Enforcing Christ’s Victory
I mentioned the following verse last week in a post concerning the dominion God gave humankind over the earth.
“The heavens. . . the Eternal holds himself, the earth He has assigned to men” (Psalm 115:16; Moffatt Translation). This translation communicates with greater accuracy the contextual meaning of the Hebrew word nathan,(1) otherwise frequently translated “given.” God didn’t give away ownership of the earth; He assigned the responsibility of governing it to humans. The Passion Translation says He has “put us in charge” of the earth. God’s “gifts” are often His “assignments,” an example being our children.
Holy Spirit uses this word no less than 6 times in the first chapter of Joshua to remind Israel that He had “given” them the land of Canaan (verses 2, 3, 6, 11, 13, 15). Canaan was the land He had promised (“given”) their forefather, Abraham (Genesis 12:7). They were now being assigned to conquer and possess what God had “given.” Someone once asked, “Well, was He giving, or were they taking?”
The answer is, “Yes.”
There is another word in this passage that aligns with this concept. Verse 11 uses the phrase, “The land the Lord your God is giving (nathan) you, to possess (yaresh)(2) it.” The word yaresh means “legally an heir; military invasion in order to seize or possess.” In other words, “I have given it to you legally; now, I’m assigning you to conquer and take possession of it.”
The principle that we must “lay hold of” by faith and/or spiritual warfare what God has already given us is often confusing to many believers. They believe that what God wills for us to possess or experience - from that which Christ’s redemption provided - will sovereignly manifest for us. Not so. Most believers have never been taught what it means to “fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of eternal life“ (1 Timothy 6:12). “Lay hold” could be translated as “seize.” Thayer says the word (epilambanomai) means “to take what is one's own, to take possession of, to take to one's self, to make one's own; to claim, procure for one's self; that which when taken is not let go; to seize, to lay hold of, to apprehend.”(3 & 4).
Obviously, this verse is NOT telling us to “take” or “wrestle” something from God. But we ARE being told to use our faith to “take possession of” what God has given through Christ; to “seize” it, and “don’t let go.” Sin’s curse operating on the earth, opposing circumstances, demonic opposition, and more, will attempt to steal from us what God has given. Paul was telling Timothy, “I know it is a fight, Timothy, a fight of faith. But you must use your faith and lay hold of that which God has given you.”
Joshua is an Old Testament picture or type of Christ; Israel pictures the Church. Joshua gave Israel their inheritance; Jesus gave the Church its inheritance. To help paint this picture, Joshua’s name was actually changed earlier in his life from Hoshea to Joshua, which is the Hebrew equivalent to the name Jesus.
In Joshua 10:22-27, Joshua (picturing Jesus) and the army of Israel defeated five Canaanite kings and their armies (picturing satan and those aligned with him). The kings fled and hid in a cave. Upon discovering them, Joshua (Jesus) ordered the kings to be brought to him and made them lie down on the ground. Everyone thought he was about to enact a very familiar custom of that time, which was the conquering king placing his foot on the necks of his enemies in order to display his conquest. Oftentimes the defeated army or armies would be paraded before the conquering king or general as he did so. This is what Colossians 2:15 is referring to, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”
Joshua (Jesus), however, does something very different and very prophetic. Rather than place his foot on the necks of these kings, as was the custom, Joshua summoned some of his soldiers and had them do so! No more literal picture of Christ and the Church could have been given. When Jesus defeated satan and his principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, placing them under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:57, Ephesians 1:22, Hebrews 2:8), He “raised us up with Him” (Ephesians 2:6), placing satan and his army under our feet!
And yet He also said, You’ll have to bind and loose (Matthew 16:18-19); you’ll have to use the “weapons of your warfare” (2 Corinthians 10:4); you’ll have to “wrestle” (Ephesians 6:12). He is saying, “What I have accomplished, you must now enforce. I have put our enemies under our feet legally—under My and your authority—but you must exercise that authority in individual situations, causing the literal manifestation of our victory.”
This is why Romans 16:20 says, “And the God of peace will soon crush satan under YOUR feet” (v. 20, emphasis added). And Luke 10:19 tells us, “Behold, I have given YOU authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you” (emphasis added).
In Joshua 1:3, the Lord said to Joshua, “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.” The word “tread” is darak, and means more than just stepping. It is a warfare term used for “bending the bow” when about to shoot an arrow. It is still used today in Israel for the command, “Load your weapons.” God wasn’t telling Israel that everywhere they simply walked or stepped would be given to them. He had already marked off the perimeters of their inheritance. He was saying, “Every place that I have promised, and where you are willing to “load your weapons” and possess, I’m going to give you.”
So, one last time: Was God giving, or were they taking? YES!
And to prove my point, I remind you that the previous generation in Israel was fearful and unwilling to darak - load their weapons - and fight. And they did NOT possess what God said was theirs. These things happened to Israel as types or shadows for us (see 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11). That which our Joshua - Jesus - has given to us will not automatically come to us simply because we are now born again. We must darak and yaresh!
America shall be saved…as we lay hold of her salvation!
Pray with me:
Father, as we move toward revival and reformation, we are reminded of Israel. You told them to prepare their weapons; they were going to possess the land. They would have to “possess” what You were “giving” legally. As long as they walked in covenant with You and obeyed Your strategies, they prevailed.
You have given us spiritual weapons, with which to overcome the powers of darkness that have influenced our nation for decades. They have controlled other nations for centuries. The spoils we’re after are people’s salvation; we want millions to be freed from the curse of the Fall and their separation from You. We want them delivered from sin and freed from oppression. We want our children to know You and Your ways, and to be passionately pursuing relationship with You. You want this, as well.
We want our nation to once again embrace her calling and destiny. We want to serve Christ and other nations by taking the gospel of Jesus to them. We want You to be honored - from the highest levels of authority in our land, to every home and person. We want to help You accomplish the great revival You’re planning, being Your voices, Your hands, Your feet, and especially representing Your heart. You have said You would restore America to this if we humbled ourselves and prayed, turned from sin, and sought Your face. A remnant, a representational intercessory army has done so, and will continue to do this. We know You will honor what You have said. So we command once again, “Kingdom of God - rule of Yahweh, victory of Christ, life of God, breath of Holy Spirit - COME! Will and desires of King Jesus, BE!” We pray and decree these things through His authority, and thank You in advance. Amen.
Our decree:
We declare that we will lay hold of that which God is giving.
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James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 5414.
Ibid., ref. no. 3423.
Ibid., ref. no. 1949.
Ibid., ref. no. 2983.