Exodus 33:14-15. And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.”
Exodus 13:21-22. The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
Deuteronomy 2:7. “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.”‘
Numbers 33:1-2. These are the journeys of the sons of Israel, by which they came out from the land of Egypt by their armies, under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Moses recorded their starting places according to their journeys by the command of the Lord….
Numbers 33:53. ….and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.
It is the Lord’s intention to lead His people ‘out of the darkness’, symbolized by Egypt, ‘into His glorious light’, symbolized by Canaan. This promised land is the ultimate place of peace and rest where all human effort has faded away and all is rightfully brought under the mighty power and authority of God.
The Lord desires that the journey of each one of His own be enjoyed in ‘the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension’. Philippians 4:7. This state of peace may only be entered into however as we acknowledge Jesus as Lord within us and among us and as we choose to live in His presence. Moses said to the Lord “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.”
Many people start their spiritual journey with the Lord Jesus with great joy. They experience tremendous relief that they have ‘passed out of death into life’ just as the Israelites of old crossed the Red Sea and, in the morning of a new day they saw their enemies, the Egyptians, lying dead on the shore. The Israelites celebrated with the song of Miriam. ‘Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing. Miriam answered them, “Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.” Exodus 15:20-21.
Unbelief will make our journey into God’s promised state of peace and rest much longer. The journey which the Israelites could have completed in less than two weeks took forty years. In Numbers chapter 33 Moses lists forty three stopping places along the way until Israel camped opposite Jericho. Apparently they circled around in the wilderness, moving only when the Lord caused the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of cloud by night to be lifted from the tabernacle. God is ‘able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us’, Ephesians 3:20. But it is up to each one of us whether and when we will fully trust Him to lead us onward to His planned destination for us.
Yet, now comes the real cautionary part of the story. Unbelief can also put the promised destination completely out of reach. Of those twenty years of age and older who were delivered from bondage in Egypt only two individuals eventually entered the land of promise. Their names were Joshua and Caleb. That is just two out of 603,550 numbered men from the twelve tribes. It is to be hoped that the wives of Joshua and Caleb entered in too.
The reason that Caleb, and by inference Joshua, entered the promised land, and the others did not, is made very clear in Numbers 14:22-24. “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. “But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.” Joshua and Caleb followed the Lord fully.
Long before, Joshua and Caleb had crossed the Jordan and experienced the good land. They had seen and believed and had declared to the whole congregation their absolute faith that the Lord would bring them all safely into Canaan, the land that had been promised by God as an everlasting possession to Abraham. Our Jordan of utter faith in the Lord Jesus must be crossed if we too will take possession of this land of peace and rest that we may live in the enjoyment of it. This is like the narrow gate that Jesus described that few find. Those that find it and pass through it in Him come to echo the words of Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20.
Joshua and Caleb were required to endure the whole forty year journey in the wilderness that those who died in unbelief caused Israel to suffer. These two did not overcome on behalf of themselves alone but on behalf of the whole congregation. Here is a deep lesson for all who will follow the Lord Jesus fully. It is expressed in this way by the apostle Paul. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. Colossians 1:24.
What then is the lesson we may draw from the wilderness journey of those Israelites so long ago. It is this. No matter how ragged and perverse a multitude makes up the true church of Jesus Christ on earth today, it is the Lord’s desire that each and every one learn to walk in fullness of faith in Him that they may attain to His ultimate goal – inheritance of the promised land of the perfect peace and rest of His presence. This is not some distant hope but for right here and now.
Perhaps now is a good moment for those who read these words to pray that this narrow gate be revealed to them and that they be ushered through it in Jesus. The moment I pass through this narrow gate all else but Jesus is left behind. I become betrothed to Jesus. I am preparing to be His forever wife. I have come to Him and am yoked with Him. I walk in lock step with Him along the narrow path that leads away to life. These certainties are most marvelous to contemplate.
Those who habitually walk in the light of His presence will reign with Christ for a thousand years upon His return to this earth in glory. Their greatest joy will be that they are well-pleasing to their Beloved. Their greatest of all great rewards will be Himself. “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.” Revelation 22:12.
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