Numbers 26: 52-56

⁵⁴ To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one; each is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those listed.

God created the earth for all human beings to rule over. He never mandated one person to rule over another in the beginning but He made all people rulers over all non-human creatures on earth. God therefore expected all to share in the resources on earth in a manner whereby none was deprived of the basic necessities of life.

God’s just nature is seen in the way He directed Moses to declare how the land Israel was to possess was to be distributed, “To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one; each is to receive its inheritance according to the numbers of those listed” (54). Aside of the allotment being done according to the size of each family, it was also to be done by lot so that none would have any favours. That is God’s just and fair way of distributing things to people. But how do human beings do theirs?

People have fallen short of God’s glory because of sin so they are unable to do things as God intended it to be. We are greedy, discriminating, practice nepotism, cronyism, etc. They are therefore unable to distribute things fairly and justly.

Christians are called of God through Jesus Christ and have been made a new creation so the church should be a place where justice and equity are upheld and religiously stuck to. Anything short of that makes the church an apology of the body created by Jesus.

Numbers 25: 6-13

¹¹ “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites. Since he was as zealous for my honor among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal.

God loves those who are godly at heart and is always proud of such people. On the other hand, God is against those whose hearts always go astray and for this reason declared of the Israelites who rebelled that they would never enter his rest (Psalm 95: 10, 11).

Phinehas was one man God approved of due to his desire to see godliness upheld amongst the people of Israel. At a time God was angry with Israel for worshipping the idols of the Midians and engaging in sexual immorality with their women, an Israeli young man, named Zimri appeared in the camp of Israel with a Midianite woman named, Cozbi. Phinehas followed the man into his tent and drove a spear into him and the woman. This caused God to relent in his anger and stop the plague that was ravaging the camp of Israel killing 24,000. God was so pleased with Phinehas that He entered into a covenant of peace with him, declaring that Phinehas and his descendants were to enjoy a covenant of lasting priesthood (12, 13).

God loves those who fear him and are determined to please him in all that they do. He told Israel that if they would obey him fully and keep his covenant then they would be his treasured possession out of all nations (Exodus 19: 5). That is the extent God would go to honour people who love him and walk in obedience to his word.

If anyone loves God from their heart and is always seeking the will of God to be done in all situations; ready to pay the price required, God will be with such a person and make him special in the eyes of the world.

Numbers 22: 21-33

²⁸ Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

Of all God’s creatures on earth, it is only the human being who has been given the capacity to communicate with one another by means of a language that is common to both communicators. No animal has the capacity to communicate in words that are understandable to another animal. However, there is a case in the Bible where a donkey communicated, by means of words spoken to and understood by a human being.

Balaam was a prophet, but not of God, held in high esteem by his people, and a king of Moab, Balak, afraid of the people of Israel, wanted Balaam to curse them so that they could be overcome by Moab. God had told Balaam not to do so as the people of Israel had been blessed by him. Balak used the promise of wealth to lure Balaam to disobey God’s word and he was falling for the bait as he sought to go to God again to enquire whether to go with his emissary or not. God asked Balaam to go this time round but He sent an angel to kill him but for his donkey whose eyes were opened to see the angel and gave it power to speak to Balaam. His eyes were eventually opened to see the danger ahead, an angel standing in the road with a drawn sword that the donkey had earlier seen and refused to move further thus attracting the anger of Balaam.

When it suits God He can use any of his creatures to accomplish his purpose. He could use the wind to bring in meat to Israel at one time (Num 11: 31), cause snakes to come to bite Israel in their camp (Num 21: 6), cause a rock to give out water (Num 20: 11), etc. What can God not do with any of his creatures? When He decides to act on behalf of his people or against his opponents, everything is a tool in his hand to do as He wills.

God’s people can have complete security in him for He has control to bring any good thing their way and stop any evil from befalling them.

Numbers 22: 7-12

¹² But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed.”

God is more powerful than anyone in the universe so what He declares or does is final and irreversible. However, He can reverse whatever anyone does or say. It makes all those who are on the side of God, a people who are strong and confident as they know him to be a mighty fortress, in whom all are secured.

