“History of movements in the wilderness”
Num 33:1-5 These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the LORD, and these are their stages according to their starting places. They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them. On their gods also the LORD executed judgments. So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth.
Numbers 33:6-49 summarized: From Succoth to Ethan to Pi-hahiroth to March to Elim to Sin to Dophkah to Alush to Rephidim to Sinai to Kigroth-hattaavah to Rithmah to Libnah to Rissah to Kehelathah to Mount Shepher to Haradah, to Makheloth to Tahath to Terah to Mithkah to Hashmonah to Moseroth to Bene-jaakan to Hor-haggidgad to Jotbathah to Abronah, to Ezion-geber to Kadesh to Mount Hor (Aaron died here) to Zalmonah to Punon to Oboth to lye-abarim to Dibon-gad to Almon-diblathaim to mountains of Alarim to the plains by the Jordan at Jericho.
Moses recorded every time God led them to another location over the forty years in the wilderness. During the first two years the 10 commandments, temple worship of God, Priestly service, and sacrifices for sin were given. During the forty years many miracles were performed starting with the parting of the Red Sea, death to all of the Egyptian army, God was a pillar of smoke by day and pillar of fire by night, water from a rock, mana from heaven, quail, plagues, serpents, and the earth opening up and swallowing those who defied God, all in judgment of sin, the budding of Aaron’s staff, clothes and sandals that did not wear out over the forty years, invading armies defeated, and much more.
There is much in Numbers that is given to us as examples of both what is right in the eyes of God and what is wrong in His sight. We do well to take time to let them sink in and be remembered because they show God’s love, grace, and mercy, as well as His wrath, anger, and judgment.
Thoughts, Words, and Actions
Psalm 19:14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalms 66:18-20 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!
There is no thought hidden from God, no word spoken that He does not hear, no action taken that He does not see. David is aware of this in a very deep and sincere way. He is aware of his thought life and the words that come from it. They can be thoughts of worldly or Godly. They can be thoughts that seem to make provision for sin and disregard God. They can be words that proclaim faith, trust, reliance, hope, strength, love, praise, worship, etc… in and to God. How many minutes or hours go by each day without thinking about God being ever-present? How many thoughts are not in line with God’s Word, not to mention words spoken?
If we truly believed and understood that all of our thoughts were known by God would we allow them to remain in our minds? We can’t really stop thoughts that come into our minds but we surely are responsible for allowing them time there. How many angry thoughts? How many lustful thoughts? How many prideful thoughts? How many greedy thoughts? How many jealous thoughts? How many thoughts are filtered through worldly approval and not God’s Word?
Our thoughts can lead to words and actions that do not honor or glorify God and things of God. If our heart’s desire was set on honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and actions, and we truly fed on the Word of God, and we set our minds to be led by the Holy Spirit, it is then that we would begin to monitor our thoughts to see if they were honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ.
Can you say “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight”? Unless there is a foundational desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all thoughts, words, and actions these might be spoken but with no substance. Once we have come to the knowledge of our sin and the need for forgiveness and have seen and understood Salvation through faith, trust, reliance, and obedience in and to Jesus Christ, it is important to lay the first stone of desire and commitment on this foundation to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all thoughts, words, and actions at all times.
On our own, I think this is next to impossible. I know this: neglect of God’s Word and being complacent toward the things of God will deafen your ears to hear the Holy Spirit speak to your hearts and minds. However, with the Holy Spirit, we are continually being spoken to and led on this path to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all thoughts, all words, and all actions.
48.u. Wilderness – 13. “Then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession”
Num 32:26 Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead, but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord orders.” So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the LORD, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. However, if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben answered, “What the LORD has said to your servants, we will do. We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.” And Moses gave to them, to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country.
The possession of the land of Gilead was on the condition of their faithfulness to their promise. Moses told Eleazar to make sure they honored their promise before granting them Gilead. Numbers 32:33 introduces another tribe – actually, half the tribe of Manasseh – who were likewise content to settle on the lands east of the Jordan River. In total, two and one-half tribes received their possession of land east of the Jordan River. (Guzik)
Concerning the settlement of these tribes, observe, that they built the cities, that is, repaired them. They changed the names of them; probably they were idolatrous, therefore they should be forgotten. A spirit of selfishness, of seeking our own, not the things of Christ, when each one ought to assist others, is as dangerous as it is common. It is impossible to be sincere in the faith, sensible of the goodness of God, constrained by the love of Christ, sanctified by the power of the Holy Ghost, and yet be indifferent to the progress of religion, and the spiritual success of others, through love of ease, or fear of conflict. Let then your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Henry)
We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan,…. This is repeated again and again, for the confirmation of it, assuring that it should be strictly performed according to the true intent of it:
that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours; that is, that the possession and inheritance they desired, and which had been granted them, on conditions to be performed by them, might be ratified and confirmed unto them on their fulfilment of them. (Gill)
I really don’t know what to say about these tribes and their want to stay out of the promised land. Yet, then again I might. When we have an option for something less hard and more certain than the alternative we mostly choose the less hard and more certain. I wonder how many times God has set something before and we look ahead with all of the uncertainties and hard work and say: “I just make do here”.
It is good for our hearts and minds to be ever-longing for the promised land – Eternity in Heaven! Being content with and having more desire for things of this world than eternity in heaven is not grasping hold of the promise. It is like saying I will help you get there but I personally want to stay on this side.
Keep your eyes focused on Jesus and eternity in heaven and don’t let the things of this world entice you to forget it or put it aside.
48.t. Wilderness – 12.z. “Sin is crouching at the door
Num 32:23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.
Genesis 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 44:16 And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.”
Psalms 90:8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
Psalms 139:11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,”
Proverbs 13:21 Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.
Isaiah 3:11 Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
Isaiah 59:1-2 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
Romans 2:9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek
1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
But if ye will not do so,…. As they promised they would, and Moses insisted on it that they should: behold, ye have sinned against the Lord making such a request, and not fulfilling the conditions on which it was granted: and be sure your sin will find you out; fly in their faces, accuse them in their consciences, charge and load them with guilt, and bring deserved punishment upon them: sin may be put, as it often is, for the punishment of sin, which sooner or later will find out and come upon the impenitent and unpardoned sinner. (Gill)
“The language is striking: it is not just that their sin will be discovered but that their sin will be an active agent in discovering them.” (Allen)
“Sin is like the boomerang…it comes back on the hand that has launched it forth. The brethren accused Joseph of being a spy, and cast him into the pit; and on the same charge they were cast into prison. King David committed adultery and murder; so Absalom requited him.” (Meyer)
“The guilt will haunt you at heels, as a bloodhound, and the punishment will overtake you” (Trapp)
Spurgeon suggested several ways in which our sin might find us out:
· We become ill at ease.
· We feel ourselves to be low and despicable.
· We become weakened by our own inaction.
· We have little joy in the progress and prosperity of the church.
· We lose our appetite for the gatherings of God’s people. (Spurgeon)
How much hidden sin do we entertain in our hearts and minds? Lust, greed, pride, grumbling, anger, fear, and complacency, to mention a few of those hidden sins that have the opportunity to ensnare us. They are ever present in our sinful nature and can be stumbling blocks in our witness and testimony of Jesus Christ. What or how is it that there are hidden sins of the heart and mind that seem to allow us to have a heart and mind void of knowing that we are harboring these sins? Knowing the answer does not take much reading or understanding of Scripture. Peter said it like this: 1 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Growth – There is no growth when there is no nourishment. Do you hunger for God’s Word or do you just snack at it?
Work – God’s Word is to be put into practice in our thoughts, words, and actions. How can it be put into practice when it is neglected?
Purpose – Our purpose on this side of eternity is to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and actions. How can this purpose be fulfilled if His Word is neglected and our ability to do it is blind and deaf to it?
Obedience – How are we to know and obey the things of God when His Word is not hungered and thirsted for?
Reliance – How are we to rely on God when there is no communion with Him, or there is no heart-deep desire to honor and glorify Jesus
Oh that we were made aware of the sinfulness of our Sin in the light of the Holiness of God!
Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
48.s. Wilderness – 12.y. “Do not take us across the Jordan.”
Num 32:1-18 Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, the land that the LORD struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.” But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the LORD has given them? Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the LORD had given them. And the LORD’s anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.’ And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone. And behold, you have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel! For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.” Then they came near to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance.
Num 32:23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.
