[MUSIC PLAYING] The Bible from 30,000 Feet. Soaring through the scripture,
from Genesis to Revelation. [MUSIC PLAYING] You know, you don't have
to love algebra or be a mathematician or an
accountant or even like math to appreciate the
book of Numbers, because it's not a
book about mathematics. Even though it's called
the book of Numbers, and even though the
Greek title for this book is [GREEK] from whence
we get arithmetic, that's really not
what it's about. And even though
the Latin [LATIN] is the title [LATIN]
which means numbers, it's really not about math
or numbers or algebra, it's about taking a census. That's what the book
gets its title from. In the book, there
are two times where God instructs Moses to get
the leaders to take a census or a numbering of the people. Numbering, to be more
specific, of the fighting men or the men available to
be conscripted into a battle age 20 and above,
who can fight in wars that will take place in the land
that he's bringing them into. To catch you up, the family
of Jacob has grown immensely. When we closed the
book of Genesis, we found them safely perched
in the land of Egypt. There was a famine in the land. Joseph became the
prime minister. The children of Jacob find
their protection and provision in the land of Egypt. That's where the book closes. So they have found
their protection in the land of Egypt. By the time we get to
the book of Exodus, it opens up where
their provision turns into persecution. 400 years go by. Now, there is a pharaoh
on the throne of Egypt who does not know who Joseph,
the one-time prime minister, was. And frankly, he doesn't care. He enslaves the Hebrew
people because they are growing very quickly. And the Lord in
the book of Exodus raises up a guy by
the name of Moses to lead them out of Egypt. So the book of
Exodus is an exit. That's what exodus means. They leave Egypt via
the leadership of Moses. And God brings them out
into the wilderness, once again protected and
provided by God himself. That takes us to the book of
Leviticus, where, for one year, a little over a year,
year and a couple months, they're encamped
around Mount Sinai. At Mount Sinai, in the book of
Leviticus, God gives them laws. He has given them
the 10 Commandments, but he gives them
way more than that. He gives them laws covering
virtually every area of life. And God gives them a blueprint
for a very interesting structure we have already
noted called the tabernacle. So they are told who to worship,
they are told how to worship, and they are given a place where
to worship, in the tabernacle. By the time we get to
the book of Numbers, it is time for the
journey to begin. That is why some people
call the book of Numbers the book of
Journeyings, because it is about a journey
that takes place. Others, who have read a
little more carefully, don't call it the
book of Journeyings, they call it the
book of Murmurings, because a lot of
that takes place, if you've read this book,
if you're Bible students, you know that the
children of Israel become really, really
good at griping. In fact, they have
refined it to an art form by the time we get to this
book, they do it so much. So the book of Numbers or
the book of Journeyings or the book of Murmurings. I'm going to give
it my own title. On the Road Again. That's the theme
song of this book. (SINGING) On the road again. Moses and I are traveling
on the road again. Because they're
journeying, but they manage to take an 11-day
journey and turn it into a 40-year wandering, or
you might say a two-week trip into a 40-year trial, as
they meander and wander in the desert. So Mount Sinai, where
they are at this point, the book begins at
Mount Sinai and it ends at the plains of Moab getting
ready to enter the promised land. But about almost
close to 40 years transpired, 38 years and 10
months, to be most exact. So the book begins
at Mount Sinai. The trip from Mount Sinai-- get this-- the trip
from Mount Sinai to the entrance to
the land of promise, a town called Kadesh Barnea,
is an 11-day journey. That's all it takes. How do we know that? Because Deuteronomy Moses
reminds them of that. Said it's really
an 11-day journey. But they have managed to
take an 11-day journey and move it to a 40-year march. Because that's what happens
in this book, 38 years and 10 months later instead
of 11 days, they come to the edge of
the promised land. As I was reading the book
of Numbers this week-- and by the way, every time
I read the book of Numbers, there's a little thing
that happens in my mind. I think back to my
family vacations. My dad loved to
drive across country. And we had, at a
particular time, for a lot of our vacations a
white Rambler station wagon. Four-door with a
hatch in the back. And Dad figured he could drive
from California to Newell, Minnesota straight through. It was 2,000 miles. Well, when you have
four little kids-- I had three older brothers,
I was the baby in the family. And during that trip,
