This Shall Be Written for the Generation to Come
“This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD” (Psa 102:18).
We are living in the most momentous hours of human history. In fact, it is beyond the power of human imagination to see and understand the greatness of the things that are happening around us and to fully comprehend what God is beginning to do in His people. He is putting into the hearts of a chosen people the desire to sanctify themselves for the ministry He had prepared for them from the foundation of the world. He is inspiring them and revealing to their hearts the mystery of the coming kingdom. They, therefore, are losing all desire for the fleeting things of this present age.
However, the problem with most of us, God’s people, is that of settling for the ordinary and not pushing to go all the way in the things of the Spirit. God is looking for those who will not settle until they have reached the best that God has for them. Many have embraced the wonderful deliverance of God from Egypt. They have participated in and partaken of the feast of Passover. And they are satisfied with these, and have pitched their tents at the site of the feast of unleavened bread, where, indeed, our Passover Lamb was sacrificed for us. And they are truly keeping that feast, not with “old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor 5:8). They have indeed secured their salvation. However, much more lies beyond. Salvation through the blood of the Passover Lamb is only the very beginning of the Christian life.
There are others who have moved on to the experience of the “Feast of Weeks.” They have travelled on the pilgrim road for an additional seven weeks and experienced the feast of Jehovah at Pentecost. They have come to experience the antitype (or the fulfilment of the type) of being baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They have experienced being filled until the river of living waters began to flow from their bellies. This is the experience and living testimony of many a child of God today. They are not only Bible-believing fundamentalists, but also live up to their derogatory title, “tongue-talking holy-rollers,” for they are not ashamed to identify with Pentecost. But they not only settle at this glorious station, but even create a superstructure and camp at this spiritual experience. They may call the station the new Pentecostal move or Holy Ghost Divine order or any other similar name, but the result is the same. It keeps them settled around a spiritual station of attainment, and prevents them from hearing the trumpet announcing the time for the journeying of the camp. For we must continue to move onwards and upwards. Pentecost is great and supernatural—but it is not the destination. There’s a lot more.
Still others have stepped into the River of God with Ezekiel, have walked a thousand cubits in the water, and have found themselves in water up to their ankles. Indeed, they have pressed on in God, and walked in the river for another thousand cubits, and the water is up to their knees. But they must not stop there. They must not settle. They must press forward and dive deeper into the river until they are completely submerged in the “waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over” (Ezek 47:5).
The desire of God’s heart is to have a generation of people who will not stop until they have satisfied the desire of the Father. He’s looking for and framing a people who will not stop midway, but press on until they reach the fullness of perfection that God has for them, until He says to each of them, “This is my child, in whom I am well pleased.”
In these last days, there is a people coming forth from the womb of the morning, a new generation, that will satisfy the desire of God’s heart. They form a company He calls “His Inheritance.” This is His “seed” company, a people accounted unto Him for a generation.
May the desire of God’s heart be met in you and in me. May we belong to this company that God desires to be “His Inheritance” on the earth. May He see “of the travail of His soul” over our lives and be satisfied. May we belong to this special generation, the new generation of them that diligently seek Him. May we belong to this new generation that will march in with “Joshua” and possess the land.
He Brought Us Out, to Bring Us In
God brought Israel out of Egypt to bring them into the mountain of His inheritance. They, however, had a part to play. They needed to trust and obey Him as they traveled through the desert. He did not bring them out to leave them in the wilderness. They were not to camp and remain in a wonderful “desert resort,” not even at Elim, where they found twelve wells and seventy palm trees.
“And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters. And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt” (Exod 15:27, 16:1).
Israel would have liked to camp at Elim for a while. But when God’s time for them to leave came, the “Cloud of Glory” that led them by day began to move, and they had to follow. However, they did not appreciate the idea; from this point onwards, they began to murmur and complain against Moses and against God. They desired to return to Egypt. The second verse of the sixteenth chapter of Exodus tells us that “the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exod 16:2-3).
Dear fellow pilgrim, it is clear from the illustrative type above that God did not bring us out of the world to dump us in a barren desert land to live a life of defeat, of lack, of dryness, of misery, and of sicknesses and infirmities. He redeemed us and brought us out to bring us into the inheritance of the saints in light. He brought us out, to bring us into the glorious rest He had prepared for His beloved. He brought us out, to bring us into the mountain of His inheritance, but we must pass through the wilderness. The wilderness is the place of testing and proving. It is a place of preparation, for the prepared rest requires a prepared people. His destination for us is not the wilderness. “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established” (Exod 15:17).
Just as His plan was not to leave them in the wilderness but to take them into the land of promise, into that land that flows with milk and honey, His plan is to bring us into His rest. “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Heb 4:9,10).
God has planned a glorious destination for His people. He will not leave them in the wilderness. And though it seems like there’s no way they are going to survive the onslaught of the serpents and scorpions, and the heat of the sun, and the thirst and lack from being in the wilderness, God has said that He will sustain them and bring them into the land that flows with milk and honey. The book of Numbers depicts the church in Israel passing through the wilderness, and the trials and troubles they were faced with. It describes their experiences at Marah, at Meribah, and at Kadesh-Barnea. God spoke to them through Moses saying:
“And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
“And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live” (Deut 8:2-3).
Dear friend, the Lord God is speaking to you this moment as well, saying, “My child, thou shall remember how I have led you these many years,” and that the goal of all your experiences all these years is to teach you “that you should live by the word that God speaks to you.” You are not to live by the provisions required to sustain physical life alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. He wants you and me to pay close attention to Him and His will, and honor His Word.
