Giants and Grasshoppers - Part One Apr 18, 2021 by: John Herbert | Series: Giants and Grasshoppers Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T017_20210418.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Nu 13:33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Today we will begin a series on the spiritual warfare, which we had first visited 15 years ago. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday April 18th 2021 Giants and Grasshoppers Part One 1). Ex 3:15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; 17 and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ As we know from previous studies, God’s commission to Moses to be the deliverer of Israel from the bondage of Egypt is the continuation of the outworking of God’s stated purpose for creating Man – Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion… A purpose that began to be accomplished through Seth and then Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s 12 sons. And as we have previously seen, the dominion, the rulership, that Man is to exercise in the 7th Day is in replacement of the earth’s incumbent rulers, Satan, and his rebellious angels. a). The commissioning of Moses then to bring the nation of Israel from the land of their birth to the land of their calling, had to do with jurisdiction and territory. It had to do with who will rule the earth and who will occupy the places, heavenly and earthly, from which this rulership will take place. b). God’s encounter with Moses, recorded here in Exodus Chapter 3, looks to Israel’s deliverance from the bondage of Egypt for the purpose of entering the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, utterly defeating those in the land and then ruling within a Theocracy, something that would be realized through Joshua and the second generation, all of which put together, sets a foundational type. A type that reveals the reason for failure and the reason for success for those found in the antitype. c). And to accomplish His purpose for Israel God had adopted the nation as a firstborn son and God had Himself provided the means of deliverance through the substitutionary death of the firstborn, witnessed in the slaying of the Passover lambs by the whole congregation at twilight on the 14th day of the first month. d). And the march from Egypt to Canaan by the first generation figuratively pictures the Jewish people’s journey from a gnosis knowledge of God’s purpose surrounding the Passover in Egypt, to the giving of the Law and the instructions for the tabernacle ministry at Sinai, leading to an epignosis knowledge of God’s purpose for them by the time they reached the border of the land at Kadesh Barnea. e). Let’s be in no doubt that as the first generation of Israel camped at Kadesh, there was not a single adult Jew who did not know why they were there, what God had promised them regarding the land and what was expected of them because of God’s promise. f). Yet, as we know, none of this profited them except for Joshua and Caleb – Heb 4:2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. As we look at this verse, let’s pause and consider the nature of the faith that Israel did not have. This is not just a general absence of belief but rather the absence of belief in a specific direction. g). If we stay in the Book of Hebrews, we can find a verse that shows us what having faith produces for the one who believes, thereby showing us specifically what the first generation of Israel did not have – Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith produces the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, the foundation upon which the hope that is set before the eternally saved is built and the evidence of its existence. The hope set before Christians is to attain a position of rulership as a co-heir with Christ in the Millennial Kingdom at the Lord’s appearing – Tit 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing [the appearing of the glory] of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ… 2 Ti 4:8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. And Peter describes this hope as a ‘living hope’ as it is embodied in and guaranteed ‘through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.’ h). The ‘hope’ that would have been set before the first generation of Israel to come out of Egypt would have been rulership with God as a firstborn son within a Theocracy, within the land that God had ordained for that purpose. i). The people knew full well what God had said, but what they heard and indeed what they saw, did not produce the substance, the foundation, of things hoped for, the evidence of that which could not be seen with the natural eye; it was not mixed with faith. 2). Nu 13:32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” As Israel camped at the border of the land the 12 spies, under God’s instruction, traversed the land, which did indeed flow with milk and honey, but in it they saw the ‘giants.’ The word translated giants is the Hebrew word ‘Nephilim’. These giants then were not just ‘men of great stature’, rather they were the offspring of the cohabitation of fallen angels with the daughters of men. And as such this put them outside of that which was natural, thereby requiring the supernatural power of God to overcome them. In their own strength, the Jewish people could not have overcome them, but then they didn’t need to, God would do it for them, as we can see from David’s words to Goliath, who was likely a ‘Nephilim’ – 1 Sa 17:47 Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands.” The presence of these unnatural ‘giants’ in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was neither random nor arbitrary but deliberate and intentional. a). Remember what was at stake here. This was a territorial battle for jurisdiction. And not just with regards to the occupation of the land, but with regards to the rulership of the earth. b). The ‘Nephilim’ were in the land by satanic intent to prevent, if possible, God’s firstborn son from entering