Israel had observed the hand of God at work through their nation. God had delivered them in the past and in Numbers 33 He was ready to move on their behalf again. All that was necessary for them to experience it was the simple matter of immediate obedience.
1. In Egypt - They were commanded to march OUT boldly.
A. Secular society WAS humbled.
Num.33:3-4 “And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them:”
B. False religions WERE humbled.
“upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.”
2. In Canaan - They were commanded to march IN boldly.
A. Secular society WILL BE humbled.
V51-53 “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you,”
B. False religions WILL BE humbled.
“and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.”
LESSON - If the Israelites were to simply obey God, they would see Him move on their behalf in the future as He had done for them in their past.
But Moses reminded them again that there was a cost for disobedience.
V55-56 “But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.”
If WE will practice Immediate obedience in our lives, we should expect God to work on our behalf as well. We must march out of (put off) the world and march into (put on) the things of Christ. If we will, through us God will humble a secular world which has rejected Him and humble false religions which mock Him. March on for Christ with “high hands” of boldness!
~Mike