Knowing your future.

Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe.”

Numbers 34:13

 

All of Numbers 34 is about the boundaries of the Promised Land of Canaan. There is a verbal map directed to Moses that let the Israelites know the extent to which God had given them a new possession. But it also meant that territory had to be conquered. It was great to know God’s will for the future. Yet, there was responsibility with that knowledge.

 

With the knowledge of God’s revealed will there comes about a necessary human responsibility to obey it. We cannot shirk away from this truth. Yes, God was giving them this geographic territory that was not theirs. Yes, it was God’s will that they have it. But receiving the gift meant entering into battle and eradicating the idolatry of the existing Canaanites in order to possess the promise of God.

 

God does not make easy promises today. We know heaven and eternity with Christ await us. But we don’t get to sit back on that fact. We tend to be starry-eyed as evangelicals. We put on our rose-colored glasses and insist that “believing in Jesus is so easy, a child can do it” (sounds like a Geico commercial!). But it takes manly faith and outward demonstration of childlike faith to live like we should. Sanctification happens to us when we receive the holiness of Christ, but we must also WORK OUT our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). That sounds like sweat equity to some degree, not for salvation, but because of it. God always expects commitment with His gifts.

 

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The Idol Factory

Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.

Numbers 33:51-52

 

God wanted the idolatry of the Canaanites eradicated. Israel was supposed to do this fully when they moved into the Promised Land. God warned them that if they did not obey Him in this matter, idolatry would lead to their own regrettable demise (see Numbers 33:55-56).

 

By now in the story, this generation of Israel should have had ample opportunity to have this taught to them. They had grown up with the Ten Commandments. The first two of these explicitly deal with the exclusivity of a relationship with God and forbid any semblance of idolatry (Exodus 20:3-6). They had seen their parents flagrantly disobey with the golden calf. They had seen the more recent Midianite flirtation with idolatry and sexuality and how it devastated the camp. This warning was quite real.

 

The propensity of the human heart for idolatry is enormous. We always want to make our own god that we can control. We want tangible gods with tangible results. And this is not just an Old Testament warning. The apostle John warns us today of the idol-making and idol-following ways of the human heart (1 John 5:21). Left to myself, my heart is an idol-making factory looking for something other than God to worship. I have to shut it down in real worship and obedience to God my Father!

 

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2 & a half tribes: selflessness & sacrifice

We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance.

Numbers 32:18

 

Two and a half tribes found the land the land east of the Jordan that had just been conquered by defeating Midian to their liking. Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh were all predominately herdsmen, and the land east of Jordan was suitable to their herds and livelihood. They wanted to settle in and start enjoying permanent possession of the land. But before the farms and towns went up, they would be men of honor and courage.

 

They also realized that they had an obligation to the nation of Israel, not just their individual tribes. Most of their countrymen had hard work to do to win full possession of all the land that God had promised. That is why they made the commitment to stay in the fight until all their brothers received the inheritance they were claiming now. They vowed to stay in the battle until then.

 

I am encouraged by a faith that fights not just for itself. My culture is so obsessed with personal pursuits that few people would make these kinds of selfless commitments. We want the American Dream first, a society somewhere distantly down the line. The mantra of most is “what’s in it for me?” But there is none of that kind of thinking in the what these Reubenites and Gadites say. It is about God being honored first, working to see their brothers blessed second, and then personal concerns coming further down the list. And they trusted God for the outcome of all this hope. That kind of refreshing commitment could certainly use a resurgence!

 

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The end of a prophet for hire.

Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.

Numbers 31:16

 

This chapter is about a battle to eradicate an evil influence. God directed Moses and the people of Israel to annihilate the Midianites. They had successfully defeated Israel, not in battle, but by enticing the nation into idolatry. And that influence could not be allowed to stay active. These were harsh measures against an insidious social degradation. It was the spiritual duty of Israel to obey God’s command in this matter.

