NUMBERS

Numbers Chapter 34

• Numbers 34:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
• 2 Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof:) 
• 3 Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward: 
• 4 And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon: 
• 5 And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea. 
• 6 And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border. 
• 7 And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor: 
• 8 From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad: 
• 9 And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan: this shall be your north border. 
• 10 And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham: 
• 11 And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward: 
• 12 And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about. 
  13 And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the LORD commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe: 
• 14 For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance: 
• 15 The two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising.

According to the bible which I personally believe to be the word of God divinely inspired as the writers were moved upon by the Holy Spirit, the above dimensions of the land of Israel were given to them by the Lord God Himself. Seeing as God created the earth and all that is therein, what He says is gospel. It is truth. Only He can give and He can take away. This land was promised and given to Israel. They lost this land many times throughout history when they were disobedient to the Lord but they were always promised that they would one day return to this land and it would be given to them permanently when Israel repents and recognizes Jesus Christ as Messiah and Lord. 

Starting in 1948 after 2000 years of be scattered all over the earth, many Israelites returned to that land and they are still returning. They have not yet received all the land that was originally promised to them but they certainly will. Any nation that tries to rob them of their right to this land will bear the judgment of God. I didn't say it, God said it. This is not my word. Whether I like this or not, it is God's word. My personal opinion of whether the Jews deserve this land or not does not amount to anything. My opinions do not matter. What matters is God's word. He said the land is theirs. We cannot fight against God's will in this. 

No nation has any right to pressure Israel into giving land for peace. The exact opposite will happen. There will be no peace by going against the word of God. None. We cannot have peace by pressuring Israel to give up their land. It will never work. George Bush Senior couldn't do it, Clinton couldn't do it, Bush Junior couldn't do it and Obama could not do it. Neither can Trump. We can't fight against God. 

According to the word, they will receive all their land originally promised to Abraham. Every inch will be theirs whether we like it or not. If we curse them and try to remove them, we will be cursed. If we bless them and pray for the peace of Israel, we will be blessed along with Israel under the reign of the Messiah, Jesus Christ when He returns. "I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curses thee." 

• Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 
• 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 
• 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 

God chose Israel to bring forth the Messiah (God that came into human form, God with us), He chose Abraham to be the father of the nation that brings forth the very Son of God, born of woman, born to be the final king.

• 2Chronicles 33:8 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses. 

The wars against Israel will stop eventually. They will not be removed again.

• Joel 3:1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, 
• 2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. 

A warning is given to all nations that come against Israel and try to divide their land. We can't do it. We must not attempt to do it. It will not bring peace. It will bring destruction upon our own nation if we attempt to divide Israel. If we attempt to divide Israel, we may be the ones that are divided.

It would be nothing to God to split our nation into two or three parts like we are trying to make Israel do. We attempt to divide Jerusalem; how would we like it if Washington DC was split and one side took one side and the other was controlled by another nation? Mess with Israel and worse things can happen. I didn't say this, the bible says it. It is up to us whether we believe in bible prophecy or not but as surely as I write this what the bible says will come to pass in the Lord's timing. Leave Israel alone and let them defend themselves. If they do wrong the Lord will judge them, we are not to touch God's anointed. 

We've used that term about touching God's anointed to scare people out of criticizing preachers that claim that anointing but in the Psalms that term is used in reference to Israel as a nation. 

Israel was judged by God for deserting the truth, making light of His commandments and going into idolatry many times. They were removed from their land when they sinned against God. Judgment came but when we read history, more severe judgment came upon those that took Israel's land and persecuted Israel. Even though God allows evil nations to judge Israel, woe to those nations if they overstep the bounds God sets.

Israel returned to their own land after seventy years of captivity in Babylon but they really didn't receive complete reign. They came back only long enough to bring forth the anointed holy one sent from God to save them from sin. Israel as a nation rejected Jesus Christ and as a result in 70 AD, they were removed from their land again for around 2000 years. For a long time during those 2000 years many mistakenly thought Israel as a nation had disappeared forever. Even the church assumed that they were God's chosen people and had replaced Israel. 

