JESUS,
OUR MOSES AND JOSHUA,
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Ministered
JUNE 1, 2003 am
MF Blume Hebrews 3:16-4:2
For
some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of
Egypt by Moses. (17) But with whom was he
grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned,
whose carcases fell in the wilderness? (18) And to whom
sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them
that believed not? (19) So we see that they could not enter in
because of unbelief. (4:1) Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise
being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short
of it. (2) For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto
them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed
with faith in them that heard it.
Ephesians 4:29-30 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (30) And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. As God’s leader to the promised land, Moses, was grieved by doubters who could not enter that land, the Spirit of God can be grieved today as He leads us into all truth. There will always be so many analogies to the church that we can derive from the Exodus journey, being one of the most perfect Old Testament pictures of the purpose of the church in the entire Bible. One prominent note we are intended to understand is that this Christian life is supposed to be al life of victory and spiritual conquest.
The Exodus story of course begins with Abraham, because the LAND of CANAAN towards which God led Israel out of Egypt was the very land God took Abraham into and gave to him. Compare this thought of Abraham’s promise and our own! Genesis 13:14-17 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: (15) For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. (16) And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. (17) Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Ephesians 3:14-21 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (15) Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, (16) That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; (17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; (19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (20) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, (21) Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Between the time Abraham was given that land, and the time Israel entered it to dwell in it, the people became enslaved in Egypt.
But we can drive them out! In an unlearned position, it might initially sound cruel for God to throw out the inhabitants of Canaan, just so that Israel can have their land.
Leviticus 18:6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD. Leviticus 18:7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. Leviticus 18:22-24 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. (23) Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. (24) Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: Leviticus 18:27-30 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. (29) For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. (30) Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 20:9 For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him. Leviticus 20:22-24 Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out. (23) And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. (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. Leviticus 20:26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. These people were extremely wicked. God gave that land to Abraham, and just as in Adam’s case, the enemy snuck in and messed it up, causing them all to leave and he moved inn and ransacked the goodness out of the land.
Jesus came to this world as both our MOSES and JOSHUA!
Exodus 19:3-5 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; (4) Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. (5) Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: Matthew 4:25-5:3 And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. (5:1) And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: (2) And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, (3) Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He gave them ATTITUDES.
Deuteronomy 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: In DEUTERONOMY, which literally means SECOND READING, Moses rehearsed the laws all over again a second time before God took him away. Jesus gave the attitudes of heart in Matthew 5, and then we read: Acts 1:2-3 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: (3) To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: Notice the forty day period that reminds us of the forty days when Israel was at the borders of Canaan and spied out the land, where the KINGDOM of Israel would stand. Jesus would be taken up just like Moses.
Deuteronomy 34:1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, Deuteronomy 34:5-7 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. (6) And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. (7) And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. Matthew 28:16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. Mark 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. But Moses left the job to Joshua to actually lead the people into the Kingdom.
John 14:15-18 If ye love me, keep my commandments. (16) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (17) Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (18) I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. Jesus is the HOLY GHOST!
Numbers 13:27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. So they were given PROOF of the LAND’S BLESSINGS!
The 40 days in which He was speaking to them about the kingdom of God, just as Israel spent 40 days in the kingdom land of Canaan, PROVED HE WAS ALIVE AFTER HIS PASSION.
But… Romans 6:4-6 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: (6) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. We walk IN NEWNESS OF LIFE! This is Jesus’ resurrection.
Enemies were strewn throughout the Promised land of Canaan. Numbers 13:27-28 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. (28) Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. Numbers 13:29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: Anybody but the Amalekites!!! … and the Hittites, Anybody but the Hittites! …and the Jebusites, Oh No! Anybody but the Jebusites! …and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. Oh no….! (you get the picture) Just like Canaan, this LAND God gave us has enemies scattered in it, who grabbed it the day Adam was kicked out.
Meanwhile someone in the pew says they are not able to live victoriously because of fakes and hypocrites. Numbers 13:31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. “The influence of hypocrites and fakes on my life is too great for me to take this victory of resurrection life!” NONSENSE!!!
EPH 1. Just as God told Israel, the land is YOUR’S. Numbers 33:50-53 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, (51) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; (52) Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: (53) And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. Ephesians 1 says we’re blessed in certain PLACES. Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: THOSE HEAVENLY PLACES ARE OUR’S!!!!
Ephesians 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, But ITS FOR YOU, TOO!!! Ephesians 2:5-6 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Notice the parentheses!
Ephesians 3:17-19 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, And God can do beyond what you even imagine!
They thought what they DID CONSIDER was hard enough.
Recall the HEAVENLY PLACES where our blessings are our’s, just like Israel was given the land before they even entered it? Recall that Christ is seated in those heavenly places? Recall that we are seated with him in those heavenly places? That is like saying the land is our’s before we even enjoy it!!! Well… there is something in Ephesians 6 that you need to know about those heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 For 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. THE MARGIN SAYS THE GREEK MEANS “IN HEAVENLY PLACES.” Wicked spirits in heavenly places! IN OUR LAND! Ephesians 1:3 said that is OUR LAND! Ephesians is the NEW TESTAMENT BOOK OF JOSHUA! Like Israel, WE FIGHT THE DEVILS OUT OF THE HEAVENLY PLACES we are meant to enjoy! One compartment of your life might be always badgering you with WORRY!
Do not settle for, “I’m just a lukewarm, defeated Christian.”
The Holy Ghost is called the COMFORTER because He will guide you into the REST of this REAL promised land! Hebrews 3:17-4:2 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? (18) And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? (19) So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (4:1) Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. (2) For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Moses GRIEVED with people who believed a lie that they could not enter, when God’s word was saying they COULD enter! Those forty years of GRIEF occurred after they doubted God.
And look at what EPHESIANS, the NT book of Joshua, says:
Resurrection life is our Canaan land.
You cannot enjoy God when you cannot enjoy resurrection life!
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