The entire Book of Deuteronomy is a series of farewell addresses by Moses to the Israelites as he prepares to die, and as they prepare to enter the promised land. Whenever God is about to fulfill a promise, He always sends a prophet to declare to the people that He is up to something: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). Although he himself would not be joining them, Moses experienced a strong sense of anticipation for the Israelites. That which God had promised centuries before to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He was getting ready to fulfill in the lives of their descendants, the children of Israel.

    Forty years had passed since the exodus. A new generation of Israelites had grown to maturity in the wilderness. Of the original generation of Hebrews that came out of Egypt, only Moses, Joshua, Caleb, and those who were under the age of 20 at the time were still alive. The rest of that generation lay dead and buried in the wilderness, God's judgment for their rebellion and their refusal to obey Him.

    Now the second generation stood poised at the edge of the wilderness. Just across the Jordan River lay the promised land, the land God had sworn to give them. For the past 40 years they had lived with daily evidences of God's presence, power, and purpose in their midst. In human terms, how long could a company of over one million men, women, and children expect to survive in a dry and barren wasteland? Yet, every day for 40 years God gave them manna to eat and water to drink. During that time neither their clothing nor their shoes wore out. God led them through the capable hands of Moses. He imparted His law to them and taught them the proper way to worship Him. He delivered them, protected them, and made His presence known among them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

    These were not the experiences of a people who had no future. God's purpose always was to bring them into the promised land. The rebellion of that first generation, which led to their death in the wilderness, did not thwart God's promise. It merely postponed its fulfillment. That promise was now the inheritance of the new generation of Israelites, the "wilderness generation." The question was, were they willing and ready to claim it?

    There were undoubtedly many who would have been content to stay where they were. After all, hadn't God taken care of them all their lives? Why give up a good, secure, and comfortable life at the edge of the wilderness for the uncertainties of an unknown land? Yet, God's purpose for Israel lay not in the desert but in the promised land. His promise was not for the wilderness, but for Canaan. The Israelites could not stay in the wilderness and fulfill God's purpose. They could not possess their promise until they crossed into Canaan.

    It was time for them to move. God renewed His promise by issuing a challenge to the people: "Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them" (Deut. 1:8). God told them, "I have done something for you; now it is time for you to do something. I made of you a great nation as I promised your ancestor Abraham. I brought you out of Egypt, and have set the land of Canaan before you. Now it is time for you to go in and possess that which I have already given you."

    The challenge was out. It was time to move from promise to possession. What would the Israelites do?

We're Out of Egypt, Now What?

    God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (see Heb. 13:8). The challenge He issued centuries ago to His people in the wilderness of Moab is the same challenge He issues to His people today, wherever our "wilderness" may be. The problem with many of us is that we are saved, sanctified; and satisfied. There is nothing wrong with that if all we are talking about is our basic faith relationship with Christ. Ultimately, when the chips are down, He is all we need. That's the meaning behind the words of the old gospel hymn, "I am satisfied with Jesus."

    There is more to the Christian life than simply knowing Jesus, however. That same gospel hymn ends with the question, "Is my Master satisfied with me?" Being satisfied only to know Jesus, with no thought or desire to enter into the full riches and privileges of that relationship is wilderness living. God wants us to enjoy Kingdom living, and to do that we must leave the wilderness, cross the Jordan, and possess our "promised land."

    For the nation of Israel, the "promised land" was a geographical place, a home of their own that God gave them in fulfillment of His promise to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the deepest sense, Canaan represented for the Israelites their unique relationship with God as His special, chosen people. The same is true today. Our "promised land" is not a place as much as a position of relationship as Children of God, citizens of His Kingdom, and heirs to the same promises He gave Abraham.

    In his letter to the Galatian Christians, the apostle Paul wrote, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Gal. 3:26-29). In other words, all the promises God made to Abraham apply equally to all believers everywhere in every generation. That includes you and me. The problem is that so many of us either don't know this or don't really believe it. That's why we're "stuck" in the wilderness.

    God was determined to take Israel into the promised land. As long as they remained in the wilderness they were incomplete, and their full purpose and potential were unfulfilled. God would not rest until He brought His people into full maturity and rest in the land. God has not changed. He still wants His people to enter into their "promised land," reach full maturity, and enjoy all the blessings and riches of Kingdom living. God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt and was not satisfied until He had securely planted them in their own land. In the same way, God has delivered us from our "Egypt"—our slavery to sin—and will not be satisfied until we enter our "promised land" and become everything He wants us to be.

