devotional post # 2255

Numbers 2:29-31

Num 2:29 Then the tribe of Naphtali, the general from the sons of Naphtali being Ahira the son of Enan,
Num 2:30 his company as mustered being 53,400.
Num 2:31 All those mustered of the camp of Dan were 157,600. They shall set out last, standard by standard.”

look behind you

General Ahira’s father was Enan, whose name has something to do with eyes. It is fitting that this rear-guard army would have such a legacy. The LORD seems to have said to them, “look behind you — keep yourselves safe from the enemy that sneaks up from behind.

As we travel with the Israelites through the desert, on the way to the promised land, we will find that many of their challenges will have been faced by their ancestors. We must watch and see if they have learned the lessons of the past, or if they are condemned to repeat past mistakes.

LORD, give us the wisdom to look behind us, to go forward with the confidence of lessons learned, and the awareness of our tendency to make the same mistake often.