Numbers 2:34
“The People of Israel did everything the way GOD commanded Moses: They camped under their respective flags; they marched by tribe with their ancestral families.”
“So the people of Israel did everything as the Lord commanded Moses. Each clan and family set up camp and marched under their banners exactly as the Lord had instructed them.”
It is nice to read of this obedience in Israel’s early relationship with God. They had just undergone big changes and exercise of faith. Upheaval makes following a leader easier. We feel more secure. Therefore, the Creator, and his ambassador Moses, were in ascendance in Israel’s mind. We take comfort in famioly and relationship in uncertain times just as Israel did.
Lord, I want to follow faithfully, and respect you fully, in good and bad times. Spirit guard my faithfulness.
Numbers 36:9
“Every Israelite is responsible for making sure the inheritance stays within the ancestral tribe. No inheritance-land may be passed from tribe to tribe; each tribe of the People of Israel must hold tight to its own land.”
“No grant of land may pass from one tribe to another, each tribe of Israel must keep its allotted portion of land.”
The context is of Zelophehad’s daughters. They had no brothers and asked that their ancestral land be given to them. If they married outside the tribe, tribal leaders didn’t want tribal inheritance to pass to another tribe. God responded and said they must marry within the tribe. The land of promise was precious. It was as wide open for settlement as the cross is to everyone. It flowed with nourishment for physical bodies just as the Spirit nourishes us. It was the place of rest as Christ is our rest. The land was precious because it pointed to the most precious thing, living with God through Christ.
Amen!
Numbers 35:20-21
“And if out of sheer hatred a man pushes another or from ambush throws something at him and he dies, or angrily hits him with his fist and kills him, that’s murder—he must be put to death. The avenger has a right to kill him when he gets him.”
“So if someone hates another persona and waits in ambush, then pushes him or throws something at him and he dies, it is murder. Or if someone hates another person and hits him with a fist and he dies, it is murder. In such cases, the avenger must put the murderer to death when they meet.”
These verses are addressing something other than vengeance though one could argue they have the same root word. I see the value God places on human life and his hatred of sin. Destroying man, God’s image bearer, is ultimate destruction and defies God’s intention in creation. God gives life. Satan seeks to destroy it. Failing to provide justice for one murdered soul reduces everyone’s worth, including ours. We value life by administering justice.
Lord, forgive us. Convict us of the evil within and the necessity of facing it with the redeeming power of the cross.
Numbers 35:4-6
“The pasture surrounding the Levites’ towns is to extend 1,500 feet in each direction from the city wall. The outside borders of the pasture are to measure three thousand feet on each of the four sides—east, south, west, and north—with the town at the center. Each city will be supplied with pasture. Six of these towns that you give the Levites will be asylum-cities to which anyone who accidentally kills another person may flee for asylum.”
“The pastureland assigned to the Levites around these towns will extend 1,500 feet outside the town walls in every direction- east, south, west, north- with the town at the center. This area will serve as the larger pastureland for the towns. Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can flee for safety.”
The Lord provided sustenance for Levites. They had no land but did have cities with pasture. These were taken out of tribal inheritance. God requires we provide support for those in ‘full time ministry.’ Their needs should come out of our pockets. It is interesting God stipulates cities and pasture have square dimensions with the city at the center. Revelation 21:16 says the New Jerusalem will be a square too, all balance and symmetry. The ancient Levite cities point to this future event. Why the square? In shape it is as stable as our rock-solid Lord. Its approach is the same to all orientations as the cross is for all people. Its symmetry reflects the balance in God’s nature, judge-savior, anger-love. Though architecturally square buildings are uninteresting this square will carry enough fascination for eternity. I can’t wait!
Come quickly Lord Jesus.
Numbers 34:29
“These are the men GOD commanded to hand out the assignments of land-inheritance to the People of Israel in the country of Canaan.”
“These are the men the Lord has appointed to divide the grants of land in Canaan among the Israelites.”
God said who was to portion the land among Israel. Only God knew who would be consistently fair and resist political pressure. He made sure even those who exist in the life’s shadows had their fair share. Our infinitely big God is infinitely small in his attention to the smallest thing in his creation. No one escapes his notice and care.
Lord, you knew and called me when a speck among millions. You care for even me! I am awed. You said man does not live on bread alone. Let me see the other things you faithfully provide to sustain me. Open my eyes.
Numbers 9:13
““But a man who is ritually clean and is not off on a trip and still fails to celebrate the Passover must be cut off from his people because he did not present GOD’s offering at the set time. That man will pay for his sin.”
“But those who neglect to celebrate the Passover at the regular time, even though they are clean and not away on a trip, will be cut off from the community of Israel. If they fail to present the LORD’s offering at the proper time, they will suffer the consequences of their guilt.”
If we are willing to see, many verses such as this contradict universalism. Sin is serious business to God. All of us will pay for our sin. Christ steps between us and God and absorbs God’s anger on our behalf. He is a shield surrounding, front, back, top, bottom and both sides. I am entirely protected from God’s wrath but also from Satan’s barbs. I only need to count myself in the center of this Christ bubble. Trouble comes from forgetting where I am and stepping outside. Then, as Peter, I flounder amidst the waves.
