POSSESSING THE PROMISE by BILL BURNS
I believe that we are in a season of “Possessing the Promise.” A time of crossing over from one season into another; from the wilderness into the promised land.
Ezekiel 37:14 "I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD.
So, we are in a time of transition. Transition is unsettling. The spiritual landscape is changing as we move into unfamiliar territory. The spirit of fear will try to dominate God’s people and try to keep us out of the promise like he did Israel.
Moses sent 12 leaders of the 12 tribes to spy out the land, but they were fear-ful (full of fear).
Numbers 13:
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them."
25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days
32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.
33 "There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
And, so they spent 40 years in the wilderness, but after the 40 years, the Lord spoke to Joshua and told him to “cross over” Jordan into the promise.
Joshua 1:1-2 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel.
The patterns established in scripture are for the purpose of identifying prophetic progressions within certain times and seasons that the Lord is taking us through.
The Church (like Israel) has been in the wilderness, but it is now time to come out of the wilderness and cross over into the promises of God. Present day promises that have been confirmed by the prophetic word with signs and wonders.
Marsha and I have been to Moab, Utah, several times to receive the word of the Lord for this present season, and we must go again.
Moab represents a prophetic symbol of crossing over the river from the wilderness into the promises in this present time.
Numbers 33:
50 Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying,
51 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
52 ‘then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places;
53 ‘you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess.
The wilderness of Moab represents the place of testing and preparation so one can inherit the promised land (place of blessing).
How do we cross over? Lessons from the pattern:
1. The Word of God must be believed and faith that leads to obedience must be established. The Word of the Lord to Joshua:
Joshua 1:
6 "Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
7 "Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
2. The way over is in the anointing.
Joshua 3:14-15 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest),
3. Renewing the Covenant
Joshua 4:19-20 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.
Joshua 5:
2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time."
8 So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed.
9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.
Deuteronomy 29:
1 These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.
15 "but with him who stands here with us today before the LORD our God, as well as with him who is not here with us today
29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
This second covenant is one of blessings if one is obedient to God’s word and His instructions.
Deuteronomy 30:15-16 "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.
The blessings:
Deuteronomy 28:
2 "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
3 "Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
4 "Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
5 "Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 "Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7 "The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8 "The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
The curses for disobedience can also be found in Deuteronomy chapter 28.
4. The fourth thing – go to war and defeat the enemy who wants to keep you from your blessings. Joshua chapter 6 tells of the victory over the enemy that stands between you and the promises.
Joshua 6:20 So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
Jericho is five miles west of the Jordan – victory by the power of grace. The 5th trip coming up will be for grace for victory.
5. The fifth element in transition is to trust in the Lord with all of your heart so
fear can be defeated and victory over the enemy will be complete. It was God who brought Jericho’s walls down, and this He will do for us if we believe He will. And if you believe, you will have a shout of victory in your spirit man.
Amen.