God is Preparing the Second Generation with a Rich Inheritance to be His army today

If we look at those who entered into the good land, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, those qualified and ready to take possession of the land were the younger ones, the new generation, the young generation (see Deut. 1:35-36; Num. 14:31).

The ones rescued by the Lord from Egypt, all the older generation, they all passed away because of their unbelief; they tempted the Lord and rebelled against Him many times, and at one point He promised them that they will not enter into the land.

However, their younger ones, the young generation, they were prepared and ready to enter into the good land.

When the evil spies brought an evil report, most of the people of Israel believed them; therefore, God promised them that they will wander in the wilderness until they all will pass away, but their children will enter into the good land.

The older generation said that their children will be dead because of the giants in the land and the dangers in the wilderness, but God took this young generation and qualified it to be formed into an army to enter into the good land.

The older generation must have told their story to them, however, and they must have passed on their experience and history to the second generation; this has built up the second generation and made it ready and prepared to enter the land.

Joshua and Caleb were the only ones from the older generation who entered the good land, because they had a different spirit; they believed God and His word, they stood on God’s word, and they put their trust in God that, if He said that He will bring them into the land, He will do it.

Praise the Lord for such experienced warriors among the people of God, those who pass through a lot of things and do not lose heart but rather take God at His word and believe that what He has promise He will also do!

Caleb was not in rivalry with Joshua, neither did their quarrel; rather, Caleb submitted to Joshua as the leader, and the entire new generation submitted to Joshua and all were in one accord. Praise the Lord!

This shows us a picture of what is taking place in the church life in the Lord’s recovery today.

On one hand we are being formed into an army to fight for God – we’re being built up into the organic Body of Christ to fight for God and with God for the carrying out of His economy.

On the other hand, the Lord is preparing and equipping a second generation, the young ones, who inherit the experience of the older ones and who take the lead to enter into the good land.

May we be such ones, the young generation who learns from the experience of the older ones, are perfected by the Lord, and are built up together in one according to enter into the good land!

It was the Second Generation who was Prepared and Qualified to Enter into the Good Land

With the exception of Joshua and Caleb, those who were qualified and ready to take possession of the good land were the younger ones, the second generation.

The army that was formed and ready toward the end of Numbers was composed of the younger generation in Israel; they had two experienced warriors among them – Joshua and Caleb – and they inherited all the experiences and history of their parents.

The fact is that the new generation will be the army, accompanied by some older ones in the Lord, those who – according to His sovereign selection – will remain with the young ones for a while.

All that the first generation experienced was not in vain and it was not negative; they poured it all into the younger generation.

What do you think that they talked about day by day as they wandered through the wilderness? It must have been that the older generation, the parents, would tell their story to the younger generation, and this inspired them, perfected them, and prepared them.

The lessons learned by the first generation became part of the heritage passed on to the second generation; this second generation by birth were put into a position to inherit the tradition of their family and all that their parents had experienced.

The fathers must have told their children about their experiences and slavery in Egypt, how God delivered them with a strong arm, and how they crossed the Red Sea, being fully delivered from Pharaoh and his usurpation.

They must have told their young ones how they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month, how they marched out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea; they must have explained to them how they were in the wilderness without food and drink but God fed them with manna and supplied them with water from the smitten rock.

The parents must have explained to the young ones that, even though they thought that manna was loathsome, they appreciated because they kept them alive.

The young ones must have learned how the older ones rebelled against God and against Moses, how they murmured, and how God dealt with all these things.

They must have learned how Moses helped the people of Israel, how he contributed many constructive factors to them, and how he failed God once and was not allowed to enter the good land.

The second generation didn’t pass through as much as the first generation did, but they received the benefit of what that generation experienced.

All that the older ones experienced, enjoyed, and suffered was passed on to the younger ones to raise up and build up the second generation.

What the older generation experienced was very effective in building up the younger ones, and God was able to prepare from the second generation more than six hundred thousand men with a rich inheritance and strong background to be formed into an army to fight with Him and for Him. Wow!

This is true of us today, and this history is repeated in the church life today. All we can say is,

Thank You Lord Jesus for the rich inheritance You have given us in the church life in Your recovery. We want to learn from the experience of the older ones, be perfected by the Lord, and be equipped and trained to be the army of God ready to take possession of the good land. Amen, Lord Jesus, may the young generation in all the local churches be perfected, qualified, trained, and formed into the new army that You desire to have to fight for Your interest on earth and take the earth for You! Amen!