I acted like one. And so did my other
three brothers. But it was like a gripe fest. That was a miserable
time for a lot of us, and I'm sure for my parents. Are we there yet? We gotta pee. We're hungry. Da-da-da. Stop at Stuckey's. You know, just this. So that's me with
three brothers. I can't imagine being Moses
with three million people in his Rambler station
wagon going from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea. And it gets so bad. Well, you'll see
it for yourself. Now, I mentioned there are two
numberings in this book, two census takings, right? Chapter one is one,
chapter 26 is the other. And that's because there's one
generation that is numbered. They effectively die off. You'll see why. The new generation is
numbered in chapter 26. If you wanted to, you could
divide the book of Numbers up that way, just
in two sections. The first section being
the first generation, chapter 1 through
25, the second part, chapter 26 through 36, the
second census that is taken. But I prefer to give
you this outline for the book of Numbers. Chapters 1 through
4 is organization. Organization. The people are organized. God says number them. Number them by tribe, number
them by leaders' names. Get them all numbered. Number the priests, as well. So it's all about organization. That's chapters 1 through 4. The second, after organization,
is disorganization. You'll see why they
get so disorganized. It's their complaining
that disorganizes the camp. That's chapter 5
through chapter 25. So you have organization,
disorganization, and the third section of
the book is reorganization. And the reorganization takes
place not with the old, but a brand-new
generation, those who have grown up, effectively,
in the wilderness wandering. So organization,
disorganization, and the last part of the
book, reorganization. Let's begin right
in chapter one, with the organization of the
people and the priesthood. So chapter one brings us
to that first numbering, the census that has taken for
fighting men in the military. Verse one, "now the
Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai,
in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day
of the second month in the second year
after they had come out of the land of Egypt." So this is two years
after the exodus. This is year number two. It's the second month. And he said, "take
a census of all the congregation of the children
of Israel, by their families, by their fathers'
houses, according to the number of names,
every male individually, from 20 years old and
above, all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number
them by their armies." So now you know where the
book of Numbers comes from. It comes from
numbering the men who are able to be conscripted to
fight in military as they enter the promised land. This is the first
census that is taken. And so the tally is given
verse 46 of that chapter. Says, "all who
were numbered were 603,550 men 20 and above
who are able to fight." We have a horde of about
three million people in the wilderness. These are those who
are able to fight. Now, what's so great
about a census? What's so spiritual
about a census? I mean, this is
included in the Bible. What's so great or
spiritual about a census? Well, nothing, unless your
name happens to be in it. If it was your name and you
read it, you'd be pretty stoked. Hey, I'm in the Bible. There's a verse
with my name in it. Here's the tribe I'm from. Because there are
numbers and names-- not all of the names
with all of the numbers, but names of families and tribes
and households that are named. Why is this important? It's important because
once they were in Egypt, where they were just a number. Now, God gives
numbers and names. There were just
numbers in Egypt. There was an innumerable
horde of slaves. That's all they were. They were seen not as
individuals with names, having importance before God. They were just a number
to do the work of a slave. A few years back,
several years back, a really great
musician whom I've grown to love, Tommy
Walker, gave a great song to the church. See if you remember it. He Knows My Name. Remember that song? He knows my name, he
knows my every thought, he sees each tear that falls,
and he hears me when I call. I love that song. He knows my name. The God of heaven knows my name. And if your name happens
to be on the list, that's pretty exciting. Saint Augustine said-- and
we call him Saint Augustine because he's just a
brother in the Lord-- back in the 4th century said
"God loves each one of us as if there were only
one of us to love." The love of God reaches beyond
the numbers, beyond the hordes, beyond the mass, and
goes to the names. And people are precious to God. Nobody gets lost in
the crowd with God. He loves you more than a number. And whenever God
counts people-- mark this-- whenever
God counts people, it's because people
count to God. And so he counts
them here, and tells Moses to get the job done. In chapters 2 and
