Year 7, Day 149: Numbers 34

Theological Commentary: Click Here

There is something to be said for planning and expectation.  Every single person that I know truly enjoys the feeling of knowing what to expect when a time of difficulty is about to happen.  Military people spend almost all of their time drilling for those unexpected circumstances of action so that they actually do know what to expect. As a teacher, I always like to know what to expect when my schedule is interrupted with fied trips special assemblies, testing days, etc.  Even when we are driving on the road we pull out maps, GPS devices, and phones to help tell us about the traffic and what to expect.  The reality is that human beings prefer to be in a state of knowing what to expect – especially as familiarity decreases.

I think this is the brilliance of this chapter in Numbers.  Before the people go in, Moses tells them what to expect.  He tells them what the Lord has told him.  He tells them the boundaries of the land that they are about to conquer.  He tells them the leaders of the people who are going to be making the decisions about who gets what share of the land.  The people are about to undertake a massive military campaign to push the native inhabitants out of the land.  Moses wants them to see the end result and know what to expect when they get there.

As much as we would care to deny it, there is a lot of uncertainty in everyday life.  I don’t know that a car won’t collide with my car on the way to work.  I don’t know that a fire might not start at my place of employment of my home while I’m gone.  I don’t know that my health or the health of any of my family might not give out at any time.  When we look at the big picture of life, there is plenty of uncertainty.  That’s why we need to feel like we know what to expect.  Knowing what to expect helps us deal with the uncertainty.

This is part of why my relationship with God is so important to me.  I like living knowing that God can work all things to His glory.  I like living knowing that God can take anything and work His hand in it.  I like knowing that in the end, there is a place for me to abide in His eternal glory.  I like living in that comfort and stability in the midst of a very uncertain world.

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