This week , we continued talking about going “west” meaning
toward God, vs. “east” being away from God and the rivers of life coming from west
out to the east to man. We started in Leviticus
16 with instructions for the priests for the sin sacrifice. They would sprinkle blood on the mercy seat
as a temporary covering for sin for the people.
The instruction told the priest to go into the holy of holies, on the
west side of the temple, and go to the west side of the ark of the Covenant and
sprinkle the blood to the east. This is
significant because the power of the atonement of sin had to come from God,
from the west side. It could not come
from man, from the east, if it was to be effective.
I do want to say I am taking a lot of things from Pastor
Jason’s Book, The Journey, so I
encourage you to pick his book up. It is
possible to be saved but never go on the journey of really living in the
promises. The Egypt part of the journey is
represented by Gihon, which means bursting forth, like birth. When the Israelites left Egypt, not one was feeble or sick, and they left
with the treasure of Egypt. Then we get to the wilderness, represented by
the Tigris, which refers to redeemed
time. The next place is the promised
land, represented by Pishon, which means to increase and spread out. Some
people get stuck before they get to the promised land because conquering the
giants is hard work. Even that is not
the destination. The destination is God’s
rest. Is the promised land heaven? Does heaven have giants to overcome? No, that is not compatible with what heaven
is.
This week we talked about the wilderness. In the wilderness, if the people were
obedient, their needs were met. This is
why it is easy for people to get stuck here.
They are happy to simply have their needs met. If we get locked into wanting “just enough,”
it is very selfish. I can’t help anyone
else if I just have enough (not just money, but energy, emotional strength,
etc.). When you have lack in any part of
your life, you become self-centered. Remember,
in the wilderness, their needs were met only when they were completely
obedient. Then they would be in lack and
grumble against God. There is no
abundance in the wilderness. It then
becomes a place of selfishness (Hebrews 5).
In the wilderness, we are like infants.
A baby is dependent on others to supply their needs and cannot help
anyone. Obtaining the promises is about
having the resources to help others. We
don’t have resources in the wilderness.
Note that wilderness is not a bad place, but a necessary step to get to
the promised land. The Israelites were
put in the wilderness to prepare them for the promised land. If they were not prepared before they went to
the promised land, they would be overtaken by the giants.
There are “Numbers 13” moments that determine whether we
cross over into the promised land or stay in the wilderness. God does not set a timeframe for the
wilderness. The time we spend there
mostly depends on us. Jesus was there
for 40 days. He went to the wilderness
and to the east for us, and came back victorious in 40 days. The Israelites spent 40 years. The distance they traveled should have taken
a couple weeks. Numbers 13, starting in
verse 26, tells the account of the Israelites’ first chance to go into the
promised land. Numbers 14, starting with
verse 22, shows the outcome of their fearful decision not to go. That one decision cost the whole community,
except Joshua and Caleb, their chance to go into the land. The decisions we make determine how long we
are in the wilderness. God did not send
things to test the Israelites. They
showed what they were ready for by their decisions. There is a healthy amount of time to spend in
the wilderness. We have to learn some
things there. If He had let the original
community in immediately, they would have been defeated. When Joshua and Caleb went in, they were
victorious.
To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on online media. To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.
To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on
online media. To learn more about Living
Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.
