What I'd like to do is have you stand again with me and let's read. We're not going to do this text the normal way. I'm going to read it and then we're going to refer to it a bit as we go along, but I just want to get it all in our minds here. So read together and it's on your handout, the last page, or Exodus 23, 20-33 in your Bibles. This is the word of God. Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. I know I didn't make it clear if you should read with me. Sure, read with me. That would be great. Okay, that would be great. Going on. You pay careful attention to him and obey his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. You shall serve the Lord your God. And He, I, will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. None shall miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days in the land. I will send my terror before you and will overthrow them into confusion, all the people against whom you shall come. And I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. and I will send hornets before you which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little, I will drive them out from before you until you have increased and possessed the land. And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. 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. Lord, thank you now for this, your word. Now help us as we open it. I pray that as it's opened to us, you would open our hearts to receive it, to understand, and to be built up in true holiness and hope. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so we're gonna start out with a question this morning. What does land have to do with covenant? Why do I ask that question? Well, because this morning we come to the end of the book of the covenant. That's what we've been in for a while now. We come to the end, to the conclusion, and the conclusion is this. If I were to summarize everything we just read, which was a lot, it's all this. If you will trust and obey and worship the Lord, and the Lord only. If you will do that, then I, the Lord, will give you possession of the land. And furthermore, if you continue to trust and to obey and to worship only the Lord, once you've got possession of the land, well, then I, will continue to give you abundant life and long life in the land. Notice how we start verse 20. Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the, what? The place. The place that I have prepared. And then notice how we have five references to the land in verses 26 to 30. I put them all in capital letters. Land, land, land, land, land. So the main theme of these verses, to sum it all up, it is the hope and the promise of life in the land. In the what? In the what? In the place, yeah. the place that God has prepared for his people. After all, that was the whole point of coming out of Egypt, right? The whole point. All the way back in chapter 6, the Lord says to Moses, I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them. That's step one, get you out of Egypt, redeem you. Step two, I will take you to be my people and I will be your God. What is that? Covenant relationship. You're mine. I'm yours. Covenant relationship. Step three. Step three. I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord. What's the point of land? What's the point? The point of the land is to be the place where God and the people he brought out of Egypt and entered into a relationship with, the place where they can enjoy that relationship to the fullest. The land is tied together with the covenant because it's only in the land. It's only there. that all the fullest blessings of my relationship with God can be experienced. The point of the covenant, why make a covenant? The whole point of the covenant was so that God and his people could live together in the land. We've already seen this connection between the covenant relationship with God and the place where I enjoy that relationship. in Exodus chapter 20. Honor your father and your mother, that's the covenant requirement, that your days as a nation may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Some of the other commandments are worded, and this is, I just want you to see this. In the Ten Commandments, it assumes the land, like don't covet your neighbor's house. Well, you're out at Mount Sinai right now, no one has a house, right? But he gives the commandment assuming you're going to have houses because you're going to be in the land. There's another one, I'm not recalling which one it is right now, but there are other commandments that assume you're in the land even though they're not. A lot of the righteous judgments we've went through here, they all assume that you're in the land even though they're not yet, even before they get there. So why is this reality of the land so tightly woven into the covenant itself? We're like, who cares about land? We're all spiritually minded, right? Isn't that what we're supposed to be? God cared about the land. It's really simple. The land is not just a reward. Sometimes I think we can see the land and we're like, oh yeah, that's like a new car or something. That's like a new technological gadget. Some reward for being good. No. The land was not just a reward for being good. The land was the place where the covenant happened. The covenant can't happen outside of that place where God is and where God's people are together. That's the point. Place matters. The hope and the promise of the land. It was the hope and the promise not of wine and food and happy times in and of itself. It was the hope and the promise of life lived in the fullness and all the richness of covenant relationship with God. That's the land. So covenant and land, covenant and place are tied together and in your handout you cannot separate covenant and land. Now does that make you wonder about us today? Are we in covenant with God? If you can't separate the land from the covenant, what does land have to do with us? In light of all this, It's pretty obvious that if Israel is going to enjoy life in this place, in this special place that God's got ready for them, this