DON T WASTE YOUR LIFE The book of Numbers Dr. Jon McNeff, Senior Pastor February 5, 2017 Note: The following are the pastor s notes used in preaching this message. This is not a complete, word-for-word transcription of what was preached. These notes serve as a companion to the complete message, which is available by listening to the audio version. Bible quotes are primarily from NASB and ESV, respectively. Name refers to lists or records of Israel as they prepared to enter Promised Land simple outline Numbers 1-14 First generation who left captivity Numbers 15-25 37 wasted years of wandering in the wilderness (used 48 times) Numbers 26-36 Second generation gets ready to move in to Promised Land I. FIRST GENERATION Numbers 1-14 A. Deliverance continuing theme of Exodus 1. Census Numbers 1-2 God orders a census Numbers 1:46 total count 603,550 men total of 2.5 million two reasons: Fulfilled His promise to Abraham Count the number of men over 20 who could fight 2. Setting up camp Numbers 2-3 Orderly setup of the camp around the tabernacle: East tribe of Judah 186,400, or 31% of Israel South tribe of Reuben 151,450, or 25% West tribe of Ephraim 108,100, or 18% North tribe of Dan 157,600, or 26% Center Levites 3. The traveling tabernacle Numbers 4 Numbers 4 provides for: Numbers 3:27-31 work of the Kohathites most important of Levitical tribes responsible for carrying the ark, table, lampstand, altars, sanctuary vessels, and screen, everything required for the service only after Aaron and his sons had wrapped them in cloth and placed them in leather bags not permitted to touch the objects Numbers 4:21-28 Gershonites cared for the covering of the tent of meeting, the screen of the door of the tent, the hangings in the court of the tent, and the screen for the gate of the court Numbers 4:29-33 transported the frame of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the pedestals also loaded the bars, pillars, pedestals, tent pegs, and cords 4. Dealing with defilement Numbers 5 Numbers 5 deals with different types of uncleanness: Numbers 5:1-4 health considerations for the leper, the diseased, and a corpse sent outside the camp to contain contamination Numbers 5:1-10 personal sins Numbers 5:11-31 detailed explanation on dealing with adultery most intimate and secret of all sins had to keep purity of the people accused woman brought before the priest made to drink water mixed with dust of the floor of the tabernacle and the ink used to write the accusation if she was guilty her abdomen would swell and her thigh would rot 5. The Nazirite vow Numbers 6 1
Numbers 5 showed how God would deal with sin Numbers 6 showed how any Israelite could be devoted to God a Nazirite vow could be made by anyone pledged to stay away from wine or strong drink, cutting their hair, dead bodies 6. Housewarming Numbers 7-10 Numbers 7-10 moving into God s house 11 months after exodus Numbers 7 generous offerings consecrated to the Lord Numbers 8 Levites dedicated to serve Numbers 9 Passover and the cloud in the tabernacle Numbers 10 two silver trumpets called people together and a call to march Numbers 10:8 given as a perpetual statute throughout your generations. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 the trumpet of God will sound to announce the rapture Numbers 10:12 they leave to the wilderness of Paran B. Disobedience - Numbers 11 Numbers 11 despite God s provisions the people complain Numbers 11:5, 6 wanted the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna. Boiled manna, cold manna, manna sandwiches, manna cakes, ground manna, or manna baked with oil People complained they had no meat Numbers 11:23 God asks, Is the Lord s power limited?... East wind blew quail over the camp each one gathered 60-70 bushels of quail while the greedy were still picking the meat from their teeth the Lord struck them with a plague they died gorging on the meat they had greedily consumed! Numbers 12 complaining spread to Miriam and Aaron brother and sister! Moses married Cushite woman after Zipporah died probably black Numbers 12:2 Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well? And the Lord heard it. Numbers 12:4 called all three of them out of the tent Numbers 12:6 If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. C. Disbelief Numbers 13-14 Numbers 13 12 spies one from each tribe went up from wilderness of Zin to Hebron don t miss this they were at the door of the Promised Land waiting to go in!! - MAP Numbers 13:26 spies returned to the people at Kadesh and showed them the fruit of the land grapes so big they had to carry them on a pole between them two contrasting messages Numbers 13:30 Caleb said, 2
We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it. Numbers 13:31 We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us. Which would you believe? The ten spies exaggerated the dangers in the land stirred up fear revealed their lack of faith in God s promise of giving them the land said the land was good but the people were too strong for us. Two spies differed Joshua and Caleb saw the potential and urged the people to go up and possess the land Numbers 14:1, 2 fear took hold of the people Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron grumbled = to express resentment, dissatisfaction, anger, and complaint by grumbling in half-muted tones of hostile opposition to God s leaders and the authority which he has invested in them 1 they felt it was better to have died in Egypt families will be plundered need new leader to return to Egypt! What s going on here?! They are standing right outside the Promised Land, they have received two reports of spies who