Preparing To Enter In… Alive!

Acts 2:1-4 – We too are now waiting, preparing our hearts for the final, promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 46:9-10 – Knowing the end from the beginning. We will end the way we began; the final outpouring.

Out With The Old, In With The New

• Preparing the new generation with the knowledge of the truth in order to be made ready to enter into “Canaan,” the Promised Land, and possess it (i.e. our eternal inheritance in Christ).

• Today, the “old guard” is being removed from God’s people (i.e. a transition of leadership).

Deuteronomy: “second law”; a re-reading of the laws of God to the new generation; A “Pause” moment for the children of Israel right before entering into their promised inheritance (see the article https://www.network153.com/post/the-pause).

• “The book offers a restatement of the Law for a new generation, rather than a mere copy of what had gone before. Deuteronomy records this “second law”—namely Moses’s series of sermons in which he restated God’s commands originally given to the Israelites some forty years earlier in Exodus and Leviticus.” This time, they have a history in regards to their response to the first reading.”

• “Deuteronomy was written around 1406 BC, at the end of the forty years of wandering endured by the nation of Israel. At the time, the people were camped on the east side of the Jordan River, on the plains of Moab, across from the city of Jericho (Deuteronomy 1:1; 29:1). They were on the verge of entering the land that had been promised centuries earlier to their forefathers (Genesis 12:1, 6–9). The children who had left Egypt were now adults, ready to conquer and settle the Promised Land. Before that could happen, the Lord reiterated through Moses His covenant with them.”

• “Unlike the unconditional covenant God made with Abraham, the covenant between Yahweh and Israel was bilateral—a two-way street. God would keep His promise to bless the nation if the people remained faithful. The adult Israelites were too young to have participated in the first covenant ceremony at Mount Sinai. Therefore, Moses reviewed the Law at the doorstep to the Promised Land, urging this new generation to re-covenant with Yahweh, to recommit themselves to His ways.”

“The primary “result” of the Book of Deuteronomy is the renewal of the Israelite covenant with God, leading to their ability to enter the Promised Land under Joshua, with blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Moses delivers his final speeches, restating and applying God's laws to the new generation, thereby setting the theological foundation for their future life in the land and the subsequent history of Israel as recorded in other books.”

Key Outcomes and Significance: (from the internet)

Covenant Renewal:

Deuteronomy emphasizes a bilateral covenant, where God's faithfulness to bless Israel is conditioned on Israel's faithfulness to Him, a reciprocal bond of loyalty and obedience. 

Preparation for the Promised Land:

Moses provides laws and instructions for living in the land of Canaan, preparing the new generation to live in accordance with God's will and maintain their national identity. 

Instruction and Faith:

The book serves as a history lesson, a sermon, and a call to obedience, urging the Israelites to learn from their parents' mistakes and choose faithfulness to God over rebellion. 

Blessings and Curses:

It clearly outlines the consequences of obedience (blessings, prosperity, life) and disobedience (curses, exile), which would play out in the future history of the nation. 

Transition of Leadership:

Moses appoints Joshua as the new leader and encourages the people to be courageous as they embark on their new journey. [This very moment, the Lord is raising up new leaders in His church at the end of this age.]

Entering In At The Appointed Time Through Consecration (i.e. Sonship)

Joshua 3:1-3 – Crossing over the Jordan River into the Promised Land; the way revealed.

• The “sons of God” who have ears to hear because they have remained near Him [i.e. “lodged”] with a submissive, obedient heart are now being summoned by our King, Jesus, to consecrate (“to prepare, to be holy, to be separate”) ourselves unto Him (Joshua 3:5), entering by faith into the waters that separate us from our final destiny in Him, thereby opening the way for others to cross over.

Joshua 3:8 – Standing at the “edge” of the Jordan River.

• “edge” – [7097] “an end, an extremity, a border, the end of a period of time”

• “stand still” – [5975] “to stand, to remain, to endure, to be steadfast”

Joshua 3:12-17 – Cutting off the flow of death.

• Within the picture of the soles of the feet of the priests dipped in the edge of the Jordan River, and then their standing firm on dry ground in the middle of it, is a picture being revealed to us of how we, His people (i.e. the body of Christ), will cross over into our eternal inheritance at the end of this age (i.e. the Promised Land in Christ; our eternal inheritance in Him).

• First, the portion of the body that touches the earth when standing is the feet. This represents the Christians that are still on the earth that have not died, but are alive when Christ comes to gather them to Himself. The rest of the body that have passed on from this life to Christ are above the earth. But like the physical body, they cannot move forward in the purpose of God until the feet receive the message from the head, and then obediently respond. The Body of Christ now waits for the feet to respond. Hearing from the Lord, the Head of His body, the church, that it’s the appointed time for His followers on earth, at the end of this age, to move forward into the waters that will part through their obedience, the priesthood of believers must consecrate themselves, becoming the cleansed “soles [i.e. souls] of the feet [i.e. believers on earth],” causing the waters that flow unto death to stop.

Their “resting/standing firm” in the midst of the waters that swiftly flow to the place of death (i.e. the Dead Sea in type), will cut off the flow of death begun way back at the first Adam’s sin (hence, the city of Adam in Joshua 3:16; see 1 Corinthians 15:45 about the two “Adam’s”) during the final, appointed harvest time of souls on earth (Tabernacles). (See Isaiah 43:1-2; passing through the waters)

During harvest time, the waters are rushing even stronger, overflowing their normal boundary (Joshua 3:15). This will cause some on earth to seek the only way across that will be revealed to them through the obedient last day company of priests in Christ that know and serve “the Way,” who is Christ (John 14:6). They carry the presence/government of God on their shoulders (i.e. the ark of His presence), so to speak.