Let me start by saying how warm my heart is to see my friends again responding to the their readings. I want to reiterate that if you EVER see I don't have a devotional posted to text me or call me. That means something went wrong. I value you all and count it a privilege to be doing this with my brothers and sisters in the Lord. Thank you so very much!!!!
Numbers chapter 36. Today we hit another milestone. We just completed another book of the Bible. Tomorrow we will start with Deuteronomy. It's exciting to see us go through this together. Thank you!
In this last chapter of Numbers, the daughters of Zelophe had inherited land through their father. But feared that they would lose their inheritance if they married outside their own tribe. They confronted Moses about this. The Lord spoke to Moses saying that as long as they married inside their tribe, they would keep their inherited land. But if they married outside their tribe, the land will pass over to their husbands’ tribes. They had to sacrifice any desires to marry any man outside their tribe. it says that “The daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses.”
We live in a world today where we want what we want and when we want it and we don't want anyone telling us we can't have it. We fight and kick and scream to get our own way. We don't want to have to make any sacrifices. We don't want to have to give up anything.
I dated a girl in high school and when I surrendered my life to the Lord, I felt God called me into full-time Ministry. I felt the Lord saying this is not who I have for you and that the relationship had to end. Not because we didn't love Jesus but because I felt we were going into two different directions. It was a tough challenge. I did not want to have to give up the relationship, but eventually I did. I wanted all that God had for me.
Today, I can say “I Want All That God Has For Me!” Therefore I believe God is asking me this question, “Are you willing to make sacrifices and give up certain desires so you can receive what I have for you vs trying to fulfill your selfish desires?”
We read about the daughters of Zelophehad in chapter 36 and we can see how these daughters receive their inheritance in Joshua 17:4. They approached Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brothers.” So according to the mouth of the Lord he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father.
God came through for these daughters and He comes through for us. He always does what He says that He will do and He does it in His perfect time. There may be some conditions that have to be followed, but God never fails on His end of keeping promises.
I’m reminded today of 2 Peter 3:9. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Today we finish the book of Numbers with a final lesson that reminds me that just as the daughters of Zelophehad were not to marry outside their tribe or they would lose their inheritance, we are not to marry outside the tribe of those that believe in God.
The apostle Paul says that the events described in Numbers are examples to us to warn us against making the same mistakes as the Israelites (1 Cor 10:1-12). Experience is the best teacher and a wise person learns from the mistakes of others. From the Israelites experiences we learn that unbelief is disastrous, to obey the Lord, to not long for sinful pleasures of the past, to avoid complaining, and to stay away from all forms of compromise in our walk with the Lord. God gave us this amazing book full of instructions on how to make our lives count. Thank you, Jesus! (smile on my face; joy in my heart!)
Now without the insight and wisdom from all of you, at first I am a bit confused by this chapter because I thought that these daughters were doing something wrong by wanting to keep their inheritance and therefore marrying into their own family (which I thought was against teachings) today marrying our cousin would definitely be a no-no. But when you look at it from a different perspective, you see God making a way for the daughters of Zelophehad when they feared they would not get the inheritance promised to them. I love your point Jeanine about marrying someone who believes in God. If we don’t, we risk our own “inheritance”, eternal life in Heaven with God. We risk it because when we marry someone who does not believe in God it is easy to allow the things of the world and our fleshly desires to take over. If no one is there to hold us accountable and encourage us in our faith journey then we will stumble and fall and who knows if we would get back up. We have to have the support and faithfulness of those we love. We need to lean on them and encourage them to lean on us!