Old Testament Survey Week 3 Possessing the Promise of God
Father thank You for your invitation
Lord, we want to do as Moses did when You said,
“Moses come up to this place
and live here and I’m going to show you My heart.
Lord we want to come to that place where we are in Your presence,
experiencing Your heart.
Lord we also believe that Your Word transforms us,
it changes us, it makes us different people.
So, Lord as we forge ahead, as we search diligently,
as we reach inside Your heart Lord, we want to be changed,
we want to be transformed, we want to become different people,
we want to become like Jesus, who is the Word.
Lord we are going to look for Jesus on every page of this here.
Thank You Lord,
that it was in Your heart Father –
Your heart of compassion to create us,
it was the Holy Spirit’s role to activate Your Creation,
and it was the Son, Jesus’ role to manifest what was in Your heart.
So, Lord we want to join that as well,
to have a deposit of Your Kingdom in our hearts this evening.
In Jesus name.
A-Men
The Angel of the Lord that Jacob wrestled with all night:
Opinion – this angel was a Theophany
the appearance of Christ (who is eternal)
before his incarnate birth as a human.
[1] (meaning "appearance of God"),
[2] refers to the appearance of a deity to a human, or to a divine disclosure
Examples:
Examples:
Jacob’s angel fo the Lord
Moses’ the buring bush
Melchizadek
Moses’ the buring bush
Melchizadek
Right after this event Jacob says,
“I have met God face-to-face and lived.”
This is strong evidence that this was Christ.
There are two meanings to this statement:
1- Not only did he survive the encounter ….
2- But face-to-face with Christ he sees ‘true life’
“I have met God face-to-face and lived.”
This is strong evidence that this was Christ.
There are two meanings to this statement:
1- Not only did he survive the encounter ….
2- But face-to-face with Christ he sees ‘true life’
I’ve come face-to-face with God, and now I’m truly alive.
He will never be the same – he has a new perspective.
He will never be the same – he has a new perspective.
He put Jacob’s hip out-of-joint,
that’s why even today kosher Jews
will not eat meat from the hip-joint of an animal.
that’s why even today kosher Jews
will not eat meat from the hip-joint of an animal.
This is a reminder to Jacob (and us as well)
that he can now only live by grace – not self-effort.
He limps from now on, he cannot walk in his own strength.
Query: Does Christ appear today in the same fashion?
that he can now only live by grace – not self-effort.
He limps from now on, he cannot walk in his own strength.
Query: Does Christ appear today in the same fashion?
There is little evidence in the scriptures that He does…
accept that He appeared to Saul of Tarsus (the Apostle Paul)
on the road to Damascus
He appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
The fact-of-the-matter is He’s God!
He can do whatever He wants to do.
Query about Noah:
There was a law in Noah’s day,
it was part of the Noahic Covenant.
When God made this covenant
He made the first decree of a law to Noah;
which is partly why
Noah is a very important figure in scripture.
Rest comes through Noah,
and also the law is beginning to be established.
Query:
When Jacob stole Esau’s blessing
why couldn’t Isaac simply restore
the first-born blessing to Esau?
This is a totally different way of thinking…
which is foreign to our culture…
We think, Monday is as good as Tuesday…
but in the Jewish culture it wasn’t…
Monday can’t possibly be as good as Tuesday,
because Monday is Monday
and Tuesday is Tuesday.
Whatever he (Isaac) does on a particular day, it is sealed!…
It can’t be revisited or amended.
It is set in stone…
he only has one first-born blessing to give…
He cannot give it out two times… even if it is given in an illegitimate way, he only has one to give… he can’t do the same thing twice… there are no ‘mulligans’ (do-overs) in first-born blessings.
It should be noted that Jacob not only bought Esau’s birthright…
but he stole the blessing too
(which was a bigger deal than the birthright)
by deceiving his father Isaac
(with his mothers help and encouragement).
In the same way
they were not allowed to prepare food on the Sabbath…
and they were not allowed to prepare food for the Sabbath
on the previous day..
this food was for one day, and that food was for another day.
That’s why Jesus says in His very Jewish way,
don’t worry about tomorrow… why?
Because tomorrow has its own set of issues and problems…
i.e. ‘I only have grace for right now’….
A great writer Francois Fenelon in the 1600’s wrote saying
“Do not deprive tomorrow of its grace.”
accept that He appeared to Saul of Tarsus (the Apostle Paul)
on the road to Damascus
He appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
The fact-of-the-matter is He’s God!
He can do whatever He wants to do.
Query about Noah:
There was a law in Noah’s day,
it was part of the Noahic Covenant.
When God made this covenant
He made the first decree of a law to Noah;
which is partly why
Noah is a very important figure in scripture.
Rest comes through Noah,
and also the law is beginning to be established.
Query:
When Jacob stole Esau’s blessing
why couldn’t Isaac simply restore
the first-born blessing to Esau?
