7 Introduction
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The objective of Israel in the desert was to enter and occupy Canaan. Canaan was the "land flowing with milk and honey."
And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. (Exodus 3:8)
The Sinai wilderness through which Israel wandered for forty years is a hot, forbidding desert. There are wells and springs, a short rainy season in winter, and some vegetation. But on the whole, the Sinai wilderness is a place of mountains, boulders, and sandstone hills, relieved by several oases.
By contrast, the region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is a productive and delightful place in which to live. The geographical features permit extensive farming of grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. The abundance of pasturelands makes the raising of livestock a profitable undertaking.
The mineral resources include iron, copper, and petroleum. With hard work the Israelites were able to live in abundance. During the reign of King Solomon the nation of Israel achieved a prosperity equaled by few other world cultures.
Even today the land of Israel is viewed by the large nations as having strategic importance when viewed from the standpoint of world politics.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews suggests that the wilderness wandering (Chapter Three of Hebrews), and Canaan itself (Chapter Four—the promised land "rest") are symbolic of the nature of our Christian discipleship and the goal of that discipleship. The "rest" of Hebrews is typified by the land of Canaan as well as by the resting of God on the seventh day of creation (Hebrews 4:4-8).
The Book of Jude also applies the wilderness wandering to the perils of our journey.
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. (Jude 1:5)
Therefore when we present the pilgrimage of the Hebrews through the wilderness and their invasion of Canaan as a type of our Christian experience we have solid backing in the New Testament.
Exactly what, then, is the Christian land of promise, the land "flowing with milk and honey"? What is the ultimate victory of the Christian battle? Toward what are we moving? Of what joy and blessing are the third and fourth chapters of Hebrews speaking?
There is more to the Christian inheritance than our initial acceptance of Christ, since the letter to the Hebrews, which was written to experienced Christians, uses the expression "any of you should seem to come short of it." Come short of what?
Is the Christian’s promised land Heaven? Paradise? The new Jerusalem? The resurrection from the dead? Christ Himself?
These terms are not all synonymous except in a broad sense. They all have to do with the promised land, the "rest" of Hebrews, Chapters Three and Four. But it may be true that the Lord’s people are not always certain how the above terms are related.
The land of promise of the Hebrews was described specifically in several passages of the Old Testament writings. The land of promise of the Christians also has been set forth in the Scriptures but it is much more comprehensive than the Old Testament goal.
The redemption that is in Christ has a specific beginning, a specific working out in our life, and a specific conclusion—a goal, a "mark" toward which we are to press (Philippians 3:14). All of the goal is summed up in Christ. As we proceed in our book we shall endeavor to set forth some particular aspects of the goal.
In many instances we Christians have little or no idea what our promised land is. We are as a runner with no finish line, a contender for an uncertain prize, a soldier given unclear commands, a sailor on a ship with no destination—at least none that is known to us. Therefore we cannot address ourselves to the struggle as we should.
Other than the prospect of Heaven we are not sure precisely what we are to be accomplishing, what our inheritance in Christ actually is. But the Apostle Paul was pressing toward a "mark"; and we know from the context of Philippians 3:14 that Paul’s "mark" was not referring to Heaven.
We are not sure precisely where we are going, what our inheritance in Christ actually is.
Wedo know we have been saved from wrath and we believe we shall go to Heaven when we die. Beyond that we are not too clear where we are going, what we will be doing, or what we ourselves will be like.
We must look to the Holy Spirit to interpret the Old Testament type of the land of promise so we can set ourselves toward the true goal of the Christian life and not become encumbered with the aimlessness, carelessness, and indifference to spiritual growth that can so easily weaken Christian fervor.
In this book,Pressing Toward the Mark , we will be pointing toward Christ Himself—the full grasp upon all that He is—as the fulfillment of the land of Canaan. It is apparent that the Apostle Paul viewed Christ Himself as the "rest" of God, the goal of the Christian discipleship.
Would you like to journey with us as we press on to the possession of the fullness of God’s promises in Christ?
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