Sermon Tone Analysis

Numbers 6:22-27

We live in a deeply conflicted world.

We can see it in our political parties.

We are afraid for our children and grandchildren as they enter the world of public schools.

We experience the conflict when we buy gas or any other product we rely on.

When we are honest we also admit we are conflicted inwardly.

We know that the way things are is not the way they used to be.

We are often disappointed in ourselves as we make choices that we know are bad for us; we say things we instantly regret; we allow our emotions to boil over and we lash out at those closest to us.

Try to imagine -if you can - being an Israelite - a descendant of Abraham.

You and your family are one year removed from slavery in Egypt.

Since the remarkable events of those days, you and your extended family are camped in the desert at the foot of a forbidding mountain.

The top of the mountain has been covered with dark smoke.

Lighting has erupted from the clouds.

Long blasts of a horn have been heard.

You have watched Moses, Joshua, and others go up into the cloud and then return - sometimes after several weeks.

Just recently Moses has instructed you, your extended family, and your ancestral tribe to camp in a particular location with a tent called ‘The Tent of Meeting’ in the middle of all the tribes.

Now, after a year of getting organized, listening to Moses speak words directly from the lips of God it is time to move and reclaim the land Abraham and his immediate descendants had been promised.

It’s a place no one has ever seen.

As a matter of fact not even Moses is absolutely certain of where this land is, and what lies ahead of them.

Now, God instructs the priests to speak His presence over God’s people with a promise of protection, grace, and peace.

This word - ‘shalom’ - is a difficult word to translate into any language.

One author writes,

This peace can be described variously as completeness, unity, well-being, prosperity, health, security, and wholeness.

The peace that is bestowed upon redeemed humanity by the light of God’s countenance surpasses finite human comprehension.

R. Dennis Cole, Numbers, vol.

3B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 131.

Let me suggest three broad categories that will help us understand the nature of the gift God offers in these words of blessing.

Order out of Disorder

In just over one year God’s people had been transformed from a crowd of freed slaves into an ordered and orderly unity.

Shortly after arriving at Mt Sinai and Moses’ first long trip up the mountain how God’s people had fell apart.

As an uncontrolled mob -

they had coerced Aaron into creating ‘god’s’ whom they could see, figures they could relate to as a god.

This ‘out of control’ people were by God’s Word, by God’s presence symbolized in the tent of meeting, and by a common commitment to obedience ready to move ahead.

One way to look at the overall purpose of God is to remember that God created man and woman in an orderly and more than sufficient space.

Because of their sin and the subsequent sin of the generations that followed, disorder became the regular feature of their lives.

However, looking at the end of God’s purpose we see God bringing order back into His perfectly ordered creation we see described in Revelation 21-22.

One of God’s often overlooked gifts to His people is the ‘peace’ He offers.

Jesus promised His followers this peace which allows God to bring order out of personal and community disorder.

The Apostle Paul, writing to a group of believers in Philippi experiencing disorder had this counsel:

Only the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, can bring order from the disorder in which we often find ourselves.

Wholeness from Brokenness

When God’s people left Egypt they had been broken in body and spirit.

Generations of slavery had impacted them physically and spiritually.

Part of the reason for the bickering and grumbling among the people relates to their struggle to reconcile God’s gifts with their past.

Whenever you or I experience a traumatic event if changes us.

Neuroscientists are able to demonstrate now the remarkable flexibility of our brains.

Traumatic events cause neural pathways to shut down.

However, because of the remarkable way in which God has created human beings, these pathways can be restored.

There are a number of factors which God has provided by which we can personally thrive in spite of trauma and which in community can help others get past their past.

First, God endows each human with a specific set of gifts, talents, abilities.

These talents or gifts offer us constructive ways to relate to one another.

If we had time we could see how Paul fleshes this out in 1 Cor 12.

Though the reasoning may not always appear to us, there is a reason God had His people camp according to their family and tribe.

Being part of a community with shared history, with shared stories, with shared values is a reflection of how God offers peace - or wholeness where there was brokenness.

The book of Numbers ends with an illustration of how God’s peace offers wholeness instead of brokenness.

The daughters of Zelophehad’s father had died in the wilderness - not due to a specific sin but rather by natural causes.

He had no sons - only daughters.

Technically land was alloted and passed down through male heirs.

What happens if there are no male heirs?

God’s offer of peace is recorded in Numbers 27:7-8

Contentment instead of Restlessness

What is genuine contentment?

Would it be possible to find contentment where God had led His people to camp for one year?

I enjoyed camping when we did it, but I’m not sure one year of camping would be my preferred way of life!

As God’s people prepared to move away from Mt Sinai - towards the Promised Land they were going to be camping for a while yet!

They had no way of knowing when the priests were given these words that their camping trip would last 40 years!

One definition of ‘contentment’ suggests that it is a habit of the mind.

If contentment is a byproduct of God’s peace how do we experience this contentment?

The peace God provides is found in the promise of His favor.

We looked a little at this last Sunday in the phrase ‘may the LORD make His face shine on you....’

Here in vs 26 a similar picture is shared: ‘May the LORD look with favor on you...’

Cindy and I have been watching the TV series ‘Friday Night Lights’ from about 10 years ago.

In one season the main character, football coach Taylor has to rebuild a football program from the ground up.

The first game or two are pretty ugly.

But a few weeks into the season something changes.

Coach Taylor gains the confidence of a couple of key players.

When the coach shares with the team leaders and the team that he is proud of them as long as they give him their best the players begin to perform up to and beyond their potential.

Knowing that the coach is supportive - win or lose - these young men are willing to give all they can for the team, the school, and the coach.

Did you know that God constantly smiles toward you?

Once you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and you confess Him as Lord, God welcomes you into a family that cannot be thwarted.

There is no guarantee that we as individuals will not fail - we certainly do.

Knowing that God smiles on us enables us to pick ourselves up - even after failure - and move forward into a profound experience of contentment.

Restlessness is usually an indication of sin.

It may be hidden to the eyes of others, but God sees into our heart.

When we honestly acknowledge sin, when we wrestle with the real reason for restlessness, then we are able to be content - recognizing that God indeed is favorable to us because of what Christ has purchased for us.

There is nothing more we need do, there is nothing more we can do except rest in the assurance of God’s favor and peace - not as the world gives, but as Jesus promises and provides.

Order, Wholeness, Contentment

Genesis 1:31- 2:3

Here is God’s gift of order, wholeness, and contentment: the ability to rest - not the rest of sleep, not the rest of sitting mindlessly in front of screens or words, but of soul rest.

The promise of God’s peace is the key that unlocks this deep and abiding rest.

It is this ‘rest’ which is ours now and eternally.

What God offers His people in this blessing is nothing less than the fullness of Himself - the never-ending promise of His presence.

As God’s people prepared to move into the future they were given all that they needed: the assurance of His constant presence - as He protected them, as He showered them with His infinite grace, and as He offers Himself - bringing order from disorder, creating wholeness from our brokenness, and calling us from restlessness into contentment.

Those who bear His name - that is all who believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess that Jesus is Lord bear His name.

With His name comes His presence.

With His presence comes the peace for which we yearn.

Will you receive God’s peace -

receiving order - God’s order for life - instead of the disorder that creates so much uncertainty?

allowing Him to heal your brokenness and create wholeness - His perfect plan for your life - for you?

let go the restlessness that plagues us and learn from Jesus -