Verses chosen for
meditation: Numbers 36:13
13 These are the commandments and the rules that
the Lord commanded
through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan
at Jericho.
REFLECT
We have been reading about God’s
part to prepare the Israelites to walk under His covenant as their God, from Numbers
1 – 10:10. From
their encampment at Mount Sinai, God gave Israel the opportunity to grow from
being a slave people to become a great nation. The Lord taught them how to be
ordered, organized, cleansed, set apart, blessed, how to give, reminded
of God’s deliverance, with His presence to advance to the Promised Land. Yet, the
Book of Numbers has always been presenting a contrast between God’s
faithfulness with Israel’s unbelief and disobedience.
Right till last
portion of Numbers 36, one could see God’s faithfulness again in establishing a
law for the women through Moses, to protect the inheritance of the Israelites,
vv. 5-8. The
inheritance in possession for the 5 daughters of Zelophehad were resolved from being lost
or reduced upon the 50th year of Jubilee. Numbers that is so full of
negative examples of unbelief and disobedience, now ends optimistically.
On the
other hand, whether God has provision for the Manasseh tribe or not, He already
devised a perfect plan for inheritance down the generations to come. Coming to
the end of Numbers, perhaps the questions to ask are, “What if the priests are not allowed
to enter into the temple? What if there is no more temple or no rights to protect
the possession?” But the answer is that Christ, our great High Priest
has prepared and accomplished this provision by being the Mediator of a new covenant, which includes
the glorious inheritance in Christ Jesus to all who believe.
Overall, Numbers teaches and encourages as in what
Paul has described: “For whatever was written in former days was written
for our instruction, that through endurance and through the
encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”, Romans 15:4. What a way
to read Numbers to find hope in God’s given inheritance from OT to the NT!
RELATE
We see that throughout their journey, God
has never forsaken the Israelites. Laws were given not just so society runs
smoothly, but rather that the Israelites do what is right as a people of
faith, set apart for Him. By spiritual analogy, many Christians die in the
wilderness because they do not trust God and will not enter what He has
promised them. Sadly, many Christians live more in the wilderness than on the
threshold of the Promised Land. Just like
the Israelites, many of us know what God “said” but never fully grasped that He
alone is our trustworthy and good God.
The
inheritance that Yahweh God has arranged in this last chapter calls
to my mind His steadfast love. It is so appropriate for us to remember Jesus again in this Holy Week!
His provision points me to how Jesus has come to provide us with a complete, perfect and glorious eternal inheritance.
Through His Son, Jesus came to rescue and restore me who once was His enemy to
become the heir of God - my perfect inheritance as part of His redemptive plan,
reference Heb 5:9; 9:12 and Eph 1: 11-14. This eternal inheritance is far better than the inheritance of possession.
REST
Thank You that You have not
forgotten me, just as You have completed the provision to preserve the
inheritance of the Israel tribes. Teach me to be grateful and hold on to my inheritance
in Christ Jesus, to be secured in Your love as Your child through faith in
Christ. What a blessing indeed!
Vincent
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