Thought for April 14th. “THEN YOU SHALL DRIVE OUT … “

Today’s readings.. (Numbers 33), (Proverbs 24), (John 6) The book of Numbers now tells us of Moses giving his final instructions to the people – as the LORD directed him. The people had completed their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, all the unfaithful had died and now their children under the leadership of faithful Joshua together with Caleb and the faithful Levites would cross the Jordan and enter the promised land.  It occurs to us that there is a parallel in this to what is to soon occur when Christ establishes his world-wide kingdom. Think about this.  The LORD tells Moses as they are “by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan …  then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.” [Ch. 33 v.50-52]Similarly, when God sends Jesus back to this earth it will be a time of “punishing the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity” [Isaiah 13 v.11], but it will also surely be a time of removing all the things that people “worship” today  –  the things which are a modern equivalent of what the Canaanites had built and worshipped! Some of the things that will no longer exist are obvious; the Casino’s and gaming houses for example.  If TV, DVDs and the like are to continue to be available, there will be a huge purging of the things in them that pander to fleshly thinking and doing.. Jesus said, “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin” [Matt. 13 v.41]. When the people of Israel entered the promised land initially they were full of zeal and destroyed cities like Jericho, but they failed to complete the work and so the warning of Moses we read today came true.  That which they “let remain, shall be as barbs and thorns in your side and they shall trouble you” [v.55].It is obvious, with Christ in control as the King of the world, this will not happen in his kingdom.  We need to make sure we develop a mindset now that will welcome and fully appreciate a cleansed earth. Pollution will be removed from the physical earth and also the things that pollute human minds.  Concerning the future Jerusalem God told Jeremiah, “I will bring to it health and healing … this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth” [Ch.33 v.6,9]  How wonderful to be there!  Don’t you think so?