Possessing Our Inheritance

As mentioned in my message last week the people of God, both the children of Israel and Christian believers, went through three transit points on their pilgrimage journeys to possess their inheritance in Christ. The purpose of the transit points is to mature us so that we are ready to fight battles and possess our God given inheritance. God is not impressed with our inheritance but He is impressed with our possession. The fact is what we have in possession right now is only a small portion of what God expected us to inherit.

God said to His Son Jesus Christ through the psalmist:

"Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession" (Ps. 2:8, NKJV).

Our full possession in Christ is the "ends of the earth" - until what Paul said is fulfilled:

"At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10, 11).

Until that day you and I dare not rest!

The Battle of Jericho and the Battle of Ai

The children of Israel had enough time spent on transit and God wanted them to move on to do battles in order to possess their inheritance. We, as children of God must also move on and come into our inheritance in Christ. But before that there are a few lessens to be learned from the Battle of Jericho and the Battle of Ai. In these two battles the Lord did wonders amount the children of Israel and at the same time the Lord demanded total obedience from them before victory could be realized.

The Battle of Jericho

Before the children of Israel crossed over the Jordan to do battle against Jericho Joshua said to them, "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you" (Joshua 3:5).

God is saying the same thing to us before we get involve in spiritual warfare. In our particular context, and in the particular period of time "sanctification" means we need to develop Christ-like character only the Fruit of the Holy Spirit can bring. We have been talking so much of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which speak about God's power. Now it is time for us to ask God to begin to stamp the character of His Son in each one of us.

Until today the Battle of Jericho continues to be a source of pride to the Jews. And we today in the Christian Church are still talking about it and identify spiritual warfare as "bringing down the walls of Jericho". We must learn how to make intercession effectively in spiritual battle. Just mouth-prayer, asking God to bless this and that will not do. We need to change our "shopping lists" prayer in our Church prayer meetings to more aggreesive intercessary prayer. The Devil is laughing at our "pea-shooter" prayer.

God gave clear specific instruction on how to deal with Jericho. In fact God had already given Jericho to the children of Israel (Joshua 6:2). All they needed to do was to obey Him in marching around Jericho (Joshua 6:2 - 16). When God said move they moved and when He said shout they shouted. God Himself did it all and there were no human casualty - amazing!

God also gave specific instruction to the children of Israel not to take of the devoted or accursed things (Joshua 6:18). We were not told what those accursed things were. It could be little idols or amulets made out of metal or precious stones.

The Battle of Ai

After the Battle of Jericho the children of Israel were overconfident. Instead of seeking God first they became presumptuous and made their own decision. They said, "Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thounsand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few" (Joshua 7:3).

Tragically and painfully 36 men were killed in the battle (Joshua 7:5) and God declared "Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them" (Joshua 7:11).

The problem was Achan from the tribe of Judah was identified as someone taken some accursed things from Jericho, and he was brought to the valley of Achor where he was stoned. In those days God dealt with His people severely. No one can come against the enemies with sin in the camp (Joshua 7:13).

We have sin in our camp (the Church) too and let us pray that God will not deal with us in this particular way. But He certainly dealt severely with Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1 - 11). We can't play around with sin! That is why we need to sanctify ourselves. That is why we need to emphasize the Fruit of the Spirit, holiness and Christ-like character. But if we do fall we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:1, 2).

God is saying to us today, a single defeat does not mean it is finished. We must move on and keep moving on because God is on our side. But we must remember to do things His way and never be presumptuous.

Paul said, "If anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules" (2 Tim. 2:5, NKJV).

After the children of Israel had purified themselves and got rid of the accursed things God gave them victory over Ai and they were permitted to take some of the spoil (Joshua 8:2).

Then every where the children of Israel went there were victories. "So Joshua took the whole land according to all that the Lord had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war" (Joshua 11:23).

Inheritance and Possession

God promised the children of Israel the land of Canaan as their inheritance. But their inheritance at the time of Joshua was not matched by possession and Joshua was getting old.

God said to Joshua, "You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed" (Joshua 13:1).

But the children of Israel had grown fat and became complacent and got tired of fighting even though God had already promised them victory. They were quiet happy with the land they had possessed so far.

