Numbers

INTRODUCTION

We have been going through the books of the OT following the F260 Church-wide reading plan.

We have already gone through:

Genesis

The book of beginnings. God created everything just right, but sin drew people away from God.

God then made a covenant with Abraham, who would become a nation…

So that the people could rightly understand who God is and worship Him accordingly.

Exodus

Israel had become enslaved to the Egyptians through the providence of God…

Then God delivered them from Egypt with 10 miraculous signs.

God begins to show His people how to worship Him so that He can dwell in their midst.

Leviticus

Last week we looked at the book of Leviticus, which emphasizes the holiness of God.

After leaving Egypt, God commanded His people how they ought to live as God’s people, in His presence…

So that He can dwell in their midst, and bless them.

This week we are looking at the book of Numbers.

The title of this book doesn’t really inspire excitement… except maybe for Jenny, or others who might like numbers.

Despite what seems like an unintersting title for the book, it actually is filled with many great stories, and carries a lot of drama and action.

In the book of Numbers we see:

How God is faithful to His promises;

How God tests His people and their motives;

How God is sovereign and in control of all nations.

If we were to summarize the entire book in a sentance, we might say:

The faithfulness of God, is contrasted with the faithlessness of the people of Israel.

After leaving Egypt, God confirmed His covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai with the giving of the 10 Commandments.

The Israelites immediately broke the covenant.

God had been among His people, and was leading them, but we see that their sinfulness needs to be covered so that God can continue to dwell in their midst.

The end of Exodus 40:34-35 tells us the problem…

Exodus 40:34–35 (ESV)

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Moses could not enter the temple because of the people’s sin.

This is where Leviticus comes in.

God gives His people the laws about the Tabernacle and the Priests, and gave them laws for how to be holy.

This helped them live in holiness before a holy God, and atoned for their sin when they would fail to do so.

We read in Numbers 1:1…

Numbers 1:1 (ESV)

The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt…

God’s plan worked!

Now there was a way for God to dwell among them!

As long as the Israelites sought to live by God’s Word, and came to Him to confess their sin, God would be with them.

But as we’re going to see, the Israelites were prone to stray from their faithfulness of God, and did not trust His power and His Word!

The Israelites have been camped at Mt. Sinai for about a year after leaving Egypt, and in the book of Numbers, they begin making their journey to the Promised Land.

Chapters 1—10

God commands Moses to take a census to number the people, and then commands them to arrange how they will camp.

Illustrate this on the markerboard.

This was to be a symbolic reminder that God was at the center of their existance.

God also gives them more laws on how to be ritually pure so that His presence will remain among them.

And in chapter 10:11, the cloud lifts from the temple, and the journey begins.

The People Complain

Things are not off to a good start.

The people begin to complain, and desire the things they had back in Egypt.

Numbers 11:4–6 ESV

Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

The people had already grown accustomed to God’s miraculous provision of Manna, and were thinking back to all the things they enjoyed in Egypt.

They neglect to remember what Egypt was like!

They were slaves; they were persecuted; beaten; treated terribly; hated by the Egyptians.

Remember the Egyptians were trying to kill them?!?

God is frustrated with His people, but graciously gives them what they ask for, even though they don’t deserve it.

Numbers 11:18–23 ESV

And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ” But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”

God is going to give them what they want, but they are going to realize that true satisfaction doesn’t come from the place they think it does.

Meanwhile, Moses wonders how God is going to provide enough meat for all the Israelites.

God will display His incredible power to do far more than we can even imagine!

Numbers 11:31–34 ESV

Then a wind from the Lord sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the ground. And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague. Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving.

On the one hand we see God’s judgement on the people because of their sinful desires.

On the other hand, we see God’s grace and mercy in not destroying the whole people!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

We have all probably heard the saying that God will not give you something that is not good for you.

He knows that something that you’re asking for may harm you, and He loves you too much to do that.

Why do you think God gives the people what they are asking for?

He wants to teach them to find their satisfaction in Him.

He wants to teach them to depend on Him and His provision.

He wants them to learn to obey His Word and not their own desires.

