Living in Canaan: A Picture of the Spirit-Filled Christian Life
Listen to Today’s Passage – Exodus 22 – 24
Follow along on Blue Letter Bible – Exodus 22
(Second Milers also read – Luke 8 – 9; Proverbs 27; Psalms 126 – 130)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Isaiah 51:11
Read the “0127 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by Charles Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this passage – “Following Through.“
“20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. 22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. … 25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil. 27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.” (Exodus 23:20–22, 25–27)
God’s Promised Blessing of Protection and Provision in Canaan
In Exodus 23, we see the nation of Israel travelling in the wilderness on their way out of Egypt and into Canaan, the land of promise. The verses cited above are some of those promises that were associated with the land. A careful reading of the chapter will reveal that God promised his people prosperity, which included abundant provision and divine protection if they obeyed Him. God promised that the inhabitants of the land would be driven out, and all of the enemies of Israel would flee from them. Again, these promises were contingent upon the nation’s obedience in wholly following the Lord.
A Picture of the Spirit-Filled Life
In this passage we see a picture of the Christian life today. God has also delivered us spiritually out of Egypt and the power and penalty of sin when He saved us. He wants to bring us into the spiritual land of Canaan, which is the Spirit-filled, Christ-centered life; a life surrendered wholly to God’s will. Canaan in the Old Testament does not picture Heaven. There were still battles to fight there, which will not be the case when we get to Heaven. Canaan is, however, a picture of spiritual victory.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Rom 8:1)
“16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. … 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Gal 5:16, 25)
The Problem Hindering Believers Today from Entering Canaan
Unfortunately, as we will find out in future passages, Israel’s entrance into Canaan will be delayed by several decades because the congregation as a whole will allow their fears to rule, causing their faith in God to fail. They will choose to follow their own way instead of believing and wholly surrendering to God (see Numbers 13 – 14).
Entering Canaan today for the believer is also contingent upon our yieldedness to the Spirit of God and submission to the will of God. Too many believers today are content to wander in the wilderness of their own reasoning and understanding – their flesh is in control. They are still doing their thing instead of God’s thing. What’s worse is that there are also many genuine believers who live with their backs turned from Canaan and their focus still on Egypt (the world).
“5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Prov 3:5–6)
The Solution – Surrender to God
It is my desire to live in Canaan. I want to have the victories that God promises for those who are surrendered to Him. I am tired of wandering in the spiritual barreness of the wilderness. How about you? God has an abundant life prepared for you which also includes provision, protection, power, and a wonderful purpose, but you cannot do it your way. You must surrender your will to the perfect will of God. Let the Holy Spirit of God control you and guide you, and you will also experience the wonderful blessing and abundant life that God desires for you in your spiritual Canaan.
- Are you experiencing the “wilderness” or “Canaan” in your walk right now?
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What area of your life needs more surrender to the Holy Spirit?
Posted in Devotions, Thoughts from Exodus and tagged Bible Study, Canaan, Canaan Typology, Devotional, Egypt, Exodus 23, Living in Canaan, Overcoming the Flesh, Promised Land, Spirit-Filled Life, Surrendering to God, Victorious Christian Life, Victory by Phil Erickson with 9 comments.
I must start this by saying I love my church, my pastor, and the people. Tina and I have been here for about 20 years. We’ve heard many messages that have convicted us about standards. All these messages we were shown the biblical reasoning for these standards as well. My simplified thoughts, are why? Why does it seem that these standards are becoming progressively more liberal in roughly the past 6 maybe 7 years. Instead of asking what biblical reasons for the standards We’ve held dear. Maybe we should be asking what biblical reasons there are for becoming more liberal with our standards. There was a large distinguishable difference between the churches we looked at and the one we ultimately called home 20 years ago. My fear is if we continue down this road there won’t be that large distinguishable difference. That said, I want to be completely transparent. Tina and I have been struggling greatly with these changes and especially with the most recent things that have been done differently. Please pray for us.
