articlesforchristians

The Journey to the Promised Land: Lessons from Israel

The Land of Promise

• POSSESSING THE LAND
  • The Death of Moses (Read Deut 34:)
    • Because of unbelief, Israel reaped the judgment of God. This judgment caused them to
      wander in the wilderness for forty years.
    • Those who did not believe that God would give the land of promise to Israel died in the
      wilderness.
    • Two men, Joshua and Caleb, were the only two saved from the judgment reaped by this
      unbelieving generation.
      • Joshua became the new leader of the Israelites.
    • God instructed Moses to speak to the rock, but in Moses’ anger he struck the rock.
    • This prevented Moses from entering into the promised land.
      • Num 20:7-12 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou
        the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock
        before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them
        water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. 9
        And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. 10 And
        Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said
        unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And
        Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water
        came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 12 And the
        LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in
        the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into
        the land which I have given them.
  • Crossing Jordan
    • To enter the land of Canaan, the Israelites had to cross the Jordan River. The Priests went
      into the middle of Jordan and stood there until all of Israel passed over to the other side.
    • Twelve men took twelve stones from the river and built a memorial to God a Gilgal.
      • This was a sign and a reminder to future generations of what God had done.
      • Josh 4:20-24 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.
    • They had wandered 40 years because of unbelief. Thousands perished.
    • Today, thousands are perishing because of unbelief.
  • The Battle for the Land (Read Joshua 6)
    • The promised blessing would come to Israel if they would believe and obey the Lord.
    • Israel had to fight for the land of Canaan, but God fought for them.
      • God worked miraculously to give Israel victory after victor.
      • Can you imagine the confusion of Jericho as they watched Israel marching around the walls of Jericho for six days.
      • On the seventh day, Israel gave a shout and the walls came down.
      • God will use foolish things to the world to confound the wise.
        • 1 Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
        • Heb 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
      • Israel also fought against Ai, but lost because there was sin in the camp.
        • God had told them not to take the spoils, but they did anyway
          • Josh 7:24-26 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
  • The Land Subdued (Read Joshua 14)
    • Israel, by the power of God, subdued the land, and the land was divided so the twelve tribes of Israel could each have their own areas to dwell in
    • After Joshua died, Israel fell into deep sin.
      • Sin led Israel into captivity
      • God raised up judges to lead Israel until they could appoint a king.
      • The time was about 450 years until Samuel the prophet came on the scene.
        • Acts 13:19-20 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.