Christians Will Reign From Jerusalem

 

Moses was not good enough to take Israel into the promise land. This task was left to Joshua. It had to be Joshua, and none but Joshua, that could lead the people into the promise land. The typology here is incredible and undeniable. Only Jesus can take his people into the promise land.

Many people are aware that Jesus' name in Hebrew is Yeshuah, with is correctly translated as Joshua and means, ‘The Lord Saves’. Jesus is not incorrect, it comes to us through the Greek ‘'Iesous’ and also means Joshua and is transliterated as Jesus. The Joshua that takes his people into the promise land points to the true and final Joshua who will truly achieve this. This typology is not even hidden, it is so powerful and obvious and the New Testament confirms this for us. Hebrews notes that Jesus is the true Joshua who takes us into rest, which is what the land represents, “8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Heb. 4:8-9) The Joshua of the Old Testament could not fully achieve this. The promised land was given to the Israelites (Josh. 24:14-16), however, not in its completeness because Israel was unfaithful (Judg. 2:1-5). Therefore, the first Joshua failed, but the true Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ, can succeed and did. So, if you want to inherit the land, or rest, you must trust in Jesus.

Hence neither the conquest of Canaan or the conqueror, Joshua, are ends in themselves. They are both shadows or symbols pointing to the greater fulfilment in Jesus Christ. The Conqueror who will not fail his people and all who trust in him will find rest.

But it gets even cooler, because Joshua is a full-blooded Israelite. Of all military age males of the first generation only he and Caleb were allowed to enter the land. Caleb is accounted of the tribe of Judah, but he did not originate as one the Israelites, Caleb is called a Kenizzite, Caleb the Kenizzite, again and again. The Kenizzites are mentioned in Genesis 15:18-19 as among the Gentiles inhabiting the land God promised to Abraham. So, of all the previous generation of men over the age of twenty in the wilderness after Israel left Egypt, only one Israelite and one Gentile, or a Jew and a Gentile in New Testament speech, inherited the land. A Jew and a Gentile inherit the land together, which was always God's intention. His people were never a people of flesh, but always of faith. Which is why the faithless generation perished in the wilderness.  

The promise was never, ever, for the flesh but only for the people of faith. And it is finally fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the true Joshua who takes his people, Jew and Gentile, into the promise land. This cannot be fulfilled in the modern state of Israel, which is clearly an attempt of the flesh to fulfill that which is the Spirit's job to fulfil, and that is why there is no rest, constant war and never-ending danger. The flesh cannot understand or fulfill the things of the Spirit. This inheritance can only be fulfilled at the coming of Christ, who establishes his kingdom.

Which is why the churches, or congregations, are promised they'll rule in Jerusalem:

"11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Revelation 3:11-13.

Which is more than likely fulfilled in the future millennial reign of Christ, but carried over into heaven, because the Lord Jesus Christ says,

“25 Only hold fast what you have until I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’” (Rev. 2:25-29).

And he also says this, “21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’” (Rev. 2:21-22).

The Old Testament prophesied many times that God’s people would rule the world from Jerusalem. This will be fulfilled in the Church, who will hold the power of this world, alongside Jesus, with an iron sceptre. The Church will rule the nations from the centre of the Lord’s glorious kingdom. Joshua may have failed to achieve that kingdom, but a fallen earthly man was never meant to achieve the true victory, this was always something the Lord himself was going to achieve. And he has achieved it and when his kingdom comes, it will be glorious for all who have trusted in him.