Here is a proposal made by the Reubenites and Gadites, that the land lately conquered might be allotted to them. Two things common in the world might lead these tribes to make this choice; the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. There was much amiss in the principle they went upon; they consulted their own private convenience more than the public good. Thus to the present time, many seek their own things more than the things of Jesus Christ; and are led by worldly interests and advantages to take up short of the heavenly Canaan. The proposal showed disregard to the land of Canaan, distrust of the Lord’s promise, and unwillingness to encounter the difficulties and dangers of conquering and driving out the inhabitants of that land. Moses is wroth with them. It will becomes any of God’s Israel to sit down unconcerned about the difficult and perilous concerns of their brethren, whether public or personal. He reminds them of the fatal consequences of the unbelief and faint-heartedness of their fathers, when they were, as themselves, just ready to enter Canaan. If men considered as they ought what would be the end of sin, they would be afraid of the beginning of it.
Here is the good effect of plain dealing. Moses, by showing their sin, and the danger of it, brought them to their duty, without murmuring or disputing. All men ought to consider the interests of others as well as their own; the law of love requires us to labour, venture, or suffer for each other as there may be occasion. They propose that their men of war should go ready armed before the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, and that they should not return till the conquest of Canaan was ended. Moses grants their request, but he warns them of the danger of breaking their word. If you fail, you sin against the Lord, and not against your brethren only; God will certainly reckon with you for it. Be sure your sin will find you out. Sin will surely find out the sinner sooner or later. It concerns us now to find our sins out, that we may repent of them, and forsake them, lest they find us out to our ruin. (Henry)
Pathway to Victory – Devotion
Spiritual Babies
The deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.
–Galatians 5:19-21
Paul gave a strong word of rebuke to carnal Christians in 1 Corinthians 3:1: “I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.” He addressed them as “brethren,” acknowledging that these Corinthians, by and large, were believers. But notice the other two phrases he used to describe the Corinthian Christians.
First of all, Paul called them “men of flesh.” The Greeks believed that human flesh in and of itself was evil, which is why they had a hard time with the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. Paul did not fall into the Greek way of thinking, but he said our flesh is evil because it has been polluted with sin. So when he called the Corinthians “men of flesh,” he was saying they were enslaved to the corrupt desires of their old sin nature.
In Galatians 5, Paul gave us a great checklist for carnality. He said, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (v. 16). The desire of the flesh is our corrupt desire to satisfy legitimate needs in an illegitimate way. Then Paul listed some “deeds of the flesh”: “immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (vv. 19-21). If any of these characteristics fit you, then you may be a carnal Christian, a person of the flesh.
The second phrase Paul used in 1 Corinthians 3:1 to describe carnality is “infants in Christ.” Babies are precious things. But when a person who is ten years old or thirty years old acts like a baby, there is nothing precious about that.
In the same way, there are spiritually stunted people in the church, people who have been saved for five or ten or thirty years, yet they still act like spiritual babies. You see, spiritual maturity has nothing to do with age; it is a condition of the heart. Christians who are spiritually stunted throw temper tantrums when they do not get their way. They are always intent on fulfilling their own desires regardless of the fallout to other people. That is what the Corinthian Christians were like: they were completely self-centered.
Turning Point Devotion
Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.
2 Peter 3:12
One thought has occupied the minds of some of history’s greatest Christians: the soon return of Christ.
A little book called the Didache is among the earliest documents in Church history. There we read, “Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord will come.” Cyril wrote in the fourth century: “But let us wait and look for the Lord’s coming upon the clouds from heaven. Then shall angelic trumpets sound.” Skipping to the sixteenth century, we read this by John Calvin: “We must hunger after Christ until the dawning of that great day when our Lord will fully manifest the glory of His kingdom.” In the eighteenth century, John Wesley said: “The Spirit in the heart of the true believer says with earnest desire, ‘Come, Lord Jesus.’” And in the twentieth century, evangelist Billy Graham said: “Many times when I go to bed at night I think to myself that before I awaken Christ may come.”
Are you expecting Christ to come today? Perhaps this hour? “Be ready,” Jesus said, “for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44). Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
48.r. Wilderness – 12.x. “Take the count of the plunder”
Num 31:25-40 The LORD said to Moses, “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation, and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD. And from the people of Israel’s half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the LORD.” And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, and the LORD’s tribute of sheep was 675. The cattle were 36,000, of which the LORD’s tribute was 72. The donkeys were 30,500, of which the LORD’s tribute was 61. The persons were 16,000, of which the LORD’s tribute was 32 persons.
