Entering God's Rest - II

Yesterday I was reading and thinking about entering God's rest - in this case the Promised Land. This morning I was rereading and doing a bit more research. When God first described the inheritance of the promised land, it was in Gen 15:7-8 and Gen 17:7-8


Gen. 15:7-8. "He also said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” 8 But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”


Gen. 17:7-8  "I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”


In these verses - the Hebrew words that are used, refer to family lands, inheritance, and taking possession. Specifically the verse in chap 15, the word is yaras and it includes an element of taking or gaining by force or right... in the case of the Land of Canaan, it would be both. It would take many years, the Israelites were in Egypt 430 years, and before that Israel / Jacob had lived 130 years - so we are talking about at minimum 600 years = 130+430+40 to experience the actual beginning fulfillment of this promise and entering into their inheritance.


Much of that time was spent on the growing of the people to be able to take possession of the land. When they went into Egypt, they were only 70 people. When they came out they were a nation of over a million (603,500 men over 20, plus 22,000 Levite males - see Numbers 2-4) They needed to grow and expand, enabling them to not only possess, but keep the land. Clearly in the same way, God calls us to grow and mature into a place where we can truly possess all that He has planned for us.


Lord help me to trust in You, knowing that You know the right timing, and You judge rightly my level of maturity, as You see my heart as it is. I desire to walk in the fullness of all You have set aside as my inheritance, for surely it is delightful (Psalm 16:6)!