January 1, 2024

Passage Read: Numbers 32-35
Meditation Verse: 35:33

Thought

The blood of murder pollutes the land, and there is no other way to cleanse the land than by the death of the murderer. No ransom shall be offered or taken for the life of a murderer or to allow a manslayer to return home before the allotted time. If the murderer is not executed or if the manslayer is allowed to return home before the allowed time, the land remains polluted and grows more so. What then must the land of America be suffering? Murderers are seldom put to death and many are released after serving time in jail. Manslayers might have no consequence at all. We have made things so complicated for fear of ending a life and condemning a soul to an eternity in hell, when we should have ensured that every murderer was given a choice to trust in Christ before his execution, and let his decision at that moment stand. His blood is on his own head. The land itself and the people need the death of every murderer for healing and for warning, that justice may be established.

Application

There is little hope of changing the laws and practices of this nation, so the land will continue to suffer, and the people will grow bolder to sin. It is as the Lord foretold, and it is destined to unfold in this way before the end. When Christ reigns, however, this will be the law of all lands, and the earth will know healing and the people will know fear of sin, and the earth will be full of the glory of God. In the meantime, God's people still need to recognize and condemn sin in all its forms. To excuse sin, to overlook sin is to bring corruption on the congregation and to lead them away from the Lord. That path leads to destruction, and no shepherd should do that to his people. I need courage and boldness to call out sin and plead with the rebellious to repent.