place for experiencing covenant relationship, then what will Israel have to do? They're going to have to keep the covenant. Clearly, you can't live in a land for experiencing covenant relationship and not keep the covenant. That's the whole point. That's the whole reason for the land. So when God kicks him out eventually, it's not just, well, you were bad, okay, let me think of something bad to do to you. No, it was like, you didn't keep the covenant, and that's the point of the land is where you enjoy covenant, so you can't live here. It's just the way it is. The point is not simply in your handout, if you obey me, I'll give you lots of good stuff. But rather, if you keep my covenant, then you will enjoy, you will enjoy all the blessings of life lived with me in covenant relationship and that's to say in the land. That's where that happens. Can you see now why when you're reading your Bibles and I want to tell you something, this message is like almost like a magic key to unlocking the whole Bible for you. So if you'll work at this, And if you'll take this home and throughout the week study it and work at it, the scriptures will open up in ways that maybe they haven't before, all throughout from beginning to end. Why is land such a huge deal in the Bible? Pervasive. Well, it's an essential part of covenant and covenant is everywhere in the Bible. So what does it have to do with us or does it have anything to do with us? That's the question. In order to really understand, now we'll go to land and covenant in Genesis 1-2. So in order to really understand and make sense of this place that God's got ready for Israel, we have to go back to the very beginning. Would you go back with me for a moment? Genesis 1 tells how God created and formed the heavens and the earth. And then, when he had got the place all ready, what did he do? He made His people to live there. When the place was all prepared, God created Adam and Eve to live in this wonderful, beautiful, perfect place, Genesis chapter 1. God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created them, male and female, He created them. And God blessed them and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Fill this place that I've made for you. So God first got the place ready, the whole world. Then he created the people to live there and then on day seven what happened? God rested. In other words, God moved into his place. I got the house ready, I've got the people living there, now I move in and we live together in this place in covenant relationship. The earth was to be the place where Adam and Eve shared with God in his joyful rest. When we move on to Genesis 2, think of Genesis 2. The camera, as it were, zooms in close for some extra detail. Chapter 2 verse 8, ìThe Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.î So in the midst of this whole big creation, weíve got a little tiny garden. And we could say that if the world was Godís temple, then the garden was the holy of holies. The garden was where the tree of life was, which was the symbol of God's presence. The garden was the place where God walked. The garden was the place where every tree that was pleasant to the sight and good for food was growing. It was a place of rivers and gold and precious stones. And it was into this holy garden sanctuary, into this place, this garden, I got the place ready, now let's put Adam there. And then I will walk there and put my tree of life there and we'll live together in this place in all the happiness of covenant relationship. See, the point of the garden was not simply lots of good stuff, like good tasting food. I mean, that was, but the garden was the place where Adam was to experience all the joy, all the happiness, all the abundance of living life with his creator, sharing in his rest. So eventually, as Adam worked the ground, and as Adam and Eve were fruitful and multiplied, what would happen? The garden would grow. The garden would grow until the garden filled the whole world, the whole earth. The special place was eventually to extend around the entire globe, filling the whole world. Fill the earth, God said. Extend the borders of that garden. From the very beginning, covenant and land and the very essence of Adam and Eve's creation was covenantal relationship with God. Covenant and land, covenant and place go together. You can't separate them. And from the very beginning, what was this place? Just what was it? What was the place? All the earth, the whole world. It's pretty obvious though that if Adam and Eve are going to enjoy life in that place, that God has prepared for living in covenant, they're going to have to do what? Keep the covenant. Obey God. Worship Him. Trust Him. That's the whole point of the place. And we know they didn't, and so what happened? They were kicked out of the place. And the land was cursed. It's only against that backdrop. When you're reading your Bible and you see Canaan and you see all this stuff about borders and all this, you can't understand anything of the Bible unless you understand this place in the beginning and what that place was to be. Now let's skip, before we come back to Exodus chapter 23, let's just skip all the way to the end in Revelation 21 to 22. And we read in chapter 21 verses 1 to 4, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. Here's how the Bible ends. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. Now watch for covenant here. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. That's covenant. And where is that going to be lived out? In the new earth, the new Jerusalem. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. So as we look at our Bibles, they begin and the end the same way, with the creation of a place where covenant life with God is enjoyed. In Genesis, that place was intended to be all the earth. In Revelation, this place is the whole world, all the earth. And so in Revelation 22, we see again a life-giving river flowing from the throne of God, and we see the tree of life growing again with access to all. It's only in light of these bookends of the Bible, beginning and end. It's only in light of those two things. that we can understand here in Exodus 23, the place that God has prepared for Israel. So, let's go to the land and covenant in the middle. All right? We're back to the middle now. Exodus 23 says, Behold, I sent an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Now, think with me here. If you compare this place in the middle with the worldwide place at the beginning and the whole earth at the end, what strikes you immediately? Well, this place is pretty small. It's pretty tiny. It's like the narrowing in the middle of an hourglass. So if you think of those games you play and the one minute timers or the two minute timers and the sand that falls, right? Here it is, we've got the big section and Genesis, it narrows to Canaan and then by the end, it's big again with all the earth. What's going on in the middle with this tiny little land? It's specifically in our passage the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And the borders are specifically identified, Exodus 23, 31. I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines and from the wilderness to the Euphrates. So we have a question now. What does this little tiny land in the middle have to do with the whole earth at the beginning and at the end? And what does it all mean for you? One thing that all three places have in common. Do these places have anything in common? Well, they're all places where you're to live in covenant relationship with God. They're all the same. Just like the two creations in Genesis and Revelation, Canaan is described as a place where God's people find rest. So in Genesis 1, God rested and Adam and Eve were to enter His rest in His place. In Revelation 21, God has a new earth and a new creation and His people there find rest according to Hebrews. And then in the land in the middle, what's the point of that land? The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest. And I will give you this land. Now I say, okay, rest in Canaan, rest in all the earth, rest in all the earth, rest in Canaan. What? Isn't it obvious to you that this place in the middle, this place called Canaan can't be what the Bible is envisioning in Genesis 1 or what the Bible is envisioning in Genesis, in Revelation 21. Rest in Canaan, rest in Canaan. It can't be the rest ultimately intended for Adam and Eve and fulfilled in the new heaven and new earth in Revelation. So what's going on here? Why Canaan? Why this place? And how does it fit? Here's the question. Here's the key to you reading your Bibles and then being filled with hope. I want you to just listen to this. Listen to the first promise God made to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 verses 1 to 3. God said, Go from your country and your kindred in your father's house to the land, Canaan, that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, Israel, and in you all the families of the earth. So we've got land and people there at the last part, but it's universal. will be blessed. So in the beginning, we have land of Canaan and nation of Israel. At the end, we have all the families, all the nations, and the whole earth, not just Canaan. But how do they go together? See, we have Abraham, the father of a single nation, one specific land, and yet somehow in Abraham, all. How does that happen? Let's skip ahead. Genesis 17, God says to Abraham, you shall be the father of a multitude of nations no longer shall your name be called Abraham but your name shall be Abraham for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations now watch this watch this somehow Abraham is not just to be the father of a single nation, Israel. He is to be the father of a multitude of nations. And that surpasses even the Ammonites. No, that's from Lot. I'm trying to remember the other nations. Midianites came from Gathura. It surpasses all the other nations physically. How is it that Abraham, in Abraham, all the nations of the earth are to be blessed? How is that to happen? It's simple. Abraham is ultimately to be their father. He is to be the father of all these nations, not just of Israel, and they are all to be his offspring. But here's the thing. If Abraham is to be the father of this many nations, if he is to be the father of this multitude of nations, then ultimately the place the place. And the land that God is promising to Abraham right there in Genesis must be all the earth. It must be the whole world. In other words, the multitude of nations who are going to be the offspring of Abraham, they cannot possibly all fit in Canaan. And so God expounds His promise even further in Genesis 26. Sojourn in this land, Canaan, and I will be with you. land singular. Canaan is one land. And I will be with you and will bless you for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands. In fact in Genesis 22 God makes it clear that those lands are the lands outside of Canaan. I will give to you all these lands even outside of Canaan and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven which cannot fit in Canaan. And I will give to your offspring all these lands. If Abraham is to be the father of a multitude of nations, now follow this here. If he is to be the father of a multitude of nations, all living together in covenant relationship with God, then what kind of place do you need for that? You need all these lands. You need all the earth. which is what God promised him. Paul, the apostle Paul, read these same verses we're reading here. And he saw that here was a promise made to Abraham that he would be the heir of the whole world. So what I want us to see, let's put it together now. We have one promise, one promise, with two different layers inside it. On the one hand, we have as Abraham's offspring a single nation living in Canaan in covenant relationship with God. On the other hand, in the same promise, we have another layer. We have Abraham's offspring, a multitude of nations living in all the earth in covenant relationship with God. Now, if you're Abraham and you're hearing that promise, what are you thinking? It's not two separate promises, it's