This is a totally different way of thinking…
which is foreign to our culture…
We think, Monday is as good as Tuesday…
but in the Jewish culture it wasn’t…
Monday can’t possibly be as good as Tuesday,
because Monday is Monday
and Tuesday is Tuesday.
Whatever he (Isaac) does on a particular day, it is sealed!…
It can’t be revisited or amended.
It is set in stone…
he only has one first-born blessing to give…
He cannot give it out two times… even if it is given in an illegitimate way, he only has one to give… he can’t do the same thing twice… there are no ‘mulligans’ (do-overs) in first-born blessings.
It should be noted that Jacob not only bought Esau’s birthright…
but he stole the blessing too
(which was a bigger deal than the birthright)
by deceiving his father Isaac
(with his mothers help and encouragement).
In the same way
they were not allowed to prepare food on the Sabbath…
and they were not allowed to prepare food for the Sabbath
on the previous day..
this food was for one day, and that food was for another day.
That’s why Jesus says in His very Jewish way,
don’t worry about tomorrow… why?
Because tomorrow has its own set of issues and problems…
i.e. ‘I only have grace for right now’….
A great writer Francois Fenelon in the 1600’s wrote saying
“Do not deprive tomorrow of its grace.”
“There’s grace for today,
and there’s grace for tomorrow.”
“There’s realities and circumstances today,
and there’s realities and circumstances for tomorrow.”
Let’s not jeopardize tomorrow’s grace by attempting to use it today.
Ed:Fkj
François Fénelon was a seventeenth-century French archbishop
who rose to a position of influence in the court of Louis XIV.
Amid the splendor and decadence of Versailles,
Fénelon became a wise mentor to many members of the king's court.
Later exiled for political reasons,
he set out to improve the lot of peasants of his diocese.
His letters of counsel and spiritual meditations
have found a wide audience for more than three centuries.
Twenty-first century Christians are now discovering
the wisdom of this controversial theologian and spiritual thinker.
Fenelon showed how it was possible
to have devotion and faith in the original Age of Reason.
In many respects, rationality still rules today in religion and culture,
and as a result, Fenelon speaks to modern Christians
wanting deeper faith and a meaningful inner life.
Query about Rachael who stole her father’s household idols when she left with Jacob.
The taking of the idols is simply a trust vs. no trust issue. These were things she was familiar with and they provided some degree of comfort to her as she was leaving her father’s home.
Rachael was pretty much a spoiled princess
in her father’s household, and in Jacob’s eyes as well.
Recall that Jacob’s first choice was Rachael
but he was deceived into marrying Leah first.
Leah is described as having “weak eyes,”
which is a poor translation –
it would be better translated
she had ‘pretty or gentle’ eyes.
Rachael had everything else…
yet she was somewhat of a whiner
Rachael by the way
was buried by the roadside to Ephrath (Bethlehem).
Genesis 48:7
Leah was buried with her husband Jacob…
Through Leah comes the Messiah
Through Rachael came a headache,
she was always whining and complaining about things.
You have to read the books of Genesis and Exodus with different eyes…
They are really very different
Possessing the Promises of God:
1 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land
where you are entering to possess it,
and clears away many nations before you,
the Hittites
and the Girgashites
and the Amorites
and the Canaanites
and the Perizzites
and the Hivites
and the Jebusites,
seven nations greater and stronger than you,
2and when the LORD your God
delivers them before you and you defeat them,
then you shall utterly destroy them
You shall make no covenant with them
and show no favor to them.
3"Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them;
you shall not give your daughters to their sons,
nor shall you take their daughters for your sons.
4"For they will turn your sons away from following Me
to serve other gods;
then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you
and He will quickly destroy you.
5"But thus you shall do to them:
you shall tear down their altars,
and smash their sacred pillars,
and hew down their Asherim,
and burn their graven images with fire.
6"For you are a holy people to the LORD your God;
the LORD your God has chosen you
to be a people for His own possession
out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
Deuteronomy 7:1-6 NAS
A very important word here chosen…
What does it mean to be chosen?
called, conscript, elect, exclusive, got the nod, named, pegged, pick, picked, popular, preferential, select, selected, tabbed, accept, adopt, appoint, call for, cast, co-opt, commit oneself, crave, cull, decide on, designate, desire, determine, discriminate between, draw lots, elect, embrace, espouse, excerpt, extract, fancy, favor, feel disposed to, finger, fix on, glean, judge, love, make choice, make decision, make up one's mind, name, opt for, predestine, prefer, see fit, separate, set aside, settle upon, sift out, single out, slot, sort, tab, tag, take, take up, tap, want, weigh, will, winnow, wish, wish for, accepted, set apart,
When the Lord looked at the nation of Israel
by extension, He looked at us…
We have to apply this to us.
