Numbers 32:6-7 (ESV)
But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, "Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? [7] Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the LORD has given them?
Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit there? Though their hearts are overcome with error, God gives space for them to repent through Moses' rebuke. Moses, about to leave the world to meet with God, would not allow another rebellion from Israel. Moses was not concerned about their cattle. His concern was their lack of love for God and their brethren. He mind was on the war that Israel were to fight in Canaan. His mind was for the promised land, even though he himself would not inherit it. Likewise our mind must be on 'the war'. We are soldiers and that's what soldiers have their mind on, lest they be killed.
Is not Moses' question the same that Christ asks us? He asks us, 'Why are you sitting here, while your brothers are fighting the war? Why are you standing still, while your brothers are taking the kingdom of God by force? Why are you standing still, while your brothers are being defeated, while the war is being lost? Why is your mind on your possessions, career and things that will corrupt? You signed up for this war as soldiers, yet why is not your mind on the war?' What shall we answer Him? We can't answer Him, for we are ashamed. We have lived our lives for our cattle, our gold, for this world! We are soldiers, meant to be fighting the god of this world, yet we have committed treason and become friends of this world. We have become enemies of God. If I am sitting here, not fighting the war, I am become Christ's enemy. We ought to warned of spiritual laziness. Our calling in our lives is not business or our career. It is giving glory to God by fighting spiritual wickedness in high places, saving souls, defending the truth, praying for souls, living lives in holiness, giving to others, loving one another.
See Christ our older brother fighting the war:
Revelation 19:11-16 (ESV)
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. [12] His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. [13] He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. [14] And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. [15] From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. [16] On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Christ wages war against the nations of the earth, striking them down through the preaching of the word and of the Gospel. He makes war and judges in righteousness, and His wrath is against all unrighteousness. And see how His brothers, the armies of God, follow him in white horses, fighting the war with Him. Shall we not then also follow Christ, and fight the war against unrighteousness? And how shall we battle it, by our own righteousness, by our own words? No. But by God's righteousness which He declared on the cross. It is by the preaching of Christ crucified. It is by holding forth the Word of God, who is Christ. Our weapons are not swords or clubs. Our only weapon is the Sword of the Spirit. Have we lost this Sword somewhere and sat down in comfort on this side of the Jordan? Perhaps we have gone into the battle without the Sword, not knowing the word, and have come back defeated? Worse yet, have we gone into battle without Christ Himself, from whose mouth alone proceeds this Sword? This Sword is the Truth, and Truth is what defeats unrighteousness. Let us take up the cross, and follow Christ into the battlefield, holding forth Christ the Truth, striking down lies which promote unrighteousness. This is the war which we must fight.
Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land? Our apathy towards Christ's war also leaves others apathetic. When we are spiritually lazy, we discourage others around us from entering into heaven. When we are living in sin, we encourage others to love sin. When we are living for this world, we also encourage others to live for this world. We need to be warned that our comfortable lives while professing to be Christians can stop other people from pursuing the Kingdom of God. Our unbelief can spread to others around us like a disease. What others should see in us are lives that are for the Kingdom of God. Unbelievers should see in us a holy people who are only living for eternity. They should see people who appear as though they are dead, who live as though they have crosses attached to their backs, as people who never satisfy themselves and never live for themselves. We are so afraid that our holiness and our difference will scare off unbelievers. We try so hard to be like the world, thinking that by doing so we are encouraging the world to go over the Kingdom of God. We don't realize that it is WE who must influence the world. Like salt that penetrates the skin of the meat to prevent it from corruption, we must realize that our holiness has influence over death and sin. The world will imitate us if they see that we have what they don't have. They will desire to have Christ, as we have Christ. They will desire to have joy and love like we have. They will desire to have assurance of eternal life and a purpose in this life like we have.
But why don't people come to Christ? Because they don't see anything in Christians that is different from them. They say, 'Christians are exactly the same as us; they have the things that we have, so why must we believe in Christ?' People came to Christ because He wasn't anything like the religious leaders. He spoke like no other man, He did miracles like no other man, He had authority like no other man. He was like no other man, for He was God in manifest in the flesh. He was holy and righteous like no man on earth. It is because of Christ's difference that people came and followed Him. Which God in the world is so holy, righteous and loving that He would send His Son to die for the sins of His people, so that He may show mercy to them? There is no one like our God. If Christ is like no other, so must his Church be like no other group of people. We ought to be different. We ought to be sanctified. Let us pray for holiness, that we will be separate and different, that we will influence the world to be like us, that they may have the joy that we have. Our holiness will surely scare, anger or make uncomfortable those who are perishing, but it will win those who are ordained for eternal life. Let us preach the Gospel, which is word like no other word, and Christ who is like no other Saviour.
Going over into the land that the LORD has given them. It is interesting that Moses says here that the land was that which the LORD has already given to Israel. God has already promised Abraham many generations ago that He would give the land to his children. But Israel still needed to 'go over' to fulfill the promise. In a sense, the land was theirs already, but they still needed to go over and fight the inhabitants. God is sovereign and if He has sworn that He will give the land to Israel, then we would think that God will definitely bring them over. But Moses is saying here that it is possible for the heart of Israel discouraged that they may not inherit the land as God promised. How can this be? If God has promised, will He not deliver? Yes, but only if we believe His promise. Likewise God has promised to give eternal life and the kingdom of God to us believers. But we can only enter in if we continue to believe. God has already given the kingdom to us, and all things are already ours through Christ. But if our hearts are discouraged through unbelief, we shall not enter in. We have to believe that God is able to bring us in, that God will fight for us in our war with death and condemnation, and believe that Jesus will save us by the justification through His blood and through His grace. We need to believe that whoever believes in Christ will not perish but have eternal life. For we know that the first generation out of Egypt fell through unbelief:
Hebrews 3:19 (ESV)
So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
If we believe that Jesus Christ is strong enough and mighty enough through His work on the cross to carry us in His arms into the promised land, then we shall be saved. If we continue to believe in the grace of God to save us, we shall be saved. If we continue to believe that what Christ did on the cross enables God to be merciful to us forever, we shall be saved.
But we have hope, since we also believe that our faith is not gained by our works, but by the mercy and grace of God. Out of His own pity, and because of the merit of the cross God will give us the faith to believe in His promises. And we also know this:
2 Timothy 2:13 (ESV)
if we are faithless, he remains faithful- for he cannot deny himself.
And we also know that His love is stronger than our faithlessness:
Romans 8:38-39 (ESV)
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Because He loves us, He will pour out faith upon our hearts, that we may persevere unto the end. Our faith in Him proceeds from His infinite love for us. His supply of faith from His love will surely sustain us unto the end:
1 Corinthians 1:8 (ESV)
who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We shall therefore have no guilt on the Day of Judgment, for we have believed on the Rock, and as the scriptures promise, whoever believes on this Rock shall not be ashamed. Therefore having this assurance that God will surely give us heaven, and make us to go over and make us to trust in Him, let us trust Christ with all our souls. Let us obey Him, because we trust in Him, and He will take care of us. Let us not have our hearts discouraged from going over and pressing violently into the Kingdom of God, because Kingdom of God is of those whosoever believes God's promises like a little child. Let us not be stumblingblocks to others on their journey into the Kingdom, lest God judges us. Let us live holy lives, in faith, in love to others that they may freely enter into the arms of our gracious God. Amen.
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