Gtcotr/ws012126
Exodus 23 NKJV
20 ¶ “Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared."
Numerous times in the Old Testament accounts, the appearance of what is called, “The Angel of the LORD”, is not a reference to a created angelic being or human messenger but rather an appearance of Jesus Christ Himself.
I believe, as do many scholars, the Angel referred to in this account is none other than our Lord and Savior, Jesus.
He shall keep you and bring you into what I have prepared for you.
This evening, I want to present a New Testament overlay of this Old Covenant Word of God. In other words: What does this story mean for us today?
Exodus 23
21 “Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.
22 “But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
23 “For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off.
These six enemies were natural enemies who were designed by God to parallel the six major spiritual enemies we face today. Who or what do these enemies represent in our lives and how do we defeat them?
Here is a recap of these Six Enemies of the Soul – Each enemy provides a formidable temptation. The goal of the enemy is to keep us out of the Promise Land. You can find these enemies listed in Exodus 3:8 and 23:23.
1. The Canaanite – Compromise
a. We cannot live a victorious life with one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world
b. The Church should not mimic the world but the Kingdom.
2. The Hittite – Dismayed
a. To be terrorized and paralyzed
b. Unsettled, confused
c. To lose it and go to pieces
3. The Amorite – Opinion Driven
a. Stubbornly Opinionated
b. Be unwilling to go to war with family and friends
4. The Perizzite – Anything Goes
a. Without walls; no standards; no boundaries
b. There is a point, beyond which, tolerance ceases to be a virtue.
c. You must be born again!
5. The Hivite – Selfishness
a. Blaming others for the pressure or problem
b. It doesn’t have to be a bad heart to be a bad habit.
6. The Jebusite – Threshing Place
a. To be beaten down
b. Rejected
c. Lowly Esteemed
d. Trampled under foot
e. Tempted to feel worthless, discarded and of no value
Again … how do we defeat these enemies and what happens when we do? God will do His part - He will cut them off … but what is our part in this?
Exodus 23 NKJV
24 “You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.
25 “So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.
26 “No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
27 “I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
28 “And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.
29 “I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field become too numerous for you.
30 “Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.
31 “And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
32 “You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33 “They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
God expects us to correctly identify these enemies who are trying to keep us from entering the eternity God has prepared for us. This is an underlay of our eternity … a picture of our future.
The implication is: If we obey Jesus and do what He said, He will save us and He will be an enemy to our enemies and a friend to our friends. As well, God will prepare a place for us to live without these enemies. So …
Don’t bow down to them …
Don’t be like them or do what they do …
Overthrow them!
Destroy their strongholds/pillars.
Serve the Lord your God.
Give God time to drive out the enemies from before you.