Balaam might have been a powerful prophet for it was said of him that those he blessed were blessed and those he cursed were cursed (22: 6). People might be considered powerful until they encounter the power of God, which makes their power insignificant. Balaam was visited by God and told that the people of Israel, that he had been asked to curse, had been blessed so he should not curse them.

Through Abraham the people of Israel had entered into a covenant with God, in which they had been blessed of God and nations were to be blessed or cursed just as they wished for Israel. It was then going to be a futile exercise for any person or nation to attempt to curse Israel. They could only succeed if they had power to reverse what God has done but none could do that (Isaiah 43: 13).

The covenant blessings of Abraham have been extended to Gentiles (non-Israelites) through Jesus Christ and Christians are said to have been blessed with all the blessings in the heavenly realm through Jesus Christ (Eph 1: 3). Therefore none can curse a Christian except he lives in disobedience to God’s word.

Brother, sister, live in obedience and you cannot be harmed by anyone.

 Numbers 22:1-6

² Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, ³ and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.

The people of God should be a wonderful people in the world. With God present with them and leading them in life, they should be led to places and heights that others without God could never get to. One thing He promised his people, Israel, was to send his terror ahead of them and throw into confusion every nation they encountered (Ex 23: 27).

This promise was fulfilled when Israel encountered enemies, as happened in the case of Moab. Before this encounter, God had led Israel to destroy Sihon and Bashan two neighbouring nations. Moab therefore became afraid and their king, Balak and his people were terrified and filled with dread for Israel. Balak sought help from Balaam, a prophet, asking him to come with him and curse Israel to enable Moab to defeat them. But nobody can harm a people who have God on their side, as was the case with the people of Israel. Yes Balaam could curse other people, who did not have the power of God behind them but Israel had God with them so could not be cursed.

There are several things in life that no person has control of because human beings have serious limitations as to the exercise of power to control the world. People therefore always seek for more powerful forces to overcome things that are beyond their control but it is only God who has absolute power to rule the whole universe. Any other thing or being regarded as powerful has limited power. It means that people can never feel really safe except they are on the side of God. Seeking power from any other source makes a person vulnerable and insecure as the power is limited.

People who come to God receive the Spirit of God in them so become a new creation (2 Cor 5: 17). They receive the life and nature of God into them so have been given the capacity to live victoriously over the world. They become overcomers so should be dreadful to all their enemies.

Numbers 16: 12-15

¹³ Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you also want to lord it over us!

Often times, those discontented are driven by pride, which makes them think they can do as well as or even better than the leader. This is seen in the response of Dathan and Abiram to Moses’ invitation to come. They even made fun of the destination God had promised to take them to through Moses and went on to accuse him of lording it over them.

Godly leaders are always wrongly accused by followers who are not adequately informed of the vision or mature enough to understand the task that the group is pursuing. All what is required of leaders is faithfulness to their calling and the good Lord will vindicate them of any wrong accusations and fight their battles for them.

It is very easy for anybody at all to think of their ability to lead better than their leaders. Meanwhile such people might never have led or known what goes into leading a group. Leading a group of God’s people, particularly God’s people should be attempted by only people who are convinced of being called of God. Those who rush into leadership of this nature, unprepared, shall never succeed as God is not mocked so shall expose any impostor. In fact, such leaders end up messing themselves up as they do not have what it takes to lead God’s people.

Those following leaders in God’s house should not rush into leadership lest they risk messing themselves up. Several examples have come up in recent times about how such leaders have got entangled in one trouble or the other.

Numbers 16: 8-11

¹¹ It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?”

If a person is appointed of God into any office, he becomes God’s man and anyone who opposes him unjustifiably ends up opposing God.

Through Moses, the sons of Levi, Moses great grandfather, had been set apart from the eleven other tribes of Israel to do full-time service in God’s tabernacle whilst Aaron and his sons, also sons of Levi, had been made priests over Israel. These were positions undeserving of anyone but God decided to grant to them. That was why Moses was wondering as to what else Korah was looking for after God had separated the sons of Levi from the rest of Israel to carry out ministry to the people from the tabernacle. Since it was God who made those appointments, the discontentment of Korah and others was with God and not with Moses or Aaron as they might have thought.

