In Almighty God’s Perfect Nature and unfathomable Wisdom, everything is one. He is perfectly, eternally, consistent with Himself – with His living Creative Word – with His omnipotent Holy Spirit, and – with the Perfection of all He has done:
Genesis 2:1-3
“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the Seventh Day God completed His work, which He had done, and He rested on the Seventh Day from all His work, which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” (Emphasis added.)
So it follows that because the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Israel is perfectly consistent in all He is and has done, the Revelation He gives, from Genesis to Revelation, is also self-consistent. The End of His story with mankind already exists in eternity, and it is Perfect! And God’s people will enjoy it with Him, forever. Everything we see developing and progressing now, in our time dimension, is already finished in eternity. So, what gradually comes into view in the days to come, will end up to be perfectly aligned with God’s Finished work in eternity. And God will be perfectly satisfied with it. So, we know that the ‘Very Good’ Creation God made in Genesis 1 & 2, before mankind fell into Sin, Decay and Death in chapter 3, will be fully restored to what it was before mankind’s fall. Creation will once again be ‘Very Good’… just the way God saw it in the Beginning:
Revelation 22:12
“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My Reward is with Me, to render to every man, according to what he has done. I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (See also Deuteronomy 13 Emphasis added.)
What Genesis reveals in seed form in the beginning is also a prophetic revelation of what will emerge in completed form when earthly human history ends. It is all one process. And at its Finish, all Creation will be filled with everlasting wonder and worshipful awe before God’s gloriously Perfect Presence and His Goodness. Every creature will know just how majestic, awesome, wise and flawless our living God and Heavenly Father truly is, and always has been, and always will be. His Full Glory will, from that point on, be forever evident and universally proclaimed without end.
The Seed of Revelation, as given to us in Genesis and Exodus, contains the Root of Salvation as well as its Final Harvest. And the Seed planted in Genesis will reach Full Harvest by the end of the book of Revelation. Another way of saying this is that God’s living Word contains within Himself the entire Seed… and the Root… and the full Harvest. This is why God intends to join every fallen human being into His precious Word, so that we may all share in the awesome Fruit of our Exodus Fulfillment that the Word has brought into being. Through Israel, His redemptive instrument and messenger, God intends to impart this Full, Perfect Inheritance to the entire human race! So, despite all of the damage the Serpent did to us, and despite what we have done to ourselves, and despite the horrors our race has had to experience and will continue to undergo because of our fall into Sin, Death and Decay, this Eternal Fullness abides in the eternal mind and will of God! And that is what His Exodus is bringing us into, as we follow His Word and welcome and come under the Dominion of His Holy Spirit. God’s living Word has already fulfilled whatever God’s Perfect Standards of Righteousness require, and He has set things right between God and us, in our name! So His Gospel of Salvation commands us to believe and lay hold of Him, and rest in Him and His Fullness. He is our God-given Birthright and Inheritance!
But having said all this about the oneness of God’s objective Reality, the fact remains that in our subjective perception and experience, this Reality will appear to be progressive, and therefore, incomplete. We can only see it emerge in sequential stages. So the End of the Exodus will seem very different from what the human race experienced at its beginning. To us, the reality we experience will always appear to have a lot missing, and we’ll be tempted to complain and judge God’s Word and His Finished Work to be ‘not good enough.’ That’s why the Word keeps reassuring us that God is Infinitely Perfect and Eternal. His Work is finished and its Fullness covers us all, completely… from start to finish:
Romans 5:8-9
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him!” (Emphasis added.)
With God, the Outcome is Never in Doubt.
It is one story, about the one God, becoming one with His unique human Covenant Family. The End is contained in the Beginning, and the Beginning is fulfilled in the End. Despite the temporary evil that the powers of Darkness have unleashed against us, in the End, God will have everything just the way He eternally ordained it to be, from the Beginning:
Genesis 1:26-31a, 2:1-2
“Then God (through His living, creative Word) said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ Then God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made and behold, IT WAS VERY GOOD… Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work, which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work, which He had done.” () Amplification and emphasis added.
So Genesis is saying that from the dawn of Creation, when God spoke His creative Word and brought all of Creation into existence, and when He sent His Word to reveal Himself to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses… God’s Perfect Plan was already finished. In our time dimension it has seemed to be unfolding and progressing in a long, and excruciatingly painful restoration process. And creatures still continue to make all kinds of decisions that create terrible damage. But God will not take away the free will He gave us. Yet, despite what creatures choose to do or not do, God’s Word keeps working around all that as well as far above and beyond it. And what He does in the dimension that only He occupies, is beyond the reach of any created being or group of beings. Creatures do not have the power, authority or means to thwart or stop God from fulfilling His will and His Perfect Plan. Thus, despite the best efforts of His demonic enemies, He continues to fully cover, protect and provide for His repentant Blood Covenant human Family! So, if we abide with God in obedient faith, we can enjoy Complete Wellbeing by faith in His Word.
