READING: Numbers 19:1-21:35
It was not wise to reject the pleas of God’s forces to pass through a land, as Kings Sihon and Og of Heshbon and Bashan, respectively, learned. Sihon refused to let God’s people travel through his land, even though the people affirmed they would stay on the main highway, avoid vineyards and fields, and not drink water from their wells. They simply needed passage, but the king of the Amorites refused. Israel instead struck them and took possession of the land. Later, they also defeated the King of Bashan when God handed Og, his armies, and his lands to His people.
What captures my attention about these stories today is my love for the book of Joshua, where the Canaanite Rahab said to the spies in Jericho, “I know the Lord has given you this land . . . we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed” (Josh 2:9-10). The Canaanites had also heard, of course, about the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea—but the Israelite victories over the Amorite kings also struck them with fear. If the Hebrew God could dislodge and defeat the Amorites in the Transjordan, His power could strike fear in the Canaanites as well. In fact, Rahab said that they now knew the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
My point? We never know how or when God might use the victory He gives us today to influence others tomorrow. It’s quite possible somebody’s watching. Somebody will take note. Somebody will remember. And, somebody will someday believe because of what God does among us today.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Who might be watching your life and listening to your story today?
TODAY’S PRAYER: “God, work in my life in such a way today that others take note now and in the future.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Numbers 22:1-24:25
