Numbers 27: Preparation for the Promised Land

Key Verse
13 When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was,14 because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) 
 
Meditation
God’s blessings are extended through His mercy, never resulting from our desire or effort. Our greatest works are grossly insufficient, a filthy rag (Isaiah 64:6) unable to merit us access to God and His covenant blessings. Grace alone is our only hope to know God and His steadfast love.
 
In today’s reading, God’s plan to bless the second wilderness generation by preparing the for the promised land is surprising. The first section extends covenant inheritance to unmarried daughters of Zelophehad who, under the old Mosaic law-code, did not have a claim to inherit the land of their fathers (vv. 1-11). Grace alone extends the blessings of inheritance.
 
The second section withholds the promised land from Moses. Our hearts want to believe a leader like Moses could earn his place within God’s blessing. Surely, we think, the religious fervor and faithfulness of a man who led God’s people through the wilderness is sufficient? Not at all! Moses, too, needed a mediator.
 
Moses had rebelled against God’s direction (Numbers 20) so he would miss experiencing God’s promised blessing of the land (vv. 13-14). At the same time, God’s desire to direct His people to the fullness of His promised blessing is evidenced by His grace in hearing Moses’ prayer to give the people a shepherd (vv. 15-23).
 
Greater than Joshua or Moses, Jesus is the great shepherd of God’s people (Hebrews 13:20). Jesus paid the penalty for our rebellion, for Moses and all believers, so by grace alone we experience the fullness of God’s covenant blessings in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9;Titus 3:5) and enter the promised land of the New Heavens and New Earth.
 
Today’s Reading
Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin. And he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father's brothers.”
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5 Moses brought their case before the Lord. 6 And the Lord said to Moses, 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them. 8 And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.9 And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers.11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. And it shall be for the people of Israel a statute and rule, as the Lord commanded Moses.’”

Joshua to Succeed Moses
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel. 13 When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was,14 because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) 15 Moses spoke to the Lord, saying,16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” 18 So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 19 Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. 20 You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. 21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.” 22 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, 23 and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially the preparation for God’s promised land?
 
-Do you believe that not even a man like Moses can merit the experience of God’s blessing, not even through his sacrificial leadership in the wilderness for decades? Why do we hold hope in our works of righteousness and (perceived) good deeds?
 
-How does the mercy of God seen in the sacrificial work of Christ move us to celebrate salvation through God’s grace alone? This is to ask, HOW can you allow your heart to be moved by God’s mercy, responding to God’s grace by living for His glory (with gratefulness for His faithfulness)?
 
Key Verse
13 When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was,14 because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)