Numbers - part 3

 Numbers 31-36 (These are my notes from my reading.)

 Sometimes it is hard to read Scripture.  We read about war and ruthless killing, but we must always keep in mind the sovereignty of God.  The Midianites had been given years of chances to surrender to the One True God.  They were not killed randomly or even because of their land.  They were killed because of their sin.  God used Israel to punish the Midianites for their sin.  Their time was done.  They no longer had a chance to repent.  We don't know how or why God chooses that time, but it is His choice, not ours.  We don't have to understand His ways, we can't (Isaiah 55:8).

 We must ruthlessly eliminate sin from our lives.  Here, this is done by killing all the men and the women who are no longer innocent.  There are sacrifices to God for atonement and to give Him glory.  We must "kill" relationships that lead us to sin.  We must "kill" circumstances, thoughts, objects, whatever leads us to sin.  Even in the church body, we must hold each other accountable and, if people aren't willing to repent, set them out of the body.

 In the situation of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh we often gloss over the facts and think it is "no big deal" that they wanted to settle east of the Jordan River.  But it is a big deal.  They didn't want to enter the land God was giving to them.  They thought they knew better about what land would be best for them.  Moses thought they'd have the same problem as before - suffering God's wrath for disobedience.  They could only settle in that land if the warriors still went to fight with the rest of Israel.  This puts some tribes into isolation, but also shows that they can cooperate.  The cooperation is important because all the tribes will soon be spread out more than ever before.

 Moses recounts all the ways that God has led His people.  He has guided every step they took.  He provided food and water, no matter how badly the people complained.  God provides for us in the journey, too.  He uses this journey of life to prepare us by sanctification.  He makes us more like Jesus every day.  We must cooperate with this process.  We must not grow weary or complain of our circumstances (like Israel) but trust Him and be content.  We must remember that, while our actions are important, it is the heart behind them that God judges.  He is more interested in our motives and heart attitudes than the action itself.  He is only concerned with the actions, in this case killing someone, because they show the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

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