In 1948 many of the church had to rethink their position. Israel once again existed. A nation was reborn. Don't get me wrong, the Lord has a special purpose and place for the called out people who believed and received Jesus Christ and all His gifts, purposes and calling. Our reward is coming for our faithfulness in that we received the one the Jews rejected but never once has the church ever replaced Israel as a nation.

The first Christian believers were Jews and the last Christian believers are going to be Jews. The time of the Gentiles is drawing to a close. Since 1948 God's attention is going back to the Jews to finally bring them back to their land and they will recognize that Jesus is the true one and only way to heaven and the way back to God. There is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ. None. 

A time of Jacob's trouble is coming that will be greater than any time of trouble that happened before. It will take this to get Israel to believe. This time also will be a time of severe judgment on the rest of the world that persecuted God's people whether those people are believers that are Gentile or Jew. Severe judgment will fall also upon those that persecute Israel as a nation. Judgment will fall upon those that worship idols, murder the innocent or persecute God's people. 

Most of us believe that the church as we call them will be taken up to heaven before the great tribulation begins. This may be the reward for accepting Christ first and not rejecting him. Some believe the church will go through part of the tribulation. Then some believe they will go through the whole thing. 

The main part I emphasize is readiness. We must be strong in the Lord and full of faith to either go in the rapture, endure during the tribulation or to endure temptations of this life and not fall away. Staying dependent upon God and humble in our walk is very important. 

One thing is promised to the faithful church is that they will never experience the wrath of God that the rest of the world will experience. Studying bible prophecy goes into more detail on this subject. 

• Psalms 105:11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: 
• 12 When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. 
• 13 When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; 
• 14 He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; 
• 15 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. 

The above scriptures concern the nation of Israel. It may apply to a real genuine prophet that God anoints and sends but it doesn't apply to everyone who claims to be anointed of God especially if they speak falsely. King Saul was anointed of God at one time even though he lost that anointing and was removed from his position by God Himself. Even though he was backslidden, David refused to lift up a hand against Saul but David also was bold to confront Saul and rebuke him for his wrong doing. "Touch not mine anointed," does not mean we cannot point out faults or point out false doctrine in one who claims the anointing. David pointed out Saul's error but refused to physically harm him in any way. 

• Numbers 34:16 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
• 17 These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. 
• 18 And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land by inheritance. 
• 19 And the names of the men are these: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 
• 20 And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. 
• 21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 
• 22 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli. 
• 23 The prince of the children of Joseph, for the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 
• 24 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 
• 25 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 
• 26 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 
• 27 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 
• 28 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud. 
• 29 These are they whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan. 

Concerning princes and tribes. I do not believe God ever sets up a hierarchy in order to exalt one person over another and make one better than the next person. I believe the purpose of captains, rulers and such is to keep order and protect the innocent from being harmed by the thugs and bullies. Rulers themselves are never to be thugs and bullies. If they do, they should be removed from their office. They are never to cruelly lord over the flock. 

Since the coming of Christ there should not be hierarchy as they had before the coming of Christ. He is the one that is the head of the body. We follow Christ. We still need godly leadership not to lord over the flock but protect the flock from the wolves that devour the flock with false teaching or the ones who want to be exalted in a high position for the purpose of domination or control. 

Here is what Peter says:

• 1Peter 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 
• 2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 
• 3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 

Here is what Jesus says: 

• Matthew 20:25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 
• 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 
• 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 
• 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. 

The purpose of leadership is to protect, teach, exhort and train others to minister and bring souls to Jesus Christ. It is never a position that should be given for higher pay, higher position and hierarchy. 

We have to have godly leadership. Can we go to war with an army where everyone is doing his own thing? No, they have to have training, be submissive to authority and be orderly. To do the work of the Lord in a manner that result in souls entering the kingdom of God we have to submit to one another and heed godly leadership that teaches, instructs and guides rather than lords over and dominates. Jesus Christ gives us the best example in the way He conducted Himself all during His walk on earth before He went back to the Father. To sum it up, all we have to do is walk in love and we will do the Lord's will. -DC