 

One of the casualties of this war was Balaam (Numbers 31:8). It is undoubtedly part of his influence on Israel that even though he could not prophecy against Israel, he could align himself with those who enticed Israel into sin and judgment from God. It was for this deed that he was eliminated. Ultimately his pragmatic practices were his undoing. He died with the ones who paid him the most for his spiritual duties. Not a great end.

 

That is the real lesson from this chapter. Israel is back to obedience, and a false prophet is judged for his disobedience. He sounded pious when he refused to prophecy against Israel, but in the end his actions of aligning himself with Israel’s enemies showed that profit was his motivation, not prophecy. Human fame and fortune are not enough in the end. They never are.

 

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Broken promises by broken people

If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Numbers 30:2

 

God expects and appreciates complete honesty in keeping the commitments we make to Him and to other people. That is why pledging an oath is very serious business. God is truth. And He expects human beings to be truthful. It is the clearest sign of our fallen depravity that we find the keeping of an oath so very hard to do and so easy to shirk off as unimportant.

 

But today oaths are pointless and broken without much thought. We casually promise. Vows are cheap and easy as well, which is why divorce is rampant and marriage is disdained. The culture of “hook-up, shack-up, and break-up” (Mark Driscoll) exists because no one will commit the moral backbone to enter into a real commitment in a relationship. Often it is the guy who is spineless and the woman who is frustrated but enables it anyway because in her mind it is better than nothing.

 

People will not commit to God at all and they will not commit to each other without a string of lawyers in tow. What chance do we have at remedying this? There was one person who fulfilled God’s promises to save us: Jesus. He can redeem all our sins and broken promises. He can salvage souls and make us people of our word. He can mend marriages. He can fix families. He is a real and living hope in a world of broken promises made by broken people. 

 

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The inadequacy of public devotion

These you shall offer to the LORD at your appointed feasts, in addition to your vow offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.

Numbers 29:39

 

This is the final footnote summarizing two chapters of details about public sacrifices. It serves to clarify that in no way would these public displays of national devotion during feasts supplant the need for individuals to practice the offering of personal sacrifices. Both were necessary for true obedience to God and His Word.

 

God has always wanted individual devotion from the heart to mark His people. It is no different today. Although I am thankful for “high attendance” at Easter services in churches around the world, I do not see those attend one or two public services a year as truly Christian. And I don’t think it is good for the culture in the long run. Here is why… these people have a nominal interest in spiritual things. They may uphold a tradition of public worship. But privately other things are much more important to them than God, and they may be deceived into thinking that they are doing just enough to make Him happy and get into heaven. And the church is encouraging the practice by giving away free cars… really!

 

Jesus said to truly follow Him and be His disciple, one has to practice a significant self-denital and take up a cross daily. That is private, personal and sacrificial. And that is the practice of Christianity at its core. It is about trusting Christ, following Christ, and living for Him in every dimension of our existence. It is a significant personal commitment to a substantial powerful Savior!

 

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continuous sacrifice

It is a regular burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

Numbers 28:6

 

Atonement for sin was a costly procedure in ancient Israel. Every day two lambs were offered to the Lord at the altar as public sacrifices. That does not even count private, individual offerings. In addition, on Sabbath, two more lambs were offered beyond this. Monthly on the first of the month (like today) two bulls, a ram, seven lambs, and a goat would be added to the tally. During feasts, that “first of the month” formula kicked off the the feast.

 

So sacrifice was a blood-soaked litany for Israel. It was part of the daily experience of worship at the altar. There was never a break from the constant atonement for sin. The tabernacle was a literal slaughterhouse where this occurred over and over, day after day, in obedience to God’s command.

 

This has led me to a significant Maundy Thursday reflection for this week. Jesus, my Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed once for all (1 Corinthians 5:7). I don’t need to have my focus fixed on how I will atone for my sin. Instead, I look to a Savior Who died and rose again to end my estrangement from God and forgive my sins.This is significant. I celebrate the completion and not the action of sacrifice. I trust in His saving work and celebrate it daily by offering Him the living sacrifice of my life (Romans 12:1-2).

 

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