God Makes Good On His Promises
Scripture: Numbers 26:51, 64-65
"51 In summary, the registered troops of all Israel numbered 601,730...64 Not one person on this list had been among those listed in the previous registration taken by Moses and Aaron in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For the Lord had said of them, “They will all die in the wilderness.” Not one of them survived except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun."
Observations:
The first census of the Israelites totaled 603,550 men who were counted as warriors in the popualation (Numbers 2:32). After they disobeyed God and refused to go into the Promised Land, God rejected the entire generation (of those 20 years old and up), and promised them that they would all die in the wilderness (Numbers 14:34-35) and that their children would be the ones to enter it instead. Forty years later, after the entire previous generation had died off, Israel's population numbered 601,730 adult men. After 40 years they were almost exactly the same size as a people as they were when they came out of Egypt. Not only did they not enter the Promised Land, their population actually declined! God kept His promises and cursed that generation rather than blessing them, except for two indiviudals: Joshua and Caleb. While 99.9% of the population missed out on God's promises, the other .01% received every blessing God had promised them over 40 years ago! It must have been difficult for those two individuals in a sea of disobedient, cursed people to cling to the hope of seeing God's promises fulfilled. But they never lost faith and they never gave up. As they prepared to enter the Promised Land, their faith was just as strong as it had been before. As a direct result of their perseverence, God saw to it that they and their families reaped the benefits of His promises given many years ago.
Application:
Galatians 6:7-9 says "Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up." Because we live in a mircrowave culture where we expect everything to happen instantly, we have a hard time believing in God's faithfulness because He hasn't answered our prayers or rewarded our obedience that we've worked so hard for over the last few months, and then we end up questioning God's will, His timing, His faithfulness, and His goodness to us because we don't "see anything". But Scripture reminds us that "For we live by believing and not by seeing." (2 Corinthians 5:7). Who are we to question God's ways? He has in fact promised us that we will harvest what we have planted (good or bad) all in His timing and in His way. Because we know that, it's not our place to get discouraged and wonder why, rather it's our job to hang in there and remember that God is faithful and will keep His promises "if we don't give up" (vs. 9).
Prayer:
Father, thank You for being faithful to us at all times, even when it seems like You have forgotten about us. We believe You and put our hope again in Your promises. Help us to persevere despite our circumstances today. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
"51 In summary, the registered troops of all Israel numbered 601,730...64 Not one person on this list had been among those listed in the previous registration taken by Moses and Aaron in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For the Lord had said of them, “They will all die in the wilderness.” Not one of them survived except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun."
Observations:
The first census of the Israelites totaled 603,550 men who were counted as warriors in the popualation (Numbers 2:32). After they disobeyed God and refused to go into the Promised Land, God rejected the entire generation (of those 20 years old and up), and promised them that they would all die in the wilderness (Numbers 14:34-35) and that their children would be the ones to enter it instead. Forty years later, after the entire previous generation had died off, Israel's population numbered 601,730 adult men. After 40 years they were almost exactly the same size as a people as they were when they came out of Egypt. Not only did they not enter the Promised Land, their population actually declined! God kept His promises and cursed that generation rather than blessing them, except for two indiviudals: Joshua and Caleb. While 99.9% of the population missed out on God's promises, the other .01% received every blessing God had promised them over 40 years ago! It must have been difficult for those two individuals in a sea of disobedient, cursed people to cling to the hope of seeing God's promises fulfilled. But they never lost faith and they never gave up. As they prepared to enter the Promised Land, their faith was just as strong as it had been before. As a direct result of their perseverence, God saw to it that they and their families reaped the benefits of His promises given many years ago.
Application:
Galatians 6:7-9 says "Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up." Because we live in a mircrowave culture where we expect everything to happen instantly, we have a hard time believing in God's faithfulness because He hasn't answered our prayers or rewarded our obedience that we've worked so hard for over the last few months, and then we end up questioning God's will, His timing, His faithfulness, and His goodness to us because we don't "see anything". But Scripture reminds us that "For we live by believing and not by seeing." (2 Corinthians 5:7). Who are we to question God's ways? He has in fact promised us that we will harvest what we have planted (good or bad) all in His timing and in His way. Because we know that, it's not our place to get discouraged and wonder why, rather it's our job to hang in there and remember that God is faithful and will keep His promises "if we don't give up" (vs. 9).
Prayer:
Father, thank You for being faithful to us at all times, even when it seems like You have forgotten about us. We believe You and put our hope again in Your promises. Help us to persevere despite our circumstances today. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
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