The Book of Numbers tells us of the last year, the thirty-eighth year. They wandered for thirty-seven years, and then, in the thirty-eighth year, it tells us of the last year—from Kadesh-barnea until they arrived at the plains of Moab.
Then, from Numbers 26 to Numbers 36, we find the preparations for entry into the promised land. If you keep these things in mind, probably that will help you when you study the Book of Numbers.
The Book of Numbers tells us all the journeys of the children of Israel. Their journeying through the wilderness was according to the commandment of God.
So, when we put it this way, in the Book of Numbers we see the movement of God. God is moving on. God is leading His people onward. God does not just lead His people out of Egypt and let them stay in the wilderness. This is not God’s purpose.
God still moves on toward the ultimate end, and the ultimate end for this people is Canaan. Here we find the movement of God. God moves on toward His full purpose, and He is leading His people to walk with Him, to travel with Him, to journey with Him, until His tabernacle is set in the promised land and His people are settled there.
All their journeyings were according to the commandment of God. It is God’s commandment. God commands them to move on. If they are faithful and follow the commandment of God, then they will move on with God. That speaks of their journey.
Now, brothers and sisters, in a sense you will find this is true with us today. We know that after our God has redeemed us and delivered us out of the world, out of sin, His purpose for us is not that we should just stay in the wilderness. His purpose is that He will move us on into His full purpose for us.
God is always moving on. He does not want us to stay put somewhere. Unfortunately, we find many of God’s people, after they are saved, just stay put somewhere in the wilderness. They do not move on with God into God’s full purpose.
We must remember that God’s purpose is that we may move on into His ultimate purpose for us. And what is that place? It is Canaan.
Canaan, spiritually speaking, speaks of the riches of Christ, because Canaan is a land flowing with milk and honey. It is a land that is not lacking in anything. So it spiritually speaks of all the unsearchable riches of Christ.
God’s purpose for His people is always that. He does not just want to save us barely saved, like a brand that is plucked out of the fire. He wants to save us abundantly into the unsearchable riches of Christ.
You find that He is always moving on toward that end. He is always leading us in that way. And it is our responsibility to move on with Him, that we do not stay anywhere, but from station to station we move on until we enter into the fullness of Christ.
What is the church? The church is the body of Christ, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all. So it is the fullness of Christ that is in view, and it is to this fullness of Christ that God moves on. This constitutes our journey.
In one sense, the wilderness is a necessity. The children of Israel came out of Egypt, and they passed through the wilderness in order to enter into Canaan.
So the wilderness is part of God’s ordained way of entry into Canaan. But still, according to the Word of God, the days that the children of Israel spent in the wilderness should have been within two years.
Why? Because after God delivered them out of Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai, it was a year. Then, from Mount Sinai—Mount Horeb, that is—by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea, it was actually only eleven days.
In other words, within two years they should have been out of the wilderness and into the promised land. But unfortunately, it took them forty years. The reason it took them forty years was because of their own unfaithfulness.
So, in one sense, the wilderness journey is a necessity; but on the other hand, it should be two years and not forty years.
Why do we say the wilderness journey is a necessity? Because if you turn to Deuteronomy 8, it tells us of the experience of the wilderness. There, in Deuteronomy 8:2, we find:
And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness,
that He might humble thee, to prove thee,
to know what was in thine heart,
whether thou wouldest keep His commandments, or not.And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger,
and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not,
neither did thy fathers know;
that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only,
but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee,
neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
And thou shalt consider in thine heart,
that, as a man chasteneth his son,
so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.
And thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God,
to walk in His ways, and to fear Him.
Why is there this wilderness journey? Because the wilderness journey is to give us some important and necessary experiences. We are to experience a number of things in the wilderness.
Number one, we are to know ourselves. You know, we do not know ourselves. Nobody knows himself or herself.
Before we believed in the Lord Jesus, of course we did not know ourselves. We thought much better of ourselves than we really were. We thought that we could please God. We thought that we had righteousness.
Until finally, we were convicted by the Holy Spirit. We were brought into dust and ashes, and we repented. We saw that actually we had no goodness and no righteousness of our own. All our righteousnesses were as filthy rags. That would not do.
Because of this, we humbled ourselves and accepted the Lord Jesus as our Savior. But that does not mean that, because of that experience of salvation, we knew ourselves.
Unfortunately, after we are saved, we think now we are a better person. Now we have changed. Now, brothers and sisters, it is true: we are a new creation, and we have received a new life. But so far as our flesh is concerned, so far as our natural life is concerned, we have not changed a bit.
But we do not know that. We do not know ourselves. Because we do not know ourselves, we think now that, since we have been saved, we are different. Surely, what we could not do before, we can do now. We could not obey God, but now we can. We could not keep the commandments of God, but now we can. We could not please God before, but now we can please God.
So, brothers and sisters, instead of sinning, we try to please God with our flesh, with the energy of our old flesh, in the power of the natural life. Instead of living by the new life that has been given to us, we still go back and live upon our own life, ourselves, and say, “Now we are able. We will keep it. We will do it.”
Like the children of Israel, they said, “We will do everything that God has commanded. You need not speak directly to us; we are afraid of that. Speak indirectly, and we will follow everything You say.”
Now, brothers and sisters, this was not only the attitude of the Israelites; this is our attitude. Because of this, we find that in the wilderness we are to be humbled. God uses the wilderness to humble us, that we may know what is in our heart.
We may come to see that there is absolutely no good in us—that is, in our flesh. That is the reason why our old man was crucified with Christ. But we do not know that.
So the wilderness journey, the wilderness experience, in that sense is very precious. God gives us opportunity to know ourselves, to discover what is really in our heart: to discover that our heart is deceitful above all things; to discover how unfaithful we are, how unbelieving we are, how prone to murmuring we are, how prone to rebelling we are; and to discover that we have not changed a bit except that we have the redemption of the Lord.
Number two, through the wilderness journey we are to know the care of God. Not only are we to know our weaknesses and our impossibilities, but we are also to know the all-sufficient, loving, faithful care of God.
How does God take care of us? That is the reason why sometimes God allowed them to be hungry, in order to shower manna upon them, to show them that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
In other words, the wilderness enables us to know God—to know His care, to know how dependable He is, how faithful He is. On the one hand, we know our undependability; on the other hand, we know the dependability of God. We know our unfaithfulness and the faithfulness of God, that we will not lean upon ourselves anymore but cast ourselves completely upon Him from now on.
That is an important lesson to learn. Then, thirdly, through the wilderness experience we are to be disciplined, chastened by the Lord.
Whom the Lord loves, He chasteneth. Because He loves us, therefore He has to discipline us. You know, we are wild, and we need to be chastened in order that all the foolishness in us may be cast away.
Then we may grow from babyhood, from childhood, into manhood and womanhood. In other words, God’s chastening is to make us sons and daughters of God. Many lessons are to be learned in the wilderness.
So, brothers and sisters, after we believe in the Lord Jesus, after we are saved, you will find that God is moving us onward. He does not want us to stay put anywhere, because if anywhere you stay put, you are in the wilderness.
He wants us to move on from station to station until finally we know ourselves, we know Him, we begin to grow up, and we enter into the unsearchable riches of Christ.
You know, brothers and sisters, the faster you get into it, the better. You do not need to wait forty years. Two years should be enough. Of course, I am not speaking of physical years; I am speaking of spiritual years.
Well, in another sense, physically speaking, the wilderness speaks of the world. What we have just talked about is spiritually speaking. Physically speaking, what is the wilderness? The wilderness speaks of the world.
After we have been redeemed, God has delivered us out of the world—out of Egypt, out of the world. But we are still in the world. That is a wonderful thing. Physically, we are still in the world, but spiritually, we are out of it.
Therefore, to us believers today, the world is a wilderness. Before we were saved, we thought of the world as Egypt, as that rich place, the storehouse of the world.
But after we are saved, our viewpoint, our estimate, our outlook toward the world is entirely changed. We do not see the world as Egypt, a land rich with corn, garlic, fish, and all these smelly things. Instead, we begin to see the world as a barren wilderness.
In other words, we do not see anything in the world that can satisfy us. Now, brothers and sisters, the world to us today is a wilderness. We are just passing through. The world is not our home anymore. We are out of it.
We are traveling through the world toward our eternal home in God. Because we are still in the world and yet are not of the world, as long as we live here we have many trials, many testings, many afflictions, many sufferings, and many tribulations.
These are things we can expect. In other words, do not think suffering is strange to a believer. Suffering is common to a believer. I mean, we live in a hostile world. We live in a hostile wilderness. What can you expect in such a hostile environment? Suffering, testing, trials, and afflictions.
But thank God, out of all these things, God is teaching us, educating us, and maturing us, that we may grow up and enter into the riches that are in Christ.
As long as the Lord wants us to live in this world, do not think that living is not worthwhile. Living is most worthwhile, not because the world is so attractive, but because God has much to mature us and to teach us as long as we are in this world.
As a matter of fact, this world is a training place. We are being trained for our future vocation. One day we shall serve God as He has ordained us to be, and today we are just being trained to do so. Physically speaking, this is what the wilderness is.
Another thing we need to remember is that this traveling, this journeying, is not a personal thing. It is true that every Israelite was journeying, but the whole idea of journeying is corporate. God is moving His people onward, first of all.
So, brothers and sisters, oftentimes we speak of our spiritual pilgrimage as a very personal thing. That is true. In one sense, every one of us is on a spiritual pilgrimage, and it is very personal. Sometimes you feel as if you are the only one on the road.
That is true. But do not forget that, at the same time, God is moving us as an assembly—the assembly of the children of Israel, the congregation of the children of Israel. In other words, God is moving His people toward that end.
As we look back, we find that through the twentieth century God has been moving His church onward—onward, step by step, station by station. He is moving His people onward toward that ultimate end.
This is something very exciting. Brothers and sisters, that is why we have to move on together with our brothers and our sisters.
Now we come to the Book of Numbers. As you open this book, first of all there is the numbering of the children of Israel.
In the first four chapters, actually, you find three different numberings. But the main numbering is the numbering of the children of Israel: out of every family and every tribe, all the males twenty years old and upward, able to go forth into military service, were numbered.
That is the main numbering. There is also the numbering of the firstborn, from one month old and upward, and the numbering of the Levites, from one month old and upward.
You remember that all the firstborn belonged to God. In Egypt, the angel of destruction struck all the firstborn, so God said, “All the firstborn belong to Me.” Thus, here you find the numbering of the firstborn from one month old.
Through the firstborn, God is telling His people, “All of you belong to Me. You who are redeemed are no longer your own; you belong to Me.”
The numbering of the firstborn from one month old corresponds to the numbering of the Levites from one month old. Why? Because the Levites were called to serve God in place of the children of Israel.
If you put them together in a spiritual way, this is to say that we who are redeemed by the Lord all belong to the Lord, and we are all Levites. We are all to serve God from the very beginning.
You do not need to wait until you are twenty years old before you begin to serve God. In other words, as soon as you are born, from one month old and upward, you are to serve God.
That is so far as our service is concerned. But, you know, as believers we have many hats to wear. We are the children of God, redeemed and belonging to God. We are Levites. We are priests. We are to serve God. And then, you find, we are soldiers. We are in military service. We are the army of the Lord.
Here you find that the numbering of the children of Israel is the numbering of the soldiers. The children of Israel were going to travel through the wilderness, and before they started traveling, God numbered all the males twenty years old and upward who were able to go forth into military service, so that there would be the army of the Lord.
To go forth to battle, you need to grow up a little bit. One month old cannot go to fight. Twenty years old means maturing, growing up. As you begin to mature, then you are able to bear arms and able to fight the fight of God.
Spiritually speaking, those who were numbered from twenty years old and upward for military service actually represent the whole congregation. In other words, every believer is not only a redeemed person, not only a priest or a Levite to serve God, but every believer is supposed to be growing up and strong enough to quit himself as a man or woman and to fight the fight of God.
Everyone is called into that military service. Why is it necessary? Because before the children of Israel started their journey, when they came out of Egypt, they were just a disorganized multitude.
They were never organized. There was a mixed multitude coming out with them. Everything was confused and a mess. But at Mount Sinai, God covenanted with His people, and these people became a holy nation—a covenanted nation.
As a covenanted nation, they were to be the corporate vessel of the testimony of God.
In the wilderness journey, if you read the Book of Numbers, you will find it very interesting. The tabernacle—that is, the tent of meeting—is called the tabernacle of testimony.
This is very special, because this term is used only once in Exodus or Leviticus. But in the Book of Numbers, the tabernacle and the ark are called the tabernacle of testimony and the ark of the testimony.
In other words, now they are a covenanted people of God. God has committed Himself to this people. They are no longer just like the rest of the nations. They are a nation taken out from the nations to be a peculiar people, the possession of God.
God called them unto Himself, covenanted with them, and committed Himself to them. In other words, the testimony of God was entrusted to these people.
They were to testify that God was their God, that God was in their midst, and that God was unique and living. He is the only God. This was their testimony as they traveled through the wilderness into the promised land.
This is the reason why they had to be organized as an army of the Lord. As the army, they were to encamp around the tabernacle to protect it. They were to march in formation with the tabernacle in their midst. They had a responsibility to keep the charge of the commandment of God. They were a people to bear the testimony of God.
Of course, the nature of that battle changed from the wilderness to the promised land. In the wilderness, their battle was mainly against the world, against their flesh, and against sin, because these things would affect their testimony.
They were in the wilderness as the army of God, fighting against the world, fighting against the flesh, and fighting against sin, that the testimony of God might be kept in their midst.
After they entered into Canaan, they fought for possession. They fought for inheritance. They fought against the evil forces of the air, represented by the seven tribes of Canaan. But in any case, they became the army of the Lord.
Now, brothers and sisters, in a sense this is true of us today. We are God’s covenanted people. We have just had the Lord’s table. The cup at the Lord’s table is the cup of God’s covenant, the new covenant.
God has covenanted with us, and the testimony of Jesus is entrusted to us as His people. So, brothers and sisters, we carry the testimony of Jesus as we travel through this world.
The testimony of Jesus will be attacked by the world. The enticement of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life—the things of the world try to affect the testimony of Jesus in our midst.
The flesh—our flesh and others’ flesh—tries to attack and assault this testimony of Jesus. Sin can affect the testimony of Jesus. We are daily battling against all these forces in order to keep the charge and keep the testimony of Jesus intact among us. This is a tremendous responsibility.
That is the reason why they had to be organized into an army in order to keep the testimony of God through the wilderness.
After they had been organized, you find, of course, that the center was the tabernacle. The center was the tabernacle. That is why we are centered upon Christ. Christ is our center, and we are all encamped around Him.
All the tribes encamped according to their standards, according to God’s ordering. In other words, no one chose his place. Every position was ordained by the commandment of God, and you stayed where God had put you.
Now, brothers and sisters, if we transfer this to the New Testament, how good it is. Christ is the Head; He is the center. We are all members of the body, and we are all surrounding Him, as it were.
Everyone is placed where He has placed us. You do not choose which member of the body of Christ you are. God has set you as a member in His body, and wherever He sets you, that is the best place for you.
How we need to be fitly framed and joined together, as the children of Israel encamped around the tabernacle. What order—divine order!
For us today, it is not merely an outward organization; it is an inward, organic ordering, with all the life of God in us. As we are centered upon Christ, we will be fitly framed and joined together. Together, we keep the testimony of Jesus.
When you come to Numbers 9 and Numbers 10, you find that God began to move them on. Their movement, their journeying, was according to the commandments of God.
How did God command them to move and to stay? They were not moving all the time, because if you move an army, with all the children and women and the whole group, all the time, even for eleven days, many would die.
God moved them step by step toward the promised land. God moved them by the cloud. After the tabernacle was set up, the pillar of cloud came upon the tabernacle. It speaks of the presence of God. The presence of God was in their midst.
As long as the cloud covered the tabernacle and remained there, the children of Israel encamped around the tabernacle and kept the charge of God. But when the cloud began to be lifted and move, then they broke up the camp and moved on accordingly.
The movement was given by the cloud, the pillar of cloud. In other words, the presence of God governed their journey.
Sometimes the cloud might be upon the tent one day, and the next day it was lifted, so they started moving. At other times they stayed for a few days or a month, and then they stayed for a month.
They had no choice to say, “Well, we have stayed here too long, so we want to move.” No. They stayed as long as the cloud stayed there, and they moved when the cloud moved. Nor could they say, “Now we want to stay a little longer.” They could not do that. The cloud governed their journey.
Brothers and sisters, how true it is: our spiritual journeying is governed by the presence of God. Today, God’s presence in His church is through His Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in the church, and the Holy Spirit is responsible to move His people.
Sometimes you find the Holy Spirit will just stay there. There will be a time for rest, a time for consolidation; then there will be a time for journeying, for going forth. As the Spirit leads, the people of God should follow the Spirit and go on.
In the spiritual journey, this is very important, because sometimes we become impatient. We say, “Well, we have stayed here too long. We want to move.” But if the Spirit of God does not move, how can you move? Where will you move? You will be out of God’s order and out of God’s way.
Sometimes we become so cozy and so comfortable that we just want to stay there forever. If we come to Elim, with all its fountains and palm trees, we would like to stay there longer. But God says, “No, you have to move on.”
When we come to Marah, we do not want to stay there. We want to bypass it, but the Lord says, “You need to stay there.” We cannot make our choice. We have to learn to follow the Holy Spirit.
The presence of the Lord, as represented by the Holy Spirit, governs our journey together as God’s people.
You find that they were not only governed by the cloud, but they were also governed by the blowing of the silver trumpets.
Of course, the trumpets were blown by the priests. The cloud gave the general sense, but the trumpet gave the details: which camp would break up first, who would move first, what would be next. All this was governed by the silver trumpets. This was the way they moved on together.
Today we may say that, as God’s people, our journeying must be governed by the Spirit of God, by the presence of the Lord. But at the same time, it is reinforced, as it were, by the blowing of silver trumpets.
Silver trumpets speak of prophetic ministry. In the New Testament, if you blow a trumpet with a specific note, people know what to do.
Those who are near to God, like the priests, are close to the tabernacle. They watch the cloud very carefully, and when the cloud is lifted, immediately they respond and blow the trumpet: “Now it is time to move.”
So you find that in the body of Christ there will be those who are close to the Lord and who can watch the movement of the Spirit. They will prophetically give utterances to the church, and this is the way the people of God move forward.
But unfortunately, as soon as they started to move, they began to murmur. They began to murmur.
That journey from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea was an eleven days’ journey. Of course, it took them much longer because of the things that happened there. During that whole journey, they murmured and rebelled against God. Miriam and Aaron became jealous of Moses, and so forth.
These things happened not only among the people but even among the leaders. All these rebellions, murmurings, and unfaithfulness culminated in the report of the spies.
The spies came back and said, “Indeed, this is a very, very good land, but the people there are so tall. We look upon ourselves as grasshoppers, and the cities are walled up to heaven. It is a land that devours people. We cannot go there. They will eat us up.”
The people cried and rebelled against God. God said, “You have tested Me ten times.” And that was the end. Because of this, they were not allowed to enter into the promised land.
Now, brothers and sisters, one thing you must notice: when God took them out of Egypt, from Egypt to Mount Sinai, they murmured and sinned against God, but God never chastened them.
God simply allowed them. They found the manna, and God catered to them. They ate it and never said a word, because that trip was governed purely by grace—by grace.
But after they became a covenanted people with God, from there on to Kadesh-barnea and afterward, when they murmured, sinned, and rebelled against God, God’s discipline came upon them.
In other words, God’s dealings with His people changed. It was not just under grace now. They were a covenanted people, and God had to deal with them according to His covenant.
That is the reason why God disciplined them. God disciplined them in order to restore them, to make them grow. But when they refused to grow, one day God said, “Now that is enough. That is enough.”
“This whole generation that did not believe in Me cannot enter into the promised land.” The children and the women, whom they thought would become a prey, God said, “I will bring them in.”
There was still the mercy and grace of God. The faithfulness of God was still there; it was not affected. But the discipline of God came upon this people, and because of that, that whole generation was not able to enter into the promised land.
Now, brothers and sisters, these words are recorded for our education. You remember in 1 Corinthians 10, the Apostle Paul especially mentions the things that happened in the wilderness: how the people rebelled, murmured, and sinned against God, and how discipline came upon them.
The Apostle Paul said that all these things were recorded for our sake, for our admonition—we who live in the last age—that we may learn these lessons.
Do not think that you can stand. If anyone thinks that he can stand, beware lest he fall. We need to trust the Lord and depend upon the Lord, upon His grace and His faithfulness, all the time.
There is no good in us. We cannot depend upon ourselves, but He is trustworthy. He is able to keep us if we commit ourselves to Him. These are lessons for us to learn.
Brothers and sisters, we need to learn these lessons. Yes, there is grace. But remember: because God loves us, and because we are His covenanted people, therefore He will chasten us. He will discipline us.
I often say that God does not punish us, but He disciplines us. There is a difference. Punishment is for the sake of damage, but discipline is for recovery and for maturing.
God loves us, and He does discipline us. This is where we need to learn to follow the Lord. When He disciplines us, let us submit ourselves under His mighty hand and learn the lesson, that we may not be like the children of Israel who did not believe and rebelled against God until God said, “This generation cannot enter into the promised land.”
For thirty-seven years—thirty-eight years—they began to wander from Kadesh-barnea. They wandered for thirty-eight years until they came back to Kadesh-barnea.
