Brothers and sisters, early on, God who created everything selected one people as a model for His providence of human cultivation, and they were Israelites. And in the Old Testament is their history. Through their history, God wanted to show to all peoples in the world His heart and His will. He reveals to us of who He is and what He wants from us, human beings.
Namely, as we explore how the Israelites received blessings or faced disasters in their relationship with Him, we can exactly figure out God-pleasing will. From today, I’ll deliver messages based on Senior Pastor’s sermon series, The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey, preached back in 2001. These messages are also part of the Israelites’ history and they describe the process of their conquering Canaan, the blessed land promised to them.
But they are not just the history of Israel but essential messages for all of us, God’s children. Seeing how they conquered Canaan, we can learn lessons about what could happen in our journey towards heaven, what we should be vigilant against, and how we should rely on God as we march on. Also, the messages have a lot in common with the fulfillment of Father God’s providence which will be manifested in this church in the end time.
Now is the time to make bread of these words, rely on Father God’s promise, and boldly march on with faith. May this message help you examine whether you’ve been well prepared to conquer the blessed land and discover the areas where you fall short. I urge you to find out what you have to do for the conquest of the Land of Canaan and make up your mind.
In doing so, I hope that each one of you will play major roles in fulfilling Father God’s providence and become the pillars of New Jerusalem. As you apply the story of their conquest of Canaan to you, rather than considering it their own history, you can experience God’s work of creating things out of nothing, reviving the dead, making impossible things possible, and making things prosper. I pray that you’ll head and obey this message and accomplish it with your faith so that you can be prosperous in your families, business and workplaces.
Before the Israelites entered the Land of Canaan, they suffered mistreatment and slavery in Egypt for a long span of 400 years. Let me briefly explain its background. God started off the human cultivation wit Adam. As I mentioned in the beginning, God selected one people as an instrument to proclaim His power and will and that He is living to the whole world. The people started with Abraham. God called him, giving him the covenants of blessing as we find in the Bible,
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
(Genesis 12:2)
The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.
(Genesis 12:7)
The words were given when Abraham was called by God at age 75, left his home, and settled in Canaan. It’s not that he’d grown into a tribe or a people. But, God told Abraham in advance that the Israelites would suffer slavery for 400 years or the events to unfold after that.
God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. 14 But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
(Genesis 15:13-14)
After years passed, when Abraham was 100 years old, he gave birth to his son according to God’s promise. Abraham’s son Isaac gave birth to two sons Esau and Jacob. As the first son, Esau had the right to receive God’s blessing, but he didn’t cherish it. Saying that he was famished to death, he sold that blessing for a bowl of stew.
He didn’t cherish his right but neglected it. You may think of Esau as stupid. But, you have to think whether you’re different from Esau.
As the Bible says, “that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal,” God turned His face away from Esau who acted in godless ways, not longing for spiritual blessings. But even today, we see many cases where people act like Esau. There are people who don’t keep the Sabbath for money, honor, and authority and people who’ve abandoned their God-given duties for personal reasons. They trade their precious duties for worldly things or for personal feelings.
In heaven, they would see how precious their duties are and what a blessing they are. Because they can’t see their rewards right now, they trade it for fleshly things. They’re like Esau. On the contrary, his brother Jacob had a proper heart before God, by which he longed for spiritual blessings and tried to take it by force to the very end.
God planned to fulfill His providence through His offspring and refined him for many years. After the trials, He gave him a new name, Israel. And, his descendants are Israelites, the people of God. But at that point, Jacob’s family hadn’t grown big enough to set up a nation. Even as they entered Egypt, they were only a family of 70.
To make a nation of this small tribe, God proceeded with His work with wisdom unfathomable by man. God Himself worked to establish a nation. First, God had Jacob’s 11th son, Joseph, enter Egypt which was a world power at the time, and saved Egypt from a huge disaster through him. Why did God specifically choose Joseph out of Jacob’s 12 sons?
It was because only Joseph was worthy of carrying out this precious duty. God had Joseph sold into slavery and then imprisoned with false accusations. While the Bible says God was with Joseph and made what he did prosper, why didn’t He protect him? It was because his hardships and suffering were part of His plan. If God had kept it from happening, His great will wouldn’t have been fulfilled. That’s why God had him sold into slavery, misunderstood, and unfairly imprisoned.
That way, according to God’s providence, Joseph rose to the highest position next to that of the king at just age 30 and equipped himself with all the capabilities to take care of the great country of Egypt along with its neighbors. When he was first sold as a slave, God had him learn economics being in charge of all affairs in a big household. After he was imprisoned with false charges, God had him learn politics, ways to deal with people, and learn about many things like people’s falsehood, craftiness, deceiving skills and tactics.
