Joshua 19-21

God’s message to me: Life is not an endless struggle. God gives us an inheritance which we must claim. It may be a ministry, a job, a business or something else. We have to go out and take it. This fits a classic saying I heard from someone I used to work with. “Work really hard for 10 years and manage your finances through it and you will never need to work again.” The man was a financial advisor and knew his job well.

We will need to work for what is ours and, that begins with knowing what is ours. God intended us to do great things but discovering which great things involves a little study, prayer and soul searching. Once we know our destination we can start heading there and once we arrive we can enjoy it in peace. The Israelites fought several years of war to take their land and then rested on it in peace. The priests and Levites worked until a certain age and then retired. The people, generally, spent several years building their business or developing their lands and then could enjoy their wealth afterward.

Today we work until retirement and then rest. Many see retirement as 65 or older but the truth of what my friend told me is inescapable. The bible has something like 4 verses on money management for every verse it has on prayer. If we manage our money properly and are willing to work hard to earn it for a few years we can retire much sooner. Some are able to find a job doing what they love and, as such, they never feel like they are working. Such people rarely retire. Some will feel a duty to continue for others. First responders, soldiers, doctors and the like may feel they need to continue as long as they can be effective. The rest of us will retire as soon as the finances say we can.

Consider this, starting when you begin to work, you should look to save money for your future. Most young people have the retirement at 65 so ingrained that they don’t even think they can do otherwise unless they hit the lottery. Savings isn’t a priority. If the work statement is true a young person with a decent job at 18 could retire at 28-33 years old and spend the rest of their life financially free and capable of pursuing interests that they love. Some of those interests may even be profitable. I have seen the results of this with military people. Joining the military at 18 they pursue a 20 year career and retire with a military pension and benefits at 38. Still quite young they take advantage of military finance programs to get business loans with easy terms and start a second career without a boss. 20 years of military discipline tends to make them a little more successful than average and whether they pursue the new business for 10 years or longer they never have to concern themselves to much with money. Imagine retiring from your first career after 20 years with a pension and substantial retirement savings because you had low expenses in the military or, as a civilian, you worked more than one job and pushed to make the extra money. Your 38 years old and have nearly $1.5 million in your retirement account. That’s calculated starting from a part time minimum wage job with 5% growth in income per year for 20 years. That barely beats inflation and the savings went from 20% at 18 down to 5% at the end of 20 years assuming a drop in savings as the person moves into their own place, gets married and has kids. God can do it for you and for your children.

Promises: God will give you rest. When the Israelites obeyed His will they had to fight for their goals a few years and then could rest from battle and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Fields they didn’t plant, homes they didn’t build, fortunes they didn’t seek all earned through the efforts to claim the land God gave them and remove the ones God rejected from the land. Is that so different from working a few years in a job.

Commands: Claim what God has intended for you. You can never enjoy the gifts of God until you claim them. Salvation by grace is the greatest gift of all but until you accept it and claim it for your own you will never see the gates of heaven.

Timeless principles: I mentioned it earlier and I’ll repeat it. “Work hard for 10-15 years and manage your money and you will never have to work again.”

How can I apply what I’ve learned: The bible is filled with advice on stewardship and there are plenty of resources available in the secular world as well. Find the job that God intended you for and do it. Don’t be worried about failure, if you do what He wants you cannot fail. Manage your resources and your finances(don’t forget your tithes and offerings) and prepare for the future. You will find rest. Remember the lesson of Joseph. By setting aside 20% of the crop during the years of plenty Egypt had enough food to keep it’s own people and those of surrounding countries fed during 7 years of famine. They sold their stockpiles at profit so that at the end of those 14 years they were among the richest kingdoms on earth.

more to learn for in-depth study: These chapters complete the promise of the promised land. The remaining land is divided among the Israelites, Joshua Inherits the choice city he spied out and the cities of the Levites are given to them with the cities of refuge assigned. The tribes conquer all enemies and are given rest with no enemy willing to stand against them. The tribe of Dan even takes territory outside the assigned boundaries when a neighboring country starts a bit of a skirmish and looses. The tribe of Dan conquered the neighbor took the city and inhabited the land.

tomorrow: Joshua 22-24

Numbers 1-3

I had my office torn apart yesterday to do some reorganizing and never got the computer clear to make this post.

God’s message to me: My God is a God of numbers and exact timing. This book starts with a date.

Promises: God promised that the nation of Israel would be nurtured in Egypt. They went in a family under 100 and came out as a nation of around 1 million. That’s a promise fulfilled.

Commands: God commands a census and record keeping in these passages. He shows us that Dates, Numbers, timing, and precise records are all important to Him.

Timeless principles: God made you for a destiny. He knows where you belong and what you are meant to do. Within His perfect plan is the perfect duty for you and the perfect place for you to be. You are not lost in the crowd, He has recorded your name, your place and your destiny.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: God was quite specific that the Levites were not part of the census. Counting them with the census would have brought punishment. When your counting up over 90% of the population the temptation is to finish the job. Do as God says precisely. Over kill is just as bad as not finishing. (yes, I realize that the Levites were, eventually, counted. It was separate from the census and made a point dedicating the first born. This is only the first census and knowing who not to count in future census takings will be important. God will reiterate the point about not taking the census to far. Keep this in mind When King David takes a census in the future)

more to learn for in-depth study: Entering Egypt with 66 able bodied men and their wives and little children. Leaving Egypt the nation included 603,550 men of war over the age of 20 plus women children and those to old to fight. This didn’t even count the tribe of Levi since they were set apart for the Lord’s work. This is also after the loss of a number of people do to sin against God in worshiping the Golden Calf.

Keep in mind also, the number of times God has commanded records to be kept and things to be written down. In spite of the claims by those who try to prove inaccuracy in the Bible, this is not an oral tradition. This was a written record from the beginning. Even if we reject evidence that writing existed before the flood we cannot reject the plain evidence of writing in Sanskrit, Hieroglyphs and other forms after the flood. Joseph was prime minister of Egypt. His family lived as the family of visiting royalty in the land for generations until the last 2 pharaohs. Moses was a prince of Egypt. There is no way that writing was unavailable to these people and God’s specific command to write things down makes it clear that things were written.

The Levites became the replacement for the firstborn. The first born were to be dedicated to the Lord but the Levites were taken as payment for the firstborn of the children of Israel. Their entire tribe was dedicated to serving the Lord in and around the temple. Aaron was of the tribe of Levi and became the subdivision. It was His descendants who would serve as priests. A Levites served the temple but only the sons of Aaron served as priests. There were 22,000 males over the age of one month in the tribe of Levi who served the temple. There were 22,273 first born males over the age of 1 month in all the other tribes of Israel. The extra 273 were redeemed for 1,365 shekels which were given to Aaron and his sons.

tomorrow: Numbers 4-5