The Daily Word of Righteousness

Hebrews, and the Rest of God, #5

For if Jesus [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. (Hebrews 4:8)

The third aspect of entering the rest of God is that of the land of promise. Satan and his spirits are now in possession of that which belongs by Divine assignment to Christ and His saints. The nations of the world, and the earth itself, are an important part of our inheritance. The only way in which Satan will be driven from our land of promise, our inheritance, is by war. It is Satan's opinion, apparently, that the earth and its peoples are rightfully his.

To enter the rest of God, into the fullness of our inheritance in Christ, we must become warriors so we can drive out Satan. In the present hour, a spiritual enemy is dwelling in our land, our inheritance. The third and fourth chapters of Hebrews set forth Canaan, the land of promise, as a type of the rest of God.

What does the land of promise teach us concerning entering the rest of God?

The example of the land of promise teaches us that we are to destroy the devil wherever he is entrenched in the good things that God has given to the saints. We are not to cease driving the devil from our inheritance, by the power of God, until the memory of the devil, of sin, of rebellion, has been destroyed from the creation.

We can have no rest in our inheritance until God's enemy has been driven from it.

We enter our land, the rest of God, one step at a time.

And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed (Deuteronomy 7:22,23).

All things were finished from the creation of the world. Therefore we are not to rush about attempting to save ourselves, or to build the Kingdom of God according to our own plan. Rather, we are to wait on God constantly so that we may know what it is He wants us to do—moment by moment.

Sometimes God must slow us down until we can understand what it is He desires. The first aspect of entering the rest of God is a deep realization that God has a plan of His own. Spiritual warfare always is conducted by the Lord Jesus Christ working through His Church. The war is fought according to the timing, the strategy, the tactics that come from God the Father, whose Kingdom it is that is being established. Each battle is won by the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit.

To be continued.