Tag: Hermeneutics

Understanding the Land Promise: Excursus

~ fundyreformed ~ 12 Comments

Before continuing with a couple points related more directly to the land promise, and then going on to finish this series, I thought it would be good to address an important side issue. In the comments of part 5, it was again stated that I am wrong for going backward from the New Testament to the Old Testament. It was asserted that doing this is reading the NT back into the OT and is wrong hermeneutics. Proper exegesis takes the OT on its own basis and ignores later revelation. Such an approach, Will Dudding claimed, flows from a proper understanding of progressive revelation. At least that is what I understood him as saying in this comment.

Progressive Revelation

Progressive revelation is actually a good concept to explain at this point. And I hope to show how it bolsters my hermeneutical approach rather than invalidating it. So let’s start with revelation.

Revelation

As believers in inerrancy, and the “Sola Scriptura” of the Reformation, we uphold the Bible as the sole source of specific revelation to mankind. God has revealed what was unknowable and hidden from man, by declaring his mind to us in the words which make up the inspired Scriptures. Revelation is a gift to us, and it is not something which changes. God knows all, and He has always known what He would reveal to us. All along, God has had His plan for human history complete and settled. And He has known what He would reveal to us in the Bible. So from this perspective, revelation is similar to God opening a shut window to give us a glimpse, just the specific and intended glimpse He wants us to have, of what God has planned and will do for us.

Progressive

“Progressive” refers to the progression of revelation. As we look at Scripture, we can easily tell that God revealed more truth to David than he did to Moses, who had more truth than Abraham. And of course, we on this side of Christ have the complete revelation and thus have more access to truth than David, or even the apostles had (as the canon was completed after most of them had died). At each stage of human history, God advanced His story of redemption a little more. He revealed a little more truth until all was revealed through the advent of Christ (Heb. 1:1) and the subsequent NT writings (John 16:13-14; 14:25-26).

To go back to our analogy, as the Word of God was being written and compiled, the window of Heaven was being raised a little bit higher, and higher, until now it is fully open and we can know all of what God wills us to know. This is just an analogy, but there are explicit places in the New Testament where this idea is explained.

Scriptural Examples

The New Testament mentions that Old Testament passages were written for our learning (Rom. 15:4; Rom. 4:23; 1 Cor. 9:9-10), and OT events happened as lessons for us (1 Cor. 10:6, 11). Even more explicitly, Old Testament institutions were shadows of things to come (Heb. 8:5; 10:1; Col. 2:16-17). In Christ, the shadow is done away and the substance remains (Col. 2:17). In fact, the Old Testament scriptures testify of Christ and point to Him (John 5:39; Luke 24:27). And many Old Testament events are explained in NT gospel terms (Gal. 3:8).

What does this mean for our study? I take it to mean that all along, God knew the complete revelation of what He would do through Christ. And God as the Divine Author of all of Scripture, deliberately foreshadowed things as he orchestrated events and revealed Scriptures all of which would point to Christ and would have a more full meaning for believers in Christ, than they would for the immediate recipients of the OT Scriptures. Yet even for those Jewish believers in God, the very Scriptures they received would point them beyond their current day and work in them a faith in a coming redeemer.

Conclusion

So with respect to progressive revelation, I hold that God deliberately revealed truth in this way so as to hint at and foreshadow the more full revelation which God would ultimately provide. Just because Abraham and others only saw through a partially open window, does not mean God did not have the full picture in mind as He wrote. When God gave promises to Abraham concerning his descendants, God knew full well that the descendants he had in mind were spiritual faithful children, Jew and Gentile (Heb. 2:15; Gal. 3:29). Abraham knew there was more to the land promise than just the plot of land, for he was looking for a heavenly city (Heb. 11:10, 13-16) even as we believers in Christ do (Heb. 13:14). Abraham had great faith in God, even faith that God could raise Isaac from the dead (Rom. 4:14-22; Heb. 11:19), and he even believed the gospel as revealed to him through the promises (Gal. 3:8).

In short, because of progressive revelation, we have no warrant to ignore the full and intended meanings revealed in the New Testament, as we go back to exegete what Old Testament passages mean. Those passages were written with us in mind and for our learning and instruction.

Now of course much more could be said on this point, and I would encourage you to start with studying how the NT authors used the OT scriptures. I believe they used the OT in a legitimate fashion, intended to illustrate to us how we are to use it. Scripture is more than just a literal meaning couched in words. It has a spiritual meaning, discerned only by the work of the Holy Spirit. Just as Human authors use many literary devices and allusions to foreshadow events which are to happen later in their book, even so God can do and has done this with His book, the Bible. I’d encourage you to read this article by my friend Nathan Pitchford on the importance of reading and studying the Bible together as one unified revelation from God.