Through our obedient faith, we can receive and reflect God’s Light into this Sin-darkened world. And that’s why we are not permitted to take part in the world’s Darkness. By definition, we are alien sojourners in this world. That’s why the fallen God-rejecting world always suspects, resents and shuns us. Anti-God people reject and ignore God’s Israel because they want nothing to do with her God! Instead they invent and establish false gods of their own, and are always at odds with those whose hearts are open and submissive to the Living God. So God calls His people out of the world… so that they might reveal Him and His Truth and Salvation, to the world:
Genesis 12:1
“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from YOUR country, and from YOUR relatives and from YOUR father’s house…TO THE LAND WHICH I WILL SHOW YOU. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Emphasis added.)
Romans 8:19-21
“For the anxious longing of the Creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the Creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the Creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the Freedom of the Glory of the children of God.” (Emphasis added.)
God is utterly intent on bringing about humanity’s full Salvation and Restoration. So, this polarizing process must and will continue. At present, Israel’s Exodus process is far from over. God still has to call all people of every generation to join His Covenant Family and leave the world while they still have time to repent. So we are all still ‘en route’; our history, and our future destiny, continue to be worked out, moment-by-moment, day-by-day and year-by-year. And the ever-growing company of God’s redeemed keeps moving closer to that Ultimate Eternal Fulfillment that waits for us at the end of the Journey.
And now that awesome Last Days Climax, foretold in God’s written Word, is finally coming into view! God is bringing everything to a head, and history will soon run its full course. The long-awaited conclusion will reveal the Fullness of what God intended to accomplish from the Beginning. Israel can’t make this happen for God, or like God; but that’s not the point. God has already done it… through His living Word and Holy Spirit… in Israel’s name! And Israel’s job is to believe it, walk it out and demonstrate it in the sight of the powers of Darkness and those humans they still dominate in this fallen world.
“Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own Land; and I will make them One Nation in The Land, on the mountains of Israel; and one King will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.
Ezekiel 37:21-28
“My servant David will be King over them, and they will all have one Shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. They will live on the Land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, FOREVER; and David My Servant will be their Prince FOREVER. I will make a Covenant of Peace with them; it will be an EVERLASTING Covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My Sanctuary in their midst FOREVER. My Dwelling Place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, FOREVER.”’” (Emphasis added.)
The Last Days generation of disciples will lead the rest of the human race into that tremendous ‘metamorphosis’ that will lead them into their eternal state. And that enormous transformation of humanity will be blatantly evident. All Creation will see it. So the Holy Spirit must ‘wean’ us of every trace of attachment to, and reliance upon, temporary created things. The Last Days disciples will transform into a people never before seen in the fallen world. They will be fit to inhabit God’s New Heaven and New Earth! And God’s Presence within us must be radiantly apparent so that we can truly be the unbelievably beautiful image and likeness of God!
So, of course, the powers of Darkness will do everything possible, to stop this from happening, because when it does happen, their eternal doom will begin. So be forewarned: to persevere, overcome, and actually finish the course, we’ll have to endure and resist the full brunt of their efforts to get us to give up and quit! They’ll tempt us, just as they did the ten Israelite spies that gave the dismal scouting report that disheartened and deflated the whole nation of Israel in Numbers 13. That’s why we must have the Lord Himself… filling us with His tremendous, supernatural courage, determination and perseverance every step of the way. To finish the journey, we must have Yeshua’s perfect, airtight trust in God, filling and empowering us, as it filled and empowered Him. God’s infinite Love and Credibility and Trustworthiness must be the Power that carries us and keeps us going. We can’t allow the satanic lies to poke holes in our reservoirs of trust. Without God’s Word and Spirit supplying us with everything we need, we’ll cave in under the intense demonic pressure, and fall by the wayside.
Matthew 10:22
“You will be hated by all because of My Name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved!” (Emphasis added.)
Moses led his people out of Egypt. That was the beginning. But now, our generation must finish what they started! So realize this: Only the One who led Israel out of Egypt… and led Joshua and Caleb into the Land of Promise will be able to lead us across the Finish Line that leads into Eternity! The Captain of the Lord’s Host, God’s living Word (whom we now know to be Messiah Yeshua) must take us into God’s promised Eternal Inheritance! The circumstances we’ll face will be much more intense and far wider in scope and focus from those that God’s people encountered in the Journey’s earlier stages. By the time we reach the Last Days Climax, our minds, hearts and wills will have to be fully separated from this world and its ways, and fully united with Yeshua our indwelling Spirit-imparted Messiah!
Our challenge will no longer be about leaving our homes of origin, it will be about embodying our risen Lord, in Spirit and in Truth! So our dependence on earthly things must die completely! No man or group of men with Sin-corrupted fallen flesh will be able to lead us. We must learn to receive EVERYTHING, 100%, from God’s Word Himself, and draw everything we need from His Heavenly, Eternal Treasury of all-sufficient Finished Work. Despite the strangeness of this enormous switchover from self-life to Resurrection Messiah-Life, we must learn to be empowered and primed EXCLUSIVELY by the Holy Spirit in order to go all the way and finish the job! And in our hearts, we must be FULLY convinced that God is enough!
