March 22- An Eternal Inheritance

March 22, 2011

Scripture Readings:
Numbers 33:40-35:34; Luke 5:12-28
Psalm 65:1-13; Proverbs 11:23

Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance.
 ~Ruth E. Renkel

Numbers 33:40-35:34


The concept of an inheritance is interesting.  A person works their whole life to gather material possessions and then upon their death all that they worked for goes to their children or to whoever they designate.  Land was an extremely important inheritance in the ancient world. Land gave the clans and tribes somewhere to call home.  Israel yearned for this permanence.  Since living in Egypt for 400 years as slaves and then wandering in the desert for 40 years, they were ready for what father Abraham was promised...the land of Canaan.

This section of Scripture defines the boundaries of what would be the nation of Israel's eternal inheritance from God.  This physical land is part of God's covenant with Abraham.  While the reading of these boundaries is boring to you and me, they were vitally important to the people who were about to risk their lives to see this promise fulfilled.

God gives the Israelites instructions and a warning about taking this land.  Here are highlights:

• Drive out ALL of the people living there. -Vs. 52
• Destroy their pagan images, shrines and practices -Vs. 52
• Take possession of the land and settle in it. - Vs. 53
• Divide the land as agree upon by tribe and clan - Vs. 54
• If you fail to drive out the people, they will be a thorn in your sides. -Vs. 55
• If you do not drive them out, I will do to you what I had planned to do to them. -Vs. 56

The Levites were dedicated to the Lord as a substitute for every Israelite having to dedicate their firstborn son to the Lord's service.  Therefore, the Levites did not get land, but were given 48 cities.  Six of their cities were designated as cities of refuge.  If a person was guilty of accidentally murdering someone, they could go to one of these cities to be protected from revenge.  One could not go to these cities if they had premeditated murder against another person.  God did not want the land to be polluted with murder, so He enacted the death penalty for anyone who murdered another person with intent.

These were the conditions for Israel claiming their inheritance.  You and I have an eternal inheritance through Christ.  The Bible tells us in Revelation 21 that the new heaven and the new earth will be the New Jerusalem where those who love God will dwell in His presence, forever.  Do you know that you are a child of God?  Have you accepted Christ and become one of God's righteous children because of Jesus' sacrifice for you? See Hebrews 2:10-13. This is how you gain this inheritance.  It is a gift of God's work, not yours.  You must accept the gift by faith.

Luke 5:12-28

Today Jesus proves that he has authority over the physical realm of illness and the authority to forgive sins.  People are coming to Jesus in droves to be healed from their physical ailments.  Vs. 16 tells us that Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.  I believe this is one of the keys to his consistent ability to be around masses of people and not sin!  We would do well to learn from his example.

This section of Scripture contains the story of the friends who lower their paralyzed friend on a mat down through the roof and right in front of Jesus. Rather than healing the man right away, Jesus responds to the faith of his friends and gives the man what he really needs...forgiveness of sins.  This gets the Pharisees all riled up! They see this act as blasphemy, because only God can forgive sins.  Jesus does not back down on his authority to forgive sins.  He merely asks which is easier, to heal the man or forgive sins?  So that they realize that he does have the authority to forgive sins, Jesus heals the paralytic.

This reading ends with Levi (Matthew) leaving everything to follow Christ.

Have you had your sins forgiven by Christ?  He is the only one who has authority to forgive you.  Can you jump up with Matthew and leave everything to follow Christ?

Psalm 65:1-13

Vs. 3 says "Though our hearts are filled with sins, you forgive them all."  Hey, that was just what we were talking about!  This is a beautiful psalm of God's might and work on earth.  It is worth reading out loud to yourself.

Proverbs 11:23

"The godly can look forward to happiness."  Notice that the godly will not necessarily have happiness, right now.

What did you see today?

Blessings,

Jubilee Gal
Kathy Fullerton 
© 2011