The nation of Israel is a sort of prototype…
Israel is an example, because He chose the least…
they had not done any great wonders,
there was nothing special about them.
The fact is that He chose them, just as he chose us…
not because of anything we did, but because He loved us.
Think about this… God sees you as choice!
Can you wrap your spirit around that for a minute?
The prophet Isaiah says
François Fénelon was a seventeenth-century French archbishop
who rose to a position of influence in the court of Louis XIV.
Amid the splendor and decadence of Versailles,
Fénelon became a wise mentor to many members of the king's court.
Later exiled for political reasons,
he set out to improve the lot of peasants of his diocese.
His letters of counsel and spiritual meditations
have found a wide audience for more than three centuries.
Twenty-first century Christians are now discovering
the wisdom of this controversial theologian and spiritual thinker.
Fenelon showed how it was possible
to have devotion and faith in the original Age of Reason.
In many respects, rationality still rules today in religion and culture,
and as a result, Fenelon speaks to modern Christians
wanting deeper faith and a meaningful inner life.
Query about Rachael who stole her father’s household idols when she left with Jacob.
The taking of the idols is simply a trust vs. no trust issue. These were things she was familiar with and they provided some degree of comfort to her as she was leaving her father’s home.
Rachael was pretty much a spoiled princess
in her father’s household, and in Jacob’s eyes as well.
Recall that Jacob’s first choice was Rachael
but he was deceived into marrying Leah first.
Leah is described as having “weak eyes,”
which is a poor translation –
it would be better translated
she had ‘pretty or gentle’ eyes.
Rachael had everything else…
yet she was somewhat of a whiner
Rachael by the way
was buried by the roadside to Ephrath (Bethlehem).
Genesis 48:7
Leah was buried with her husband Jacob…
Through Leah comes the Messiah
Through Rachael came a headache,
she was always whining and complaining about things.
You have to read the books of Genesis and Exodus with different eyes…
They are really very different
Possessing the Promises of God:
1 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land
where you are entering to possess it,
and clears away many nations before you,
the Hittites
and the Girgashites
and the Amorites
and the Canaanites
and the Perizzites
and the Hivites
and the Jebusites,
seven nations greater and stronger than you,
2and when the LORD your God
delivers them before you and you defeat them,
then you shall utterly destroy them
You shall make no covenant with them
and show no favor to them.
3"Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them;
you shall not give your daughters to their sons,
nor shall you take their daughters for your sons.
4"For they will turn your sons away from following Me
to serve other gods;
then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you
and He will quickly destroy you.
5"But thus you shall do to them:
you shall tear down their altars,
and smash their sacred pillars,
and hew down their Asherim,
and burn their graven images with fire.
6"For you are a holy people to the LORD your God;
the LORD your God has chosen you
to be a people for His own possession
out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
Deuteronomy 7:1-6 NAS
A very important word here chosen…
What does it mean to be chosen?
called, conscript, elect, exclusive, got the nod, named, pegged, pick, picked, popular, preferential, select, selected, tabbed, accept, adopt, appoint, call for, cast, co-opt, commit oneself, crave, cull, decide on, designate, desire, determine, discriminate between, draw lots, elect, embrace, espouse, excerpt, extract, fancy, favor, feel disposed to, finger, fix on, glean, judge, love, make choice, make decision, make up one's mind, name, opt for, predestine, prefer, see fit, separate, set aside, settle upon, sift out, single out, slot, sort, tab, tag, take, take up, tap, want, weigh, will, winnow, wish, wish for, accepted, set apart,
When the Lord looked at the nation of Israel
by extension, He looked at us…
We have to apply this to us.
The nation of Israel is a sort of prototype…
Israel is an example, because He chose the least…
they had not done any great wonders,
there was nothing special about them.
The fact is that He chose them, just as he chose us…
not because of anything we did, but because He loved us.
Think about this… God sees you as choice!
Can you wrap your spirit around that for a minute?
The prophet Isaiah says
you are ‘wholly chosen, beloved of God’
‘Since you are precious in my sight,
and I love you, and honor you’… He says.
He looks at us and chooses us as precious.
He sees us as the best… even if we don’t get that.
Here’s the point…
I don’t have to get it.
You see we try always to figure it out,
but we don’t have to figure it out,
we just need to accept it,
and live in that place.
Most of the people we see all day long
could really be spared a lot of unnecessary pain
if they just believed they were choice.
People just need to understand who they were in Christ
and in the Father’s heart.
We are as much Second Adam as we are the first Adam.
Christ is not some external thing (far away)
He is right here (in our hearts)
Isn’t that what Paul said in Colossians 1:27
27to whom God willed to make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
‘Since you are precious in my sight,
and I love you, and honor you’… He says.
He looks at us and chooses us as precious.
He sees us as the best… even if we don’t get that.
Here’s the point…
I don’t have to get it.
You see we try always to figure it out,
but we don’t have to figure it out,
we just need to accept it,
and live in that place.
Most of the people we see all day long
could really be spared a lot of unnecessary pain
if they just believed they were choice.
People just need to understand who they were in Christ
and in the Father’s heart.
We are as much Second Adam as we are the first Adam.
Christ is not some external thing (far away)
He is right here (in our hearts)
Isn’t that what Paul said in Colossians 1:27
27to whom God willed to make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:27 NAS
26-27 times in the book of Ephesians
it reminds us that we are “in Christ.
In the Gospel of John He says
He has come to make His home in you
We often perceive God as some separate thing …
but He has by choice deposited Himself in us.
We can no more deny the Christ part of us…
than the first Adam part of us.
When we are talking about this whole aspect of possession,
we must live with the spiritual reality that He possesses us.
1 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land
where you are entering to possess it,
Deuteronomy 7:1a NAS
This passage of scripture
is a very important passage in Deuteronomy 7
it is concerning the Doctrine of Election in the Old Testament.
It is the Doctrine of Election
because we have been chosen by God
There was an election in heaven
and we won by a landslide.
The scripture says we are to possess the land…
We are talking about something that must be possessed.
We are chosen, but what are we chosen for?
According to this scripture
it seems we are chosen to possess something.
Possess means to take into your hand…
To control, manage, claim as your own.
Possession - yarash
- yarash
Ya is a shortened from of Yahweh
rash means first, or the head
So if we are going to possess something then literally
God must be first!
The secret of possessing
Colossians 1:27 NAS
26-27 times in the book of Ephesians
it reminds us that we are “in Christ.
In the Gospel of John He says
He has come to make His home in you
We often perceive God as some separate thing …
but He has by choice deposited Himself in us.
We can no more deny the Christ part of us…
than the first Adam part of us.
When we are talking about this whole aspect of possession,
we must live with the spiritual reality that He possesses us.
1 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land
where you are entering to possess it,
Deuteronomy 7:1a NAS
This passage of scripture
is a very important passage in Deuteronomy 7
it is concerning the Doctrine of Election in the Old Testament.
It is the Doctrine of Election
because we have been chosen by God
There was an election in heaven
and we won by a landslide.
The scripture says we are to possess the land…
We are talking about something that must be possessed.
We are chosen, but what are we chosen for?
According to this scripture
it seems we are chosen to possess something.
Possess means to take into your hand…
To control, manage, claim as your own.
Possession - yarash
- yarash
Ya is a shortened from of Yahweh
rash means first, or the head
So if we are going to possess something then literally
God must be first!
The secret of possessing
is not wars of conquest
not having the right prayer formula
not having the right doctrine
but it is putting God first in your life.
The whole purpose of Christ
is that He might have first place in all things, Paul says…
18He is also head of the body, the church;
and He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that He Himself will come
to have first place in everything.
Colossians 1:18 NAS
Possessing things is not what possession is all about…
possessing is about putting God first
When God is talking about possessing the land
He is talking about a place where He wants to live with them.
To fulfill the calling of God
to be a holy nation there had to be
a people,
not having the right prayer formula
not having the right doctrine
but it is putting God first in your life.
The whole purpose of Christ
is that He might have first place in all things, Paul says…
18He is also head of the body, the church;
and He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that He Himself will come
to have first place in everything.
Colossians 1:18 NAS
Possessing things is not what possession is all about…
possessing is about putting God first
When God is talking about possessing the land
He is talking about a place where He wants to live with them.
To fulfill the calling of God
to be a holy nation there had to be
a people,
a law,
and a land
Possession has two components:
1-taking hold
2-dispossessing the inhabitants.
We have to take hold of that which God gives us…
but we also have to rid ourselves
of things that have no business being there.
If people (or things) still occupy the land God has called us to possess…
Possession has two components:
1-taking hold
2-dispossessing the inhabitants.
We have to take hold of that which God gives us…
but we also have to rid ourselves
of things that have no business being there.
If people (or things) still occupy the land God has called us to possess…
then we don’t truly possess it.
Most of the problems that the nation of Israel had,
came because the people did not fully obey God.
2 Kings chapter 17, talks about the seven reasons why
Israel fell into the place of exile.
Often people take the view
that the dispossession of the land was not fair.
Fair is not up to us…
First of all the land that the nation of Israel will possess in time,
that land was given to Abraham years before…
but he didn’t enter into the fulfillment of the promise…
Yet it was in the heart of God
to fulfill His covenant promise
that His people should enter in
and take possession of the land
We are called to possess,
but we are also called to be God’s possession…
We have to allow Him to take hold of us
Again, possession has two aspects:
To take hold of something
To get rid of the stuff that doesn’t belong there.
God wants to possess us…
That means He desires to take hold of us…
But also, that
He wants to remove that which doesn’t belong in us.
