Exodus 3:7-10 7 The LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. 8 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, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 9 Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Brothers and sisters, early on, God who created everything selected one people as a model for the fulfillment of His providence of the human cultivation, and they are the people of Israel. And in the Old Testament is their history. Through their history, God wanted to show to all the peoples in the world His heart and His will. He reveals to us who He is and what He wants from us, human beings.
Namely, as we explore how the Israelites received blessings or faced disasters in their relationship with Him, we can exactly figure out God-pleasing will. From today, I’ll deliver messages based on Senior Pastor’s sermon series, The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey, preached back in 2001. These messages are also part of the Israelites’ history and they describe the process of their conquering Canaan, the blessed land God promised them.
But they are not just the history of Israel but essential messages for all of us, God’s children. Seeing how they conquered Canaan, we can see what could happen in our journey towards heaven and realize what we should be vigilant against, and how we should rely on God in our march of faith. Also, the messages have a lot in common with the fulfillment of Father God’s providence regarding this church in the end time.
Preparing to Conquer the Blessed Land
Now is the time to make bread of these words, rely on Father God’s promise, and boldly march on with faith. May this message help you examine whether you’ve been well prepared to conquer the blessed land and help you discover the areas where you fall short. I urge you to find out what you have to do for the conquest of Canaan and make up your mind.
So, I hope that each one of you will play major roles in fulfilling Father God’s providence and become the pillars of New Jerusalem. As you apply the story of the conquest of Canaan to your life of faith, rather than considering it their own history, you can experience God’s work of creating things out of nothing, reviving the dead, and making impossible things possible and miserable situations prosperous. I pray that you’ll obey this message and accomplish it with your faith so that you can be prosperous in your families, business and workplaces.
Before the Israelites entered The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey, they suffered mistreatment and slavery in Egypt for as long as 400 years. Let me briefly explain its background. God started off the human cultivation wit Adam. As mentioned earlier, God selected one people as an instrument to proclaim to the world His power and will and that He is living. The people started with Abraham. God called him, giving him the covenants of blessing as we find in the Bible,
And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; (Genesis 12:2)
The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:7)
The words were given when Abraham was called by God at age 75, left his home, and settled in Canaan. It’s not that he’d grown into a tribe or a people. But, God told Abraham in advance that the Israelites would suffer slavery for 400 years or the events to unfold after that.
God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. 14 But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. (Genesis 15:13-14)
The Choice of the Heart: Jacob and Joseph
After many years passed, when Abraham turned 100 years old, he gave birth to his son according to God’s promise. Abraham’s son Isaac gave birth to two twins, Esau and Jacob. As the first son, Esau had the right to receive God’s blessing, but he didn’t cherish it. Saying that he was famished to death, he sold that blessing for a bowl of stew.
He didn’t cherish his right but neglected it. You may think of Esau as stupid. But, you have to think whether you’re like Esau.
As the Bible says, “that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal,” (Hebrews 12:16)
God turned His face away from Esau who acted in godless ways, not longing for spiritual blessings. But even today, we see many of such cases. There are people who don’t keep the Sabbath for money, fame, and authority and those who’ve abandoned their God-given duties for personal reasons. They trade their precious duties for worldly things or for personal feelings.
In heaven, they would see how precious their duties are and what a blessing they are. Because they can’t see the rewards right now, they trade it for fleshly things. They’re like Esau. On the contrary, his brother Jacob had a proper inner heart before God, by which he longed for spiritual blessings and tried to take it by force to the very end.
God planned to fulfill His providence through His offspring and refined him for many years. After the trials, He gave him a new name, Israel. And, his descendants are the people of Israel, the people of God. But at that point, Jacob’s family hadn’t grown big enough to set up a nation. Even as they entered Egypt, they were only a family of 70.
To make a nation of this small tribe, God proceeded with His work with wisdom unfathomable by man. God Himself worked to establish a nation. First, God had Jacob’s 11th son, Joseph, enter Egypt which was a world power at the time, and saved Egypt from a huge disaster through him. Why did God specifically choose Joseph out of Jacob’s 12 sons?
