As we see in the Book of Hebrews and other places in the Bible, many things in Scripture are a prophetic type of other, greater things. The Promised Land of Israel was to be a prophetic type of the establishing of the kingdom of God on earth. Joshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus, the Messiah who will return to set up His kingdom on the earth. If we are to understand this rightly, we must begin by understanding that no prophetic type is a perfect model of what is to come, but is a "shadow." The shadow is usually just the barest hint of what it is a shadow of. This is true of the kingdom, too. The kingdom of God has far greater substance and will be far more wonderful than even the Scriptures are able to describe. Even so, just understanding the types and shadows helps us to prepare the way for the kingdom.
The Lord said in Matthew 11:13, "For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John." The Law was also a prophecy, and as we are told in Hebrews 7:19, the Law could not make anything perfect. In Hebrews 9:9, we are told that the sacrifices of the Law could not make the worshipers perfect. So the prophecy, model, or the map, was not perfect but it was a good one, and it did help to prepare the way for the kingdom. We need to understand this if we are going to understand what is to come. The reality is much greater than can now be described, as we are told in I Corinthians 2:9:
Before we proceed to look at these shadows, knowing that even our clearest perception will still be far from complete, and that it is even beyond what can now enter into our hearts, we will take a few moments to think about what the perfect world would be like as far as our present perception.
I think everyone would want peace on earth—no wars or conflicts between peoples or nations. There would be no stealing, child abuse, rape, or any violent crime. Everyone would have enough to eat, pure water to drink, and there would be no disease or pollution. All of the animals would get along. Everyone would worship the One God in Spirit and truth. All of this is true in the kingdom that is coming, but it will even be much better than this! We are told that what He has prepared for us is better than we could ask or think.
The Lord is going to restore the earth to the paradise that it was originally intended to be, which is just the beginning. He will make His own habitation among men, and not only will we all get along, but we are going to love God with all of our hearts, and love one another. It will not just be a law-controlled society, but one that is controlled by love, and especially the love for God.
As selfish and demanding as we may be now, this is not the way we were created to be, or the way that we will be in the age to come. This is why when we do something motivated by love, it touches something in our innermost being and makes us feel much better than if we just acquired something we wanted. We were also created to rule over the earth and all that it contains with love. This love will flow down even to the beasts so that the lion will lie down with the lamb because they will love each other.
All of this will be wonderful, but it gets better. We will also get our minds back. It is estimated that even the smartest among us only uses about 10 percent of their brains. We are going to get the rest back, and not only us, but all of the creatures will as well. People will not only communicate with the creatures, but we will have intelligent conversations with them. This is why in the Garden before the Fall, Eve could communicate with the serpent and not think that anything was strange. The light that dispels the present darkness over the earth will enlighten the earth more than we can now comprehend.
Many may be wondering if we will be running around naked again. I personally do not believe that will be the case because the Scriptures talk about how we are clothed with glory, light, and other such things, which are better than clothes. However, I do not think we would need this because of shame or lust. It is hard to comprehend a world without lust, but it will be that way. Love will have displaced lust, and that one factor will have changed the world more dramatically than we may now even be able to imagine.
Later, we may discuss other such characteristics about the kingdom which are revealed, but first we need to back up a bit to consider a few things. The Lord Jesus spent a great deal of time teaching His disciples about the kingdom. After His resurrection, He spent almost all of His time with His disciples before His ascension teaching them about the kingdom. They obviously did not pass on very much of what was taught to them in the letters that were compiled into the New Testament. Why?
The answer is that, in general, what we have been given in the law and the prophets, the Lord’s teachings in the Gospels, and the practical matters covered in the New Testament Epistles, are all that we really need at this time to prepare the way for the kingdom. Just the basis of the things we have been given in the Book of Joshua for example is an outline that gets us going. For the rest of the direction that we need we must follow the Holy Spirit.
This whole "church age" really is about "training for reigning." In this age, the Lord is calling and preparing those who will reign with Him in the age to come. The church is His bride and the preparation of the bride is the main work of God in this age. You can have the best theology or eschatology, but if you are not a part of helping to prepare the bride for her purpose, you are not a part of the main work of God in this age.
The church is called to be the greatest society, a true microcosm of the kingdom age. We should be living now by the laws of the kingdom, the law of love, the perfect law of liberty, and doing all things for the sake of the kingdom, in obedience to the King. Likewise, His church is called to walk by the power of the age to come, not being limited by that which limits others in this age.
The church may presently seem as far from a representation of the kingdom as the divided, striving, warring kingdoms of this world. However, that will change. The Lord is going to have a bride that He deserves, who is pure and glorious. In every way she will represent the ways of the kingdom that are the result of perfect devotion and submission to the King and His ways. This is the heart devotion of all who are the true pursuers of God.
It takes a lot of faith to believe for the coming kingdom—that the earth really could again be the way that the prophets assure us that it will be, with the lion lying down with the lamb, and children even able to play with cobras, but this will come to pass. It may take even more faith to believe that the church will become what she is called to be. This may take more faith because it is more immediate, and it demands of us now. This, too, will come to pass, and it will actually begin to happen fast.
We really are coming to the end of this age, and there are yet many prophetic events that must be crammed into a short period of time. In the next few weeks, we want to examine in a bit more detail what the Scriptures say about the coming kingdom, and how we are to prepare the way for it by living in it now. It is time that we begin possessing our Promised Land, and by this we will help prepare the way for the whole earth to be returned to Adam, the "last Adam," King Jesus.