The problem with the nation of Israel was
they didn’t get rid of the junk that didn’t belong…
They feared the Lord,
but they didn’t get rid of their own idols.
They simply didn’t trust God deeply enough… tragic…
4"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
5"You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your might.
6"These words, which I am commanding you today,
shall be on your heart.
Deuteronomy 6:4-6 NAS
Love the Lord…
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your might, strength, flesh
Look at the order here in Deuteronomy 6
which is called the Shemah
which means to hear
hear oh Israel
Recall that Jesus said this was the greatest commandment of all…
The heart = your being... who you are
who I am as a spirit being….
Soul = the mind, will and emotions
that’s our persona, our “person-ness” or personality
Might, strength = the physical body our flesh, carnality
I am a spirit…. I have a soul…. I live in a body…
12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.
Psalm 33:12 NAS
Inheritance means
Most of the problems that the nation of Israel had,
came because the people did not fully obey God.
2 Kings chapter 17, talks about the seven reasons why
Israel fell into the place of exile.
Often people take the view
that the dispossession of the land was not fair.
Fair is not up to us…
First of all the land that the nation of Israel will possess in time,
that land was given to Abraham years before…
but he didn’t enter into the fulfillment of the promise…
Yet it was in the heart of God
to fulfill His covenant promise
that His people should enter in
and take possession of the land
We are called to possess,
but we are also called to be God’s possession…
We have to allow Him to take hold of us
Again, possession has two aspects:
To take hold of something
To get rid of the stuff that doesn’t belong there.
God wants to possess us…
That means He desires to take hold of us…
But also, that
He wants to remove that which doesn’t belong in us.
The problem with the nation of Israel was
they didn’t get rid of the junk that didn’t belong…
They feared the Lord,
but they didn’t get rid of their own idols.
They simply didn’t trust God deeply enough… tragic…
4"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
5"You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your might.
6"These words, which I am commanding you today,
shall be on your heart.
Deuteronomy 6:4-6 NAS
Love the Lord…
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your might, strength, flesh
Look at the order here in Deuteronomy 6
which is called the Shemah
which means to hear
hear oh Israel
Recall that Jesus said this was the greatest commandment of all…
The heart = your being... who you are
who I am as a spirit being….
Soul = the mind, will and emotions
that’s our persona, our “person-ness” or personality
Might, strength = the physical body our flesh, carnality
I am a spirit…. I have a soul…. I live in a body…
12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.
Psalm 33:12 NAS
Inheritance means
destiny,
passed down,
valued possession,
The Lord is calling us His inheritance
because we are a valued possession…
29"When the LORD your God
cuts off before you the nations
which you are going in to possess,
and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,
30beware that you are not ensnared to follow them,
after they are destroyed before you,
and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying,
'How do these nations serve their gods,
that I also may do likewise?'
Deuteronomy 12:29-30 NAS
Dispossession in part of inheritance
That means they (the enemy)
thinks it’s theirs
and we need to dispossess them
to take hold of our inheritance.
30beware that you are not ensnared to follow them,
after they are destroyed before you,
and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying,
'How do these nations serve their gods,
that I also may do likewise?'
We get ensnared
when we begin to loose trust and focus on the Lord.
We begin to trust in other things… Jesus plus something…
The scripture says in Psalm 24
3Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
And who may stand in His holy place?
4He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood (idols)
And has not sworn deceitfully.
5He shall receive a blessing from the LORD
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6This is the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face--even Jacob. Selah.
Whose going to live in the presence of God:
He who has clean hands
Clean in Hebrew comes from naqah
meaning to be empty or bare
nâqıy nâqıy' (naw-kee')
From H5352; innocent: - blameless, clean, clear, exempted, free, guiltless, innocent, quit.
From:H5352
nâqâh (naw-kaw')
A primitive root; to be (or make) clean (literally or figuratively); by implication (in an adverse sense) to be bare, that is, extirpated: - acquit X at all, X altogether, be blameless, cleanse, (be) clear (-ing), cut off, be desolate, be free, be (hold) guiltless, be (hold) innocent, X by no means, be quit, be (leave) unpunished, X utterly, X wholly.
The problem is we try to hold on to stuff…
we try to bring other stuff to the table
We need to have a radical understanding of Grace…
The whole Old Testament is an explanation of the grace of God
He is profoundly filled with grace…
how many times does the nation of Israel blow it…
they blow it, and blow it and blow it!
2 Chronicles 7:14 NAS
14if My people who are called by My name
humble themselves
and pray
and seek My face
and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven,
will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
God requires us to humble ourselves…
it is the entry requirement for entering into His grace.
God says,
‘Look, if you are going to go to that place (the Promised Land)
you have to understand
that there are going to be influences that you need to avoid…
that’s why I am telling you to get rid of them.’