Rich, there is no doubt about the fact that there have been some noticeable transitions within our church over the course of the last few years. Some of these were born out of a frustration of trying to hold to what was merely traditional rather than a simple observance of New Testament Principle. Traditions can be good. Like you, I am more drawn to the traditional concept of church as it was in generations past. Obviously, the younger people among us feel differently about some of the thing that we were holding on to. This friction forced us to revisit the Scriptures and see what was really important. The period surrounding Covid caused us to see that church could be done differently without compromising the biblical pattern or principle. Just last week, we did something that I never thought I would do. Due to a snowstorm coming in, I cancelled church on Sunday morning and instead held a service on Saturday evening. The number in attendance on Saturday evening was almost what it would normally be on a typical Sunday. I am fairly confident that nobody would have been in church due to the storm the following morning had we had church. This is another example of a time that we broke from tradition, but I feel the Lord was pleased that we gathered together to worship Him on Saturday evening. By the way, to be clear, I have no plans to make Saturday evening services a regular thing. It was just something that worked for us as a better alternative at the time.
Jesus had the same dilemma in the first century. The Jews (even those Jews who were saved) were striving to hold on to their traditions and even elevated them above biblical principle at times. Churches from every generation have shared in this struggle.There have always been those who resisted any type of change. For example, some of the hymns which we hold very dear today were fought against because they were seen as being “too worldly.” Churches from the past resisted the new technologies of their day, such as the use of microphones and even pianos. When we expanded our auditorium fifteen or so years ago, we put the screens up in the front, which was much criticized by some of my pastor friends. My point is that these were all changes that many were concerned about at the time but now seem irrelevant.
I think there are three changes that should be very concerning to all of us at our church, if they were to occur. The first involves the Word of God. If we should change our position on the Scripture, it would definitely be a sign of true liberalization. Also, if we were to completely forsake the old hymns. I so appreciated those Sunday evenings when Mrs. Camillo taught us about the hymn writers and the circumstances surrounding their songs. We do use some contemporary songs at the church if they are doctrinally sound, but we would never remove the hymnbook. The third dangerous change involves our passion to reach our world for Christ. If we ever stop going out into the highways and hedges, streets and lanes of the city, trying to reach people with the gospel of Christ, then Jersey Shore Baptist would be a church that I could no longer be a member of.
Sorry for the long reply. You and Tina have been dear friends to Cindy and I for many years now. I still remember our first meeting over at the Hope church when we were picking up that organ. I honestly cannot imagine serving at Jersey Shore without you guys being a part of it. I greatly appreciate your friendship, your stand for the Lord, and your dedication to His church.
Praying for you both ❤️
I personally don’t think we should be loosening our standards because of what a younger crowd thinks. The lack of basic respect and reverence from many of them is sad. Example: Standards for choir were lowered, and now we just had someone with sweatpants and sneakers, on a Sunday morning, on the platform. I just don’t understand it. Your below statement is 100% correct and on point. No body is perfect but folks that are habitual in the majority of your points absolutely shouldn’t be elevated to positions that make broad decisions in our church.
“Fast forward now to today. Many of God’s people show up late, if they show up at all. They arrive wearing shorts and ripped tee shirts. The children are running all over the sanctuary while their parents are obliviously engaging in their own conversations about anything and everything except the worship of God. We have certainly come a long way down as far as our reverence to God is concerned. We sing half-heartedly, talk during prayer and special music; and then sleep when the Word of God is being preached: all the while wondering how long is this going to take. We’ve got more important things, like football, to worry about today. Do I exaggerate or is this an accurate description of the attitudes of many in our churches today? God help us!”
I find myself once in a while going through something and end up putting God last and my worry first. Gotta walk through the quicksand toward Canaan. Thanks Pastor
Also I didn’t notice before, a few chapters ago, that God was going to kill Moses. I think because he didnt circumcise his son. Moses is an example for all of us how he reacted or listened to his flesh first. What an awesome forgiving God!
Sometimes our desire to live in Canaan is hindered because we are focused on what others are doing. I really like that in these chapters you can see that God has the solutions needed. You see that he is just, that he will judge righteously, and that he hears the afflicted and will deal with each situation as needed. I don’t always understand God’s ways but I understand that he knows better that I do. If I truly want victory in my life I need to surrender to his will and trust him. In doing that, everything will be as it should and I will be in the best possible place regardless of what I understand.
Amen Pastor You opened a new insight with comparison of Canaan to Spiritual victory.I love the post and the way you explain the post and the understanding I receive. Thank you.
Amen. Agreed, there is no better place to be then in the perfect will of God. It is there that you will enjoy the abundance and provision in what ever form it is given. Godliness with contentment is GREAT gain!
Amen, find your sweet spot and stick with it.