Num 33:50-56 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, (51) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; (52) Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: (53) And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. (54) And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. (55) But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. (56) Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.
The children of Israel have arrived at the plains of Moab overlooking the promised land and have finally come to the point in their long travels where they were actually about to begin their conquest and possession of the land God promised to their fathers. Yahweh instructed Moses to speak to the people concerning their actions towards the inhabitants of the land.
Let me note that Israel never completely drove out all the inhabitants and what Yahweh warned them against actually occurred.
If we are to make any progress with God we need to pay heed to what He tells us in His Word and follow His instructions.
Forward movement with God depends our willingness to challenge the enemy.
Forward movement with God depends on our readiness to do battle and win.
Forward movement with God depends on our determination to win completely.
Therefore:
We need to recognize the extent of our heritage in Christ .
We need to recognize and identify the enemy encroaching on our territory.
We need to challenge and declare war against the enemy and win.
2Co 10:1-6 Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: (2) But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. (3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (6) And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
In the Christian life our battle is not against our brothers or sisters, and every time we take up arms against them and treat them as the enemy we are destined to lose, miserably so, and bring horrible reproach on Christ and the church, also bringing the Christian testimony into disrepute.
1. We do not war against the flesh.
What does this mean? Our battle goes deeper than what we see with the physical senses. We should not be looking at our brother as the target but at the evil forces that are influencing him. We should not be carrying out an attack against our sister but against the demonic influences that control her speech and actions.
2. We do not war in the flesh!
What does this mean? It means we do not and cannot fight evil with our own human resources. We may be big and bad and want to look big bad and dangerous in the physical realm but in the eyes of the real enemy we just so much chopped liver... a mere grease stain on the floor until we awaken to the fact that we have weapons that are mighty through God.
3. We do not fight this fight with earthly weapons.
The best of your flesh is worst than the least of God! You might as well charge hell with a bucket of water than fight the enemy with fleshly weapons.
We are commanded to:
a. pull down strongholds
b. cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God
c. make captives of every thought before they become expressed in words and drag them into alignment with the Word of Truth!
Heb 12:12-17 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; (13) And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. (14) Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (15) Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; (16) Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. (17) For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Hanging hands, feeble knees are signs of fatigue, infirmity or disease
Bitterness is like a horribly contagious disease that destroys its owner and every one it come into contact with
Bitterness loves company and will seek to drag down everyone with it!
Bitterness will contaminate anyone who entertains it in their life
Bitterness is a toxic poison
It is impossible to be bitter and still have close fellowship with the Lord!
Do not let a moment of fleshly weakness rob you of your eternal heritage!
Indulging in momentary fleshly satisfaction can result in a lifetime of regret and spiritual bankruptcy!
Bitterness loves the misery of others and indulges them through gossip.
Harboring bitterness results in an unforgiving spirit and creates an obscene nature that takes a delight in corrupting as many as possible.
Hag 2:11-14 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, (12) If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. (13) Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. (14) Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
Holiness does not rub off on to another! Evil does! Evil communication corrupts good manners.
1Co 15:33-34 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. (34) Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
Always consider what you are saying to whom you are saying it and what th end result would be not only to yourself and loved ones but to the souls for whom you have to give account to God
Do not let your tongue rule you and control you.
We need to be careful of what we speak and to whom we speak it. There are certain things I would not discuss or speak about with my child. There are certain things I will not speak about to some adults and there are certain things I will speak to no one about but the LORD!
Col 3:8-11 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. (9) Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; (10) And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: (11) Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Unless we follow Christ in all His precepts and make diligent efforts to keep our WHOLE life clean we will not only become spiritual failures but we will also drag down most of the weaker ones we associate with and influence and we will give an account before God! So take over the whole of your life and consecrate it daily to God!
