Are You in the Road to Canaan?
By Clarence Santee
Will You Stop at Haran? — Examples of Those Who Stop at the Half-Way Places
CANAAN has been the land of desire and effort through all the ages. Either the earthly Canaan or the heavenly has been the goal of all who worship the true God. God had said to Abram, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee." Gen. 12: 1. Abram decided to obey. Instead of being separated entirely, Terah, his father, decided to start with him. On reaching Haran — not so far but that it would be easy to return — Terah decided to stop for a time. Abram was persuaded to stop also, and, as far as the record gives light, he might never have reached Canaan if Terah had not died. Gen. 11: 31, 32. Had Terah never started, Abram would no doubt have taken his all, and, at the command of God, gone direct to the land of Canaan. But Terah, starting in the way, became an obstacle to Abraham by stopping, that he would not have been if he had not started. There are many to-day who have started on the way to Canaan, but who, delaying, or stopping and camping in the way, not only lose their own spiritual life, but are in a place to do more to cause weak professors to stumble to their ruin than if they were yet worldlings. THE INFLUENCE OF YOUR INDIFFERENCE
Dear brother or sister, how is it? Have you rested on the way, turning your thoughts on the things of the present? If so, you can do more where you are, by example, to cause others to rest in false security, than if you were entirely out of the way. They will measure their Christian experience by yours, and while far from being satisfied, they will calm their rising fears by seeing your indifference. Terah, half way to Canaan, could do more to keep Abraham out of Canaan than when he was in Ur of the Chaldees. How many might be far on the way if we had not settled down in the half-way place, the opening of the books of heaven alone will reveal. THE CORDS WERE NOT ALL BROKEN
Evidently the cords that bound Terah to Ur were not all broken, and had it not been for the decision of Abraham to obey God, he would not have started. Many are now resting their hopes of reaching Canaan more upon the associations and counsels of men than upon the call of God as revealed in His word. The cords of earth have not been broken. ENTHUSIASM CARRIED A MULTITUDE
When Israel left Egypt, their enthusiasm was great, and a large company, fearing to remain behind, greatly swelled their numbers. There was a strong move that it was more difficult to resist than to go forward. True, some even of the stock of Israel, refusing every appeal, remained behind, but their places were more than filled with the "mixed multitude" that went along. All things now seemed possible. They started from Rameses, the capital of Goshen, the general gathering place, which to them was a reminder of slavery, bitter servitude, and death. At Succoth they breathed the air of freedom, and temporarily rested in security. Their faces were toward Canaan. Even those who had said to Moses, "Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians" (Ex. 14: 12), were silenced. Was not that wonderful "pillar of cloud" by day, and the "pillar of fire" by night, lighting the vast host as one continual day, leading them unmistakably in the way, a pledge of every want supplied? As the disciples, following their Lord in the way, dreaming of temporal grandeur and greatness (Mark 9: 33, 34), were not prepared for disappointment and cross bearing, so these, picturing temporal advantage and preferment, with no tests or trials (Num. 16: 14), were binding themselves with other and stronger cords than even the literal cords of Egypt. Again they journeyed. Etham was their next encampment, and here began their wilderness experience. Ex. 13: 20. Well had it been if, while their feet trod the outward wilderness paths that must be crossed, their hearts had been in Canaan. Instead, at this place, after the novelty had worn away, their hearts began their desert experience, and God began to reckon with their weakness as it was manifest. Verse 17. COULD NOT TAKE THE DIRECT ROUTE
God could not lead them the short way. It must be through trials of pursuit and danger, of apparent annihilation by armies (Ex. 15: 9), a Red Sea of difficulty (Ex. 14: 22), a wilderness of drought, and waters of Marah (Ex. 15: 23), a land of no food, of desolation and death — all an outward index of the unbelieving heart. There were some in that large company who were faithful to God. They were the human, visible pillars with whom God could renew His covenant of mercy and watchful care. Strange as it may seem, these faithful ones were misunderstood, mistreated, and often their lives were in danger because of their faithfulness to duty. Num. 14: 6-10 is an illustration. The unregenerate heart is ever the same. It is filled with hatred and jealousy against those who are blessed of the Lord because of a sincere heart. Abel had his Cain, Joseph his brethren, Daniel the presidents and the princes, Jesus the apostate Judas, and Paul the unrelenting Jews. AT A STANDSTILL IN THE WAY
As dangerous as all these is the man who, with "an evil heart of unbelief," will follow the child of God half way to the kingdom with his questioning, his doubts as to the nearness of the coming of Christ — whose coming has been delayed by the lives of such — his criticisms of the large amounts sent to far-away missions, his example of selfish activity, and indifference to the things of God, never getting beyond Haran, yet in the way to Canaan. Have you become acquainted with them? Have you started from Ur with them? Have you reached Haran with them? Are you there till this day with them? You must not wait, as Abraham did, until they die. It may be too late. The inhabitants of Canaan are about made up. The day of applications is in its last hour. With repentance for past delay, you must hasten on, for truly "it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."