    A lot of Christians today live as if they are constantly asking the question, "We're out of Egypt, now what?" or, "Okay, so I'm saved. Where do I go from here?" Many of these believers seem to have concluded that there is nothing more to life than that. They have little interest, desire, or vision for anything more than simply "knowing" Jesus. As far as they are concerned, wilderness living is fine. After all, it's the best they can hope for this side of Heaven.

    For a Christian, wilderness living is not fine enough. In the wilderness, we have not yet reached maturity. We have not yet arrived at our destination. God always completes what He starts. When God brings us out of something, He plans to bring us into something. He brought us out of "Egypt" in order to bring us into the "promised land."

A Foretaste of Heaven

    Contrary to what many people believe, the "promised land" is not the same thing as Heaven. Rather, it is a foretaste of Heaven. For believers, the "promised land" is a position of favor, the state of being securely established in the Lord and prospering by His hand. This prosperity, while primarily spiritual in nature, also touches the physical realm. God intends for every believer to have a "promised land" experience, not after death, but here on earth. His desire is to bring His Kingdom into our earthly, private, and personal set of circumstances. Jesus prayed, "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Mt. 6:9b-10).

    Our life on earth as believers is designed to give us a foretaste of what Heaven will be like. As joint-heirs of the Kingdom of God along with Jesus Christ, our Elder Brother, we are in training to rule with Him. If Heaven is our home, we really shouldn't go there as strangers; we should have an earthly manifestation of our heavenly expectation. So often we write off any chance of enjoying the "good things" of life either because we are convinced they are beyond our reach or because we believe that they are not meant for us. Instead, we tell ourselves, "Heaven is my reward." That is certainly true. What about the journey between here and there? Too many believers are satisfied simply to be saved. They're on their way to Heaven, but they aren't taking anything to sustain them during the trip. That's like starting on a trek across the desert with no food or water, and saying, "I'll eat and drink on the other side." That plan will get you into trouble in a hurry!

    God is trying to tell us to slow down and take the time to enjoy what He has placed on the earth for us, even as we prepare ourselves for our heavenly experience. He is saying to us, "You are Mine, and the whole earth belongs to Me. I want those who belong to Me to enjoy all the good things of earth, which also belong to Me."

    There's an old gospel hymn that says, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood." Knowing Jesus is the starting place, the "foretaste of glory divine." Our salvation experience has got to take us beyond Calvary. We've got to get to the place where we are enjoying the "promised land" even while we are here on earth.

    In Deuteronomy 1:8a the Lord says, "Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land." God did not put us here just to exist, or even to coexist. He put us here to take over. As believers, we are spiritual descendants of Abraham and heirs to the same promises he received from God. Because we are heirs, we have both the right and the power to "cash in" on all those promises. We should never be ashamed of our lineage, because God wants to bring us into our inheritance.

    We are here on a mission. Jesus did not save us simply to save us. We were not saved just to sit, or even just to serve. We were saved to magnify and glorify the name of the Most High God in this world. God's desire is to expand His name before the world through the relationship we have with Him as believers. Our mission is to make God's name bigger wherever we are by the way we live.

    When God brought us out of "Egypt," He had more than just our freedom in mind. He brought us out in order to bring us in. God rescued us from the poverty of "Egypt" in order to release us into the prosperity of the "promised land." He wants to bless us and give us more in every realm than most of us have ever dreamed. The problem is that there are many, many believers who were delivered from their "Egyptian" experience years ago, but who have never yet entered into their "promised land" experience. Maybe you are one of them. Our churches are full of people who are saved and sanctified, perhaps even Spirit-filled tongues-talkers, yet have nothing to show who they really are. They are stuck either at Calvary or at Pentecost. All they know is wilderness living. The richer experience of Kingdom life on earth is still alien to them.

    If God is Creator of the universe and everything belongs to Him, and if His Son, Jesus Christ, is the one who saved us, then why do so many of us have so little to show who we belong to? Why are so many Christians just "scraping by" in the wilderness instead of thriving in the promised land? Why are so many of us missing out on our foretaste of Heaven?

The Three "Ds" of Desert Living

    There are at least three lifestyle characteristics that are common to many believers who are stuck in the wilderness. We can call them the three "Ds" of desert living: disbelief, disobedience, and disloyalty. If we are not experiencing "promised land" living, it is because we do not believe what God has said, or we have not obeyed what God has said even if we do believe it, or we continue to give our first loyalty in life to something or someone other than God. Any of these three will keep us out of our "promised land." They will blind our eyes, dull our senses, deaden our imagination, and drain our expectations until we become comfortable settling for mediocre living that goes nowhere and brings no glory to God.