and therefore fulfilling God’s purpose for the nation. c). And as we consider this, let’s remember that rulership with regards to the earth in the 7th Day, heavenly and earthly, has been promised exclusively to the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, and Jacob’s 12 sons. And that which God has promised cannot ever be changed – Ge 22:17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. It was the possession of the gate of their enemies as God had promised that faced the nation, the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, at Kadesh. This was never just about the overthrow of the peoples inhabiting the land, rather it was about the overthrow of Satan and his angels. About the purpose for the creation of Man. d). God has determined that His creation, Man, will rule in the place of angels in the age to come – Heb 2:5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. And this will be accomplished through the descendants of Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob and the 12 sons only. It cannot and will not happen apart from them. e). At Kadesh, as we know, the satanic placement of the ‘Nephilim’ was successful, because, of the 12 spies, all leaders of the nation, only Joshua and Caleb had the faith that provided the substance of the hope that was set before them, the others did not. Even though they had heard the same Word of God as Joshua and Caleb, for the 10 it was not mixed with faith – Heb 6:7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. Nu 32:10 So the LORD'S anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.’ And as we read these verses, let’s realize that Joshua and Caleb ‘wholly followed the Lord’ with only one end in view, as witnessed by Caleb’s statement to the people following the bad report from the 10 spies – Nu 13:30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” That which we see through Caleb’s statement to the people at Kadesh is exactly the admonishment that is given to us in – Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. The word ‘confession’ has to do with speaking the same thing as, being in agreement with, and in Caleb’s example we see him speaking the same thing as, being in agreement with God with respect to the hope set before him, the realizing of the purpose for Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, the fulfillment of God’s calling of the nation to possess the gate of their enemies, because He who promised is faithful. f). And as we think about this it will become clear that Joshua and Caleb continued to hold fast the confession of their hope without wavering, trusting in God’s faithfulness throughout all the years of wilderness wandering, as they waited for the rest of their generation to die, separated from the goal of their calling – Jos 14:7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. 8 Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God. 9 So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. 11 As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. 12 Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; Here is the unwavering confession of Caleb’s hope. 3). Now, we have spent some time laying this foundation for a very simple reason – 1 Co 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. Chapter 9 of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians concludes with his directions concerning the race of the faith. And we would know from previous studies that the race of the faith is synonymous with our journey from the land of our birth to the land of our calling, and we have seen it pictured metaphorically in the 3 days’ journey from Satan’s kingdom to a position of rulership in Christ’s Kingdom, that was the subject of our last study. a). According to the verses in this Chapter of Corinthians we are competing for the prize, which is said to be an imperishable crown. And we are instructed to run in such a way that we may attain this prize. And referring to his own actions in the race of the faith to attain the prize, Paul spoke of running the race with certainty, which would be synonymous with holding fast the confession of his hope without wavering; he also spoke of fighting purposefully and intentionally and of disciplining his body to bring it into subjection to that which was required in the successful running of the race. b). And it is with his instructions for running the race of the faith to win the prize of the imperishable crown in view, that he then wrote that seen at the beginning of Chapter 10 – 1 Co 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things became our examples, [Lit. types] to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, [types] and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. With respect to faithfulness to the instructions he has just given, regarding our own race of the faith, Paul then takes us back to the account of the first generation of Israel to come out of Egypt, the same account that we have just been studying in Exodus and Numbers. And he makes quite clear to us that all the things recorded in this account have been given to us as types, to teach us great spiritual truth concerning our own race, our own journey to the land of our calling. c). Now the OT, as a whole, provides an historical record of the events that God would have us know from the restoration of the earth to the crucifixion of our Lord. But the OT is so much more than just an historical record, as within these historical events themselves are to be found endless types, which we must understand if we are to realize the hope of our calling, as it is only through the types that the meat and strong meat of the Word is revealed. So then, types are to be found throughout the OT and not just in the account of the first generation of Israel to come out of Egypt, but it is the type seen through the first generation that the Lord has instructed Paul to draw our attention to with respect to the race of the faith. And we might also note that it is the type of Israel’s failure at Kadesh that is uppermost in the Lord’s mind here as He speaks to us through Paul. d). God has brought about our deliverance from the bondage of Satan’s kingdom through the death and shed blood of His Son, so that we should leave the land of our birth to journey to the land of our calling, being continually filled with the Spirit as we go – Heb 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus… Our calling is ‘heavenly’, we are called to receive the Kingdom of the Heavens, the heavenly land that is at present occupied by Satan and his angels. And to realize our calling we are to ‘consider’, literally to fix our eyes upon, to observe intently, ‘Christ Jesus’, who is both ‘the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.’ e). Christ Jesus as Apostle takes us to the Lord’s provision of eternal salvation through His death and shed blood at His first advent, our Passover Lamb, the only place from which our journey to the heavenly land can begin. And we are to confess, to speak the same thing as, to agree with, what God has said with respect to this. And these things we have looked at in past weeks, our deliverance from Satan’s Kingdom, our separation from the slavery to sin, the separation of the old man from the new, our separation from the Gentile nations under Satan’s control. f). And then, Christ Jesus as our High Priest takes us to His ministry beyond His resurrection, in the heavenly Tabernacle, to provide an ongoing cleansing for the sins of the saved in relation to the living hope, of which He is the embodiment. And in our ‘confession’ we will speak the same as God does concerning the purpose for Christ’s High Priestly ministry in relation to our inheritance. g). And Christ as Apostle and High Priest take us once more to the account of the first generation of Israel to come out of Egypt – a journey that began with death and shed blood in Egypt, the giving of the Law at Sinai and an ongoing Tabernacle ministry, with a view to the possession of the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And in the same way, for us, this is to be our journey from gnosis to epignosis knowledge, from death and shed blood to the Melchizedek Priesthood, from the milk to the meat, to the strong meat of the Word, from faith to faith, as we receive with meekness the implanted Word of the Kingdom, the gospel of the glory of Christ, which is able to save our souls. And this is all with one singular, unchangeable, non-negotiable purpose, to possess the gate of our enemies, to receive our imperishable crown and to rule as a firstborn son with Christ, over the nations, in the Kingdom of the Heavens in the place of Satan and his angels. h). And as with the type seen in Rebekah, the Christian must know the purpose for the journey he is to make and what awaits him at the end of it, before he can determine to make it – Ge 24:32 Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.” And he said, “Speak on.” The Holy Spirit, in the antitype of Abraham’s oldest servant, has one mission among the eternally saved of this dispensation, to search out a Bride for God’s Son. And this He does by progressively revealing the inheritance that will belong to those who will hear what He teaches by comparing spiritual things with spiritual. And the nature of this revelation, if it is received, must bring about a response from those who receive it – Ge 24:58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” Rebekah’s decision provides the type for the Christian’s decision as he continues to receive the Holy Spirit’s ministry among the eternally saved 1 Co 2:9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. What was true for Rebekah must also be true for the Christian. The decision ‘I will go’ cannot be made in ignorance or by chance, but by being in possession of the spiritual truth relating to Christ and His Kingdom, the deep things of God, as they are progressively revealed. i). So then, every Christian, because or their eternal salvation will find themselves automatically in the starting blocks for the race of the faith. But each one must then choose to run. And to run requires knowing that there is a race, knowing that there is a finishing line and knowing what it is and where it is; and knowing that there is a rule book which governs how the race is to be run – 2 Ti 2:5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. For all of us who have become partakers of the heavenly calling, at whatever place between death and shed blood and the Melchizedek Priesthood we find ourselves, we are, in a figurative sense, camped at Kadesh Barnea. The land of our inheritance has been spied out and it is ‘a good land flowing with milk and honey’, but there are ‘giants’ in the land. Not the ‘Nephilim’ that stood in the way of the Children of Israel, but even greater and more powerful spirit beings that are a host of wickedness, who rule the darkness of this age. j). And as spirit beings, they fall outside of the natural into the supernatural, outside of our ability to deal with them. Great and mighty angels who have clung to power for countless millennia. And their presence in the land of our inheritance is for one purpose, to prevent those who would be co-heirs with Christ from entering and overthrowing them. k). And how desperate are they to cling to power? Well, consider this, that they ruled over a ruined creation in total darkness and flooded with raging water for an unspecified length of time. Power is all to them, human beings are of no consequence. Hence, they will take mankind to the brink of annihilation during the great tribulation in the attempt to maintain their position. l). Such is the stark reality of the ‘giants’ that face us as we stand at the border to the heavenly land and look in. Are we dismayed by what we see? Are we fearful? Are we anxious? Do we want to go back? m). Or will we be a Joshua and a Caleb or a David? “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands.” If we remain and the Lord is willing, we will continue next time. Giants and Grasshoppers - Part One Apr 18, 2021 Speaker: John Herbert Series: Giants and Grasshoppers Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T017_20210418.