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I’ve been to the mountaintop

By Glen on March 28th, 2011

Speaking of Moses going up Mount Pisgah…

Fifty years ago, this biblical allusion was used in the most dramatic way imaginable:

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Kiss of death

By Glen on March 28th, 2011

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We can’t credit the Authorized Version with this one.  But it is from the bible.

And it goes back a lot further than people think.  Its origins don’t lie with Mafia bosses, nor even with Judas but with Moses.  Here’s how it happened…

Moses has finished the last of his Deuteronomy sermons to the Israelites.  Now it’s time for him to die.  You see, at a key point in the life of Israel, he “had not believed” in the LORD (Numbers 20:8-12).  Therefore, like the rest of his faithless generation, he had to perish in the wilderness.  Mr Law would fall short of the promised rest because of unbelief.  It would be Joshua (whose name means “Jesus”) who would bring them in.

But even though his death in the wilderness is a sign of the law’s inability to save, Moses himself is very dear to the LORD.  Moses himself is saved even if he symbolizes faithless perishing.

We’re left in no doubt about the LORD’s love for Moses when we read the details of his death in Deuteronomy 34.  Before he dies, the LORD allows him to see the promised land from the top of Mount Pisgah.  Just as the law pictures the Good Life but can’t produce it, so Moses can see the Good Land but can’t enter it.

And once he has surveyed the land of milk and honey, he dies “according to the word of the LORD.”  (Deuteronomy 34:5)  That’s the King James translation.  Here’s a more literal translation: Moses died “by the mouth of the LORD.”  It’s this that the ancient Rabbis picked up on.  They claimed that the LORD gave him a “kiss of death.”

Therefore kisses bookend the writings of Moses.  His five books are called the ‘Pentateuch’ or the ‘Torah’, meaning ‘Law’.  They begin with the kiss of life (Genesis 2:7).  But they end with the kiss of death.

If you have to die, it’s a nice way to go.  It’s the best death imaginable.  But still, it’s death.  It’s still a terrible tragedy that those created to share in the life of God, should perish in the wilderness.  But this is where the Law takes you – Pisgah but not Canaan.  It might get you a kiss of death, but it’s still death!

Where’s the hope here?

Well back in Deuteronomy 18 there was a promise of a Prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-20).  He would accomplish what the law never could.

And now, at the end of Deuteronomy, we see the demise of Moses.  So who will this Prophet be?

Could it be Joshua?  Well Deuteronomy 34:9 reminds us of Spirit-filled Joshua.  But even though Joshua would picture the work of the Messiah, he was not the One.  You see the Law ends with this assessment:

there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face (v10)

So clearly Joshua wasn’t it.  He was not the promised Prophet, the Accomplisher of the Law, the Bringer of Rest.  The Messiah was still to come.  And the people were still to look for Him.

When He finally came in the flesh, He retraced the steps of Moses in many ways.  And He too perished away from His community.  He too went up a mountain to die.  But it wasn’t a kiss for Jesus.  He would taste the full bitterness of death.  Curses were promised for our disobedience to the law.  And Jesus took the curses.  He drank down the cup of God’s wrath to its dregs. There was no face to face fellowship for Jesus as He called out to a black and silent heaven, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

If Moses’ death was the best way to go.  His LORD’s death was the worst.

But through it, we gain a face-to-face that is beyond death, and beyond imagining.  He took the death.  We get the kiss.

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The apple of his eye

By Glen on March 26th, 2011

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It’s one of those sayings that trip off the tongue.  It’s said by a doting father to his son; a protective husband to his wife; perhaps even a musician to their favourite instrument: “You’re the apple of my eye.”  We know that it means “my beloved”.  But for most of us, we’re not really sure why it means that.  And what exactly the “apple” of the eye is!

The phrase occurs a number of times in the King James Bible and in fact it was a phrase that was already used in English translations prior to 1611.

It translates a Hebrew phrase that would mean more literally “little man of the eye.”  You could possibly also translate it “dark spot of the eye”.  And there you understand that it refers to the pupil.

In Old English the pupil was called the apple of the eye as far back as the 9th century.  So between this Old English idiom and the Old Testament phrase we get “apple of the eye.”

