There’s good reason why so many sincere church members have struggled for years, and fallen short in overcoming various sins and addictions and compulsions in their lives. Be it envy, bitterness, lust, anger, greed, pride, etc., just like the Israelites faced hostile enemies in the land, so do we; and if we fall short in overcoming them, then they will overcome us. And it is not ‘flesh and blood’ that you have struggled with, but ‘principalities and powers of darkness and spiritual wickedness’ (Eph. 6:12) 

 Think of the OT stories where God delivered His people from their slavery in Egypt and led them through the wilderness into the promised land...as a set of ‘spiritual blueprints’...for what His ultimate plan was for us today. 

 If you would allow the Holy Spirit to bear witness to this in your own spirit, you might find a few ‘lights coming on’ and ‘dots getting connected’ so as to better understand what this walk of faith with Jesus is all about. 

 Egypt was of course, a ‘type’ or a ‘foreshadow’ of the world we live in. And instead of the Pharaoh being in control, it is Satan who runs and influences this world today. (1 John 5:19; Rev. 12:9; Acts 26:18) 

 Because we were all sinners, born and shaped in iniquity with a fallen sinful nature, a nature we inherited from Adam...we were all ‘dead’ in our sins and were in fact, ‘slaves’ to sin. (Ps. 51:5; Rom. 5:12; 3:23; John 8:34; Eph. 2:1-2) 

 And instead of sending Moses to deliver us, God sent Jesus to ‘set the captives free’. (John 3:17; Luke 4:18). Jesus certainly made the case that whoever commits sin is a slave to sin, and that He came that we might know the liberating truth where we could be free, and be free...indeed. (John 8:32-36). 

 It was never God’s plan for His creation to be in bondage and slaves to sin. We were created in His image and likeness. (Gen. 1:26-27). So to think that even after a person is born again that he will remain...a sinner...is a lie born in the pits of hell and is just the opposite of what God’s word has declared: “Whoever is born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9). 

 Jesus was not a sinner and we are supposed to be, being conformed to His likeness and image, where He is the firstborn of many brethren. (Rom. 8:29). And whoever abides in Him...ought to walk just like He walked. (1 John 2:6). His words, not mine. 

 If you are sitting under a ‘ministry’ that insist that you will always be a ‘slave’, then I would submit to you that you may still be serving Pharaoh, and God is demanding to “Let My People Go!”, just as He did back when Pharaoh was reluctant to let the Israelites to go and worship and serve Him. (Exodus 9:1) 

 After much prodding and curses and plagues sent by God, His people came out of Egypt and were led by the pillar of fire and smoke into the wilderness. The crossing of the Red Sea was a type or foreshadow of baptism where we ‘die to the old way of life’ and begin to follow God to a place where we can be a holy nation, set apart unto Him. “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of this life.” (1 Pet. 2:9; Rom. 6:4) 

 So here is where it gets really interesting. The trip from the Red Sea to the Jordan River which they would need to cross to go in and take possession of this land God had reserved for them was about an 11 day journey. They were going to have to traverse some inhospitable land, the land we know as the ‘wilderness’, and there was no way that several million people could cross through that region unless God was with them and could provide for them. There were simply no Bucee’s out there at the time. (IYKYK) 

 It would also be good to be reminded that God always has a plan...and He would not deliver you from one place...if He did not have a better place in mind to lead you in to. Hence, this ‘Promised Land’ that He had sworn to Abraham where his descendants would possess and settle in there. God called it a land that was flowing with milk and honey and would be a place of peace and rest. You should also know that this promised land was NOT a type or picture of heaven, either. Do you know why? 

 There were evil nations on the land that would need to be removed. And there won’t be any evil in heaven. This ‘land’ that was possessed by the Canaanite nations, is a picture or type of our hearts today. And those Canaanite nations were a type or foreshadow of all that defiles our hearts before we come to Christ. Jesus described them as ‘evil things that defile our hearts’ (Mark 7:21-23) and Paul elaborates in more detail calling them the sinful deeds of the flesh nature. (Gal. 5:19-21; Rom. 1:29-32) And these too, need to ‘come off the land’. That is what Jesus leads us to do, just as Joshua led the Israelites. (Rom. 8:13) 

 There were a few scheduled stops along the way in the wilderness for some ‘educational housekeeping matters’ that God wanted to tend to. The most important being a stop at Mt. Sinai where He could deliver His Ten Commandments to Moses and the people. There was going to be some boundaries established and rules of order to be followed if things were to ‘go well’ for all these people. 

