WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.419
Day 51, or February the 20th. Go this far, and

00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:09.720
no further. Our thoughts today are from Numbers

00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:14.500
chapter 34, verse 2. Command the Israelites and

00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:17.899
say to them, When you went to Canaan, the land

00:00:17.899 --> 00:00:20.239
that will be allotted to you as an inheritance

00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:25.339
is to have these boundaries. Now the big picture

00:00:25.339 --> 00:00:28.920
surrounding this verse. The last few chapters

00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:31.780
of the book of Numbers reads like a legal land

00:00:31.780 --> 00:00:35.299
registry document. The borders of the promised

00:00:35.299 --> 00:00:38.679
land are clearly described in full detail. All

00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:41.460
the Israelites are tramping at the bit, looking

00:00:41.460 --> 00:00:44.399
across the Jordan River and itching to get into

00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:47.759
the promised land, as Moses describes their inheritance

00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:51.759
in great detail. Inside the promised land, there

00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.780
are to be several cities of refuge pinpointed.

00:00:55.070 --> 00:00:57.750
These are the places of refuge where the Levitical

00:00:57.750 --> 00:01:00.590
priests will live. As they look back through

00:01:00.590 --> 00:01:03.250
the account of God's faithfulness to the generation

00:01:03.250 --> 00:01:06.450
that escaped from Egypt, they sense the time

00:01:06.450 --> 00:01:10.049
is near when they will obey God and not be like

00:01:10.049 --> 00:01:14.870
their ancestors who rejected Him. Now today's

00:01:14.870 --> 00:01:18.609
action step. Don't go near the edge. Don't cross

00:01:18.609 --> 00:01:22.810
this line. Keep off the grass. Don't swim here.

00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:26.519
In our 21st century world, there are so many

00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:29.760
rules, and some of them don't make a lot of sense

00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.840
at first reading, like the sign that was in the

00:01:32.840 --> 00:01:36.019
middle of a grassed area which declared, Don't

00:01:36.019 --> 00:01:40.459
throw stones at this sign. However, just imagine

00:01:40.459 --> 00:01:45.579
no rules, and you're imagining total chaos. The

00:01:45.579 --> 00:01:48.480
Israelites needed boundaries clearly marked,

00:01:48.620 --> 00:01:51.159
otherwise how would they know where to stop?

00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:54.359
This is as true for adults and children today

00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:58.739
as it was then. It seems the only rules we like

00:01:58.739 --> 00:02:02.239
are the ones that benefit us. If they are to

00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:05.519
someone else's advantage, surely we don't need

00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:09.840
to keep them, do we? Of course we do. As the

00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:12.340
children of Israel prepared to cross over the

00:02:12.340 --> 00:02:15.500
Jordan River, they knew God was going to be with

00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:18.060
them, and they knew exactly what He expected

00:02:18.060 --> 00:02:22.949
of them. That is real security and freedom. It

00:02:22.949 --> 00:02:28.289
is only available in Christ. Day 21 explains

00:02:28.289 --> 00:02:30.770
this in a little more detail.