Preparing to Inherit


We are living in the most important time of all history. God has ordained that there be a time when the glory of God is to be revealed. One passage of scripture says that all flesh shall see it together.

Isaiah 40:5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Look at the context with me and lets take the next two services to consider what that means to us both and individuals and as the corporate Body of Christ.

    Isaiah 40:1-5  Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.   3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:   5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

The context of this is that of having been through war before the comfort of God comes. She also has paid for all her sins.

The next context set is that of John the Baptist, or the Spirit and Power of Elijah, which is preparatory for coming of the Lord. Again when we look at this we find that in the days of Jesus, He said, if you could believe it, John was the Elijah that should come. It is interesting that they did not receive it, therefore the fullness of its fulfillment did not come at that time. Although we do not have time to explain that, it gives us something to meditate on.

Examining the fullness of this principle we find that it also come into full fulfillment in the last days. Just as everything else in the end time, its fulfillment is found in a corporate expression.

There is coming a day when every valley shall be exalted and every obstacle of mountains and hills will be brought low. The crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain. In applying these we see that God wants to apply it personally first and then bring it into operation in the Body of Christ. Can I suggest to you that this is part of your inheritance in the Body of Christ.

When we bring it into the parallels with Israel inheriting, we find some of the following. Remembering that Corinthians says that all these things happened to them for examples for(of) us on whom the end of the age are come.

A summary of the principles of inheriting will help us in grasping what is about to happen in the earth as God’s people prepare for the inheriting of the glory. The principles that are seen in type and shadow in the book of Joshua, are applicable to today’s people whom God is calling to go into all that Jesus purchased on the cross for them by experience, not just understanding it academically.

We need to state a principle of interpretation, before we go any further in this message.

All the promises to natural Israel will be fulfilled to her and in her. Some of them are yet to come and will be fulfilled in the Millennium. Many focus on the natural and never realize that for every promise to natural Israel there is a spiritual fulfillment to the Israel of God, or what Peter calls, the Holy Nation.

Never do away with the natural, or you may not fully understand the spiritual.

Taking these principles and applying them to what God promised to Israel concerning  inheriting a land flowing with milk and honey we find that God is going to bring the Israel of God to a land flowing with spiritual milk and honey. This, at the very least speaks of a richness of spiritual realities that have not yet been seen by the church. We are coming to the equivalent, in the church, of the time of possessing our inheritance.

When the 12 spies first went up into Canaan to spy it out, there were two conflicting reports. It says of those reports that they came from the heart of the reporters or spies. They communicated their discouraged heart to the rest of the people causing all but Joshua, Caleb and Moses to be discouraged. It says that Joshua and Caleb wholly followed the Lord their God.

In the generation that was to inherit, Joshua and Caleb instilled their vision and insight, so that the 40 years were not wasted, but they were used of God to deal with unbelief and raise up a believing people. If a generation if about 40 years, then we have God having given a generation a chance to enter into the fullness of God destiny and purpose and that generation refusing to go in. Now, I believe God has raised a generation of believers who have been prepared by God to take all of that Jesus purchased for us on the cross.

*****We are called to the heavenlies. Ephesians states we are positionally seated there. Before time began, God apportioned the land of Palestine for Israel. You were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. This means that “the works of God” were done from the foundation of the world, but there is a set time for them to be manifest in the earth. Approximately 1000 years before Christ, Israel came into full possession of what was theirs in eternity past. Now it is time for the church to come into what has been ours, in God’s mind, from the foundation of the world.

When Israel began that journey into her inheritance at the Jordan, some chose to stay on the wrong side of the river. God allowed it, but made some things mandatory. The warriors of those tribes, could not settle with their families, until they had helped those who were willing to go in conquer the land God promised them. Herein we find a principle that somehow God is going to enforce in these last days. There are those who will choose to stay in the first good land that they see after their wilderness journey. This applies on the individual, local body level and can be applied to the true universal church as well. Here is a principle of inheritance, that we, especially in N. A. fail to grasp. It is going to take all of the warriors from all the spiritual tribes, to take our inheritance.

There is a sense in which each thematic flow of churches or denomination, are representative, in the spirit, of one of the tribes of Israel. Each church grouping within  those thematic flows would be a family within the tribe.  To illustrate this we could refer to the holiness flow, which includes some streams of Methodist, some of the Pentecostal denominations. You have the healing flow which includes The Christian Missionary Alliance, the Nazarenes, etc.  Then you would have the Charismatic or full Gospel, Pentecostal churches which could represent some of the families in Judah. If we were to take the time we could find parallels to each of the tribes.

