(2) The Fall Brought Chaos Back Into Creation
(3) The Kingdom: God’s Plan to Restore Peace to the World
(4) Jesus Was Sent for This Purpose
(5) What is the Kingdom?
(6) Patterns of the Kingdom in Scripture
- The Garden of Eden
- The Wilderness (Part 4)
- The Promised Land (Part 4)
- The Kingdom of Solomon
- The Days of the Apostles
(7) The Life and Ministry of Jesus
(8) Attributes of the Kingdom - Prosperity and Joy - Peace - Righteousness - Holiness - Knowledge of the LORD
(9) The Millenium Kingdom
(10) The Believer’s Responsibility to Progress the Kingdom
PATTERNS OF THE KINGDOM: The Wilderness
The time Israel spent in the wilderness is one of the patterns in scripture for the kingdom. God provided manna every morning for the people to eat so they did not have to sow, cultivate, or harvest. All the gospel writers record at least one of the miraculous feeding of the multitudes by Jesus because it both identifies Jesus with Moses and testifies to the power of the Kingdom of God. In the wilderness, there was no need to dig wells because the people all drank from the rock that miraculously flowed water and followed the nation wherever it resided, (1 Cor 10:4). The miraculous water is like that which will flow from the throne of God and the Lamb in the New Jerusalem, (Rev 22:1).
After the Exodus, the LORD promised the nation of Israel that He would keep the diseases and infirmities that plagued the Egyptians away from the Hebrew people.
“You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle. ‘The LORD will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you.’” (Deut 7:14-15)
There is a hint of extended life in the wilderness in the persons of Caleb, Joshua, and Moses. The latter two were probably at least forty when they entered the wilderness and lived forty years in the wilderness. Joshua then had strength to lead the nation into the Promised Land and conquer the nations. It was said of Moses when the LORD took him, “Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated,” (Deut 34:7). The Bible indicates that Moses did not age in the presence of the LORD. Nehemiah records that in the wilderness even “their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell,” (Neh 9:21).
Scripture prophesizes of a future time that alludes to the days of Israel in the wilderness, where the people of Israel were even protected from the elements.
“The LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.” (Isa 4:5-6)
In the wilderness, all the needs of the people were met and they were protected against the elements and disease so that the majority of every day and night could be devoted to dwelling in the presence of God Who tabernacled among them. The “flaming fire by night” gives hint to the illumination of God at all times and foreshadows the time in the New Jerusalem when “the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light,” (Rev 21:23-24).
The annual Feast of Tabernacles is a celebration that looks forward to God’s Kingdom on earth foreshadowed by the experience of Israel as they dwelled in tents in the wilderness when the LORD tabernacled among them. I smile when I say this because believers are often too fixated on their “mansion above.” The people in the wilderness lived in tents, which is given as the picture of our mansion above. You see, it is not what you live in, but who you are living with, God Almighty. We are not blessed with the same ability to be removed from cares and burdens in the present world, but we look forward to a time when we will live continually in the presence of the LORD.
The tabernacle gave the people of Israel a unique access to the LORD through Moses. When a man was caught gathering wood on the Sabbath the case was taken directly to the LORD Who instructed the nation to stone the individual who violated the Sabbath, (Num 15:32-35). Ultimately, Moses did not have the stamina or opportunity to hear every case or to bring every question before the LORD. The human nature of Moses became the weak link for each person in the nation to have access to the LORD. In the Millennial Kingdom, the righteous will have access to the LORD.
One sobering fact of the wilderness is the judgment that came on all those who did not believe, (Jude 1:5). No man twenty years old or older who left Egypt entered the Promised Land because of disbelief, except Joshua and Caleb. It is not clear when most of the deaths occurred, whether these died throughout the course of the nation’s wandering in the wilderness or near the end to allow time to raise the new generation. Some speculate that Korah’s rebellion (Num 16), occurred near the end of the wilderness as a reaction to the judgment that was occurring. Miriam, Aaron, and Moses all died during the last few weeks in the wilderness.
A final rebellion, then judgment, followed by the entry into the Promised Land follows the pattern of Revelation. In the Book of Revelations, the end of the Millennial Kingdom is depicted as a time of rebellion, as Satan deceives the nations into attacking “the camp of the saints and the beloved city (Jerusalem),” (Rev 20:9). Satan is defeated and thrown with his followers into the lake of fire. At the conclusion of this conflict, the dead are resurrected, judged, and those whose names are not written in the book of life are also thrown into the lake of fire, (Rev 20:15). At this time, those whose names are written in the book of life are ushered into the new heaven and new earth, where “nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it,” (Rev 21:1-27).
PATTERNS OF THE KINGDOM: The Promised Land
“So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey,” (Ex 3:8)
The Promised Land is seen as a land of abundance, the desired destination of the people of Israel. As the old church hymnal goes, “To Canaan’s land I’m on my way.” I have always wondered why the song refers to the land as “Canaan’s land” and not “Israel” since the Canaanites were a pagan worshiping and child sacrificing civilization. Moses gave the people of Israel a lengthy description of the Promise Land at the end of their journey in the wilderness.
“A land flowing with milk and honey,” (Deut 11:9)
- “A land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven,” (Deut 11:11)
- “A land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year,” (Deut 11:12)
- "He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil,” (Deut 11:14)
- “He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied,” (Deut 11:15)
Sounds like a great opportunity where the "all these blessing" of the LORD "overtake you if you obey." The LORD promised a land where the nation of Israel would be:
- Blessed in every place (v 3 & 6),
- Blessed in the offspring of man, animal, and field (v 4, 8, 11, & 12),
- Blessed in every endeavor of the hands (v 5 & 8),
- Protected from enemies (v 7)
- Established as a holy people (v 9)
- Called by the name of the LORD (v 10)
- A Leader among the nations (v 13)
The United States does not sound like the Promised Land. Maybe it has to do with our level of obedience to the Word of God. The Promised Land contained the essential ingredients of the kingdom previously discussed: Prosperity, Peace, Righteousness, and the presence of the LORD Who would dwell in the midst of the people. All these blessings were promised, but contingent on the obedience of the people, “if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them,” (Deut 28:13-14).
Unfortunately, the people did not remain obedient to the commandments of the LORD. The promises, which had been contingent on the obedience of the people, were deferred, but not lost forever. The prophet Zechariah foretold of a future time when the promises will be fulfilled for the remnant of the people of Israel.
“'But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days, 'declares the LORD of hosts. 'For there will be peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.’” (Zech 8:11-12)
(to be continued - Scott)
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