Do you know why... that first generation of Israelites who God delivered from Egypt, passing through the Red Sea and the wilderness on the way to the promised land...never were able to enter  and settle in to this new place? Some might suggest it was a ‘lack of faith’.

Can I just speak more directly with you here? That first group out of Egypt basically were calling God a ‘liar’ and did not believe He could do what He promised them He was indeed, going to do. It is hard to even imagine the level of audacity it takes to call God a liar. You almost have to think that verse in Heb. 6:18 was added as an exclamation point when we are told it is “impossible for God to lie”.

I opened up yesterday’s message with a promise that God truly wanted to do something marvelous and transformative in in the lives of all who call upon His name. That has always been God’s desire since He created us, and then began His work of redeeming us after sin entered in to the world. God has not changed one bit, nor have His intentions and desires changed. (Mal. 3:6). Yet even when Jesus was here on earth, we read that “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief”. (Matt. 13:58). You might say man has not changed much either.

But here is where that first group really ‘dropped the ball’ and fell short: God told them up front that this land He was leading them to was inhabited by a strong presence of hostile and wicked people. He even told them that they were no match for them as they were much more formidable and stronger than them; but...no need to fear since He was going to lead them in and deal with these nations one by one. And God’s message was clear...they were to be eradicated completely from the land...or else. Leaving any of these nations on the land would have devastating consequences for them and their future generations. (Deut. 7:1-5)

At best, they would be ‘irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides and would harass you in the land where you dwell.” (Numbers 33:55). But the far reaching tragedy would be their children would eventually be led astray and then taken captive by them. Hence, the need to remove them ALL from the land. (If you have 3 skunks living under your house, are you going to be content to get rid of just 2 of them?)

Now if you hear or get nothing else from this lesson today, I pray that you hear me loud and clear on this point: God had no plans or interest for His people to move in to this land and learn how to ‘co-exist’ with these Canaanite nations as if they might be able co-inhabit the same land over time peacefully. He (God) wanted them all off the land. As in: All. Of. Them.

So what happened with that first crew? Well, after they sent 12 men in, one from each tribe, to spy out the land, those spies came back with a conflicting report. Yes, the land indeed looked promising and fruitful. But ten of the twelve also brought with them a pretty dismal outlook of what they also saw on the land...and it was the ‘giants’ of a people who they said they would never be able to defeat; despite what God has already made clear they were going to do with His leading. You can read about this in Numbers 13-14.

This is the same generation of people that Paul pointed out in 1 Cor. 10:1-11 as ‘examples and warnings’ to us today and that we better learn from their grave mistakes. They simply did not believe God could fulfill His promise to them. Hence...they were not allowed to go in but had to wander in the wilderness for forty more years before they all died out. And wander they did...having never seen the fulfillment of all that God wanted for them. (Hebrews 3-4 speaks to this tragic story as well). You might make note of Hebrews 4:1 where we... are told to ‘fear lest we too fall short of entering’ this place of ‘rest’.

If you need another OT story that compliments this theme like no other story I know, then take some time out and read through 1 Samuel 15. It’s the story of King Saul and his failure to fully obey God when he was instructed to completely eradicate a group of people that God deemed evil and needed to be removed totally; including all the livestock. His failure to fully obey God, even though he ‘thought and confessed’ that he did obey God (1 Sam. 15:13-14)...led to his tragic downfall. In fact, if you read the last chapter in that book, and then the very next chapter 1 in 2 Samuel...you will discover what took him out and ended his life. It was the very ‘thing’ he had been instructed to deal with early on.

There’s a reason, as Paul stated in 1 Cor. 10:6,11, as to why these stories were recorded for us to read and hear- he did not want us making the same mistakes. You’ve probably heard that old quote about how ‘the only thing we learn from history...is we don’t learn from history’...or...”those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

So what is the point in reviewing all these OT lessons? Well, as I have said before...they are the ‘blueprints’ that give background and insight as to what God’s ultimate plan was for us when He sent Jesus to ‘save’ us and to reconcile us back to Him. But this time, it was not Egypt nor the Pharoah we needed deliverance from; it was the world and the devil who controls the world and has taken all humanity captive...because of sin. (1 John 5:19; Acts 26:18; 2 Tim. 2:26). Yet Jesus came that we might ‘know the truth and be set free indeed’. (John 8:32-36)

Oh...and this ‘land’ God wanted us to go in and ‘possess’ was indeed a place that was like Canaan Land...a land inhabited by ‘hostile enemies’. But this time, it was not groups of people like the Hittites and the Amorites, etc that we read about back then. This ‘land’ was our hearts that were defiled and corrupt. (Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:21-23) And our hearts were ‘possessed’ by hostile forces as well. Now I realize this next part takes some time to process and digest, let alone receive. But all I can do is point you to the word and then let the Holy Spirit confirm these things to you. (Acts 17:11)

We are told in 1 John 5:19 that the ‘whole world lies under the power/influence of the wicked one’.