Understanding the Land Promise: Part 5 (Answering Objections)

~ fundyreformed ~ 18 Comments

–continuing from part 4.

I thought that the fifth post would be the last, but Will Dudding brought up some objections in the comments of the last post. This has caused me to dig a little deeper, and in the end has only increased my confidence in this understanding of the land promise. So before drawing out the implications of this view of the land promise (and then concluding our series), I need to pause and answer some objections. Answering these objections will also serve to recap this series and help us gain an even better appreciation for how the land promise applies to us.

Answering Objections

Will’s comments focused on several questions relating to the specific promises made to Abraham. He focused on two places in Genesis where the land promise is specified, but I’d like to quote all the places the land promise to Abraham is mentioned:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country… to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation….” “To your offspring I will give this land”. (Gen. 12:1-2a; 7)

“Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth…. Arise, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” (Gen. 13:14b-17)

On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites”. (Gen. 15:18-21)

“I have made you the father of a multitude of nations…. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. (Gen. 17:5b-8]

“I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed…” (Gen. 22:17-18]

From reading these promises, it is easy to see why Will sees problems with my view. He sees unconditional promises made to Abraham, concerning a specific plot of land to be given to Abraham’s offspring to possess forever. He fears I am saying God has cast off Israel and replaced her with the Church, and that I am ignoring these “forever” promises, and turning them into a spiritual pseudo promise so I can say they are fulfilled. It’s as simple as this: Abraham’s descendants haven’t possessed this land, so the fulfillment must still be expected in the future.

To respond to these objections is a large task, because so many fundamental assumptions are wrapped up in them. Nevertheless, I will give this a try.

The Possession of the Promised Land

I am claiming that Joshua 21:43-45 declares that God fulfilled his promise to give the land to Israel. Nehemiah and Solomon also declare God did not drop the ball on any of his promises. In studying this further, I realize I neglected an important passage in 1 Kings.

Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. (1 Kings 4:20-21)

The inspired author of 1 Kings certainly means to grab our attention here. He is proclaiming the promises concerning Abraham’s seed being as numerous as the sand of the sea, have been fulfilled. He is also pointing us to the exact dimensions of the land promised in Gen. 15, as being now inhabited and ruled over by Solomon. Of course, later in 1 Kings 8:56, Solomon will actually declare that all the promises have been fulfilled. So in one sense clearly, God declares through inspired authors of Scripture, that the Israelites did indeed possess the land. Hold with me here, as we go on to address some other objections.

The Inheritors of the Promised Land

Now the promises above stipulate that Abraham’s descendants will inherit the land. But we observed previously (in part 1) that the New Testament states that the very promise that Abraham would inherit the world, was given to all the spiritual descendants of Abraham (see Rom. 4:11-16). To expand on this, let’s note a few important passages below:

For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. (Rom. 9:6b-8]

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. (Gal. 3:7)

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. (Gal. 3:16)

…you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Gal. 3:28b-29)

…the Gentiles are fellow heirs… (Eph. 3:6a)

Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. (Gal. 4:28]

That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise [re: the land, see v. 13] may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring””not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (Rom. 4:16)

See how all the above verses go hand in hand with Rom. 4:16 (the last verse cited above). This is clear New Testament teaching here. Unequivocal. “Offspring of Abraham” = “those who believe in Jesus, who is the specific Offspring of Abraham”. We know that Abraham saw Christ’s day, and his faith was in a future deliverer (John 8:58, Rom. 4, Gen. 3:15). And so we know this New Testament assertion must mean something. If we believers are co-heirs with Abraham and descendants of him, than this seems to change how we are to view the promises made in Gen. Again, suspend disbelief until our next point.

The Nature and Concept of Land

When we talk of land, we must think in ancient terms. Land was always sacred, and vastly more important in ancient times than today. A King and his realm was totally tied up in his land. Like a King, so a god. It was assumed that deities were tied up to the land, and the god of the Canaanites wouldn’t hold sway in Nineveh. Remember Namaan? He gets healed of leprosy by Elisha the prophet and what does he request? A barrel full of dirt! He felt he needed part of the land to take back to Syria so that he could be a worshiper of Jehovah.

Of course, Jehovah declares that he is the One True and Living God. He alone is God. And He owns the whole Earth. Nevertheless, land is integral in how God relates with his people. Adam and Eve needed an Eden. A place where they fellowshipped with God. If you note Abraham’s wanderings, the only places he builds altars are in the land God was giving him. Fellowship with God stemmed from being on His land.