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Nu 13:33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Today we will begin a series on the spiritual warfare, which we had first visited 15 years ago. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday April 18th 2021 Giants and Grasshoppers Part One 1). Ex 3:15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; 17 and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ As we know from previous studies, God’s commission to Moses to be the deliverer of Israel from the bondage of Egypt is the continuation of the outworking of God’s stated purpose for creating Man – Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion… A purpose that began to be accomplished through Seth and then Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s 12 sons. And as we have previously seen, the dominion, the rulership, that Man is to exercise in the 7th Day is in replacement of the earth’s incumbent rulers, Satan, and his rebellious angels. a). The commissioning of Moses then to bring the nation of Israel from the land of their birth to the land of their calling, had to do with jurisdiction and territory. It had to do with who will rule the earth and who will occupy the places, heavenly and earthly, from which this rulership will take place. b). God’s encounter with Moses, recorded here in Exodus Chapter 3, looks to Israel’s deliverance from the bondage of Egypt for the purpose of entering the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, utterly defeating those in the land and then ruling within a Theocracy, something that would be realized through Joshua and the second generation, all of which put together, sets a foundational type. A type that reveals the reason for failure and the reason for success for those found in the antitype. c). And to accomplish His purpose for Israel God had adopted the nation as a firstborn son and God had Himself provided the means of deliverance through the substitutionary death of the firstborn, witnessed in the slaying of the Passover lambs by the whole congregation at twilight on the 14th day of the first month. d). And the march from Egypt to Canaan by the first generation figuratively pictures the Jewish people’s journey from a gnosis knowledge of God’s purpose surrounding the Passover in Egypt, to the giving of the Law and the instructions for the tabernacle ministry at Sinai, leading to an epignosis knowledge of God’s purpose for them by the time they reached the border of the land at Kadesh Barnea. e). Let’s be in no doubt that as the first generation of Israel camped at Kadesh, there was not a single adult Jew who did not know why they were there, what God had promised them regarding the land and what was expected of them because of God’s promise. f). Yet, as we know, none of this profited them except for Joshua and Caleb – Heb 4:2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. As we look at this verse, let’s pause and consider the nature of the faith that Israel did not have. This is not just a general absence of belief but rather the absence of belief in a specific direction. g). If we stay in the Book of Hebrews, we can find a verse that shows us what having faith produces for the one who believes, thereby showing us specifically what the first generation of Israel did not have – Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith produces the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, the foundation upon which the hope that is set before the eternally saved is built and the evidence of its existence. The hope set before Christians is to attain a position of rulership as a co-heir with Christ in the Millennial Kingdom at the Lord’s appearing – Tit 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing [the appearing of the glory] of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ… 2 Ti 4:8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. And Peter describes this hope as a ‘living hope’ as it is embodied in and guaranteed ‘through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.’ h). The ‘hope’ that would have been set before the first generation of Israel to come out of Egypt would have been rulership with God as a firstborn son within a Theocracy, within the land that God had ordained for that purpose. i). The people knew full well what God had said, but what they heard and indeed what they saw, did not produce the substance, the foundation, of things hoped for, the evidence of that which could not be seen with the natural eye; it was not mixed with faith. 2). Nu 13:32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” As Israel camped at the border of the land the 12 spies, under God’s instruction, traversed the land, which did indeed flow with milk and honey, but in it they saw the ‘giants.’ The word translated giants is the Hebrew word ‘Nephilim’. These giants then were not just ‘men of great stature’, rather they were the offspring of the cohabitation of fallen angels with the daughters of men. And as such this put them outside of that which was natural, thereby requiring the supernatural power of God to overcome them. In their own strength, the Jewish people could not have overcome them, but then they didn’t need to, God would do it for them, as we can see from David’s words to Goliath, who was likely a ‘Nephilim’ – 1 Sa 17:47 Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands.” The presence of these unnatural ‘giants’ in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was neither random nor arbitrary but deliberate and intentional. a). Remember what was at stake here. This was a territorial battle for jurisdiction. And not just with regards to the occupation of the land, but with regards to the rulership of the earth. b). The ‘Nephilim’ were in the land by satanic intent to prevent, if possible, God’s firstborn son from entering