The History of Faith, Obedience, and Devotion
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April 01, 2012 |
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The Israelites finished the 40-year-long journey in the wilderness experiencing the power of God through Moses' faith, obedience, and devotion. With Joshua they finally conquered the Canaan Land flowing with milk and honey. We've looked into the history of the conquest of Canaan through the last eight editions based on Dr. Jaerock Lee's book The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey. By studying this history I believe you will completely believe and trust the God of love who fulfilled His promise and take New Jerusalem, the best dwelling place in Heaven, by force as explained.
* The fulfillment of the sincere promise of God in the conquest and distribution of the Land of Canaan
Led by Joshua, Moses' Successor, the sons of Israel were united and conquered most cities in the Canaan Land. As recorded in Joshua chapter 13-21, they divided up the lands east and west of Jordan and distributed them to each tribe by casting lots. It is the fulfillment of what God said to Abram, "…your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs… Then in the fourth generation they will return here… To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates." (Genesis 15:13-18)
Joshua told the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh to return to their inheritance that they had already received from Moses in the lands east of the Jordan (Joshua chapter 22). This is because they left their families, cattle, and possessions east of the Jordan and men who could fight in the war crossed the Jordan and fought in the forefront of battle until the conquest was over.
The distribution of Canaan Land flowing with milk and honey was complete. The Levites were excluded, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh received their inheritances in the lands east of Jordan, and nine and a half tribes received their inheritances to the west of Jordan. Then, they took the distributed inheritances according to their faith.
* The farewell address of Joshua and a time of solemn resolution at Shechem
Time passed and Joshua became old. Just like Moses did when he was returning to God, Joshua called for all Israel to gather, for their elders, their leaders, their judges and their officers, and he gave his final words of advice.
"Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, … But you are to cling to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day." (Joshua 23:6-8)
Until that time God was with Joshua and gave Israel amazing victories. God promised that He would defeat any enemy, no matter how strong, and give the nation of Israel the whole land of Canaan if Israel loved God and kept His commandments. On the other hand, Joshua reminded them once again of the consequences of backsliding in faith, forgetting the promise of God, associating with the Gentiles, and worshipping idols.
Joshua finally gathered the people at Shechem, between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim where they proclaimed the words of blessings and curses, to have a time of solemn resolution. As Joshua firmly said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD," the sons of Israel also did not hesitate to vow once again, "We will serve the LORD our God and we will obey His voice."
After Joshua confirmed the covenant, he once again taught them the commands of God to serve the LORD. He took a large stone and set it up as evidence. Then he dismissed the people, each to his inheritance. After this, Joshua quietly ended his life of fervent passion and faith, at the age of 110. (Joshua chapter 24)
* Conquering Canaan is the model for our journey of faith
If the history of conquering Canaan can be put into one phrase, it is, 'the history of faith, obedience, and devotion.' The Israelites could gain the Canaan Land that had been prepared for them as God's blessing when they looked at it with faith, spoke in positive confessions of faith, and marched on toward it to possess it by faith.
God told the priests to carry the ark of covenant and step into the Jordan River before the sons of Israel so that they might cross the river on the dry land. They could defeat the city of Jericho only when they obeyed with faith. All of them were possible because Joshua and Caleb believed the promise of God and devoted themselves with all their lives.
The process in which each tribe received their inheritance shows that God works according to the measure of our faith as we grow up in spirit.
The sanctification movement is seen repeatedly in the steps towards the Canaan Land flowing with milk and honey. When God first called Moses, He told him to remove his shoes. This spiritually symbolizes that he had to cast away sins and evil. When God gave His Law to the people through Moses, He first had them sanctify themselves. When they were about to cross the Jordan River, God made them sanctify themselves. They had to circumcise themselves just before the battle against the city of Jericho.
This is because God wants to have sanctified children. God is then able to walk with them but only when they are sanctified (Matthew 5:48, 1 Peter 1:15-16). During this life on earth, the process of sanctification is very important to achieve victory in the spiritual battles against the ruler of darkness and the evil spirits in the air.
The process of conquering of the Land of Canaan is just like the process for us to take the heavenly kingdom by force. In this wilderness-like world it can be done only with faith. Even if there are obstacles in front of us, we have to have an unchanging heart to believe in and trust in God completely without being shaken at all, like Joshua and Caleb. Once God's promise is given, we should believe it with an unchanging hearts and act boldly. Then, we can gain its fruit.
Therefore, we should not grow weary or become lazy in the middle. If we have New Jerusalem as our final goal, when we may see our shortcomings and when there are difficulties in our way, we must not lose heart or give up. I hope you will vigorously march towards the Canaan Land flowing with milk and honey only by faith, obedience, and devotion to God the Almighty just like Joshua and Caleb did.
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