Exodus 23:24 says, “Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and break in pieces their pillars” (lit.). This indicates clearly that the children of Israel were to destroy all the idols in the promised land. If we have anything within us which is an idol replacing the Lord, that thing will be a snare to us. Thus, we must overthrow it and break it. No idols are allowed in the Christian life. Nothing is permitted to replace the Lord within us. Anything that occupies the place of the Lord within us is an idol. If we would take possession of the all-inclusive Christ for our experience, we must destroy all idols.
In verses 25 and 26 we see Jehovah’s complete care for His people. Verse 25 says, “And ye shall serve Jehovah your God, and he will bless thy bread, and thy water” (lit.). God promised to bless His people’s food and drink. Without food and drink it would have been impossible for His people to take possession of the land and live in it. The same is true in our Christian life. Without proper food and drink we cannot enjoy Christ, experience Christ, gain Christ, and possess Christ. Our food is the Word and our drink is the Spirit.
The Lord’s recovery today is very much under God’s blessing. We certainly have the blessed Word and the blessed Spirit. If you visit a group of Christians and see that the Word and the Spirit are blessed there, you should say, “Lord, thank You. You are here.” Only by having the blessed Word and Spirit can we take possession of Christ, enjoying Him, experiencing Him, and obtaining Him to the uttermost. Hallelujah for the Word and the Spirit as our food and drink! This is a sign of God’s care.
In 23:25 the Lord said, “I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.” Sickness makes us weak, it hinders our growth, and it may even cause us to die. In 1 Corinthians 11:30 Paul refers to certain believers who became weak, sick, or died. When the Lord Jesus came, there was widespread sickness among God’s people: blindness, deafness, dumbness, and paralysis. Today many Christians are spiritually blind, deaf, dumb, or paralyzed. Are you healthy spiritually? How is your spiritual eyesight and your spiritual hearing? Are you healthy in your speech and activities? Many of today’s Christians are paralyzed. Spiritually, it is impossible for them to move. Only when we are healthy in our spiritual seeing, hearing, speaking, and moving are we able to take possession of Christ, experience Him, and enjoy Him. The proper church life is a healthy life, a life without blindness, deafness, dumbness, or paralysis. If we are spiritually healthy in every way, we shall be able to take possession of Christ as the good land and experience Him.
In 23:26 God promised, “There shall none cast her young, nor be barren, in thy land” (lit.). This means that God promised to give the people multiplication. They would not only grow and produce, but also multiply. Multiplication here has two meanings. First, it means to produce fruit; second, it means that one’s growth is multiplied. We should not simply grow—we should be multiplied. Usually when someone grows spiritually, he is also multiplied.
According to the promise in 23:26, to be multiplied means not to have any miscarriages. It is possible for saints to have a spiritual miscarriage. For a while, some may grow quite well in the Lord. But suddenly they have a spiritual miscarriage, and this causes their growth in life for production to cease.
Another problem is spiritual barrenness. Some Christians may have a spiritual miscarriage, but others are barren. They do not bear any fruit. We all need to grow constantly and to produce without miscarriage.
It is sad to see a brother who is the same today as he was many years ago. He is spiritually barren. With him there is no multiplication, no reproduction. It is also sad to see those who do well for a period of time, only to have a sudden spiritual miscarriage. We all need to pray, “Lord, I take Your word as a promise. I stand against spiritual miscarriage and barrenness. Lord I want to produce, to multiply without miscarriage.”