Understanding The Promiseland

Deu 6:1  Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:  Deu 6:2  That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

Deu 6:3  Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.  Deu 6:4  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:  Deu 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  Deu 6:6  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: Deu 6:7  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  Deu 6:8  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.  Deu 6:9  And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.  Deu 6:10  And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,  Deu 6:11  And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;  Deu 6:12  Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Israel had been in Egyptian bondage for many generations! But God promised to deliver them.  I do note that when you’re in misery… you’re willing to take almost anything as being better then what you’re in!

JUST GET ME OUT OF HERE!

Num 33:3  And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.  Num 33:4  For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.

CONVERSION IS A POWERFUL EXPERIENCE… AND SHOULD BE SHOWN TO EVERYONE!

Jesus said if you’re ashamed of Him – He will be ashamed of you

EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS STORY IS SYMBOLIC OF THE CURRENT SPIRIT  AGE!

Egypt was the slavery of sin…  a hard taskmaster!    Pharaoh was Satan.    Moses was the preacher of the word!   The deliverance was NT salvation.  The cloud and fire was the HG indwelling.  The wilderness as our life on the way to heaven… and then of course… Canaan was a type of  heaven.

OR WAS IT?

To anyone who has ever tried to be spiritual, you have wrestled with the issue of SET BACKS.

I AM A VETERAN of set backs…  but I am still walking!

I have watched GREAT DISCOURAGEMENT come to so many well intentioned people that became disillusioned in the promised land.    They made it, but became flustered at the SET BACKS.

Why do so many people come out of sin to walk with God only to return to bondage?

ANSWER  è   There is a terrible MISUNDERSTANDING about the Promiseland!

Allow me to clarify….  Canaan DOES NOT represent Heaven!   –( there were giants in the land )–

CANAAN IS A PLACE OF SPIRITUAL MATURITY, GROWTH, POWER  &  DOMINIONSHIP!

Fulfillment of calling and grace…

The wilderness was the transitional TRAINING time!

Yes, they were God’s people, but…

They didn’t OWN anything… they were UNABLE to govern themselves!

They came through the Red sea by the power of God and washed away the Egyptians

( a type of baptism washing our sin! )

THEREFORE è  The wilderness is a type of the process of growing from a babe in Christ into a mature whole, powerful, self governing child of God in ownership of God’s provision!

THIS IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW… BECAUSE we often get discouraged by the things that happen to us even after we arrive at Canaan!

In many aspects…  The wilderness was an easier place to live then in the promiseland!

GRANTED:  It was a place of wandering, hard lessons to be learned & painful purification…

è But God was extra good to them during this time!

IT WAS ALSO A PLACE OF AWESOME PROTECTION AND PROVISION!

They didn’t have to worry about anything!   (sounds like growing up doesn’t it)

è FREE FOOD EVERY MORNING

è PROTECTION FROM DESERT VIPERS

è WATER FLOWED FROM A ROCK

è GOD WAS VISIBLE AT ALL TIMES

è NEVER ANY DOUBT AS TO THE DIRECTION TO GO

è THEY HAD A PROPHET IN UTTER CONTACT WITH GOD

è NOT ONLY THAT…  BUT…

Deu 29:5  And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.  -( DIDNT HAVE TO BUY ANYTHING )

 

But listen to the Lord…

Deu 29:2  And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;  Deu 29:3  The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:  Deu 29:4  Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

Deu 29:5  And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.  Deu 29:6  Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.  Deu 29:7  And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:  Deu 29:8  And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.  Deu 29:9  Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.  Deu 29:10  Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, Deu 29:11  Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:  Deu 29:12  That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:  Deu 29:13  That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

I HAVE TAKEN TOTAL CARE OF YOU  è BUT IT WAS TIME TO GROW UP AND GO IN…

In Canaan your gonna have some ownership of some things! à and responsibility!

Listen to what God actually promised them…  (our text)

Deu 6:10  And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,  Deu 6:11  And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;

NO MORE LIVING ON THE WILDERNESS NIPPLE…   Water will come from a well instead of a rock.  You will live in houses instead of tents… in cities instead of camp sites… Food will come from vineyards instead of falling manna.

DO YOU SEE THE TYPE OF GROWING AND MATURING HERE?

They could have it all… BUT ITS NOT DELIVERED ON A SILVER PLATTER…

Deu 11:22  For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;  Deu 11:23  Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.  Deu 11:24  Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.  Deu 11:25  There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.  Deu 11:26  Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

Canaan is spiritual power and authority…  but it is NOT Nirvana!

Nirvana = (Buddhist concept of heaven)  “the state of perfect blessedness, achieved by the extinction of personality.  The extinction off all passions and desires, the place when your soul is absorbed into the great supreme spirit.”      I N OTHER WORDS = Eternal Nothing (blah)

HOWEVER, IN THE PROMISELAND… God does not take away our passions – he heightens them!

AND YES, IT REQUIRES CONTROL!