In the New Testament we see the same message…
12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body
so that you obey its lusts,
Romans 6:12 NAS
He’s talking about the same thing…
things that are going to take us from the presence of God
God’s purpose for these people was one thing….
to take possession of the land…
We need to remember that –
Ed:fkj-
(we are still called to take possession of the seven mountains of cultural influence – the church, the home, the government, the workplace, the arts, the media and education)
God’s saying “look, I’ve chosen you…
you are my valued possession…
take the Land I’ve chosen for you…
He said it to Israel…
He says it to us today…
Just as Israel followed after idols of their day –
the idols of the peoples in the land that they failed to dispossess…
we have contemporary idols in our land today:
money, our will, convenience, pleasure, fame, success,
self-indulgences, control, position, sports, power…
Anything we trust in or seek after other than the Lord…
anything that possesses us becomes an idol…
The Lord says
we are to possess His promises,
this place (our Promised Land),
this intimate relationship with Him…
He says that He wants us
to be His treasured possession.
We are not to be possessed by other things, other than Him.
This is why the whole “Prosperity Doctrine”
falls flat on its face… it is a bunch of rubbish.
The fact is this false doctrine
has created more idolatry
in the church than holiness.
It’s about us (having material things)… not about God.
Look what the scripture says:
7'I will give them a heart to know Me,
for I am the LORD; and they will be My people,
and I will be their God,
for they will return to Me with their whole heart.
Jeremiah 24:7 NAS
A whole heart as opposed to a divided heart
How do our hearts become divided?
By following after other things… other than God!
The Lord is calling us His inheritance
because we are a valued possession…
29"When the LORD your God
cuts off before you the nations
which you are going in to possess,
and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,
30beware that you are not ensnared to follow them,
after they are destroyed before you,
and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying,
'How do these nations serve their gods,
that I also may do likewise?'
Deuteronomy 12:29-30 NAS
Dispossession in part of inheritance
That means they (the enemy)
thinks it’s theirs
and we need to dispossess them
to take hold of our inheritance.
30beware that you are not ensnared to follow them,
after they are destroyed before you,
and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying,
'How do these nations serve their gods,
that I also may do likewise?'
We get ensnared
when we begin to loose trust and focus on the Lord.
We begin to trust in other things… Jesus plus something…
The scripture says in Psalm 24
3Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
And who may stand in His holy place?
4He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood (idols)
And has not sworn deceitfully.
5He shall receive a blessing from the LORD
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6This is the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face--even Jacob. Selah.
Whose going to live in the presence of God:
He who has clean hands
Clean in Hebrew comes from naqah
meaning to be empty or bare
nâqıy nâqıy' (naw-kee')
From H5352; innocent: - blameless, clean, clear, exempted, free, guiltless, innocent, quit.
From:H5352
nâqâh (naw-kaw')
A primitive root; to be (or make) clean (literally or figuratively); by implication (in an adverse sense) to be bare, that is, extirpated: - acquit X at all, X altogether, be blameless, cleanse, (be) clear (-ing), cut off, be desolate, be free, be (hold) guiltless, be (hold) innocent, X by no means, be quit, be (leave) unpunished, X utterly, X wholly.
The problem is we try to hold on to stuff…
we try to bring other stuff to the table
We need to have a radical understanding of Grace…
The whole Old Testament is an explanation of the grace of God
He is profoundly filled with grace…
how many times does the nation of Israel blow it…
they blow it, and blow it and blow it!
2 Chronicles 7:14 NAS
14if My people who are called by My name
humble themselves
and pray
and seek My face
and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven,
will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
God requires us to humble ourselves…
it is the entry requirement for entering into His grace.
God says,
‘Look, if you are going to go to that place (the Promised Land)
you have to understand
that there are going to be influences that you need to avoid…
that’s why I am telling you to get rid of them.’
In the New Testament we see the same message…
12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body
so that you obey its lusts,
Romans 6:12 NAS
He’s talking about the same thing…
things that are going to take us from the presence of God
God’s purpose for these people was one thing….
to take possession of the land…
We need to remember that –
Ed:fkj-
(we are still called to take possession of the seven mountains of cultural influence – the church, the home, the government, the workplace, the arts, the media and education)
God’s saying “look, I’ve chosen you…
you are my valued possession…
take the Land I’ve chosen for you…
He said it to Israel…
He says it to us today…
Just as Israel followed after idols of their day –
the idols of the peoples in the land that they failed to dispossess…
we have contemporary idols in our land today:
money, our will, convenience, pleasure, fame, success,
self-indulgences, control, position, sports, power…
Anything we trust in or seek after other than the Lord…
anything that possesses us becomes an idol…
The Lord says
we are to possess His promises,
this place (our Promised Land),
this intimate relationship with Him…
He says that He wants us
to be His treasured possession.
