And they set out from Punon and camped at Oboth. [44] And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab. [45] And they set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad. [46] And they set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. [47] And they set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. [48] And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho;
Camped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab. Israel were walking in enemy territory. The view of Israel in this passage is that they are homeless, sojourners and trespassers in other people's lands. They were a people heading for their true home, but meanwhile, were mere nomads and vagabonds. Not only that, see the dangerous and narrow way they were walking, squeezed between two hostile nations, the Amorites and the Moabites:
Numbers 21:10-12-13 (ESV)
And the people of Israel set out and camped in Oboth. [11] And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness that is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise. [12] From there they set out and camped in the Valley of Zered. [13] From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
Israel's life in the wilderness was uncomfortable. They didn't have a place they could call home. They were rejected wherever they went and they were considered a threat to the peace of the inhabitants of those lands. They were even rejected by Edom, their own kinsman according to their ancestors. Israel were wanderers, the gypsies of Palestine. They went from station to station, and when they settled in a place that seemed okay, they were intruding another nation's territory. There was no spot where they could sit down and make themselves comfortable, for they had to always be on the move. Most of the time in the wilderness was spent walking, rarely resting. Their only home was the land that was promised to their fathers by God hundreds of years ago. And many times, that hope of one day having their own home seemed so impossible and far away. And many died in the desert, not even having seen their home that God promised to them. This was the life of Israel's pilgrimage in the desert for forty years.
Israel's sojourning is a picture of the Christian in this world. Likewise there is no place for a Christian to call home in this world. We used to call this world our home, when we lived in it, and when we were slaves to its lusts. But God saved us out from the world, just as God saved Israel from Egypt. And from that moment, we were not of this world anymore. We were still in the world, but we were not at home with this world. Through the Gospel, we had been given the promise of a new home in the Kingdom of God, where there will be no sin, no pain and no death. And when we received this hope, the world that we used to love to be in became such a foreign place to us. All this has happened as Jesus had prayed for us:
John 17:15-19 (ESV)
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [17] Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. [18] As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [19] And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
When we were saved, God sanctified us with the Truth. And as God sanctified us with His truth, we began to realize that this world we are living in is completely hostile to the God whom we love. We began to see that the messages that it proclaims and the deeds that are encouraged to be done in it are in complete opposition to God. We see that in order to be at home in the world, it would mean we would need to be at home with sin. We realize that we are living in enemy territory. The devil, our old spiritual father, still rules as the prince of this world, and he is out to devour us at any time we are not careful. Everywhere we go in this world, things that can stumble us to sin are there, as if to follow us, like landmines we must avoid to step on. Not only that, sinful men are all over the world, who oppose us, and reject us when we share the Gospel of the Kingdom. As the apostles said, we Christians are treated like "the scum of the world, the refuse of all things" (1 Corinthians 4:13). We are like sheep that are sent to wolves, with no guarantee that we won't be devoured when we go to them.
Christians, like Israel was, can never fit comfortably into this world. We are considered by the world as fanatics and as a dangerous sect posing threat to the peace of society. We are like those who have been exiled and seeking to return to their homeland. Here we look forward to our home, the better country, the New Jersusalem that will descend from Heaven for us:
Hebrews 11:13-16 (ESV)
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. [14] For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. [15] If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. [16] But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
But how much more was our Lord Jesus a stranger and a sojourner, in the very world He created, when He came here? He came down to this world, which He made with His own hands, yet the world did not know who He was. He was treated as a foreigner to the very world He owned. He went to Israel, to His own people whom He had a covenant with. But they also rejected Him, treated Him as a stranger, and even killed Him:
John 1:10-11 (ESV)
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. [11] He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
This Man who was among us was God, the Creator of the whole world, in human flesh. Yet we did not know who He was. We treated Him as an alien, a stranger, and we didn't recognize Him. He was the one who had made us in our mother's womb, and the one who had provided everything for us. But we had ignored him, and paid no attention to Him. Jesus never was a welcome guest to this world. We rejected Him, though He was the one who gave us life:
Isaiah 53:3 (ESV)
He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
And our Lord was not only rejected but hated. People wanted to get rid of Him, and erase Him from the face of the earth. Though He created us, and though He gave us nothing but good things, the wages He received for His good works from us was death. He died, like a sinner, like someone who had done to us nothing but evil. But this was ordained by God, so that He could make atonement for our sins, that those who believe in Him may not be condemned:
Isaiah 53:5 (ESV)
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
If Christ was so was rejected by my men as a stranger and a foreigner, how should we Christians live? Peter tells us how:
1 Peter 2:11-12 (ESV)
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. [12] Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
We must not live as though this world was our home, as Christ said His Kingdom was not of this world. We must live among unbelievers honorably, not according to the passions of our flesh, to be a good testimony to them for God. Our conversation is in heaven. We are temporary residents here, and we have no lasting part with this place. The Kingdom of God is coming upon the earth, which we shall inherit. We are strangers and sojourners with God in this world:
Leviticus 25:23 (ESV)
For you are strangers and sojourners with me.
If God Himself finds no place to call home on this world, but is waiting for the Kingdom of God where He will make His dwelling place with us, how much more must we wait for it, and reject this place as our homes, since it shall be burnt up by fire when Christ comes?
Just as Israel walked the narrow path on the border between enemy nations, such is the narrow and difficult life that God ordained for us to walk in, in this world:
Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)
"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. [14] For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Let us therefore walk in this way. Jesus Christ is this Way that leads to God and eternal life. Let us forsake ways that are easy, the way that compromises with the world that we are in. Let us, by faith, live the difficult lives of holiness and obedience to God. God has given us no other way to salvation, but through this suffering:
Acts 14:22 (ESV)
Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
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