Throughout Deuteronomy, a constantly reoccurring idea is that these laws are to be obeyed, “in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess — as long as you live in the land” (Deut. 12:1 NIV). Obedience is intricately connected to the land. And the land was a good land. “A land flowing with milk and honey”. This points out that the land is a new paradise — a place of communion with God and blessing. And throughout Deuteronomy it is clear that God is graciously giving this to the Israelites, even though they are exhorted to take it.

The land is intimately tied up with God’s redemptive work toward Israel. At the conclusion of laws regulating life in the land (Deut. 12-25), there is a powerful ceremony highlighting the importance of Israel viewing themselves as stewards of God’s land (Deut. 26:1-11). We will explore the nature of the land further as we look at conditionality and a few other topics in the next post.

Understanding the Land Promise: Part 4

~ fundyreformed ~ 12 Comments

–continuing from part 3.

Here is a fourth, and most definitive basis for “spiritualizing” the land promise….

4) The connection between land and rest

To start, read these verses in Hebrews 4.

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath,’They shall not enter my rest,” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice,do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. (Heb. 4:1-11)

The bolded section points out that the rest offered to the Israelites is experienced by us who believe. And the quote in that section, is taken from Ps. 95:

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.” (Ps. 95:7b-11)

So again, it is clear, that the quote “They shall not enter my rest” is taken from Ps. 95 and quoted in Heb. 4. but now, notice Numbers 14. Keep in mind that even in Ps. 95 that phrase is in quotation marks. Ps. 95 is reminding us of what God said back in Numbers 14:

But truly, as I live… none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it…. “As I live, declares the LORD,… not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. (Num. 14:21a, 22-23, 28b, 30)

And a summary of this passage is mentioned in Deut. 1 where it is specified that God “swore” and in anger made this pronouncement:

And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore, “Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!” (Deut. 1:34-35)

In the above two passages, I hope you see that God is saying these people won’t enter the land. Yet in Ps. 95 and Hebrews 4, it is quoted that God said they won’t enter His rest. There is an explicit connection between the land, and the concept of rest. See also this quote below:

…for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you. But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety,… (Deut 12:9-10)

Here again, the rest, the inheritance, is living in the land God gives to Israel. Entering the land, is entering rest.

Now since Heb. 3 and 4 clearly make the rest a spiritual reality, the land becomes spiritual too. Entering the rest is something believers have done, and the unbelieving Israelites did not do. If we are experiencing spiritual rest, a spiritual “Sabbath rest”, we are enjoying the spiritual reality the land pointed to. All believers, Gentile or Jew, experience the reality the land pointed to — namely, fellowship with God and enjoyment of His blessings.

Ultimately, Jew and Gentile will live with God on the New Earth, the New Promised Land. With this thought, let’s jump one step further.

Keeping the Promised Land in Perspective

The promised land of Canaan, has to be kept in perspective with other Biblical lands: namely the paradise that was lost, and the future paradise that’s coming. Eden was a place of fellowship with God and enjoyment of His many blessings. The New Earth, and the New Jerusalem, will be as well. In Eden, man was to obey God and fulfill a special calling, in Canaan, Israel was to do the same. Today, each believer enjoys special fellowship with the Holy Spirit and longs for the future fulfillment of all God’s promises in the New Paradise where communion with God and obedience to His calling will be eternally experienced.

Just as Canaan was to be entered by faith, the “Sabbath rest” experienced by believers must be entered by faith as well. And entrance into God’s future kingdom of eternal rest and joy in the New Earth is only entered by faith. The road to Canaan started with Passover and crossing the Red Sea. And interestingly, Passover is a clear parallel with Christ’s death and our salvation, and 1 Cor. 10:1-4 connects the crossing of the Red Sea with baptism. Then the wilderness wanderings required faith and endurance, and the many trials and tribulations that await believers require the same. Those same wanderings included a partaking of a miraculous food and drink, and again 1 Cor. 10-11 would indicate that the Lord’s Supper parallels that experience. Ultimately, the Jordan was crossed by faith, and God’s rest was entered. One day, we’ll cross the Jordan and enter Heaven’s bliss.

Do any old-time hymns sound appropriate right about now? Believers of old have long compared the Promised Land with Heaven, and there is adequate Scriptural basis for this comparison.

In the next (and final) post in this series, I hope to show some ramifications of understanding the promise of the land from this redemptive-historical perspective.

Understanding the Land Promise: Part 3

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–continuing from part 2.

