Tag: full inheritance
You can be sure. . .!
Scripture Reading for February 19: Numbers 31-33
As our last two adopted children were growing up, I had them write scriptures as a discipline for doing wrong. This helped them in several ways. They needed to learn to write English and it helped with that. They needed to learn the Word of God and build their faith. It helped with that. After writing the verse, they needed to explain what it meant to them. Some of the things they did were normal childish things, but some were willful. They obeyed to a point, but always looked for a way to get around true obedience by twisting our instructions or taking it out of context. One of the scriptures that we used was this simple warning found in Numbers 32:23: “you can be sure your sin will find you out.” They wrote this verse dozens of times!
In our reading today, the context for this verse was a warning given by Moses to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. These tribes petitioned Moses to be able to stay on the east side of the Jordan River and not enter the promised land with the rest of the tribes. They were lured by the lush pastures and the potential to make money with their large flocks and herds of sheep and cattle. They were going to have a great life without their rightful inheritance promised by God. They were satisfied with what they could see–why take a chance on what they might get? They promised to fight and help their brothers take their inheritance, however. So Moses warned them against failing to fulfill their promise to fight. It would be a sin that would find them out!
We have lots of people today like these tribes of Israel. They experience the blessings of God’s deliverance from sin and see the miraculous daily supply of God. They agree that a full inheritance is fine for others, but they are satisfied with what they can have right now. They want the easy life and are not sure that what God promises is worth the chance or the effort. They choose to go part way with God’s people, but want what they can see themselves, not what is promised!
The end of these tribes proves God’s Word is true again! (1 Chronicles 5:24-26) They were later unfaithful to God and prostituted themselves to other gods. God gave them over to their enemies and they went into captivity! They were faithful for a time, but in the end going just part way was not enough! They sinned against God and their sin found them out! God tried to warn them. In his love, he tried to help. But we often don’t learn from the warnings and have to be ‘found out”! Don’t let this happen to you! Take time today to be honest with God!