In the Scripture of Truth, we find the history of the possession of the promised land. "The Promised Land" is a term used to describe the land promised and given by God to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob, whom the Lord  named Israel. The promise was firstly made to Abraham (Genesis 15:18-21), a place where His descendants would serve the Lord.                              

The book of Genesis records six occasions on which God appeared to Abraham to make and/or reinforce the promise of the land of Canaan for an inheritance (Genesis 12:1,7; 13:14-17; 15:17-21; 17:7-8), and then renewed to his son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Israel (Genesis 28:13), Abraham's grandson. 

The Promised Land is described in terms of the territory from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates river, which included 7 nations (Exodus 23:31), (Deuteronomy 7:1), which was given to Abraham’s  descendants after the Exodus from Egyptian bondage (Deuteronomy 1:8). 

The story of the promised land that began with Abraham, followed by God's judgment of wicked Sodom, Gomorrah and its neighbors, which were attacked and defeated by a confederation of kings and taken captive. Among the kings, Assyria (Iraq), and Elam (the Islamic Nation of Iran) their allies and enemies are found. The history included Lot, the nephew of Abraham, in which two things are particularly significant:        

First, Sodom and Gomorra were located in the promised land of Canaan known today as Israel, which cities are part of the land God had promised to Abraham in the Abrahamic covenant which had its beginnings in (Genesis 12:1), significantly right after the account of the tower of Babel in (Genesis 10).

Second, the issues surrounding God's perfect plan of salvation such as the reason of the blessing of the promised land, the pilgrimage of Israel that began in Egypt, the forty years  Israeli people wilderness wandering, as well as the issues surrounding the possession of the promised land, etc., which had a purpose. 

The blessing of a promised land foreshadowed the promise of the Lord to every believer in Jesus Christ. All God’s chosen people, share a common biblical experience. We all receive the promise of the land, and we all go through the wilderness before possessing it! 

The Promised Land to all faithful servants of the Lord is the great city, the holy Jerusalem, which will descend out of heaven from God to reign with Him to eternity (Revelations 21:9-26).

Does the living God make promises of land on these days?                                 

Certainly, God’s word is faithful! As we know according to biblical history, the land of promise was originally made to Abraham.  It is in the same way that it was to him that the same promise will be made by God, to whom in His  sight, is the Abraham of this generation.                                         

It is this writer, that by the will of God, being that I am a descendant of Abraham (an Israelite), the person who is to receive the land of promise by God that He made since 2004. And I have been in the wilderness of life since early that year.                      

The Keys of the Kindom of Heaven

 

In standing in the right side of past and present biblical history, many are the issues to be taken into consideration to take Possession of the Promised Land in our generation: 

(1) the keys of the kindom of heaven,  

(2) the wilderness wandering, 

(3) the battle at Jerico,  

(4) and the gradual victory that Israel had possessing the promised land      

Considering the above written peace of Scripture, as read in (Matthew 16:15-19): He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” - Just as Peter had confessed the identity of Jesus Christ, the Lord revealed the identity and role of Peter on His church. Peter, who's name in Greek is called Cephas, which means rock, he himself, was the rock whom the Lord would build His church on. The rock spoken in the context of a life founded on a proper relationship to Christ. It was to Peter that the Lord Jesus Christ as the door of the sheep (John 10:7-9), had promised to give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

The promise of the keys of the kingdom of heaven spoken about by Jesus, was an ancient prophecy that He Himself fulfilled in the apostle Peter.

The keys of the kingdom of heaven are specific items of authority of God's work on earth.  The Lord said that Peter shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open. In here, the Lord was referring to the authority over His church.

Certainly, it was Peter, whom Christ had appointed as the first leader on the church of God, and had given all authority to shepherd His people. When Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, we see Peter rising in the authority of the Lord to preach the first sermon (Acts 2:1-42), and leading the meetings in the ancient church of the Lord among other things(Acts 15:1-30).

According to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God is on earth at the present time.  For He said:  The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:20-21), in your heart indeed.

Most churches do not much think on the keys of the kingdom of God.  The Scripture of Truth (Daniel 10:21), uses a key as a symbol of authority. In (Isaiah 22:21- 25) we read an example:  The key of the house of David, I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.  A trusted servant of the Lord would be given authority over the house of Judah (God’s Temple). Therefore, he would had the authority to open or close the king's house.

