Numbers
chapter 34 simply outlines the border of the Promised Land. The
chapter begins, “When
you enter Canaan, the land that will be allotted to you as an
inheritance will have these boundaries…”
Interesting to note that the land is an inheritance, but the people
will have to drive out the inhabitants. God views the inhabitants as
little more than squatters. God’s people won’t really own the
land until they live in it. The people must fight for the land, but
the land is first and foremost a gift. For many today, our battle is
so similar. God gives us talents and abilities to use to live
fulfilled lives, but we must use them to be fulfilled. If you are
just going through the motions and have not experienced the goodness
of God, perhaps it is because you have not taken possession of your
inheritance. “For
this reason I remind you to fan the flames of the gift of God which
is in you… For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a
Sprit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
(2 Timothy 1:5)
God
gives the borders on each side of the nation, “Your
southern side will include the desert of Zin… from the Salt Sea…
to the brook of Egypt and end at the Sea“.
There is some question about whether that includes the infamous
Sinai Peninsula and that battle is still going on today. “On
your western boundary will be the coast of the Great Sea. For your
northern boundary, run a line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor… end
at Hazar Enan. Your eastern boundary…down the Jordan and end at
the Salt Sea. This will be your land with boundaries on every side.”
Hard to picture without a map, but Israel is basically a narrow
strip of land barely 40 miles wide, with the Mediterranean Sea on the
West and the Jordan River on the East. Understand, knowing our
borders is a good thing! Some today feel that God’s grace allows
for Christian liberty with all things, but Romans 14:15 is clear that
anything that may cause your brother to stumble should be willingly
given up. “If
your brother is distressed by something you eat (drink,
smoke or chew or say)
you are no longer acting in love.“
The
chapter ends with God commanding Moses,” Assign
this land by lot as an inheritance… given to nine and a half
tribes, because Rueben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh received
their inheritance on the other side of the Jordan.”
Because Moses will not be able to enter in, Eleazar the Priest and
Joshua plus one leader from each tribe will, “assign
the land for you“.
Although we may feel indispensable, we are most effective when we
allow God’s Holy Spirit to work through our lives. Romans 6:13
explains, on our own, we are spiritually dead. But through the
victory of Christ on the cross, we are told “Present
yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as
instruments of righteousness to God.”