One of the things this means is that God must bring His Army together in a way we have not yet seen. He is the one that says that some must enter in, in Heb. 4. The rest, spoken of in Heb. 4, refers to our inheritance. In Deut. God said to Israel that when God had brought them into the land and given them rest from all their enemies round about. That God would do it, was not a question. The danger they were warned of was, when war was done and prosperity was achieved, there was a danger of forgetting God.

In coming back to inheriting, we find there are multiples of scripture referring to natural Israel’s inheritance, and those that refer to spiritual Israel’s inheritance. It is important that we do not stop short of praying for natural Israel to come into the fullness of restoration of her inheritance, and that the Church come into the fullness of theirs.

Just a few principles about inheritance then we will consider how we move into our inheritance illustrated from natural Israel’s journey.

1.    There is an inheritance for everyone.
    a.    Numbers 26:54 To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him.  
        i.    Our inheritance is given to us, according to the number in our household.
            (1)    This allows a certain validity to the size of the church dictates the size of the inheritance. The only problem with this is that many work on increasing the size of the congregation and forget to go on and possess the inheritance.
            (2)    Although the inheritance is tied to the size of the church, our focus should never be size, but, inheriting.


2.    Only by helping others obtain there inheritance will I be able to fully possess and live in my own.
    a.    Numbers 32:18 We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.
    b.    Numbers 32:32 We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours.


3.    Women have the right to inherit.
    a.    Numbers 27:7 The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them.
    b.    Job 42:15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.
    c.    Joshua 17:6 Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons: and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead.


4.    Inheritance Must be possessed.!!!
    a.    Numbers 27:8-11  And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. 9 And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. 10 And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren. 11 And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.


        Looking at this brings us to another principle that seems to be ignored in the teaching on inheritance today.

        In the wilderness, often God fought the battles for them in some dramatic way manifesting His power and bringing such fear into the enemy that they were clearly defeated. When we come into the promise land, it is already inhabited with cities built, fields planted, and crops ready to be harvested. The only problem was they had to fight for every inch of what God had promised them. God helped them, put fear in the enemy, but they still had to fight and gain victory.


5.    Inheriting is by a process of warring and God giving victory.
    a.    Deuteronomy 2:31 And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.


6.    The land was to be given to them for an inheritance, as it is to us.
    a.    Deuteronomy 4:38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.
        i.    God drives out the nations before us.
            (1)    They are greater than we are.
            (2)    They are mightier than we are.
        ii.    He drives out the nations before us through hand to hand combat with us.
            (1)    He drives them out using us as His instrument to do so.
        iii.    By us driving them out, He brings us into the land.
        iv.    By driving them off their land, He gives it to us.
        v.    In this way we inherit our inheritance.


    One of the most outstanding illustrations to me is when Joshua saw the need, in a battle to defend the Gibeonites, with whom they had made a covenant, to command the sun to stand still and extend the day just so the battle could be won. This was a battle in the land God said He gave them, yet, the day had to be extended supernaturally and Israel’s warriors had to war fiercely, in order to possess what God said was theirs from the beginning of time.

Over and over again, I have read from credible prophets recently that it is time to go into the realms of the spirit and possess our inheritance. What I do not hear is the encouragement that the level of warfare opposing them is actually normal for where they are in the spirit.

In the natural, Israel took a number of generations to take all the land God had promised them. They only held it for two generations and then began to lose ground. Yet God promises natural Israel that in the millennium she will again have all that territory that God had promised from the foundation of the world.

As we have watched cycles in the church we have seen the same thing. It is important to see this and that it fits right into the first principle we dealt with. There have been, down through the ages, partial fulfillments of the promises of God to the church, yet, God has reserved the fulness for the end of this age or the end time. We are living in that time. I refer again to the passage in Romans. 9:28

    Romans 9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

IT is to be noted that He said He will finish the work. Although we cooperate with God in the working out of this vision, there are certain things that He will do just because He has spoken it. He will bring forth a people whom He has made willing through the dealings of God. The choice then becomes, will I be among that people. It is never, will God do it, it is always, will I let Him make me one of them. I believe the short work refers to a work completed in one generation. All that has been revealed down through the years, will culminate in one generation as God does the complete work in that generation. The psalmist called it the generation that shall be created... 

