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Series: Other Speakers
Sun am 8th February 2015 – Shane Egypt
Joshua 1:1-7; Num. 14:9; (John 2:19); (2 Pet. 1:3); (Rev. 12:10a); Luke 17:21; Matt. 16: 4, 28;
Rom. 14:17; Rom. 11:21; (Josh. 14:8); (Num. 13:33); (1 John 4:4); Num. 14:3; 2 Chron. 23:1;
1 Tim. 4:7; (Deut. 34:10); (Deut. 4:21); Josh. 14:11-12; Heb. 4:7
Another word for ‘fixed’ is ‘unchanging’.
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. … 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 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 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 (Josh. 1:1-7).
I sensed in my spirit that the Lord is saying: “Joshua, or my son, you have been faithful, (Joshua was ministering to Moses all the years), but it is time for a new level of functioning grace. It is a time for you to walk in and manifest what I have given you as an inheritance. Arise; go forward, cross your Jordan”. A new level and a new function is beckoning. I have written down certain questions that I frequently ask. “Why are we not taking possession and entering into what God has promised? Why do we sometimes procrastinate? Why do we walk in unbelief? Why do we sometimes ask for signs? Why do we sometimes listen to the voice of our foe and we want to believe what he is saying regarding old memories that linger. Why are we living under stewardship with that mentality while we are entitled to sonship according to the last will and testament of Jesus Christ? The last Adam ushered in a new covenant. He completed everything and He speaks of this seventh day, this third day. Do we, as the Church, still subscribe to a wilderness mentality? When we are pressured from all sides and when stress wants to overwhelm us, we forget that the old order has been decapitated, yet we still make it a recognised institution.
After the spies have been sent out by Moses they came to the brink of the Promised Land ready to enter into the land of Canaan but there was murmuring. The people wanted to rather go back and not forward. They rejected the fathering grace and wanted to regress back into a slave mentality. His divine power has granted us everything pertaining to life and Godliness (2 Peter 1:3); the word is clear. 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 have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night (Rev. 12:10). It is not in the past tense it is in the present. It happened. Nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst (Luke 17:21). And Jesus was saying to them: ‘truly I say to you there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power’ (Matt. 16:28). What is clear is that our inheritance already came. We have the sign of Christ as a fulfilment of the promise.
What was promised? Moses told the spies to go up into the Negev, to go up into the hill country. The spies were sent out to look at the Promised Land, Canaan (Num. 13 – 18). What struck me was that Moses was saying they should make an effort to get the fruit of the land. The Bible says it was the time of the first fruits. So the harvest was ready, the new fruit was on the vine.
The spies influenced the people against Moses and they did not want to take possession of their inheritance and the land. They had come so far only to stare impossibility in the face. Caleb’s words, Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully (Josh. 14:8). There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight (Num. 13:33).
We do not change our mind-set to focus on what was promised. We focus on the difficulties and the impossibilities, because those are a reality and it keeps us back. Another day is fixed, that day is today.
Athaliah was the daughter of Jezebel. When her husband died she usurped the throne and decided that all the royal seed line of the house of Judah should be killed and she would take over the throne. The wife of Jehoiada took one of the king’s sons and hid him away from Athaliah. There was then false authority on the throne which had to be demolished, because it belonged to Joash. Now in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself (2 Chron. 23:1). We know what seven means. It was time. Six years has passed in which there is an illegitimate government that thought it had authority, but did not. We know that we are the Royal Priesthood. We know what authority has been given to us, so strengthen yourself! The day is fixed! You need to take possession! There was identification in the spirit of Jehoiada that it was the seventh year. Take hold! God is saying be strong and be courageous. Discipleship, counting the cost and taking possession is not for the feeble hearted, that is why God says take courage, strengthen yourself.
But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness (1 Tim. 4:7). In the Promised Land there are giants to be decapitated. Their authority has been taken away; our foes’ authority has been stripped. Why are we still lingering and saying we cannot take what is rightfully ours?
The word of the Lord says about Moses that he was a man that God knew face to face (Deut. 34:10). Moses was left in an unmarked grave. God took him when he was in his prime at 120 years of age. There was nothing wrong with Moses. God showed him the promise land but said: ‘you will not cross in to it’ (Deut. 4:21). Now here is Joshua and the Lord is saying, “You cross”. Joshua thought, “Lord, You dealt with Moses and prevented him from entering; why me? How can I do it?” There could have been thoughts and doubts in his mind, but he was part of a company with a heart like Caleb, and he strengthened himself saying, I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken” (Josh. 14:11-12). I will take possession of my inheritance.
Another day is fixed, today when you hear my voice (Heb. 4:7).