In the Old Testament book of Numbers, Israel is camping on the banks of the River Jordan. God gives Moses instructions for them as they enter the promised land.
“God spoke to Moses on the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho:
Tell the People of Israel, When you cross the Jordan into the country of Canaan,
Drive out the native population before you, destroy their carved idols, destroy their cast images, level their worship-mounds so that you take over the land and make yourself at home in it; I’ve given it to you. It’s yours.
“Divide up the land by lot according to the size of your clans: Large clans will get large tracts of land, small clans will get smaller tracts of land. However the lot falls, that’s it. Divide it up according to your ancestral tribes.
“But if you don’t drive out the native population, everyone you let stay there will become a cinder in your eye and a splinter in your foot. They’ll give you endless trouble right in your backyards.
And I’ll start treating you the way I planned to treat them.”
Numbers 33: 50-56 The Message
God’s instruction to Israel is the same as his instruction to everyone following Jesus.
“Tell the People of Israel, When you cross the Jordan into the country of Canaan,
drive out the native population before you, destroy their carved idols, destroy their cast images, level their worship-mounds so that you take over the land and make yourself at home in it; I’ve given it to you. It’s yours.”
- Drive out the native population.
- Destroy their carved idols.
- Destroy their cast images
- Level their worship-mounds
Your life and manner of living before coming to Jesus were like those of the people of Canaan. You did what you wanted, when you wanted, with whomever you wanted.
You set up idols and had images (or imaginations) you lived by and worshipped.
As God told Moses to tell the people of Israel, he tells everyone who comes to Christ. But why would he say that and why would it be so important?
The native population represents your former way of life, including the friends, places, and appetites that were common and comfortable.
There could be a time in your walk with Jesus when your native population becomes a of bringing others into the life you now enjoy, but that day is in the future (if ever at all).
Your native population signifies an old way of doing things—a way that led to a broken, slave-stricken life.
The children of Israel, who Moses led out of Egypt, never let go of their “native population” and died in the Wilderness. At every hardship, their response was, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this Wilderness?”
It is a picture of what happens when you refuse to let go of your former life; you evidently—figuratively (and sometimes literally)—die in a difficult place.
Think of it this way: Sometimes, an injury is so bad that it has to be cut off (or out) to save a person’s life.
If you want to embrace a Christ-centered life, you must accept in your heart that your native population is a place you can never return to.
Part of that process is found in the following three instructions.
Destroy the carved idols.
Carved idols represent false gods or the things you turned to when it was tough. Perhaps it was a person or group with unsavory motives or intentions. Maybe it was a drug or alcohol or other addition.
It was the part of your life that helped you cope with whatever difficult situation you faced. It was a fix that gave you a high that caused you to forget for a few minutes. Whatever it was, you worshipped it time and again.
It is important because your focus and dependence must be on God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. You cannot have it both ways. Your loyalty will be with one over the other, and one will help you forget the other.
This is a choice over an emotion or feeling.
When the children complained to Moses, he cried out to God and found the answer.
It is no different for you. Moses didn’t “try” God; he relied on him. You cannot “try” God; you must decide to depend on him.
Destroy the cast images.
There are two parts to cast images to understand. First, a cast image was something that cost money. In other words, it held value.
When you decide to follow Jesus, you must also decide to get rid of the things that held you in your old native population—even if they are something of value (emotionally or monetarily).
The second part to understand about cast images is that they are figurative. A cast image is an image fixed in your mind about something. It can be good or bad.
For example, an image of Jesus on the cross can be a powerful tool for resisting a sinful moment.
However, an image of something in your former life that made you high will damage your Christ-focused life.
These are the images you must destroy because they will pull you down.
Level the places of worship.
Leveling places of worship also carry two parts.
The first part is removing any respect or reverence for former things. The children of Israel never leveled the (removed) things in Egypt that they enjoyed. This is why, during difficult times, they always wanted to return.
The same will happen to you if you do not remove these sacred places.
The second part to understand is leveling a piece of land by removing the old prepares the ground for something new.
Think of it this way.
How many times have you seen a demolition crew demolishing an old building? After a few months, you notice a construction crew at work. Sometime after that, you see a new building.
It is a picture of your new life in Christ.
I like the way the Apostle Paul puts the matter.
But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about.
But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells – even though you still experience all the limitations of sin – you yourself experience life on God’s terms.
It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!
So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent.
There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life.
Romans 8:9-13
If God (through accepting Jesus) is in your life, have a funeral ceremony, say goodbye, and continue living a Christ-focused life.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead provides you a living hope. It is a living anticipation full of expectation of something good happening.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is a journey. I invite you to follow along. As I learn, I will pass it along so you, too, can learn. I hope that as you learn, you can pass it along so that I (and others) might learn.