Year 7, Day 148: Numbers 33

Theological Commentary: Click Here

It’s time to be completely transparent.  I read chapters like this and immediately have to fight the urge to gloss over the words.  After all, how interesting is it to read about where the Hebrew people traveled?

We must remember that there is great value in remembering where you have come from.  There is great value in community recognition.  We need to pass down the stories about what has come before us so that we can learn from the example.  We need to learn to imitate the good things.  We need to learn to avoid the bad things.  That’s what this chapter is all about.

We hear about the fact that God brought the people out of Egypt.  We hear that they went into the desert for God’s sake.  We then hear about all of the wandering that the people did.

Moses is recounting this story so that the people remember from where they came.  As they transition into the conquest of the Promised Land, Moses wants them to stay focused on their calling.  God has called them to the Promised Land.  God has called them to bring judgment upon the native Canaanites.  God has called them to drive out the Canaanites and inhabit the land themselves.  They will need to remember from where they’ve come and who brought them here in order to accomplish the task ahead successfully.

Moses also wants to make sure that the people realize the consequences of not accomplishing the task.  If they do not drive out the people, the native people will be a constant thorn in their side.  Unfortunately, we know that it is this very scenario that plays out.  The people will lose sight of from where they came and who brought them there.  They will become complacent and accepting.  Eventually, they too will become tossed out of Canaan by the Babylonians and the Assyrians much like the Canaanites before them.  Chapters like this and the messages they contain are easy to overlook and vital to our continued faithfulness.

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