God is Preparing the Second Generation with a Rich Inheritance to be His army today

What we see in the book of Numbers that happened with the children of Israel is in principle the same with us in the Lord’s recovery today.

What the older ones have experienced is being passed on to the younger ones in the church life, and it will be very effective in building them up and preparing them to fight for God and with God.

This should not be strange; consider the Lord Jesus and how He started His ministry – He was thirty years old, and His disciples were most likely even younger than Him.

The Lord taught them and perfected them, and He left when He was thirty-three and a half years old; He left the entire “enterprise” to this group of young ones, “the second generation”.

They were broken and not ambitious and in rivalry but rather, they learned to blend and trust not in themselves but in the Lord.

So the Lord could use His disciples, the young people, to be His witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Similarly today, we acknowledge the Lord’s right to raise up an army composed of the younger ones under the perfecting and leading of the older ones, who would be prepared to enter the good land.

As the second generation, we didn’t pass through as much as the first generation did, but we did receive the benefit of what their older generation experienced.

We have heard the history of how there were rebellions and turmoils in the church life, how brother Lee ministered the word of life to both expose and heal the problems, and how the Lord took His recovery on not because of a man but because it is His recovery.

We have heard of this problem and that problem, this situation and that situation, and we saw how the Lord both speaks to us and takes us on, and how He moves in us, among us, and through us.

What the older generation experienced, enjoyed, and suffered is being passed on to us, the young generation in the Lord’s recovery, so that we may be perfected and prepared to be the army that fights with God and for God.

What the older generation in the church life experienced is effective in build up the younger ones, so that the Lord may prepare and equip a great new army from the second generation that would fight for God’s kingdom.

The history of the Lord’s recovery is in front of us – we can see it, know it, learn from it, not repeat the mistakes, not go through the same experiences but enjoy their benefits, and be prepared to fight the battle.

What a rich inheritance we have in the church life today!

There may be further testing coming, and the Lord will take us through; the Lord will go on in His recovery with the second generation under the leadership of the older and more experienced saints, and the result will be very positive.

The Lord’s heart is for all generations, and He has taken the older generation through a certain set of experiences so that these would become the rich inheritance of the younger ones to perfect them and equip them to be the army that marches forward to take the good land.

Now we as the younger ones who remain in the word of God, in the ministry of the age, and in the speaking of the rich experiences and history in the Lord’s recovery, we need to go on in the Lord and, under the leadership of the more experienced saints, we need to take the land, the all-inclusive Christ, and fight for the enjoyment and experience of this Christ by all the saints!

Lord, gain a second generation who is perfected by Your word, by the ministry, and by the rich history in the church life so that they may be formed into the army that fights for Your interest on earth. May all the rich experiences of the older generation be passed on in fellowship to the younger ones, and may the young generation be strong and equipped to be the army that You need to fight with God and for God on earth. Amen, Lord Jesus, make us those who meet Your need, the young ones who are absolute for You, for Your move, and for Your economy! Go on in us and with us!

Read this article in the Romanian language / citiți acest articol și în limba română la următorul link, Dumnezeu pregătește a doua generație cu o moștenire bogată pentru a fi armata Sa de azi.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Numbers, msg. 52 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 12, The Necessity of Spiritual Warfare and God’s People Formed into an Army Ready for Battle.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # O Lord, perfect another generation / Of ministers for Your recovery; / Etch in our hearts this desp’rate aspiration, / In our forefathers’ steps and ministry. / Lord, heed the cry from deep within our spirit; / All o’er the earth gain channels of supply. / Remove the fear within us of the cost, Lord; / That we’d unsparingly our soul life e’er deny. (Song on, Another Generation)
  # God wants His holy people to become His army; / Rise up, all ages! March on for His testimony; / Christ is our meaning of life, testimony and center, / In everything He’s the way, the goal and the Leader. (Song on, Christ in Numbers)
  # Like a mighty army / Moves the Church of God: / Brothers, we are treading / Where the saints have trod; / We are not divided, / All one Body we— / One in faith and Spirit, / One eternally. (Hymns #871)