With such airtight Certitude, we’ll be able to stand on our God-given Ground and hold it! We’ll get used to seeing and thinking about our Master and ourselves, and our Destiny, in brand new ways. It will be normal for us to receive everything from the Holy Spirit! He will make our risen Messiah dynamically real to us, and in us. And when our Messiah becomes that real in us… He will actually be seen living and operating through us… by the devastated powers of Darkness. And when they see that, there will be nothing they can do to oppose or resist the Lord of Glory when He returns to Earth, and confronts them from within our yielded flesh!
Colossians 3:3-4
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our (Eternal Resurrection) Life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in Glory!” (Amplification and emphasis added.)
Birthright and Inheritance in the Kingdom of our God
Beloved, get used to this: The Final Fulfillment is your personal property and rightful Eternal Birthright and Inheritance! Let it become automatic for you to think, act, react and interact as natural born citizens of the Eternal Kingdom of Heaven! Begin to see all God has promised as YOUR Identity, YOUR Home, and YOUR Kingdom! At present, very few are able to do this, because very few truly believe it!
Matthew 7:13-14
“Enter through the Narrow Gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to Destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the Gate is small and the Way is narrow that leads to Life, and (because there are so few that are ready to identify with it and own it) there are few who find it.” (Amplification and emphasis added.)
We must go far beyond where the others have stopped in embracing Yeshua our risen, indwelling Messiah. We must be one with Him, so we can be one with our Father’s entire Viewpoint and Ultimate Creation-restoring Plan. God’s Fullness is contained in the One we’re called to follow. To become one with God’s living Word is to make the whole Story real, alive and active within our circumstances. The entrenched powers of Darkness will try, in a variety of ways, to separate us from Him. They’ll try to convince us that He’s not really with us and that we don’t have a chance of possessing what He promised. They’ll try to claim everything as their own and try to convince us that we don’t have what it takes to occupy and own anything but what they will allow us to have in this world. So the Holy Spirit is here to reveal the Perfection of the Word to us and in us so that God’s Perfect Finished Work on our behalf can appear from eternity and shine forth… and overcome, bulldoze, and clear away all enemy entrenchments and self-life lies, snares and traps.
The Holy Spirit will equip us to master what most of the first generation of Exodus Israelites refused to learn. All children of Adam are born dead in trespasses and sins, so we can’t do anything to save or improve or transform ourselves! The dead can do nothing that is alive, nothing that would lead us into God’s Life. There is only one true, living God, only one Source for whatever is Real, True and Good! So God, through His living Word and Holy Spirit must do everything! And, He has already done it! He revealed this to Israel, through the Torah of Moses! He did everything necessary… in Eternity… and sent His Word to bestow this perfect destiny and all of His Fullness upon us! This is the basic granite-solid Foundation of Rest upon which God establishes His True Israel. And this is what will take us all the way across the Finish Line!
The world through which we are passing is infested with myriads of false, man-invented ‘gods’. Our enemies always try to blot out and erase from our minds and hearts the knowledge of God and His living and written Word. But God knew this would happen, so He uses Israel’s failures to reveal His Truth to all mankind: He, and only He, is the one and only true, living God. He is the sole Creator and Source and Sustainer of all things. Without Him, creatures can do NOTHING! And this Torah-based Truth is like a piercing, shattering Lightning Bolt of Truth that God fires into the depths of our Serpent-induced pall of Delusion:
Exodus 20:2-6
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in Heaven above or on the Earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing Lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Emphasis added.)
Beloved, learn to love and abide by what Torah teaches us! If you do, you’ll gradually transform from the inside out. The fruit-producing Presence of God’s living Word within you, will begin to ‘bleed through’ and penetrate the innermost workings of your entire being. And you’ll learn to rest in His Finished Work, and receive its benefits into your mind, will and imaginations and affections. Your actions, reactions and interactions in this fallen world – will no longer embody what you used to be… you’ll embody the Presence of the risen Son of Almighty God… THE WORD MADE FLESH… REIGNING IN GLORY!
Because the original Exodus generation failed to grow into such spiritual maturity and fruitfulness, Moses couldn’t take them all the way to the finish line of their Exodus. He too was just a man with fallen flesh. No fallen son of Adam can lead Israel into the Fullness of all that God has promised!
Numbers 27:18-23
“So the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. You shall put some of your authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him. Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his command they shall go out and at his command they shall come in, both he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation.’
“Moses did just as the Lord commanded him; and he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.”
Joshua and Caleb were also fallen sons of Adam. God appointed them to succeed Moses as Israel’s human leaders. But they could only lead their charges so far, and then the invasion of the Land began to lose momentum and focus. This generation took the Exodus further. They did explore new territory. But they too were not able to finish.
Beloved, the rest of Scripture shows us that all of the Israelite priests, prophets and kings who came after Moses, were no greater than he was. This tells us that no fallen flesh can be the Ultimate Leader of God’s chosen people. There is only One Israelite who has what it takes to take them all the way into the Fullness of their Inheritance… the Word of God Almighty Himself, who became flesh and appeared as Israel’s Messiah. Only He can, and has, redeemed us! He is our Eternal Passover Lamb! So, to impress this truth upon Joshua, just before it was time for them to enter the Land, God revealed His living Word and Holy Spirit to Joshua. He came in a new form to continue leading Israel along the Exodus Journey. He came to lead God’s people deeper in the direction of the Great Unknown… toward Israel’s still very distant Eternal Success and Messianic Fulfillment.
Only Almighty God knows what lies ahead of the human race. Only He knows what it will take for His people to finish their awesome Exodus. Only He knows how and when to do what must be done. Only He knows what it will take to finish it. Only He has the Power and Ability to do it! So pay close attention to who the real Leader must always be and what He requires of His true disciples!
Joshua 5:10-15
“While the (recently circumcised) sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.
“Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man was standing opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?’ He said, ‘No; rather I indeed come now as Captain of the Host of the Lord!’ And Joshua (realizing Who it was that stood before him) fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, ‘What has my Lord to say to His servant?’
“The Captain of the Lord’s Host said to Joshua, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy!’ And Joshua did so.” (Amplification and emphasis added.)
Joshua and Caleb also had to work through many doubts and fears. They too had to learn to take God’s promises to heart and identify with the unprecedented, still unseen things He had promised to do for them. Each generation of disciples must grow to a level of maturity that exceeds that of the previous one. We can’t rely on any past or present circumstances, perspectives, agendas, attainments or experiences. We must become deeply, exclusively planted and rooted in God Himself. Our hearts must be fully invested in the future He promised to give us… a future reality that has not yet been seen on Earth… a Reality that only God can conceive in His mind and that only He can actually bring to pass!
The Ultimate Home into which God plans to bring us does not come from this fallen world! It comes out of a God-given state of being, a new level of existence that we can only experience when we’re one with our Creator and actually live under His Word’s Kingship! God is here to give Himself to us! Oneness with Him is The Fulfillment of human history. And now, we’re approaching the threshold of that Eternal state of being that transcends everything else. So, until we actually reach that point, we must learn to grab hold of God’s Word… and as we continue to mature spiritually and make our way through this fallen, temporal, ‘not good enough’ world, we must learn to live by exclusive faith in the Man with the sword, God’s Word. We must focus and rely only on His Perfect, All-Sufficient Grace. Nothing less than the Word Himself will do.
Hebrews 11:13-16
“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a Heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a City for them.” (Emphasis added.)
So, Beloved… if Joshua and Caleb’s task seemed daunting, how much more will the Last Days combat require of us? To what degree will God expect us to know and interact with His Word? As time begins to disappear into eternity, we’ll have to learn to look to God alone, and trust Him for everything, eternally! We’ll have to learn to have one God and Source, and one only! We’ll have to place Yeshua above ourselves, and every other created thing, with absolutely no rival or competition, regardless of how things look, sound and feel to our fallen human senses! So for us, Yeshua must truly become Supreme Lord, Master and Owner of everything that is in us or that pertains to us.
Matthew 5:48
“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is Perfect!” (Emphasis added.)
Thy Kingdom Come…
We see in the Book of Judges that Joshua’s generation made a good beginning. But eventually, they too ended in dismal failure. So the Last Days generation of disciples will need to go much further than Joshua and Caleb and the prophets of Israel throughout the ages were able to reach. We’re not faced with just a river that separates one piece of Middle Eastern real estate from another. We’ll be taken to the very edge of the border that separates the dimension of time and space from God’s Eternity and Infinity! The ‘Land’ we’ll have to enter is the true Ultimate Kingdom – The Perfect, ETERNAL Land of Promise… the Kingdom of Heaven where Almighty God Himself abides!
As we advance toward that Great Unknown Mystery of Eternity, God will clear away all the temporary things that prevail now. This will make room for the new, eternal things He promised to supply for us. Everything that once pertained to, and came from, earthly things will pass away and be completely replaced by brand new, unprecedented, never before seen, eternal marvels.
1 Corinthians 2:8-10
“… The Wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory; but just as it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.’ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the Depths of God.” (Emphasis added.)
Revelation 21:5-7
“And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’ Then He said to me, ‘IT IS DONE! I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the Water of Life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.’” (Emphasis added.)
We can’t keep looking backward! And we must stop identifying with former people and past generations. We must go far beyond where they stopped! So focus on the eternal Fulfillment that lies ahead. Prepare your heart to follow our Master into the still Unknown Vistas of Infinite Timelessness. God’s Holy Spirit is here to prepare us for eternal union with the Father Himself! That’s why we have to forget the things that are past, and look forward… identifying with God and His coming Kingdom – with ALL of our heart, mind, soul and strength! Despite the many horrors we will see, hear and feel going on around us in the days to come, we’ll have to keep pressing onward. Even as the foundations of the temporary structures of this fallen world disintegrate and collapse around us, we must know that God Almighty is with us, and that we can afford to rejoice and abide in His Eternal Perfection, ALWAYS AND FOREVER!
