Tread, Trample, and Take the Land
Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. Joshua 1:3 (NKJV) emphasis mine
God gave the land to Israel through a land grant He gave to Abraham. God said it was for Abraham and his seed. However, they had to physically take the land. The word tread in Hebrew means to walk, go, tread or trample. It speaks of forceful activity. It describes a road or pathway. The children of Israel had to possess the land by treading upon it, or by conquering the seven nations that were in the land- even giants. The land was promised, but they had to take it by treading upon the land and the enemy. They would have never had the land unless they went in and took what they were promised.
God has given us promises. That’s why its called the Promised Land. God’s Word to us is a land of promise. All we need is given to us by promise, but we have to take it- not from God, but from the enemy: the devil and his demons.
Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19 (NKJV)
Jesus gave us the authority to tread on the devil, to trample him under our feet. As we do this, we are taking from the enemy what is rightfully ours. Remember, the devil is a thief and he’ll try to take and possess what does not belong to him- if we let him. Israel had to go in and fight the enemy, those seven nations occupying the land that was rightfully the property of Israel. If they hadn’t fought the enemy and defeated them, they would have lost out on what God promised.
God has promised us peace, prosperity, and a good life. However, our enemy is a thief and will rip us off if we don’t rise up, enter the land, and take it back. We are to take back our education system, the media, entertainment industry, government, and every other sector of society. This is how we reclaim what is rightfully ours- by going in and occupying; infiltrating society and taking it over. The body of Christ is to lead in every area of life. When we don’t there is a void, which gets filled by satan and the world.
As we go in the land and take it, we are literally putting boots on the ground, treading on enemy territory and trampling all over the enemy. Jesus already died and gave us the promise of victory- His part is finished. Now, the church must reinforce the victory by taking everything the stealing, cheating, conniving, lying devil has stolen. We need to use the faith that takes, the praise that possesses, and the courage to conquer. As we tread a God-directed path in life, each step is a step of victory, thus we take the land.