Whatever you treat as the apple of your eye is something about which you are massively protective.  Our own eye sockets, eye lids and eyebrows surround this extremely sensitive part of us.  To lose an eye is not only incredibly disabling, but horribly shaming also (e.g. Judges 16:21; 2 Kings 25:7).  We protect our eyes at all costs.

So what does God treat as the apple of His eye?

“For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.  He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.  As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:  So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.  He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.”   (Deuteronomy 32:9-13)

[O LORD] Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings  (Psalm 17:8)

He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye.  (Zechariah 2:8)

God’s people are jealously loved, protected and honoured.  We are the apple of His eye!

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Man does not live by bread only

By Glen on March 26th, 2011

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At the end of the 40 years of wilderness wandering the people come to the brink of the promised land.  This is the setting for the book of Deuteronomy.  Moses will not be going with the people into the land of milk and honey.  He is the leader of the old Israel and the bringer of law.  He will fall short of God’s “holy habitation.”  It will be Joshua (whose name means Jesus) who will bring a new Israel to the promised rest.

But before he dies, Moses will preach to the people.  And the book of Deuteronomy consists of his sermons.  He tells the new generation where they have come from and what God has called them to.

In this famous passage we get a wonderful insight into the reasons for the wilderness years.  As we’ve discussed before, we are in that same position spiritually.  We too have been saved out of slavery and await entrance to the promised rest.  We too are in a wilderness time.  So what is the LORD doing?  As Moses looks back on Israel’s experience, he will tell us the reasons behind it:

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. (Deuteronomy 8:2-3)

Let’s consider the verbs here.

Led – We must remember that the LORD is still guiding His people.  Though He judged them for their unbelief, He did not abandon them.  Even under the LORD’s chastening the people still had His presence.

Humbled – this verb is repeated in verse 2 and 3.

It’s not pleasant to be humbled.  It’s a word that can sometimes be translated “afflicted.”  It’s sometimes associated with bruising, with violation, with oppression, with bringing calamity upon someone.  And here the bible says that the LORD leads us through the wilderness to humble us! Why?

Proved – the LORD wants to know “what’s in their hearts”.  As we saw yesterday, He wants a heart-to-heart with us.  And a wilderness is a place where our hearts are revealed.  Of course, what comes out is not very nice.  But, as they say, ‘Better out than in.’

Suffered to hunger – here is a fearful truth.  The LORD suffers His people to hunger.  This is what wilderness times are for.  We naturally crave certain satisfactions.  We demand to be full of certain joys.  We refuse to feel empty.  But we have a LORD who causes us to hunger.  Who sometimes starves us – even of necessities!  Bread is a necessity.  But our LORD sometimes starves us.  Why?  The final two verbs provide the answer:

Fed - the LORD’s ultimate will is not to famish but to feed.  He only starves us in order to provide us with something even better.  In this case it’s manna – bread not baked with human hands; the bread of angels!  This bread finds its fulfilment in Jesus – the true Bread of life.

To make thee know - this discipleship programme is to teach God’s people.  But it’s a deep knowledge – the kind of knowledge you only get in a howling wilderness.  The people are to know that there’s a more basic necessity than bread for the starving.  We need the LORD more than we need food.

In the wilderness, humbled and hungry, every word from the mouth of the LORD becomes precious.  Because we don’t have anything else.  We’re not in Egypt anymore – we don’t have those securities.  Everything is now about dependence.  We depend on daily bread, daily water, daily guidance.  All we have is the LORD Jesus who is with us and His promise of the future.

And so every word from Him is precious.  His words assure us of His presence and love and promise us a better hope.  We eat those words like the starving eat bread.

And so Moses concludes this section:

Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee. (Deuteronomy 8:5)

In our wilderness time we must realize that God is treating us as a loving Father.  He has not abandoned us.  The wilderness is not the sign He doesn’t love us.  It’s the sign He does love us.  And its the opportunity to discover just how precious His Son, the living Bread, really is.

Meditate on these verbs today, and consider how they apply to your own wilderness time:

You are…

Led…

Humbled…

Proved…

Suffered to hunger…

Fed…

and

Made to know the true Bread…

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Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart

By Glen on March 24th, 2011

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“Feelings are feelings, they’re neither right nor wrong, it’s what you do with them that counts.”