    Psalm 102:18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.

This generation shall become the army of God that will rise up and take all of the inheritance. Can I take you on a leap of faith and interpretation of a passage of scripture?

Carefully consider this passage with me, and let us forget everything we have been taught about it. Let us look at it with fresh eyes and see the spiritual realities of spiritual warfare in it.

Revelation 12:1-13 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:  2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.  4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

In order to save time let me speak directly to how this relates to coming into our inheritance. I am going to deal with it by stating the applicable principles in what one might call the language of the dealings of God.

1.    God is going to bring forth a people who walk into the authority of relationship with God whereby they are clothed with His character and nature, represented by being clothed with the sun. Also the fact that she is in the heavenlies undergirds that this is a heavenly and position. The authority is represented by the crown of 12 stars. Throughout scripture 12 is the number of divine government. This means that she whom the woman represents is moving in divine government having arisen in the heavenlies to possess this authority through relationship.
    a.    This can be applied individually if you will allow God to lead you through those dealings that will work these things in your life.
2.    This one is ready to bring forth something new. In this case it is a manchild. Many are the theories of who this manchild is, but for our representation it is what God has said is your inheritance, because we are dealing with the principles unveiled in this passage, not the specifics.
3.    The dragon in this representation illustrates how the opposition is arrayed against the new thing that God is birthing. This then can be applied in the individual life and experience, in the experience of the local assembly, and eventually in the universal church or Body of Christ.
    a.    The enemy desires to devour the new thing before it gets a chance to mature and become a threat to his kingdom and destruction in the earth realm. Remember that all this is going on in the heavenlies.
4.    Yet, at the birthing of the new thing, in the end of the age, there is the interruption of the sovereign God. There are some things that He will not let the enemy of our souls destroy or contaminate. Oh that the new thing God is doing in His people, individual and corporate would be one of those things in which there is a sovereign interruption of the enemies plans.
5.    The new thing that God is doing in this last hour will be caught up to God and to His throne. It will be caught up to a place of relationship with God and a place of authority in God that is beyond the reach of the enemy of our soul.
    a.    I would like to suggest to you that God is birthing that in a people in this hour. If this is the final generation, and I believe it is the final one of this age or the transition generation into the next age, then we are going to see the sovereignty of God in the preserving of what He is birthing in us.
    Listen carefully to this next principle because it is found in the passage. When read carefully
6.    Remember that the dragon is a wonder in heaven. The woman is a wonder in heaven, yet, the manchild is caught to a place above that. With this catching up the heavens become crowded. It says that there was war in heaven.
    a.    If our inheritance is to be seated with Him in heavenly places, and the enemy at this time at least has access, then when a people arrive to possess their inheritance in heavenly places, war breaks out. The devil and his angels must be cast down. It is done through warfare.


We have laid out the principle here but do not have time to go into it in great detail, but I would encourage you to look back through your own personal history and recognize this principle in action. Just before you have come into a new dimension in God, you have seen greater manifestations of oppositions of the enemy than ever before. It is almost as if you see the mouth of the enemy open to devour the new thing that you feel God is forming in you. The opposition is all in the heavenlies. There may seem to be some on the earthly realm but it is all coming from the heavenly realm. I think we have a right to pray into sovereign moving of God, for the preservation of the new revelation or experiencing of God.

Even though the new thing may be born into the heavenlies, there will be warfare to possess that which God has said is ours. We have Paul telling us in Ephesians. that we are seated with Jesus in heavenly places. Many are wanting to access that position without warfare saying that Jesus defeated the Satan at Calvary, and because of that the battle is won. Although positionally that is true, experiencially it is evident that we have yet to rule from the throne in many of our situations. Just as Israel had to fight the enemy driving them out by dispossessing them, the same is true of spiritual Israel as they move to possess that which God says is theirs.

Joshua had been promised that he would cause Israel to possess their inheritance. In order to lead the people into their inheritance, Joshua needed a further revelation of God than the one that Moses had. Jesus appeared to him as the Captain of the Lord’s Host.

If we are coming into the time of possessing our inheritance I believe that there must come to us a fresh revelation of the Lord Jesus and spiritual warfare.