1. After the people had made the golden calf, arousing the anger of God, Moses confronts Aaron and smashes the tablets of the Law. We have next a beautiful interchange between the Lord and Moses. Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the tent of meeting. There the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. [Exodus 33:7] Moses said to the LORD, You have been telling me, Lead these people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, I know you by name and you have found favor with me. If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people. [Exodus 33:12] The LORD replied, My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest... I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name. Then Moses said, Show me your glory. And the LORD said, I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But, he said, you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live. Then the LORD said, There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft (a hollow place) in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.... Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished... Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, he said, Then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance. Then the LORD said: I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. [Exodus 34:8] Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do. [John 14:13] Lord, teach me to pray! God now writes his commandments a 2nd time on tablets for Moses to give the people. How merciful are his ways! 1
2. One year after leaving Egypt, Moses and the people have completed the Lord s directions for building the Tent, the Tabernacle and its furnishings. Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. The Israelites now celebrate their first Passover feast. This occurs at the end of the book of Exodus. [Exodus 40:33] We must skip now to the book of Numbers to again follow Moses and the people on their journey. (Exodus through Deuteronomy are all about the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land - the mighty saving of God s people) The Lord gives them their marching orders and the camp is broken up. God has given directions for the formation of each tribe and the order in which they will follow the cloud of God s presence. Paul reminds us that today too, everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. [1 Corinthians 14:40] 3. A very important event takes place in Numbers 13. The whole company arrives at Kadesh-Barnea, very close to the promised land. God directs Moses to send men (12 men, one from each tribe) to search out the land. Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or are they fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land. (It was the season for ripe grapes.) At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. [Numbers 13:25] Sadly, only 2 men, Caleb and Joshua, saw the beauty and greatness of the land., The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. The others moaned: the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We can t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. [Numbers 14:8] 2
The people grew afraid. They raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled... If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt. Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. [Numbers 14:1] God hears Moses, and intervenes: Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. The LORD said to Moses, How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? [Numbers 14:11] I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they. Moses said to the LORD, Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it... If you put these people to death they will say, The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert. Now may the Lord s strength be displayed, just as you have declared:... In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now. The LORD replied, I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it... (only Caleb and Joshua were exempt from this punishment) Let s ponder the magnitude of God s judgment! It is because of this lack of faith that the children of Israel, though now on the very borders of the Promised Land, will have to leave and wander on for another 39 years! When they finally enter Canaan, they will be a whole new generation. All others will have died of punishment, or natural deaths. It is by grace you are saved, through faith... [Ephesians 2:8] 4. We are told of a total of eight murmurings of the people in the desert journey - each a rebellion against Moses, and ultimately against God. Each incident was punished severely. Numbers 16 tells of malicious charges against Moses authority led by three men. They wanted Moses to share his authority with them! This account is worth our reading in its entirety, but here we will give only the judgment of the Lord. The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once. [Numbers 16:20] 3
But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins? Then the LORD said to Moses, Say to the assembly Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins. So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Then Moses said, This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things, for I have not done them of my own hand... If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me. But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt. As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah s men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. [Numbers 16:31] The heart is deceitful above all and desperately wicked! [Jeremiah 17:6] The fear if the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. [Proverbs 9:10] The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. [Proverbs 8:13] 5. What did Moses and the people do during all these years? We know that God gave the most detailed instructions for serving God according to God s standards. God s perfect standards are spelled out in the Law and Statutes. We find Moses teaching anew all those born in the desert. In the final book of Deuteronomy he reviews their past history with its mighty miracles, teaches and restates the Law, warns against disobedience, and tells the blessings God will bestow if they are faithful to him Many trials were experienced in the desert it is the picture of life on earth: They were attacked by enemies, they met up with a false prophet, Baalim, they suffered the grief of death of loved ones, they tired greatly of manna and quail (surely they devised many delicious recipes with ingenuity!) And their clothes and their shoes never wore out -- what amazing care the Lord showed his people. There must have been joyous feast days, especially Passover. The Lord was with them, gracious, merciful, powerful to listen and help. In his time, he led them to Canaan the land promised to Abraham and his seed nearly a century before them. 4
6. Lets take a minute to ponder God s grace: According to Scripture, no one is justified before God by keeping his Law. It is impossible for sinful man! God gave man the opportunity to learn this over a period of 1500 years. Finally, one man kept that Law perfectly the God-Man, Jesus Christ. He was therefore able to pay our debt of sin, and set us right with God, by a sacrificial death. This is bought about for those in him by faith. Before faith came,(before Jesus Christ) we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. The law was put in charge it was our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us... in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. [Galatians 3] Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. Through our faith in Christ, we are set free from the punishment of sin, and are set free from the requirements of the Law. [Galatians 3:11] A New Law rules us: A new commandment I give you, that ye love one another as I have loved you. [John 13:34] Paul tells us: Love is the fulfilling of the law. [Romans 13:10] We have received the Spirit of adoption saying Abba, Father! [Romans 8:15] No more bondage to Law! *********** 7. Lastly we will consider the sin of Moses and his death. Does it surprise us that Moses sinned? No, we are all sinners. Moses failed to trust in God he acted in his own power. Today also, the greatest sin is unbelief it is the only sin that keeps us from eternal life with God! The people quarreled with Moses and said, If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD? Why did you bring the LORD S community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink! Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell face down, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. The LORD said to Moses, Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink. Moses took the staff from the LORD S presence, just as he commanded him. He gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock? Then Moses raised his 5
arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. [Numbers 20] But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them. [Numbers 20:12] God graciously performed the miracle, giving water, but Moses had acted in his own power and with his own will rather than following God. What a powerful lesson that faith only will bring us to eternal life with God. God did not abandon Moses, rather he teaches us! He will raise Moses from the dead to stand with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration. [Matthew 17] 8. Moses is now 120 years old. For 40 years he has walked as God s faithful servant, God s friend, and a great intercessor! Without Moses....? Moses understands God decree that he will not enter the Promised Land but he reminds the people that God will go with them. Joshua will be their new captain. He blesses each of the 12 tribes and ends by saying: The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. [Deuteronomy 33:26] The Death of Moses Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land from Gilead to Dan... [Dueteronomy 34:1] Then the LORD said to him, This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, I will give it to your descendants. I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it. And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over. Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses. Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. To God be the glory, Great things he hath done! 6