“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you.”
God had given Israel the land of Canaan, but they must put forth energy to possess and enjoy it. To gaze out over those beautiful fields of ripened grain and the vineyards and olive trees, would not be eating its fruits, nor to look up at those mountains was not digging out the precious metals. Step by step they were to win the ground, for their enemies were there ready to contest every inch of soil.
So it is with us spiritually. All spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ are ours, but they can only be reached through death, as seen in Israel’s crossing the Jordan. Only as having passed through death with Christ can we appropriate them by faith through the power of the spirit of God. It is possible for us to have an intellectual grasp of heavenly truths, but our enjoyment of them and how much our life and walk are affected will tell if we have really made them our own. We need to occupy ourselves with these things, to dwell upon them and let them prove their reality in our lives.
Then it is instructive to notice the boundaries of the land given here: “From the wilderness” on the south, “and this Lebanon” on the north, “even unto the great river, the river Euphrates” on the east, “and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun on the west.” Here we have the world’s characteristics set forth: 1) its barrenness; 2) its power; 3) its prosperity; and 4) its restlessness.
God’s people are like a garden enclosed, surrounded by a world with which they can have nothing in common.
There would be conflict for there were enemies there, and so it is that in this sense Canaan is not our heavenly rest. It is really our entering into our heavenly portion now. We have spiritual enemies, “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but... against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:1212For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)). Satan opposes all that is of God, and we need the whole armor of God to withstand in the evil day (Eph. 6:1313Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13)).
But, dear Christian, are not Christ and the blessings He gives worth all the conflict? And for us victory is assured: “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
Three times the Lord cheers Joshua with the words, “Be strong and of a good courage.” How precious is His Promise to be with us all the way home.
ML-01/23/1977