Also, in (Revelations 3:7), the Lord, Himself says: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”. This is the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ over the House of God given by God the Father.

Likewise is in our generation, God continues to do the same work in His church. By showing me a vision of the golden key, in 2004, the Lord has made the same promise of the keys of the kingdom of heaven to me, appointing me as a leader of His Times Square Church, NY, giving me all authority to shepherd His people thereon.

Once again the Scripture is to be fulfilled, and believers will see the prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled in me when I receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven over His Times Square Church.

According to the word of God, I am also the rock whom the Lord will build His church on. Again, the rock spoken in the context of a life founded on a proper relationship to Christ. So that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against His church. And whatever she binds on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever she looses on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:15-19) NKJV

The Wilderness Wandering

In understanding the revelation of the word of God, the Israelites Wilderness Wandering is a biblical unavoidable experience in the life of His chosen people. 

The history of the experiences of the Israelites coming out of Egyptian bondage foreshadowed the liberation of those that are being oppressed by the Egyptian ruler, and taking those who accept Him as their Savior as taking them out of the bondage of a tyrant ruler and out of the world to a life of freedom, free of oppression, free of the sin of the world under His sovereign will and unique doctrine.

It is in the wilderness that the Lord has given a great amount of revelations to His servants such as Moses and Joshua. So it is in our days in the wilderness of life.

By personal experience I can testify, that the prophecies that the Lord Jesus Christ has given me to speak are many, which include the blessings and promises He has made to me that I received in the wilderness. 

One of the prophecies, is the promised land where I will receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven after being in the wilderness just as Israel received the promised land after being 40 years in the wilderness.

I have understood the Lord's will. The promise given to Abraham, is to me too, as it is the story of Moses leading Israel out Egypt into the wilderness and eventually into the promised land is exactly what all Christian people's walk is supposed to be about. Without a doubt, all believers in the Lord also share the experience of a promise and FREEDOM, from the bondage of sin to wandering in the wilderness, just as the chosen people of Israel did.                                                 

It is one of the greatest stories in the Bible, when God miraculously delivered the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. This was the moment in history when God's  oppressed chosen defied all oppositions. In essence, as it as in the past, it will be during this generation, the enslaved race will be liberated from a powerful government on earth—one who’s tyrannical grasp was unspeakably cruel and degrading. Egypt was a nation where one man held the life of every citizen in his hand—and he had no regret in executing his judgment.                                            

Israel history portrayed our future experiences, when God is to deliver us from the rule of tyrant rulers. The first book of Exodus illustrates the lengths he went about dealing with the problem. There, Pharaoh oppressed and abused the Lord's people, and attempted to commit the the greatest acts of genocide of all time. However, God intervened and the rest is a history of triumph (Exodus 7:1-25; 13:1-20). Israel would become a model to all people who would eventually become God’s children.                                                             

The apostle Paul relates how all Jews forefathers were under the cloud, and how they all passed through the sea when getting out of Egyptian bondage (I Corinthians 10:1-3). Our forefathers had the wilderness experience in common. David was such a man. He spent many years in caves and hide-outs in the wilderness. Much of the Book of Psalms was written as a result of his sufferings. Elijah was another such person, and so was John the Baptist (Mark 1:1-8). The latter is referred to as "a voice of one crying in the desert..." (Matthew 3:3).                                                                                                                                              

Even Jesus was there, coming directly out of the wilderness to begin his ministry in the Galilee (Luke 4:1-13). Their examples were meant to teach us as we also pass through the wilderness (I Corinthians 10:11). 

The temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11) gives us the teaching for learning and surviving our own wilderness experience. Satan first tempted him in the area of provision. Jesus responded: "It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." In the wilderness there is no natural bread nor any way of producing it. We have to learn the hard way that God is the source of everything. We have to learn that his word is faithful and we can stake our lives upon it. The Israelites received miraculous bread from heaven throughout their wilderness experience. Jesus, after his testing, was visited by angels who came and ministered to his needs (Matthew 4:11). God keep us in the wilderness until we understand that we should no longer concern ourselves with bread and provisions. We are to learn not to worry, but to live like the birds of the air and the lilies of the fields. We see it in (Matthew 6:25-34): “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;  and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

There was a second area of temptation that Jesus endured. It was the area of tempting or testing God. Jesus responded once more to the devil with the word of God that says, "It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’" (Matthew 4:7).