God calls people into leadership positions to use them for service to the people they lead. If they are faithful servants of God, protest against them might be against God, whom they are serving in such capacities. Protesters must watch their hearts whether they are driven by passion for God’s work or personal ambition. It should be remembered that in such situations, God may step in finally to put things right.

It is dangerous to oppose the work of God so protesters should ensure that they are pursuing a genuine cause so that their move will eventually bring benefit to their group.

Numbers 16: 1-7

³ They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?”

Godliness with contentment is said to be a great gain (1 Tim 6: 6) but human beings are always envious of others. It is alright if a good achievement of someone motivates another person to seek to excel but if it creates envy in them then the envious person is setting themselves up for trouble.

It was Moses God called and used to deliver Israel from their bondage to Egypt. Therefore if Israel had the opportunity to leave Egypt for the land of Canaan under the guidance of God then Moses was the person to be credited with this opportunity and honoured by all. However, Moses, in spite of his great humility (Num 12: 3), was strongly opposed by Korah, someone who was privileged to belong to the tribe of Levi, ministering in the tabernacle of God. This man, Korah, together with some Reubenites stood up to oppose Moses with 250 men in various leadership positions in Israel. Moses asked for a simple test to be conducted before God to determine whom God had chosen; they were to bring censers to burn incense before God and He would choose whom He accepted.

Moses was appointed of God to lead but if any other person had assumed any position, they were appointed by Moses as directed by God. Therefore every leader in Israel owed their position to Moses so how come any could challenge him? Moses was exalted by God because he paid a great price as a faithful servant, a price none of the others might have been willing to pay but as it is always the case; people become envious of the position of someone else without reckoning with the price paid to get into that position.

It is good to stay content in one’s position or work hard to get into a higher position desired. Unbridled envy can bring a person to a disgraceful end.

Numbers 14: 36-45

³⁷ these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD.

All the twelve people Moses sent to spy on the land of Canaan were leaders. It was required of them to give a report that would glorify God and motivate the people to move on towards the destination earmarked for them but they made statements that destroyed the hope of the people and caused them to revolt against God.

God struck down the ten men who gave the bad report and killed them. The others who rebelled against God due to the bad report were going to die over a period of forty years. The people deepened their rebellion by deciding to go and possess the land, which God had told them they would roam for forty years before possessing and many who embarked on that move were killed (45).

Leaders are responsible for providing direction to their followers and they will be held accountable for the way they lead. It is written that leaders watch over their followers and shall give account of them (Heb 13: 17b). They therefore have a huge responsibility regarding how they manage their own lives and the lives of those they lead.

God takes a serious view of Christian leadership for their misdeeds or blunders do not only affect them but also their followers. That is why James writes that those who teach others shall be judged more strictly (James 3: 1).

Christian leaders should fear God and be willing and determined to do what pleases him only and at all times.

Numbers 14: 26-35

²⁹ In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me.

Unbelief is a sin that deprives people of all the blessings that God would have given them and exposes them to all harm that they would have been protected from. It is the opposite of faith, without which none can see God or walk with him.

God called the people of Israel wicked for their unbelief (27). He told them that the damning declaration that they had made about God bringing them unto the wilderness to destroy their children, would happen to themselves. Their children were also going to bear pain for their fathers’ disobedience by roaming the wilderness for forty years, over which period all their fathers would have died. God’s meticulousness was going to ensure that each of the rebellious people was going to die over a forty year period, except Caleb and Joshua.

God is with his people and hears everything they say. Some of us are so careless with our words and are constantly grumbling against God and his people. The church is full of tale-bearers, who often speak on issues they are not well informed of. Often times, leaders are slandered over perceived blunders or out of pettiness. Jesus said, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Mt 12: 36). It implies that even if people get away with their hurtful words now, they have an account to give on the judgment day.