Tuesday, March 22 - Jody

Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Numbers 31-33, Luke 1:39-56
Morning Y'all!! Hope everyone is having a fantastic week! And Sandy - praying you guys can shake whatever illness is bogging your family down...

Numbers 32 - I couldn't believe that the Reubenites and Gadites were opting OUT of the PROMISED LAND!! Seriously?! You'd rather build your own fences and community instead of following through to Canaan with the other tribes? I can see the desire for stability after wandering the desert for so many years, but being this close to the fulfillment of God's promise and you're opting to sit back and not follow through? The other thing that struck me in these passages is "Sins of the Fathers". These guys were doing exactly the same thing their Fathers did - the thing that caused the 40 additional years of wandering!!! Jeepers, talk about inheriting sins, traits, character etc. (something to keep in mind regarding what I'm handing down to my kids!). Rev. Robert Rayburn has the following to say about this chapter:
... what Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh did was sinful and worldly. It was an instance of unbelief. It is hard not to believe that there is something of this in the account we have read. The point is made at the outset that these Israelites had very large herds. They saw the land, realized its potential for both farming and ranching, and began to think, “Why leave this place. We’ve conquered its former masters. Let’s settle here.” They were thinking about their own prosperity, not about the Promised Land. The promise of the Lord, his calling to his people, at that moment did not mean very much to them. Notice the verb “they saw” in v. 1. Seeing and believing are often at odds. This is what Paul means when twice he reminds us that we live by faith and not by sight. Eve, remember, saw the fruit of the tree, how delectable it was, and the sight drove other considerations out of her mind. Her sight led her to a catastrophic disobedience. Lot saw how lush and well-watered was the area around Sodom and chose it for himself over the Promised Land even though it was a deeply sinful society that lived there. Choosing with our eyes can often get us and others into terrible trouble. [Duguid, 338] Clearly Moses, referring to them as a “brood of sinners” thought that their motivation was worldly and selfish. What is more, by comparing their behavior to that of the scouts or spies in Numbers 13 and to the people at Kadesh Barnea, Moses clearly judges their plan to be a product of unbelief, a lack of confidence in God. They do not think they will be better off in the Lord’s Promised Land.

These words sit kinda uncofortable for me... how many times do I "see" and "want"? This passage is a stark reminder of how often we live completely immersed in this world and the desires of it, that we lose sight of The Promised Land offered to each of us. To keep reading Rev.Rayburns commentary:

Calvin, on the other hand, regards this narrative as a story of God’s providence bringing good out of human sin. By the repentance of the two and a half tribes and their willing contribution to the conquest, the boundaries of the Promised Land were enlarged. The plan may have been sinful and unbelieving in its origin, but it was sanctified by faithful obedience and became a means to a good thing. Moses, in fact, accepts their plan as soon as they promise to help the rest of the nation conquer Canaan. There is flexibility to God’s plan. He had defined the Promised Land long centuries ago, but was willing to enlarge it here so long as his people did that in the right way. So much for the context.
What I want to consider with you this evening is Moses’ argument. He persuades the two and a half tribes to alter course with two considerations and both of them are as important for us to consider today as they were for Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh to consider those long years ago.
What we have here, in fact, is a group of believers under temptation, beginning to crumble under a strong temptation. They were tempted to abandon Israel’s calling – their calling as Israelites in covenant with Yahweh – and go for the prosperity and ease the world was offering them. And Moses braced them with two arguments and, as it were with a slap to the face, brought them again to their senses and to a course of obedience and faithfulness. The chapter’s subject then is temptation – the temptations Christians face – and the considerations to be reckoned with that ought to persuade believers not to sin, and the happy and holy influence of those considerations.

I love this commentary. We are Christians, and we are also human. Temptation is an expected course we will take in this world. What do we learn from this chapter?? When we are tempted - even if we've reconciled it in our minds that it's OK - pray, seek wise council and obey!

Happy Tuesday everyone!


Tomorrow's passage: Numbers 34-36, Luke 1:57-80