When we look back over Israel’s history it convicting that so many of her blessings came from the wilderness.  Not only does the wilderness breed character; it also breeds humility. When Moses lived in Egypt he was a man mighty in word and deed (Acts 7:22). However, when God finished with him many years in the wilderness, Moses was unable to talk and had to have Aaron go along as his spokesman. God humbled him and he became the meekest man on earth (Numbers  12:3). Therefore, little by little, God was able to do mighty things through him. God desires to break down our self-life in exactly this way.                    

While in the wilderness, the Israelites were guilty on many occasions of tempting God. They complained about their heavenly food and water, and were fearful to enter the promised land. They tested God to the point that they were finally sentenced to wander forty years in the wilderness. 

Through the Holy Scriptures, we learn, after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Joshua and the people of Israel, by the power of God, had crossed the stopped waters of the Jordan River and now were ready to begin to conquer the land of Canaan (Israel).  Joshua was an experienced military leader, but nothing in all his military training could have prepared him for God's plan to take Jericho.  He would have to act on faith and trust God for the victory (Joshua 1:1-18 -  6:1-27).

In the context of the Israelites’ experience "wilderness," we are referring to the wilderness of life as the times of God’s tests and trials in the life of the people.  Because we must through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).          

Thus, there is freedom from the bondage of sin to every believer in Jesus Christ, there is a wilderness to wonder, and there is a promise to every believer to take possession of a great land.                                        

The Battle at Jericho

After the history of the wilderness wandering, the book of Joshua describes who the Israelites entered and took possession of the land of Canaan. It explains, how God went about fulfilling His promise to take possession of the Lord’s properties in the hands of others. Seven (7) nations. After the initial crossing of the Jordan and mighty destruction of Jericho, the narrative present us with military campaigns with a partial mighty conquering of Canaan, known today as Israel (Joshua 2:20-23).                    

Do not doubt about it, God’s blessing of a promised land He first made to Abraham and the mighty possession of the promised land also foreshadowed both, the promise that God made to whom in His sight is the Abraham of our generation, and the powerful way He manifests Himself to make it happen!                                      

As Israel did it to possess that promised land, we must come through the wilderness and be freed from the bondage of sin first. God do knows what He does for that purpose, so he can humble us as His word says and test our hearts to see if we will actually keep His commandments (Deuteronomy 8:1-10).                                                             

It is after being freed from the bondage of sin and after being in the wilderness for about 22 years, going through many tribulations since knowing God, that the Lord will bring me to possess Times Square Church “the promised land”.                               

The wilderness can be a lonely place, but a glorious one! Many of us try to escape the wilderness and God’s plan of testing for our lives. We try to minister only in our natural strength as Moses once did (Exodus 2:11-15). Such ministry is useless. I think I would rather spend forty years in the wilderness and minister only one day in the Lord’s strength, than to spend one day in the wilderness and minister forty years in my own strength.                              

The wilderness with all its testing is precious (I Peter 1:7). When we think back over all those trials, it often brings tears to our eyes. It softens our hearts. It is such a vital part of the salvation experience, and it deeply affects the way we relate to and minister to others.     

In the beginning of Genesis chapter 14, the kings are described. In Biblical history, the leader of these kings that came in against the land that God had promised to Abraham; a man by the name of Amraphel king of Shinar is listed as the first one. This is Amraphel king of Shinar, a city in land Babylon, the place where the only earthly king of kings the Lord had said to has been from (Ezekiel 26:7).                                                                                                     

It seems that by listing this king first, God as the author of the Bible, viewed him as the earthly king of kings, the real leader of this confederacy.  The confederacy of king who fought Abraham, were the losers, defeated by him in the power of God Himself (Genesis 14:1-17).                                  

When the Lord’s day, month, year, and hour comes, after preparing His way in the wilderness, God will bring me to possess the promised land. The Possession of the Promised Land is characterized by following a pattern of the Holy Scriptures, "the Bible." This is the use of force to make it happen.

Gradual Victory in Possessing the Promised Land    

The victory that the chosen people of God had possessing the promised land of the Lord, was and will always be a gradual one. The book of Joshua narrates it from the beginning to the end.