Numbers 26-31, Mark 8-9

When the Israelites rebelled in the desert they Lord told them that they would all die and only their children would see the promised land. Now all are dead except for Caleb and Joshua, the spies who trusted the Lord. Therefore they took a new census as they prepared for war. Moses too was told that he would not be entering the promised land because of he failed to honor God as holy n front of Israel when bringing water from the rock. At this time God tells him to appoint Joshua as his replacement, the man to lead Israel when they go out and when they come in. I wonder how old he is, since all his peers are dead. Or did the Lord cause the other generation to die more quickly except for Caleb and Joshua? There were stories of plagues, so maybe so.

The Lord commands Moses to take vengeance on the Midianites. They had sent their women to seduce the men and cause them to worship their gods after Balaam refused to curse them. The Israelites fought the Midianites and killed every man. The Bible makes a special point of mentioning that when they killed every man, they also killed Balaam. I don't know why this bothers me except for he had been an example to me of someone who followed the Lord and had a relationship with Him that wasn't an Israelite. He was an example to me of how Israel was an example to the world of the Lord's power and a tool used by him to show Himself to the world, but not that worshipping him was reserved only for the Israelites. "Look", I thought "here is a man who is known as a prophet among these people who God honors his curses and blessings. God tells him what to say and where to go." I would have thought that God would save him from dying by the sword to repay his faithfulness. I wonder why he did not.

Mark 8:35-38 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.

I'm trying to let this soak in. I am trying to think how this translates into how I should live my life. I do try to be good at my job, but I don't think that this verse is saying there's anything wrong with it - unless I compromise my relationship with Jesus to profit in this life. I don't really read anything in the Bible that says "if you believe in me, suddenly life will become so much easier". That's why we do this spiritual training. When the hard times come (and they will) we are spiritually fit enough where we can weather the hard times and persecution.

I often feel like the Father described in Mark 9:22-24 who says to Jesus "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." " 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

This is my prayer today as well: "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!"