3, the job is done. They are numbered
according to tribe. There are how many tribes
in the children of Israel? 12 tribes. There's a tabernacle
in the middle. They're to camp around it. How many sides are
there of the tabernacle? Four, like the directions,
north, south, east, and west. So they are to
orient their tents. They're camping in the
wilderness for 40 years. They don't know
it's 40 years yet. They think it's 11 days. They're to orient
their dwellings according to the
tabernacle, on four sides. And so there are
effectively four camps-- north, south, east, and west. Four camps, four sides,
three tribes per side, because there are 12 tribes. And each of the camps,
each of the four camps has a flag or an ensign or a
banner with the lead tribe's logo on it. Now, we understand from
the Jewish traditions and commentaries
called the Midrash, and we're told in the Bible,
by the way, who the tribes are. So there's the tribe of
Judah on one side, his banner and ensign, the tribe of
Ephraim on the other side, his ensign, his banner, the
tribe of Dan on one side, and the tribe of Rubin. So we have four tribes,
and three tribes are underneath that
one tribe's banner. Judah, Ephraim, Rubin, and Dan. According to the
Mishna, the logos-- I want you to hear this, I
want you to understand this-- the logo, the banner, the
ensign of the tribe of Judah was a lion. You probably would guess that. The banner emblem for that
tribe of Ephraim was an ox. The tribe of Rubin on one
side was that of a man. And the tribe of Dan had
the ensign of an eagle. So you have a lion, an
ox, a man, and an eagle. Now, if you are Bible
students, things are clicking off in your
heart and head right now. Am I right? Because you already
know what's going on. You go, wow, we
get hints of that in other portions of the Bible. In fact, I'll take
a step out and say we have here a model
of the throne of God. You already know the tabernacle
is a model of heaven, right? The book of Hebrews
says that a few places. It's a shadow of
heavenly realities. That's the tabernacle. But we have here a model
of the throne in heaven. In Ezekiel chapter 1, he
gets this wild vision. Remember the prophet is in
Babylon at the Kebar River? And he sees this throne,
this chariot throne that is being lifted up by wheels. And there are creatures. There are four creatures. And Ezekiel said each had the
face of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. Hm. Fast forward to the book
of Revelation chapter 4, there are 24 elders, and there
are four living creatures. And each creature has a
different face in that vision, and they are the same. A lion, an ox, a
man, and an eagle. It's interesting, isn't it? It's not by coincidence. It's by design. When we get to the
gospel accounts, we discover there are
four separate accounts of the life of Jesus Christ. Why four? Each tells a different story. What story? Well, they tell
their unique story. Matthew, for example, is
the gospel of the kingdom. He refers to the kingdom
more than the other gospels. He talks about Jesus as the
fulfillment of Jewish prophecy. He is, according to Matthew,
the lion of the tribe of Judah. When we get to the
gospel of Mark, we see a shorter gospel,
a rapidly moving gospel. The word immediately is used
more than any other of the four gospels. It shows Jesus on the move. Not really resting, but
getting work accomplished like a servant, or like an
ox, if I can use the analogy, which was a symbol of servitude. We get to the gospel of
Luke, and he gives us the perfect humanity of
Jesus, the perfect man. He uses the term the
Son of Man more often. And then we get to
the gospel of John, and John writes about the Son
of God, Jesus in his deity. John says, "these
things were written that you might believe that
Jesus is the Son of God, and that believing you would
have life in his name." That's the eagle. So we have, again, these
representations here. What's more, the numbers
are given for the four camps that are around the tabernacle. The largest is
Judah on the east. Down in verse 9, you
may want to notice there are 186,400 of the
fighting men conscripted for army in the first census
just in the tribe of Judah. Now, if you were to
count up the numbers-- we don't have time to do
that, this is, after all, 30,000 feet-- I'm just circling the
plane right now a few times around this little camp of
Israel as we're looking down-- if you were to look
down from 30,000 feet, or from an aerial
view, and you were to take all of the different
numbers of the tribes and put them out,
this is what it would look like from the air. Can you see that? On the bottom left,
that area of Judah has more people than the others. That's numerically what
it would look like. It looks like the
shape of a what? Cross. Cross. It's just interesting. And I can just see the Holy
Spirit smiling, as even this foreshadows
what is going to come in the culmination of