During that period, there is no record—no record of their itineraries. You cannot find it in the Book of Numbers. You cannot find it in the summary given in Numbers 33. All the stations that they went through, step by step, are silent. Complete silence.
In other words, these were lost years. So far as God is concerned, these were lost years.
So, brothers and sisters, we need to be careful before the Lord, that we may be faithful unto the Lord. As He moves, we move with Him. We must not be unfaithful to Him and begin to wander.
You find that the days that we wander are lost days. They do not count. There is no record in heaven. They do not count. May the Lord have mercy upon us.
But thank God, after thirty-eight years they came again to the plains of Moab. God had brought them back to the plains of Moab, to the border of Canaan. God called Moses to number the children of Israel the second time.
When they finished the numbering, they discovered that none of the first generation was there. Every one of that generation that did not believe in God fell in the wilderness, except two: Joshua and Caleb.
It is true that God’s purpose is to lead us into the unsearchable riches of Christ, that we may be the fullness of Christ. This is God’s purpose, and this God will do, because He is faithful. He cannot deny Himself.
But, brothers and sisters, whether you are able to enter into that fullness depends upon your faithfulness to Him. In other words, if we are not faithful, if we do not believe in Him, we may fall in the wilderness. We may not be able to inherit our inheritance.
But if we have an excellent spirit—a spirit that follows the Lord all the way, believing in Him no matter what, like Joshua and Caleb—then, in that spirit, God will lead us into His purpose, into the fullness that is in Christ.
God waits for a new generation. In the second numbering, it is a new generation, and this new generation has the spirit of Joshua and Caleb. With this new generation, God will bring them into the promised land.
Now, brothers and sisters, we do not need to look at this only historically. Unfortunately, oftentimes it is true historically. We find one generation that has heard the call of God and known God in a certain way, but somehow they do not believe and do not enter.
But thank God, God raises up the next generation to get into the promised land. Often in history that is true. But spiritually speaking, you do not need to wait for the second generation, because the first generation can be renewed.
If we repent, if we humble ourselves before God, if we listen to Him, and if we have a spirit that follows Him, then God can renew us and make us that new generation that enters into the promised land.
The last chapters are preparations for entering into the promised land. They show us how faithful God is. In spite of our unfaithfulness, God is still faithful to Himself.
He is preparing that people to enter into the promised land through a renumbering of the people. Not only did He renumber them, but He even apportioned the land before they got into the land.
In other words, God said, “The land is yours. All right, I will apportion it, and you may have it.”
Thank God, you find the daughters of Zelophehad, of the tribe of Manasseh. When the land was divided among the tribes, Zelophehad had no son. He had only daughters. Therefore, his seed did not receive any land.
The daughters came to Moses and said, “Our father died in the wilderness, not because of the sin of Korah, but because of his own sin. But he had no son. Does that mean that we shall have no inheritance?”
Here, in the daughters of Zelophehad, there was a desire for possession. Wonderful! They had the desire. They wanted to possess. So they asked the question, “How about it?”
God said, “What they say is right. If there is no son, give the inheritance to the daughters.” Then the other tribes said, “If the daughters marry into other tribes, the land will go to the other tribes.” So God said, “All right, if they marry, let them marry within the tribe, so that the land will remain within the tribe.”
God says this shows us that in this new generation there is a new spirit—a new spirit. They are not like the old generation that despised the land. They are a new generation that desires the land and treasures the land.
Even though they had not yet obtained it, they desired it, and God honored that. That is very beautiful.
But unfortunately, even so, you find two tribes that would rather stay on the eastern side of the promised land than cross the Jordan. In other words, they lived for their cattle. They did not live for the purpose of God, for the glory of God.
This again is a warning to us. The whole Book of Numbers is relevant—very relevant—for us today. We are journeying toward the fullness that is in Christ as a people. May the Lord have mercy upon us, that we may be faithful unto Him.
Dear heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee for delivering us out of sin, out of death, and out of Satan, and for bringing us into Christ, the fullness that is in Christ.
O our Father, we do thank Thee that even though we need to travel through the wilderness, yet Thou art teaching us, educating us, and developing us.
We pray that we may not be so stubborn that we will not believe in Thee. Lord, we pray that we may be humble people, that we may really humble ourselves before Thee and look to Thy faithfulness to lead us into that promised land, the fullness that is in Christ.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.