Through the Bible - Numbers 33-35, Mark 15
Good morning,
If you're following a read through the Bible plan which includes the Old Testament you've probably been in the book of Numbers recently. The book gets it's name from the people of Israel being numbered in the book after the exodus from Egypt and again at the end of the book prior to going into the promised land.
The population had remained about the same, but a generation had passed away in the desert.
Prior to the time in Eqypt the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had primarily been nomads moving from place to place never setting down permanent roots. But God provided for them.
Prior to the exodus, the people had been living in Egypt, in homes. They provided slave labor, working long hard hours to come home have their meals and go out the next day and do it again.
After the exodus they again went back to the desert and became nomads, leaving the homes, the ethnic foods, and what comforts, the "stuff" they'd been able to accumulate in their homes.
Sometimes it's easy to look down upon God's people, how could they not trust Him after being led through the Red Sea etc..
But look at our lives. Many of us work long hours to come home and eat and go back and do it again. We have some "stuff" that makes it more bearable and enjoy the food that we have.
If God asked you to leave it all to follow Him how easy would it be.
Today's verse comes from Deut. 31 where the leadership is being transferred from Moses to Joshua. Joshua and the people are being encouraged to keep in mind that the Lord who has gone before them in the desert will now lead them into the promised land.
Deuteronomy 31:7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8 And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” NKJV
Reading through Numbers, especially in the last few chapters where you see how many times they packed up and moved camp over the forty years, ask yourself, "would I have been one of the grumblers"?
Having pulled up the family and moving a couple of times makes you realize a few things and have some empathy for the Jews during this time. Any time you move, it forces you to go through your possesions and you leave some things, not to mention friends and family, behind. If you're going a fairly long distance you'll be leaving some of the foods and customs you may have grown accustomed to as well (like Chicago style hot dogs, Italian beef, and real pizza).
But these changes can help you grow.
No matter where God is leading you, may you have this same courage, knowing that He will not forsake you, in fact He will go before you.
In all of this we must not forget that God also set up celebrations, feasts, "holidays" (literally holy days) so that the people, the next generations would not forget how God had gone before them.
What are you doing to pass on to the next generation, what God has done for you.
Whether you are in one place for a long time or have had to move think back on how God has been leading you wherever you've been.
In Christ,
Mike
Joshua the New Leader of Israel
1 Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them: “I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ 3 The LORD your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the LORD has said. 4 And the LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them. 5 The LORD will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8 And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”
The Law to Be Read Every Seven Years
9 So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who hav e not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”
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