March 28, 2021
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Reading along with us in Numbers? Here’s today’s reading:
Numbers 33 (NIV)
Stages in Israel’s Journey
1Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2At the Lord’s command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages:.......Continue Reading
What a long journey this was for the Israelites! God brought them through and stayed true to His promises and judgements along the way. The tedious journey with so many places they stayed in for that 40 years stands as evidence of the needless wandering they had to do as a result of their disobedience and grumbling against God.
I couldn’t help but think how far these locations were from each other and how long they stayed at each. It must have been considerable if these are the places they stayed for 40 years plus. It is amazing to think of what it was like for such a large group of people to travel in mass like this. Logistics must have been complicated. But to think that God directed them by cloud and fire and provided for them every day, His faithfulness is amazing. And yet the expectation for this new generation is clear. Go in and take the land and drive out the inhabitants or they will be a thorn in your side….how true that became…..
I decided to look at a map and I was surprised to see that they actually wandered below the dead sea and crossed the Jordan from east to west (in Joshua). All this time I have been thinking that they were crossing the other way and conquering the lands on on the east of the Jordan.
50On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the Lordsaid to Moses, 51“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, 52drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. 53Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 54Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes.
55“ ‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in