Numbers 33 details the journeying of Israel through the wilderness, listing each of the forty-one encampments they passed through from Rameses to the bank of Jordan opposite Jericho. The book gives an account of their experiences, their behavior and misbehavior, and the dealings of God with them in the desert. However, the book of Joshua places them on the other side of Jordan in the land of promise. But only a few of those who came out of Egypt were able to cross Jordan with Joshua and the new generation into the land.
Like Israel at Kadesh-Barnea, the church of Jesus Christ has come to a crossroads where some may find it difficult to enter into the realm prepared for them. The author of Hebrews admonishes us to labor to enter into that rest. “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
“For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. . . . Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Heb 4:1-3,11).
The book of Joshua shows us, in type, the church with Christ in heavenly places, though only a few saints have had this experience. Only a few know what resurrection really means. The book of Joshua, therefore, if viewed as a type, resembles the Epistle to the Ephesians. In either book we see the elect already standing in the land of promise. We see the redeemed of the Lord in Hebron, the place of inheritance. The elect have left the wilderness behind, died in the Jordan, and been raised with Christ, and are now on the other side of the river Jordan, but they have found out that the place of inheritance is a place of conflict, because the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites dwell in the land. These warlike nations inhabit the land and hold it as their possession. To truly possess it as an inheritance, Israel must take it by force from these seven nations.
In the Epistle to the Ephesians, Apostle Paul begins by telling us that we have redemption through the blood of Jesus and that we have obtained an inheritance. He prays for us in the opening chapter that God might open our spiritual eyes so we may see what God did for us when He raised Christ from the dead, raising us with Him and setting us in Him at His right hand in heavenly places. He goes on to teach us about how Christ ascended on high, freed a host of captives, and gave gifts to the church. Ephesians places us in the land of promise. But suddenly, in the sixth chapter of the book, we come to realize that the land of our inheritance is occupied by principalities and powers, and the apostle changes the tone of his admonition. He tells us to be “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”
We heard something similar in the book of Joshua as the people of God were entering into the land. God spoke to Joshua saying: “Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest” (Josh 1:6,7). God told Israel He had given them the land, but they must be strong: they must march into the land, fight the seven warlike nations, and dispossess them of the land.
In the same manner, God said He has raised us up and made us to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We are in the place of promise, but we find, to the amazement of many “bread and butter” Christians, that the place of inheritance is a place of conflict. The spirit speaking to us through the Apostle says we have to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. This, he says, is because we are fighting “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph 6:12). These are the powers that, like the seven warlike nations in Canaan, rule this land of our inheritance. And to enter our rest, we must dispossess them.
“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
“Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
“Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it” (Josh 1:9-11).
So, we see the book of Joshua describing Israel passing from the wilderness over Jordan into the land of Canaan. These types are clear to us. Jordan is a type of death, separating the wilderness from the land of promise. For the believer, it separates the life of worldliness from the life of the spirit and the walk of faith. Israel passed through Jordan and came with Joshua into the promised land. When Joshua passed through Jordan, all Israel passed through. In the same manner, when Jesus (Yeshua), our Messiah, passed through the cross and the grave, and rose up on the third day, we did the same in Him. Every member of the church died with Him, was buried with Him, and was raised from the dead with Him.
“Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 1:20, 2:1, 2:5,6).
God Almighty raised us up together with the Lord Jesus during His resurrection. We have been made alive by the power of His resurrection. As discussed above, the book of Numbers presents a type of our life in the wilderness, and we all experience and identify with that. And many believers testify in volume about this every day. You hear them in prayer meetings, or from testimonies, or in news and everyday discussion of how hard things have been. The fact is that the way has been tough. The wilderness is a dry and desolate place.
Long and weary indeed has been the journey of many in the church in this wilderness. They, like Israel of old, traveled a long way from the time they left the world system. They knew much travail and sorrow. It was a howling wilderness, a land of drought, of barrenness, of fiery serpents, and of scorpions. Many times their souls became discouraged because of the weariness of the way.
Many times some considered returning to Egypt. They turned back in their hearts, and desired to return. But thanks be to our omniscient God, who closed the Red Sea behind them, barring their attempts to return.
May the Lord God close the Red Sea behind you so that you’re unable to return to the past life He delivered you from. May He block your every attempt to revisit the land of depravity from where He pulled you. May He totally deactivate all your old cunning devices from the life He delivered you from. May He count you among the “New Generation” that will cross Jordan and possess the land.
He was faithful to them in the midst of their troubles, and this they knew very well. He kept His promise never to leave nor forsake them. Even though they were in the land of drought, He gave them water out of the rock, and fed them with the bread of heaven. In the land of barrenness, He kept them fruitful and healthy: so healthy and strong that there was no “feeble person among their tribes.” And though it was a land of wild animals, of dragons, of fiery serpents, and of scorpions (which are a type of demons and different aspects of the powers of the enemy), He protected them by day and by night, thus creating a shadow picture of His presence with the church in this wilderness. God is with us, the church, as our provider, healer, protector, deliverer, and strength; and He has given us authority over serpents and scorpions and over all the powers of the enemy so nothing can hurt us.
Dear child of God, you might say the experience narrated in the couple of paragraphs above summarizes your experience in this wilderness. That is what the book of Numbers described as the wilderness experience of the church on her way to the promised rest. All these things have been written beforehand for us, to prepare us, so we will know how to handle them when the rubber hits the road. It’s also to give us a solid hope that we will make it through. “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Rom 15:4).
“Boy, do I need buckets of patient and plentiful comfort of the Scripture!” is what someone is saying while reading the verse above.
Yes, but the Lord has said He will never leave you nor forsake you. He’s saying to you in this hour: “My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.” All you need do is trust Him and believe His words, for “there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” (Heb 4:9).