November 25, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Numbers and 1 Corinthians? Here’s today’s reading:
Numbers 33 (NIV)
Stages in Israel’s Journey
1 Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 At the Lord’s command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages:……Continue Reading
Quite the full image of the journey of the Israelites. And to realize that their travel was on foot and involved moving their homes from place to place for 40 years. We may not “wander” in the physical sense but think of our spiritual lives. We all experience “wandering in the desert” as we work through the different aspects of our lives and spiritual walks. The daily struggle is real just like it was for Israel. God gives us the strength and power we need to stay on point and follow his plan for us in this world. And to know that someday we will experience entry into God’s promised land for us is definitely something to look forward to!
Wow that was quite a journey to many places along the way. God finishes this journey with very specific instructions to drive out every Canaanite. He warns of what will happen if they don’t. You would hope by now the Isrealites would know what happens when they are given instructions and they don’t follow them exactly! They certainly have seen enough first hand accounts of both God working and disciplining when necessary!
“…drive out the inhabitants of the land…” and destroy all the pagan symbols or you will be treated how I plan to treat them. Seems pretty clear.
It matters where our friendships lie. If not careful we can find ourselves being influenced or tempted when surrounding ourselves with the ungodly. Staying away from those with immoral values is why we need our Christian friendships and church to keep us planted positively in the Lord. The Israelites were warned of the Cannanites. That’s why God wanted them to get rid of these pagans. So they themselves would not fall into temptation.
God tells Moses to drive out all the wicked people in the promised land. It’s a picture of what we should do in our own personal lives as we have become a new creation to drive out all the wickedness that was there before, so it won’t be an irritation going forward.
How important these details would be for future generations to see where their ancestors had gone and God had led them to and through it. I couldn’t help but think of the cloud by day and the fire by night leading them to each place. And as others have said we need to watch the people we let influence us. We certainly do not drive people out of our lives in the same way the Jews did, but we should be aware that bad company corrupts good morals. We are also called to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us. And all the while maintaining the righteous and kind standards that God calls us to and not falling into patterns of behavior that are more like the world than Christ.
Documentation of the travels of the Israelites. I know these chapters can be burdensome to read but it is just further evidence that this is not a fictional account.