After Joseph became a vessel capable of managing national economy and embracing everything with great love and virtues, God put him in the highest position next to that of the king. We can see that things proceeded exactly according to God’s plan. God instantly established him as the leader and had him save Egypt from a huge disaster. Back then, the Near East region suffered a great famine that lasted for 7 years.
Even with advanced civilizations, a seven years famine would cause a tremendous tumult. You must’ve watched on television many people famished to death due to long drought and little children who are just skin and bones in Africa. People send relief from all over the world, it’s helpless.
Without advanced civilizations or technologies, a seven year famine must’ve meant death, and it could’ve brought destruction to Egypt which was a world power. Yet, with God-given wisdom, Joseph knew about the disaster in advance and prepared, thereby saving all Egyptians from it. Being greatly indebted to Joseph, the Egyptian King highly welcomed Joseph’s family to Egypt and treated them with great hospitality.
Thanks to Joseph, even during the seven-year famine, the Israelites could live peacefully being provided with food in Egypt, and they settled down there and multiplied. But later, problems began. After Joseph and the king who was indebted to Joseph died, a new king who didn’t remember Joseph’s favor ruled over Egypt.
Since Joseph, the Israelites had multiplied and grown into a large group of people. To the new Egyptian king, the Israelites, a foreign people flourishing in the land felt like a threat. That’s how he began to persecute the Israelites. He forced them into hard labor and later he even issued a decree that all newborn male babies be killed. It was not to allow their descendants to live in the land. As the king had male babies killed, they would naturally end up having no descendants.
God did say that He would make a big nation of the Israelites, but they were in danger of extermination. And, Moses, a man of God, was born in that painful and bleak time. According to the king’s command, Moses was supposed to be killed as soon as he was born. But, God moved the hearts of Moses’ parents so that they would hide the baby Moses to let him survive. Amazingly, accordingly to His plan, he was raised in the Egyptian palace.
Moses’ parents secretly hid him for three months but as they could no longer keep him, they put him in a wicker basket and left it on the Nile River. But, the Egyptian princess discovered Moses on the river. She had pity on him, took him to the palace and raised him as a royal member. As you carefully read the Bible, you can find that God already arranged even small matters in a precise way before time began.
How did Pharaoh’s daughter come down to bathe at the river with her maidens and discover the baby Moses right after he was left on the river? This isn’t a coincidence. Neither did Moses have luck. Everything had been in God’s plan since before time began and they happened accordingly. What’s more amazing is, under God’s intervention, Moses’ own mother was called and allowed to raise him as his nurse. Suppose he was raised by a different woman. How could she have taught him about God the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
How could she have told him that Moses was an Israelite, not an Egyptian? Only his own mother was able to do it. And, God had his mother raise him herself as his nurse. All this process was never a coincidence but only possible under the providence of the almighty God. God saved Moses who would fulfill His providence from death, had him receive good education in the Pharaoh’s palace and let him learn about his people and about God in greatest detail from his own mother.
Being a prince of the powerful nation, he didn’t become complacent. Instead, he was concerned about his people suffering. Meanwhile, he got involved in a big incident. Seeing a Hebrew beaten by an Egyptian, he killed the Egyptian. Even though he was an Egyptian prince, Hebrews were his people. That’s why he murdered that Egyptian who tormented his fellow Hebrew.
By this incident, Moses had to run away to a wilderness. He lost all the honor as a prince of a powerful nation. There was no more deluxe food or luxury. What lay ahead of him was a rough life in the wilderness. All his plans for the future and all the hope he’d had for his own people were gone. At first, he must’ve felt so miserable, insecure, and disappointed about his situation.
But with passing of time, his pride or confidence as a prince faded away and he adjusted to a life as an ordinary shepherd. As he adjusted to living with his in-laws, he learned to figure out others’ feelings and serve them. In doing so, he lowered and shattered his self. It looked like he forgot about his past.
In a sense, Moses became totally useless in accomplishing God’s work. At least when he was a prince, he was bold and confident. With his authority, he was capable of doing something great for the Israelites. But then, he became a fugitive whose life was being threatened. He was a worthless man who couldn’t do anything for God.
But this was under God’s plan and this is His way to refine His people. David used be respected by people, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands’?” But as Saul got jealous of him and he became a fugitive. Just to save his life, he even pretended to be a mad man drooling. As people belittled him, tried to capture and kill him, and reported him to the king, he repeatedly had to run away. God turned him into a worthless man. But, through these trials, David achieved a high level of goodness and a great heart, thereby making his nation rich and strong and being loved by God.
