These essays explore a prophecy that describes God's design to dwell on the earth. The prophecy begins with God calling Abraham to inherit the land of Canaan. However, long after his passing, Canaan becomes the most debased society on earth. In the wilderness, God forms a nation out of Abraham's descendants and calls on them to take possession of Canaan. The story comes to a climax with the descendants of Abraham engaged in a war to cleanse Canaan of its inhabitants, with the goal of establishing a holy ground whereupon God can place his sanctuary. From this sanctuary, God will bring his judgment upon the world, causing this nation of Abraham's descendants to increase and gradually fill the earth. The amazing part of this story is to understand that the violence and bloodshed described in the battle for Canaan is not a prophecy of literal warfare. Instead, this prophecy describes a spiritual warfare by which God drives the darkness from the foulest place on earth, the hearts of men. Ultimately, the holy ground upon which God comes to dwell is the true gate of heaven, which is in the hearts of men, and as we will see, God works through his people to bring this about.
