Giants in the Land: Volume 1 (War for Possession) — Post 2 of 33
Part I — The Summons & the Stakes
The True Objective of Christian Warfare
Most Christians assume that Canaan represents heaven. But Scripture refuses such a comparison. In the Bible, Canaan is not the place believers go when they die, but the place believers enter when they obey.
This matters, because if Canaan is heaven, then the giants are undertakers, Jordan is death, and rest is discovered only after burial. But the Word of God reveals a different picture entirely.
- Canaan is inheritance, not paradise.
- Canaan is rest, not relief.
- Canaan is reigning, not retirement.
- Canaan is possession, not escape.
Rest Is Not Death
The Book of Hebrews makes this plain. Speaking of Israel’s failure to enter the land, the apostle says:
“So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”
(Heb. 3:19)
He then applies this to Christians:
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. — Heb. 4:1
Heaven is not entered by obedience, fear, or labour — but Canaan is.
The apostle continues:
“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God…
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest…”
(Heb. 4:9–11)
Death requires no labour; obedience does.
Death Is Not Jordan
If Jordan represents death, then no believer ever backslides after crossing. But Scripture records tribes who failed to drive out enemies, others who fell into idolatry, and still others who lost inheritance because they refused to possess it.
- Heaven has no giants.
- Heaven has no battles.
- Heaven has no idols.
- Heaven has no taxation.
- Heaven has no partial obedience.
- Heaven has no forfeited allotments.
But Canaan had all of these.
Inheritance Must Be Possessed
Canaan was given by promise, but taken by warfare. God did not clear the land with plagues or angels, though He certainly could have. He left enemies intact so that faith would become obedience, and obedience would become possession.
Joshua records it plainly:
“And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware…
and they possessed it…”
(Josh. 21:43)
Promise alone is not possession.
Possession is inheritance.
Inheritance requires warfare.
Reigning in Life Is Now
The New Testament echoes this truth in different words:
“…they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”
(Rom. 5:17)
Not in death.
Not after burial.
Not in some distant millennium.
But in life.
The same apostolic witness defines the nature of this rest:
“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
(Rom. 14:17)
This is not funerary language, but experiential reality for those who walk in the Spirit.
The Pastoral Error of Our Age
Modern Christianity desires “rest without war.” It seeks comfort without conflict, enlargement without obedience, breakthrough without surrender, and inheritance without conquest.
But Scripture gives rest after warfare, joy after obedience, and reigning after possession.
The wilderness was never the destination.
He brought Israel out to bring them in.
OVERCOMER’S CHECKPOINT
If Canaan is heaven, then death is gain and obedience is optional.
But if Canaan is inheritance, then death is loss and obedience is essential.
Question:
Are you waiting to die, or learning to possess?