How often have you heard this kind of sentiment?  (And interestingly, it is a sentiment!).

You’re probably as likely to hear it in church as anywhere else these days.  Even Christians will say we should only put acts of the will into moral categories.  According to this philosophy, all matters of the heart are ethically neutral.

But that’s not what we see in the bible.  In fact throughout the bible we see all sorts of expectations for our emotional life.  We’re meant to feel contentment  (Exodus 20:17), heart-felt love (1 Peter 1:22), peace (Colossians 3:15), zeal (Romans 12:11); sorrow and joy (Romans 12:12; Philippians 4:4), desire (1 Peter 2:2), gratitude (Ephesians 5:19,20), to name just a few.

And right at the heart of the Old Testament we have the shema.  It’s quoted by Jesus as the greatest commandment.  And it puts a bomb under our cultural stoicism:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

There is a logic to the verse: Because of God’s oneness we are to love.  As we discussed when we thought about “one flesh” – the way God is one is analagous to the way husband and wife are “one.”  They are united in love.  And as this verse says, “the LORD, our God, the LORD” is one.  God is one because God is love.  And God is love because God is trinity.

Therefore “thou shalt love.”  That’s the logic.  To know God is to become godly.  And to be godly is to love.

The first and greatest commandment (as Jesus called it) is directed emphatically at our affections.  We ought to be lovers of God, with our heart, soul and might.

The heart speaks of our innermost being.  It’s about what we treasure.  (Matthew 6:21)

The “soul” is the same word in Hebrew as “throat”.  It’s about what we thirst for.

Our “might” is our “muchness”.  It’s about our whole person given over to God.

The LORD does not want will-driven stoics but warm-hearted lovers.  This is the very essence of the Good Life which God has for us.

Of course commandments can never make us love God.  Yet this is a description of the Good Life.  And it’s not about grim-faced determinations to do right.  It’s about love – heart-felt, thirsty, mighty love!

The law can’t whip up these feelings and neither can we.  It’s only when we see His love for us that our hearts will be won (1 John 4:19).  But this is what the LORD’s salvation births in us.  Not a life in which our feelings are neutral.  The Christian life is an affair of the heart.

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What hath God wrought

By Glen on March 23rd, 2011

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“What hath God wrought” was the first message Samuel Morse ever tapped out on his new invention.  And it’s almost certainly that fact (more than its original appearance in Scripture) that lies behind its fame.  Interestingly, today if it’s said at all, it tends not to refer to great discoveries as much as terrible tragedies.  (Perhaps that reflects a different view of God, or technology, or both!)

When we think of a mighty act of God we think of a disaster.  Morse thought of an invention.  But in the bible God’s work is a whole lot more personal.  As we’ll see, what God “hath wrought” is a people – an unbreakable, forever-blessed people.

The phrase appears in Numbers chapter 23.  The Moabite Balaam has been contracted as a freelance prophet to curse the Israelites.  But when King Balak makes his second demand for a magical malediction, here’s what Balaam says:

Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?  Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.  He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.  God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! (Numbers 23:18-23)

Balaam is stressing the irreversibly resolute character of God.  In particular, there is a work to which God is immovably committed.  What is it?  He has determined to bless the seed of Abraham.  Nothing can undo this blessing.  No coercion from outside (an enchantment or divination) and no u-turn from within (God’s repentance) will thwart this.

What God hath wrought is a people.  He has blessed this people, saved this people, and even after all we’ve seen, He refuses to credit them with “iniquity” or “perverseness”!  No foreign power can ruin God’s work, not even their own sin can spoil it.  The LORD makes it His crowning achievement to create a people for Himself.

What is God’s great work?  The Horsehead Nebula?  The Grand Canyon?  The blue whale?  No His great work is to build a family.  The Father has forever blessed His Son, filling Him with His eternal Spirit.  And He has forever desired brothers and sisters for His Son (Romans 8:29).  His work of redemption is to sweep these up by His Spirit into His Son that they may be blessed in the Beloved.

If you belong to Christ you are a member of this uncurseable people (Galatians 3:29).  You are eternally secure.  God will not repent of His work.  Your sin will not cost you your position.  No dark art can dislodge you from your place.  You are some piece of work!