It was because only Joseph was worthy of carrying out that precious duty. God had Joseph sold into slavery and then imprisoned with false accusations. While the Bible says God was with Joseph and made him prosper, but why didn’t He protect him? It was because his hardships were part of His plan. If God had kept it from happening, His great will wouldn’t have been fulfilled. That’s why God had him sold into slavery, misunderstood, and imprisoned.
That way, according to God’s providence, Joseph rose to the highest position next to that of the king at just age 30 and equipped himself with all the capabilities of taking care of the great country of Egypt and its neighbors. When he was first sold as a slave, God had him learn economics being in charge of all affairs in a big household. After he was imprisoned on false charges, God had him learn politics, how to deal with people, and many things like people’s falsehood, craftiness, deceiving skills and tricks.
After Joseph became a vessel capable of managing national economy and embracing everything with great love and virtues, God put him in the highest position next to that of the king. We can see that things proceeded exactly according to God’s plan. God instantly established him as the leader and had him save Egypt from a huge disaster. Back then, the Near East region suffered a great famine that lasted 7 years.
Even with advanced civilizations, a seven year famine would cause tremendous chaos. You must’ve watched on television many people famished to death due to long drought and little children who are just skin and bones in Africa. People send relief from all over the world, but the situation is helpless.
Without advanced civilizations or technologies, a seven year famine must’ve meant death, and it could’ve brought destruction to Egypt which was a world power. Yet, with God-given wisdom, Joseph knew about the disaster in advance and prepared, thereby saving all Egyptians from it. Being greatly indebted to Joseph, the Egyptian King highly welcomed Joseph’s family to move to Egypt.
Persecution and the Rise of Moses
Thanks to Joseph, even during the seven-year famine, the Israelites could live peacefully being provided with food in Egypt, and they settled down there and multiplied. But later, problems began. After Joseph and the king who was indebted to Joseph died, a new king who didn’t remember Joseph’s favor ruled Egypt.
Since Joseph, the Israelites had multiplied and become great in number. To the new Egyptian king, the Israelites, a foreign people flourishing in his land, felt like a threat. That’s how he began to persecute the Israelites. He forced them into hard labor and later he even issued a decree that all newborn male babies be killed. He intended not to allow their descendants to live in the land. As the male babies were to be killed, naturally they would end up with no descendants.
God did say that He would make a big nation of the Israelites, but they were in danger of extermination. And, Moses, a man of God, was born in that painful and bleak time. According to the king’s command, Moses was supposed to be killed as soon as he was born. But, God moved the hearts of Moses’ parents so that they would hide the baby Moses and let him survive. And amazingly, accordingly to His plan, Moses was raised in the Egyptian palace.
Moses’ parents secretly hid him for three months but as they could do so, they put him in a wicker basket and left it on the Nile River. But, the Egyptian princess discovered Moses on the river. She had pity on him, took him to the palace and raised him as a royal member. As you carefully read the Bible, you can find that God already arranged even small matters before time began.
How did Pharaoh’s daughter come down to bathe at the river with her maidens and discover the baby Moses right after he was left on the river? This isn’t a coincidence. Neither was it Moses’ luck. Everything had been in God’s plan since before time began and they happened accordingly. What’s more amazing is, under God’s intervention, Moses’ own mother was allowed to raise him as his nurse. Suppose he was raised by a different woman. How could she have taught him about God the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
How could she have told him that Moses was an Israelite, not an Egyptian? Only his own mother was able to do it, and God had her raise him as his nurse. All this process was never a coincidence but only possible under the providence of the almighty God. God saved Moses who would fulfill His providence from death, had him receive good education in the Pharaoh’s palace and let him learn about his people and about God in greatest detail from his own mother.
Being a prince of the powerful nation, Moses didn’t become complacent. Instead, he was concerned about his people suffering. Meanwhile, he got involved in a big incident. Seeing a Hebrew beaten by an Egyptian, he killed the Egyptian. Even though he was an Egyptian prince, Hebrews were his people. That’s why he murdered that Egyptian who bullied his fellow Hebrew.
Refined for the Journey to The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey
By this incident, Moses had to run away to a wilderness. He lost all the honor as a prince of a powerful nation. There were no more delicacies and luxury. What lay ahead of him was a rough life in the wilderness. All his plans for the future and all the hope he’d had for his own people were gone. At first, he must’ve felt so miserable, insecure, and disappointed about his situation.
