Christ is our good land, and God wants that we would gain Christ, but there’s a layer of devilish, demonic forces between us and the good land; therefore, there’s an exceedingly real spiritual warfare in which we must engage – we must fight the battle to gain the all-inclusive Christ for the building up of the church.
There are two aspects of the land of Canaan both in type and in our experience; one aspect is the richness of the land, and the other is the need for warfare to cast out and exterminate the evil forces in the land.
Christ is all-inclusive and extensive, and He has been given to us to be our portion; we all as believers in Christ are qualified to partake of our allotted portion in the light.
However, between us and the all-inclusive Christ, there is a layer of devilish forces which hinder us and frustrate us from enjoying Christ.
The two aspects of the significance of Canaan in typology are spoken of in Ephesians; in this sense, the book of Joshua in the Old Testament can be compared to Ephesians, because both books are a record of “Canaan”.
In Joshua, we see that, as soon as the children of Israel entered Canaan, they enjoyed the riches of the land and also engaged in warfare (Josh. 5:12; 6:1-21).
Similarly, Eph. 3:8 speaks of the riches of Christ and 1:3, 2:6, and 6:12 speak of the heavenlies; this indicates that in the church we should enjoy the riches of Christ and engage in spiritual warfare.
The satanic forces are keeping God’s people from enjoying and partaking of their God-given inheritance.
Christ has already defeated the enemy, but the testimony of this victory, the proclaiming of this victory, is our responsibility as the church.
We need to realize that we don’t just stroll into the good land and enjoy it; the land needs to be taken by warfare, for the enemy will not allow us to enter into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ.
The children of Israel had to fight the Canaanite tribes, and there were also the Nephilim there; they were not backing out, and the Israelites were there to stay, so warfare it was.
Even the tribes that chose their preferred portion beyond the River, even had to go and fight with the rest of the people until all the people of Israel entered into the possession of the land.
We may enjoy something of the all-inclusive Christ, but this is not enough; we need to fight the spiritual warfare for all the saints, so that all the saints may enter into their possession and enjoyment of Christ.
To Possess the Land for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose, we must Engage in Spiritual Warfare to Defeat the Satanic Forces
In order for us to possess the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land, we need to engage in spiritual warfare to defeat the satanic forces (Josh. 6:21).
To engage means to actively participate. We need to realize the necessity of spiritual warfare; to realize means that something becomes real to us – the necessity of spiritual warfare needs to become real to us.
It is not an obligation – it is a necessity; we need to realize the necessity of spiritual warfare, a warfare between Satan’s kingdom and God’s kingdom (Matt. 6:10; 7:21; 12:26, 28; Isa. 14:12-14).
When the people of Israel was ready to take possession of the land of Canaan, the land was filled with demon-possessed people, idol worshippers, and the Nephilim (Num. 13:33).
The Nephilim were a mixture of fallen angels and fallen men; fallen angels defiled and polluted the human race by joining themselves with men and producing the Nephilim.
Because the Nephilim dwelt in the land of Canaan, God commanded the children of Israel to take over this land and to destroy every living being so that the human race could be cleared up (Deut. 7:1-2).
This is why the occupants had to be removed; they were not normal people that would simply surrender to those entitled to the land – they were one with Satan.
The people dwelling in the land of Canaan were one with the enemy and were the expression of the enemy, so they had to be terminated.
In spiritual significance, we don’t fight against flesh and blood but against the enemy who utilizes them for his evil purpose. God wants to clear the human race, for He cares about man.
He cares for man and He feels for man, and He is definitely not happy with what is happening today, especially with the things taught in public schools concerning gender and marriage, for men are used by the enemy to speak lies to our young ones.
The Lord wants normality; even in the coming kingdom, there will be the nations that are restored to God’s original creation before the fall. God loves human beings; He created us to express Him and represent Him, and when there’s utter degradation, defilement, and corruption of humanity, He must come in to wipe it out.
According to the divine thought, the nations in the land of Canaan had to be exterminated because they were devilish and mingled with demons (Josh. 11:21-22; 14:6-14).
The Canaanites signify not only the fallen angels but also human beings who have joined themselves to the evil spirits, to the satanic power of darkness in the air (Num. 14:45).
The fact that Israel had to fight against the inhabitants of the land portrays the invisible spiritual warfare that is taking place behind the visible scene on earth (see Dan. 10:10-21; Eph. 6:10-20).
We have a glimpse of this in Daniel; when he realized that the prophecy concerning the return of Israel to the good land was about to be fulfilled, he started to pray – he prayed an intense prayer for twenty-one days.
Then an angel from God appeared to him, and later Christ Himself was manifested to him.
The angel said that, from the time that he started to pray, there was a battle in the air between the forces ruling over this country and that country, and it took twenty-one days for the angelic messenger to bring the message from God to Daniel.
This shows us that there’s an invisible spiritual warfare behind the visible scene on earth.
There’s a clear scene seen on earth today, and there are a lot of things happening here and there; behind the scene, however, there is an invisible spiritual warfare taking place, for the forces of evil directly oppose God, His purpose, and His people.
So in our prayers as the church we need to increasingly fight the battle, having the realization of the necessity of spiritual warfare, for the evil forces are opposing and frustrating God and His purpose.
It is crucial for us to see that, behind the scene, there’s a spiritual struggle taking place, a struggle that is not seen with human eyes.
When we see this, we will continue to pray for many practical things, for the needs of the saints, and for the situations that require prayer, but increasingly we will enter into the prayer ministry of the church to fight the spiritual battle for the kingdom of God to advance.
