Discipleship School: Numbers 21:1-9

Warm-up Quiz

Who was the very first high priest of Israel

How long in the wilderness?

In Numbers 21, what year of wandering is it

What does TC3 mean?

text, context, consistency, character, common sense

What three people are among the last of the older generation? (Moses, Joshua, and Caleb)

Numbers 21, verses 1-3

King of Arad attacked Israel and took some of them as prisoners

People made promise that if God gave them the victory, they would destroy their cities. (take no spoils)

Numbers 21:3 NASB95

3 The Lord heard the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. Thus the name of the place was called Hormah.

God heard their cry and helped them

This victory came at a place where the older generation tried to fight without the Lord . . . Hormah

(explain the situation)

Numbers 14:41–45 NASB95

41 But Moses said, “Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord, when it will not succeed? 42 “Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. 43 “For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned back from following the Lord. And the Lord will not be with you.” 44 But they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and beat them down as far as Hormah.

Lessons: (fill in the blanks)

Sometimes you will have to fight battles you didn’t _______

Whenever you have to fight. Call on the ________

If The Lord tells you not to fight, don’t ________.

So this new generation has shown an improvement in this area . . .following the Lord’s command about fighting (went around Edom, and here they only fought if God was with them)

back to Numbers 21

Numbers 21:4 NASB95

4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey.

Context: Why is there journey long? Why are our journeys long

Disobedience about the promised land - They caused it

They had to go around Edom - God ordered it

a combination of these two reasons

Same two reasons why our journeys are long

disobedience

God’s will

So I need to do my part to limit the disobedience

Numbers 21:5 NASB95

5 The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.”

people spoke against . . . . people complained . . . new generation . . . same complaint, “why have you brought us out of Egypt just to die in the wilderness”

Are they really about to die . . . no!

God just gave them victory in a battle, so they have protection

they have manna, and know God can give them water out of a rock even, so they have food and drink

they are just are just upset about the long journey

kids are usually the first to complain about long journeys . . . “are we there yet?”

you can judge your own spiritual maturity by looking at how much you complain

especially when the complaints are not even true

“we have nothing to eat”

“nothing good ever happens to me”

“everybody else has it easy or better than me”

Numbers 21:6 NASB95

6 The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.

the Lord sent fiery serpents = poisonous/venemous snakes

maybe red, maybe burning bite

Lesson: God does not like to hear his children _________

Numbers 21:7 NASB95

7 So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.

one difference in this situation is that the people were quick to admit fault, “sinned against the Lord and you”

in the past, Moses had to make intercession of his own accord, here they ask Moses to intercede

indicator of a heart towards God: How does a person respond to getting caught or called out in their

not repentance, make excuses, blame game

Adam & Eve

repent with no excuses

David

Lesson: When you are in the wrong, you need to ___________

Numbers 21:8–9 NASB95

8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” 9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

God responded

make a statue of a serpent and put it on a pole, anyone who looks at it after being bit will live

Why this method?

look at a disgusting snake, make you think of your sin, evil, and death (which leads to . . . .)

Submitted Question: Was the pole of the bronze snake a built in repercussion for the future complainers?

Idea behind this question is that God didn’t take away snakes (like they asked) but did provide an antidote in a way. Were the snakes left there for repercussion for future complainers?

There is no indication that snakes were always in their camp or followed them or was a permanent punishment

Let’s talk through what happened. God sent an infestation of poisonous snakes, people who were bitten died. (we don’t know if it was hours or days) . . . like a plague (temporary disaster)

I am sure they reacted like we would have. Try to kill as many as possible, without being bitten. But apparently there were so many that it was almost impossible to not get bitten.

So the people repented and asked God to take the snakes away, but He did not take them away but provided an “antidote” (look at the bronze serpent that Moses sets up on a pole)

By God giving this answer, the people who had already been bitten but had not died, could be saved. And if you got bitten before you all had gotten rid of them, you now had a solution (easy solution)

However long it took them to get rid of the snakes, I am sure it provided a reminder to not complain against God.

Also, the bronze serpent was what God used for that time and that particular situation. No indication that it retained healing powers from poisonous snake bites in the future. (that would be against God’s character to allow they to rely on something other than him)

Of course eventually the people did make an idol out of it

2 Kings 18:4 NASB95

4 He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.

What does John 3:16 say . . .

We talk about TC3, the first C being context.

What’s the chapter context?

