This Bible study is all about the cost of complacency in you walk with God.
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The second generation of Israelites stands ready to enter the promised land, mirroring their fathers’ journey nearly 40 years prior. During this time, they confront many of the same temptations, yet they choose to wholeheartedly rely on God. Through their example, we see how we should put to death anything that leads us away from God and cling to His promises, even when it means working hard.
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Read all about the cost of complacency, before reflecting on it below.
Numbers 31-32
The cost of complacency: encountering the Lord’s Vengeance
Numbers 31 can bring us a harsh view of God if we don’t properly understand the scriptures. The Midianites were the people who lived close to the promised land and who had tried to get Balaam to prophesy against Israel. When that didn’t work, Balaam convinced the Midianites to seduce the Israelites into sin. Numbers 25 showed us the results of this seduction, with the Lord immediately punishing the Israelites for their idolatry with a plague. God also commanded the Israelites to treat the Midianites as enemies (Numbers 25:17), and Numbers 31 details the result.
Here it is God’s vengeance that is being carried out, not at the will of the Israelites, but at the righteous vindication of God. We have already seen, and will continue to see, God’s vengeance carried out against the idolaters, murderers, and unjust, yet we also see God’s vengeance self-limited by His mercy.
Do you try to take vengeance on people, repaying them for how they have wronged you? Or do you allow the Lord to take control (Romans 12:17-19).
Do not be deceived
During the War, the Israelites killed all the men but allowed the women and children to live. They then brought back all the spoils of the war (including the women) and received a rebuke from Moses. The women were the ones who had led Israel into sin, and yet, they were allowed to live because Israel underestimated their power to lead Israel into idolatry and they overestimated their own spiritual strength in resisting temptations. Because of this, Moses had them kill any of the women who had slept with a man – but any young girl was allowed to live.
Moses knew that the women could easily deceive the Israelites because they did not view them as a present danger. Do you allow things into your life that were once a threat to your relationship to God because you think you are now strong enough to stand against them (Galatians 5:16)?
Dividing the spoils
The spoils of war – the gold, silver, and cattle – were to be divided among Israel. Customarily, whatever was taken in war belonged solely to the soldiers who fought in battle. But God gives the Israelites a different set of guidelines. The spoils were to be divided equally between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the Israelites. There was also to be a small percentage that would go to the Levites – even though they would never fight in war.
Why would God command the soldier to share with the greater Israelite community? How can you apply this principle to your life (Romans 12:13)?
Settling into the cost of complacency
Now that the battle against the Midianites was over, the tribes of Reuben and Gad saw the land before the Jordan river and thought it would be good enough for them. For over 400 years, Israel had been dreaming about entering the land that God had promised to Abraham. And now that they were so close to entering it, Gad and Reuben stopped short. They asked Moses to allow them to remain behind. They did not want to enter the promised land.
The tribes of Gad and Reuben stopped short of the promise of God. Maybe they thought that the promised land would not be as good as the land they currently saw – they doubted the word of God. Perhaps they were tired of fighting battles and wanted a break – they wanted to get out of their responsibility. Or maybe they were just tired of being on the move – they wanted to settle for comfort.
Whatever the reason, Moses wanted to be sure that they did not sit idly by as the Israelites battled to take the Promised Land. Moses wanted to make sure that they did not discourage the rest of the Israelites by their lack of belief.
Do you stop short of the promises of God? Are you settled into complacency, not wanting to take the risk of following God? Do you realize that your actions have consequences for those around you, even affecting future generations (Hebrews 6:12)?
The sin of doing nothing
The Gadites and Reubenites assured Moses that if they were allowed to settle in the Transjordan region, they would fight with the rest of the Israelites until they conquered the promised land. Moses responded that if they were faithful to their word, then they could possess the land. However, if they failed to do what they had said, then their sin would find them out. Moses made it clear that anything they did was done before the Lord (repeated four times in Numbers 32:20-22). And failing to do what they said they would do was also before the Lord.
Do you know that all of your actions are done before the Lord (Hebrews 4:13)?
Reflect on the cost of complacency in your own life
Are you complacent in your walk with God? Do you allow temptations to remain in your life because you underestimate their power or overestimate your spiritual strength? Are you guilty of settling into complacency, not realizing the cost of stopping short?