Behold, what God hath wrought!

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Fell flat on his face

By Glen on March 22nd, 2011

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When we say “I fell flat on my face” we’re usually speaking figuratively.

e.g. “I tried to impress the girl with my scant knowledge of Italian arias.  Turns out, she’s a classical soprano.  I fell flat on my face!”

We use the phrase to indicate embarrassment.  But in the bible, falling on one’s face is always literal.  And there are very different ways of doing it, as we’ll see.

To fall flat on one’s face happens just the once in the King James translation – Numbers 22:31.  But that’s the phrase that has really stuck with us – perhaps because of its alliteration.

Balaam is the one to have fallen flat on his face.  And in his case, embarassment is entirely justified.

As we saw yesterday, he has just been rebuked by his own donkey.  Then…

the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.”  (Num 22:31)

Here is a revelation of Christ – the Angel of the LORD.  He’s the same one who met Abraham in Genesis 17, Moses in Exodus 3, Joshua in Joshua 5, Isaiah in Isaiah 6, Peter in Luke 5, Paul in Acts 9 and John in Revelation 1.

On all these occasions, they felt an overwhelming weight of glory, their knees gave way and they fell flat on their faces.

For Balaam it was a shaming.  For those listed above, it was worship.  But everyone falls when Christ is revealed in glory.

There are those who walk tall in this life but have no love for Jesus.  They will be brought low.

There are those who are down at heel in this life yet trust in Christ.  They will fall in wonder and be lifted in mercy.

On that day the bible says we’ll all be flat on our faces – some to everlasting shame, others to everlasting joy and gratitude.

at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11)

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Balaam’s ass

By Glen on March 22nd, 2011

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Christianity is big business today.  Speakers can command live audiences of tens, even hundreds of thousands.  Millions more can view on television or buy their books.  What should we make of their popularity?  How should we assess their ministry?

Balaam’s ass is in the bible to remind us that speaking spiritual words is no guarantee that the speaker is spiritual!

Balaam was a Moabite who lived at the time of the Israelites’ wilderness wanderings.  He was a prophet whose services were sought by his king, Balak.  Balak was worried that the Israelites were a threat to Moab so he asks Balaam to curse Israel.  He says of Balaam:

“he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.” (Numbers 22:6)

Balak seems to think that Balaam is a kind of Abraham figure – that he has the power to bless and curse peoples (cf Genesis 12:1-3).  But when Balaam himself consults the LORD he’s told:

thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.  (Numbers 22:12)

Whatever powers Balaam is said to have, the seed of Abraham is not curseable!  The LORD has blessed the seed of Abraham and has blessed it irreversibly.

In the next couple of days we’ll see what happens when Balaam is brought before Balak and asked to call down these curses.  But our incident for today happens on the road there.  Whatever awe Balaam is held in by his own people, the Scriptures will take him down a peg or two.

The prophet is riding his donkey, but when the Angel of the LORD (Christ Himself!) turns up on the road we see just how much spiritual insight this prophet has.  The donkey sees Christ, the prophet is blind.

And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.  And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.  And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.  (Numbers 22:23-27)

This great man – lauded by multitudes, known as a spiritual leader – can’t see the Prophet of prophets.  But not only does a donkey prove to have better spiritual sight, he also has better speech too.  To shame this prophet even further, the LORD allows Balaam’s ass to rebuke him:

And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?  And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.  And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.

It’s so comical!  The donkey speaks, and Balaam speaks back as though nothing strange has happened. And then the donkey wins the argument: All the prophet can say in reply is “Nay!”

Here’s the message: Yes spiritual men can speak arresting words.  They can even speak true words.  And millions may listen to them.  But even if they occasionally speak truth, it is only what the LORD has allowed to be said.  And the credit never lies with such speakers.  The LORD can make a donkey speak if He wishes.

We mustn’t be lead astray by spiritual speakers today.  If they speak any truth it’s no testimony to their wisdom, only the LORD’s who can even speak through dumb animals.  The real test is whether the speaker sees Jesus.  He is Truth and the test of it.  Let’s not be impressed by speakers.  Let’s pray they see Jesus.  And let’s look to Him ourselves.

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Brazen serpent

By Glen on March 20th, 2011

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What is faith?