The same went for Apostle Paul. He was from a rich and honorable family entitled to a Roman citizenship. He acquired his knowledge under Gamaliel who was one of the greatest teachers. He was a healthy young man who seemed to lack nothing. But after he met our Lord, he had to give up all things. He had to give up his honor, didn’t exercise his right as a Roman citizenship, and turned all what he’d learned into nothing. But God didn’t stop there. He had him stoned, abandoned, and criticized by his own people. He had him suffer scorn and mistreatment.
Even so, Paul didn’t get discouraged or harbor resentment. He relied all the more on God alone and communicated with Him in depth. Receiving power and strength from above, he turned into a person capable of doing God’s work. It’s not that he received power from the beginning. As he went through trials and shattered himself, he got more strength from above. As he suffered many persecutions and hardships, he prayed all the more fervently and overcame well. So, he was given power. By the way, God also gave him a thorn.
By leaving a thorn in his flesh, God prevented him from being arrogant for performing power. He had him pray more and humble himself and thereby perform even greater power. Thanks to such persecutions and trials, he became a great servant of power. He carried out his duties well as an apostle to the gentiles and went to the point where he could die a martyr. Thus, all trials and persecutions turned out to be blessings.
It was the same with Moses. What we should deeply realize is that God chose him to fulfill His providence not when he was full of pride as a prince but when he had completely humbled himself as a shepherd in the wilderness. This is the kind of person God wants. He fulfills His providence through individuals who don’t rely on his wisdom and capability but only depend on the almighty God, completely shatter their thoughts, deny themselves, and show complete obedience to God alone. With man’s capability and thoughts which belong to the third-dimensional, we can neither beat the enemy devil of the fourth-dimensional world nor fulfill His providence.
So, learning to rely wholly on God requires us to go through trials. Before meeting God, lying on his sickbed for 7 years, he realized that with man’s strength, we cannot even keep our own life. He also realized the utter vanity of fleshly love.
He learned that the love of parents, brothers, friends, and neighbors can change and they can betray you if things go against their benefit. When the happiness in his family, hope for his future, and pride about himself had completely fallen apart and when he strongly felt that he was indeed nothing, God reached out to Senior Pastor. God healed him of many diseases in an instant. When He called him to be His servant, Senior Pastor had nothing.
He had no money to set up a church and no preaching skills. He was too old to enter a seminary. Most of all, he lacked memory power to study. He was introverted and too shy, which was a big problem. Even so, God called him and guided him each step of the way, making him a servant of God’s power. Also, when God first called Senior Pastor, He commanded something most difficult to obey. It was financial …
Having been sick for 7 years, he had a great amount of debt. He and Ms. Boknim Lee could barely pay the monthly interest with both of their income. But, God commanded him to stop working, focus on preparing to become a pastor, and have Ms. Boknim work alone. If he did so, God said He would bless her to make more money than when they both worked. He said, “If you obey, I’ll give you a measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over, so that you won’t run out of rice and money.”
Senior Pastor and Ms. Boknim Lee obeyed accordingly. As a result, God blessed them to make a few time more money than when they worked together so that they could pay off all debts in a few months. That’s how God resolved their economic issues. When God called him to be His servant, He also said, “Whenever you go, I’ll be with you. Whenever you go crossing the rivers, mountains, and seas, I’ll prove that I’m with you through signs and wonders.” And, God made things happen just as He said.
The reason that this has been possible is that Senior Pastor realized the utter futility of flesh and realized in the depths of his heart that he wasn’t capable but only God is. So, he showed complete obedience. Even in severe trials, he never harbor resentment or lost his faith but only showed God-pleasing goodness and love and marched on in faith. Like this, God is looking for people of obedience who can do things according to His will, not relying on man’s ways or capability.
The Bible says, 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29
Another verse tells us, Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.
1 Corinthians 3:18
Thus, we should quickly shatter all our fleshly thoughts and theories and be able to obey God’s will completely.
I also urge you to possess spiritual faith of relying on God rather than looking at your reality. In order to obey God and fulfill His providence, even Moses needed to go through trials during which he stayed in the wilderness for 40 years and utterly shattered himself. During that time, he deeply realized that he couldn’t do anything by his wisdom, capabilities, and ways. As he looked after the sheep, he cultivated patience and meekness by which he could harbor millions of people. Only then did God showed up before him.
As Moses turned 80 after the 40 years of trials, God called him. Today’s passage is God’s word to Moses after the trials, “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” Even