It seems strange that this Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law,
would have had any inclination to return to his people after seeing the Lord
leading the Israelites and providing for them.
He was a Midianite, however, and these were not his people. Moses implores him to remain with them and
promises that if he does he will share in the blessings of the nation, surely
thinking of the Abrahamic covenant that the nation was blessed to be a blessing
to those who bless them. It sounds
contradictory that the Lord led them with a cloud by day and fire by night and
their movements were entirely directed by the Lord and yet Hobab is credited
with helping scout and direct their movements.
He would have been familiar with the territory as it was his homeland
and he would have been able to specifically direct them to the places where
they could encamp as the Lord led them to a place, remember this was an
enormous camp of people. It would seem,
even though we aren't particularly told this, that Hobab chose to remain with
the people, leaving his own family to become one of them. Perhaps he had seen enough to know the Lord's
favor was with this people.
So is Jesus that guy?
You know the one, the guy who blames either the prayer or the victim for
lack of faith as the reason healing isn't effective. He has just come down from the mount of
Transfiguration with Peter, James and John and is met by this man with the
epileptic child. The man is at the end
of his rope and has brought the boy to the disciples, probably seeking Jesus
Himself but making do with these others and they have failed to help. Jesus is frustrated with the disciples but
later says that this one is definitely a failure of faith on their part, not
the man's. Did they not believe
enough? We don't know what was the problem
here except that in Mark's account of the incident Jesus adds that this kind
come out only with prayer. Perhaps the
problem is that their faith was misplaced, in themselves and not in God as
healer.
Paul writes the church in Rome and expresses his
long-standing desire to come among those Christians whose faith is celebrated
through the world. Paul has heard of
them, knows of their strength but also believes that he has something to offer
to strengthen them further and that in their interaction he too will receive a
blessing. This Gospel that has been laid
on him as a responsibility has made him acutely aware that it is a blessing
from God for both Jews and Greeks, all are alike in this regard, the Gospel
re-unites mankind as one. We are to be a
blessing to one another and to the world by bringing hope and light into a dark and despairing world. We do so as those who are deeply rooted in
Him, not trusting ourselves but in God's Word and its promises. Do our lives reveal the blessing of God to
the world no matter what our earthly circumstances, that He is our hope and our
treasure is in heaven?
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