Numbers 34:1-15 / Receiving the Inheritance
📖 Scripture
1 The Lord said to Moses,
2 “Command the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance is to have these boundaries:
3 “‘Your southern side will include some of the Desert of Zin along the border of Edom. Your southern boundary will start in the east from the southern end of the Dead Sea,
4 cross south of Scorpion Pass, continue on to Zin and go south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon,
5 where it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt and end at the Mediterranean Sea.
6 “‘Your western boundary will be the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This will be your boundary on the west.
7 “‘For your northern boundary, run a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor
8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath. Then the boundary will go to Zedad,
9 continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your boundary on the north.
10 “‘For your eastern boundary, run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham.
11 The boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Galilee.
12 Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea. “‘This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side.’”
13 Moses commanded the Israelites: “Assign this land by lot as an inheritance. The Lord has ordered that it be given to the nine and a half tribes,
14 because the families of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance.
15 These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance east of the Jordan across from Jericho, toward the sunrise.”
✅ Scripture Summary
✅ Memory verse
– Numbers 32:23
✅ Reflection
The Perfect Place (34:1–9)
Moses receives instructions about the specific boundary lines of the promised land so that the Israelites will know exactly what God has intended for them as their inheritance. The boundaries include access to bodies of water, which enables travel and fishing. It is the perfect place, already prepared in advance to supply all their needs. We may not know every detail of our own futures, but we can trust that God does. He knows exactly what we need, and He can show us detailed plans at the proper time. Our primary focus must be to stay close to Him so that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can follow His guidance in the direction that we should go.
Ask for open eyes to see what detailed plans God has for you at this time. What actions will you take in response to what He is revealing to you?
The Best for Us (34:10–15)
Nine and a half tribes receive this land as their inheritance because the other two and a half tribes have already received theirs. Some of the Israelites had requested the land east of the Jordan across from Jericho after seeing that it was suitable for their livestock. God in His graciousness allowed them to have this land. When we approach God with our requests, we should not make demands or ask with a sense of entitlement. We can humbly make our requests before Him, trusting in His wisdom and grace. When we do not get exactly what we want, we can hold on to our requests lightly, unafraid to give them up because we know that God, as our good and perfect Father, desires the best for us.
Think back on the requests you have made before God this week. How will you react if you do not get what you want?
“Resolve to read God’s Word: hearing his voice, beholding his character, and seeking to do what he says.”
– Rachel Jones
✅ Prayer
✅ Essay
Who Knows Best?
As I walked through a local garden that had small plots of land belonging to different families, I saw a young boy admiring the plants with his grandmother.
“Grandma, can I pick a tomato?”
“No, those are not our tomatoes. They belong to someone else.”
After a short stroll through the gardens, the boy asked again. “Grandma, can I pick a tomato? I really want to pick one.”
“No, don’t pick them, please. They need more time to grow, and they do not belong to us.”
The boy repeatedly asked to pick tomatoes. He even reached out to hold one, but I was impressed because he did not pick one off any tomato plant. He remained obedient to his grandmother, not allowing his personal desire to supersede his trust that his grandmother knew what was best.
In our requests to the Lord, we do not always have the same level of obedience and trust that this boy had with his grandmother. When God says “no” or tells us to wait patiently, we sometimes ignore Him and take what we want anyway. We do not hold on to our requests lightly. We only focus on what we desire. In our short-sighted selfishness, we might be happy initially, but we often experience the consequences of our actions later on, and we begin to see why God denied or delayed our requests. It can be difficult to accept a different answer from what we expected, but as we form a closer relationship with the Lord, we build a history of trust and can respond like the little boy who knew that his grandmother knew best.
Written by Ahreum Kim
