins, deliverance from satan, healing for our bodies, intimacy with God. As we journey with Jesus through life, as we partner with him we experience God’s faithfulness and “little by little” we grow and mature and come into agreement with Him. This working out our salvation is not in order to be saved but is as a result of Jesus entering our lives by faith and through grace. The “little by little” is our daily paying attention to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Bible. I like to think of this as “praying attention!” It is mentioned in the Scriptures to be faithful in the little things (Luke 16:10). In other words, if we treat “little by little,” or day by day, as an important thing, significant in our walk with Jesus, then God will see and do abundant and awesome things for us. God is always faithful. God responds to faith. Faith is key to entering the Promised Land.
Let’s Pray…