 A few other notes of interest that God made known to them as well. One was the fact that there were indeed, some Canaanite nations on the land that were evil and would need to be dealt with accordingly. It was also brought to their attention that these people were stronger and more powerful than them and that the only way they could be dealt with and removed entirely was the people would need to depend on God’s power to overcome them, and then to deal with them once God handed them over to them. He also made it known that it would not happen all in one day or at one time or even in the first year. (Ex. 23:20-33). God was going to remove them ‘little by little’. 

 Do you know what else God promised His people that obeyed Him? Not only did He promise ‘peace and rest’ from all their enemies, but He also promised them that if they’ diligently heeded the voice of the Lord their God and do what was right in HIS sight....giving ear to His commandments...that He would put none of the diseases on them which He had brought upon the Egyptians....For He was/is the Lord who heals.” (Ex. 15:26). You also hear this repeated in Ex. 23: 25-26 and...Deut. 7:15. 

 So I have a simple question for us to at least consider: If God did not want His people whom He was in covenant with back then...to be sick and afflicted with various diseases, and He wanted them to be at rest and live in peace back then, why would He want His people today (you and I) to have anything less? I mean, are we not even in a better covenant with better promises today because of what Jesus did? (Heb. 8:6). Just something to ponder. 

 But back to those ‘blueprints’.... You really should take some time and pour over those and study them, giving added attention to Deut. 1-11. It will blow your mind how often God repeats Himself regarding this need for His people to ‘hear and obey’ and to ‘keep His commandments’. I have a hard time believing that God would make such a point to repeat Himself over and over regarding all that if it was impossible for His people to obey. I mean, don’t we hear that all the time...’nobody can follow and obey God fully’! And look at Deut. 7:16 where the people were told, once again, that prior to entering in to take possession of the land, that they were to destroy ‘all the peoples whom the Lord your God delivers over to you...” 

 Remember now, these Canaanite nations were a ‘type’ of the sinful deeds of the flesh nature. And what are we told to do with them in Col. 3:5-8; Rom. 8:13; Gal. 5:24? 

 Have you ever wondered just why God could not have taken care of all those evil things before...He led his people into the land? And what about You...after you got ‘saved’ or made a decision to follow Jesus? Why can’t ‘newborn Christians’ who get baptized be free of all those sinful traits and issues that so easily beset us? Wouldn’t that make this walk with Jesus so much easier? Well, consider this: When Jesus was baptized, where did the Spirit lead Him to immediately afterwards? Answer: Into the wilderness to have His heart tested. And where...did God lead His people into after they crossed the Red Sea (Type of baptism)? Into the wilderness to have their hearts tested. (Deut. 8:2) 

 Now hang with me here: Quick review...that first generation of folks who came out of Egypt, failed the test in a big way. God was not happy with them at all. (1 Cor. 10:4-11; Heb. 3:7-19) They ended up dying out in the wilderness, prolonging their stay there for 40 years. Then God used Joshua to lead that next generation in to take control of the land. And still, the people did not fully clear the land and those ‘enemies’ that were left then became a thorn in their sides, just as God told them they would, affecting not only them but their children and grandchildren. Then, Joshua dies and we are told in Judges 2:11 that another generation rose up who knew not the Lord and the great things He had done. And those evil nations remained on the land. Guess why? Take a look at Judges 3:1-4. They were there to ‘test Israel’ once again, to see if they would fully follow God. And look at vs. 2 there...as they were also left so that the people might be ‘taught to know war’ and how to overcome those ‘besetting sins’. (Heb.12:1) 

 I wonder if it is possible that a generation of people in our churches today were unaware of a ‘war’ that was taking place in the ‘spirit realm’ and have failed to show up and deal with the same enemies that caused our fathers to fall in the wilderness? (1 Cor. 10:4-11). I mean, Paul does make the case there that all those things happened to them for our example and warning. 

 This ‘walk of faith’ might just be a tad more serious than what we were led to believe or taught. Join me tomorrow?