God judged them firstly by making them wander in the wilderness for forty years. During that time the first generation of those who came out of Egypt died, and they were strewn along in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:5).
Eventually, the children of Israel entered the good land, but they did not dispossess the entire land. They did not utterly destroy the Canaanites, and the remaining Canaanites eventually became a big problem to them. Quite often they were oppressed by these Canaanites.
God also judged them by allowing them to be captured and subdued by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.
God’s further judgment on Israel was for them to be scattered to the nations throughout the world.
Eventually, Israel was given up by God. The Lord told them that they would be given up and that He would turn His kingdom from Israel to the church (Matt. 21:43).
Being given up by God, Israel was thus kept away from the enjoyment of the good land. All the historical books of the Old Testament are a record in detail of how we can take Christ, possess Christ, and remain in the enjoyment of Christ as the good land. The New Testament does not show us so many details concerning the enjoyment of Christ as the Old Testament does in type.
God could not get through with the Abrahamic race, so He turned to the church.
The unique Christ is the center and goal of God’s move through the church (John 3:16; 1 Cor. 1:9).
God’s intention is to bring forth the church as the Body of Christ for the corporate expression of the processed Triune God (Eph. 1:23; 3:19b).
The church’s building up is to complete, to consummate, the building of the New Jerusalem. As we are building up the church, we are moving toward a goal, and that goal is the New Jerusalem.
The church failed because it was distracted from the enjoyment of Christ (Gal. 1:6; 4:9). Today’s Christianity does not even have the term the enjoyment of Christ. Many are fundamental Christians, yet they do not know at all what it is to enjoy Christ.
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