This is the Promised Land?

In the two previous posts about being "Strangers in a Strange Land," I noted that we find ourselves enslaved by our own sin.  I further noted that the way out of this "Egypt" and into the Promised Land is baptism into the death of Jesus.  Said differently, the way out is to heed Jesus' call to turn away from the "Pharoahs" that enslave us and to follow Him.  Yes, this call looks like and does indeed entail death.  And yet, Jesus' promise is that from this death comes life.

We reach the point, therefore, in which we have been freed from sin.  We are no longer slaves.  We have received the Holy Spirit, and "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (II Corinthians 3:17)  However, something still isn't right.  If we are to look around and honestly assess our lives in this world, surely we must admit that this cannot be the Promised Land.  If this is the Kingdom of God, then it is a disappointment.

Thankfully, this world is not the Kingdom of God.  Our Lord has said, "My kingdom is not from this world." (John 18:26)  The apostle Paul has said, "We look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal." (II Corinthians 4:18)  This last quote might seem absurd: how do we look at something that cannot be seen?  The answer: through faith.  The Promised Land is a promise, and thus all we can do is trust in it.

And so we see the invisible Kingdom of God through faith.  Yes, there will come a Day on which "we will see face to face." (I Corinthians 13:12)  That Day, however, has not yet fully arrived.  We are still flesh and blood, and "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." (I Corinthians 15:50)

If we are no longer in "Egypt," and not yet in the Promised Land, then where are we?  It is important to recall that Israel crossed the Red Sea out of Egypt and into the wilderness.  No longer slaves of sin, we too now live in the wilderness.  It is no accident that Jesus, after his baptism, was "led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." (Matthew 4:1)  We too, baptized into Jesus, have been led into the wilderness.  Although we are free from slavery to sin, we are still "tempted by the devil."

If we are indeed living in the wilderness, then it is important to recall how Israel survived its journey through the wilderness.  Yes, there was a lot of complaining and failure on that journey (see the book of Numbers for plentiful examples).  Such complaining and failure was always due to distrust in the promise.  How, though, did Israel survive in the wilderness?  They received "bread from heaven" (Exodus 16:4), and water from a rock that Moses struck with his staff.  (cf. Numbers 20:11)

If we, like Israel, live in the wilderness, then where are we to find this "bread from heaven" and this mysterious rock from which water springs?  The New Testament Scriptures are unequivocal: Jesus himself is our bread and our rock.  As He said, "I am the bread of life." (John 6:25).  Further, "Those who drink of the water that I willl give them will never be thirsty." (John 4:14).  The apostle Paul draws the connection, describing Isreael's life in the wilderness by saying that "all ate the same spiritual food, and all ate the same spiritual drink.  For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ." (I Corinthians 10:3-4)

We survive in this wilderness,  then, not by turning back to slavery in Egypt (which is still quite tempting).  Rather, we survive this barren place by drinking from the spiritual rock and eating the bread of life: Jesus Christ.  The Promised Land remains a promise, and it is our hope to attain it on that Day.

As a final note, it is no accident that the name of our Lord is Jesus.  This name is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua.  Isreael, remember, was led from the wilderness into their promised land by the man named Joshua.  Likewise, we will be led from this wilderness into the eternal Promised Land by the true Joshua: Jesus Christ.