APPLICATION

In what ways do you think we are like the Israelites?

We tend to follow our own desires rather than trusting God.

We know God’s Word, but follow our feelings instead.

We must learn to depend and trust in God. If His Word says it, then we must trust it, and trust that He is going to bless it and make it successful.

On Tuesday of this week, Dr. Charles Stanley passed away. He was 90 years old, and pastored his church for 51 years. He was a famous radio and tv preacher.

He was famous for saying,

“Obey God and leave all the consequences to him.” — Charles Stanley

“Granddad told me, ‘Charles, if God tells you to run your head through a brick wall, you head for the wall,’” he wrote in his 2016 memoir, “‘and when you get there, God will make a hole for it.’”

One of the reasons we have the Bible recorded and preserved for us, is so that we will see God’s faithfulness in the past, and trust His faithfulness for us moving forward.

The People Rebel

God then commands Moses to send spies into the land.

This is a test to see whether or not His people will obey God’s commands and trust Him, or trust what their own judgement.

The 12 men spy out the land for 40 days and return.

The fruit of the land is amazing, buuuttttt… the people are strong and they live in large fortified cities.

2 of the men, Caleb and Joshua, encourage the people to go and take the land in obedience to God.

But the bad report from the other 10 spies sways the people.

Then we read in…

Numbers 14:1–10 ESV

Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

The people rebel.

They refuse to trust God and obey Him, and they refuse to trust the leaders God has placed over them.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Why did Israelites rebel against God?

Imagine you were there, waiting to hear the report of the spies, and then they said that. What would you have been thinking?

They were looking to their circumstances rather than to God.

God is understandably angry with His people, but Moses once again prays for the people, and God shows mercy in not destroying the faithless Israelites, and remains faithful to His covenant.

This does not mean there isn’t consequences though.

God promises that noone from that generation would enter the Promised Land.

APPLICATION

We must learn to take God at His Word, and trust Him.

We cannot look to the circumstances around us, but must have the end in mind.

We must trust God and His ways, and not on our own understanding.

Moses Rebels

Throughout this book, Moses has been a faithful leader.

His prayers are literally the reason the entire nation of Israel is not dead!

But even he is not perfect. He is NOT the one who is going to crush the head of the serpent. (Gen 3:15)

Later on as the Israelites are once again traveling, the people begin to complain that they are thirsty, and wish they were dead.

So God commands Moses to bring water from the rock by speaking to it…

Numbers 20:10–13 ESV

Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

What was Moses’s sin?

Moses failed to rightly display God’s glory among the people.

He took the glory that was rightfully God’s.

He did not follow God’s Word.

APPLICATION

Even leaders are not exempt from God’s discipline.

We must all be faithful to God’s Word.

As leaders, we must model faithfulness to God, and obedience to His Word.

What we see here is that even though Moses is a great man, He is not the one who is to crush the head of the serpent.

God’s Promised Deliverer

Moses was not going to be able to deliver God’s people.

God promises a deliverer through an unexpected source.

As the Israelites are journeying through the plains of Moab, Balak, the King of Moab is freaked out because the Israelites are such a large group.

So he hires a pagan sorcerer, Balaam, to curse the people.

3 different times, and from 3 different places, the King of Moab ask Balaam the sorcerer to curse the Israelites, and 3 different times he pronounces blessing.

Remember how we summarized the book of Numbers is one sentence: The faithfulness of God, is contrasted with the faithlessness of the people of Israel.

This is the ultimate display of that truth.

As Israel is in the camp, complaining, God is protecting them! Wow!

Then, through this pagan sorcerer Balaam, God promises a deliverer…

Numbers 24:15–19 ESV

And he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”

This is none other than Jesus Christ!

He is the One who would come and be God’s faithful representative.

Revelation 22:16 ESV

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

He is the King of all kings, Lord of all lords.

All the great leaders in the OT lead us to see we need a better leader.

Jesus is that Leader. We look to Him, trust Him, follow Him, and willingly give our lives for Him.

CLOSING PROMPT

In what way does God protection of His people as they complain speak to you today?