    Disbelief is lack of faith. There is no good reason for a believer ever to have a faith problem. As long as we have trouble believing God we will never be able to possess the full richness of life He wants us to have. The road to possessing God's promises begins with faith. This was the very challenge the Israelites faced as they camped on the east side of the Jordan River and prepared to cross over into Canaan. After 40 years of wilderness living, it was time for them to move to the next level, a higher plane of life and experience with God. They had to be willing to believe that the God who had sustained them in the desert could carry them into the land of promise.

    The Lord said, "Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount" (Deut. 1:6b). It was time for the Israelites to get moving and leave the wilderness behind. For many of us, God is saying that we have been in the same place for too long. In one way or another our lives have become stale, stagnant, and boring: We may be saved, but nothing seems to be happening for us. This may mean that it's time to change jobs or careers, move from being a renter to a homeowner, or rise to a new level in our walk with God. We've got to break away and get ready to possess the newness of what God has ordained and sanctioned for our lives.

    Every day we live with Jesus ought to be more exciting than the day before. Our anticipation should grow with every new day. We need to learn to expect God to fulfill His promises in our lives. Moses told the Israelites, "The Lord your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. (The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as He hath promised you!)" (Deut. 1:10-11) We need to recognize that God has already multiplied us! He already plans to bless us a thousand fold! What He expects us to do is trust Him. We are to get up, go in and possess the land, and leave the rest to God. He will make it happen for us.

    We have to come to the point where either we take God at His word or we don't. Sometimes God says something so incredible that we cannot imagine how it could possibly be true. There are some things we're not supposed to figure out; that's where faith comes in. All we can do then is throw our hands up and say, "Do it, Lord!"

    Disobedience toward God will also keep us in the wilderness. The first generation of Israelites died in the wilderness because of their disobedience. Possessing our "promised land" requires that we walk in obedience. When God was ready to lead the nation of Israel into their new land, He first had Moses remind them of the commandments and the statutes that He had given them in His covenant. Obedience to God is equated with life, blessing, health, and prosperity, while disobedience is equated with death, cursing, disease, and poverty. Which side are you on?

    The Bible clearly indicates that obedience to God brings great rewards. As long as we obey God, we will never live a dull life. With obedience comes blessing. In the Book of Isaiah, the Lord promises us: "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" (Is. 1:19). God has all sorts of "good stuff" on His table just waiting for us. The banquet is free. Our obedience ensures us a seat at the feast.

    Disloyalty is closely related to disobedience. In fact, our entire experience with God depends on whether or not we are obedient and loyal to Him. What amazes me is how many believers continue to say they love the Lord and yet are disloyal to Him. They declare that they are "committed to Jesus" yet they do not do what He says. They boast about their loyalty to God but allow all sorts of other things to take first place in their lives.

    How can we expect to enjoy the benefits of knowing God without obeying Him? How can we expect God to bless us and lead us into our "promised land" experience if we won't put Him first in our lives? We want all the good things of God, but we don't want to take God for who He is. God is God, regardless of what we believe. It's not enough simply to say that we love Him; the question is, do our lives line up with His Word?

    "Promised land" living goes beyond mere lip service to the Lord. It requires faith, obedience, and absolute loyalty. Jesus made this clear when He warned, "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven" (Mt. 7:21). On another occasion, Jesus said to His disciples, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments ... He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him" (Jn. 14:15,21).

    The relationship between God and His people goes far beyond laws and commandments. The indispensable conditions of our covenant relationship with God are faith, obedience, loyalty, and above all else, love. Our love, affection, and devotion to the Lord must be the true foundation of everything we do. Nothing else will take us from the wilderness to the promised land.

So What Are You Waiting For?

    Other factors that can keep us stuck in the wilderness are ignorance and lack of vision. Many believers simply do not know all that is available to them in the Lord. Others cannot see themselves as people moving forward or making a difference in the world. They don't expect to make any significant personal progress beyond where they already are in their lives. Whenever they hear a powerful word from the Lord about promises and fulfillment, they rejoice over that word, yet leave the service saying, "That's not for me."

    Don't ever buy into that lie from the devil. If you are a believer, then all God's promises are for you! Every believer has experienced a "coming out" of Egypt, but far too many have never experienced a "going in" to their "promised land." God has plainly said, "Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land" (Deut. 1:8a). Whenever God brings us out of something, it's always to take us into something. God's family includes no stepchildren, only full sons and daughters. Every believer can enjoy "promised land" living right here on earth.

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