Deuteronomy 1:7-8 (ESV)
Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. [8] See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.''
Go in and take possession. God tells Israel to possess the promised land, which is currently occupied by the Amorites and the Canaanites. This was not stealing of the land. Because the inhabitants of the land had sinned against God and violated against His commandments, they were officially being evicted from the land, to be replaced with new tenants who would bring forth the fruits of righteousness. Though in verse 7 God describes the land as being the "country of Amorites" and "land of the Canaanites", He clearly says in verse 8, "See, I have set the land before you", giving ownership of the land legally and wholly to Israel.
Thus going in and possessing the land of Canaan meant driving out the current inhabitants of the land. War was how the land of Israel was birthed. Israel was not going to an empty land where there were no occupants and putting their flag on it. They had to go to existing owners and destroy them in the authority of God. Likewise it is with the Kingdom of God. God's Kingdom is coming to reclaim the Earth, and to replace its space with God's inhabitants who love Him. New wine must be put into new wineskins, lest it burst the first. There must be demolition of the first building, in order that the new building may be established on the same ground. Old and the new cannot coexist. As much as light cannot mix with dark, the kingdoms of man must be destroyed in order that the Kingdom of God may be established upon it:
Daniel 2:44 (ESV)
And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
God is coming upon the earth to reclaim His position as King. No human being will ever reign as King anymore, only Jesus Christ the Son of Man. All who have been saved shall be subjects to Him, bowing down and worshipping Him as the King of kings forever and ever. God will not share His glory as King with no man, except with those whom He has rescued by His grace. God alone shall reign as Lord, and no devil, no angel, no man nor any created thing shall have any power to rule anymore outside of Him:
Revelation 11:15 (ESV)
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever."
Likewise in us who believe is a battle between the Spirit and the flesh. There is currently in us an uncomfortable coexistence between light and darkness, things of God and things of man, things of the Spirit of God and things of flesh and blood. Even though we have been born again, and have a new nature of God's righteousness in us, but undoubtedly there is within us remnants of the nature of the devil, our previous spiritual father, no matter how much we want to deny it. It must be noted here however that only those who have truly been born again have this battle going on. Those who have not been born again are only evil, only sin, only the things of man, only the devil's nature and none of God's. However, if there is war at all, it means good news for us, for we know that we have been saved. If there is struggle with sin and wrestling with evil, we must rejoice because we are God's people, and that God lives in us.
Are we kicking out the old residents of sin from us? Though the battle may continue for the rest of our life, we know that we are going to the grave with our enemy. Death is therefore a gain and victory for us. Therefore we even look forward to when we shall die, for then our souls will go home to be with our God. Sin our enemy fights with us to the bitter end, because it knows that it only has short time left, for it knows once we draw out our last breath, then it will lose the war forever. How victorious is our life then as a Christian, even through our battles with sin in this life? We fight vigorously, but we fight assured, knowing that Christ has paid for the wages of sin, so we are as though fighting a snake without fangs. It is as it is written:
Isaiah 11:8 (ESV)
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
The land that the LORD swore to your fathers. The only assurance that Israel would be guaranteed to be victorious in their conquest was this word: "The LORD swore". God swore an oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He would give this land to their offspring. Abraham walked in this land, and so did Isaac and Jacob. They never did possess the land, but were sojourners only. But to them it was promised and sworn that their offspring, the nation of Israel, would possess it.
The first generation should have simply believed this oath of God as a child and gone into possess the land. If they had believed that GOD, who never lies anyway, actually swore an oath that He would give the land to them, they would not have been so terrified of the inhabitants. They could have had the confidence that was based on God's solid oath. It would have been as easy as a stroll in the park. Indeed, did not the second generation destroy the wall of Jericho simply by their walking around it seven times and shouting? Why? Because their walking and shouting had some power? No! Because God had sworn by His own self that they would inherit the land.
We can learn here that God's oaths only apply to those who believe in God's oath. Those who did not believe in God's oath that He swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the oath did not apply to them, and they could not possess the land. But to the second generation that believed in God's oath, the oath applied to them, and they went in the land. By faith the oath of God is applied.
Likewise, listen to Jesus Christ's oath to us:
John 5:24 (ESV)
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
This oath only applies to those who believe in this oath. Whoever does not believe that trusting in Jesus alone can give eternal life will not have eternal life. This promise of life is applied to our souls by faith. Faith is the assurance of things unseen. By believing that this promise is true, and by trusting in Christ, the person is moved from death unto life.
By believing in the oath of God, the second generation also lived by their faith. They fought by faith and was able to safely take possession of Canaan. Thus we are to ask ourselves, are we living by faith in Christ? Are we actually living as though Christ is taking us to heaven, and as though we have really been moved from death to life? Are we living as though we died with Christ on the cross, and we are made a new Christian, and that we are seated with Christ now in heaven? Are we living as though we have risen with Christ from the dead, that as His body rose from the dead we lived to God? Are we really believing? Or is our faith a dead, fake faith that is really self-deception and hypnosis rather that genuine faith in the realities of God. Are we living as though heaven and hell is real? If so, how can we dabble in sin, or not preach the Gospel to others? Is our faith in some fictional story, or is it in truth, in reality? If in truth and reality, there must be genuine action, if we truly believe these things to be so. If we believe that God is real, and that He truly spoke His words, we must live by this faith and do what He said.
The land of Canaan did not become Israel's by an intellectual faith only, but by living faith. Living faith is the only faith. God's promises became real for Israel as they fought with all their might, shedding blood, sweat and tears. It was not legalism, but it was faith. Likewise the Kingdom of God will only be realized through living faith that with all strength destroys idols, dies to sin and lives to God. God only rewards those who "diligently seek Him". Laziness is unbelief, and "lazy faith" is a contradiction. Let us stir in ourselves all our diligence, if we indeed trust in Christ's promise. Only through faith shall the Kingdom of God be established in this land. Though our faith may be small, as long as it is real, then shall we do great and impossible things for God's glory:
Matthew 13:31-32 (ESV)
He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. [32] It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."
Matthew 17:20 (ESV)
He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ''Move from here to there,'' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."
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