Thank you, Mighty Savior, for your awesome power surrounding and comforting me. Help me tell others of your faithful all-encompassing provision so they may live in peace with you too.
Numbers 34:1-15
These verses delineate the borders of God’s promised land to Israel. They are real places, with fertility, elevation, water, population density, strategic value, etc.… All are unknown. I can imagine fear and faith battling in each heart, a prelude to actual war. It is easy to minimize this transition from our perspective. Taking the step into the Jordan at flood stage was only a prelude to the faith needed to possess their land. That first step was the only thing they could be sure of. God still works that way. He gives the next step. Walking in faith means letting him handle the rest. So hard.
Lord, I am on the edge of a new journey. Show me the next step. Give me faith to trust all else to you.
Numbers 33:55-56
“‘But if you don’t drive out the native population, everyone you let stay there will become a cinder in your eye and a splinter in your foot. They’ll give you endless trouble right in your own backyards. And I’ll start treating you the way I planned to treat them.’”
“‘But, if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land, those who remain will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land where you live. And I will do to you what I had planned to do to them.’”
God speaks to Israel on the eve of their entry into Canaan. In just 40 years he has given them a culture that will last for millennia. He has told them to destroy everything Canaanite, even very small things like a cinder or splinter. Which of these irritants have I allowed to gain a hold in my life, sapping the vitality of my faith? They are small and easily overlooked but potent in their effect.
Lord open my eyes.
Numbers 27:6-7
“GOD ruled: ‘Zelophehad’s daughters are right. Give them land as an inheritance among their father’s relatives. Give them their father’s inheritance…’”
“And the Lord replied to Moses, ‘The claim of the daughters of Zelophehad is legitimate. You must give them a grant of land along with their father’s relatives. Assign them the property that would have been given to their father…’”
The four daughters of Zelophehad’s had respect for their father, the Promise and their own worth. Their father had not taken part in the rebellion that assigned all adult Israelites to death in the wilderness, but nevertheless had suffered the consequences. They knew what kind of man their father was and believed he deserved his share in the Promise. They believed God’s promise and acted to secure their portion. They believed in their value regardless of their sex. God had a plan for them too.
Lord, make me like these four women who believed you, loved their father and knew their own worth. Give me their kind of courage.
Numbers 26:63-65
“These are the ones numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, the People of Israel counted in the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho. Not one of them had been among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest in the census of the People of Israel taken in the Wilderness of Sinai. For GOD had said of them, ‘They’ll die, die in the wilderness—not one of them will be left except for Caleb son of Jephunneh, and Joshua son of Nun.’”
“So these are the results of the registration of the people of Israel as conducted by Moses and Eleazar the priest on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jerico. Not one person on this list had been among those listed in the previous registration taken by Moses and Aaron in the wilderness of Sinai. For the Lord had said of them, ‘They will all die in the wilderness. Not one of them survived except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.”
I must not waste the wilderness experience. I can’t let my faith die there. Instead, I should let it refine me so I emerge a new person and ready for battle.
Lord, protect my faith during wilderness wanderings. Give me courage to endure the barrenness there. Make me grow strong during times of testing.
Numbers 25:52-54
“GOD spoke to Moses: ‘Divide up the inheritance of the land based on population. A larger group gets a larger inheritance; a smaller group gets a smaller inheritance—each gets its inheritance based on the population count. 55-56 “Make sure that the land is assigned by lot. “Each group’s inheritance is based on population, the number of names listed in its ancestral tribe, divided among the many and the few by lot.’”
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Divide the land among the tribes, and distribute the grants of land in proportion to the tribes’ populations, as indicated by the number of names on the list. Give the larger tribes more la d and the smaller tribes less land, each group receiving a grant in proportion to the size of its population. But you must assign the land by lot, and give land to each ancestral tribe according to the number of names of the list. Each grant of land must be assigned by lot among the larger and smaller tribal groups.’”
Lord, why all the numbers?
I was asking the question as I continued to the end of chapter 25. These verses give one reason. God is fair. He wanted land assigned so each person had the same share. He provided all people whatever their gifts and circumstance. He loves each one!
Numbers 25:1-3
“While Israel was camped at Shittim (Acacia Grove), the men began to have sex with the Moabite women. It started when the women invited the men to their sex-and-religion worship. They ate together and then worshiped their gods. Israel ended up joining in the worship of the Baal of Peor. GOD was furious, his anger blazing out against Israel.”
“While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. In this way, Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the Lord’s anger to blaze against his people.”
God was furious. He will not share his glory with another (Isaiah 42:8). Imagine if he did. What a mess! It is vital Israel learn there is one God, their own. Only the true God can get them from here to there in one piece.
Lord, make me remember that you are both love and holy. Today, it’s easy to get caught up in ‘tolerance’ for any and every thing. Keep me centered in who you are. Show me how to hold the line.