Key to Success

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:1–8)

In this study of ‘therefore’ as a word about consequences, God is showing me how the OT points to Jesus and NT truths. That is, the OT events point to a greater reality. This passage is another one of them.

Moses and Law remind me of the promise of a Messiah and that God’s people wanted to obey but continually failed to keep the law. Then the death of Moses changed leadership. Joshua. Because Moses died, Joshua was given leadership into the land of promise. And I know this does not point to heaven but to a difference in their lives.

Joshua means “Jehovah saves” — another phase in the history of redemption. If I look at it as part of a salvation journey, it points to being set free from slavery to sin and learning how to walk in that redeemed freedom. It takes a lifetime and without the power of Christ, I cannot do it, just as the OT people of God struggled in their battle to live out the will of God in the land He gave them.

Again, this is not heaven. If it were, there would be no enemies and no battles, no lessons in how to live in total surrender to the God who saves. This is why He told Joshua and He tells me that He will be with me. All blessings are mine, and no one can take that from me. Obedience is vital to my success. So is reading and thinking about God's will day and night.

Fear and becoming down-hearted are my enemies so He adds: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9–10) This is not about emotional stability but about remembering and knowing that He is with me — all the time and wherever I am.

Jesus, Your presence is always with me, like the air around me. If I forget that, my life goes sideways or upside-down. It is never Your fault for You are faithful to Your word. May I alway be mindful that You never leave me alone. You are my strength and my obedience, my Savior and success.

Land of Promise

 

I was tempted to skip two more COVENANTS and get right to the New Covenant, the Gospel, yet both have implications for all who enjoy life in Jesus Christ. Today’s covenant is called the Land Covenant, or some call it the Palestinian covenant, unfamiliar to me before now.

NOTE: Most of what I’m reading aside from the Bible is from “The Messianic Bible Study Collection” by Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, an in-depth look at Scripture from a well-informed author.

This Land Covenant is related to but not part of the Mosaic Covenant. Other than being unconditional, its blessings depend on the obedience of God’s people. This verse shows it is a separate covenant:

These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb. (Deuteronomy 29:1)

The following shows that God’s blessings depend on Him, not on the people  who were ‘on/off’ in their loyalty to Him:

“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:1–6)

In describing it, the Bible relates Moses prophetically telling the people they would disobey the Law and be scattered over all the world, yet eventually repent and be regathered and possess the land God promised them. They would prosper in that land with changed lives and see the Lord’s curses on their enemies. Theologians differ on how all this will play out but since God promises it, all of it will happen.

Two other issues are notable: One, the conditional Mosaic Covenant did not lay aside the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant because this Land Covenant amplifies the promise of the Land to God’s earthly Jewish people. The Abrahamic Covenant teaches that ownership for the Land is unconditional while the Land Covenant teaches that the enjoyment of the Land is conditioned on obedience.

The NT speaks of those with the faith of Abraham being included as “Israel” and heir to these promises. When the covenant is interpreted that way, then it could be said that the people of God will ‘inherit’ the promised land with its abundant life. Faith in Jesus makes that unconditional even though the enjoyment of the Christian life is conditioned on obedience. While this interpretation is true, the promise of the Land to the Jews will also be fulfilled. Even now, the news out of Israel relates that many are confessing Jesus is their Messiah and are putting their faith in Him.

This Land Covenant does reaffirm that God gave physical real estate to Israel. Although His people would prove unfaithful and disobedient, the right to the Land would never be taken from them. In the same way, the promise to God’s people in Christ is real estate in heaven and even though we often mess up, that destiny will never be taken from us. Jesus said:

“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:2–3)

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Even when I sin, His assurance of eternal life remains. This is the marvel of the Gospel. God promised a place for me and will take me there. Even now, He says that I am “raised up and seated with Him in the heavenly places” and that this earth is not my home, I am a citizen of heaven. The Land Covenant is just as unconditional for those who believe in Jesus as it is for the nation of Israel. No wonder that the Bible tells me to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for justice regarding those who are anti-Israel and who may not realize the peril of trying to overturn the promises of Almighty God.