Although God had delivered the children of Israel from their taskmasters in Egypt and they were no longer slaves, they still had a slave mentality. A chain around the neck is a picture of a yoke which weighs you down. In Hebrew, the word Anak means chain or neckchain. However, what was the posture of God’s people when they reached Kadesh Barnea, the border between the wilderness and the promised land? They sent 12 spies into the land for 40 days and chose to believe the report of the 10 spies who said that the Israelites could not take the land because it was inhabited by giants from the tribe of Anak. It was also a sure promise, a statement of what God will definitely do. (Exodus 3:8) This means that the promised land was a place flowing with abundance and provision. God told the children of Israel that He had come to bring them into “a land flowing with milk and honey”. There is another lesson that we can learn from this story. But the one thing that God tells us to be afraid of, we aren’t! Be Rest-Conscious, Not Giant-Conscious Now, many of us worry about many things and everything that God tells us not to be afraid of, we fear. In Hebrews 4:1, God tells us to fear that we don’t enter His rest. Hebrews 4:1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. But do you know that there is only one thing the Bible tells us to fear? God’s Word always tells us “Fear not, fear not”. God wants to bring you out of lack and into the land of abundance! He wants to bring you out of sickness into robust health! And this promised land is the place of His rest. This means that what the physical land was to the children of Israel in the Old Testament, God’s grace and rest are to the believer under the new covenant. Hebrews 3:11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ However, instead of saying “They shall not enter My promised land”, God called the promised land “My rest”. Enter God’s Restĭo you want to know God’s definition of His rest? Hebrews 3 describes how the children of Israel were not allowed to enter the promised land because they doubted God’s Word. So with each passing day, we have all things, including the defeated enemies of disease, poverty, depression and all kinds of curses, being put under our feet. God is telling us to have the same throne attitude as Jesus-to rest, while He makes our enemies our footstool. And who is the one who makes the enemies our footstool? It is not us, but God Himself! God’s Word is the truth and He keeps His Word. He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand.And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body. Likewise, Jesus’ conquered enemies are being dragged to Him one by one, and put under His feet.Įphesians 1:20, 22–23 (NIV). In biblical times, defeated enemies were brought back in chains and the victorious king would sit on his throne and put his feet up on the backs of his defeated enemies as a sign of victory. And the Father said, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” So Jesus’ throne attitude is to sit and expect His Father to bring all His defeated enemies under His feet.
Therefore, the first verse actually reads, “Yahweh said to my Adonai…” After Jesus conquered sin and death, and rose from the dead, He returned to the Father. In Hebrew, the first “LORD” refers to Jehovah, or Yahweh, and the second “Lord” is Adonai. Psalm 110:1–2 The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
(John 19:30, Hebrews 10:11–13) And God said to me, “Son, tell My people to have a throne attitude.” So what does it mean to have a “throne attitude”? Having A ‘Throne Attitude’ But Jesus sat down because His work is finished. There were no chairs in the tabernacle of Moses or in the temple of God because their work was never finished. In the Old Testament, the priests never sat down. (1 John 4:17) This means that we are also seated at the Father’s right hand.
(Hebrews 8:1) And the Bible says that as Christ is, so are we in this world. Today, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father’s throne.
But do you know that you don’t have to wait for the festive season to walk in peace and joy? You can rejoice in spite of your circumstances because God wants you to take a throne attitude and rest while He takes care of everything else for you! 'Tis the season when Christians the world over celebrate the birth of Jesus.