God's revelation, the cross of Christ. He orchestrated all of this. This is not by coincidence. Chapter 5 begins the
disorganization phase. Chapter 5 begins with them
getting ready for marching. But this section
ends with meandering. They go from marching to
meandering by chapter 25. By the time we get to
chapters 7 through 10, we have the order
of the march given by the orderings
of the offerings that they are to offer
in the tabernacle. By the way, chapter 7 is
the second longest chapter in the Bible. 89 verses. It's quite laborious
to get through. I know, I got
through it this week, along with the rest of the book. We're introduced to a
strange guidance system, one that all of us would love if
it were offered to us today. We would take it. We would want it. And it's a cloud and a pillar. It's a cloud by day, a
pillar of fire by night. What's interesting
about this thing is it seemed to move on its own. That's what it
looked like to them. God was moving it, but there
were no turn signals with it. There were no
brake lights on it. This cloud started moving. And when they started moving,
when the cloud started moving, they packed up and they followed
the cloud, at night or by day. Chapter 9, verse 15 we
read "now on the day that the tabernacle was
raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle,
the tent of the testimony. From evening till morning,
it was above the tabernacle, like the appearance of fire." Isn't this cool? You'd never have to question
God's will or God's presence. You'd never have to
go outside and go, I wonder where I
should go today. Nowhere, until that thing moves. And then when that thing
moves, you never have to say, I wonder where I
should go today. You should follow that. So you were always assured
of the presence of God. And that would be nice. That would be easy. I've got to tell you something,
we have something far better. We don't have guidance, we have
a guide who lives inside of us. The Holy Spirit is
resident inside us. And even though you
don't know it or see it, you go, oh, it would
be so nice to see it. No, it wouldn't. I mean, so what? That's easy. We live by faith, not by what? Sight. They saw it. We live by faith. But you are guided by God's GPS. The Holy Spirit lives in you. More than guidance,
you have the guide. They had the guidance. "So it was," verse
16, "the cloud covered it by day, the
appearance of fire by night. Whenever the cloud was taken
up from above the tabernacle after the children of
Israel would journey. And in the place where
the clouds settled, the children of Israel
would pitch their tents. At the command of the Lord,
the children of Israel would journey. At the command of the
Lord," inferring the command was signaled by the presence
and movement of this cloud and fire, "they would camp. As long as the cloud stayed
above the tabernacle, they remained encamped." Now, the Jews call this cloud-- I know you some of you
have heard the term. Shout it out if you know it. They call this the [ARAMAIC]. That's how most of
us pronounce it. [ARAMAIC] is the
correct pronunciation. Impress your friends at
dinner tonight after church if you're going to dinner. Talk about the [ARAMAIC]. Cover your mouth when you do it
so you don't spoil the dinner or spread your cold around. [ARAMAIC] is an Aramaic term. Not a Hebrew term,
an Aramaic term. It is not found in the
Old Testament at all. It is found in the
targums commentaries that were written in Aramaic. The [ARAMAIC] is a word
that means the residence. God is residing with them. Must have been incredibly
exciting to be in that tent, in your own tent, looking out
when that thing begins to move. It's like hot dog,
we're on the move. We're going somewhere. We're heading out to
that promised land. It was an adventure. You never know exactly
where it's going to go, or how long you're
going to be going. Well, how long do
we go for, Mom? Don't know. When do we stop? Don't know. Are we turning right or left? Have no idea. It was that kind
of an adventure. Do you know that
God has the right to do the same to you today? Doesn't have to tell you
what he's going to do. Didn't have to give you a map. In fact, you can want
one all you want. You can make a five-year
plan and a 10-year plan. Ha, ha, ha. That's a Jewish
proverb, by the way. Man makes plans, and God laughs. Life is an adventure. We never know exactly
where or when or how. I think following
Christ is the greatest adventure in the world. [APPLAUSE] There's something
about this [ARAMAIC].. It may have only covered the
tabernacle, or some think-- and I tend to be among them-- that it centered over the
tabernacle and spread out. Why is that important? Well, the desert of
Sinai is like living in Phoenix in the summer
without air conditioning. So to have a cloud that's
centered on the tabernacle and would spread
out, that'd be nice. That's a temperature regulator. And at night, the desert can
get cold in parts of the year. So to have a fire that
