KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Thursday, March 08, 2018
Chapters: Numbers 31-32
Message: Soldiers Shining Through Christ
Hello My Friend,
The past couple of weeks I have been getting some new students in my Sunday school class, this past week turned out to be a question and answer session as I was getting asked some serious questions by these six to nine year old’s, which gave me the opportunity to give the plan of salvation. Well, last night was the last night of our church revival, I had thought to stay home because it has been an awful week and I was not feeling well, but decided to go mainly because I promised my nephew that I would stand up for him as he entered a contest. As I was walking to the pew I hear a voice calling me, it was one of my new students, she came with the bus kids, she was scared and felt alone so I took her with me. She was eager, had a Bible, showed me verses that she underlined, and when the preacher called out a verse, even though it was on the screen, she wanted to find it in the Bible. As I showed her where to find the verses she eagerly read every one of them, making sure it lined up with what the preacher was saying. She is a great reminder that we who are saved are not in this for ourselves, there are people who need us to be that light that Jesus says we are, they need truth because they are sure looking for I, and if they do not find it they will surely end up finding the lies. “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16.
After God set the children of Israel back in order, it was time for Him to get vengeance on Moab for enticing them with idolatry, and trying to curse them (Remember Balaam?). They were commanded to gather soldiers from each tribe, and kill every man, woman, and child who worshiped these idols. A thousand men from each tribe was armed and went into the battle, but did not do exactly what they were instructed to do.
“Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian. Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war. So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand. And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males. And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.” – Numbers 31:2-8.
“Arm some of yourselves unto the war,” We as Christians are fighting a war, and each passing day seems to be more of a struggle. Do you see how Eleazar was there with them with the holy instruments? We need God to get through this war because this is not a war between nations, this is a war between God and Satan, and God only sends His qualified, armed soldiers to fight it. Let me tell you, sometimes fighting this battle is exhausting, and we think we are losing, but Christ will give us the strength to get up and keep fighting because we are not losing, we are, in fact, winning. “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” – II Timothy 2:3-4,11-13.
“we shall also live with him:” My goodness, sometimes it is scary putting these devotions together, I am actually writing this backward, before even using these verses and as you will see it lines up perfectly with the next verses in the chapter. The men were commanded to kill all the people, but they did not, instead they captured all the women and children and took them for themselves.
“And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day. And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood. Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water. And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.” – Numbers 31:14-20,23-24.
“keep alive for yourselves.” In this rather odd illustration, this is a picture of Christ, anyone who comes to Him through their faith and acceptance of the Gospel belongs to Him, that means we are cleansed and purified through His blood and kept alive for Him. Those who have received Christ as their Saviour will be put through the fire, we will be cleansed of all the things that defile us, and presented to Him as a virgin bride, those whom have not received Him will not be accepted, they will die defiled because they chose the things of the world over Him. “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” – II Corinthians 11:2-4.
We have to be careful as God blesses us that we do not get too comfortable with what the world has to offer. Yes, God provides for us through the things of the world, but we must think about what He is providing for us, while it is tempting to receive the things within the world it can be a problem later on if we do not keep our eyes on Jesus. When the tribes of Ruben and Gad saw the land they conquered, that is was beautiful and large they no longer wanted to go into the promise land, but stay there. After some pleading with Moses he allows them to dwell there under one condition, they help the rest of the tribes get over into the promised land.
“Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon, Even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle: Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan. And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them? And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward.” – Numbers 32:1-7,16-19.
“Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?” We are all responsible for making sure others know the Gospel, when we do our part in helping the lost find Christ, God sees our effort and blesses us abundantly for it. We must be careful though when receive blessing outside of the promised land, they are not necessarily from God, and it can be easier to stray and fall away completely when He is not prominent in our lives. While they did help, eventually they would fall and be the first to be sieged years later because they were so far from the promised land. While God does put His people in the midst of the world, He expects us to remain faithful to Him, and the only way we can do that is to stick to Him like glue. We can be saved and live as we please, we can even appear to love God, but our sin will find us out. “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” – Matthew 7:15-17.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water. And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.” – Numbers 31:23-24. Jesus is the water that cleanses those who come to Him.
Today’s Prayer: God, It never ceases to amaze me just how loving and merciful you are to us, no matter what we have done with our lives. You call all of Your children to be the light that shines Your Son in this dark world, You call Your faithful to be good soldiers that not only lead others to Your Son, but stand by You and fight the good fight of faith in Your word. Lord, lead us and prepare us to be good soldiers, give us Your power to resist the temptations of the day and to be a witness to others so they too can know of Your great love, mercy, and grace also, and let us always be prepared for the return of Your Son. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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