"Battle Begins" February 9 Readings: Numbers 31-36
Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024
This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.
Bible Readings: Numbers 31-36
Background:
We wrap up our reading of Numbers today with another difficult reading. Chapter 31 tells of a war with Midian and then the journeys of Israel are recounted in detail. The boundaries of the Promised Land are spelled out - far larger than modern Israel. Then we read of the founding of the cities of refuge and the inheritance of Zelophehad's daughters is finally given.
Israel did not have courts. When a crime was committed, the family of the victim exacted revenge. The cities of refuge were places a person could flee to for protection until his case was heard. God seeks justice, not just vengeance.
The key passage in today's reading is Numbers 33:50-56. Here God commands the Israelites to drive out the inhabitants of the land and not to fail. He also warns that those inhabitants who do not drive out will plague them. This is an unfortunate prophetic history of Israel and also an example to us of the need to deal with the sins in our own lives.
Israel did not have courts. When a crime was committed, the family of the victim exacted revenge. The cities of refuge were places a person could flee to for protection until his case was heard. God seeks justice, not just vengeance.
The key passage in today's reading is Numbers 33:50-56. Here God commands the Israelites to drive out the inhabitants of the land and not to fail. He also warns that those inhabitants who do not drive out will plague them. This is an unfortunate prophetic history of Israel and also an example to us of the need to deal with the sins in our own lives.
Daily Devotional: Battle Begins
I remember the Billy Graham movies of my youth. They were the best Christian movies around in those days and they tended to follow a pattern. The characters were involved in struggles and trials, their lives in uproar, until in the climax of the movie they would attend a Billy Graham crusade and go forward at the end. The impression you were left with was that the battles of life would be resolved when you gave your life to Christ.
The opposite is actually true. Repenting of your sin and trusting Christ for salvation is not the end of spiritual warfare but the beginning of it. God has provided salvation for us through Christ. He seals us with the Spirit and sets in motion the process of our redemption that culminates in eternity.
But that does not mean the battle is over. Far from it. Salvation is not when the battle is over; it is when the battle begins.
God gave the Promised Land to Israel as their possession, their inheritance, a gift of grace. But in Numbers 33:50-56, he told them that when they entered the land and received his gift they would find enemies there. The land God gave them was inhabited by powerful, hostile, and determined enemies who had no plans to leave Canaan. Israel was going to have to go to war to free the land from the enemies inside.
God has given me a promise as well. This sinful body, this deceptive heart, this depraved mind - they are all destined for glory. One day my mind will be entirely renewed, my heart will be rooted in truth and my body will be glorified and perfected. That is the gift of God given to me through the work of Christ and accomplished in me by the Holy Spirit. God promised all of this to me at the moment I believed.
But the moment of belief is the beginning of the battle, not the end. My mind is inhabited by lies and these lies will resist God's truth with all their might. The renewal of my mind, replacing Satan's lies with God's truth, is a daily battle, one that will continue until the day I see Jesus face to face. My heart deceives me and tells me that I cannot follow God, and that I must give in to temptation. My emotions and my will are under the influence of those lies and they will not give up that influence easily. My body is drawn daily to the sins of the flesh and it will be no easy battle to gain the Spirit's fruit of self-control and walk in obedience.
Yes, I have the promise of Christ's redemption, but the battle to live out that redemption day by day will be intense. My duty, today and every day, is clear - to fight with the power of Christ against the fleshly enemies within!.
In Numbers 33:51-52, God gave instructions to the Israelites as they prepared to enter the land.
Those are our orders as well. We have been redeemed by Christ and destined for glory, but today we are at war. We battle against our own minds, our hearts, our wills, and our bodies and the deceit, the sin, the lust, the greed, the pride, and every evil inhabitant within. We must come against them in the power of the Holy Spirit, taking the two-edged Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to destroy those vile things that dwell within us.
Praise God, in Christ, not only do we have a glorious future, but we can also have a victorious present, the presence of Christ!
The opposite is actually true. Repenting of your sin and trusting Christ for salvation is not the end of spiritual warfare but the beginning of it. God has provided salvation for us through Christ. He seals us with the Spirit and sets in motion the process of our redemption that culminates in eternity.
But that does not mean the battle is over. Far from it. Salvation is not when the battle is over; it is when the battle begins.
God gave the Promised Land to Israel as their possession, their inheritance, a gift of grace. But in Numbers 33:50-56, he told them that when they entered the land and received his gift they would find enemies there. The land God gave them was inhabited by powerful, hostile, and determined enemies who had no plans to leave Canaan. Israel was going to have to go to war to free the land from the enemies inside.
God has given me a promise as well. This sinful body, this deceptive heart, this depraved mind - they are all destined for glory. One day my mind will be entirely renewed, my heart will be rooted in truth and my body will be glorified and perfected. That is the gift of God given to me through the work of Christ and accomplished in me by the Holy Spirit. God promised all of this to me at the moment I believed.
But the moment of belief is the beginning of the battle, not the end. My mind is inhabited by lies and these lies will resist God's truth with all their might. The renewal of my mind, replacing Satan's lies with God's truth, is a daily battle, one that will continue until the day I see Jesus face to face. My heart deceives me and tells me that I cannot follow God, and that I must give in to temptation. My emotions and my will are under the influence of those lies and they will not give up that influence easily. My body is drawn daily to the sins of the flesh and it will be no easy battle to gain the Spirit's fruit of self-control and walk in obedience.
Yes, I have the promise of Christ's redemption, but the battle to live out that redemption day by day will be intense. My duty, today and every day, is clear - to fight with the power of Christ against the fleshly enemies within!.
In Numbers 33:51-52, God gave instructions to the Israelites as they prepared to enter the land.
Tell the Israelites: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you, destroy all their stone images and cast images, and demolish all their high places.Go to war. Drive out the inhabitants. Get rid of them from the land.
Those are our orders as well. We have been redeemed by Christ and destined for glory, but today we are at war. We battle against our own minds, our hearts, our wills, and our bodies and the deceit, the sin, the lust, the greed, the pride, and every evil inhabitant within. We must come against them in the power of the Holy Spirit, taking the two-edged Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to destroy those vile things that dwell within us.
Praise God, in Christ, not only do we have a glorious future, but we can also have a victorious present, the presence of Christ!
Father, thank you for the glorious future you have prepared for me in Christ. But today I am at war, a war I often lose. But I seek your power and strength to battle the sinful inhabitants of my heart and vanquish them by your Spirit. Thank you for giving me a glorious future, but also for providing a victorious present.
Consider God's Word:
Have you allowed sin to fester unchallenged in your life?
Thank God for the victory he has given you in Christ, but commit yourself, in the power of the Spirit, to driving out the inhabitants of your heart - lust, greed, pride - and all other fleshly things.
Thank God for the victory he has given you in Christ, but commit yourself, in the power of the Spirit, to driving out the inhabitants of your heart - lust, greed, pride - and all other fleshly things.
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