The Old Testament is rich with themes, which have now become types of New Testament realities.  One such theme is that of owning a special land.

When Abram was separated from his nephew, Lot chose to pitch his tent towards the good, fertile lands of Sodom.  In Gen. 13:14-15, "The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, 'Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.'"  Again, God told Abram in Gen. 15:7, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaleans, to give you this land to possess it."  Hebrews 11:8-10 fills in a few more details: "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God." 

How much did Abraham know about heaven?  Probably not as much as we do, as little as we know today through the revelation of Jesus Christ.  By FAITH Abraham waited on God to fulfill His promise to him.  We know Abraham had some military strength because he used it to go rescue Lot from the hands of those four kings in Genesis 14.  But he did not use his military strength to take the land God had promised.  He realized he needed to wait on the Lord to give it to him.  He died not having received the promised land, but he knew his descendants would receive it.

Hundreds of years later, God directed the Israelites, under the leadership of Moses, to take the land.  They sent in 12 spies, the majority of which brought back a message of doom and gloom: we can't take the land because there are giants in the land!  They did not have the faith of Abraham.  God told them they could not have the land, but were to wander for 40 years.  They quickly changed their minds and tried to go take the land, but without God's help they failed miserably.  They would only receive the promised land on God's terms.

After 40 years of wandering, a whole new generation of Israelites was ready to go into the land.  This time, under the leadership of Joshua, they went into the land following the commands of the Lord very carefully.  The first city they approached in battle was Jericho.  God showed them they would not take the land by their military strength.  He knocked down the walls of Jericho in a startling display of His power and they just had to walk in and take the city.

Years after God gave them the land, the Israelites continued to fall into patterns of idolatry and immorality.  God's punishment was to exile them - take them from their promised land.  The punishment was more than slavery - it was reminiscent of the 40 years of wandering.  They were landless.  They did not have the promise of God.

How is this a type for us today?  In a very real sense, we are landless, wandering in a wilderness that is not our own.  Jesus said in John 14:2, "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you."  There's a place for Jesus' disciples in His Father's house!  There is a new Jerusalem, a new heaven, and a new earth of which John writes in Revelation 21.  Peter calls Christians "aliens and strangers" (1 Pet. 1:1; 2:11).  We sing, "This world is not my home, I'm just a’ passing through" and, "I am a stranger here, within a foreign land, my home is far away upon a golden strand" and, "Here we are but straying pilgrims."  We, like Abraham, are wanderers in a land that is not our own.  But we look for a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God!  What a great hope we have in Christ Jesus - to have a place in God's own house!  I'll be happy to just live in small room in God's house.  But, knowing my God and His promises, I expect to be truly amazed and filled with joy with whatever He has prepared for me!

I am looking for a city...

Nathan