I want to share with you about the parallels
of the Land of Israel, the land of God,
and the book of God, the Bible.
Today, for us, this book is our inheritance.
And how much you get out of your inheritance is
how much time you spend in the Word of God,
how much you see that this is your inheritance.
So we're gonna see what they did with the land.
Amen.
The features of the land and how it corresponds with the Word of God.
I pray that it will excite you and open up your spirit
to enter into the Word of God in a fresh new way.
Amen.
Let's look at Deuteronomy 8 right now.
It says: "For the Lord thy God brings you into a good land."
Say: "A good land."
By the way, this is a good book.
You know, there's a phrase in the Bible from Hebrews 6 that says:
"And tasted the good Word of God."
This book has inherent goodness.
It will do you good!
And when you feed on it, it is nothing but good.
Sometimes you eat some food, right?
And then in between you read: "Cholesterol- this amount."
"Sugar- this amount."
Those are bad.
"Transfat- this amount."
Those things are not good.
Right?
Or y'all don't care?
"Pastor Prince, you know, I give thanks and I just eat it."
Alright.
Yeah, but I'm just saying that it's hard to find in the world,
something that's so pure.
But here you find it.
Amen.
The good Word of God.
In fact, when Joshua and Caleb came out from spying the land of Israel,
which God gave to them,
like I said the land parallels with the Bible.
Back then it was a physical inheritance for them.
So it's a good land and when Joshua and Caleb came back,
they said of the land:
"The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land."
Not just good land, exceedingly good land!
Let me give you the Hebrew, alright?
"Tovar" means good.
"Ha-eres" means land.
"Tovar ha-eres, me-ode, me-ode."
The word "exceeding" is repeated twice: "Good land, very very."
And the only one that did it is the DARBY's translation.
And the Young's Literal Translation brings that out.
"The land into which we have passed over to spy it,"
"is a very, very good land."
This Bible, this volume, this entire volume here
is very, very good.
It's very good.
And it would do you good.
Amen.
And God says of the land of Israel, God used this word,
that of all the lands in the world,
the land of Israel is the glory of all lands.
Now there are many lands.
There are larger lands, amen.
There are larger lands, there are more frequented lands,
there are lands that are well-known lands compared to Israel.
But of all the lands in the world, I believe when
God made the earth, God made everything,
God positioned Israel, for His people, Israel, amen.
The people of Israel, He positioned them,
He crafted this land with special features, right?
With special geography, of which some of which we'll look at,
and it corresponds to the Bible.
So if Israel is the glory of all lands, this is the glory of all books.
Because there are millions of books in the world.
There are millions and millions down through the years,
if you put all the libraries and all the books
in the world together, there would be millions!
But of all the books, God says: "This book is the glory of all books."
This book has a feature that other books do not have.
There is something about a book.
When you read a novel, for example,
when you finish the novel, that's it, it's done.
You can put it aside, or you sell it off to a secondhand bookstore.
You know, it's over and done with.
Seldom do you read it twice or three times.
I know people do that.
But after that,
twice at the most that's it.
Amen.
You know the story, but this book keeps on
speaking and speaking and speaking.
Amen.
The deeper you go, the more treasures you know.
It has vistas, it has veins underneath.
Let me just tell you what God says about the land:
"The land thy God bringeth thee into a good land,"
"a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths"
"that spring out of valleys and hills."
That means these depths here, these are undercurrent subterranean water.
They are found in the valleys and in the hills.
Whenever you're going through a valley season,
a valley season is a season whereby you're going through a tough time,
maybe you have received a bad prognosis from the doctor.
Maybe you just received some bad news of the foreclosure from the bank.
You received bad news about the deadline you're not able to meet.
And there are things happening around your world right now.
You feel like you're in a valley.
Well, the Bible says:
"Look out for the subterranean underneath your feet, alright?"
There'll be waters gushing out.
And the word here "spring out."
is the word "gush out."
It is inside, but it requires for us to read it,
tap into it until it gushes out!
I'm drawing a parallel between the land and the Word.
You look at the land of Israel,
there are lessons there for us to learn. Right?
Even lessons to teach kids, to teach children.
For example, the Dead Sea.
Why is it called the Dead Sea?
And why is there no fish in the Dead Sea?
Why?
Because it has inlet, but it has no outlet.
So if you always receive and receive and
you're never generous, you're dead!
Amen.
But going northward in Israel, if facing you, the map of Israel,
going northward, you go to Galilee,
there's a lake called the Lake of Galilee,
the Sea of Galilee, and it is thriving with fish.
That's where Jesus did the miracle of a net-breaking,
boat-sinking load of fishes for the disciples.
Remember that?
And some of you have tasted the descendants of the fish
when you are there, amen.
We love it with the head and the tail, right?
Not the fillet-type, some of us smuggle in sambal belacan.
