Lesson 125 - Junior

Memory Verse

"There shall no man be able to stand before you" (Deuteronomy 11:25).

Notes

Love for God

Once more God warned the Children of Israel to take heed to His words. They were told especially to love the Lord. "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deuteronomy 6:5). If the Children of Israel had obeyed this commandment there would have been no room in their hearts for disobedience, unbelief, complaint, or any other sin. "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous" (I John 5:2, 3). When one has the love of God in his heart, he will not depart from the Lord. There are some people who say that they love the Lord but their actions show that they do not love Him. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). One shows that he loves the Lord by keeping God's charge, by being faithful and obedient.

God did not expect more than the Children of Israel were able to do. In fact, they did very little in comparison with the many things that God did for them. "And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul" (Deuteronomy 10:12). It would take many pages to list the great acts of the Lord which the Children of Israel had seen Him perform.

The Children of Israel are not the only ones whom God has saved from mischief and delivered from the enemy. Every Christian can testify to God's power to save, to keep, and to protect. Did you ever try to write the things that God has done for you and the good things He gives you? When you think what a long list it would be, is there not something in your heart which wants to be obedient and to love God more?

The Land of Promise

God had future blessings for the Children of Israel, too, if they would be obedient. It was upon this condition that they were to possess Canaan, the Promised Land. God did not teach the Children of Israel to war. Their strength and success was found in being true to Him. Long life was promised them after they had gained possession of Canaan. Many years before, God had promised Abraham that his children would be brought into a good land ([GEN:17:8]). No doubt they had looked forward to the time when God would lead them out of Egypt into Canaan. Everything that they had heard about the Promised Land was better than Egypt. They had been told that it was a land that flowed with milk and honey -" meaning an abundance of the very best ([EXO:3:8]).

One day the Children of Israel sent spies into Canaan to see what the land was like. When they returned they said, "We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey" (Numbers 13:27). As proof, they returned with fruit from the land of Canaan. A bunch of grapes was so large that two men carried it upon a pole (Numbers 13:23). The way to get to this wonderful land was to love God and keep His commandments.

The land into which they were going was different from the land of Egypt. Canaan was a land of hills and valleys, upon which the Lord sent rain. Egypt was a plain where little or no rain fell. The land had to be watered, and in those days there were no electric pumps. The water was lifted from the Nile River by hard work. The people spent many hours in irrigating the land so they could have crops. In the Promised Land they would not need to irrigate, for God watered the land with rain. The Lord took care of the Land of Promise. His eyes were upon it the whole year.

Moreover, God promised that the rain would not cease so long as the Children of Israel were obedient to serve Him. The Lord said that He would send two seasons of rain, known as the former rain and the latter rain. One was sent at planting time, the other at harvest time. Thus, the Children of Israel would be sure of food for themselves and for their cattle.

Land of Promise Today

The Lord had promised material blessings to the Children of Israel. Today the "Promised Land" blessings are spiritual blessings for the people of God. What God did for the Children of Israel materially, He will do spiritually for His people today. We have studied that Egypt is like sin and the world. As God delivered the Children of Israel from Egypt so He will deliver people today from sin. The Children of Israel prayed that God would have mercy on them. They cried unto God to deliver them ([EXO:2:23]; [EXO:3:7-8]). The same prayer will save a person today. One must ask God to deliver him from sin. Then his life will be just as different as Canaan was different from Egypt. Sometimes we sing about Canaan and how good it is to live there. We mean the life of a Christian who has claimed God's blessings. A Christian loves God, obeys and serves Him, just as the Children of Israel were taught to do.

God even has spiritual rain which He sends down upon His people. "He hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month" (Joel 2:23). We have studied about the blessing which God gave on the Day of Pentecost ([ACT:2:1]). His disciples tarried in an upper room in Jerusalem. They "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication" (Acts 1:14) "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). One of the disciples, Peter, said that it was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel ([ACT:2:16]) when God said, "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh" and they will prophesy ([JOE:2:28]). That is called the former rain, for the disciples were sowing the seeds of the Gospel of Jesus.

In April of 1906, God again blessed some of His people as He did on the Day of Pentecost. They had been saved and sanctified. They were praying, consecrating their lives more fully to God, when suddenly the Spirit of God fell upon them. They were baptised with the Holy Ghost and fire for they spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance, just as upon the Day of Pentecost. This was the fulfilment of the prophecy concerning the latter rain. We are living in the harvest time when souls are gathered for the Lord. God is still baptising sanctified men, women, and children to give them power for service in the harvest field. Have you received it yet? "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD . . . he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth" (Hosea 6:3).

Harvest Without Sowing

In the land of Canaan God had many blessings in store for the Children of Israel. He warned them not to forget Him after they had received these good things: great cities already built, wells already dug, vineyards and olive trees already planted ([DEU:6:10-12]). "And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: and gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people; that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws" (Psalm 105:43-45). God did not lead the Children of Israel into Canaan for them to serve other gods and forget Him. They were told to beware lest their hearts be deceived, lest they turn away from God. They were told what would be the result if they forgot God or turned to the false gods of the land. If they turned away from God, then He would turn away the good things. Evil would come upon them. God would send no rain, which would result in no fruit. Soon the Children of Israel would no longer enjoy a good land full of blessings of the Lord.

Victory over the Enemy

Moreover, so long as the Children of Israel would keep the commandments they would overcome their enemies. There were heathen people living in Canaan; but God told the Children of Israel that they would gain the land from the nations mightier than they. "For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong; but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you" (Joshua 23:9, 10).

The Lord promised these things if they stored the Word of God in their hearts, and were obedient to keep the commandments. We can have the great promises of God today by being obedient to His Word. We shall be "more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37).

Questions

1. Where was the Promised Land?

2. What is meant by "a land that floweth with milk and honey"?

3. How was Canaan better than Egypt?

4. Why did God send the rain?

5. Why was it important for the Children of Israel to obey God's commandments and to love Him?

6. How did they drive out greater and stronger nations?

7. How can we be more than conquerors?