Justification for “Spiritualizing” the Land Promise

Whenever one starts talking of “spiritualizing” a text, various wrong-headed assumptions abound. Dispensationalists often use this charge to show our disregard for the Biblical text. And sometimes, any honest effort to show metaphorical language in Scripture is met with suspicion — oh so you are spiritualizing, huh? Now many act as if it is obvious that spiritualizing a text is clearly not acceptable. But what Scripture teaches us this? In fact, is Jesus spiritualizing the Bible, when he claims that the serpent raised by Moses in the wilderness, pointed to Him? Or Paul, when he claims that the Rock in the wilderness wanderings, was Jesus Christ?

Scripture and the Scriptural authors often make clear that they are finding fuller meaning in Old Testament events and pictures. In years gone by, this aspect of Scripture was widely understood and various types and anti-types were common knowledge. But even beyond the places where Scripture points us to a typological understanding, many Christians recognize that some kind of analogical or typological [or more simply, a spiritual] meaning is warranted. I hold that all of Scripture points to and finds its ultimate meaning in Christ. God as the Architect of and sovereign over all history, can work events such that they foreshadow and typify spiritual realities He will later reveal or make clear. Scripture is thick with this, and we can expect that this is how God operates. Granted we do not have liberty to spiritualize and allegoracalize wherever we see fit. We must be guided in this by Scripture.

In the case at hand, I bring forth four reasons why we should view the land promise as pointing to a spiritual reality.

1) God’s purposeful placing of Israel

In Ezekiel 5 we read:

Thus says the Lord GOD: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. (Ezekiel 5:5)

This shows us that the very placing of the land of Israel was intentional, by God. It was not just a plot of land, that God liked, but it was chosen to be central to the known world of the day. This strongly hints that the land had a purpose beyond merely being a home for his people. Rather it was to make Israel a city on a hill, and let it testify of God’s might to the nations all around. So there are aspects of the land which have spiritual and other meanings, beyond mere national turf.

2) The connection between the NT Church and the OT Temple

The NT often presents God’s people (the Church) as a figurative Temple.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? …God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Cor. 3:16-17)

…we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (2 Cor. 6:16b)

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Eph. 2:19-22)

In the second passage above, it is interesting to observe that the very promise that God would dwell with His people and be their God is not merely for Abraham and Israel. It is not something only ultimately fulfilled in the time Revelation 21 describes. Rather, it is true now, and for God’s people, the Church. And more, God’s dwelling in His Church today is a fulfillment of those promises quoted in 2 Cor. 6:16 (quoted from Old Testament passages such as Gen. 17:7-8, Ex. 29:45, Lev. 26:12, and Ezek. 37:27).

3) The NT interpretation of the OT Jewish restoration promises

Now the Dispensationalists make much of the many promises in the Old Testament that God would restore Israel, and rebuild the Temple. Since this has not happened yet, they argue, these promises point to a future fulfillment. I won’t discount any future aspect to these promises, but I would like to look closely on how a key promise is interpreted and understood by James, the brother of Jesus and leader of the church at Jerusalem.

Here is the passage in Amos:

“In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the LORD who does this…. “I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God. (Amos 9:11-12, 14-15)

It is pretty obvious that this passage is referring to the restoration of Israel in their land. They are going to be planted on their land, never to be uprooted again. However, see how James understands and applies this passage. James is speaking in the verses below:

Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, “After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.” Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God…. (Acts 15:14-19)

James was not looking for some future fulfillment of this passage. He saw it being fulfilled now. The growth of the Church was the fulfillment of the rebuilding of the fallen tent of David. Gentiles were turning to God, even as the Church was rising in prominence.

This passage should be important to us as we seek to interpret other restoration passages in the Old Testament. The New Testament has provided a model for how to interpret them. The Church is the new Temple. According to Ephesians 2, the Church and Israel together are “one new man” (cf. Eph. 2:15), and are being built into a single dwelling place for God (see the above quote from Eph. 2:19-22).

I’ve already gone too long for a single post, so I’ll keep the 4th point for next time. We’ll look at the connection between land and rest, and move on to view the Promised Land in perspective with other earthly realms mentioned in Scripture.

Before I go, I should point you to this link, where you can hear an excellent treatment of this topic by blogger Drake Shelton, in a message entitled “The Blossoming of the Land Promise“. If you listen to that message, some of my thunder will be stolen, but I want you to have the link. It’s an excellent treatment of the totality of Scripture in regards to this topic.

Thoughts on the Battle of Jericho

~ fundyreformed ~ 10 Comments

I recently read the story of Joshua and the Battle of Jericho in the new kid’s Bible storybook I’ve been promoting. In that story I read these words:

Then God made his people a promise. “I will always be with you….    If you do what I say, your lives in the new land will be happy and everything will go well.”

