Exodus 23:20-33
In the Old Testament, Gods chosen people were the Israelites. The rest of the world then, those who are not descendants of Abraham, are enemies of God. Fair? Maybe not. But what Father does not treat His own kids better than a random stranger child. In this passage, Israel is given very specific instructions on how to proceed into and overtake the promised land; slowly and completely. As they go they are warned to not worship the gods of the people who live there. Instead, they are to smash the idols and demolish their sacred stones.
The Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jesusites were all formidable opponents. It appeared as though the Israelites would not have a chance to defeat them. In the natural world, that would have been true. But this is God's army we're talking about. His chosen people. What did He promise? To throw all of their opponents into confusion. Even the most perfectly trained, most armored, strongest largest army in the world would not stand a chance if thrown into confusion. They would forget their training, purpose, goals and maybe even who they were supposed to fight!
With this advantage it would have been so easy to completely destroy the enemy armies. But in many cases, they were not completely wiped out. Mostly, but not completely. We can read what happened in these cases. In every one of them the gods of the natives became a snare for God's people. Just like He said they would. Eventually, Israel fell away from God and their entire nation fell apart.
This is all a great story, but what does all of that mean for us under the new covenant?
In the book of Romans Paul tells us that by the Grace and Love of Jesus Christ, we gentiles have been given the same rights as the Jews. We are princes and princesses, sons and daughters of the King. What that means is that we have the opportunity for the same birthright as God's chosen people. Not because we deserve it, but because we don't. With that being said, we each have our own promised land, the abundant life that Christ came to give. And in your promised land, there are natives living there that don't want you to come in and will try to ensnare you with their false idols. Money, sex, drugs, violence and all the others.
In addiction recovery there is a general opinion; calendars make crappy cheerleaders. What that means is that change, recovery, takes time. If you want people to treat you like you are one or two years sober, you have to wait 12-24 months. That's hard! But look what God says about why it works that way.
" I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate
and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out,
before you until you have increased enough to take possession of the land."
It's kind of like someone who wins the jackpot in the lotto. Ok, their money problems are gone but it often ruins their lives because of all the new problems it can bring. This is where the thought that God will never give us more than we can handle comes from. It's said to comfort those who are struggling in some areas of life. But this says that not only will He allow only the bad we can handle, but it also says that He won't take it all away at once. God uses these things to refine us. To show us how to live with Him and in Him. He uses this to show His provision for us and His love for us. All we have to do is trust Him and follow His perfect leading and our abundant, vibrant promised land is ours for the taking.
Sent from my iPad
The Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jesusites were all formidable opponents. It appeared as though the Israelites would not have a chance to defeat them. In the natural world, that would have been true. But this is God's army we're talking about. His chosen people. What did He promise? To throw all of their opponents into confusion. Even the most perfectly trained, most armored, strongest largest army in the world would not stand a chance if thrown into confusion. They would forget their training, purpose, goals and maybe even who they were supposed to fight!
With this advantage it would have been so easy to completely destroy the enemy armies. But in many cases, they were not completely wiped out. Mostly, but not completely. We can read what happened in these cases. In every one of them the gods of the natives became a snare for God's people. Just like He said they would. Eventually, Israel fell away from God and their entire nation fell apart.
This is all a great story, but what does all of that mean for us under the new covenant?
In the book of Romans Paul tells us that by the Grace and Love of Jesus Christ, we gentiles have been given the same rights as the Jews. We are princes and princesses, sons and daughters of the King. What that means is that we have the opportunity for the same birthright as God's chosen people. Not because we deserve it, but because we don't. With that being said, we each have our own promised land, the abundant life that Christ came to give. And in your promised land, there are natives living there that don't want you to come in and will try to ensnare you with their false idols. Money, sex, drugs, violence and all the others.
In addiction recovery there is a general opinion; calendars make crappy cheerleaders. What that means is that change, recovery, takes time. If you want people to treat you like you are one or two years sober, you have to wait 12-24 months. That's hard! But look what God says about why it works that way.
" I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate
and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out,
before you until you have increased enough to take possession of the land."
It's kind of like someone who wins the jackpot in the lotto. Ok, their money problems are gone but it often ruins their lives because of all the new problems it can bring. This is where the thought that God will never give us more than we can handle comes from. It's said to comfort those who are struggling in some areas of life. But this says that not only will He allow only the bad we can handle, but it also says that He won't take it all away at once. God uses these things to refine us. To show us how to live with Him and in Him. He uses this to show His provision for us and His love for us. All we have to do is trust Him and follow His perfect leading and our abundant, vibrant promised land is ours for the taking.
Sent from my iPad