Day 51, or February the 20th. Go this far, and
no further. Our thoughts today are from Numbers
chapter 34, verse 2. Command the Israelites and
say to them, When you went to Canaan, the land
that will be allotted to you as an inheritance
is to have these boundaries. Now the big picture
surrounding this verse. The last few chapters
of the book of Numbers reads like a legal land
registry document. The borders of the promised
land are clearly described in full detail. All
the Israelites are tramping at the bit, looking
across the Jordan River and itching to get into
the promised land, as Moses describes their inheritance
in great detail. Inside the promised land, there
are to be several cities of refuge pinpointed.
These are the places of refuge where the Levitical
priests will live. As they look back through
the account of God's faithfulness to the generation
that escaped from Egypt, they sense the time
is near when they will obey God and not be like
their ancestors who rejected Him. Now today's
action step. Don't go near the edge. Don't cross
this line. Keep off the grass. Don't swim here.
In our 21st century world, there are so many
rules, and some of them don't make a lot of sense
at first reading, like the sign that was in the
middle of a grassed area which declared, Don't
throw stones at this sign. However, just imagine
no rules, and you're imagining total chaos. The
Israelites needed boundaries clearly marked,
otherwise how would they know where to stop?
This is as true for adults and children today
as it was then. It seems the only rules we like
are the ones that benefit us. If they are to
someone else's advantage, surely we don't need
to keep them, do we? Of course we do. As the
children of Israel prepared to cross over the
Jordan River, they knew God was going to be with
them, and they knew exactly what He expected
of them. That is real security and freedom. It
is only available in Christ. Day 21 explains
this in a little more detail.