Numbers 26:53 –
Divide the land among the tribes, and distribute the grants of land in proportion to the tribes’ populations, as indicated by the number of names on the list.
There you have it, God is a socialist. Here he is dividing the land not on achievement, but on just number so everyone has an equal slice. The land was to be given by lots also, so no one was guaranteed a better plot. One could say the family that “achieved” a large number earned more land, but it was divided by numbers only. One could argue this was actually a working communistic society, since everyone was working for one goal and had a single purpose of following God.
Now why am I getting all “political” on you in this chapter? Honestly that was about the only thing of interest since most of the 65 verses was just naming off people and counting each tribe. Also, since one could argue just about any political stance from the Bible, I thought I would point out this one. Now what is God’s “ideal” society? Honestly I have no idea as far as the “politics” but I do know the single purpose should be following God.
If you look at nations that dismiss God, they may work for a while but they eventually crumble. We see this throughout the Bible, with other nations and with Israel itself. You would think after 8000 years of documentation of the rise and fall of nations one could find a thread of ignoring God. But as with Israel I think each generation needs to figure it out on their own. Unfortunately we are seeing this today with the eroding of our nation.
Is there a way back? If we look at Israel of the centuries you notice they always seem to recover from almost total destruction. And always because of a renewed focus on God. Josiah was one such king, who found the Law and embraced to building back Israel. Unfortunately, reform seems to come from ruin. Some of the most amazing “God stories” come from people who were crushed before focusing their eyes on God. So how “low can we go” in this current slide? How would we be doing if we saved and tithed based on the principles of God? Don’t have the answers for our future other than read and live the Bible. There will always be a need for Josiah’s to rebuild a nation!