“The booty is equally divided between the people and the soldiers; a five-hundredth part being given to the Lord, and a fiftieth part to the Levites.” (Clarke)
This accounting of spoil from the defeat of the Midianites shows a remarkable amount of plunder. Israel’s officers made this remarkable report to Moses and Eleazar. They took 12,000 men to battle against the Midianites, and not a man of them was missing. “This wondrous indication of Yahweh’s providence and protection would provide the armies of Israel with assurance and confidence for the coming campaigns in the land of Canaan.” (Guzik)
There was a lot of plunder. There was no death to any of Israel’s army. God determined the distribution of the plunder. This act of the sovereignty of God and His awesome power over the assignments given to Israel is given to us in scripture as another example of God’s love and provision, and His wrath and judgment. No matter what people may think, God is in control and His purposes and plans are right and just and holy. There can be no question of this. We may think some things to harsh and other things to soft, but how God directs His grace, mercy, love, anger, wrath, or judgment is His alone. It will always be just and right and holy.
48.q. “Wilderness” – 12.w. “Have you let all the women live?”
Num 31:14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war.
Num 31:15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?
Num 31:16 Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.
Num 31:17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
Num 31:18 But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves.
The sword of war should spare women and children; but the sword of justice should know no distinction, but that of guilty or not guilty. This war was the execution of a righteous sentence upon a guilty nation, in which the women were the worst criminals. The female children were spared, who, being brought up among the Israelites, would not tempt them to idolatry. The whole history shows the hatefulness of sin, and the guilt of tempting others; it teaches us to avoid all occasions of evil, and to give no quarter to inward lusts. The women and children were not kept for sinful purposes, but for slaves, a custom every where practised in former times, as to captives. In the course of providence, when famine and plagues visit a nation for sin, children suffer in the common calamity. (Henry)
Treatment of the Prisoners. – When Moses went out to the front of the camp with Eleazar and the princes of the congregation to meet the returning warriors, he was angry with the commanders, because they had left all the women alive, since it was they who had been the cause, at Balaam’s instigation, of the falling away of the Israelites from Jehovah to worship Peor; and he commanded all the male children to be slain, and every woman who had lain with a man, and only the young girls who had hitherto had no connection with a man to be left alive. (Brown)
Moses was angry because the children of Israel failed to see the great danger of sexual immorality and idolatry posed by these women who before had led the men of Israel into these exact sins. God’s people may be deceived by things that were a threat, but do not seem to be a present danger. The Israelite officers of the army thought these women were safe, but they were more dangerous to Israel than an army of mighty warriors. Israel could overcome mighty warriors if they were spiritually strong; but if they were seduced into immorality and idolatry, they would certainly fall. We often think of many things as dangerous to us as the people of God – hostile government, secular humanism, academic attack, and so forth. But when God’s people accept things among them that open the door to immorality and idolatry, this can be a much greater danger than any of those other things.
God has the right to judge not only individuals but also communities of all different sizes. Such judgments go beyond punishing individuals for their personal guilt; judgment comes upon the society as a whole, including those who may not be personally and individually guilty (such as children; the little ones). Sometimes God sends these judgments directly (as in the Genesis flood or with Sodom and Gomorrah), and sometimes God sends nations as instruments of His judgment (as with the Assyrians against the northern kingdom of Israel and the Babylonians against the southern kingdom of Judah). In the broader conquest of Canaan, God uniquely used His people (Israel) as that instrument of judgment.
This harsh judgment often makes us uncomfortable but is rooted in both God’s fundamental right to judge (Psalm 9:8, 50:6), and in His merciful granting of much time for people to repent (Genesis 15:16). We can trust that God is a righteous judge (Genesis 18:25, Psalm 7:11). (Guzik)
“For this action I account simply on the principle that God, who is the author and supporter of life, has a right to dispose of it when and how he thinks proper; and the Judge of all the earth can do nothing but what is right.” (Clarke)
“The nations today are at risk from the judgment of God. This is true whether they acknowledge it or not. One day that judgment will come. At that time there will be no weeping over women and boys who died in ancient Midian three and a half millennia ago; at that time the judgment of God will transcend anything ever written in the harshest Scripture.” (Allen)