Numbers 32:11, 13-15 - Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me... So the Lord ’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until ALL the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. And look! You have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to INCREASE STILL MORE the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again LEAVE THEM IN THE WILDERNESS, and you will destroy all these people.”
From captivity to freedom. The story of Moses leading the people out of Egypt to enter into a land God had promised them. There is so much to glean from this account. It is the story of salvation. It is a most vital story. Like Moses, Jesus leads us out of captivity. Moses is a type of Jesus.
We will never enter our promised land without receiving Christ, without obedience to Him. The promised land can be our paradise, through Christ. It has been discussed that Jerusalem, where Jesus will return one day soon, was the center of the garden of Eden. God started life in the garden, banished Adam and Eve from that garden when they sinned. We are all separated from God as a result of their sin. Jesus said on the cross to one of the other sinners, "Today you will be with Me in paradise," when this thief confessed Jesus and hurled these remarks at the other thief: Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong. (Luke 23:40-41)
He offers that same paradise statement to each person who confesses Jesus as Lord. That promised land.
But as the scripture above states, we will not see the promised land without first following Jesus and wholly following Him. The wandering in the wilderness of the world will continue. The sinfulness of man will continue to increase. The anger of the LORD will continue to grow. The people will one day be utterly destroyed for their lack of belief in and obedience to God/Jesus.
We can confess Jesus in two ways. One is from our heart and one is from our mind. If confession is not from the heart it has no meaning. Nothing has changed. We have not crossed over to enter the promised land. God knows what lies in the recesses of both our heart and mind; nothing is hidden from Him. He knows... What we say, how we feel, react, live, is all taken into account. I picture God with a clipboard and checklist for each of us and He's making notes. (Now I know He doesn't need to really do that...) Our sin will find us out. Will we ever be perfect? No. But we must make a conscious effort to do as He says and not deliberately sin.
To inherit eternal life, Jesus tells is, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and all your strength (Luke 10:25, Matthew 22:36-38). This is the first commandment...to have no other gods before Him. Confess your sins like the thief, confess Jesus as Lord...from your heart.
Numbers 32:23 - But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out.
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