Numbers 33:50-56
Instructions for the Conquest of Canaan
50 Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places; 53 you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess.
54 And you shall divide the land by lot as an inheritance among your families; to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance; there everyone’s inheritance shall be whatever falls to him by lot. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers.
55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. 56 Moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.’”
Final words were uttered by the LORD God to tell the people before entering the Promised Land as they stood by the Jordan across from the city of Jericho. He told them these things after first bringing their long journey of how they arrived there to their remembrance. He had reminded them of their failures and His grace through every step along the way that they might recall His faithfulness to them and their accountability to act on His words of instruction they were about to receive again. When they crossed over the river into Canaan promised to them through Abraham, they were to remember to drive out the ungodly idol worshippers who rejected the LORD that the land would be for these who worshipped the living God. They were to utterly destroy the idols there of stone and molded images of false worship to include their high places which were elevated places such as on hills or mountains used by the Canaanites there for false worship with their sacrifices, incense, and rituals to manmade gods like Baal. They were to completely dispossess those living there and settle the land given to them by their Creator who granted that land to the people He chose and who were called to follow and worship Him and not false gods of their own passions and imaginations. They were not called to steal the land nor commit genocide to obtain it, because it belonged to God and given to whom He wished to do so, contrary to human reasoning of the ungodly idol worshippers of then or today. This inheritance promised to Abraham and his offspring through Jacob called Israel was divided fairly between each familial group of Israel’s sons in a size-proportionate manner. These parcels of land were devised by lots cast for divine choice that appeared to be by chance as rolling of the dice, but were made by God’s sovereign hand to bring the results according to His plan. The warning was given to them not to hold back and to completely drive the ungodly out of the land or face the consequences. Those who they did not drive away would stay to be irritants like thorns to harass and cause grief to them there in that land meant to be solely for them and not the former inhabitants. They would then suffer repercussions from God for their disobedience in the same manner as was meant for the ungodly there. We see this is what happened, unfortunately, in the future history of Israel there. Do we learn from this that we might also drive ungodly idols and associations from our own lives when we come to Christ and His kingdom within us after we are delivered from sin in the grace of His salvation? Or do we disobey like they did and suffer the consequences of the sinful inhabited of our hearts and minds that we allow to remain? Or do we instead drive them out to leave room for the sole worship of our Lord who we worship in the temples (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) of these bodies and not allow the high places of the world around us to remain as thorns (Matthew 13:22) to harass us and keep us from obedient worship and service to God alone? May we instead conquer our hearts by mortifying our sinful desires (Romans 8:13, Colossians 3:5) and thoughts to drive out the former inhabitants of sin from them. These are our final words of instruction to prepare us before we die and enter the promised land of the heavenly kingdom to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment