Sermon Tone Analysis

Numbers 25-31 Continued Wanderings

Good evening church.

Open your Bibles with me to Numbers chapter 25.

If you were with us last week, hopefully you remember the story of the prophet Balaam and his donkey.

Balaam was approached by the servants of Balak to come and curse the Israelites that had encroached on this land.

Balak offered great wealth to do so, but Balaam said he could only say what God told him to say, and could not go beyond that.

But the offer kept getting sweeter and sweeter.

While Balaam was on his way his donkey kept interfering with him, blocking his path, and finally, Balaam started beating his donkey, his struck him three times....the Bible says that the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey and he (the donkey) said “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

And we see that either by mission or greed, Balaam was so messed up in the head, that rather than be taken back by his donkey talking to him, he just starts arguing back to him.

In our text last week, it looked like Balaam, although he kept getting closer and closer to the line, held fast to his line of only speaking the things given to him by God.

But you might remember be saying there was more to the story.

I’m not sure that we will make it that far this evening, but in chapter 31:16 there is another reference to Balaam and the incident of Peor.

He’s mentioned in a couple of NT passages as well.

The first being…In a passage that is speaking about false prophets

And again in the letter from Jude which is all about keeping yourself in the love of God we read in Jude 11

Alright, one more, so you can see what his offense was.

In the book of Revelation, to the church of Pergamos, Revelation 2:14

Chapter 25 begins with the results of this in the area of Peor.

Peor was a mountain in the area.

Apparently, Balaam held firm on the line of he wasn’t going to cross the line and pronounce a curse on Israel as God had told him not to, but flattered and drawn to the incitements offered by Balak, it seems like he told Balak about the relationship Israel had with God.

That unlike the people in the area, they had one God, a jealous God.

And they weren’t to have any other gods.

Their God won’t tolerate idolatry and will pour out his wrath against them, sooo maybe try this.....send in your young women....Lets Pray and dig into chapter 25 and see how far we get!

Moses obey’s the Lord...

OK, so Moses has ordered a cleansing of the camp.

Those that had joined themselves to this false god were slaughtered.

The people are mourning and weeping, and right in the middle of that, in the sight of Moses and the rest of the people a young guy comes along and is like, hey, check her out!

I’ve got the best temple prostitute of Baal of all times…Phineas takes action, he was one of Aaron’s grandsons.

Verse 7

Tragic, so Balaam didn’t directly curse Israel, but his actions certainly resulted in a terrible curse upon the people of God…verse 10

The passage then names the names of the man and the women that Phinehas killed with the javelin, and God gives the order to Moses to mess with the Midianites.

Ultimately, because Balaam had assisted them, he dies with them.

Now in chapter 26 we have another census, a numbering of the people.

Quite different now, after having wandered unnecessarily in the wilderness for a period of 40 years.

But probably not different in the way that you might expect.

Generally, after a period of 40 years, you would expect a population to grow and multiply.

Some tribes did, and others were suffered severe loss.

Remember the tribe of Levi, the priest weren’t counted in either numbering, but when they started the count of the males age 20 and above was 603,550 and now it was 601,730, so a little over 1,800 less than when they started their 40 years of stagnation.

We get a little bit of history about Moses and his family at the very end of the chapter…his father was Amrams…actually, look at verse 59...

We don’t know exactly what that was, but you can read about it more, if interested in Leviticus chapter 10.

Verse 63

And of course Moses who is soon to be with the Lord before they enter into the land.

In chapter 27, we begin to see a change in the rights of women, with a group of sisters that are seeking what is theirs.

See in this time, when the patriarch of the family died, the goods would be divided among the sons, with the largest portion of land being given to the oldest son, chapter 27 vs. 1

This guy only had daughters, there were no sons.

So the ladies go to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and make their appeal, look at verse 3

Oh, the wisdom of Moses to not just make a decision, or to just do what was always done, he took it to the Lord.

So then the law of inheritance is given.

If there is no son then it goes to the daughters, no sons, no daughters, it goes to his brothers, no brothers, then to his uncles, if no uncles, then the next of kin, whoever that might be....then God tells Moses He wants him to climb a mountain to show him something…verse 12

Moses, I want you to see the promised land, but you can’t go in, and here’s why, you rebelled against me and you misrepresented me…verse 15

Vs.

16.

Interesting passage this is actually where the Mormons get part of their errant theology concerning the eternal spirit of man, not the idea that we are born and then go on in eternity after death on this earth to either an eternal heaven or hell, but that you, like God, always were, that you existed or at least your spirit did up in heaven before God gave you a body, to see if you could someday also become a little god…I don’t get it, but they pull that out of there...

