AFTER recounting the journeys of the people move by move from lie very first day they started out from Egypt, the Lord then began to tell them what they were to do when they went in to possess the land. He first told them to drive out all their enemies. He said that if they left any of the inhabitants of the land, and did not drive them out, they would be pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides to trouble them. How often by giving only a small quarter to the world they soon get more and more, until they rob us of the enjoyment of our possessions in Christ, just as those enemies the children of Israel left in the land continually harassed them later. Not only that, but we come under the world's judgments by mingling with them. This has been the case with the people of God over and over again. God wants separated people to Himself, and it is the only safe and happy path for us.
It is striking to see how God told the children of Israel to destroy all the pictures and images of the people of the 'and, and one feels it has a word of warning for us today. Newsstands are filled with the most defiling pictures, and some of them find their way into the homes of Christians. Often calendars and the like are thrown in at our doors which should never hang on our walls. With all such pictures and images which savor of pagan darkness and evil, we should do what the children of Israel were told to do—destroy them—put them into the fire! Each one of us has the flesh within, and if we feed these sinful desires, we may be sure we will rob our souls of the enjoyment of Christ, and perhaps will be led even to worse things. It would be a healthy exercise for all of us to rid our rooms and homes of all these defiling things.
God outlined the borders of the land of Canaan which He was about to give to the children of Israel, although in reality they never possessed it all. When they had driven out some or their enemies, they settled down, nut having the energy to fight for the rest of the land. Surely this is true of us in our day, too, for how little we have entered into of what is ours in Christ. There is always spiritual conflict when we want to walk in the truth, and the tendency is to draw back from this conflict and take the easy path.
The land was to be divided by lot to the nine and a half tribes remaining (two and a half tribes having settled on the wilderness side of Jordan), and Joshua, Eleazar the priest, and a man from each tribe were appointed to see that each received his portion. God shows us that things are to be done in order all through His Word, but alas, man often tries to substitute his order for God's, and he only spoils things. Let us always seek to have God's order in our homes, our business, and our assemblies, and we will find out it is best.
The Levites were not given any possession of their own in the land, but the other tribes were to give then forty-eight cities to dwell in, scattered among the twelve tribes. They were also to have space around these cities for their cattle. Six of these cities were to be cities of refuge, where a man could flee who killed another man unintentionally. We will speak of the meaning of this next week, if the Lord will.
Messages of the Love of God 3/3/1952