Before they ever entered the Promised Land, the Lord laid out the boundaries of what they were to possess. From south to west to north to east, everything was outlined. I looked up a number of commentaries on this chapter, and every single one focused on the geography of the borders. Not a bad thing to do, as it gives us an understanding of what land exactly had been promised to the nation of Israel. This did the same thing for the Israelites; God basically said, "This is what your land is, now go in and get it."
It's entirely possible that is all this passage is: fyi. I am the kind of person who likes to know my boundaries before I go in and do something: what's expected of me, what's the minimum, if there's a maximum. Let me know what to expect, and I'm pretty much good. Yet a small part of me wonders if there was a two-fold purpose to telling them a head of time, rather than giving in instructions before they went in. Could it be that it was given to Moses, as Joshua, though succeeding in leadership, would not contain a full measure of the Spirit that Moses did and didn't entertain the same relationship Moses had with God? Giving the instructions to Moses, as their leader and emissary from the Lord for the past 40 years, may have added more weight before the Israelites? Could it be it was so that the Israelites didn't get greedy and try to take more than the Lord had sanctioned? Could it be so that the Israelites wouldn't get lazy and just settle for what they saw as good, as Gad and Reuben and half of Manasseh had? Or maybe, it was just fyi. I don't know. And none of the commentaries seemed to even wonder. Perhaps it's something I'm going to have to ask God myself some day, if we discuss things like that in Heaven.
It's a good thing to think about, though. Currently, I'm embarking on a project on writing for a ministry. I'm intimidated by the task before me. My own expectations for myself are high. It's one of those times I wish the Lord had stated outright what my boundaries were. "In this, you are to go this far, and no further. In this, you must be sure to strive for this point." Something like that. There seems to be a little more leeway here. The possibility still remains, though, that I could easily pursue my own goals rather than the Lord's. As I don't have a Moses to give the proclamation from the Lord (and don't need one, exactly, as the Holy Spirit Himself resides in me and communicates with me), this means I need to spend more time in prayer, seeking Him out, making sure I still following Him through the process. His will be done, right?
Tomorrow's Reading: Numbers 35:6-36:16
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