Numbers 13:27 “And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.”

I’m sure we’re all familiar with the scene set before us in Numbers. The children of Israel had been delivered from Egypt and now stood on the banks of Jordan’s river waiting to cross over into the land that God had promised them. God commands Moses to send over 12 spies to see if the land is good. Two spies (Joshua and Caleb) came back with a true report that everything the Lord had promised was in the land, but also testified of the strong inhabitants and walled cities. But Caleb quickly said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it!” But there were ten others that saw nothing but the bad; giants, and land that will eat them up. Then there would be another 40 years pass before Israel was blessed to cross over.

“And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in they great goodness.” Neh 9:25

So 40 years later, Israel takes possession of the land God promised them. The book of Joshua chronicles the wars, the victories, the losses and pitfalls, that Israel went through until the Lord conquered their enemies. Now they possessed the land! It was stated that the Lord will (and did) drive out the inhabitants before Israel. Remember, this was the land promised by the Lord all the way back to Abraham! Not only that, there was something very special about this land: it had everything that Israel needed, and it was all provided by the Lord!

“And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities which thou buildedst not, and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." Deut 6:10-12

Did you catch that? The Lord provided everything that Israel needed! Full houses! Wells already dug! Old corn! Everything!

My friends, the Lord still provides everything we need! And in His land is where we find it! Is not Canaan representative of the New Testament Church? Are we not blessed to go into this land today and partake of the goodness of the Lord? The church has everything (and I mean EVERYthing) that we need and are blessed to enjoy. We can’t add anything to the church, nor take anything away. If we try, we defile the land! No my friends, God provides all that we need in His land, His house. Isn’t it wonderful that we are blessed to go in and possess it?

Now I would be remiss if I did not give the warning. I know we all think that we would never end up like Israel did, as those completely disobedient toward God, but we must be careful! The Apostle Paul said, “For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.” Rom 11:21 May God give us grace to remain humble at His goodness and mercy. May we never become fat and forget that everything we have comes from God!

But now I’ll use the words of Joseph Hart to encourage you:

Come ye weary, poor, and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore,
Jesus has all ready saved you
By his pity, love, and power.

John told us that the “..Spirit and Bride say come!” So let us come into the land; His land. We are poor and needy, so let us partake of the goodness of God. Let us partake of fruit of trees that we didn’t plant, and houses that we didn’t fill! Let us go in and enjoy the fruit of the Lord’s table! Let us go to the land where our souls are fed by the graciousness of God.

Finally, I want to encourage you to “Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.” Psa 48:12-13 We when are blessed to enter into Canaan’s land, let us walk about, to see the greatness of the Lord in His dealings with us. May we be overcome by His goodness, even overwhelmed by His blessings! Now let us go into the land where He has sent us.