Eph. 2:1-3 explains clearly what our condition was prior to turning to Jesus with all our hearts- we were ‘dead in sin’ and under the influence or control of the ‘spirit’ who works in the ‘sons of disobedience’. And he speaks rather plainly there explaining how we ‘once operated’ ( as in believers no longer live or do these things) and it is through the ‘lusts of our flesh...as we fulfilled the desires of the flesh and minds’ that this ‘enemy’ was able to operate in and through.

I’m sure most of you have been taught and then regurgitated this familiar statement that: “Christians can’t have demons!” So if we could, let’s not get hung up on semantics here, and let’s just take this slowly, using the light of God’s word to lead us here. (Jer. 13:17; Matt. 12:43-45; Ps. 74:1-8; Lam. 1:10; and Eph.4:27 would be good to look at) Oh, I don’t know who needs to hear this, but if you have ever lived in an older home and had problems with ants, roaches, mice or worse...there is usually a good reason. They have found a ‘food source’.

Now you might think you keep an immaculately clean home, but if there are ‘hidden, dark’ places where food crumbs and such have made their way to, chances are you still have ‘unwanted critters’ there feeding on them. But....But...But...when Jesus comes in to ‘clean house’, He does not mess around and He will bring ‘light’ to ALL those dark places in order to clean it completely. Why you’d be surprised to some of those ‘dark places in our hearts’ that we were not even aware of until He points them out. What did Jeremiah say about man’s deceptive and wicked heart?....”who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9-10)

Others...are fully aware of some of those ‘darker areas’ that lie within, and the last thing they want is anyone coming in to ‘mess with it’; or even discovering they exists. I remember when we had a friend who started cleaning our home back in Texas years ago...on the day she would come, I made a point to go clean up some areas because I sure did not want her thinking I had lived in such a messy way. And I would suspect there are plenty of sincere ‘believers’ who are active in church today that are fully aware of some of those ‘darker areas’ that lie within ...and that nobody else would dare believe exists; but they do. And hence the reluctance to let Jesus come in...fully and completely. But if we are going to ask Him in to ‘clean house’ (our hearts we supposedly gave to Him) then you can be sure He’s not there to do a ‘light dusting’. ;-)

And those ‘hostile and evil nations’ that God was going to remove from the land as we read in the OT...go by different ‘names’ today. It is not ‘Hittites and Amorites’ that we contend with, nor is it ‘flesh and blood’. (Eph. 6:12) Jesus gave us some of those ‘names’ there in Mark 7:21-23. Paul gives a more exhaustive list in Rom. 1:29-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-6; Col. 3:5-9. Now, take a look at that reference in Col. 3 beginning with verse 5: “Therefore...Put to death...whatever belongs to your earthly nature...”

Where have we heard that before? “Put to death...”.

Please note, the command was not to ‘dial it down’ or ‘put it on a leash or in a cage’; rather it was ‘put it to death’. And do you know what we can be so guilty of doing ourselves? The same thing Saul did when he told Samuel...”Oh yeah...I did what the Lord told me to do”.

We ‘believers’ can let such phrases roll of our lips without even blinking...statements like “Oh yeah...we need to die to self and die daily and deal with our old man, etc”. We can be quick to affirm and remind others about how we know we are to ‘take up our cross’ and all that good stuff Jesus made mention of.

Yet...do we really follow through on this? Or have we believed another ‘gospel’ that says we will just always ‘co-exists’ with this old man/nature on ‘this side of heaven’. Surely you don’t believe we can truly overcome all sin and flesh and the devil before we get to heaven, do you? And if you do believe that, then do you want to explain Galatians 5:24 to us and how that ‘fits’ in with the current ‘theology’ that has captured your heart?

Tomorrow...Lord willing...we will take a look at how we ‘put to death’ that old man...once and for all.