would warm it and light it, it's a great system. Now in chapter 10, verse 11, "it
came to pass on the 20th day--" here's where it starts-- "on the 20th day of the second
month in the second year, the cloud was taken up
from above the tabernacle of the testimony." So this is 20 days
after chapter 1. They begin their journey,
the book of Journeys. They now begin to
leave Mount Sinai and move toward
the promised land. Verse 12, "and the
children of Israel set out from the wilderness of
Sinai on their journey. Then the cloud settled down
in the wilderness of Paran." So when the cloud settles down
in the wilderness of Paran, where do you camp that night? In the wilderness of Paran. Right. You get an A on the test. "So they started out
for the first time according to the command of
the Lord the hand of Moses." So wow, they're off. Finally, they get
moving toward the land. What they don't know
is they won't get there for another 38 plus years. It's an 11-day journey. They're not going to get there. They don't know this yet. They're not going to get there
for another 38 plus years. Why? Well, Chapter 11 starts to
reveal a problem among them. First one, now when the people-- what'd they do? Complain. Complained. There's a problem. Verse 1, chapter 11. "Now when the
people complained." Have you ever heard a complaint? Have you ever known a
person who complains? Are you a complainer? When the people complained,
it displeased the Lord, for the Lord heard it. And his anger was roused. They complained. Get used to this word. If you read the book of
Numbers, it's used a lot. Why did they complain? What is the source
of the problem? Verse 4, "now the mixed
multitude who were among them yielded to the intense craving
so the children of Israel also wept again and said, who
will give us meat to eat?" I want a hamburger. Excuse me, I want a lamb burger. Try Jewish. Not a hamburger. I want a lamb burger. And I want chicken fillets. I want with garlic and stuff. I want what we had in Egypt. All the frills, the cucumbers. I want the Happy Meal. I don't want this unhappy
manna from heaven. Even though it
had protein in it. It gave them all the nutrition
so that they would not get the diseases
that you would get with a diet, typically, of the
same thing over and over again. But they didn't like it. They wanted meat. God will answer that
prayer by giving them, in the next chapter,
quail to eat, more than they can even handle. But they say, who
will give us meat? Now, who is this
mixed multitude? It is the product of mixed
marriages, Israelites and Egyptians. Apparently, these
were the offspring. They had a parent in
Egypt and a parent among the children of Israel. They weren't fully Jewish. They weren't fully Egyptian. They had enough Egyptian
in them to like Egypt and want that back. They had enough Jewish in
them to want to go to Canaan. But here's what happens, and
here's why they complain. They start forgetting
how bad it used to be. They start forgetting
about their slavery. They have selective
memory disorder. You know, it is that way. We look back to
the old days, yeah, I remember how cool
it was back then. I used to have friends
who they were saved like me in that whole
Jesus movement era, and I remember one
night a couple of them said, gosh, remember
how cool it was when we used to, like, party and stuff? And I turned to him
and I said, you've got to be kidding, right? You don't remember
some of those parties probably because
you were so soused, but I remember picking
you up after you vomited. And you're talking about
what a great party that was? You have selective
memory disorder. We can get that. They got that. They're so nostalgic talking
about the good old days. Listen, the good old
days is nothing more than a good imagination and
a bad memory mixed together. That's what that is. Because guess what? I bet in the good old days,
you complained even then. Once you look for problems,
you start missing blessings. So they complain,
and the complaining spreads through the camp. It is contagious, by the way. Doubt and complaint
are contagious. It spreads through
the camp, even into the very home
of Moses himself, with his sister and
his brother infected by this complaining virus. Verse 1 of chapter 12,
"then Miriam and Aaron--" these are leaders. They have seen the wonders
and miracles of God. "Miriam and Aaron
spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian
woman whom he had married." So they're bummed out because
who he chose to be his wife. For he had married
an Ethiopian woman. Now, who is this
Ethiopian woman? Some think, well, this
is his wife, Zipporah. We know that from the Bible,
his wife was named Zipporah. Trouble is, she is
a Midianite woman. Zipporah was from Midian. That's of Arab descent. This is somebody from
Ethiopia, so this is probably the wife he married after
the death of Zipporah. The in-laws don't like
her all that much. They complain. And it says in verse
2, "and so they said--" here's their complaint-- "has
