The Dividing of the Land; The Cities in the Land (Num. 34:16-35:34)

3/4/2009 9:32 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time           Focus:  The dividing of the land : The cities in the land

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Numbers 34:16-35:34

 

            Message of the verses:  There are far too many verses to copy and past for these last two sub-points in this second to last chapter of Numbers.  I did do the last chapter sometime earlier (2-13-2009 entitled The family inheritance) so this will be my last SD on the book of Numbers and I surely can say that it has been a wonderful book to study.

            In verses 16-29 of chapter 34 Moses is told by God to get some help for Eleazar and Joshua in order to divide up the land and so he recruited a leader from each tribe in order to do this.  There were only ten leaders needed because two of the tribes were on the East side of the Jordan River.

            The 35^th chapter of Numbers gives the names of six cities of refuge that would be occupied by the Levites and it also tells that there will be 42 more cites that will be house the rest of the tribe of Levi.  First the cities of refuge were cities that if a person killed another person they could run and hide there until there was a trial to find out if the deed was done on purpose out of hate of it was an accident.  If it was done out of hate deliberately then the family of the one who was killed would then have to put to death the one who did the deed.  If it was not done on purpose but was an accident then that person who did the killing by accident would have to remain in that city of refuge until the high priest died.  If he left before that then the family of the one who was killed could kill that person and nothing would be done to them.

            There were three cities of refuge on the East side of the Jordan and three on the West side of the Jordan so it was not too far for someone to run to one of these cities.  These cities were Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron on the west side of the Jordan, and Golen, Ramoth, and Bezer on the east side.

            “The Levites were scattered throughout Israel so they could minister to the people and teach them God’s law.”  This truth was touched upon in an earlier SD.

            “Guilty sinners today can flee by faith to Jesus Christ and find refuge from the judgment of God (Heb. 6:18).  Because Jesus is the ever-living High Priest, salvation is secure forever; for ‘He ever lives to make intercession for them’ (Heb. 7:25 NKJV).  He bore the guilty sinner’s punishment; therefore, there can be no condemnation (Rom. 8:1).”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  11/27/2008 9:40 AM was when I began my study of the book of Numbers and I have learned a lot of things while studying this book.  I am not a lot unlike those people who were wandering around in the wilderness is one of the things that I have learned for I have a sinful nature just like they had and sometimes it takes too much control of my being.

            The person that most impresses me in this book other than Moses is Caleb, for Caleb had a lot of faith and was not afraid to demonstrate his faith even when it was not popular to do so and was rewarded for that faith again and again for he is also mentioned in the book of Joshua when he is one of the few people who drives out the Canaanites from the land that God had given him, his inheritance from the Lord.  He is a hero of mine and a person that I would like to be like.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Work on remembering the times that describe me as being “in Christ” from the book of Ephesians.
2. Learn to be content.
3. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service today.
4. Trust the Lord to work out His will as we meet with Sandy’s lawyer tomorrow.

 

3/4/2009 9:41 AM