Week 10; Day 2

Numbers 33-36
Today, God continues to make clear the importance of ridding our lives of what is not holy. Something that I thought about today, that I did not mention yesterday is the truth about relationships. We are not the children of Israel. We cannot declare a Holy War, literally. However, just as they were to get rid even of people who would cause them to stumble, we must too rid our lives of those relationships that cause us to sin. I want to be careful here not to give the idea that we abandon those who do not know Jesus. What I am talking about here is being in relationships with those who are sources of temptation in our lives. The reality is that we become like who we surround ourselves with. Purging our lives of what is not honoring to God is just as crucial for us today as it was for them, then. In our relationships, we must ask ourselves, ‘Does this person draw me to Christ or pull me away?’ In our honest evaluation, we must be ready to walk away from any relationship that is exalted above God or causes us to live an unholy life. The call to holiness is carried on into today’s reading. In chapter 33, God tells the Israelites to “demolish all their high places.” In context, this is referring to the places of worship to the pagan gods. They are told to get rid of any place that is exalted above God. Do you see the truth implied here? In our lives, only God can be exalted. We must purge our lives of the high places. What is it that I have exalted, placed in a high place of worship? Then we see God’s plan for the Messiah unfolding. How exciting! Did you catch “Caleb…from the tribe of Judah.” Perhaps I’m the only nerd who found delight in this, but Caleb was one of two spies that trusted God and he just happened to be from the tribe of Judah, that just happened to be the tribe from which our Messiah comes. Isn’t that just like God? The grace of God is clearly shown in chapter 35, when He establishes “cities of refuge.” For the sinner, He gives them a place to flee. Hebrews 6:18 states, “Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us…” What a gracious God. One last important truth today; “Do not defile the land where you are…Do not make the land unclean where you live and I reside; for I, Yahweh, reside among you.” The way we go about living a pure and holy life is different from that of the Israelites because we have the atonement, the covering, of Christ. We live under a different covenant. Yet, our call is no different. God resides with us, therefore our lives are to be lived worthy of Him. This is a truth we’ve discussed continuously throughout these past several weeks of reading. Have you thought about this, though: “Do not make the land unclean where you live.” We know we are not to be a part of the sin in our world. We know we are to remain unspotted from the world. This goes a step further. We are not to be a part of bringing sin into our world. We are not to be the ones making the land unclean. This is a huge call to self-examination; asking myself “Am I causing sin? Am I part of the problem? Am I causing others to fall? Am I producing some kind of temptation? Are my choices, actions, attitudes making my circle of influence, the ‘land’ where I am placed, unclean?” It’s a humbling reality. This should cause us to take on a new mindset. We are not just to keep our lives from the world, we are not to be a part of bringing sin, unholiness, into the world.