BLOG

Moses' eleventh speech, Part 13, The inheritance war

In Deuteronomy 31:3 Moses told Israel that when they crossed the Jordan, they would dispossess the nations currently inhabiting the land of Canaan. In verses 4, 5 he continues,

⁴ And the Lord will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them. ⁵ And the Lord will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you.

In Moses’ first speech, we are told that Sihon and Og were giants, the offspring of the counterfeit sonship movement that occurred in Genesis 6:4. That event, as we showed, occurred on Mount Hermon, not far from where Sihon and Og lived and ruled.

Whatever it was that occurred in Genesis 6:4, those who claimed to be “sons of God” were an early counterfeit of the true Sons of God. It appears that they understood the basic idea of the Spirit of God begetting Christ in human flesh, uniting heaven and earth to create a New Creation Man. However, they did so in an unlawful manner and with selfish motives. Furthermore, they did so earlier than the divine plan had specified.

It was an apparent attempt to seize and inherit the land of Canaan and to usurp the inheritance of Abraham who was to arrive later. When we understand this, it explains why God authorized Israel to destroy Sihon and Og and to take their land. This was not theft; it was divine justice.

Taking the land of Canaan itself was the point in time where the Kingdom of God began to emerge from “within you” into the earth itself. This represented an important milestone in Kingdom history. Earlier, at Mount Horeb, God had already formed the people themselves as citizens of the Kingdom who declared their allegiance to King Yahweh and agreed to abide by His laws. A full kingdom consists of citizens, laws, and a government (king), but one more feature was needed to complete the idea of a kingdom—territory.

When Israel occupied the land of Canaan, they took territory (land), and this completed the requirements of a kingdom. Even so, their territory had boundaries, whereas the Kingdom of God must ultimately include the whole earth and all that He created.

The entire story of Israel under Moses and Joshua must be viewed as an imperfect model of what should come later, for it was done under a covenant that was conditional upon the people’s will and ability to keep their vow in Exodus 19:8. This proved to be an utter failure, as history shows, for that kingdom eventually was destroyed and cast out of the land. God then began to set forth the New Covenant plan that could not fail, and this is what we see happening today.

Though the original plan failed (as God intended), its revelation, laws, and historic patterns prophesied of the new plan that would succeed. It is vital, then, that we obtain a proper perspective from the divine viewpoint. It is wrong to apply the Old Covenant methods of conquest to New Covenant times, because the two covenants each employ a different kind of sword, one physical and the other spiritual.

Likewise, the new plan is to take over the entire earth, whereas the first plan was to establish a model in a land with boundaries known as Canaan.

Today’s Zionists, whether Jewish or Christian, do not seem to have a clear understanding of this, because they support Old Covenant methods. Jewish immigration to Palestine has resulted in the expulsion of Palestinians by violence and force, and these methods are said to be justified by the commands of Moses and the example of Joshua.

They do not comprehend that Joshua’s command under the New Covenant command is found in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20,

¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We see, then, that whereas Moses commanded Israel to take up a physical sword and kill all who refused to leave the land of Canaan, Jesus Christ commands us to take up the sword of the Spirit and baptize all nations into the body of Christ. Baptism is the death of the flesh, as we are told in Romans 6:3, 4,

³ Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

The old pattern no longer applies, for the Old Covenant has been abolished—at least in the eyes of God (Hebrews 8:13). Unfortunately, Old Covenant religion continues to hold captive a multitude of people, including Christians, who think somehow that the New Covenant is just a renewal of the Old Covenant.

Christian support of modern Zionism proves this fact.

On the other hand, our mandate is to overthrow the systems that enslave men to the modern versions of Sihon and Og. Releasing men from the slavery of these giants can come only through the death of the old man of flesh, symbolized by baptism, for only then can men become eligible for resurrection into newness of life in Christ.

Old Covenant religion teaches that the Kingdom of God can come only when all of the unbelievers, heretics, and infidels are killed by those who believe themselves to be righteous. The problem with this method is that no one is righteous (Romans 3:10). Hence, for the Old Covenant to work, all men would need to be destroyed. This is quite impractical, because if all men die, the divine plan fails as well.

The New Covenant goes to the root of the human problem. As we have shown, it is based upon God’s oath, which is fulfilled by the Holy Spirit’s work within the hearts of men. This plan is fully set forth in the Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament. There we find that the death of the old man of sin fulfills the law’s penalty, as we participate in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ by faith. When we identify with Him in His death, we are also allowed to participate in His resurrection life.

The Old Covenant merely sentences sinners and evil men to death and leaves men in the grave. The New Covenant provides a second step called resurrection, which gives them hope (expectation) of new life.

This perspective is important in studying the law. The law was given by Moses in the context of the Old Covenant, and it was enforced by Joshua in his wars with the Canaanites. But we must view the law in the context of the New Covenant, as enforced by Yeshua-Jesus. Lack of understanding in this matter causes even Christians to labor under an Old Covenant mindset, even to the point of supporting the great injustice currently being perpetrated upon the Palestinian people.

Moses continues in Deuteronomy 31:6-8,

⁶ Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. ⁷ Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. ⁸ And the Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear, or be dismayed.”

Here Moses proclaimed publicly that Joshua was to be his successor, called to lead Israel into the land of Canaan. He makes it clear that Joshua would be led by the Lord Himself. This prophesies of our New Covenant Joshua, called Yeshua, or Jesus, who alone is called to lead us into the Kingdom of God.

Up to now, the church has been an incomplete kingdom, for it has lacked territory. In fact, the church (by definition) has recognized and accepted the King, but many have repudiated some of the laws of the Kingdom. This has been due mainly to a lack of understanding, for many can see only an Old Covenant application of those laws. It is our purpose in this study of Deuteronomy to correct those misunderstandings of the law, so that the church can be prepared properly for what is yet to come.

In the big picture the main portion of the Kingdom that has been missing for a long time is territory. However, we are now coming to the place in Kingdom history where this will change, for Daniel says the expansion of territory is the main feature of the age to come.

There have been attempts in the past to enthrone Jesus Christ as King over small portions of land on the earth, but all of these efforts have ultimately succumbed to the divine mandate given to the beast nations since the days of Daniel. The day is coming, however, and now is, when the last manifestation of the beast empires will end, and the people of God will be given authority and jurisdiction over land (nations).

That will be the point in time where Jesus Christ begins to exercise authority over land masses and whole nations as the “Stone Kingdom” begins to grow until it fills the whole earth (Daniel 2:35). In the days of Moses, that did not occur during Israel’s forty years in the wilderness. Neither has it occurred during the church’s forty Jubilees in their own wilderness (33-1993 A.D.).

The Canaanite wars began at the end of the forty years. Those wars took seven years to accomplish, after which time the tribes and families were given their inheritances. In other words, it took years of warfare before the people inherited the Kingdom. So also is it with us. In 1993, after the church concluded its forty Jubilees of wandering, God revealed to us that it was time to engage in spiritual warfare, patterned after the battle of Jericho. We fought many battles in that thirteen-year war, for each of Israel’s circuits around Jericho had prophesied of another year of warfare in our own time.

Hence, our warfare extended from November 21, 1993 to the Day of Atonement, October 7, 2006, ending with a gathering in Babylon, New York to speak the prophetic words from Revelation 16:17, “It is done.” Then we stepped back to watch the collapse of the Babylonian economic system, which is the first major step in setting free the captives of Babylon, so that God’s people may return to rebuild the New Jerusalem and the Kingdom of God on the earth.

The full story of our warfare is recorded in my book, The Wars of the Lord. By the many signs clearly seen by all, we know that we were indeed led by the Spirit and by Jesus Christ (“Joshua”), according to the promise in Deuteronomy 31:6-8. Yet we are blessed to live in New Covenant times, for we are assured of permanent success that will continue into the age to come.