We are not to be possessed by other things, other than Him.
This is why the whole “Prosperity Doctrine”
falls flat on its face… it is a bunch of rubbish.
The fact is this false doctrine
has created more idolatry
in the church than holiness.
It’s about us (having material things)… not about God.
Look what the scripture says:
7'I will give them a heart to know Me,
for I am the LORD; and they will be My people,
and I will be their God,
for they will return to Me with their whole heart.
Jeremiah 24:7 NAS
A whole heart as opposed to a divided heart
How do our hearts become divided?
By following after other things… other than God!
We relegate God to our Sunday morning box…
He says no! I want the whole thing…
the whole enchilada!
If we are only half His…
then we are not His possession
Whole hearted means that we are possessed fully,
taken up by God
A whole heart as opposed to a heart ….
which is wounded
which is broken
which is sick
As we come to God with all our heart
there is a healing that takes place in our heart
When the children of Israel
He says no! I want the whole thing…
the whole enchilada!
If we are only half His…
then we are not His possession
Whole hearted means that we are possessed fully,
taken up by God
A whole heart as opposed to a heart ….
which is wounded
which is broken
which is sick
As we come to God with all our heart
there is a healing that takes place in our heart
When the children of Israel
had their backs to the Red Sea
and were being pursued by Pharaoh’s army…
Moses said, “Stand and see the salvation of God.”
Actually that word salvation is the word Yeshua
Moses was literally saying “stand and see Yeshua - Jesus!”
This is another place
that we see Jesus referred to in the Old Testament.
We cannot possess what God has for us
(Intimacy with God and all those things),
unless we are first possessed by Him
We must become His possession, to gain possession
Here’s a couple of scriptures:
8"I will give to you and to your descendants after you,
the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan,
for an everlasting possession;
and I will be their God."
Genesis 17:8 NAS
Remember Abraham was promised this
as a possession a long time ago.
I will be there God –
This is a constant theme all through scripture…
I will be there God
They will be My people
And I will dwell among them.
4'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians,
and how I bore you on eagles' wings,
and brought you to Myself.
5'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice
and keep My covenant,
then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples,
for all the earth is Mine;
6and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation.'
These are the words that you shall speak
to the sons of Israel."
Exodus 19:4-6 NAS
What do priests do?
They minister to God…
a priest is associated with the presence of God
God is saying here that He is possessing them
to bring them into His presence.
A kingdom of priests….
a kingdom implies that there is a King!
Living intentionally in that place where He is present!
Focused on Him… we are His and He is ours.
A holy nation:
set apart, chosen, something that is different from everything else…
reserved for God!
As we enter in God desires to “clear away” all distractions
“clears away many nations before you,
the Hittites
and the Girgashites
and the Amorites
and the Canaanites
and the Perizzites
and the Hivites
and the Jebusites,
seven nations greater and stronger than you,”
Deuteronomy 7:1a NAS
If we look are what these names mean
and study the nature of these peoples
we will come to a spiritual understanding
of what these peoples represent
that can cause us to be distracted
from fully entering in to our Promised Land.
Example:
the Hittites were a fierce and warlike people
There were two Hittite nations,
but both of them were terrorist nations.
Hittite comes from the Hebrew word
that means to “tremble in fear” or “terror”
So if we are going to enter in
and take possession
and be My possession,
you can’t live in fear.
You are going to have to get rid of that influence in your life.
These are things that prevent us from knowing the heart of God…
and being possessed by Him…
so that we be His possession
and receive that possession from Him.
The kingdom of God
is made up of those who are possessed by the Lord.
All of these ‘ites’ were
descendants of Canaan. Genesis 10
They are mentioned in God’s covenant with Abraham. Genesis 15
Restated to Moses. Exodus 3
Hittites - Fear
Girgashites - Rejection
Amorites - Worthlessness
Canaanites - Shame
Perizzites - Insecurity
Hivites - Defilement
Jebusites - Hopelessness
Another example is the Hivites,
Moses was literally saying “stand and see Yeshua - Jesus!”
This is another place
that we see Jesus referred to in the Old Testament.
We cannot possess what God has for us
(Intimacy with God and all those things),
unless we are first possessed by Him
We must become His possession, to gain possession
Here’s a couple of scriptures:
8"I will give to you and to your descendants after you,
the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan,
for an everlasting possession;
and I will be their God."
Genesis 17:8 NAS
Remember Abraham was promised this
as a possession a long time ago.
I will be there God –
This is a constant theme all through scripture…
I will be there God
They will be My people
And I will dwell among them.
4'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians,
and how I bore you on eagles' wings,
and brought you to Myself.
5'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice
and keep My covenant,
then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples,
for all the earth is Mine;
6and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation.'
These are the words that you shall speak
to the sons of Israel."
Exodus 19:4-6 NAS
What do priests do?
