Have you ever wondered to yourself, maybe even have asked God, repeatedly...why there are ‘certain areas’ in your life that you continue to struggle with and have failed to overcome once and for all? Yeah...I think most of us have; and I would like to share some insight from the Old Testament (once again) that might offer us some encouraging answers.

It helps to keep in mind that when we go back to the OT for study, it’s like reviewing or looking over a set of ‘blue prints’. In ‘seminary speak’, some would refer to this as ‘types and foreshadows’. I personally find it helpful to think in terms of a transparency layer that we would use in school when the teacher pulled out the overhead projector. It’s not that we want to dismiss or ‘replace’ what we read in the OT, but simply be aware that there are ‘spiritual layers’ that can be applied...IF/WHEN...the Holy Spirit reveals them to us. In other words, you don’t have to ‘make it happen’ or ‘work hard to find them’. IF there is something there to see, God will ‘reveal’ it to us. Trust me on that one.

With that being said, you may recall that when Moses was leading the people through the wilderness on their way to the land of Canaan (Promise Land), one of the things God made quite clear was the fact the land was inhabited by multiple nations of people, a people I might add that were ungodly, did evil in the sight of the Lord, and in some ways were ‘squatters’...since that land had previously been designated by God for Abraham and his descendants to inherit. And these Canaanite nations would need to be evicted and removed from the land in order for the Israelites to take possession of the land.

I should point out here that taking possession of this land was not...an option for God’s people (Nehemiah 9:15-17). Hebrews 3-4 makes for an interesting companion study on this topic as well if/when you have time or interest.

Something else God made quite clear up front, was that He would be the One orchestrating the ‘removal’ of these tribes of people, but that it would not happen in one fell swoop. You should take a moment and read Exodus 23:20-33, and be sure to underline 29-30. Please note in vs. 30 how God says ‘I will drive them out from before you...” but in vs. 31, He also clarifies this by saying He “will deliver them into your hand...and you shall drive them out before you.” (Did you catch that?)

This was God’s promise to His people way back then, and they were quick to jump on board and tell God they were all in. (Ex. 24:3,7)

Interesting side note here regarding my recent post about how God was often ‘delivering’ His people into the hands of the enemy; If we don’t cooperate with God and do it His way, then we...will be ‘delivered’ or ‘handed over’ to our enemies. And God has not changed. (Mal. 3:6)

I’m sure you saw that part there as well where He describes the process of removing them ‘little by little’, offering up an interesting explanation as to why in vs. 29.

But, as we will learn, this first generation of ‘freed slaves’ dropped the ball out there in the wilderness and angered God one time too many. You can read about it in Numbers 13-14, as they ended up having to wander for 40 years before they died out, never having set foot in this promised land. That would be reserved for the next generation...which then leads us in to the book of Deuteronomy.

Hoping this next group learned a few things from their predecessors, Moses once again begins to teach and equip the people to prepare themselves to cross over the Jordan so they might go in to take possession of this land. Would you please read Deut. 7:14-26 and see if that sounds a tad familiar to you, once again, underlining vs.22-24.

Now when I suggest there are ‘types and foreshadows’ here, or ‘spiritual layers’, I believe we can glean some spiritual insights here as this is all a picture of what God was going to do with us when Jesus came to ‘deliver’ us from the bondage of the world, and Satan. And we too, have a ‘land to possess’; a land that is inhabited by ‘hostile nations’. Care to guess what this ‘land’ actually is, and who or what our ‘enemies’ are? It’s our hearts…that need to be cleansed and purified of all the 'works of the flesh nature' that in turns 'gives ground' to our spiritual enemy. (Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:21-23; Matt. 5:8; James 4:8; 1 John 3:3; Eph. 4:27)

For those of you who want to quickly ‘agree’ and suggest this is what ‘sanctification’ is all about…but then add this little ‘caveat’ of: “…but this has nothing to do with us being ‘saved’ or not”…you might want to hit the pause button and be willing to examine more scripture. Debating whether if one is ‘saved’ or not is the wrong point to focus on. The real question we need to ask is: Are you abiding in Jesus?...because this is the ONLY way true ‘sanctification’ can take place. Meet me here tomorrow?