Drive Out the Inhabitants
Numbers 33-34
Drive Out the Inhabitants, Numbers 33-34.How are we to apply Numbers 33 and Numbers 34 to our lives today? Certainly God is not telling us to eliminate every one who is not a Christian, is He? No, of course not.
50 And the Lord spoke to
Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak
to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan
into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants
of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and
destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. 53
And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have
given the land to you to possess it. 54 You shall inherit the land by
lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large
inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance.
Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the
tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 55 But if you do not drive out
the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom
you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides,
and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. 56 And I will do
to you as I thought to do to them.”
Numbers 33:50-56, English Standard Version
Drive Out the Inhabitants
Numbers 33-34
Numbers 33:51-52 is certainly not politically correct in the common way of thinking in our day. Why would God command such a thing of the Israelites? Why could they not just go in, conquer the people, and then live among them? That sounds more humane to our way of thinking.
But, are we correct? What did God say would happen to the Israelites if they did not drive out the inhabitants of the land?
Then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.
As we continue to review the history of the Israelites, we will find that that is exactly what happened. It did not take long for the Children of Israel to incorporate the worship of the idols of the land with their worship of God.
How
are we to apply Numbers 33 and Numbers 34 to our lives today? Certainly God is not
telling us to eliminate every one who is not a Christian, is He? No, of
course not. However, we must think carefully about how we allow the
world and the things of the world to intermingle with our Christian
walk. We are continually commanded to separate ourselves from the
desires of this life; in Christ, we are to have a new mind and a new set
of goals. Things which pleased us before, no longer have a great appeal
to us.
Wait a minute! Is that really true? Yes, it is; however,
it is not really that easy to obey. I often think of what Paul said in
Romans 7:
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
We,
as Christians, are in a battle; many times the real battle happens
right within our own hearts. By the grace of God, we need to pray that
He will help us to drive out the inhabitants of sin which seeks to control our very hearts and souls.
Praise God that our
time in this vale of tears is only a short time. Our struggle will end
the day Christ returns, or the day we go to our heavenly home.
Go in the grace of Christ this day, pleading with Him to keep you from sin, so that you may drive out the inhabitants of sin which seek to control your heart and life.
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