Philippians 3:12-14
“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the Goal for the Prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Emphasis added.)
Disciples Keep Heading Forward, They Don’t Look Back
God captured the focus of Joshua and Caleb and firmly redirected it in the direction of His living Word. He did it by emphasizing this fact: “My servant Moses is dead.” That meant: “Don’t forget Moses and what I taught you through him, for I sent him to you. But do not become frozen in what took place in the past. You must surpass that and go beyond any point that generation managed to reach. Look beyond Moses and his era and issues. I have much more for you than that. Move your focus away from created things and train it upon My infinite uncreated LIVING WORD! Only He can take you all the way. None of Israel’s earlier generations has grasped this well enough. Focus on the Fullness that I still have in store for future generations! Be ready to surpass and go beyond where all those before you stopped. My Word will take you all the way into the Eternal Destiny that was yours from the Eternal Beginning. So learn what Moses taught, but apply it accurately… in ways that match what I’m requiring you to do. Don’t look back; continue the Journey in the proper forward direction. Heed with all your hearts and souls, what I inspired Moses to tell Israel about the One that I was going to send to Israel. He will take Moses’ place and lead My people into their Eternal Home:
Deuteronomy 18:15-19
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen; you shall listen to (follow and obey) Him. This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice (the living Word) of the Lord my God, let me not see this great (Sinai) Fire anymore, or I will die.’ The Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well (and have set the stage for what I will do next. For now…) I will raise up a Prophet from among their countrymen (a Man) like you, and I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which He shall speak in My Name, I Myself will require it of him!” (Amplification and emphasis added.)
Joshua and Caleb were expected to begin to focus exclusively upon the Promised One, the One upon whom God told Moses to focus! God’s living Word is the one who led Moses out of Egypt! And now, He would lead Israel into The Land. As long as they followed Him, Joshua, Caleb and their generation moved closer to the Finish Line, beyond the beginning stages their parents saw and experienced. They finally entered their physical inheritance and resisted their enemies and led the Israelites to overcome and begin to live off of the Land… up to a point. But isn’t it obvious that, to date, no Israelite generation has completely finished the Journey? The completion is reserved for the Last Days generation. They will face a situation similar to that of Joshua and Caleb. They too will have to transform into an Invasion Force. But, beloved, they’ll undergo realities and experiences that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua and Caleb and all the prophets and every generation thus far could never have imagined. They could only believe and anticipate for the distant future, by faith. But we won’t be allowed to stop at that! We’ll have to gear our souls to actually see, experience and live out the actual Fulfillment of that which earlier generations could only hope for!
Matthew 13:16-17
“But (My New Covenant disciples) blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men (that lived before you) desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Amplification and emphasis added.)
It is obvious that now, in the twenty-first century, every level of our current world, and what we always assumed was stable reality, is changing and shifting at an unprecedented rate of speed. More and more people realize that God is preparing to unleash the actual Climax and Fulfillment of all of history! So, of course we’ll be forced to make a much greater personal mental and emotional ‘gear change’ than any previous generation made in the past! They went as far as they could, but now God’s Word is saying to us: “Follow Me all the way into Eternity! I will direct, guide and empower you every step of the way. So help each other to get used to forsaking what is past, so you can get used to and embrace the massive changes you will soon be seeing. Embrace your new God-assigned situations and new circumstances. Rid yourselves of any encumbrance so you can follow Me wholeheartedly… into unprecedented Eternal Realities that those before you could have never thought possible.”
2 Timothy 2:3-4
“Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” (Emphasis added.)
God allowed Joshua to encounter ‘The Captain of the Lord’s Host.’ Can you see how important that was? God was beginning to fulfill His promise to send Israel a new post-Moses Exodus Leader! This was a new revelation, but it was revealing another facet of what God had been revealing from the Beginning – His living creative Word! He revealed Him to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to Joseph and Moses, from within that burning bush, and He revealed Him to Israel when He led them out of Egypt, as a Pillar of Cloud by day and a Pillar of Fire by night!
Now, He was sending Him to Joshua! But this time, He came in a new form, a form that revealed and matched Israel’s newly developing Messianic future. He appeared as a Man with a sword! And the initial phase of Israel’s boot camp training in the wilderness came to an end. Now, God’s Word would lead them into God’s combat with the powers of Darkness! And so the God-given Manna from Heaven no longer fell to the ground each morning. Now the people had to learn to live off the Land on the other side of the river! God still had to supply them, but He was going to do it in a new way. So now the living Word appeared as a Man with a Sword, ready for deadly combat, ready to BEGIN GOD’S TAKEOVER.
Our Ever Present, Always Reigning God!
