We are like Abraham, sojourners in our land of promise. This earth will be our inheritance when God establishes His Kingdom on the earth and installs His Son, Messiah, as King. In the meantime, we find ourselves living in a land oppressed by the forces of darkness, living subject to the laws, governments, and influences that emanate from the enemy of God.

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Show Notes:

What is God trying to show us by having Abraham sojourn all those years? Why could Abraham not just go into the land of Canaan, an established city, and establish his own government? We must recognize that God’s ways are different from the ways of this world and the forces of darkness that are at work in it.

Abraham was sent by God into Canaan as a stranger, as a sojourner, because God cannot create His Kingdom as a mixture of His will and what exists today. The rulers and governments that man created in this world must be cast out for God to successfully bring the Kingdom of God to this earth.

In the New Testament we see that even after the ascension of Messiah, we are to live as aliens and strangers in this world, until the Kingdom of Heaven is fully colonized to this earth. The Messiah King is not from this world and He will not remodel His Kingdom from the governments and nations of this earth. He will remove them and replace them with His Kingdom, whose architect and builder is God.

Key Verses:

• John 12:31–32. “The ruler of this world will be cast out.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:3–4. “The god of this world.”
• Genesis 12:1–3. “The Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country.’”
• Genesis 17:5–8. “I will give to you…the land of your sojournings.”
• Hebrews 11:8–9. “By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise.”
• Hebrews 11:10. “Looking for the city…whose architect and builder is God.”
• Hebrews 11:11. “Sarah… considered Him faithful who had promised.”
• Hebrews 11:12–16. “They were strangers and exiles on the earth.”
• Genesis 14:18–20. “God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth.”
• Genesis 14:21–23. “I will not take a thread or a sandal thong.”
• Genesis 23:2–6. “I am a stranger and a sojourner among you.”
• 1 Chronicles 29:15. “We are sojourners before You.”
• Leviticus 25:23. “You are but aliens and sojourners with Me.”
• Psalm 39:12. “For I am a stranger with You, a sojourner like all my fathers.”
• 1 Peter 2:9–10. “For you once were not a people.”
• 1 Peter 2:11–12. “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers.”
• John 17:14–19. “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”
• John 18:33–38. “Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’”
• Job 19:25–27. “I know that my Redeemer lives…I shall see God.”
• Revelation 11:15. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”

Quotes:

• “We are sent not to establish the Kingdom of God with the world as it is, but instead as ambassadors, as a colony of His Kingdom.”
• “We are in the midst of what is already being ruled over by the prince of the power of the air, who is the god of this world. Yes, at some point, the Kingdom comes, but until all of this is removed, God’s kingdom cannot be established.”
• “We have one nation under God, not one nation under Jesus. This is not a Christian nation and has never been a Christian nation.”
• “I do not want us to be confused to think that whatever we do with culture, with government, with things as they are on this Earth, that we will ever morph the existing cities into God’s city.”

Takeaways:

1. We must recognize that like Abraham, we are sojourners in the nations that—as sons of God—we will possess in the Kingdom.

2. We must acknowledge that it can be confusing, frustrating and very difficult to submit to the present inhabitants, governments and cultures that currently have the rule over this world.

3. We must recall that even though Abraham lived and proclaimed his monotheistic faith to the people, rulers and cultures that he was forced to live among, he never wavered on the promise that the land belonged to him and his descendants—and, with God’s help, we too must have the same faith.

4. We must remember that since our destiny is as sojourners in this world, our vision and purpose must be to establish the city whose foundation is Christ and whose architect and builder is God.