But with passing of time, his pride or confidence as a prince faded away and he adjusted to his life as an ordinary shepherd. As he adjusted to living with his in-laws, he learned to figure out others’ feelings and serve them. In doing so, he lowered and shattered himself. It looked like he forgot about his past.
In a sense, Moses became totally useless in accomplishing God’s work. When he was a prince, at least, he was bold and confident. With his authority, he was capable of doing something great for the Israelites. But then, he became a fugitive whose life was being threatened. He was just a worthless man who couldn’t do anything for God.
But, this was under God’s plan and this is His way to refine His men. David used be respected by people, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands'” But as Saul got jealous of him, he became a fugitive. Just to save his life, he even pretended to be a mad man drooling. As people belittled him, tried to capture and kill him, and reported his location to the king, he repeatedly had to run away. God turned him into a worthless man. But, through these trials, David achieved profound goodness and a great heart, thereby making his nation rich and strong and being loved by God.
The same went for Apostle Paul. He was from a rich and honorable family entitled to a Roman citizenship. He acquired his knowledge under Gamaliel, one of the greatest teachers. He was a healthy young man who seemed to lack nothing. But after he met our Lord, he had to give up all things. He had to give up his honor, didn’t exercise his right as a Roman citizenship, and turned all what he’d learned into nothing. But God didn’t stop there. He had him stoned, abandoned, and criticized by his own people. He had him suffer scorn and mistreatment.
Even so, Paul didn’t get discouraged. He relied more on God and communicated with Him in depth. Receiving power and strength from above, he turned into a person able to do God’s work. It’s not that he received power from the beginning. As he shattered himself through trials, he got more strength from above. As he suffered many hardships, he prayed all the more fervently and overcame the trials well. So, he was given power. But, God gave him a thorn as well.
By putting a thorn in his flesh, God prevented him from being arrogant for performing power. So, he prayed and humbled himself more, thereby performing greater power. Thanks to such trials, he became a great servant of power, carried out his duties well and finally died a martyr. Thus, all trials and persecutions turned out to be blessings.
It was the same with Moses. What we should deeply realize is that God chose him to fulfill His providence not when he was full of pride as a prince but when he had completely humbled himself as a shepherd in the wilderness. This is the kind of person God wants. He fulfills His providence through individuals who don’t rely on his wisdom and capability but only depend on the almighty God, shatter their thoughts, deny themselves, and show complete obedience. With man’s capability and thoughts which are the third-dimensional, we can neither beat the fourth-dimensional enemy devil nor fulfill His providence.
Complete Obedience and Divine Power
So, learning to rely wholly on God requires us to go through trials. Before meeting God, lying on his sickbed for 7 years, Senior Pastor realized that we cannot even keep our own life on our own. He also realized the utter vanity of fleshly love.
He learned that the love of parents, brothers, friends, and neighbors can change and they can betray you if things go against their benefit. When happiness in his family, hope for his future, and pride in himself had completely fallen apart and when he strongly felt that he was indeed nothing, God reached out to him. God healed him of many diseases in an instant. When He called him to be His servant, Senior Pastor had nothing.
He didn’t have enough money to set up a church and had no preaching skills. He was too old to enter a seminary. Most of all, he lacked memory power to study. He was introverted and too shy, which was a big problem. Even so, God called him and guided him each step of the way, making him a servant of God’s power. Also, when God first called him, He commanded something most difficult to obey. It concerned the financial issue.
Having been sick for 7 years, he had great amounts of debt. He and Ms. Boknim Lee could barely pay the monthly interest with both of their incomes. But, God commanded him to stop working, focus on preparing to become a pastor, and have Ms. Boknim work alone. If he did so, God said He would bless them with income greater than when they both worked. He said, “If you obey, I’ll give you a measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over, so that you won’t run out of rice and money.”
Senior Pastor and Ms. Boknim Lee obeyed accordingly. As a result, God blessed them with income a few times greater than when they worked together. That way, they could pay off all debts in a few months. That’s how God resolved their financial issues. When God called him to be His servant, He also said, “Whenever you go, I’ll be with you. Whenever you go crossing the rivers, mountains, and seas, I’ll prove that I’m with you through signs and wonders.” And, God did just as He said.
