God made a covenant with Abraham to give to his descendants the Promised Land as their possession. (Genesis 15:18-21) It was sworn as a promise to Isaac, confirmed as statute to Jacob and an everlasting covenant to the Nation of Israel. (Psalms 1-5:9-11) Under the leadership of Moses, the Children of Israel were delivered from Egyptian slavery. Yet, God did not allow them to possess the Land due to their lack of faith; they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. (Numbers 14:33) Later, God enabled them to possess the Promised Land led by Joshua. Yet, there remained very much land to possess. Joshua was angry with the Israelites for not taking interest in the possession of the land. (Joshua 13:1; 18:2-3) Only after four hundred years captured the city of Jerusalem ruled by Jebusites and made it as his capital city. (II Samuel 5:6-8) Like the Nation of Israel, the Global Church has not reached out to all cultures, languages, people, nations…?
1) Fear of the unknown: The Israelite got used to nomadic life in the wilderness, and ready-made food of Manna. They did not prefer the permanent settlement.
2) Negligent? The Nation of Israel was negligent of the will, plan, purpose and promise of God.
3) No unity of purpose: The tribes did not come together for the purpose for which Lord had chosen them as His treasured possession.
4) Lack of faith: Although the Nation had a great history of God’s gracious acts, they could not trust God to provide the possession of the Promised Land.
5) Lack of vision of the whole picture: They lacked the big picture or God’s global plan and Israel’s role in that magnificent plan. God desired Israel to become a great nation as Abraham would teach His descendants the Law. (Genesis 18:19)
Hence, Lord said that he will not drive out the nations, instead they will be thorns on their side and their gods a snare. Sadly, Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.” (Judges 2:3; 3:5)
Am I diligently engaged in the Great Commission?