“Our position / possession is in heaven, but our presence is here.”
Reading Deuteronomy 8:1-6 and 30:1-10, coupled with 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 and Hebrews 3:12- 4:11gave us a clear picture that history truly does repeat itself. The one thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history!
The nation of Israel of the Exodus out of Egypt fell prey to all the human frailties we all deal with. Deuteronomy 8:2 gives us a list of issues that had to worked out in their wilderness journey to prepare them for entering the promised land.
Deuteronomy 8:2: And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
The sin of unbelief was a continuous theme throughout the forty years. The Lord used that time to purge out the idolaters, the immoral, and the rebellious. He will use the tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble to do the same in preparation for the nation to enter into the “rest” of the messianic millennial kingdom.
We are on God’s divine calendar, even in this dispensation of the grace of God. As Genesis 2:1-3 states that God rested on the Seventh day. The Sabbath Day was not instituted until Exodus 31:16. Understanding 2 Peter 3:8: But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day., can give us an idea of how close we are to the 2nd Advent and the kingdom that Jesus preached during his earthly ministry.
God’s Divine Calendar:
From Adam to Abraham is 2,000 years
From Abraham to the cross of Christ is 2,000 years
From the cross to the kingdom is 2,000 years
The kingdom of millennial rest is 1,000 years
Eternity Future follows
The nine times Paul uses the term “rest” in Hebrews Four was about showing how the forty years wilderness crowd of Exodus – Deuteronomy had to be purged and prepared to enter the land of milk and honey. The Jews of the tribulation will go through similar circumstances.
Zechariah 13:8-9: And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
I am so grateful that the evil heart of unbelief that describes Israel in the wilderness and is warned against in the tribulation does not apply to us who are saved in this dispensation of the grace of God. We can never lose what was gifted to us the moment we believed! It is the Word of God that gives us this confidence.
Next Sunday, we will study the two wonderful truths of the power of the Word of God and the peace of God through prayer next Sunday, both found in Hebrews 4:12-16. The Lord Jesus Christ is exalted to the position of great high priest during this dispensation fo the grace of God, who is passed into the heavens. He is seated on the right hand of the throne of God as mediator for the body of Christ!
You will not want miss our Bible study this coming week, as we close out this section of the letter to the Hebrews!