A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK & HONEY

A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK & HONEY

In your dreams you’ve seen your life and it is prosperous, you are living in a land of abundance flowing with milk and honey. However, when you awake you are still in the same bed, in the same place you were, in your mind possibly trapped in the desert. So, you set out with faith and boldness full speed ahead determined to make your dreams a reality. You are on the right track suddenly you are faced with challenges, mountains, and adversity. Do you press on full speed ahead or do you take that as a sign that you are on the wrong course?

Thomas Edison - Edison tried over 10,000 different substances in making the filament of an incadesent lightbulb until he found one material that lasted long enough to make the lightbulb cheap enough to sell and make money off of. He didn’t consider any of those times failures “... I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” -- Thomas Edison

10,000 times, Edison tried 10,000 times before success, TEN THOUSAND TIMES. How many times did you try before giving up? Did you give up because you felt that you were on the wrong path and Yahweh wasn’t with you? Did you give up because others were watching you and you were worried about what they were thinking and what they said to your face or behind your back? What dream have you given up on or placed on a shelf? It may be time to resurrect it. If you are relying on your 5 senses to determine if you should continue on you are NOT in FAITH, BELIEF, or TRUSTING in Yahweh.

That is the most important part of your journey, FAITH, BELIEF, AND TRUST in Yahweh. I will use the Israelites as an example. I read Numbers 13 on Friday, today I re-read chapter 13 and also read chapter 14 and the one thing I walked away with was never doubt Yahweh. I was led to this message based on a message by Bill Winston, The God-Factor!

So a briefing on the story, Yahweh with help from Moses frees the Israelites from Egypt, Yahweh parts the Red Sea, takes them into the desert and feeds them manna daily. Moses goes up to get the 10 commandments comes back and the Israelites have erected a golden calf to worship. Yahweh promises them a land flowing with milk & honey, they send out men to scout out the land and bring back fruit from it. 11 of the 12 sent out come with a bad report, 1 man Caleb has a report that they are well able to possess the land Yahweh will deliver them. The Israelites groan and moan, Yahweh gets upset and wants to kill them all, Moses convinces Yahweh not to do so. Yahweh agrees but vows that everyone who grumbled and complained will not see the land flowing with milk and honey only Joshua and Caleb and anyone under the age of 20.

Numbers 13
Exploring Canaan
1The LORD said to Moses, 2“Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
3So at the LORD’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. 4These are their names:
from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;
5from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;
6from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;
7from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;
8from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;
9from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;
10from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;
11from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;
12from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;
13from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;
14from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;
15from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.
16These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)
17When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
21So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. 22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,[a]they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. 24That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.
Report on the Exploration
26They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
30Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
31But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

14 - The People Rebel
1That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
5Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. 6Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
10But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. 11The LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them? 12I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”
13Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. 14And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, LORD, are with these people and that you, LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, 16‘The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’
17“Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18‘The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’ 19In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”
20The LORD replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, 22not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— 23not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. 25Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.[a]”
26The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 27“How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: 29In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. 34For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ 35I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die.”
36So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it— 37these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD. 38Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.
39When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. 40Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go up to the land the LORD promised. Surely we have sinned!”
41But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the LORD’s command? This will not succeed! 42Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, 43for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.”
44Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp. 45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.
The moral of the story, Yahweh has done so much for you why are you mumbling and complaining? Why is it that you’re doubting him now? What has He delivered you from before? Why don’t you think He won’t do it again? You may be in the desert right now but Jehovah Jireh! If you are relying on your 5 senses, you are not in FAITH. You cannot go by what you see. Caleb and Joshua were the only ones that believed with the Power of Yahweh they would be able to defeat their enemies and possess the land. Just because the majority think otherwise or contrary to what you believe doesn’t mean that you change your mind and go with the majority. Actually, Yahweh is always the majority!!!! And therefore, Caleb and Joshua and a select few were the only ones that inherited the land flowing with milk and honey. Why? Because they always believed Yahweh, they kept their trust in Him and believed in his Power.

ALWAYS BELIEVE YAHWEH, TRUST YAHWEH, PLACE ALL YOUR FAITH IN YAHWEH, PLACE ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET, YAHWEH!!!!!!!!!! ALWAYS GO FORWARD WITH THE GOD-FACTOR. HEAR THE WORD, SPEAK THE WORD, BELIEVE THE WORD, AND DO WHAT THE WORD SAYS.


Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials