Numbers 34 - Pressing forward with God.

In Numbers 34, God specified the extent of the land that the children of Israel would be possessing. He sketched the borders from the south to the west and the north to the east. In Joshua 1:3-4, God reiterates the extent of the land that the children of Israel would possess. He said to Joshua, “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.” That was the extent of the promised land.

The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half a tribe of Manasseh, had earlier requested for that stretch of land in the Transjordan area because they saw that it was good for cattle raising. They promised Moses saying that their able men would go and help the other tribes of Israel to possess Canaan before returning to unite with their families. So Moses left words that the land that they would soon be possessing be distributed only to the other nine and a half tribes of Israel.

The distributing of the land to the children of Israel was assigned to Eleazar the priest and Joshua the leader who would succeed Moses. God also left words that only one leader from each tribe would represent his tribe to receive the land on his tribe’s behalf. The rest of the chapter consists of the names of the leaders representing their tribes.

The distribution of the land was the easier part, the more difficult part was for each tribe to take responsibility to seal their possession. For each tribe to fully possess their inheritance meant that they had to responsibly do their part to own the land. None should expect to gain a hold of the land by sitting in an armchair. To truly possess the land they had to go out and get rid of the inhabitants, their carved and molten idols and their shrines, and their high places. In much the same way, we are each given a life to possess. We cannot expect to instill and cultivate good habits or get rid of bad ones without doing anything concrete. There is a need for us to evaluate our lives, and with the help of God strengthen our weak areas. Here the attitude of the Apostle Paul is worth our emulation. In Philippians 3:12 he said, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” No matter how much we feel we have achieved, we must not rest on our laurels. We must “…press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”