NUGGETS…from the WORD of GOD
ARMED FOR BATTLE
“And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war.”
—Deut. 3:18
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Canaan, or “the promised land,” is often confused in type with heaven. That is, of course, a mistake. Canaan was God’s objective for Israel, but it was a territory that had to be taken in battle and held against innumerable adversaries. It was a pleasant and productive place, corresponding to the center of God’s will, but it demanded a conquest to enter it and constant vigilance to hold it. That is not a picture of heaven!
In Biblical “type” Canaan corresponds to the believer’s position as “abiding in Christ,” where we are counseled to take up and maintain residence, once we are saved, but still this side of heaven. (Cf. John 15:1-11 e.g.) It is a place of joy, for it represents the center of Gods will for us in our present state. It is a fruitful land, but always contested by “many adversaries.”
If Satan fails in his objective to keep us from trusting Christ in the first place, his next objective will be to discourage us from taking the position Christ intends for us. Few things help his cause more than those who “profess that they know God, but in works deny Him.” “Unbelieving believers.” When the Israelites saw evidence of the fruit of the land, they were enthused, but when they heard about the “giants,” they were dismayed. The envisioned price was too high. Ah, how many have been their descendants!
At this point in the narrative our text finds a new generation ready at last, after forty years of fruitless wandering in the wilderness, to face the foe and enter the land. The interesting thing is that God reminds them again that there will be battles to be fought for the ground that is to be taken: “Ye shall pass over armed…” The divine plan has not changed. Victory in New Testament terms is always the same. “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me [Mt. 16:24].”
What is interesting in our text, however, is something deduced from the context. The words were uttered by Moses in this instance, in his farewell address to Israel, with specific reference to the Ruebenites and the Gadites, who had already been granted their territory on the east side of the Jordan. However they were not to settle down until the rest of the people had claimed their possessions. In other words, establishing themselves in the will of God was to be a cooperative venture in which the children of God would engage until all enjoyed the blessing.
One of the key phrases in the New Testament is “one another.” While each of us carries individual responsibilities, Christian experience is not, in God’s intention, a solo venture. The church is described as the body of Christ, in which all the parts constitute the whole, and no individual is sufficient of himself. (See I Cor. 12:12-27) Tragically, that is not the picture of the average “church,” nor of the church as a whole. To say nothing of the church at large, the average congregation (“local church”) is a collection of individuals who have little to do with or for one another with respect to spiritual matters. To be spiritually armed for battle with the Enemy in order to help other believers win God’s high ground is a concept foreign to most professing Christians. How different would the average church be if every member waged war with the adversary until all were established in abiding fellowship with Christ! The apostle Paul exemplified that spirit when he wrote to the Galatians, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you [Gal. 4:19].”
With these thoughts for starters, we need to note one more thing, suggested in the context. Even under the best of circumstances, the nature of the battle is such that it takes more—much more—than concerted cooperative effort on the part of the whole congregation to successfully take the ground God intends for us. “Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight for you.” (v.22) As always, “It takes God to be godly.” Whether as individuals or collectively, we cannot take our true position in Christ in our own strength nor by our own resources. Programs, plans, procedures of man’s devising will not suffice. There must be faith in and conscious dependence upon God Himself if we are to win the victory over sin and satan.
We have His promise that when we “trust and obey” His word, following where He leads, we will come to enjoy the satisfaction, peace and joy that He has promised. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand [Eph. 6:12-13].” Individually and together!
—"Pastor" Frasier
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7/28/12
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