Num 32-36, Can we wait on God or must we rush headlong into life?

Review applications from the previous chapters of Numbers:

Num 1-6	God is a God of order, not chaos Planning is an important attribute for the believer
Num 7-10	Life is not equal or fair Wisdom comes through the doing of the Word
Num 11-12	When you dabble with sin, you will get burned Who you hang with (rabble) will affect you spiritually
Num 13-14	God does answer prayer, but we cannot demand the response God's Word trumps the world's opinions and views Certain decisions are irrevocable!
Num 15-16	Be very careful when you challenge spiritual leadership A wise man heeds rebuke Not every bad thing is from God, but God can use it for good
Num 17-21	Do we give God our best or our leftovers? Do we have faith that God cares for us? Do we fight with God when we don't like his direction for our life?
Num 22-25	We are to seek God in our decisions through prayer Sexual immorality destroys families and countries
Num 26-27	Where you hang out seriously affects your fruitfulness Humility is a powerful trait that protects us from corruption
Num 28-31	Just before a major undertaking, God reminds the people of how to maintain a relationship with Him Husband's role is as an advocate and protector of his wife, not a ruler Dealing with sin in half measures is ineffective



Num 32:1-24 (NIV) The Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock. 2 So they came to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the community, and said, 3 "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon —  4 the land the Lord subdued before the people of Israel — are suitable for livestock, and your servants have livestock. 5 If we have found favor in your eyes," they said, "let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan."


6 Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, "Shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here? 7 Why do you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land the Lord has given them? 8 This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land. 9 After they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and viewed the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them. 10 The Lord's anger was aroused that day and he swore this oath: 11 'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob —  12 not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.' 13 The Lord's anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the desert forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.

14 "And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel. 15 If you turn away from following him, he will again leave all this people in the desert, and you will be the cause of their destruction."


16 Then they came up to him and said, "We would like to build pens here for our livestock and cities for our women and children. 17 But we are ready to arm ourselves and go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has received his inheritance. 19 We will not receive any inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan."


20 Then Moses said to them, "If you will do this — if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for battle, 21 and if all of you will go armed over the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven his enemies out before him —  22 then when the land is subdued before the Lord, you may return and be free from your obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will be your possession before the Lord.


23 "But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out. 24 Build cities for your women and children, and pens for your flocks, but do what you have promised."


• Why do the Reubenites and Gadites (and I believe that half of tribe of Manasseh) make their suggestion to Moses?
• First thing they saw, they jump on it
• Possibly it was better (it was good land for pasture -- to this day it is used by Bedouin shepherds)
• APPLICATION:
• Spiritually, these tribes chose to live on the outside of the promised land rather than in the promised land
• Spiritually, they were separated  by a river from fellowship with their brothers
• Spiritually, they are a little like Lot who looked east and saw a better place than the promised land (to his ruin). They chose to walk by sight rather than faith
• Why does Moses assume the worst in their request?
• He does not want to repeat the sin of Kadesh
• They really bring up the suggestion poorly (the request could have been phrased differently)
• He recognizes man's sinful nature
• Even after their response to his objections, Moses has one last admonition, what is it?
• Your sin find you out
• APPLICATION: in the end, sin usually comes to the surface in embarrassing fashion


Num 33:1-2 (NIV) Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 At the Lord's command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages: . . .


• NOTE: Forty two locations are mentioned and apparently four, interestingly enough, are not mentioned (Constable, 2010)
• The locations are most likely synonymous with significant events that served as a reminder to Israel
• Since a number of the moves occur in the first two or last two years, it would appear that the bulk of the forty years were spent with little movement, quite possibly a year or two at a single place before moving again
• What do you think were some of the main lessons people learned during all  the moving around?
• Probably lessons of contentment and lessons of complacency
• Too much movement is wearing and too little movement is boring, yet often life is exactly that
• God knew what he was doing and he was preparing a people for a future work
• Sometimes, we don't realize that the chaos in our lives is something God can use to teach us new things
• While God is not always the cause, we do know that he is always working to bring good out of a situation, whatever the reason for the event (Rom 11:28)


Nu 35:16-25 (NIV)“ ‘If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. 17 Or if anyone has a stone in his hand that could kill, and he strikes someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. 18 Or if anyone has a wooden object in his hand that could kill, and he hits someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies 21 or if in hostility he hits him with his fist so that he dies, that person shall be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22 “ ‘But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally 23 or, without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him, 24 the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations. 25 The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.


• So what are the basic rules here?
• If you have a weapon or you have intention, you are guilty of murder
• If the act unintentional, then you are not guilty
• In any case, you must make it to a city of refuge for a trial
• And if you are found not guilty, you must stay in the city of refuge until the high priest dies
• So, there is a cost even when you are not at fault. And that makes sense, since to some degree, carelessness cost someone their life
• Nowadays, we would call that manslaughter. But manslaughter does not cost when it is purely accidental and no negligence is shown
• In Jewish society, this differentiation would not matter -- most accidents can be prevented by careful attention
• APPLICATION: I wonder if people were more careful with their actions when they realized the penalty for even mistakes. And maybe we would be better off if we owned our mistakes rather than blamed them on other things -- I suppose we used to call this, responsibility.