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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Num. 34-35
I was thinking of the word, “inheritance”, which God used in relation to the land He gave to the Israelites. To inherit is to receive something as an heir when the previous owner dies. How does that fit this situation? Though the previous inhabitants of the land died, the Jews were not their heirs. So no fit there. One could argue that the Jews were God’s heirs and that He was the true owner of the land, but God did not die. So no fit there either. What actually happened is that God, the true owner of the land, took it from the Canaanites and gave it to His people. Why, then, did He not call it a gift?
I think the answer to that question is because the land was meant to be passed on. It was something God gave them so that they could give it to others. Light bulb moment! The New Testament talks about how we have received an inheritance in Christ; how we are joint heirs with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. I don’t believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is a place, so much as it is the presence of God. So putting that all together I see that we, as believers in Christ, have received God’s presence so that we can pass it along to others. His mercy, His grace, His forgiveness, and all the gifts of His Spirit – they are not gifts that are meant to end with us. They are an inheritance that passes through us when we die to self to live in Christ.
Num. 36
“No inheritance is to transfer from one tribe to another, because each of the Israelite tribes is to retain its inheritance.” (Num. 36:9). I’m not sure what the significance of that is, either at face value or in light of the thought I just expressed. Maybe it has to do with the error of trying to change what God has established. Or perhaps it speaks to the permanence of God’s promise and the error of those who try to draw others away from His truth. Maybe someday I will know.