Listen before you Leap - Numbers 29-32

There are many lessons in this section to get inspiration from and direction for our life. The section on sacrifices in chapter 29 gives us great reason to thank Christ for His one-time sacrifice. We can go to Him and worship - no longer tied to the sacrificial system. The chapter on vows (30) is really a passage we should read and re-read. We make too many vows we don't keep. In chapter 31 the story of the final destruction of the Midianites is something we should understand. It is actually the pre-cursor to what Joshua will lead the nation to do in the promise land. It should be noted that Balaam lost his life in this destruction. You have to ask yourself why Balaam was even in the MIdianite camp. He obviously sold his character for their material goods (remind you of Esau and the Edomites?). But, the lesson I discovered in this was Moses willingness to listen to the 2 1/2 tribes who wanted to settle on this side of the Jordan and not go into the promise land. They had to have extreme faith to believe that their wives and children would be safe without them. Moses made them promise to go across and fight for their brothers. He was willing to listen to their solution to the problem and to stop assuming that they were like their forefathers and simply afraid to go into the promise land. Moses assumed that. He was wrong. We don't find anything reference where Moses sought God's mind on this, but absent God's direct intervention this seems to be a leader-follower interaction decision. Moses stopped assuming and started listening. A good trait to learn and lesson for today's leaders.