Page 62 - SABBATH

What do these words mean, “For who provoked Him when they had heard?” Moses
was sent to the Israelites to tell them that God had seen their toil and their groaning and He
was going to bring them out of their place of cruel bondage and lead them into their own
land. This is what they heard. They heard Moses speaking the mind and will of God that He
would give them a land wherein were cisterns they did not dig, houses they did not build,
vineyards they did not plant, and in this land they would be His priests to all the earth, no
longer slaves subjected to harsh servitude, but free men.
Why did they not believe such wonderful things? Was it not that they looked at their
ability to possess it based upon an examination of their own strength and abilities, rather
than looking to God’s ability to perform what He had promised? They looked at the fortified
cities with their massive walls. They saw that there were giants in the land, and they saw
themselves as grasshoppers. They rightly judged that entering into this land and possessing
it was impossible in their own strength, and they failed to reckon on God’s strength.
Because they would not believe, God was angry with them and allowed an entire generation
to die in the wilderness.
God was able to take them in. He chose Joshua (Yahshua) to lead them in, and He
declared “I have given you every place where you will set your foot” and “no enemy will be
able to stand against you.” Yet the apostle declares that this Joshua did not give the people
rest, but there yet remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. There is another Yahshua
whom God has sent who will lead the children of God into the true place of rest. This latter
Yahshua will establish the children of God as kings and priests in the land, and they will
walk in complete victory over every enemy, and they will fully possess their possessions.
Do you believe it? Or will you also be as those with whom the Lord was angry? Will
you enter into the promises of God, or will your body die in the wilderness? It is those who
believe who will enter in. The Scriptures show us how we must enter in, for Yahshua is our
forerunner, and He is our pattern Man. Where He went, we are also to go, and the
victorious overcoming life He walked in is also our portion.
When Joshua took the children of Israel into the land of promise, the first step was
into the waters of the Jordan River. It is no coincidence that when our Lord began His
ministry where He reigned victorious over every enemy that it too began as He stepped into
the Jordan River.

Matthew 3:13-17
Then Yahshua arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by
him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and
do You come to me?" But Yahshua answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for
in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him.
After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the
heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting
on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in
whom I am well-pleased."

The entire pattern of entering into God’s rest is revealed in these words. Baptism is
a picture of death, and we all must enter into the promised land through the waters of the
Jordan. We must all allow Christ to put us to death in our natural life which we have
inherited from Adam that we might enter into the newness of life that belongs to the
Heavenly Man.