Page 83 - The Mark of the Beast

of promise. God told them that He was going to give them wells they did not dig, vineyards
they did not plant, and houses they did not build. He promised to bring them into a land
flowing with milk and honey. He spoke words of comfort and assurance to them, letting
them know that if they followed Him fully that no enemy could ever stand before them.

Deuteronomy 11:22-25
“For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you
to do, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all His ways and hold fast to Him, then
Yahweh will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess
nations greater and mightier than you. Every place on which the sole of your foot
treads shall be yours... No man will be able to stand before you; Yahweh your God
will lay the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as
He has spoken to you.”

God did not give us the history of Israel and of her battles that we might be
entertained with stories of peoples and nations from long ago. He gave them to us for our
instruction. These things are a symbol of the spiritual battles that the children of God face
today. It should comfort us to know that God has said that no enemy will be able to stand
before those who love God and keep His commandments. We should be emboldened by the
promise that every place we set out foot will be given to us.
Christ, our Captain, has not delivered us from some of our enemies, but from all of
our enemies. He did not free us from anger while leaving us enslaved to lust. He did not
loose us from the bondage of pride while leaving us enslaved to covetousness. He conquered
every foe, and, if we will follow Him, He will lead us into victory over all things to which we
have been bound.
Joshua led the children into the promised land, and they began well, destroying
Jericho, and then Ai, and then many other strongholds and fortresses while dispossessing
the inhabitants of the land. Yet they did not make a complete work of removing all enemies
from the land.
I have often heard testimonies given where people have borne witness of God
miraculously delivering them from some addiction, or besetting sin, when they first came
to Christ. Some have been immediately delivered of a drinking habit that had persisted for
many years. Some were delivered of drugs, or from cigarettes, or from pornography. Many
did not even pray for deliverance. They merely believed in Christ, confessed faith in Him,
and were baptized. Their salvation experience was attended with a mighty deliverance.
Yet I have never heard any person testify that they were set free from all things in this
way. God may drive some enemies out of the land without our raising a finger, as He also
did with the Israelites, but He will not dispossess all of them in this way.

Joshua 24:12
Then I sent the hornet before you and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites
from before you, but not by your sword or your bow.

God does deliver us from some enemies in our flesh in such a miraculous manner, and
others He gives us a quick victory over as we follow Him. Yet some enemies are less easily
vanquished. God has a reason for this, and He revealed His mind to the Israelites.