(Numbers 34:1-29) Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders. 3 Your southern sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern border shall extend from the end of the Salt Sea eastward. 4 Then your border shall turn direction from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim and continue to Zin, and its termination shall be to the south of Kadesh-barnea; and it shall reach Hazaraddar and continue to Azmon. 5 The border shall turn direction from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the sea.
6 ‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea, that is, its coastline; this shall be your west border.
7 ‘And this shall be your north border: you shall draw your border line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor. 8 You shall draw a line from Mount Hor to the Lebo-hamath, and the termination of the border shall be at Zedad; 9 and the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and its termination shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your north border.
10 ‘For your eastern border you shall also draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham, 11 and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down and reach to the [j]slope on the east side of the Sea of Chinnereth. 12 And the border shall go down to the Jordan and its termination shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders all around.’”
13 So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you are to apportion by lot among you as a possession, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes. 14 For the tribe of the sons of Reuben have received theirs according to their fathers’ households, and the tribe of the sons of Gad according to their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their possession. 15 The two and a half tribes have received their possession across the Jordan opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrising.”
16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 You shall take one leader of every tribe to apportion the land for inheritance. 19 These are the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20 Of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud. 21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22 Of the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23 Of the sons of Joseph: of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24 Of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25 Of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26 Of the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27 Of the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28 Of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29 These are those whom the Lord commanded to apportion the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.
10 ‘For your eastern border you shall also draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham, 11 and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down and reach to the [j]slope on the east side of the Sea of Chinnereth. 12 And the border shall go down to the Jordan and its termination shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders all around.’”
13 So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you are to apportion by lot among you as a possession, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes. 14 For the tribe of the sons of Reuben have received theirs according to their fathers’ households, and the tribe of the sons of Gad according to their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their possession. 15 The two and a half tribes have received their possession across the Jordan opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrising.”
16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 You shall take one leader of every tribe to apportion the land for inheritance. 19 These are the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20 Of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud. 21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22 Of the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23 Of the sons of Joseph: of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24 Of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25 Of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26 Of the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27 Of the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28 Of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29 These are those whom the Lord commanded to apportion the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
God's promise to Israel and the nation of Israel was an inheritance of land "flowing with milk and honey". The land was to be divided fairly among all twelve tribes. But two and a half tribes chose to not accept the inheritance, insisting that they wanted the land which they chose for themselves. And God allowed that, even though it wasn't His will for them.
God desires that all become believers (children of God), and trust in Him, but He never forces Himself on anyone. Even after we become a Christian, we still have to choose a life of obedience. Each and every step we take is a choice. Everyone is born with a soul that was meant to be filled with God, but because of sin, we are born into spiritual death with a void to be filled. We can choose to fill that spiritual hunger with God, or spend the rest of our lives trying to fill it with other things but never feel satisfied, wondering what is missing from our lives. And as believers, we can choose to do things our way and keep wondering why things aren't working out for good.
To become a believer, we don't even need the Bible. We were also created with a conscience, which we can choose to ignore, or not. We are also surrounded by the beauty of God's creation, which proves there is a Creator who loves us. But - God still wrote a very personal letter to the world, which speaks volumes and has no inconsistencies. His word is truth and tells us everything we need to know to make an educated decision. And as we live God's will, we can see the proof in our own lives.
The men who had been sent to spy out the promised land, got a glimpse of how amazing it was. While two out of the twelve spies chose to focus on God and trust that He would deliver exactly what He promised, the other ten chose to focus on the negatives that they saw and advised against entering the promised land. When the Israelites heard the reports, they decided to believe and trust in the words of the ten. By not trusting in God, they settled for wandering in the wilderness for the rest of their lives, until they died.
Here now, with this whole new generation of Israelites, we see the two and a half tribes choosing to trust in what was right there in front of them, and settle for less. Even though they trusted God (to some degree) and wanted to support the "family of God" and help them settle into the promised land, they still chose land for themselves. God did not disown the two and a half tribes, but who knows how much more they would have been blessed had they joined the others?
Here now, with this whole new generation of Israelites, we see the two and a half tribes choosing to trust in what was right there in front of them, and settle for less. Even though they trusted God (to some degree) and wanted to support the "family of God" and help them settle into the promised land, they still chose land for themselves. God did not disown the two and a half tribes, but who knows how much more they would have been blessed had they joined the others?
When we read God's word, do we choose to focus on negatives and settle for less? Or do we open our spiritual eyes, ears and hearts to see His faithfulness, His promises and His will for our lives, and choose to trust in God's ability to bring us to a most wonderful place?
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