entered the land positive and negative and they chose to believe the negative rather than God Some might say ten spies were realistic let s not rush into this but God had promised them this land and they had seen His miraculous provision to this point Critical point in life of the nation: Believe God and move ahead or stay in rebellion? Numbers 14:7-10 Joshua and Caleb spoke up The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them. But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel. God s response Numbers 14:11, 12 How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they. Do you ever grumble against the Lord complain of what He has done? The majority isn t always right Our job is to believe and obey D. Destruction Numbers 14 Numbers 14:13-19 Moses pleads for mercy God pardons but pronounces judgment on their disbelief: Denial of entry into the land Numbers14:22-23 Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. Blessing to those who obey Numbers 14:24 But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it. 40 years of wandering Numbers 14:34 According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. Death in the wilderness Numbers 14:29 your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. all except Joshua and Caleb would die in the wilderness 1 R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, eds., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 475. 3
Life for their children Numbers 14:31 Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. Death to the ten spies Numbers 14:37 those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the Lord. God withdrew His presence Numbers 14:40, 41 the people mourned admitted their sin desired to move ahead Here we are; we have indeed sinned, but we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised. But Moses said, Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord, when it will not succeed? First they wouldn t believe that God would give them the land then they wouldn t believe that they would not enter the land because of their disobedience Numbers 14:42 Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. but they went up on their own to fight the Amalekites Moses didn t go the Ark of the Covenant didn t go God didn t go they were defeated II. WASTED YEARS Numbers 15-19 Numbers 15-25 are transitional the first generation who came out of slavery in Egypt died off and the second generation grew to adulthood it covers 37 years before their final entry in Joshua marked by rebellion and restoration no forward movement these were wasted years because of their disobedience Hebrews 4:6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience A. Rebellion Numbers 15 various laws for entry into the land but Numbers 16 introduces another rebellion good way to waste your time! Numbers 16:1-18:32 rebellion of Korah a Levite stood with Moses during rebellion of Exodus 32 now they wanted to be leaders: Rationale Numbers 16:3 You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord? we re all as good as you cf. Numbers 16:12 they blamed Moses for bringing them up out of Egypt to the desert some people would rather live in the luxury of sin than follow God in the desert Numbers 16:4-40 God deals with these rebels Moses instructed them to bring firepans with incense in them 250 did thought they could be priests even though God didn t appoint them God told Moses and the people to stand back from their tents ground opened up and swallowed them and closed up again! People were angry said Moses caused their death! Moses intervenes against God s wrath Aaron passes through them and holds off the plague before it destroys all of them 14,700 died in addition to Korah B. Reminders Two reminders of God s leadership given: 1) The budding of Aaron s rod (stick) Numbers 17:1 God restores confidence in Aaron leader of all 12 tribes brings a rod (stick) places them in front of the testimony the Ark Aaron s stick blooms and bears almonds sign that he was designated as priest God restates the duties of priests and Levites Numbers 18:1-32 2) Sacrifice of red heifer as reminder of purification Numbers 19:1 sacrifice of a red heifer outside the camp symbol of purification picked up in Hebrews 13:11-13 of Christ being offered outside the camp Numbers 19:6 cedar, hyssop, and red coloring were burned with the red heifer the remains were mixed with water to provide water of purification This water of purification was then used in Numbers 19:11-22 for specific rites for anyone who comes into contact with a corpse bizarre! Why was this necessary? During the 38 ½ years they wandered in the 4
wilderness over 1.2 million people died all the population over 40! this was God s way or reminding them of the sin of their fathers and His provision of cleansing them of their own sin III. A NEW GENERATION Numbers 20-36 37 years pass between Numbers 19:22 and Numbers 20:1 Numbers 20-36 contains account of the second generation those under 20 when their parents died out in Numbers 15 new census was taken in Numbers 26 totaled 601,730 men almost exactly the same as the 603,550 in Numbers 1 A. Conflicts Numbers 20:1 Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there. First of three losses of leadership Still haven t moved much begin their journey from Kadesh-Barnea to plains of Moab MAP Conflict also touched Moses no water people complained like they always did Numbers 20:3-4 The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! Why then have you brought the Lord s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here? Wouldn t that make you mad! Moses and Aaron go up to the tent of meeting glory of the Lord appears to them tells Moses to speak to a rock and it will bring forth water Moses disobeys Numbers 20:10 Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock? What was he doing? Asserts God s power! Numbers 20:11 struck the rock instead of speaking Second loss Moses punished Numbers 20:12 Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them. God s law even applies to leaders! Third loss They lose Aaron Numbers 20:24-26 Aaron will be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah. Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor; and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be gathered to his people, and will die there. B. Conquests Numbers 21:14-25 Numbers 21:1 Now begins the move to enter the land denied access to cross land by Edomites (descendants of Esau) then victories over Arad, Amorites, Ammonites Second conquest over a false prophet Numbers 22:1 now in the plains of Moab MAP 5
Moabites were descendants of Lot (Genesis 19:36, 37) Balak, their king, had seen how the Israelites destroyed the Amorites he didn t know Israel was forbidden by God to attack Moab because He wanted to give the land to Lot s family (Deuteronomy 2:9) he was terrified that the same end awaited him and his people Midianites (descendants of Abraham through Keturah Genesis 25:4) joined him in alliance against Israel Story of false prophet Balaam Numbers 22:3-24:25 Balak contacts Balaam false prophet from Peor, city on Euphrates center for cult of prophets who practiced magic and divination later identified as a false prophet in Deuteronomy 23:3 6; Joshua 13:22; 24:9, 10; Nehemiah 13:1 3; Micah 6:5; 2 Peter 2:15, 16; Jude 11; Revelation 2:14) asks him to cast a spell on Israel to defeat them God speaks to Balaam tells him not to prophesy against Israel Balaam says no to Balak Second entreaty God tells Balaam to go with them but speak only the word of the Lord Numbers 22:22 God was angry with him knew his motive was not doubt the money promised by Balak angel of the Lord blocked the way for his donkey donkey balked Balaam strikes donkey with his stick Numbers 22:28 And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times? Only thing worse than hearing a donkey speak is talking back!! Finally Balaam sees the angel Numbers 22:32 Behold I have come out as an adversary, because your way was contrary to me. Angel again tells him to go but speak only the word of the Lord Balaam gives three oracles from God from Numbers 22:7-24:14 pronounces blessing on Israel in each of them leaves Balak angry Numbers 24:2 the Spirit of God came upon Him gives God s message Balak threatens to withhold honor from him Numbers 24:15-19 fourth oracle says Israel will crush the head of Moab, possess Edom, and have a ruler who will dominate all Numbers 24:20-24 three more oracles regarding the future of Israel So far, so good for Israel but in Numbers 25:1-3 Balaam s true colors come out While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry against Israel. This was Balaam s god Numbers 31:16 says the people did this because of the counsel of Balaam he told Balak and the Moabites how they could take Israel down without a battle through sexual temptation so pervasive that Moses commanded the leaders of the tribes to execute every man who had been with a Moabite woman easy to see because this sexual activity was part of the worship of their gods became so brazen a man brought a Midianite woman into camp with him while the people were Numbers 25:6 weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting over the ones who had been killed because of their 6
sin but Aaron s grandson, Phineas, took a sword and chased the man into his tent and killed both him and the woman this stopped the plague that killed the 24,000 C. Continuity Numbers 26-36 Several things happen in quick succession as they prepare to enter Promised Land: Numbers 26 new census taken yields 601,730 Numbers 27 man with no sons could leave property to daughters Numbers 27:15-23 Moses would not enter Promised Land Joshua named his successor Numbers 28-30 laws and vows given Numbers 31 slaughter of Midian ordered by the Lord because they had caused Israel to sin through sexual temptation and worshipping their gods Numbers 32-33 instructions for settling the land Numbers 34 specific boundaries MAP #2 modern day ramifications God s Word stands through three centuries this is yet to be fulfilled despite resolution 2334 12 United Nations said Israel was at fault for lack of peace for building on their own land! God calls Israel my land and my inheritance Tim Challies Nine easy steps to backslide (waste your life): 1. Stop meditating on the gospel. 2. Neglect your devotions and stop battling sin. 3. Isolate yourself from Christian fellowship. 4. Stop going to church. 5. Determine that Christians are hypocrites because they continue to sin. 6. Trade Christian community for distinctly unchristian company. 7. Pursue rebellious conversation and fellowship. 8. Allow yourself to enjoy some small, sinful pleasures. 9. Admit what you are and prepare yourself for everlasting torment. 2 2 Tim Challies, How to Backslide in 9 Easy Steps, May 18, 2012. 7
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. What are the most important things in life? 2. What three groups are identified in Numbers 4 and what was their task? Why was this so important? 3. What is significant about the events of Numbers 13:1-14:10? 4. What is the result of the people s sin in Numbers 14:22-38? 5. What role did Balaam play in Numbers 22-24? 6. How is your life alike or different than the lives of the Israelites in Numbers? 8