Why did it take the children of Israel 40 years to enter into the Promised Land? I’ve heard many good explanations, and would like to add just one more for consideration. Proverbs 30:21-22 tells us, “Under three things the earth quakes, And under four, it cannot bear up: Under a slave when he becomes king….”
The Israelites had lived as slaves in Egypt for 400 years. It’s the only lifestyle they knew. God was taking them to a land where they would no longer be slaves. They would be conquerors, and very much like “kings” in the land He was taking them to. But Proverbs tells us that the “earth quakes” under a slave when he becomes king. So what needed to happen was the “slave mentality” had to be rooted out of the Israelites. How do we know the Israelites had a “slave mentality”? Because, when things were getting tough in the wilderness there was a large group of Israelites who wanted to return to Egypt so they could eat the “leeks, onions, and garlic” that they once ate as slaves (Numbers 11:5). Yet, God had told them that the Promised Land was a land flowing with “Milk and Honey.” If you prefer leeks, onions and garlic over milk and honey you’re showing that you’re content in being a slave (and you probably also have really bad breath!)
All of that was under the Old Covenant. Today, we are under a New Covenant, and God has a Promised Land for us as well. It’s a land flowing with “milk and honey” where He wants us to reign as kings. 1 Peter 2:9 tells us that we are a “chosen generation, a ROYAL priesthood….” ROYAL! We are supposed to reign like kings in this life. But if we have a slave mentality, where we prefer bondage to man’s ways, where we prefer government assistance over Heavenly provision, the “earth quakes” in our presence. Child of God, you’re royalty! Don’t act like a slave… it messes up Earth’s balance. Could it be that many are going through a “wilderness” in their lives simply because they have a slave mentality instead of royal one?
Revelation 5:10
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