 

SO NOW… the pallet is free to taste all kinds of foods and beverage  (not just manna)

Sexuality is designed to be in the framework of marriage.

IN THE WILDERNESS… THEY WERE HELD PRETTY TIGHT… but in Canaan…

è you are set free from the law of stone and left to the law written on your heart!  (HARDER WALK)

When in the wilderness it was limited – God so protects us…But in Canaan we make decisions

Lev 20:24  But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.

THEY DID NOT JUST WAIT FOR IT… THEY HAD TO POSSESS IT!

The opposition was fierce…  the cities were walled and had giants living there… The fields had to be tilled and planted and guarded from marauders that would come at harvest time!

 

IT IS NOT ALWAYS EASY LIVING IN THE PROMISELAND!

As a matter of fact… in some ways… the Wilderness is much easier!

MANY TIMES the Israelites brought up that very argument!

And at KADESH (which means sanctuary) they voted to not go in to occupy the land.

This issue of why God’s people are constantly meandering back to the wilderness needs to be examined!

Perhaps we can grow so used to everything being handed to us in the wilderness that we thought

that living in the place of spiritual power and maturity (ownership) would be void of troubles.

ADULTHOOD IS HARDER THEN CHILDHOOD!

It has so many more fruits and possibilities… but it also carries with some of the same battles we had in the wilderness such as DESPAIR, TEMPTATION, DISCOURAGMENT, CONFLICT.

THESE DO NOT DISAPPEAR IN THE PROMISELAND…  because training and growth continue!

INSTEAD OF DISOLVING OUR PERSONHOOD INTO THE SURPREME (Nirvana)

 

GOD PUTS HIS SPIRIT IN US TO HEIGHTEN OUR PERSONALITY

AND ALLOWS US TO EXPERIENCE THE ULTIMATE OF BEING…

INDIVIDUALITY!

God never intended us to be senseless robots… but rather to be free willed agents that can choose!

è AND ALONG WITH THAT comes the anxiety of having to make decisions…

as well as the pain of suffering the consequences of wrong decisions!

SO AS GOD MATURES US AND BRINGS US TO OUR TIME OF LEADERSHIP AND OWNERSHIP…  è   LIFE GETS UNEXPECTADLY TOUGH ON US…

We thought Canaan meant no more headaches… isn’t the devil is gonna roll over?

GOD IS REMINDING US THAT WE MUST PUT ON THE ARMOR & FIGHT A GOOD FIGHT!

THIS CHURCH IS COMING INTO SOME MATURITY… AND ITS SETTING SOME OF US BACK

We were not expecting this much trouble here… we thought we had arrived?

 

YOU MEAN WE STILL HAVE TO SACRIFICE?  GIVE?  PRAY?  FAST? BE MORAL?

YES, MORE THEN EVER!

The Apostle John

Spent last days of his life exiled on Patmos.  It doesn’t seem fair for the one whom Jesus loved.

YET è  in that terrible place received a vision of a new Heaven and a new Earth! No more death or sorrow!  No more tears!       è   That is heaven my friend, not the promiseland!

The Apostle Paul

Fresh from his powerful Damascus road conversion… was dismissed from the church and let down in a basket over a wall to a 3 year exile in the wilderness!  (taught by God during this time)   On his return, he was judged unfit for ministry and rejected again…  This continued for 11 years!!!

UNTIL GOD SPOKE TO BARNABUS AND SAID FETCH PAUL AT TARSUS

Paul’s wilderness experience ended… but his battle never did end!  (tho he was in his promiseland )

MEN HAVE ASKED GOD OVER AND OVER  è  WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?

But I tell you that while we rapidly attack his throne with the question WHY?  He is asking us a simple question… WHAT?

Elijah had just had victory over 450 prophets of Baal  – God answered by fire!

1 Ki 19:2  Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.  1 Ki 19:3  And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.      è  BACK TO THE WILDERNESS …  so often we run there!

1 Ki 19:8  And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. 1 Ki 19:9  And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

MEN ASK GOD WHY AM I HERE?

GOD ASKS WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW THAT YOUR HERE?

That is the question that God asks everyone that ever runs back to the wilderness…  When your weary and spent…

                        What are you gonna do when the Jezebel’s of this world threaten to destroy you?

è  Let me give you some advice as a well worn sojourner… If you find yourself back in the wilderness…

REMEMBER YOUR PAST AND WHERE YOU CAME FROM…AND DON’T FORGET WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE!

It’s so easy when fleeing to think your friendless!

1 Ki 19:18  Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

DON’T EVER GET TO THINKING YOU DON’T NEED THE CHURCH!

1 Cor 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.  1 Cor 11:30  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

The devil’s strategy is to keep you seperated from the body of believers!

After a while… you’re not praying… filling yourself with TV instead of fellowship!

UNDERSTAND THE PROMISELAND  è AND GET BACK TO YOUR STATION!