and therefore fulfilling God’s purpose for the nation. c). And as we consider this, let’s remember that rulership with regards to the earth in the 7th Day, heavenly and earthly, has been promised exclusively to the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, and Jacob’s 12 sons. And that which God has promised cannot ever be changed – Ge 22:17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. It was the possession of the gate of their enemies as God had promised that faced the nation, the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, at Kadesh. This was never just about the overthrow of the peoples inhabiting the land, rather it was about the overthrow of Satan and his angels. About the purpose for the creation of Man. d). God has determined that His creation, Man, will rule in the place of angels in the age to come – Heb 2:5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. And this will be accomplished through the descendants of Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob and the 12 sons only. It cannot and will not happen apart from them. e). At Kadesh, as we know, the satanic placement of the ‘Nephilim’ was successful, because, of the 12 spies, all leaders of the nation, only Joshua and Caleb had the faith that provided the substance of the hope that was set before them, the others did not. Even though they had heard the same Word of God as Joshua and Caleb, for the 10 it was not mixed with faith – Heb 6:7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. Nu 32:10 So the LORD'S anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.’ And as we read these verses, let’s realize that Joshua and Caleb ‘wholly followed the Lord’ with only one end in view, as witnessed by Caleb’s statement to the people following the bad report from the 10 spies – Nu 13:30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” That which we see through Caleb’s statement to the people at Kadesh is exactly the admonishment that is given to us in – Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. The word ‘confession’ has to do with speaking the same thing as, being in agreement with, and in Caleb’s example we see him speaking the same thing as, being in agreement with God with respect to the hope set before him, the realizing of the purpose for Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, the fulfillment of God’s calling of the nation to possess the gate of their enemies, because He who promised is faithful. f). And as we think about this it will become clear that Joshua and Caleb continued to hold fast the confession of their hope without wavering, trusting in God’s faithfulness throughout all the years of wilderness wandering, as they waited for the rest of their generation to die, separated from the goal of their calling – Jos 14:7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. 8 Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God. 9 So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. 11 As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. 12 Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; Here is the unwavering confession of Caleb’s hope. 3). Now, we have spent some time laying this foundation for a very simple reason – 1 Co 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. Chapter 9 of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians concludes with his directions concerning the race of the faith. And we would know from previous studies that the race of the faith is synonymous with our journey from the land of our birth to the land of our calling, and we have seen it pictured metaphorically in the 3 days’ journey from Satan’s kingdom to a position of rulership in Christ’s Kingdom, that was the subject of our last study. a). According to the verses in this Chapter of Corinthians we are competing for the prize, which is said to be an imperishable crown. And we are instructed to run in such a way that we may attain this prize. And referring to his own actions in the race of the faith to attain the prize, Paul spoke of running the race with certainty, which would be synonymous with holding fast the confession of his hope without wavering; he also spoke of fighting purposefully and intentionally and of disciplining his body to bring it into subjection to that which was required in the successful running of the race. b). And it is with his instructions for running the race of the faith to win the prize of the imperishable crown in view, that he then wrote that seen at the beginning of Chapter 10 – 1 Co 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things became our examples, [Lit. types] to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, [types] and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. With respect to faithfulness to the instructions he has just given, regarding our own race of the faith, Paul then takes us back to the account of the first generation of Israel to come out of Egypt, the same account that we have just been studying in Exodus and Numbers. And he makes quite clear to us that all the things recorded in this account have been given to us as types, to teach us great spiritual truth concerning our own race, our own journey to the land of our calling. c). Now the OT, as a whole, provides an historical record of the events that God would have us know from the restoration of the earth to the crucifixion of our Lord. But the OT is so much more than just an historical record, as within these historical events themselves are to be found endless types, which we must understand if we are to realize the hope of our calling, as it is only through the types that the meat and strong meat of the Word is revealed. So then, types are to be found throughout the OT and not just in the account of the first generation of Israel to come out of Egypt, but it is the type seen through the first generation that the Lord has instructed Paul to draw our attention to with respect to the race of the faith. And we might also note that it is the type of Israel’s failure at Kadesh that is uppermost in the Lord’s mind here as He speaks to us through Paul. d). God has brought about our deliverance from the bondage of Satan’s kingdom through the death and shed blood of His Son, so that we should leave the land of our birth to journey to the land of our calling, being continually filled with the Spirit as we go – Heb 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus… Our calling is ‘heavenly’, we are called to receive the Kingdom of the Heavens, the heavenly land that is at present occupied by Satan and his angels. And to realize our calling we are to ‘consider’, literally to fix our eyes upon, to observe intently, ‘Christ Jesus’, who is both ‘the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.’ e). Christ Jesus as Apostle takes us to the Lord’s provision of eternal salvation through His death and shed blood at His first advent, our Passover Lamb, the only place from which our journey to the heavenly land can begin. And we are to confess, to speak the same thing as, to agree with, what God has said with respect to this. And these things we have looked at in past weeks, our deliverance from Satan’s Kingdom, our separation from the slavery to sin, the separation of the old man from the new, our separation from the Gentile nations under Satan’s control. f). And then, Christ Jesus as our High Priest takes us to His ministry beyond His resurrection, in the heavenly Tabernacle, to provide an ongoing cleansing for the sins of the saved in relation to the living hope, of which He is the embodiment. And in our ‘confession’ we will speak the same as God does concerning the purpose for Christ’s High Priestly ministry in relation to our inheritance. g). And Christ as Apostle and High Priest take us once more to the account of the first generation of Israel to come out of Egypt – a journey that began with death and shed blood in Egypt, the giving of the Law at Sinai and an ongoing Tabernacle ministry, with a view to the possession of the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And in the same way, for us, this is to be our journey from gnosis to epignosis knowledge, from death and shed blood to the Melchizedek Priesthood, from the milk to the meat, to the strong meat of the Word, from faith to faith, as we receive with meekness the implanted Word of the Kingdom, the gospel of the glory of Christ, which is able to save our souls. And this is all with one singular, unchangeable, non-negotiable purpose, to possess the gate of our enemies, to receive our imperishable crown and to rule as a firstborn son with Christ, over the nations, in the Kingdom of the Heavens in the place of Satan and his angels. h). And as with the type seen in Rebekah, the Christian must know the purpose for the journey he is to make and what awaits him at the end of it, before he can determine to make it – Ge 24:32 Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.” And he said, “Speak on.” The Holy Spirit, in the antitype of Abraham’s oldest servant, has one mission among the eternally saved of this dispensation, to search out a Bride for God’s Son. And this He does by progressively revealing the inheritance that will belong to those who will hear what He teaches by comparing spiritual things with spiritual. And the nature of this revelation, if it is received, must bring about a response from those who receive it – Ge 24:58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” Rebekah’s decision provides the type for the Christian’s decision as he continues to receive the Holy Spirit’s ministry among the eternally saved 1 Co 2:9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. What was true for Rebekah must also be true for the Christian. The decision ‘I will go’ cannot be made in ignorance or by chance, but by being in possession of the spiritual truth relating to Christ and His Kingdom, the deep things of God, as they are progressively revealed. i). So then, every Christian, because or their eternal salvation will find themselves automatically in the starting blocks for the race of the faith. But each one must then choose to run. And to run requires knowing that there is a race, knowing that there is a finishing line and knowing what it is and where it is; and knowing that there is a rule book which governs how the race is to be run – 2 Ti 2:5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. For all of us who have become partakers of the heavenly calling, at whatever place between death and shed blood and the Melchizedek Priesthood we find ourselves, we are, in a figurative sense, camped at Kadesh Barnea. The land of our inheritance has been spied out and it is ‘a good land flowing with milk and honey’, but there are ‘giants’ in the land. Not the ‘Nephilim’ that stood in the way of the Children of Israel, but even greater and more powerful spirit beings that are a host of wickedness, who rule the darkness of this age. j). And as spirit beings, they fall outside of the natural into the supernatural, outside of our ability to deal with them. Great and mighty angels who have clung to power for countless millennia. And their presence in the land of our inheritance is for one purpose, to prevent those who would be co-heirs with Christ from entering and overthrowing them. k). And how desperate are they to cling to power? Well, consider this, that they ruled over a ruined creation in total darkness and flooded with raging water for an unspecified length of time. Power is all to them, human beings are of no consequence. Hence, they will take mankind to the brink of annihilation during the great tribulation in the attempt to maintain their position. l). Such is the stark reality of the ‘giants’ that face us as we stand at the border to the heavenly land and look in. Are we dismayed by what we see? Are we fearful? Are we anxious? Do we want to go back? m). Or will we be a Joshua and a Caleb or a David? “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands.” If we remain and the Lord is willing, we will continue next time.