Before God had sent Moses into Egypt to bring His people out, God had a planned heritage for them. He had told Abraham, Isaac and Jacob about that Land of Promise. When Abraham and Sarah left their homeland, God had prepared this heritage and place for them. After Lot had separated from him and went into Sodom, the Lord told Abraham to lift up his eyes from the place where he was standing and behold the land that He was giving as a heritage. God’s promised blessing was vast. The Lord was going to bless his descendants and give them that rich land.
Genesis 13:17 NKJV “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”
God renewed that covenant promise to Isaac and Jacob. He had prepared that rich blessing and heritage for them. Many years later, Abraham’s descendants were down in Egypt. God had told Abraham that this was going to happen. Now after 425 years, it was time for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s descendants to go out of bondage and possess the heritage of the Lord. When the time was right, God sent Moses into Egypt to lead his people into the rich blessings of the Lord.
You should know that God has made extensive plans and has been working in the background to bring you into the blessings that He has prepared.
His plan for them at that time was no different than it is for His people regardless of the time in history.
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV84 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
This is God’s heritage for His people.
When it was time for their deliverance from the captivity and slavery in Egypt, God brought His people out with a strong and mighty hand. It is amazing to watch what God was willing to do to bring them out.
- They came out of Egypt a mighty nation of people.
- They came out with the blessing of God.
- They came with the wealth of their captors.
- They came with victory and not with defeat.
Have you noticed what God has done for you when He saved, delivered, and healed you?
He sent His Son into this world of sin and redeemed us from our destructions. Jesus paid the full price so that you might be set free. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 1:3). He has raised us up and made us sit together with Christ in heavenly places, (Ephesians 2:6).
Moses brought the people to the Red Sea, but God brought them through on dry ground and defeated the armies of their captors. Do you know that Satan has been defeated and Christ has brought you into His victory? Now once the Israelites had been delivered across the Red Sea, God was ready to bring them into the blessings He had prepared for them. The heritage that God had prepared lay before them, so God wanted them to see what was theirs.
Numbers 13:1-3NKJV And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
Numbers 13:17-20 NKJV Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
Numbers 13:27 NKJV Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.”
God had prepared a heritage for His people.
It was a land of plenty and promise. God’s plans were to prosper and not to harm. His plan was to give them a hope and future.
All that many of them could see were the problems that lay before them.
There were giants, large walled cities and many people that dwell in the mountains.
Numbers 13:30-31 NKJV 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.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”
God has laid out before us a heritage that can be possessed in Christ.
What He has prepared for us is just as vast and blessed as what He had prepared for Abraham’s descendants. Canaan was a land of plenty, of milk and honey and many blessings. The fruit of the land was full and abundant.
Do you know and have you seen what God has prepared for you in Christ?
It would be good for you to spy out the many blessings that God has prepared for you in Christ.
When they went into the land, they came back with a confusing report.
Everyone agreed that the land was lovely and exceedingly good. No one could deny the bounty and beauty of the land. This is also true of our spiritual inheritance in Christ. It is true of our life of victory in the Holy Spirit. This is exactly what God has promised as a heritage for those who put their faith and trust in Him.
In Numbers 13:31, 14:1When the men that went up into the land with Joshua and Caleb said, “We are not able to go up for they are stronger than we,” “all the congregation lifted their voices and wept and cried all night.”
Numbers 14:2, Immediately all of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron and said, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!”
This great army, God’s victorious hosts was at the entrance into all of the things God had promised, but all they could see were giants.
What a tragedy! God had filled the land with His blessing and provision, but they did not believe that God was able to do what He said. God said the land was their’s. They were lamenting, there are too many giants in the land. There are too many rivers to cross and too many mountains to climb. There are too many walled cities to conquer.
God has brought the church of today unto a land of bounty and blessings in Christ.
Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh had a different word.
This is the word that we should confess.
Numbers 14:8 NKJV If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’
Get your eyes on the heritage that God has prepared for you.
Galatians 6:9 NLT So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
Don’t lose heart, grow weary and faint. If we persevere in faith and courage, we will enter into God’s blessing and harvest in due time and at the right season.
No one denied the fact of the giants that were in the land.
Some thought the giants (obstacles and battles) were too great. In Numbers 14:9 Caleb said, “Don’t fear the people for they are bread for us; their defense is departed from them and the Lord is with us.”
If God is on our side and delights in us, He will bring us into the heritage He has promised.
Follow Israel through the wilderness for the next 40 years.
They were not able to go in and posses what God had planned because they rebelled against God and despised the heritage God had prepared. Throughout their journey, the things God provided and promised were never enough. God gave them manna and it became detestable to them. They came to the Jordan River, they questioned how they would make it across. Some of them said we would rather settle on the other side of Jordan. When they came to Jericho, the walls were too tall.
It is time for the church to press on into the promises and heritage that God has prepared for us in Christ.
We need a taste of the heritage that overflows. The fruit of Christ’s blessing is abundant. It is a land where milk and honey flow. The blessings of the Lord increase and encourage His people. God has prepared rivers of life of the Holy Spirit and rain in its season. His heritage is joy unspeakable and full of glory. The half has not yet been told.
Somebody said, “But there are giants in the land.” There are too many mountains and hills to climb. How can I go forward into more when I am too weak, too sick, and face so many hinderances and obstacles?
God has a plan.
Isaiah 43:1-2 NKJV But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior…
Then God said, “you are precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you… Fear not, for I am with you.”
Isaiah 58:8-9 NKJV Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
Isaiah 58:12,14 NKJV Those from among you shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord;
In Hebrews 3, the writer encourages us to not be like those in the wilderness who despised their heritage.
Hebrews 3:14, 19 NKJV For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, …So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Don’t be discouraged because there are battles.
Hebrews 4:1 tells us “the promise still stands…”
Great is His faithfulness. God has victory plans for any who put their trust in Him. The heritage that is in Christ is still available.