the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken
through us also?" They've tasted enough
of leadership to think, we can be in charge. And it says, "and
the Lord heard it." Mark that. Just like before, their
complaints, the Lord heard it, the Lord heard it. The microphone is always on. I have a microphone
right now, right here. This is me doing it right here. It's kind of fun doing it. And afterwards,
I'll turn it off. Have you ever seen or
heard of politicians who they don't know
the microphone is on after the rally, and they say
some things that kind of ruin their reputation? And what we need to realize is
that the microphone is always on, in that the Lord
always hears what we say and doesn't just sit
by idly when we say it. He'll respond to that. Now, verse 3 is interesting
because it says, "now the man Moses
was very humble, more than all the men who were
on the face of the Earth." Who wrote this book? No comment. But here's the point of this. If God chose Moses-- and he did-- and the people
are complaining against Moses-- and they were--
then effectively, who are they
complaining against? God. They have to blame God. That's really what
they're doing. God chose him
unmistakably, miraculously. In complaining against
that chosen leadership, they are complaining
against God. Now, David knew better. Later on, King David
before he was king was being chased
by Saul the king. And when he had the chance to
kill him, he wouldn't do it. Remember the story? Because he said he wouldn't
touch God's anointed. He had respect for the office. He wasn't a perfect man. He was a sinful man. But David respected
the office enough to know you don't
touch God's anointed. Miriam and Aaron did. And they complained. The Lord heard it. And so Miriam, after the
shekinah lifts, you look at her and she's white. Looked like she had leprosy. White like snow. Moses, instead of like folding
his arms like a lot of us, and they'll go,
serves you right, and kind of smiling
and watching her get all embarrassed as she
goes through the camp looking like an albino,
he prayed for her. He prayed that the
Lord would heal her. Graciously, he prayed, and
the Lord answered his prayer. Now, in chapter 13, God
gives a directive for Moses. Remember, they're
making this journey. They've had their
first encampment. Now, he has an order. He is to follow
chapter 13, verse 1, "the Lord spoke
to Moses, saying, send men to spy out
the land of Canaan, which I am giving to
the children of Israel. From each tribe
of their fathers, you shall send a man, every
one a leader among them." The mission was to go
out to the land of Canaan from Kadesh Barnea on a
reconnaissance mission to determine the nature
of the land, the strengths and weaknesses of those who
were inhabiting the land. Is the soil good? Is not so good. What's the fruit like? How's farming? Are there cities? Are they big cities,
small cities? Do they have walls? Are they unprotected? Are the people big, small? Just give us a rundown on that. So they were sent out, the 12. One from each tribe, 12
ambassadors went out. Verse 25, chapter 13, "and
they returned from spying out the land after 40 days." Go down to verse 27. "Then they told
him--" they're back-- "we went to the land
where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and
honey, and this is its fruit." Between two men,
they carried back an enormous bunch of grapes
from an area called eshkol by the area of Hebron. Beautiful area down in Judea. They were massive. It took two men to
carry this bunch, and they brought it back. If you go to Israel
today, you will see cars driving around
Israel with a sign on the side, a picture of
two men carrying grapes. To this day, that is the symbol
of the Ministry of Tourism for the state of Israel. Remembering this reconnaissance
mission when they came back and they brought the grapes. So they had the evidence. They brought the fruit. And now you would
think, in this report, everybody's going, yes,
hallelujah, hallelujah. Their faith is increasing
right about now. You hear this report,
you're really jazzed. But the fruit gets
offset by fear. Watch this. Verse 28. "Nevertheless, the people
who dwell in the land," their report
continues, "are strong. The cities are fortified
and very large. Moreover, we saw the
descendants of Anak." The Anakeem. Large people. Gigantic people. Verse 30. "Then Caleb quieted the
people before Moses, and said, let us go up at
once and take possession, for we are well
able to overcome it. But the men who had
gone up with him said, we are not able to
go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." Now, I have a question
to ask you right here. Is the majority always right? Now, remember that. We live in a country,
majority rules. It does. Majority rules. We live in a country
that's a democracy. The majority always rules. But is the majority
always right? No. They may rule, but they
may be wrong in their rule. The majority was
