God Promised Something. Why Settle?
This came to me as I read Numbers chapter 32. I’ll explain why.
I would also like to dedicate this to a friend named Amy, who says she wants to “go home” but doesn’t even know where home is.
A very small part of her story is in the JesusRx Prescription for Life Podcast, episode 29, titled "Amy K. Unafraid of God, Why? Listen to her answer.”
In Numbers 32, the children of Reuben and Gad owned a lot of livestock, and they saw that the area of Jazer and Gilead was a good place for livestock. They went to their leader, Moses, to ask if they could settle in that land.
They had not yet reached the promised land, and many wars lay ahead before they could get there.
Isn’t that like our life? We have many wars to come as we walk this life. The flesh is always battling the spirit until we reach our promised land.
It is not uncommon for us to battle this way. Paul in the book of Galatians speaks of this.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[a] you want.
Our promised place is heaven. This place is not our home. We are told that if we have Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit in us to fight the battle.
We see this in Romans 8:5-9
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
The children of Reuben and Gad went to their leader Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation. They did well in letting them know what they wanted to do.
They said, “If we find favor in your sight, let the land be given to us. Do not take us over the Jordan.
The leadership knew this would discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going into the land. They had been discouraged once already when spies were sent over, and some reported it would not be possible to overtake the people and dwell in the land. They gave false reports. Most importantly, they believed man was stronger than God. (See Numbers chapters 13 and 14 for details).
I know I am to move forward where God leads me and see the promises for me as His child fulfilled.
I need to continue to cross over armed for war and battle His way. The battle belongs to the Lord, and He prepares me with armor. (See Ephesians 6:10-18 for details).
The Gadites and Reubenites ratified the agreement as servants of Moses and ultimately God. They wanted to set up homes for their families. It was a big thing to own land. It is still a big thing today. Some families are so wealthy they have homes for all the family members in the same place.
It was important for them to have land they could call their own.
Moses understood this. He consented with a positive and a negative. He told the people
He said, "If the children of Gad and Reuben cross the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession."
If they did not cross over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.
By joining with God's people and fighting in the Lord's battle, they would inherit the land they desired and asked for. They would have a place to call home.
My dear friend Amy, and others like her who say they just want to go home, but have no idea where home is, please remember this.
If you have received Jesus, as my friend Amy has, His love for her and her inheritance is in Him; there is truly no earthly place to call home.
Her home, like mine and others who are following Jesus to our promised land, is not here where everything will fade, where moth and rust destroy. Where our health, wealth, and even people leave us (while they are still alive) (Matthew 6:19-21)
Continue to fight the good fight and look forward to the place we are to inherit. Don’t discourage the heart of others from going into “our promised land” by settling for anything else.
In Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, we ask for daily strength to fight the battles we encounter, desiring to call a place home that is not ours.