one promise, one covenant. And if I'm Abraham, this is what I realize. And we know he did because Hebrews tells us this. What's clear to Abraham is that when that second layer happens, you know, when the multitude of nations comes, when the multitude of nations happens, descended from me, and they're all living together in all the earth in covenant relationship with God, when that happens, do you think it'll make sense anymore to be talking about a single nation descended from Abraham and living in the land of Canaan? You don't talk about Abraham's descendants, a single nation living in Canaan, when Abraham's descendants, a multitude of nations, are now living in all the earth. Let's put it this way. the two layers. When it finally arrives, the second layer of God's covenant promise to Abraham, all the earth, that part, it will absorb into itself the first layer of that single promise, which is Canaan. And so the second layer will fulfill the whole meaning and the whole purpose of Canaan. Let me say it this way, right there Within God's promise, you have both the shadow and the substance. One promise, but inside it, we have the shadow of Canaan and the substance of all the earth. We have the shadow of a covenant people that are mixed and not everyone's saved, and we have the substance of a covenant people where finally everyone's believers. It's both together in the same promise. So in your handout, When the substance of the promise does finally come, which is all the earth, when that finally arrives, then the shadow, which was Canaan, Canaan will be fulfilled and taken up into the substance. It's not like Canaan just, oh, I discard Canaan. No, Canaan is absorbed up and taken up into the substance of that promise, which is all the earth. When the original, finally arrives, which is the whole world, Genesis 1. When it arrives, the copy of that original, which was Canaan, will be fulfilled and taken up into the original. How is Canaan fulfilled? It's fulfilled in all the earth. And this even Abraham knew because God made it clear to Abraham in the promise that he made to him. If we trace then the promise, let's follow it out. What we have in Exodus 23, we have copy and shadow. Exodus 23, copy and shadow. It was a good copy and a good shadow, but it wasn't the substance. It wasn't the original. Remember all the U's in our passage? God says to the single nation of Israel, so we're talking about the shadows here, the single nation, if you keep my covenant, then you'll enjoy life in the land, the place that I've prepared. Let's fast forward 50 years. We'll read Joshua chapter 21. Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land. all the land that he swore to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it. And they settled there, and the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed. All came to pass. God kept his promises, but did Israel keep the covenant? So in the book of Judges we see Israel losing the land to their enemies and along with they lose all the joys, all the blessings, all the happiness of living in God's place with Him in relationship. Let's fast forward another 500 years from now and David's son Solomon is king. We read in 1 Kings, Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. There's the borders we just read about in Exodus. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. Okay, so God's kept his promise again. But will Israel keep the covenant? No. which leads to them eventually being kicked out just like Adam and Eve were. Exile. When you read about exile in the Bible, you've got to think of it in big picture. What is exile from the land? That's a big deal. That's not just a punishment because God's mad at the Israelites. He is angry, and it is a punishment. But exile was the loss of the place, the place where I was in covenant with God outside of that place. How can I be experiencing the fullness of covenant relationship with God? I'm outside the borders, I can't have it. Only there, only inside that place do I know the joys of this relationship. That's only the, Canaan though, that's the copy in the shadow. And if they're kicked out of the copy in the shadow, oh my, what about the substance? What about all the earth? With the growing threat of exile, the prophets began to speak of Israel's return to the land. And they did return. Ezra, Nehemiah, maybe you remember those books. They come back. Once again, God keeps his promises, but Israel still won't keep the covenant. You can't live in the covenant place if you're not keeping the covenant. So they lived there, but for the most part ruled by foreign powers. The land had ceased to be a place where the joy and abundance of covenant life with God was experienced. Do any of us want to find that place and be there? But now, the time was drawing near. The time was drawing near when the copy, Canaan, was to be fulfilled and taken up into the original, all the earth. When the shadow of Canaan was to be fulfilled and taken up into the substance, the whole world. The prophets, you see, Canaan was a shadow, Canaan was a type. Let me just give you this, and this is a teaching, I understand this is more teaching, but if you can grasp this, the scripture's open. So when you have a prophet prophesying, return to the land, one day you will return to the land, because the land was a type, because it was a shadow. If that prophecy is fulfilled before Jesus, then it will always be fulfilled in terms of the shadow, in terms of the type. That means you'll come back to Canaan. those borders that we all know. But if that fulfillment comes after Christ, Christ is the defining moment in history. And with Christ, all the shadows and all the types come to their fulfillment and give way to the originals and the substance. And so when the people return to the land after Christ, It's a sense of returning to a new creation, to a whole new earth. We'll talk about the already and the not yet. So depending on where you are in God's redemptive history, the prophecies will be fulfilled either in shadow language or in substance language after Christ already, if it's just after His first coming, or not yet, if it's after He came the second time. When you're reading your Bibles, and I know you're all reading your Bibles, and you read the Old Testament too, right? And you read about promises about the land and God bringing them back to the land. What does that mean for you? How do you understand God's Word? This is how. Shadows and types. The Old Testament is full of them. Priesthood, prophets, temple, land, people, types. And they're not replaced, and we're not throwing them away. It's that when Christ comes, they're drawn up into the substance. So the prophets began equating Israel's return to the land of Canaan with a brand new creation. They were saying some amazing things. They began equating, Israel, when you return to the land, it will be a whole new heavens and earth. And the people didn't all understand that, not before Christ. We remember from God's promise to Abraham the reason. Why does it have to be all the earth? Why is all the earth going to have to be necessary? because Abraham's children are going to be too many to fit in Canaan. Israel will be too big. The people of God. So we read in Isaiah 54, Sing, O barren one who did not bear. Break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor. That's Israel. For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married, says the Lord. Paul quotes this in the New Testament and says that this means the Gentiles who are now incorporated into God's people. Enlarge the place of your tent. Make your tent bigger. The curtains of your habitations be stretched out. Don't hold back. Lengthen your cords. Strengthen your stakes, because you'll spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations. Why? Because your offspring will live in all those nations as God's covenant people. That's what Paul says in Galatians. He quotes these verses saying this is being fulfilled in the church. And your people will people the desolate cities. So Abraham's children will be so numerous and so spread out that the place, that the whole world will be their home. The place that God has prepared for them to live together with Him. enjoy. How can that be though? How will God keep His promise to Abraham? We come then to the shadow caught up into the substance. And I wrote this out for you. This builds on stuff we said in previous weeks, but just read this with me. the seed and the offspring of Abraham. Jesus was the seed, the offspring of Abraham. He will keep the covenant that Israel broke. And then through his own shed blood, he'll make a new covenant with the people. A covenant that will actually turn the people into covenant what? Any guesses? Covenant keepers. covenant keepers, a covenant that will actually incorporate all the Gentile nations into the single seed of Abraham. Abraham does not have multiple seeds. He has one seed, and now we are part of that seed, even the Gentiles, with the Jews, all who have put their trust in Christ. And so also, Jesus, through His making this covenant, He must also then bring into existence the place. If God brings into existence the people, He brings into existence the place. You cannot separate place from covenant, ever. The place that God promised long ago to Abraham, the place where his offspring will all live forever with God. Experiencing all the joy and abundance of covenant life. So, when the new covenant comes, when did the new covenant come? when Jesus shed his blood, right? When the new covenant comes, the land comes with it. No longer just the land of Canaan, but all the earth which God promised to Abraham and to his descendants. So the psalmist says under the old covenant, listen to what the psalmist says in Psalm 37, the meek shall inherit the land, which is Canaan. and delight themselves in abundant peace. When Jesus comes and he makes the new covenant, he quotes the psalmist and he doesn't misquote the psalmist. He says, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Jesus, you got it wrong. Jesus, you're not understanding the psalmist in his original context. Actually, he is understanding the psalmist in his original context because the psalmist understood he was still living in the time of the shadow. He knew the substance was coming, it just wasn't there yet. So when Jesus comes, he quotes the psalmist perfectly accurately, but in the light that Jesus has come now. Since Jesus has come, I don't say anymore, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land. Since Jesus has come, we say, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The place has arrived. The substance is here in Christ. And so the promise of land, from now on I'll say the promise of a place made to Abraham. has now been fulfilled in Christ for all of us who are Abraham's offspring. Paul writes to Jews, Jewish and Gentile Christians, just like you, just like me, and he quotes Isaiah 54. The Jerusalem above is free. You see, the new creation has come. The new land, country, it's there, it's above, it's already. She is our mother, for it is written, Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear. Break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor. For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband. Paul quotes Isaiah. Did Paul get Isaiah right? Yeah, he did. The tents have been broadened, the stakes have been lengthened, the ropes have been lengthened, and here we are. the new earth has come, it's still in heaven, the Jerusalem above. Hebrews 11, by faith Abraham went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land. Living in tents, that's Canaan, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For what was he looking forward to? The city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. What? How did Abraham know that? How did Abraham know he wasn't just looking for Canaan, he was looking to the real thing? Well, because God told him. God made it explicit in Genesis. The promise was clear. There's the type and the shadow, and there's the real thing, Abraham, that when it comes will absorb Canaan into it. Abraham saw very clearly a shadow. He looked at Cain and he saw a shadow. He knew that because God told him. But he knew that that shadow was being cast by something else. See, if I'm walking down the street and I see the shadow, it looks like a human being there on the street. I don't like say, oh, I wonder how that shadow came to be there. The first thing I do if I see the shadow is look to see what cast it. Abraham saw the shadow in Canaan and when he saw that place, he said, ìOh, thereís something casting that shadow.