The Coming Promised Land

Sunday School teacher asked a student why do we have to be quiet in church, The child replied “Because People are sleeping”. God has a reward for you.

Reward in your physical life.

Reward in your spiritual life.

Reward in Eternity

Your reward is coming… The promised land is ahead of you.

Keep on pressing.

To get your reward you are gonna have to walk to the promise land.

To get to the promise land you will have to walk through the red sea.

You will have to leave the old things behind you.

You will need to give up your offenses. Your thoughts and feelings against those around you.

You will need to do more than your part, and be vulnerable and make these things right.

You will have to sacrifice your comforts. Genesis 17:1-13

English Standard Version Chapter 17

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him,

Circumcision This was the sign in the Old Testament Church as baptism is in the New, and hence the covenant is called “covenant of circumcision” This surrender of the first portion of the bodily instrument used to fulfill God’s first command to humanity (“Be fruitful, multiply,” Gn 1:28) symbolized the individual’s willingness to submit all of himself to God and to all of his covenant commands. Dt 1:19–46.

Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land 19 “Then we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’ 22 Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ 23 The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. 24 And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’ 26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.” The Anakim became a defining symbol of Israel’s faithlessness. When twelve Israelite spies returned from Canaan, they reported encountering these “people great and tall,” describing themselves as mere “grasshoppers” by comparison, which terrified the nation.1 God’s anger at this rebellion resulted in a forty-year wilderness wandering, with only Joshua and Caleb exempt from the prohibition against entering the Promised Land.1 ’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the Lord your God, 33 who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go. The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion 34 “And the Lord heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!’ 37 Even with me the Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’ 41 “Then you answered me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 And the Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ 43 So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the Lord and presumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Dt 1:19–46.

2 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Dt 2:1. Detoronomy 2:4-9

English Standard Version Chapter 2

“You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers

40 Year Later Israel finally takes the Promised Land 21 And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. 22 There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Jos 11:21–23. Caleb Recieved this very land of the Anakim as an inheritance 13 According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak). 14 And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Jos 15:13–14. Scholars widely believe the Philistine giants David encountered, including Goliath of Gath, descended from these surviving Anakim.

Hebron was formerly called Kiriath-arba, which was named after Arba, the greatest man among the Anakim1—the giant inhabitants who once occupied the region.

The parenthetical explanation serves an important contextual function. Kiriath-arba was likely the city’s name prior to the Israelite conquest but after Abraham’s time, probably connected to a former resident named Arba, whom Joshua identifies as “the great man among the Anakim”2. By noting this genealogical detail, the text establishes that Caleb’s conquest of Hebron represented a significant military achievement—he captured a city that had been named after and presumably controlled by a legendary giant warrior.

This historical note also underscores the fulfillment of God’s promise to Caleb. Joshua gave Hebron to Caleb as his inheritance because he wholly followed the Lord, and Hebron became Caleb’s possession1. The mention of its former name emphasizes that Caleb received not just any territory, but a strategically important city with deep historical significance—one that had been a stronghold of the Anakim giants.

The name itself carries symbolic weight. Kiriath-arba means “city of Arba” or “city of four”3, and the term “arba” means “four” in Hebrew2, though scholars debate whether this refers to Arba himself or to four clans that once inhabited the area. Regardless, the parenthetical serves to remind readers that Israel’s possession of Hebron represented a decisive break from the Canaanite past and the fulfillment of divine promises to the patriarchs.

But unfortunately the Isrealites did not finish possessing the land. God had a MUCH bigger land promised to Abraham, than what Israel inhabitted. Israel got comfortable and settled down, and eventually became comfortable with the same people that God had commanded them to conquer.

Don’t lose what your parents fought for. Not only that, Israel got so comfortable they ended up loosing lands, and eventualy being led away into slavery.

You will have to face you own giants in your life. But they may be similar giants that your parents or ancestors faced. David faces Goliath, which was the same descendants of the giants that Caleb destroyed.

You are likely walking in a promised land that you did not earn and are not qualified to stand in.

And people will try their best to discourage you from entering your promised land and your purpose.

David’s own brothers tried to attack his purpose.

1 Samual 17:28-30

English Standard Version Chapter 17

28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.

David chose not to be offended, instead he walked on and the other people thought no less of David Experience high ranking people will tell you, that you are unqualified to fulfill your calling. 1 Samual 17:33-37

English Standard Version Chapter 17

And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”

People will try to give you advice that might work for them, but it might not work for you, and for God’s calling for your life. Saul armed David with his armour—The ancient Hebrews were particularly attentive to the personal safety of their warriors, and hence Saul equipped the youthful champion with his own defensive accoutrements, which would be of the best style. It is probable that Saul’s coat of mail, or corslet, was a loose shirt, otherwise it could not have fitted both a stripling and a man of the colossal stature of the king. 1 Samual 17:38-40

English Standard Version Chapter 17

38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

Revelations 21:1-8

English Standard Version Chapter 21

The New Heaven and the New Earth

God is leading you to the promised land, But I can assure you, before you enter the promised land, you will have giants to face, and giants to take down. If you finish well the promised land is waiting for you, in eternity. Your response to the cross determines where you will spend eternity. However, the way you live as a believer determines how you will spend eternity. -John Bevere If you overcome the giants your descendants will not need to face them, I know you have Giants in your life. God is preparing a; Reward in your physical life.

Reward in your spiritual life.

Reward in Eternity

Your reward is coming… The promised land is ahead of you.

Keep on pressing.

To get your reward you are gonna have to; Walk to the promise land.

Walk through the red sea.

Leave the old things behind you.

Give up your offenses.

Make things right.

Sacrifice your comforts. Jeremiah 17:1-14

English Standard Version Chapter 31

The LORD Will Turn Mourning to Joy

31 “At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”

2  Thus says the LORD:

“The people who survived the sword

found grace in the wilderness;

when Israel sought for rest,

3  the LORD appeared to him from far away.

I have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

4  Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

O virgin Israel!

Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines

and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

5  Again you shall plant vineyards

on the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant

and shall enjoy the fruit.

6  For there shall be a day when watchmen will call

in the hill country of Ephraim:

‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,

to the LORD our God.’ ”

7  For thus says the LORD:

“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;

proclaim, give praise, and say,

‘O LORD, save your people,

the remnant of Israel.’

8  Behold, I will bring them from the north country

and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

among them the blind and the lame,

the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;

a great company, they shall return here.

9  With weeping they shall come,

and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,

I will make them walk by brooks of water,

in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,

for I am a father to Israel,

and Ephraim is my firstborn.

10  “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,

and declare it in the coastlands far away;

say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,

and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’

11  For the LORD has ransomed Jacob

and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

12  They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,

and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,

over the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and over the young of the flock and the herd;

their life shall be like a watered garden,

and they shall languish no more.

13  Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

and the young men and the old shall be merry.

I will turn their mourning into joy;

I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

14  I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,

and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,

declares the LORD.”