Numbers 33-36
Driving Out Our Enemies

Numbers 33 recounts the travels of the Israelites to the promised land. They had left their old life behind in Egypt, were about to cross the Jordan River into Canaan and begin a new life. The chapter ends with these instructions from God, "When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out 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" (33:51-53).

For a people who had been slaves and had wandered searching for salvation, what wonderful news that must have been. Canaan! Yet, even in this message, there was work still to be done. When they entered the land, the enemy had to be destroyed, lest they fail to possess what God had given them. Such battles would not be easy, but were necessary if they were to be when they needed to be. What hope did they have? "For I have given the land to you to possess it." This promise was not given to encourage them to coast and relax, but to bolster their confidence in the task before them. Victory was assured if they engaged in the fight.

These words sound very much like the words of Paul to the Christians in Colossae in Colossians 3:1-10, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator... Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

All of us are making a journey today from sin to godliness. God sets us free from the bondage of sin and cleanses us through baptism. But, we must still overcome the enemies we face as Christians; we must as our brother Paul wrote, "Put to death what is earthly" in us. The battle is hard, but if we are to secure heaven, it must be fought. The good news is this: God's words of encouragement to the Jews then are just as certain today, "For I have given the land to you to possess it."