The reason that all this has been possible is that Senior Pastor utterly realized the futility of flesh and realized in the depths of his heart that he couldn’t do anything but only God can. So, he showed complete obedience. Even in severe trials, he never harbor resentment or lost his faith but only showed God-pleasing goodness and love and marched on in faith. Like this, God looks for people of obedience who can do things according to His will, not relying on man’s ways or capability.
The Bible says, 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29
Another verse tells us, Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 1 Corinthians 3:18
Thus, we should quickly shatter all our fleshly thoughts and theories and be able to obey God’s will completely.
I also urge you to possess spiritual faith of relying on God rather than looking at your reality. In order to obey God and fulfill His providence, even Moses needed to go through trials during which he stayed in the wilderness for 40 years and utterly shattered himself. During that time, he deeply realized that he couldn’t do anything by his wisdom, capabilities, and ways. As he looked after the sheep, he cultivated patience and meekness by which he could harbor millions of people. Only after that did God show up before him.
The Call to Lead Others to The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey
As Moses turned 80 after the 40 years of trials, God called him. Today’s passage is God’s word to Moses after the trials, “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” Even after Moses ran away to the wilderness, persecutions against the Israelites and their forced labor had continued in Egypt. Amidst their hardship, they bitterly lamented and cried out and their cry rose up to God. So, God decided to save Israel, and to accomplish this task, He showed up before Moses.
But Moses was disturbed. He was a completely powerless shepherd. Even if he was to go back to Egypt, he would have no support base because it had been 40 years since he left. How could he possibly come before Pharaoh, the king of a powerful nation and take back the people enslaved by him and his people? There was no way the king would give them up. Also, Moses wasn’t certain that the people would trust and follow him.
Knowing that Moses had such concerns, God didn’t just send him. He told Moses in detail what to tell them. God also told him what to say to the Egyptian king, that the king would refuse to let the people go, and that He would send down various plagues to move his heart. God even told him that by the time the Israelites left Egypt, the Egyptians would give them articles of silver and articles of gold and clothing.
God didn’t just promise him with words but showed him convincing evidences. As Moses threw his staff according to God’s command, it became a serpent. As Moses grabbed the serpent by its tail, it turned into the staff. Also, as Moses put his hand into his bosom and took it out, it was leprous like snow. But, as he put his hand into his bosom again and took it out, it was fully restored. After he heard the words of God and witnessed these signs, he only obeyed God’s word. And, holding his staff, he departed for Egypt.
Spiritually, the staff means faith. People with weak legs depend on a cane in walking. Likewise, even when something seems impossible with our capability, if we have faith in the almighty God, we are more than able to make it possible. Because Moses knew well about his shortcomings, he had fear and embarrassment. But only trusting in God, he went on an adventurous journey risking his own life. In the next session, we’ll talk about the events following his arrival in Egypt.
Brothers and sisters, when Moses was sent to the Israelites to fulfill God’s providence, God proved that he was a man of God not just with words but through accompanying signs. As people saw all that Moses said fulfilled and witnessed manifestations of power which were impossible by man, no one could deny that the living God was with him.
The Bible says, “Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.” (Exodus 7:1) Through the tremendous power guaranteed by God, Moses was like God to the Israelites as well as to Pharaoh.
Even to this day, the people of Israel have extremely honored the name of Moses and highly respected him. Like this, God lifts up and exalts His people. Deuteronomy 18:22 tells us how we can check whether someone’s word spoken in the name of God is true.
“When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”
God sent Moses 3400 years ago and delivered the Israelites out of Egypt. Also, generation after generation, God has sent individuals with His evidences to save His people. Even today when the world is pitch dark spiritually, Father God wants to lead His people through individuals who have no self and completely obey.
God bestows His power on such men of God and have them proclaim Him and lead numerous souls from Egypt, the world, into The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey which is heaven. I ask that you figure out Father God’s providence for this church and the world in this end time and march on and conquer Canaan with more perfect faith.
Since you’ve seen and experienced numerous works of power and heard the secrets of the spiritual realm, your destination shouldn’t be just heaven but its most beautiful place, New Jerusalem. If you have such faith, you are more than able to overcome any problems lying before us with faith and trust. I pray in our Lord’s name that the messages on the Conquest of Canaan will lead you to take the Land of Canaan both spiritually and physically and enjoy the blessings from The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey.