They minister to God…
a priest is associated with the presence of God
God is saying here that He is possessing them
to bring them into His presence.
A kingdom of priests….
a kingdom implies that there is a King!
Living intentionally in that place where He is present!
Focused on Him… we are His and He is ours.
A holy nation:
set apart, chosen, something that is different from everything else…
reserved for God!
As we enter in God desires to “clear away” all distractions
“clears away many nations before you,
the Hittites
and the Girgashites
and the Amorites
and the Canaanites
and the Perizzites
and the Hivites
and the Jebusites,
seven nations greater and stronger than you,”
Deuteronomy 7:1a NAS
If we look are what these names mean
and study the nature of these peoples
we will come to a spiritual understanding
of what these peoples represent
that can cause us to be distracted
from fully entering in to our Promised Land.
Example:
the Hittites were a fierce and warlike people
There were two Hittite nations,
but both of them were terrorist nations.
Hittite comes from the Hebrew word
that means to “tremble in fear” or “terror”
So if we are going to enter in
and take possession
and be My possession,
you can’t live in fear.
You are going to have to get rid of that influence in your life.
These are things that prevent us from knowing the heart of God…
and being possessed by Him…
so that we be His possession
and receive that possession from Him.
The kingdom of God
is made up of those who are possessed by the Lord.
All of these ‘ites’ were
descendants of Canaan. Genesis 10
They are mentioned in God’s covenant with Abraham. Genesis 15
Restated to Moses. Exodus 3
Hittites - Fear
Girgashites - Rejection
Amorites - Worthlessness
Canaanites - Shame
Perizzites - Insecurity
Hivites - Defilement
Jebusites - Hopelessness
Another example is the Hivites,
who are mentioned only a couple of times in scripture.
Hivite comes from the Hebrew word that means carnal-like.
Every time they are mentioned
they are raping or ambushing someone.
Because the Israelites did not deal with the influences
the influences stayed upon Israel
for hundreds and thousands of years.
Look at what God’s injunction was:
55 But if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land,
those who remain will be like
splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides.
They will harass you in the land where you live.
56 And I will do to you what I had planned to do to them.”
Numbers 33:55-56 NLT
This talks to the whole understanding of Holiness
we need to be holy
if we are to get rid of stuff in us
that offends the heart of God.
We need to have a healed heart and a whole heart.
We cant live in the past – regrets
We can’t live in the future – worry
We need to live in the present –
in the presence of God
If we don’t get rid of these things they will be a real problem to us
The Holy Spirit brings conviction (not condemnation)
He is trying to bring us to the place
where we can fully be a possession of God!
Israel did not remove the ungodly influences.
28It came about when Israel became strong,
that they put the Canaanites to forced labor,
but they did not drive them out completely.
Judges 1:28 NAS
2 But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done?
3"Therefore I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you;
but they will become as thorns in your sides
and their gods will be a snare to you.'"
4When the angel of the LORD spoke these words
to all the sons of Israel,
the people lifted up their voices and wept.
5So they named that place Bochim;
and there they sacrificed to the LORD.
Judges 2:3-5 NAS
Because they did not drive out the influences
the people lived apart from the holy presence of God.
10 All that generation also were gathered to their fathers;
and there arose another generation after them
who did not know the LORD,
nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.
Judges 2:10 NAS
The church is relevant
because we are the possession of God
Because the Israelites did not deal with the influences
the influences stayed upon Israel
for hundreds and thousands of years.
Look at what God’s injunction was:
55 But if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land,
those who remain will be like
splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides.
They will harass you in the land where you live.
56 And I will do to you what I had planned to do to them.”
Numbers 33:55-56 NLT
This talks to the whole understanding of Holiness
we need to be holy
if we are to get rid of stuff in us
that offends the heart of God.
We need to have a healed heart and a whole heart.
We cant live in the past – regrets
We can’t live in the future – worry
We need to live in the present –
in the presence of God
If we don’t get rid of these things they will be a real problem to us
The Holy Spirit brings conviction (not condemnation)
He is trying to bring us to the place
where we can fully be a possession of God!
Israel did not remove the ungodly influences.
28It came about when Israel became strong,
that they put the Canaanites to forced labor,
but they did not drive them out completely.
Judges 1:28 NAS
2 But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done?
3"Therefore I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you;
but they will become as thorns in your sides
and their gods will be a snare to you.'"
4When the angel of the LORD spoke these words
to all the sons of Israel,
the people lifted up their voices and wept.
5So they named that place Bochim;
and there they sacrificed to the LORD.
Judges 2:3-5 NAS
Because they did not drive out the influences
the people lived apart from the holy presence of God.
10 All that generation also were gathered to their fathers;
and there arose another generation after them
who did not know the LORD,
nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.
Judges 2:10 NAS
The church is relevant
because we are the possession of God
30-
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