Vs. 17 sheep without a Shepard…I AM the Good Shepard…verse 19

the Urim was a little thing that the priest wore, a little pouch of some kind, that they sought counsel from God through the use of the Urim and the Thummim.

Lights and perfections, white and black stones..

So Moses obeys verse 22

And now Joshua begins to take the place of Moses in leading the people...

In chapter 28, God tells Moses about the sacrifices, reminding him that they are a sweet aroma to God, that please Him, so He wants them done carefully, in their appointed time, and in their appointed way.

So He gives the types of animals, the type of drink offerings and meal offerings that were to be offered daily some annually , and others on special occasions, but in God’s way and in His timing.

Those of you that are reading chronologically through the Bible with us will get saturated with this in Leviticus, so you can get the details there.

Chapter 29 continues on with the sacrifices.

28 dealt with the daily, the annual, and the special occasions.

29 deals specifically with those offerings and sacrifices that were to be offered under the law during the seventh month.

They included the offerings at the Feast of Trumpets, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism as it deals with atonement and repentance.

We could spend a whole service just talking about these three sacrifices, but what is interesting to me about the Day of Atonement wasn’t a celebration, it was a day to consider the weight of sin.

Normally, the high priest would have help sacrificing all of the animals, especially on these special days that required extras, but not on the Day of Atonement, on that day the High Priest had to offer all of the sacrifices himself.

See he was serving as the mediator between God and man, making atonement for their sin, but on the 7th month of the next year, he would have to do it all again, because it did not cleanse, it only covered.

But it was a picture or a foreshadow to Jesus our Great High Priest.

And that High Priest in the Old Testament, not having any help in making atonement for the people was also a foreshadow, of Jesus paying the price of our sacrifice alone.

Only Jesus was without sin.

That high priest had to first offer sacrifice for his sin, before he could atone for the people.

Check out verse 39…

So the peace offerings, these burnt offerings, and grain offerings where all in addition to all the others ordered in chapter 29, I am so glad that when we go through the what does it say, what does it mean, and then how does it apply to me today as part of the church, there is very little application, because Jesus is the fulfillment of it all and is the perfect propitiation, or perfect substitutionary sacrifice for me.

It is finished in our great High Priest Jesus!

Chapter 30 reminds me of a verse in Ecclesiastes that we finished not to long ago.

Ecc5:5

Don’t say it, if you’re not going to do it!

Chapter 30 gives us the law of the vow…Vow’s are voluntary, you’re not forced to make vows, they are a choice.

Maybe you remember a time in your life where you made a vow to God.

God, if you get me out of this one, I’ll do this, or I’ll do that.

When we get married in a Christian ceremony, you are making a vow, entering into a covenant with God, not just to your spouse, but to God.

When we dedicate our children to the Lord, we are voluntarily making a vow before the Lord that we are going to raise them, and train them up in the ways of the Lord.

We don’t have to make them, but if we chose to, we better keep them…Chapter 30 vs 2

So this speaks to a covering that the man is to have over a women in the home in these old testament times.

IF a man made a vow he was bound to it, if his daughter made a vow and he hears it and doesn’t overrule it, then he confirms it and she is bound.

If she marries and is no longer under the covering of her father, this responsibility falls to her husband.

If she makes a vow, and commits to doing something or giving away something like all their kids, or a piece of their land, he can disallow it, if he doesn’t that vow stands, or if she kills him....no if you read on it says if a widow or a divorced woman makes a vow, she is bound to it.

There are a number of examples in the Old Testament of men making vows that they didn’t need to, that cost them dearly.

Saul made more than one.

Jephthah (Jeff tha) was another one in the book of Judges.

DO you guys remember Jephthah?

This is why its good to read through the Word, you guys will get to all of these stories.

Judges chapter 11 vs. 30

The Lord gave him victory and upon his return, the first to see him coming was his loving daughter that ran out to meet him…verse 34

Stupid, he didn’t have to make the vow!

So, most of the time you’re better off not making a vow, always better off if you have not intent to keep it, but check out what kind of girl his daughter was and her heart for the Lord...

Chapter 31 brings us to the end of the Midianites, they were the ones that Balak had sent in, well their women, to connect with the Israelites to draw them away from their God back in Peor.

Balaam in his greed, tipped off the king that he should do that.

So this is supposed to be like the last great hurrah of Moses…verse 2 God says to Moses...

Or go kick butt, then you’re going to die because the rest of these guys are about to enter into the promised land.