John 3:1–16 NASB95

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? 11 “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. 12 “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. 14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

back to 14 and 15

John 3:14–15 NASB95

14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

In explaining salvation, Jesus brings up this story from Numbers 21

There is a powerful lesson here:

people sinned, we sinned

result of sin is death, result of sin is death

they had to repent, we have to repent

snake was lifted up on a pole, Jesus was lifted up on a tree (cross)

snake is not a pretty sight to look (represents sin, evil, and death), Jesus was not a pretty sight to look at either and he took on our sin and death

but whoever looked to the snake was saved, whoever looks to Jesus is saved

they didn’t deserve it, we don’t deserve it

if you did not look to the serpent you were not saved, those who will not look to Jesus are not saved

serpent didn’t stop the snakes but provided an antidote to poisonous bite, Jesus didn’t stop sin the the world, but provided an antidote to sin

it took faith, it takes faith

difference: serpent was a temporary fix, Jesus is an eternal fix

Lesson: In order to be saved, the people (and us) had to have ___________

for by grace are ye saved by faith

Announcements

Quiz Questions

Understanding the Bible - TC3

Text - is it actually written in the scripture, if so then actually read it

Context - consider the verses around it, the book, the testament to determine meaning

Consistency - is it a consistent theme, lesson, principle taught in other parts of the Bible

Character - does it fit the character of God

(4th)Common sense - use your brain

What does the word Exodus mean?

If you want to read what happened before Exodus, which book of the Bible should you read?

What is the land of Goshen?

12 Tribes of Israel - Joseph’s tribe works a little different. How and why?

1/2 tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh

12 Tribes of Israel - Judah, Benjamin, Levi, Dan, Nephtali, Manasseh, Ephraim

Zebulun, Reuben, Simeon, Gad, Asher, Issachar

what tribe Moses, Aaron from

What tribe David from

What tribe Jesus from

Paul?

Where did the name of Israel come from?

First national holiday for Israel?

Other names for Abraham’s descendants - Jews, Hebrews, children of Israel, Israelites, Israel . . . new one (Judah)

How many plagues? 10

Name them

blood, frogs, gnats

flies, death of livestock, boils

hail, locust, darkness . . . death of first born

How many years in Egypt? 430 years

What did Pharaoh ask for when the children of Israel left Egypt?

How many people left?

What is God’s name?

What are four Hebrew consonants that make up God’s name called? Tetragrammaton

After the Red Sea Miracle, what complaints have the people had so far?

no water

no food

no water

What does Jehova-Nissi mean?

What did Moses call the place where the Israelites complained about water (the 2nd time)?

Massah - test

Meribah - arguing

Moses Father in law’s name - Jethro

Moses wife’s name - Zipporah

Where were the children of Israel when God gave them the 10 commandments?

What are the 10 commandments

Here’s a brief version of the Ten Commandments:

1. **No other gods** – Worship only God.

2. **No idols** – Don’t make or worship idols.

3. **God’s name is holy** – Don’t misuse God's name.

4. **Keep the Sabbath** – Rest and keep the Sabbath day holy.

5. **Honor parents** – Respect your father and mother.

6. **Don’t murder** – Value human life.

7. **Don’t commit adultery** – Be faithful in marriage.

8. **Don’t steal** – Respect others’ property.

9. **Don’t lie** – Speak truthfully.

10. **Don’t covet** – Avoid envy of others’ possessions.

What is another name (popular Bible word) for contract, agreement, covenant? Testament

How did the people first break the covenant? (golden calf)

What do you know for certain about God:

God of compassion and mercy

slow to anger, filled with unfailing love and faithfulness

and it’s overflowing . . . he forgives

does not excuse the guilty

What was God’s tent called? Tabernacle

what was the most sacred place in the Tabernacle called, Holy of Holies

Where does the book Leviticus get its name from?

Where does the book of Numbers get its name from?

How many spies were sent out to view the promised land and what was their report? 12

Name two spies who had faith in God?

Joshua and Caleb

What was the punishment for rebelling against the Lord after believing the bad report of the 10 spies?

40 years in the wilderness, 1 year for each day the spies were gone

everyone 20 and up will die in the wilderness

those 10 spies died right away

Name of rebel leader who got swallowed up by the ground? Korah

What did God do to prove to the people that Aaron was selected by him to be the high priest?

Info about Moses

wife - Zipporah

Brother - Aaron

Sister - Miriam

Father in law - Jethro

Tribe - Levi

Race - Jewish

Most famous Ancestor - Abraham

how old was he when he ran away as a fugitive - 40

age when he returned to Egypt - 80

age when he died? - 120

What are the books of Moses? - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

nickname - the great Law-giver

What caused Moses and Aaron to not make it to the promised land?