Numbers 33:40-56 – Living for the glory of God.

In Numbers 33, there were places listed where nothing dramatic or significant had taken place. This is much like life which we have lived as a matter 0f fact. It did not mean that every day something dramatic must happen. On those days where nothing sensational happened, it did not mean that God was uninterested in their lives. Like them, we need to know that when life seems ordinary, God is still with us in the mundane activities we are engaged in. His unseen hand is still guiding and averting dangers and threats from our lives. For each day we are alive, we must learn to live with an attitude of gratitude. So at the end of each day, we must not forget to give thanks and pray to the One whose life we owe.

In verse 50, we are told that they were now at the plain of Moab. They were at the edge of the promised land and at the brink of entering to possess it. Here God gave Moses instruction on what they must do when they entered the land. Firstly, they must drive out the inhabitants of Canaan. The critical things that must be done were: (1) they must destroy all the carved idols of stone. (2) They must destroy all their molten images. (3) They must demolish all their high places, the shrines that the inhabitants of the land would go to worship their idols.

Secondly, every tribe was to be allotted their land, which they would be responsible to possess and live in it. The larger tribe would be allotted a larger portion and a smaller tribe a smaller one. Each tribe would inherit whatever was given to them and be responsible for the inheritance allotted to them. And thirdly He left them with a warning in verses 55-56. If they failed to drive out the inhabitants, they would be a source of their constant trouble. If they were not dealt with totally, they would come and lead them astray into idolatry. When that happened, Israel would share the outcome with them.  

Unfortunately, Israel never lived up to these instructions. They could be seen at the end of the book of Joshua as well as in the book of Judges. But these are subject matters for another time. What we need to do today is to apply the lessons we have gleaned from this chapter.  The “Canaanites” to us would be like the people of the world that do not share Christian values. We are people drawn out of the world of darkness and planted in the God’s Kingdom of Light. No longer should we be conformed to the value of this world but instead to renew our minds. Take time to pull down the old and put up the new value system drawn from the Word of God. We must take heed to the words of 1 John 2:15-17 where we are told explicitly saying, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” Let us take time to wait upon the Lord, and build our lives on His Word and deal swiftly with any area of unbelief. Live an uncompromising life for God’s glory!