As we continue our study of the Promised Land, we want to be more specific about what the promises of God are for us. Just what does a “land of milk and honey” mean for us as Christians? It is a place of prosperity and blessing, which is to be enjoyed with thanksgiving. However, if we have truly come to know the Lord, without question the greatest blessing of all is the Lord Himself. As Paul prayed for the believers in Colossians 2:2-3:
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
There is nothing greater, more wonderful, more fulfilling, and more exciting than the Lord Himself. Even heaven would not be heaven without the Lord. The greatest treasure a person could ever possess is the knowledge of the Lord. The greatest possession we can have is hunger for the Lord.
This was the lesson Israel learned when they left Egypt with all of its spoils. After being slaves for more than four hundred years, they were suddenly free and wealthier than they could have ever imagined. However, they were not taken to the first shopping mall so that they could spend it! They used the treasures of Egypt to build the tabernacle of the Lord so that He might dwell in the midst of His people. Having the Lord’s presence in their midst was far more valuable than anything they could have ever purchased with their treasure.
The same is true for us. The Scriptures are clear that great wealth is going to be entrusted to faithful Christians at the end of this age. However, we are the most foolish of all if we seek this just to consume it upon ourselves. We, too, are being given this to contribute to the building of the habitation of the Lord.
In this I am not speaking of physical structures, but in people. The temple of the Lord will never again be something that men can make with their own hands, but it will be men themselves. We must invest in building people. As we see in Psalm 2:8: “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession.” The Great Commission is to make disciples of all nations, not just individuals.
This is not to negate the devotion that we should have to lead individuals to personal salvation and a personal relationship to the Lord. This was how the first century apostles complied with the Great Commission and it will always be as long as there is a single soul who has not embraced the atonement of the cross of Christ. Even so, together with this devotion to lead souls to the Lord, we must also make disciples or students of Christ out of the nations. To do this we must be consumed with the devotion to know Him and with zeal for His house.
If we get distracted from the central truth that the Lord Himself is our greatest treasure and blessing, then the other blessings and benefits of knowing Him can actually become idols and a cause for stumbling. We must keep the Lord Himself, His eternal kingdom, and what we are seeking in eternity, far above anything that we may gain in this life. As the Lord Jesus Himself exhorted us in Matthew 6:19-21:
"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
It is a popular saying that Christians who are so heavenly minded do not do any earthly good, but the truth is that Christians who are earthly minded do not do any good on earth or in heaven. In pursuing the kingdom of heaven, it is part of our job to bring back to the earth evidence of heaven’s reality and its authority and power over any condition on the earth. However, to do this we must be more at home in heaven than we are on the earth. Those who have truly beheld the eternal will not be so captured by the temporary things of this earth.
If we will do this, keep our hearts and attention on Him and His eternal purposes, He will be able to trust us with much more on the earth. In these coming times He needs those He can trust in the natural realm because the wealth of the nations really are going to be given to the righteous. The righteous are those who are living right and who will use it for that which is right. The kingdom of God is soon coming to the earth, and a bridge between the heavens and the earth is going to be built by His faithful ones.
As the Scriptures make clear, the Lord is going to return to set up His kingdom on the earth, restoring it to paradise so that even the lions will lie down with lambs and children will play with cobras. Not only will no one hurt anyone else, but there will be no more mourning, crying, or pain. The blessings that God’s faithful ones begin to live in are going to be more and more of a witness and testimony of what is to come.
This is not about having stuff or about conspicuous consumption. As we read before in II Corinthians 9:8,10: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed...Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” So we see here that the abundance which we are to be given is for more seed for sowing. It is not so we can increase our standard of living, but rather increase our standard of giving.
I have met many who say they are waiting to give it when they get it, but if they are not being faithful now with what they have been trusted with, they will not be faithful when they are given more.
Just as King David built himself a house, but could not rest in it until the Lord had a place to rest, there is a similar generation now arising whose primary devotion will be to build the Lord a house. David devoted far more to the building of the house of the Lord than he did his own house, even though it would be left for the next generation to actually build it.
It is noteworthy that of all the land which was assigned to Israel through Moses and Joshua was never fully conquered until King David did. David got the job done of fully securing the Promised Land for God’s people, but his devotion was even more to provide the Lord a house. When David conquered Jerusalem, he had to have the ark of God with him, which represented the presence of the Lord. David was a man after God, not just an earthly inheritance or kingdom. This is what made him possibly the greatest king to ever rule on the earth.
David then provided an open tabernacle for the ark so that all of the people could come and seek Him. He ordered the Levites into camps and assigned 4,000 singers to continually worship the Lord, night and day. Can you imagine what that was like? Jerusalem was filled with the songs of the Lord day and night, 365 days a year! Of all of the dwelling places of God in Scripture, the tabernacle of David is the only one that the Lord said would be rebuilt, as we read in Acts 15:16-17:
in order that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord…”
We see here that the reason the Lord is going to rebuild this tabernacle is so “that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord.” It is in preparation for this that the Spirit has had so much of an emphasis on worship in the last few years. We can expect this to increase until the church, which is “the Jerusalem above,” is likewise filled with the songs of the Lord day and night.
Our understanding of the church must be changed from buildings and meeting places to the people. As the people of the Lord begin to worship Him continually and openly, just as the Tabernacle of David was in the open, accessible to all people, the nations will begin to seek the Lord too. True worship is a glorious thing. To worship in Spirit and truth is what we were created for, and when anyone witnesses the real thing their hearts are going to be stirred for the Lord and they, too, will begin to seek Him.