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B. Through the Abrahamic Race

1. With the Good Land as the Center and the Goal

With the Abrahamic race, God took the good land as the center and the goal (Gen. 12:7; Exo. 3:8a). From Genesis 12 to the end of Malachi, the center and the goal are the good land. The good land is a complete and full type of the all-inclusive Christ.

2. God’s Intention

a. To Have a People on the Earth to Be One with Him

God’s intention was to have a people on the earth to be one with Him.

b. To Carry Out His Economy That Christ Might Be Brought into Humanity through Incarnation

God wanted a people to be one with Him to carry out His economy that Christ might be brought into humanity through incarnation. If there had not been such a land called the good land where God’s people could have lived, Christ could not have come into humanity through incarnation. For Him to come into humanity, He needed a people, and for these people to live, there was also the need of the land.

c. To Take, Possess, and Enjoy the Good Land as a Full Type of Christ

God’s intention with the Abrahamic race was for them to take, possess, and enjoy the good land as a full type of Christ before Christ came to be a man.

3. Israel’s Failure

a. Not Entering into God’s Goal-the Good Land

The descendants of Abraham also failed. First, they did not enter into God’s goal-the good land (Num. 14). The good land was before them, and they could have entered into it, but they would not. This shows that Christ is ready for people to enter into Him, but today very few people would enter into Christ.

b. Not Taking and Possessing the Good Land by Destroying the Canaanites

Israel also failed by not taking and possessing the good land by destroying the Canaanites (Josh. 13:1-7). Many persons, matters, and things on this earth are frustrating people from taking Christ. This is typified by the seven tribes of the Canaanites occupying the good land to frustrate Israel from taking it. The Israelites should have been bold to trust in God to destroy all those Canaanites, but they failed.

c. Not Remaining in the Enjoyment of the Good Land by Walking with God

Eventually, the Israelites under Joshua’s leadership entered the good land, but they did not remain in the enjoyment of the good land by walking with God (Judg. 2:11-15). The historical books of the Old Testament, from Joshua to Esther, give us the details of how to enter into the good land, how to take it, how to possess it, and how to remain in it. The book of Ruth shows us that Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, swerved out from the good land to Moab. He swerved out of the enjoyment of the good land and was punished by God with death to himself and his two sons. Then Naomi rose up to return. This shows that today many Christians came into Christ and stayed in Christ for a while, but then they swerved from Christ.
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The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups   pg 4