Only do not rebel against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their defense and the shadow [of protection] is removed from over them, but the Lord is with us. Fear them not.
Numbers 14:9, AMPC
Today we continue our deep-dive on the rights and privileges that God has given us as His own special children. Recall that this verse in the book of Numbers can be rephrased based on the original Hebrew text—which does not contain the future tense, but the perfect tense—this carries the idea that God had already given Israel the Promised Land before they physically occupied it. The Promised Land was purchased for them by God before they stepped foot on it. It was their inheritance.
Joshua and Caleb were the only two of the original twelve spies who scouted out the Promised Land that physically inherited what belonged to them. Indeed, the other ten spies had equal ownership of the land according to God’s promise, but they totally missed out on the fulfillment of God’s Word and perished without so much as a glimpse of the land again. Friend, we have to be careful that we don’t make the same mistake as the ten spies did! It is completely possible for us to miss out on our rightful inheritance today, just as the ten spies missed out on theirs then. Notice that, in God’s eyes, the land already belonged to His people—but the ten spies chose to base their reality upon the giants in the land, acting as if God’s Word wasn’t as real as their circumstances. Remember that the reason for the ten spies’ failure was their perspective (see Go In and Possess Your Land for a refresher on this thought), not the fact that God sovereignly changed His mind regarding those few men.
Why We Must Possess Our Inheritance
It’s imperative that we understand the absolute necessity, responsibility, and utmost duty we have as mature believers in Christ living in the last of the last days of this time period! As time winds down on the Church age, we are seeing the fulfillment of Scripture like never before. As we step into the wrap up of this age, we will be participants in the greatest move of God that the world has ever seen! Since so many lives hang in the balance as the nations of the earth spiral lower and lower, their moral compasses wavering on a widespread scale, it is more important than ever that the Body of Christ exercises its inheritance rights and privileges so that we can bring the light of the Gospel to as many people as we can!
So now we get to the heart of this entire blog, my podcast, books, and everything God is calling me to do: Unstoppable isn’t simply about an individual living a victorious life in isolation. We need to be built up, encouraged, and empowered to live as victorious kings in this life so that we can effectively bring Heaven to earth in these last days.
Look at what Paul says about this very thing:
So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.
Ephesians 3:10-12, NASB
Since, then, it is so important that we manifest the wisdom and power of God to an unbelieving world, let’s dive into some of the “spiritual mechanics” of how to walk in the fulfillment of God’s promises over our lives. Buckle up!
Your Enemies are Without Protection
The cross of Jesus Christ means so much more to me today than ever before. Many of us were brought up with an appreciation for the Cross because through Jesus’ sacrifice we have gained Heaven and missed Hell. While there is more than enough reason to rejoice over this truth, there is so much more to God’s plan and purposes through the Cross than mere “fire insurance”. In other words, what Jesus did on the Cross was so far-reaching and complete that at the exact moment we received salvation, we were given an indescribably brilliant gift of life that was intended to be opened this side of Heaven: our inheritance rights as kings on the earth!
Notice again God’s perspective on the Promised Land that He had prepared beforehand for the Israelites. The Holy Spirit recorded Joshua and Caleb’s words to the congregation of Israelites after their scouting trip, just after the ten spies had cast their faithless vision:
Only do not rebel against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their defense and the shadow [of protection] is removed from over them, but the Lord is with us. Fear them not.
Numbers 14:9, AMPC
The two leaders pointed out something amazing: the trespassers currently occupying Israel’s Promised Land were completely defenseless. God supernaturally removed the inhabitant’s defenses in preparation for His promised people to come in and possess what rightfully belonged to them.
The Hebrew word for defense is the word tsel and literally means shadow. In the Hebrew mind, this word was a perfect picture of defense, protection, or even a roof.
The following is an excerpt from Ray Vander Laan’s book Walking With God in the Desert Discovery Guide and describes the significance of the shade of broom tree in Israel’s deserts:
Its leaves grow during the rainy season and are more like pine needles than broad leaves, producing light shade that filters the sunlight just enough to make the heat tolerable. Fallen leaves beneath a broom tree make sitting or lying underneath more comfortable than on the hard ground. Even today, Bedouin shepherd girls will rest with their heads under the shade of a broom tree during the hottest part of the day while their flocks feed nearby.
Ray Vander Laan
The giants in the land were like travelers in a hot desert without a single tree to rest under! Without the protection of the broom tree shade, the desert heat can be lethal. This is a picture of Israel’s enemies immediately after the Red Sea crossing, as we will see in a moment. Unfortunately, God’s people did not immediately take possession of their land but spent forty long years wandering the desert while their enemies trembled in fear the entire time. They could have taken the land forty years earlier!
After wandering in the desert for forty years, the time came to “give it another go”. God led the people back to the border of the Promised Land, and Joshua sent two spies into the city of Jericho to scout it out before they attacked. The two spies encountered Rahab, who gave them an inside perspective on how Jericho’s defenses had been removed.
Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
Joshua 2: 8-11, AMPC
The very moment that the inhabitants of the land heard about God’s deliverance at the Red Sea was when their hearts melted. You see, although the ten original spies saw giants in the land, they lacked the spiritual perspective that the giants actually had no strength or courage left in them to fight the Israelites. Notice that God’s salvation was the catalyst that caused Israel’s enemies to tremble.
At the exact moment you received salvation, the giants in your land began to tremble.
That’s because they know that you just received the salvation of God Almighty—Yeshua—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One had reconciled you to God. Not just to bring you hope someday in the future, but He had broken open the floodgates of inheritance over your life. All the promises of God are Yes and Amen over you.
I’ve taken time to hammer the point home: as royal children of God, we have an inheritance in this life, and it is our obligation to walk in all the blessings of God over our lives, not leaving anything on the table. The opposition we face in obtaining the promises over our lives is gutless—the giants “in the land” of our promises are quaking in their boots.
If you are contending for healing in your body, it is your right to be healed under the precious Blood of Jesus—enforce it! If you are fighting for your marriage, keep it up! The forces of darkness that seek division are without power, unless you give them opportunity. This is why holiness, purity, and godliness are so important. We don’t live holy in order to relate to God; that could never happen. We live holy as a byproduct of relationship with Him, and the result is that the enemy can’t touch us.
Deuteronomy 28:1-14 outlines some of our royal inheritance as children of the Most High God. My encouragement to you today is to read this passage through in your favorite translation and ask the Holy Spirit a few questions:
How do these blessings apply to me today?
Which one(s) of these inheritance rights do you want to increase in my life right now?
How can I utilize my God-given rights of royalty to be a blessing to others?
Photo by James Pond on Unsplash
Thank you once again for an inspired word. It seems so easy (and common) to spend our lives sniffing around on the floor for delicious crumbs that might fall from God’s table when He invites us to sit at the banquet table He has prepared for us (in the presence of our enemies, no less!).
I am really excited (and inspired) about your posts, every single one of them!