We may even ask the Lord to teach us to pray with this realization, that spiritual warfare is a necessity, for God to fulfill His purpose.
Lord Jesus, cause us to see and realize that there’s an invisible spiritual warfare taking place behind the visible scene on earth. Bring us into a realization of the spiritual struggle taking place between the kingdom of God and the evil forces in the kingdom of Satan. Oh Lord, how much we desire to enter into the enjoyment and experience of the all-inclusive Christ, our allotted portion with the saints in the light! We stand with You, Lord, and we stand with the church, to engage in spiritual warfare to defeat the satanic forces. May we and all the saints enter into the enjoyment of our allotted portion of the all-inclusive Christ!
We must Fight the Battle to Gain the All-inclusive Christ for the Building up of the Church
The fighting of the children of Israel against the Canaanites that they might possess and enjoy the good land typifies the spiritual warfare of the church as a whole, including all the members, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies (Eph. 6:12) so that the saints may enjoy Christ as the all-inclusive land. Amen!
However, who among believers today sees this? Who prays for this? Who enters into spiritual warfare, standing on the ground of the church, to gain the all-inclusive Christ?
Do we have a sufficient realization of the necessity of spiritual warfare for the people of God to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ?
We may be confident that we have it; we may talk about Christ, we may enjoy something of Christ here and there, and we may think we have entered into this. Oh, Lord!
May the Lord make us poor in spirit to ask Him to teach us to pray to fight the battle to gain the all-inclusive Christ for the building up of the church. Christ is our good land – He has been prepared and given to us by God, and God wants us to enjoy and gain Christ.
However, there’s a layer of devilish, demonic forces between us and the good land, and these are distracting us, frustrating us, and hindering us from enjoying the all-inclusive Christ.
For us to take possession of the good land for our enjoyment and the fulfilment of God’s purpose, we must defeat the satanic forces (Col. 1:12-13; 2:15; Eph. 3:18; 6:11-12).
The enemy is such a thief; he’s such a robber. He has interfered with the saints of God for such a long time.
We need to realize this and counterattack, for he has robbed us long enough. If we were to take possession of the good land for our enjoyment, we must defeat these satanic forces.
There is an exceedingly real spiritual warfare in which we must engage.
We as the church and as the members of the church must fight the battle to gain the all-inclusive Christ for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, the new man, and the kingdom of God (1 Tim. 6:12a; 2 Tim. 2:3-4; Col. 1:13, 18; 2:19; 3:10-11).
We need to enter into our rightful possession, the enjoyment of our allotted portion of the all-inclusive Christ; when we enjoy Christ to the fullest extent both personally and corporately, we build up the church, we are built up as the Body of Christ, we become the one new man, and we are prepared to be the bride of Christ to bring the Lord back.
The more we are constituted with the all-inclusive Christ, the more we are prepared to be the bride of Christ, and we are experienced in warfare, for we fight the battle to gain the all-inclusive Christ together with all the saints for the building up of the Body.
We want to end this age for the Lord to come back and bring in His kingdom; for this, we need to be the corporate warrior to defeat the satanic forces that hinder and frustrate God’s people from enjoying the all-inclusive Christ.
If we would take possession of Christ for our enjoyment, we must be a corporate warrior – the church as the Body of Christ, fighting against and defeating the satanic forces so that we can gain more of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ. Amen!
In order for us and the saints to gain Christ and enjoy Christ, spiritual warfare is involved; we must fight the spiritual battle to enjoy Christ by standing in the victory of Christ.
As we enjoy Christ and fight the spiritual warfare, the kingdom of God is being set up and spread so that Christ can come back to inherit the earth (Eph. 3:8; 4:16; Matt. 24:14; Rev. 11:15).
May we join ourselves to the Lord, the One who has won the victory over the enemy, and to one another in the Body to fight the battle to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
Lord Jesus, we want to enjoy You as the good land and take possession of our God-allotted portion of the all-inclusive Christ. We stand one with You and one with the saints in the Body to engage in spiritual warfare for the enjoyment of Christ. Amen, Lord, we want to fight the battle to gain the all-inclusive Christ for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, the new man, and the kingdom of God. Amen! The enemy has robbed us long enough! We stand against him and we stand with the Lord! We want to take possession of Christ for our enjoyment, so we give ourselves to You to be formed as Your army, the corporate warrior, the church as the Body of Christ! Amen, Lord, we fight for ourselves and for all the saints to gain more of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ so that the kingdom of God may spread on earth and Christ can come back to inherit the earth!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, The Life-study of Numbers (msgs. 21, 32), by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 2, Possessing the Land of Canaan by Defeating the Satanic Forces.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Conflict today is fierce, / The strength of Satan more; / The cry of battle calling now / Is louder than before. / The rebel voice of hell / E’en stronger now becomes; / But list, the midnight cry resounds, / Behold, I quickly come! (Hymns #893)
– ’Tis the Church on Christ established / Satan shall not overpow’r; / ’Tis the Body built together / Which resists the evil pow’r. / In the Body, by the Headship, / Sitting in the heavenlies, / Struggle with the wicked spirits / And the principalities. (Hymns #885)
– Let’s take the land! The land that God has given us; / In all our living, Christ can be so much: / To take this land, we have th’ equipment that we need— / The blood, the Word, the Spirit, and the church…. / We have the church! All saints are needed to possess / The fullness of this vast reality; / Together we will gain this all-inclusive Christ, / And He to us our everything will be. (Hymns #1287)
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