A journey that would have ended in a much shorter time


God saw the need for the Israelites to execute vengeance on the Midianites before Moses died, *Numbers 31:2. As they obeyed, 5 kings were killed, and Balaam, the diviner was killed too vs 8, Joshua 13:22!

They were rewarded with a huge amount of plunder as a result, which they were told to purify and give a part of the same to the sons of Aaron and the Levites as per the Lord’s command.

The tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh expressed their desire to take possession of the land of Gilead, and the territories of King Og of Bashan and King Sihon of the Amorites only after vowing to help their brothers to conquer the land of Canaan before they settled down to enjoy their inheritance. This was which was acceptable to Moses and the leaders of Israel, provided they kept their word, *Numbers 32. A journey that would have ended in a much shorter time took forty years of wandering around in the wilderness on account of unbelief and rebellion against God and His servants, Numbers 33.

This is something that we can definitely learn from if we desire to fulfill our God-ordained purpose in life and ministry! Boundary division of the land was meticulously charted out by the Lord Himself and these instructions were to be followed implicitly, Numbers 34.

They were especially instructed to drive out all the inhabitants of the land before them and to destroy all their carved images, all their molten images, and demolish their high places too, Numbers 33:52,55, for if they did not do so, then those whom they allowed to remain would be thorns in their eyes and thorns in their side, and would cause them trouble in the land. We need to search our hearts and be honest about the areas in our lives wherein we are allowing the lust of our flesh, the lust of our eyes and the boastful pride of life to dwell in us.

For if we let these remain, then just like the Israelites, we will be wandering about aimlessly and fail to fulfill God’s good plan for our lives.

Self pity, pride, fear of all kinds, depression, rebellion, disobedience, complaining and unbelief are some of the key sins that we need to overcome, by God’s grace, if we are to become anything that God desires us to be, and so, count for Him in this generation!

Let us be wise and learn from their example, so that as we walk in repentance and faith we can overwhelming conquer through the grace already made available to us in Christ Jesus.

Rowena Thomas
Mumbai, India.