The wilderness generation & the African church

A few days ago, I began pondering on the story of the children of Israel; as they journeyed from Egypt to the promised land. God could not work with the generation that came up out of Egypt - they had seen the mighty acts of God, yet God could not work with these folks. Somehow, they found it hard to believe God. They had many experiences that should've made them trust God. For example, God fed them with food that they could not explain its source. Their clothes and shoes did not wear for 40 years - yet, their minds couldn't get to the point to have faith in God. Take Jericho for example. God had said (paraphrased), "see, I have given you the land". They went, spied the place and said (paraphrased): "we saw ourselves as grasshoppers in their eyes. There are giants in the land, the land eats up its inhabitants", and decided it was better to return to captivity. And there are many more examples of their lack of faith.

You see, what struck me as I pondered was the realisation that we all are justified - declared righteous through faith; faith in God. The first man's temptation in Eden was: "Do you trust God? Do you believe what He told you?". Abraham, same. The children of Israel, same. You and I, same.
Returning to the story of the children of Isreal in the wilderness, God intended to work with those folks, but He just couldn't. They all died in the wilderness (save Joshua and Caleb)- not trusting God. God had to wait for their children, who were taught the ordinances of God from a young age.

Here's the shocker that hit me. Have you tried discussing some Faith topics with believers of different "denominations" as you?. I have. You would have better luck getting an unbeliever to be born again, than to change their minds about what they have believed. 😞. And this is where I realised that: it's the story of the children of Israel all over again. In some cases, it's not even believers from different movements. Sometimes, believers from a different generation. Say Boomers ^[1].

I have realised that these believers generally believe the following:

• There are powers of Fathers, and/or Mothers house preventing them from being all that God willed for them.
  • They have to pray, fast, and do midnight prayers to destroy these powers. (Fasting is great. But it has nothing to do with this).
  • One cannot exactly know when those powers would be defeated
• Even more worrisome is that many of these believers are lacking the assurance of salvation. They believe they have to ask for forgiveness for sins committed "knowingly" and "unknowningly", to use their language. Many pray these prayers multiple times a day.

You start to ask: what have they believed? In whom have they believed? It becomes apparent that this has parallels with the church in the Wilderness- if you will. A people that don't believe what God has said about them. A people that choose to not side with God.

A people who believe that spiritual warfare is against their mortal enemies, totally disregarding what paul mentioned about the subject:

For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds,
[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),
Being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete. 2 Cor 10:4-6

If we look to what happened with the church in the wilderness, we can tell what is going to happen. Either these people engage in spiritual warfare, to dethrone strongholds in their minds - set by cultural context, and side with God, otherwise, God will have to wait for their children; a different generation who did not experience such cultural/socio-economic situations therefore can trust God more readily. 😥 And this is why I think that God chooses to work with people who think and plan for the future generations - long term thinking (subject for another day).

What should such people do? Return to the first principles of the oracles of God. Return to the doctrine of Christ. Return to repentance - which means to change your mind, and side with God. Abraham gradually learned to trust God, and at some point, when God told him: "you are father of many nations", Abram changed his name, and I can imagine he told everyone - "from today, call me father of many nations". He would've been mocked. But this dude sided with God, especially after he had tried to get both his servant and the son born to him by his maid to be the heir of promise.

Let us trust God, and take him at His Word. What has God told you by His Word. Do you believe it?