So notice how the Word is always with His people to reveal and demonstrate the Reality of His Perfect Finished Work. At the Red Sea, Israel didn’t have to lift a finger to defeat and destroy the pharaoh’s military might. Nor did she have to lift a finger to forage for food or clothing during those forty years in the wilderness. Nor was it up to Israel to find a way to overcome the swollen currents of the Jordan. And now, neither would this generation have to lift a finger to destroy the walls of mighty Jericho and take possession of the first Canaanite city they encountered. The second generation simply had to follow this awesome Captain of the Lord’s Host to the edge of the city and watch, as the marvels that God had already done for them in Eternity entered this time and space dimension and descended upon the earth. The Perfect, Finished Eternal Work of God’s Word descended upon God’s people. And the walls of that Canaanite city that opposed them collapsed to the ground. So once more, a way was opened for Israel to advance and prevail… right in the middle of her humanly impossible circumstances and challenges! Can you see it?
The Reality of God’s Finished Work requires all Israelite hearts to transform! Their thoughts and perceptions and identity and perspectives and thought patterns must stop being slave-like. They must no longer be whipped slaves to circumstances or feelings. They must be completely free of their old desires for toil and drudgery. Now, they must transform into invading invincible warriors! This is what Joshua’s generation had to begin to learn. The Land was already theirs. But now, they had to dare to trust God enough to go into the Land and begin to live off of it! Now that Moses was gone, they had to learn to absorb what was in his written Torah concerning God’s living Word and His Perfect Finished Works of Creation and Redemption! Each generation of Israel must learn to believe, embrace and follow God’s living Word. This is what Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses learned to do. The original fathers of Israel began this awesome tradition and passed it down to the generation that followed them. And the nation of Israel is commissioned to share this Truth with the whole world!
Each generation’s job is the same: to follow God’s living Word further than the one before was able to do. So we can see that the Torah – the written Word of God – always focuses on and points to the living Word – Yeshua Himself! Never does it point to anything created… not even to itself!
John 5:45-47
“Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
So we can see again that all of this is one Word-initiated and Word-fulfilled Process, one Journey. The Exodus takes us out of the Darkness that comes from rejecting and ignoring God’s living Word. And it leads us into the Light of God’s Eternal Kingdom, the Land of Promise… where the living Word is our indwelling King and everlasting Lord, and Eternal Hope of Glory!
The generations before us followed the leading of God’s living Word (more or less) according to the personal revelation and training each managed to absorb. We came out of them, and we are one with them, and they are one with us! So what we’re doing is not just for us. It is for those who went before us and those who will follow after us. This is for all of Israel! Joshua’s followers took the Exodus beyond where Moses ended. But for us, to go beyond where every previous generation stopped will require us to undergo a massive personal gear shift. We won’t be allowed to ‘coast’ and rest on the laurels of what was done in the past. Now God’s Word has to lead us all the way into the full possession of our Inheritance. We will finish what those before us began and developed. We will ‘make the final ascent.’ We will meet God’s New Jerusalem and usher the Heavenly City into the restored Garden of Eden on Earth. And we must actually enthrone our risen Messiah and establish Him forever as King of all kings and Lord of all lords!
The living Word of God told Joshua the very same thing He once said to Moses when He appeared from within the burning bush: “Remove the sandals from your feet!” In other words, He lets us know that Moses and Joshua were in the Presence of the Word of Almighty God, that is, in the Presence of God Himself!
So, what took place at the Jordan serves as a very important clue for those of us who will be part of the disciple generation of the Last Days. We too were born as free men. We were born into the Freedom of the New Covenant! And we will face the same type of invasion situation and the same demonic powers of Darkness that Joshua and Caleb faced… only this time, it will be on a global scale! This is a challenge no previous generation has ever had to face! We will be the Last Days Invasion Force that will cross a boundary that is much more formidable than a mere river, separating one portion of earthly real estate from another! Our Master will soon lead us in a charge that will take us across the chasm that separates this dimension of time and space from Almighty God’s Dimension that lies on the other side! We must get ready to let go of this fallen dying world altogether, and cross over into God’s Infinity and share in His Eternal Life as His sons!
The Last Days Israelites must be completely weaned of their old identities and backward focus. We must truly ‘strip off the old man’… and ‘put on the new man!’ So notice what Messiah Yeshua, the Eternal Captain of the Lord’s Host reveals to His New Covenant Last Days disciples through His apostle Paul:
Ephesians 4:17-25
“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the Life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ (the Messiah that God promised to Moses that He would send to us) in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as Truth is in Jesus (Yeshua), that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of (worldly radically independent) deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new (Spirit-empowered, Messiah-embodying) self, which IN THE LIKENESS OF GOD has been created in Righteousness and Holiness of the (Full, Entire Torah-Fulfilling) Truth!” (Amplification and emphasis added.)
The Invasion we face will tax our fallen flesh to the Ultimate Degree! So be forewarned: We won’t persevere and finish our assigned portion of the Exodus if we keep looking backwards, or at what is around us, or if we pine for what lies behind, and cling to what we hold dear now. What our forefathers had and did up to this point, and what we are comfortable with now… will soon disappear and be forgotten!