Are our Churches also getting fat? Hope all the man-made charismatic food will not store up fat. We need spiritual muscles to go out and fight battles! We have forgotten to sanctify ourselves and we allow the world to come in the Church. Christians are beginning to love worldly values and worldly methods. The qualification for elders and pastors is no more a spiritual one. Therefore very few elders and pastors are true spiritual leaders.

Three things began to erode into the spiritual life of the people of God:

1. In alliance with heathens. "You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them" (Deut. 7:2).

2. Unequally yoked to marriages. "Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son" (Deut. 7:3).

3. Involvement in idolatry. "You shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire" (Deut. 7:5).

Recipients of God's Special Blessings

In every move of God's Spirit there are those who received special blessings from God. The reason was not because God has favorites but because He was (and still is) the rewarder of those who diligently seek to please Him (Heb. 11:6).

I found one person and three tribes among the children of Israel in Joshua's time who were recipients of God's special blessings.

1. A man called Caleb (Joshua 14)

Caleb received special blessings because he wholly followed the Lord (Joshua 14:9). He believed the Lord is greater than any giants. He had a different spirit, not an independent spirit, but the Spirit of the Living God. He looked after God's interest and God looked after his and rewarded him with strength and long life (Joshua 14:11, 12).

"With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation" (Ps. 91:16).

"My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you" (Pro. 3:1, 2).

Caleb was 85 years old when he received his inheritance. But he was as strong as the day that Moses sent him out to be one of the 12 spies (Joshua 14:11).

In my opinion if you want similar special inheritance of Caleb you need to do two things - You must follow the God fully and make sure you have a different spirit from the world which brings fear.

2. The tribes of Simeon and Judah (Joshua 19)

The tribes of Simeon and Judah were the recipients of special blessings:

"The inheritance of the children of Simeon was included in the share of the children of Judah, for the share of the children of Judah was too much for them. Therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of that people" (Joshua 19:9).

It was without doubt the tribe of Judah was the tribe that received special blessings. It was the tribe of Judah from which our Lord Jesus Christ came and from which king David came (according to the genealogy of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke). Jesus was referred to as the Son of David.

Jesus is the Keeper of the people of God and He is never idle:

"He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep" (Ps. 121:3, 4).

Jesus is the Great High Priest who "always lives to make intercession for" you and I (Heb. 7:25).

The tribe of Simeon inherited special blessings because they received the same special blessings as the tribe of Judah.

3. The tribe of Levi

The tribe of Levi, from which the priesthood came, received the most special blessing. They received no inheritance like other tribes but the Lord Himself was their inheritance.

"The priests, the Levites - all the tribe of Levi - shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and His portion. Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord is their inheritance, as He said to them" (Deut. 18:1, 2, emphasis added).

The Bible tells us that you and I are priests (Rev. 1:6; Rev. 5:10) and we are together in the Body of Christ, a holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:50) and a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). But we do not belong to the tribe of Levi. We are of a vey special tribe if Jesus is truly our Lord and we live in Him.

According to the writer of Hebrews the Levitical priesthood was never perfect because it was a priesthood under the Law (heb. 7:11). Jesus, the great High Priest, on the other hand is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek and His Priesthood is unchangeable (Heb. 7:20 - 24).

Because we live in Jesus we are kings and priests of the same order as Him in the Kingdom of God. At the moment we are His representatives on earth!

The priests from the tribe of Levi were the custodians of the sacred flame (the Shekinah Glory) of God. In the Tabernacle of Moses only Aaron (the high priest) and priests were allowed to minister in the altar of incense. The fire at the brazen altar was divinely let by the Glory of God on the day of dedication. Coals were taken from the brazen altar by Aaron to light the golden altar of incense. In the holy of holies, where only the high priest could enter once a year, was lighted by the very Glory of God. The brightness was called the Shekinah.

God lighted the fire in the Church on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4). You and I are now custadians of this sacred flame which is burning in each one of us in the Person of the eternal Holy Spirit of God! The Spirit of Christ in us brings regeneration and transformation in the inner man and stamps upon each one of us the character and marks of Jesus Christ. When we go out and bring the Gospel of the Kingdom to the world we are spreading God's life and God's light to the unbelieving world.

"... that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ..." (Eph. 1:18).

Our calling as the Body of Christ is to receive His full inheritance!