Into the Mountain of His Inheritance

“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” (Ex. 15:17).

God had a divine purpose for bringing the Children of Israel out of Egypt. As He brought them forth by the hand of Moses, His purpose was to bring them into the land of Canaan. God had told Abraham that his descendants would be“strangers in a strange land” and that they would be slaves and would be afflicted for 400 years, but that He would bring them out with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm. This is exactly what happened. And God kept His promise to Abraham and caused them to multiply, for the more the Egyptians afflicted them, the more they grew, and the God of Abraham brought them out with signs and wonders.

What a great day of victory that was when God brought them out of Egypt and parted the Red Sea so they crossed on dry ground to the other side! What a time of victory! They had seen the host of Egyptian soldiers chasing them as they crossed the Red Sea. They had heard Moses say: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever, The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace” (Exo 14:14). They also saw Moses lifting up his hand and the Red Sea returning upon the Egyptian army with their chariots, who all perished in the mighty sea. No wonder they did not hesitate to sing the victory song with Moses!

“Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him” (Exo 15:1 -2).

A few hours before, they had been singing a different song. That was before they crossed the sea, when they lifted up their eyes and saw Pharaoh and his host marching towards them. At that time, they sang the blues loud and clear. The words of their song included these: “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness” (Ex 14:11).

They would be returning to these Desert Blues very soon as they traveled through the desert. But for now, blessed be God, they temporarily identified with Moses and enthusiastically sang the song of redemption.

However, we must not forget that Israel’s journey from Egypt to Canaan is an example for us. It is a picture or portrait of us and of our redemption. The way they behaved is an accurate picture of our behavior, including their unbelief, impatience, and ingratitude.

“Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1Co 10:8-12).

The parallel between the Exodus event and the Calvary event is obvious. God acted to deliver His people from Egyptian bondage under Pharaoh by sending Moses, a leader from among them, and led them across the sea of judgment in which God’s enemies perished, bringing them to the promised land of life and liberty. In a similar manner, God has acted to deliver us from the dominion of sin and death under Satan by sending us a Savior who has shared with us our life in the flesh, led us across the sea of judgment in which God’s enemies were defeated, and translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son.

This song concerning the miraculous parting of the Red Sea is surely a response to an unparalleled Divine action. Moses led, and the people followed. They sang about the right hand of the Lord, which is full of power and glory. They sang of His greatness and His excellency, and Miriam the prophetess led the women with timbrels and dances.

The beginning of the song presents the central theme of the celebration. It is about the glorious triumph of the Lord. It clearly shows us that God performed the work of deliverance and not Moses. All the glory belongs to him. It is His and His alone. His right hand and His holy hand has brought Him the victory. Although many deliverance events are described in Scripture, this one remains the model for the deliverance experienced by the New Testament believers. And finally, in the Book of Revelation, this song and its antitype will be sung by those who would win the victory over the beast and over his image.

“And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest”(Rev 15:3-4).

This celebration of worship and thanksgiving is worthy of emulation for us, the New Creation in Christ. Whenever we come before our God, we must always begin with praise. We must enter His gates with thanksgiving; we must enter His courts with praise. He is the King of heaven and earth, and He is our King; great is the Lord our God.

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King” (Psa 48:2).

We should cultivate a habit of daily singing these songs of victory and worship unto God, who has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and translated us into His kingdom; for indeed, there is none like our God.

“Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exo 15:11-12).

In the middle of the song of victory, a remarkable prophecy emerged. In the seventeenth verse of the chapter, Moses began to prophesy in the Spirit. After testifying of the great deliverance, the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in the sea, and the glory of the excellency of God displayed on their behalf, the song was interspersed with prophetic revelations of things to come.

“Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance” was the beginning of the prophetic utterance. God is teaching here that even in the song of deliverance, there is a prophecy of something greater to come. As they celebrated the victory, God was informing them that there was a lot more. God was telling them that He had brought them out, not to leave them in the wilderness, but to take them into the Land of Promise. He brought them out to bring them in.

And for us also, who have been born again, God has brought us out of the dominion of Satan. However, He did not save us for a life of mediocrity. He did not even save us for the life of commonplace people. Instead, He took us out of the prison and placed us on the throne. He brought us out of death into life, out of darkness into light, out of failure into brilliant success, and out of weakness into His mighty power. He pulled us out of prison into liberty, out of the pit onto the mountaintop, and out of the miry clay onto the rock. He pulled us out of uncleanliness into the holy priesthood, out of slavery into lordship over Satan, and out of poverty into His everlasting inheritance. He has not only delivered us from our former taskmaster, but has rendered double unto us. Hearken to the voice of the prophet and turn to Him as your stronghold:

“As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee” (Zec 9:11 -12)

Yes, it’s true: by the Blood of the Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God, we have been set free, released, and sent forth out of the waterless pit. We have redemption through the Blood of Jesus. Not only has He set us free by His Blood, He has rendered double unto us. In other words, He pulled us up out of the pit and placed us on the mountaintop. It would have been sufficient to bring us up from the pit to level ground, but He rendered double unto us by catapulting us onto a mountain higher than the level of our former taskmaster.

No wonder the Scripture says that while we were dead in sin, He quickened us together with Christ, raised us up, and made us sit together with Christ in the heavenly places. This position where He has placed us is far above all principalities and powers.

He took us out of the prison house and made us into royalty, and brought us out of idolatry into the royal priesthood.

Yes, it’s true: He has taken former slaves and transformed them into conquerors who trample over all the powers of their former lords. Hear the Lord speak to these former prisoners of hope saying: “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luk 10:19).

“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mar 16:17-18).

This becomes the heritage of the believer who once was under the dominion of demons. He has now become their master, and by the authority vested in him or her by the Lord, he can cast out demons and set others free. In the Name of the Lord Jesus, the believer becomes the master, no longer to be bullied by satanic forces. The believer can recover everything Satan the thief has stolen, for Satan comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. The tables have turned: the predator has become the prey, and the expropriator is being expropriated.

This is what we are learning here: When God redeems, He not only delivers from something, He always redeems unto something. We have been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s Son. You have been brought out of Adam and baptized into Christ. You have been brought out of death and into life. You have been brought out of darkness and into light. You have been brought out of hell into heaven. The redemptive work performed by God is a complete one: He takes us out and brings us in. It is out of, into.

God had planned from the beginning to plant us “in the mountain of His inheritance.” It was never His intention that we should take root, flourish, and die in Egypt. Neither was it His plan that we remain in the wilderness of Shur, and not even in Elim, the place of refreshing in the wilderness, where there were twelve wells of water and threescore and ten palm trees (Ex. 15:27). His desire and plan is to bring us into the Land of Canaan: the land of abundance, the place of fruitfulness, the land of rest, and the mountain of His inheritance. This land has been prepared for those whom He has brought out and who would dare believe His promises. Like Caleb and Joshua, God will bring those who would believe into the land that flows with milk and honey. God has prepared plenty of provision for the overcomers in the land of rest. But these ones must enter in by faith.

The Almighty God has prepared a feast for these overcomers in the land of abundance and is waiting for them to enter in. His plan is that these Caleb and Joshua Company will partake of the Feast of Tabernacles with Him in the mountain of His inheritance. Dearly beloved, let us therefore diligently seek to enter into that rest, lest any of us should fall after the same example of unbelief, for “He brought us out from thence, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He sware unto our fathers” (Deut 6:23).