March 4, 2006 - Numbers 31-33 and Mark 9:1-29
This passage is very important, because it deals with several issues that could have kept the Israelites from entering the Promised Land and from receiving God's blessings there. I am sure Satan was at work to prevent God's will from being done by the Israelites. This passage shows how we must be on guard against Satan, and we must fully obey the Lord all the time.
Numbers 31 tells us about God's command to take vengeance on the Midianites. The Bible makes it plain the we are not to take vengeance on our own, but it is up to the Lord. That is what happens here. God commands Moses to take vengeance on Midian for the incident at Peor. Moses obeys God, but the people do not obey. They leave the women alive. What were they thinking? The women were the main problem at Peor. This shows why we are not to take vengeance ourselves. We will always mess it up. God is the only One who knows all and always does things the right way, so we must leave it all up to His perfect plan.
Numbers 32 has an important spiritual principle on loyalty. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh saw how good the land east of the Jordan river was for their livestock, so they made a request to have that land as their inheritance. The problem with this was their desire could have discouraged their brothers from obeying God and taking the land of Canaan as God commanded them. The others might have thought that they were getting special treatment. They may have thought they were breaking the rules, so why should they obey God. They might have thought that without their soldiers, they could not take the Land. Anything that was done that discouraged their brothers and did not cause them all to obey God was sin. Therefore, Moses rebuked them, but he said that if they would send their warriors to fight until the finish, they could have that land. They agreed, so it was allowed. How often we fail in this way. We become a discouraging factor in another person's life. We fall short of doing all God wants us to do for His kingdom. We must know that when we do that, God will punish us. Our sin will find us out. We must be loyal to the Lord and to our brothers in Christ to do all of God's will, not just part of it.
Chapter 33 ends with an admonition to kill the inhabitants of the Land and to completely destroy all of the pagan idols. This was necessary to keep the people from falling into idolatry. The last verse tells us why. If the Israelites fell into Idolatry, God would have to punish them in the same way He was going to punish the Canaanites. He was punishing them for their sin, and He would do the same to Israel. We are not exempt from God's punishment, because we are His people. In fact, we are to do whatever it takes to be true to Him, so others can see the difference in our lives and be drawn to Him.
Mark 9 shows us the glory of God in the transfiguration of Jesus and in His power over the demons. In both cases we must fall on our knees and worship Him for being the perfect Lamb of God and for being the source of all we need. Do you see Jesus as the exalted Son of God? Do you know He has power over sin, Satan, and death? Do you trust Him? If you believe all things are possible. If you don't believe, you will miss out on His plan for your life. Faith is the victory. Faith in Jesus Christ brings salvation from sin and deliverance from God for the everyday trials of life. He can either take them away or walk us through them, but He can handle all of the them for us, if we have faith.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 34-36 and Mark 9:30-50.
Numbers 31 tells us about God's command to take vengeance on the Midianites. The Bible makes it plain the we are not to take vengeance on our own, but it is up to the Lord. That is what happens here. God commands Moses to take vengeance on Midian for the incident at Peor. Moses obeys God, but the people do not obey. They leave the women alive. What were they thinking? The women were the main problem at Peor. This shows why we are not to take vengeance ourselves. We will always mess it up. God is the only One who knows all and always does things the right way, so we must leave it all up to His perfect plan.
Numbers 32 has an important spiritual principle on loyalty. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh saw how good the land east of the Jordan river was for their livestock, so they made a request to have that land as their inheritance. The problem with this was their desire could have discouraged their brothers from obeying God and taking the land of Canaan as God commanded them. The others might have thought that they were getting special treatment. They may have thought they were breaking the rules, so why should they obey God. They might have thought that without their soldiers, they could not take the Land. Anything that was done that discouraged their brothers and did not cause them all to obey God was sin. Therefore, Moses rebuked them, but he said that if they would send their warriors to fight until the finish, they could have that land. They agreed, so it was allowed. How often we fail in this way. We become a discouraging factor in another person's life. We fall short of doing all God wants us to do for His kingdom. We must know that when we do that, God will punish us. Our sin will find us out. We must be loyal to the Lord and to our brothers in Christ to do all of God's will, not just part of it.
Chapter 33 ends with an admonition to kill the inhabitants of the Land and to completely destroy all of the pagan idols. This was necessary to keep the people from falling into idolatry. The last verse tells us why. If the Israelites fell into Idolatry, God would have to punish them in the same way He was going to punish the Canaanites. He was punishing them for their sin, and He would do the same to Israel. We are not exempt from God's punishment, because we are His people. In fact, we are to do whatever it takes to be true to Him, so others can see the difference in our lives and be drawn to Him.
Mark 9 shows us the glory of God in the transfiguration of Jesus and in His power over the demons. In both cases we must fall on our knees and worship Him for being the perfect Lamb of God and for being the source of all we need. Do you see Jesus as the exalted Son of God? Do you know He has power over sin, Satan, and death? Do you trust Him? If you believe all things are possible. If you don't believe, you will miss out on His plan for your life. Faith is the victory. Faith in Jesus Christ brings salvation from sin and deliverance from God for the everyday trials of life. He can either take them away or walk us through them, but He can handle all of the them for us, if we have faith.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 34-36 and Mark 9:30-50.