I know, I know people smuggle in sambal belacan
and we pass it around and they are wondering
where the smell is coming from.
Amen.
But what is fried fish without sambal belacan?
Amen.
Yeah, come on.
Come on.
Amen.
Why is the Dead Sea dead?
No fish, not no single fish can survive there.
Nothing living survives in the Dead Sea.
But in the Sea of Galilee, just north, it's alive,
teeming with fishes.
Why?
Because it has inlet and it has outlet.
You see, it's fresh!
Fresh water.
Why?
Because it's always flowing.
You're not just receiving, receiving, and receiving.
Amen.
You see, friend.
God knows if He can get things through you,
He will definitely get things to you.
He can trust you.
Be flowing, be a channel.
Don't love money.
Use it for God's glory.
Amen.
The more you drink, Jesus says: "If any men thirsts, let him"
"come to Me and drink."
Many a times, I'll pray, when I open the Bible,
I say: "Lord Jesus, I come to You in Your Word,"
"I come to You in Your Word."
When I come to Him, what do I do?
It is for my own drinking.
Drinking is personal consumption.
You just drink for yourself, for your own pleasure.
Drink, drink, drink, and Jesus says:
"Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water."
Now those rivers are for others.
It blesses others, but drinking is for yourself.
But when you keep on drinking, keep on drinking,
you will have rivers flowing out of you.
You are refreshing everywhere you go,
people love to be around you because you refresh them.
It is like when they leave you, they, they feel like they had a bath,
they feel refreshed, they feel clean,
they feel good.
Amen.
I pray that is true everytime you leave the church service as well.
Like Jesus told His disciples:
"Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you."
Vine always speaks of joy in the spirit.
Fig tree speaks of sweetness, amen.
The sweetness of God's Word.
It is all in God's Word!
And then pomegranate speaks of fruitfulness, in Song of Songs.
The Lord looks at—
the bridegroom looks at the bride and says,
Jesus is saying to the church, you and I, alright:
"Your head, your forehead is like a piece of pomegranate."
Now, if you do not know what it means today, you will say:
"Wow, my head is so big ah?"
Because you see a pomegranate, it's very big, right?
And very hard.
Amen.
You say: "You mean, I'm a dua tow (big head)?"
You know?
What, am I?
A big hit person?
No, no, if you understand the meaning, so beautiful, isn't it?
You see, so you dig deeper.
And what is the pomegranate all about?
If you cut it into half,
you find that there are a lot of seeds inside.
So the seeds are like your thoughts.
When the Lord looks at you, the Lord sees your thoughts.
And the Lord says: "Your thoughts are so fruitful."
"Just one of those seeds, not all, just one you plant it and"
"you have a tree, full of pomegranates."
"And just one fruit, full of seeds."
Amen.
Within the seed, there are a lot of fruits.
And it goes on.
And the Lord says: "I look at your your thoughts"
"and your thoughts are fruitful, my love."
Amen.
But then you say: "No, Lord, don't look into my thoughts..."
"It is very dirty, it is very unclean"
"It's not...
I don't want you to—"
But the Lord says: "No, look closer at the pomegranate fruit."
"What water washes it?
What's the color of the juice?
Red."
"I see your thoughts constantly washed in My blood."
"It is constantly washed in My blood."
I don't see you in yourself."
"I see you through My blood."
And it washes your thoughts and what is left are all the noble,
princely, amen, beautiful, excellent thoughts.
Hallelujah.
Amen.
Are you listening, people?
So that's pomegranates.
"A land of olive oil and honey."
That means what?
When we spend time in the Word of God,
there's a verse in Job that says: "When I wash my steps with butter,"
that means what?
Butter comes from what?
Coagulated milk.
Amen.
The milk has become coagulated and it's actually from milk.
So the more you find the richness of God's Word,
because the Bible says:
God brings you to a land flowing with milk and honey,
and yet the Bible says as newborn babies,
desire the sincere milk of the Word.
Amen.
So we have honey, sweetness.
There's sweetness in the Word of God.
Amen.
Do you know the Bible says that God's Word is so sweet?
In Psalms 119:103, it says this: "How sweet are your words"
"to my taste, sweeter than honey in my mouth."
"To my mouth, amen."
What is sweeter than honey?
Have you tasted honey?
God's Word is sweeter than honey.
I pray you come to the place where you find God's Word
is sweeter than honey to your mouth.
"But Pastor Prince, I find it very hard to start."
"I don't know where to start and all that."
Start somewhere!
"You mean I can just open anyhow."
Yes!
"And just read."
Yes!
Amen.
"Pastor Prince... this sounds so..."
Now, I'm not saying that this is the norm.
If you can—
Alright, how can you build a relationship with someone always on the go?
You need to find time to sit down somewhere, relax and chit chat.
Am I right?
Right?
You're cannot just be on the go and build a relationship.
Yes, we all are aware of that.
But sometimes this is emphasised so much that people think that:
"I gotta have all the tools of the Bible."
"I must know what kind of commentaries to have, to help."
"What kind of study books to have."
They don't even get started!
My advice?
Put a Bible near your toilet bowl.
Amen.
Where you sit and release and live the let go life.
Put a Bible there.
"How can you say that, Pastor Prince?
If you're religious, okay, let me tell you this.
You will always be in bondage.
Now, you're no earthly good.
That's being legalistic.
You think God doesn't know what you have?
God created your body.
God wants it to be life and health to all your flesh.
That's why He gave you the ability to purge.
Healthy organisms purge.
Healthy churches also.
So put one near your toilet bowl.
Put one in your dining area, put one where you watch your Netflix.
Put one nearby.
Put one where you're watching TV.
Sometimes they have commercials and all that.
Some programmes you're watching, they have commercials,
pick it up, read it!
"Pastor Prince, you should teach people to be more disciplined."
Yes, I said just now, that's the norm.
We should have time like that.
Just like we spend time with people,
we can't build relationship without having a sit down time,
apart from everyone else separated, holy if you would.
Uncommon time.
Amen. That's how you build your relationship.
Like for me, I love to date my wife.
Right?
We can eat at home but we choose to go out somewhere
and we usually go to a hawker centre, we eat together,
just being together.
That's dating.
Amen.
You can't just build a relationship: "Hi, bye.
Hi. Bye.
Bye. Bye.
Bye. Hi."
Amen.
But is it okay, church, to tell you this?
Every morning when I wake up.
Alright, my first stop is the toilet bowl.
I'm a healthy individual.
And you know what I have with me always?
A New Testament.
I have a New Testament.
And I tell you this, out of 10 times
I'm just giving you an illustration.
Out of 10 times.
God speaks.
It's not my usual Bible time.
Alright. It's not my usual Bible time.
But out of 10 times, I'll tell you, God speaks to me 9 times.
Out of moments like that.
Amen.
God is talking to you.
He wants to talk to you more than you want to receive.
Amen. So just take that chance.
Don't don't run to your text messages.
Don't run to your social media and all that.
Speak to God.
Let God speak to you.
This book is about God speaking to you.
You can talk to God, that's prayer as well.
You need to talk to God.
But you see, when you talk to God, nothing happens usually.
God hears your prayer.
That happens, of course.
But when we talk to God, nothing happens in that sense.
But when God speaks, whenever God speaks, things happen.
So this book is about God speaking to you.
Can I have a good Amen.
Are you all learning?
And it drops down.
Not only that, verse nine.
"God brings you to a land wherein you shall eat bread without scarceness."
Woah.
In this book, you will eat bread without scarcity.
God brings them to a land where they will eat bread
without scarceness and He says: "In this land, you shall not lack anything
in it."
I said you shall not lack anything in it.
Amen.
In this book, you shall not lack anything in it.
"I don't understand, Pastor."
"Just by spending time in the Word, God supplies me?"
That's what God says.
You think you're living just by, you know, you say bread and butter issues.
Right?
Our daily life, but it's more than that, friend.
Listen, we don't live by bread and butter.
We live by the Word of God, that means God supplies.
Amen.
And He says: "A land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills,"
"you may dig brass."
The word "brass" should be copper.
Copper is what they used in those days.
Now iron is the strongest metal during that time.
I know today it is not.
I think there's tungsten and there's titanium.
But at one time, Iron, during the Bible times was the strongest.
Iron Age.
They call it the Iron Age.
It was the strongest metal then.
Those who built their weapons out of iron usually win the war.
So Israel had no iron implements, no iron weapons.
The Philistines had iron weapons, and yet God gave them victory.
So you can see the glory goes to God.
God gave victory to Israel.
Okay?
So God is saying:
"This land, the iron that you want is already there."
Friend, you got to dig deep.
Notice, you got to dig for the brass.
So some things is—
sometimes you feel like you want light reading.
How many of you feel that way?
Sometimes.
I feel like just light reading.
Then you know what?
There is history, historical narratives.
There are stories in the Bible.
The story of Joseph is exciting, the drama is there.
The intrigue is there— who betrayed who
and it's all there, All the things you love in drama.
The story of Ruth and Boaz is a romantic story.
I never fail to read it without getting some encouragement.
Even though I know the story, the more I read it, the more I find,
I see new insights and it excites me!
Amen.
This small book Ruth.
And then you have the story of David.
Amen.
David as a boy, David as a king.
David running around being hunted down,
and David in his older years and there are so many narratives,
stories like the stories that we are living in today.
So there are times, I just love reading the stories.
Will I get health out of it?
Yes, please don't think— it doesn't say that:
"My son, attend to the healing words" only.
It says: "Attend to My words."
Just reading any part of the Bible yields all the benefits that God promised.
Are you listening, people?
Amen.