In this sense, what happened before us is dead to us, and we must die to it! What lies behind will not be seen in what awaits us! We will have to be ready to step into the Ultimate Fulfillment of all things! Now, God’s Reality will unfold and develop and progress beyond anything any child of Adam has ever seen! So beloved, don’t cling to temporary things that will soon disappear into oblivion! Whoever refuses to let go of them will, like Lot’s wife, perish with them. If we insist on clutching at what is comfortable and familiar now, we’ll fear and shun the new realities and experiences our Lord has in store for us. And we’ll be too scared to move when the Holy Spirit says: “Forward, charge!” We won’t dare invade what lies ahead of us. Instead we’ll run from the combat realities it will present and refuse to join those who will dare to advance.
Outrageous Confidence in Our Master, and Nothing Held Back!
Last Days disciples must develop outrageous confidence in our Lord, Master and Commander. We must have bold hearts and spirits that can only develop when we truly know Him and abide with Him day and night. The Holy Spirit, who is here to reveal God’s living Word to us, and in us, is ready to impart the same dauntless fiery zeal that our risen Messiah’s first century Israelite apostles and disciples received from Him. We will be The Fulfillment of what they began… if… we dare to follow our Messiah into The Great Unknown. So we’ll have to receive Holy Spirit-imparted obedience and develop a passionate love and desire for Messiah Yeshua and for the unknown mysteries that He has waiting for us! Then we will be present with Him, at the New Covenant Finish of what God began to reveal to naked Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and to Israel at Mt. Sinai in the book of Exodus, and to Joshua, on the east bank of the Jordan… the full Covering that only the living Word of God can provide for the human race.
The Fulfillment that will appear at the End of this Story had its beginnings in Genesis and Exodus. And it has progressed throughout the Books of Joshua and Judges, and all the other books of Scripture, leading up to the Fulfillment described at the end of the book of Revelation. Everything has been leading up to the final Fulfillment that is now just ahead of us!
This Last Days transition will require a level of obedient faith and trust in God that is a mirror image of the faith of Yeshua, God’s Word made flesh. All the days He walked the earth, He lived by the Faith that God has always required of all Israel, His intended image and likeness. That’s why it must be the Lord Himself who will be living in us and through us at the End. God must equip our generation to embody the risen Messiah Himself… in His infinite Perfection, in His airtight Credibility, Eternal Lovingkindness and Perfect Blood Covenant Loyalty! Before Him, the powers of Darkness have no chance. He has already utterly gutted and devastated His Father’s enemies. This is why He warned Joshua to embrace and absorb and hold God’s Word in his heart:
Joshua 1:1-3; 5-9
“Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, ‘Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. EVERY PLACE ON WHICH THE SOLE OF YOUR FOOT TREADS, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.’” (Emphasis added.)
Joshua 1:5-9
“No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall (by the end of this Journey) give this people possession of the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the Law (Torah) which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the Law (Torah) shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the (living Word of the) Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Amplification and emphasis added.)
John 5:18-24
“For this reason therefore the Jews (who wouldn’t believe Him) were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the (man-made rules that were added to God’s) Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son (God’s living Word) can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son (God’s eternally living creative Word) also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them Life, even so the Son also gives Life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone; but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father.
“He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears (obeys) My Word, and believes Him who sent Me (acts according to the Authority of My Word), has eternal Life, and does not come into Judgment, but has passed out of Death into (the Fullness of My Eternal) Life!’” (Amplification and emphasis added.)
God’s living Word required Joshua and Caleb to stay focused on Him and on His Perfect, All-Sufficient Finished Work. And He proved once again that all of God’s Work was finished when He led them around Jericho. Israel did nothing to take the city. God had already done all the work, so Israel only had to follow Him… and watch the Glory of His Finished Work manifest itself… and rest in Him! The same thing happened at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness when they and their flocks needed food and water and protection. And it happened when it was time for them to cross the swollen waters of the Jordan, and again when they began their invasion of the Land.
God’s people are not to become enmeshed with or obsess over all the perceived obstacles or circumstances they encounter along the way. God is always with them… transmitting to them in time and space, the Fullness of the favor and blessings that are already theirs in Eternity. Everything they will ever need to keep going to the End, is already abiding within God’s Eternal Word. And the Word is always right here, with them, to impart it to them. He covers them… for Abraham’s sake, and Isaac’s sake, and Jacob’s sake. As long as each generation believes, and embraces, and absorbs, and honors God’s Word in their hearts, He will continue to lead the way and clear their path.
The Israelites must learn to remain continually bonded to Him, to abide in and with Him, like sheep abiding with their Perfect Shepherd’s Eternal Sabbath Rest. God’s Eternal Covenant guarantees that this is how it will always be. And that’s what is revealed in Genesis and Exodus and in the Psalms and other Wisdom writings of Israel. Psalms 23 and 91 and Ezekiel 34 are wonderful examples. The children of Israel are never to leave or give up this awesome Covenant Ground. It is always theirs, through Abraham. So they are forbidden to exalt the powers of Darkness by believing their slanders against God, and they are to love and obey God’s Word always… with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.
But this is exactly what the ten rebellious scouts refused to do, when they returned to the Israelite camp to report what Moses had sent them to reconnoiter:
Numbers 13:29-31
“Thus they told him (Moses), and said, ‘We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.’
