April 2, Day 92 – Someone Who Knows and Someone Who Sees
- Dr. Eric Stricker
- Apr 2
- 3 min read
Earlier, in Numbers 25:16-18, we saw that God told Moses to “treat the Midianites as enemies for their deception in the affair at Peor.” Here, in the beginning of Numbers 31, God now tells Moses to fulfill that responsibility and “take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites and for the LORD” (verses 1-2). This would be Moses’ last official act before he would “be gathered to his people” (31:2). The reason given for this vengeance relates to the Midianites following Balaam’s advice as “a means to turn the Israelites away from the LORD” (verse 16). After this battle, the Israelites are allowed to divide the spoils and the plunder, which we see here in the beginning section of our reading for today. Then, in Numbers 32, we read about the Reubenites’ and the Gadites’ request to settle in the land right where they were – “Do not make us cross the Jordan” (verse 5). This request is framed within an excuse for the large size of their “herds and flocks” (verse 1). However, there is a deeper motivation for their request, which selfishly focuses on their own worldly desires. More importantly, the land they were requesting was outside the borders of the land promised to Israel. Finally, they demonstrated a preference for avoiding wars, whether present or future. Moses picks up on their dark motivations: “Shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the Israelites? This is what your fathers did … discouraged the Israelites” (verses 6-9, and ff.). These are proper assessments of their wicked intent and behavior (cf., Numbers 32:14). Both tribes are reflecting a spirit of unbelief, sedition, selfishness, and flirtation with the world system – and notice where it leads – to compromise (cf., Numbers 32:20-42). May I say this clearly? God’s way is never the way of compromise; His way is the way of obedience. Compromise is the way of the world, and no matter what the world says, compromise is not good.
As I meditate on Psalm 40, I am reminded of my utter dependence on God to accomplish my freedom from the burdens of my natural estate. In this Psalm, David tells us that after “he waited patiently,” God lifted him up “out of the slimy pit” (verse 2). Before we came to faith in Christ, this was also our own estate. However, spiritual blindness prevents man from making accurate judgments about the pit’s true conditions – leading to the false conviction that the pit is not such a bad place to be. So there people choose to dwell – in the slime. Truly, the defilements and stench of living in a sinful condition are far worse than the horror and confinement of being in a physical pit, but awareness is not enough. Moreover, we humans cannot discover a way out of the mud, and we are incapable of climbing out on our own. We need the light and revelation of objective, external truth. We need to be told by Someone Who knows and Someone Who sees what we do not know and cannot see. We need to be told how bad that life really was – that we were actually living in the sludge of sin. Only then could we truly understand the terrors of our prison. We need Someone Who can lift us up out of that slimy pit and set us up on a rock (verse 2). This is what God has done for us.
In Luke 8:40-9:9, we see Jesus healing Jairus’ daughter and the woman who “had been subject to bleeding for twelve years” (verse 43). Here again, we see Christ’s authority over sickness and death. In Luke 9, we see Jesus sending out His disciples for ministry, and He gives them power over both demons and diseases (verse 1). Luke draws our attention once again to Herod and his interest in “all that was going on” (verse 7). The text informs us that Herod “was perplexed” (verse 7), and he wondered, “Who, then, is this I hear such things about?” (verse 9). Herod’s position reflects the current world’s position about Jesus Christ – wondered and perplexed ...Who is He?
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