î And when the something casting that shadow comes fully into view, the shadow is absorbed into the reality. This was true not only of Abraham. Abraham wasnít the only one that smart. to see that. All the Old Testament saints saw this. The writer of Hebrews says, ìThese all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them.î So the Old Testament saints were looking for the land. They were looking for the promise of the land. And they knew that they didn't get it in their day before they died. They saw it, they greeted it from afar, and having acknowledged they were strangers and exiles on the earth, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. The new heavens and new earth was what they were looking for, not Canaan ultimately. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has now prepared for them a city. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised. They got the shadow, yes, but the substance didn't come. And why did they not receive the substance in their lifetime? Because God had provided something better for us. So that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. We have the already, brothers and sisters. The new creation has come. We are already a new creation. God's getting a new people ready for His new place. The city and the land. So, in your handout, once again, the already is our guarantee of the what? The not yet. If we're already citizens of this place, this heavenly country, this new land and earth, then it's the guarantee that one day the not yet will arrive. So the city and the land of which we are citizens now will be fully revealed. Revealed one day in a new creation where you and I will walk on the land, on the earth, in bodies, and eat real fruit, and drink water from real rivers. It will be revealed in the place. where all the offspring of Abraham will live together forever in all the bliss and all the joy of covenant life with God. Now, I confess to you that I would not dare to do that in a live context. But I am praying, I am praying that you will see this. That it will be the key that unlocks to you the Scriptures. So that as you read, wherever you are in the progress of Scripture, you will understand the meaning of types and shadows. You'll understand the place that Christ has. And you'll then be able to read from Genesis to Revelation and see how the seed and the people and the land and the place, how they all fit together. And then what does it mean for you and me? Exodus 23, verse 20 began like this, Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. That was the shadow. That was the copy. Jesus came so the shadow called Canaan could be fulfilled and caught up into the substance, which is the whole world. The substance of that promise God made to Abraham. So Jesus says to us, John 14, let not your hearts be troubled. Before I read this, The Bible isn't just about making promises like this in John 14 just out of the blue. Jesus didn't just say John 14, what he said in John 14, I just, oh, let me just say this. No, it came as the culmination of all of history beginning in Genesis 1. When we see that, when we can see how what Jesus said flows from the entire Old Testament, Our faith will grow to such strength, to such firmness, that we'll never have known that experience before. It's one thing to believe Jesus' word as we should just because He said it. It's another thing to see that what He said did not come out of a void. It came out of all of history. And so now we read what he says to us. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again bringing that place with me. I will come again. I will come bringing that place with me as His point. And I will take you then to Myself to live in that place with Me that where I am you may be also. Does place matter? Yes, it does. Let not your hearts be troubled. Why? said let them be brimming with hope, brimming, overflowing with joy because He has prepared a place for us. He has. I know that because I read Genesis 1, Exodus 23. Everywhere, everywhere in the Bible tells me there's a place, a land, where we will all live together forever in the bliss and the joy of covenant life with God. And no more. I asked the kids this morning, what's the difference between these three places? And one of the answers was, well, in the third place, we won't have to ever leave it. Adam and Eve had to leave the garden. The covenant people in Canaan had to leave Canaan. But now that we've been made into covenant keepers, the offspring of Abraham never have to leave this place. All the yous of our passage this morning have finally been fulfilled in us. Romans chapter 8, in us who are in Christ. In other words, let me put it this way in your handout. Not only has God prepared the place for us, but He has prepared and He is preparing us for that place. Are you ready? Are you longing for that place? 2 Peter 3 says according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth. That's Israel's return to the land. That's their ultimate return, the prophets envisioned, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, are you waiting for these? Be diligent. to be found by Him without spot or blemish in peace. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, help us to be a people of hope and a people of holiness because we know there's a place. We're already citizens now of that place. The new creation has come. The land has come into existence through Christ. And one day it will be fully revealed and we will walk there and live there in that place forever and ever and ever with each other, with you. We praise you, in Jesus' name, amen.