Often people think of faith as a special quality that the religious happen to possess.  It’s like some magic elixir.  Apparently some people have lots of faith coursing through their veins, others have very little.

But how does Jesus think of faith?

Well when Jesus wanted to explain faith to a bible scholar, He retold the story of the brazen serpent.  It’s a bit of an odd one, but let me give you the details:

The Israelites have been wandering through the wilderness and they’ve been doing what they do so well: grumbling.

the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. (Numbers 21:4-5)

How seriously do we consider grumbling?  It’s the characteristic sin of the Israelites in the wilderness.  And it provokes the LORD’s anger more than any other sin.  Here is a God who wants our hearts, and who takes discontentment as a personal affront.  He sends judgement:

And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. (v6)

Here is a handing over of God’s people to diabolical powers.  Serpents remind us of that ancient serpent from Genesis 3, the devil.  The people are given over to Satan in judgement.

But judgement is not God’s final word.  Judgement is the context for the LORD to reveal His salvation:

Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.  And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (v7-9)

The people are saved when they simply behold the bronze serpent.  The very thing that caused them harm was to be their salvation if only they looked.

It seems such a strange story.  Why would Jesus be so keen to draw attention to it?

Well here’s what Jesus says:

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  (John 3:14-15)

The story from Numbers is our story.  We are the faithless grumblers.  And we’re sick with sin, awaiting death.  There’s only one cure – behold the One lifted up.  He became the very thing that afflicted us – He became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).  And now, what must we do to be saved?

Behold!

That’s it.  Just behold.  We are simply to “look and live” (Numbers 21:9).

Don’t ignore the snake bites.  Don’t try to reason with God.  Don’t try to suck out the poison.  Don’t offer up some sacrifice of your own devising.  Don’t turn to some voodoo spell.  Don’t run to Moses to seek salvation.  Just look to the One lifted up.

So what is faith?

Faith is not a quality you find within yourself.  Faith is looking away from yourself.  Faith is not a thing you conjure up.  Faith is beholding something (someOne) else.  Faith is looking to Jesus.

How do I become a person of faith?  It should be obvious: Behold!  Behold Christ, the One lifted up for you.  On the cross, He became our sin, so that we might become His righteousness.  Don’t look to yourself, don’t look to Moses (through some regime of law keeping), just look to Jesus.

Because,

whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  (John 3:15-16)

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Wilderness Years

By Glen on March 19th, 2011

The journey from slavery to the promised land should have been straightforward.  If they’d kept the Mediterranean on their left they could have arrived within a fortnight.

The LORD took them a different route – through the Red Sea.  The LORD gained great glory by saving them through adversity.  This was some of the reason for the Israelites’ wilderness time.

But even with the LORD’s slight detour it should have taken a matter of months to get to the land of Canaan.  In the end, it took Israel 40 years.  Why?

Because of their mistrust.

The Israelites did not trust the report of the good spies – Joshua and Caleb bearing the firstfruits of the land.  They let fear hold sway.  They shrank back and the LORD did what He is always doing in judgement – He gave them what they wanted.  (For more examples, see this post on the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart).

The LORD confirms their decision and resolves never to let this faithless generation see the promised land:

27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. 28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: 29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, 30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. 32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.  (Numbers 14:27-33)

This is a fearful judgement but it is also poetic justice.  If the people don’t want the promised land, they don’t get the promised land.  And it’s completely fair.

Not even Moses would get into the land of milk and honey.  Not even Mr Law himself could make it across the river Jordan.

Only Joshua, whose name means “Jesus”, and Caleb, whose name means “man after his heart”, would make it.  This “Jesus” figure would have to lead a new Israel into Canaan.  The old must die, only the new can enter glory, and only with “Jesus” at their head.  And this preaches to us today.

The law won’t get us to heaven.  All the trappings of religion and ritual will leave us short.  We must let all our natural efforts die.  Ultimately only Jesus gets into the promised rest.  And those whose hearts are with Him.

We’re in a wilderness time ourselves – in between our salvation from sin and entrance to glory.  These years will be the death of us too!  So let us die to the law and to all efforts at self-salvation.  Let us trust our Forerunner Jesus, with hearts set on Him.