“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely 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 too strong for us!’”
What a vast difference in the attitude and report of Joshua and Caleb, as opposed to those of the other ten spies. And can you see that even among Israelites, God continues His Exodus polarity and separation process? He separates those who embrace His living Word, from those who disbelieve and reject Him. Notice the ‘eyeglasses’ through which the intimidated ten viewed the panorama they were sent to assess. Notice the personal identities and belief systems that those eyeglasses forced them to adopt. The living Word of God, and what He had promised to give to Israel, were missing totally from the prescription and tint contained in their lenses! Their radically independent viewpoint was the same as Eve’s was in the Garden. It erased God’s living Word and gave ultimate power, force, authority and credibility to the Serpent! And the same thing happened with the ten spies: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all that He had revealed and demonstrated to them throughout the years of their sojourn in the wilderness was completely edited out and forgotten!
So the slavish past of those God-less, self-centered men was infinitely more real to them, than anything they saw in the Land before them. That’s why they caved in and embraced total failure and defeat as their lot. They were routed, before the order to cross the Jordan was even given! The ten spies saw imposing fortified cities, entrenched demon-possessed hordes of warriors, violent, murderously destructive hatred and opposition… and certain doom for Israel!
Airtight Trust That Our God’s Promises Never Fail
But Joshua and Caleb saw well-established cities that God was providing for His people which they would not even have to build! They saw terrified poachers hiding behind those walls, trembling disheartened idolaters who knew their gods were false and could not be trusted. And they envisioned what it would be like after Israel followed her God into those cities and took possession of the fertile regions surrounding them as her own birthright inheritance. They thought of all the changes that would be made once they possessed the Land… how everything would transform, when everything that was unworthy of God was removed from it. What a difference there always is between those two perspectives!
Beloved, this how it will be during the climactic days leading up to the end of time! At the proper moment, Father will tell His beloved Son, the risen Messiah of Israel, to return once again to Earth. And those who habitually doubt and reject Him will walk away from Him. Nevertheless, we must stand and hold our Blood-purchased Covenant Ground! If we do, our Messiah will lead us into the combat. And just as Israel only rested and watched God destroy the Egyptians at the Red Sea and watched Him destroy the walls of Jericho for His people, we too will see God’s living Word rout the powers of Darkness for the final time… as we rest in the Perfection of our Messiah!
Soon the Story of God and His human sons will finally reach its Ultimate Climax. So beloved, what Joshua, Caleb and the second generation of Israel’s Exodus saw God do will pale in comparison to what the Last Days Host of New Covenant disciples will be allowed to see Almighty God do to the Serpent and all of the demonic powers that are God’s eternal enemies!
Revelation 12:7-12
“And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the Dragon. The Dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the Salvation, and the Power, and the Kingdom of our God and the Authority of His Christ (Messiah) have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the Blood of the (Eternal Passover) Lamb and because of the Word of their testimony, and they did not love their (temporal earthly) life even when faced with death.
“For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.” (Amplification and emphasis added.)
The powers of Darkness were manipulating the idolatrous Canaanite nations that Joshua and Caleb had to face. And the Last Days disciples will have to face those same demonic powers of Darkness! They are slyer and more powerful and capable than men. So we dare not take them lightly. But, by the same token…we must not be deceived into losing sight of the Perfect One who is our eternal indwelling Life and Omnipotent, Eternal Covering and our Redeemer and Eternal Triumph. The demonic hosts will be whipped into a frenzy of activity, out of their sheer terror of the Lord of Glory! The certainty of their impending devastation will terrify them. And knowing that their doom is at hand, they will try to do as much damage as possible, and take as many gullible humans down with them as possible.
We must be prepared… primed, trained, equipped and spiritually, mentally and emotionally geared to hold our Eternal Blood Covenant Ground and persevere in trusting and resting in the Perfection of God’s Presence within us, applying the blessings of His Finished Work for us… until the enemy exhausts everything he has… and can no longer continue the fight. Then, Yeshua’s Absolute Authority will push them over the edge of the eternal abyss. And they will have no more ground to infest. The old temporal things they once controlled will be replaced by what is Eternally Perfect. And there will be no place left for them among us. The Eternal Triumph of God’s Word as it is in Heaven will appear on Earth:
Revelation 21:5-7
“And He who sits on the Throne said, ‘Behold, I am making All Things New!’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’ Then He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give to the one who thirsts from the Spring of the Water of Life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My Son!” (Amplification and emphasis added.)
Revelation 3:20-22
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My Throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His Throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches!’” (Emphasis added.)
So remember, beloved, no previous generation has seen or experienced what is reserved for us. Grasp the significance of what God meant when He said: ‘Moses is dead!’ From now on, it will be Almighty God’s Word Himself who will be taking us all the way Home!
Revelation 1:12-18
“Then I turned to see The Voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I AM THE FIRST AND THE LAST, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE, and I have the keys of Death and of Hades!’” (Emphasis added)