I read where one of God's servants declared that God didn't want a single Israelite to lose his life in the conquest of their Promised Land after their exodus from Egypt. This bold statement rather shocked me, because a whole generation of the children of Israel perished in the wilderness after Kadesh-Barnea, never getting to set foot in the land, and their descendants met with intense opposition thereafter for centuries. Two tribes were finally exiled to Babylon, and ten tribes simply disappeared. It was national disaster of terrible proportions. I determined to look up what the Bible actually says.
It's in Exodus 23:20-33. There I found:
(a) God promised to send "an Angel" before them--obviously Christ Himself.
(b) He would "prepare" the way.
(c) He would be "an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries." In other words, that "Angel" would fight their battles for them.
(d) He would bring Israel into the Promised Land and would "cut off" any opposition.
(e) "He shall bless thy bread and thy water," in other words, wonderfully prosper them economically.
(f) The "Angel" would "take away sickness from the midst of thee," in other words, make Israel a world example of healthful living.
(g) Their population would increase marvelously, indicating that it was not God's will that any cruel or oppressive world empire should arise such as Assyria, Babylon, Greece, or Rome. "I will send My fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come." All their enemies would "turn their backs unto thee."
(h) God would "send hornets before thee" which would drive out the pagans from the land.
(i) God's people would "be increased, and inherit the land" (the apostle Paul correctly understood it meant to be "heir of the world," Rom. 4:13). "I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand."
To a pitifully small extent, these divine promises met some fulfillment; but what frustrated the Lord was the people's constant "unbelief" (Heb. 3:12-19). Throughout their history, they rejected God's New Covenant, and cherished their own Old Covenant--right up to the final denouement at Calvary. Isn't it time now for us to believe His New Covenant?
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 24, 2002.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
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