Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 5, Numbers 33-34

“And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”

Numbers 33:50-56 ESV

Two years ago when I originally published a YouTube video based on the Aaronic Prayer of Blessing from Numbers 6:24-26, within 24 hours I received a comment from an atheist accusing God of committing genocide and demanding young virgins as war booty to serve in his temple.

I continued to think about his comments as I read chapter by chapter through Numbers. I didn’t want to read the scriptures through the lenses of my own bias or preconceived notions. I want to have eyes and ears that search for the truth. So, what is it?

• Is the God of the Bible a genocidal murderer, cruelly wiping out whole nations?
• Is He a sadist, getting pleasure out of inflicting pain?
• Or is He the holy, loving, good Father that I believe Him to be?

Friends, it’s so important to read the Bible – or any book for that matter – in context. Just like you could carefully cut one sentence from my blog and twist it to say something totally different than what I truly meant, likewise a person can take a sentence from the Bible to mean something totally different from what God is actually communicating.

Here in Numbers 33, we read about God’s command for the Israelites to completely drive out and wipe out the inhabitants of the land. God knows the future of the men, women, and children currently living in Canaan as well as the future of the Israelites that He is bringing in to possess the land. God knows that the Canaanites will not repent. God knows they will be thorns and barbs to the Jewish people, leading them into idolatry and immorality.

God always wants for His glory, but He also wants for His people’s good. The Lord truly is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7)

The Lord’s blessings extend to the thousands. His forgiveness is boundless. But our sin does have consequences – upon our own lives and even down to our children, grandchildren, and great grand children. We see this again and again in the story of these faithless, complaining Israelites – as well as in our own modern lives.

So, you can read Numbers and decide that God is a cruel tyrant … or you can read Numbers and walk away more sure than ever that God is a just, faithful, forgiving, patient Father. What did you decide?

Heavenly Father, I pray for those who have been hurt by the church, who have gotten glimpses of your truth but have chosen to turn away from Your grace. Please, Father, bring them back to You and have mercy on them. Just like the Israelites who tested You time and again with their complaints, for the sake of Your Glorious Name, remember Your children. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

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