So Joshua gathered his army together…. They were ready to fight. But the plan wasn’t about fighting; it was about trusting and doing what God said. (emphasis added, quote from The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones)

Canaan as a Type

These words spurred me to think about the battle of Jericho as it relates to the battle of our own personal sanctification. Christians for centuries have interpreted the story of Israel’s redemption and exodus form Egypt, their wandering in the desert, and their conquering the promised land in some kind of a spiritual sense. Scripture certainly presents Jesus as the archetypal Passover Lamb. The misadventures of Israel in the wilderness teach us spiritual lessons (1 Cor. 10). And the promised land is a type of Abraham’s “better” and “heavenly” country which he sought (Heb. 11). Numerous hymns have also  equated crossing the Jordan with entering our eternal rest.

Certainly a redemptive historical hermeneutic finds great significance in the story of the Israelites conquering the promised land. As my friend Nathan Pitchford has so clearly shown, the land of promise is intimately connected to fellowship with God. The land was to be the place where God would be Israel’s God and they would be His people. Fellowship was the goal of the land promise, even as later with David, God chose Jerusalem to be the city where His name would be. The OT covenants and promises became increasingly particularized and focused on the heir of David to be ultimately fulfilled with Christ.

All that is to say the possession of Canaan by the people of God was important because this land was to provide a restoration, in part, of Eden. It was to be a place where God communed with man in intimate fellowship. Such a place clearly typifies the abundant Christian life of a believer. A believer experiences fellowship with God which is truly a foretaste of heaven. Just as the land of Canaan ultimately points forward to the New Jerusalem and the New Earth (see Rev. 21), so the believer’s experience of life in Christ is the foretaste of the true essence of eternal life.

The Battle to Win Canaan

Now that we have established the typical significance of the land of Canaan, we are prepared to see how the battle of Jericho wonderfully instructs us. (And I grant I have not truly established it, rather I  explained it. This post is not a full-fledged  defense of the redemptive historical hermeneutic.) Before the Israelites could possess their inheritance, they had to conquer their foes. The battle of Jericho was the first fight to win the promised land, and it sets up what proves to be a pattern. The Israelites trust in God’s power to win each battle for them.

I hope you can see how this applies to us. In order for us to reach our inheritance — the ultimate promised land of heaven, we must trust in God to win our battles.    In Jesus (the Captain of the Lord’s hosts) must be our trust. So with ultimate salvation, we must trust in God to undertake for us and win the battle.  

But this applies to our sanctification as well. For us to enjoy the abundant life in Christ, we must fight the flesh and engage our besetting sins. We must mortify sin (see John Owen’s excellent work On the Mortification of Sin, which is an exposition of Rom. 8:13). And how do we win the battles of sanctification? By trusting in God to win our battles for us, of course. We follow in Joshua’s footsteps.

The Point of this Post

What most blessed me in thinking through all of this was an observation. Joshua and the army of Israel did not sit around on their hands and wait for the walls to fall down. They obeyed. Scripture repeatedly tells us that good works are the inevitable, even the required fruit of believers.   (See my post Once Saved, Always Saved?!?!) If we are not obeying, we have good reason to be doubting our salvation.  

Today, there are many who so stress the necessity of good works that they have redefined justification. They claim  justification is based on our good works, yet they claim such works are only done through the Spirit, and so this position still qualifies as justification by faith.  

Against the backdrop of this whole debate, the example of Jericho becomes all the more clear. If the Israelites had not obeyed by marching around the city, God would not have given them th evictory. Obedience is necessary. But obedience does not earn or obtain anything. It is only God’s grace which would topple the walls of Jericho. And certainly marching around the city did not do anything to earn the victory. God throwing the walls down earned the victory.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as we face the struggles of personal sanctification, let us take heart. God is fighting our battles for us. We do need to be faithful and march around the walls of the sins in our life. But ultimately God is the one who tears down those walls and gives us spiritual victory after spiritual victory. Just like it took many years for the Israelites to conquer all of Canaan, our own struggle for sanctification is a slow process. And like the Israelites, we will never expel all of our sins. We can, however, win a victory and live a life of victory (see Josh. 21:43-45). And when we do, it is not our obedience which has won anything. It is all by God’s grace and His fighting for us. The battle is indeed the Lord’s.

So let us seek to trust our Great Captain, and follow His lead in fighting our sin. To God be the  glory, great things He has done, and will do!

(For similar posts, see My 219 Epiphany, parts 1 and 2; Once Saved, Always Saved?!?!; and Bitterness and Desire.)