wrong, in this case. And two of the people
said, we can do it. You know, faith is
contagious, but so is fear. So be around people who
are filled with faith, not people who are
filled with fear, or people who are
filled with complaining. If you're around those
people, you'll get fearful, you'll tend to complain,
you'll get angry. You get narrow, you get bitter. Hang out with people who
believe God can do great things. That also is contagious. Verse 32, "and they gave
the--" life's just too short to hang around grumpy people. Verse 32, "and they gave
the children of Israel a bad report of the land which
they had spied out, saying, the land through which we have
gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and
all the people whom we saw are men of great stature. There we saw the giants. The descendants of
Anak from the giants." Now, they already said
that, but it's like, hey, did you know
there's giants here? Yeah, you told us. Well, they're big. You know, that's just
like first and foremost in their little noodle. And look at verse 33, then. "And we were like grasshoppers
in our own sight." And what's the
last little phrase? "And so we were in their sight." Now, they're wrong. The first is right,
the second is wrong. "We are like grasshoppers in
our sight," that part is right. "And we were in their
sight," that part is wrong. And I'll show you why. Hold onto that thought. It all depends on how
you look at things. They said, "we're like
grasshoppers in our own sight." It all depends how
you look at it. Joshua and Caleb were
looking at a big God. The 10 spies were looking at
big giants, big men, big God. When you look at a big
God, compared to God, they're little guys. Who what? So what? But if you leave God out of
it, then on Earth, it's huge. It's insurmountable. You can't overcome it. It's too big. It's too hard. Depends on how
you evaluate life. Now, I said the
first part is right, the second part is wrong. Notice that he says "we were
grasshoppers in their sight." That was wrong. How do we know that? Well, 38 years, 10
months later, they get to the edge of
the Jordan River. Moses dies. Next leader is Joshua. Joshua brings them through. The first city they
go to is Jericho. There is a lady there who's
a prostitute named Rahab. You know your Bible so well. You should just give
the Bible study. So Rahab is there. Takes two spies. Moses sent 12 spies. Joshua sent two spies. Why did he send two? Because who cares about the 10? They brought a bad report. All you need is two good
ones, so just send two. So he sends two spies. They talk to Rahab, and
Rahab tells them the truth. Listen to what Rahab says. "You know, the fear
of you Israelis has fallen upon all of us. Our hearts are melting in
terror because of you." That's what they
were really thinking. The giants and the
inhabitants of Canaan were fearful at the
children of Israel. Children of Israel thought
it's the other way around. We're fearful because
they're so big. God put terror in the
hearts of the enemies. Never underestimate
what God can do. When you face an enemy and you
think that giant is so big, those people are so huge,
this is a big trial, I can't handle it, you
don't know what God put in the heart of the other guy. And God did that here. They just didn't know it. Chapter 14. After the report comes back,
it's time to make a decision. So it goes out for a vote,
interestingly enough. All in favor of going
into the promised land? Two. All in favor of staying
back here and just, like, hanging out in the dirt? 10. Verse 1, "so all
the congregation lifted up their
voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And the children of
Israel complained against Moses and Aaron." Complained, there's
that word again. "And the whole
congregation said to them, if only we had died
in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died
in this wilderness." And if I were Moses, I
would have said, amen. Wish that would have happened. Be a whole lot easier. "Why has the Lord brought us to
this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children
should become victims?" This is a person
of faith now using your kids as a scapegoat
for your lack of faith. "Would it not be better
for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another,
let's select a leader and return to Egypt." Now, they pretend to be thinking
about the safety of their kids. Actually, their complaint
is a reflection on God. What they're saying is God
doesn't care about our kids. That's what the
complaint really says. God won't take care
of our children. God won't take care of my--
he didn't care about our kids. Now they're blaming
Moses for it. So they complain because
their children are vulnerable. Question, because you
know your Bible so well, who entered the land? Their kids. Not them. They're all going to
die in the wilderness. The kids that they're so worried
about because God doesn't care, they're the ones that are
going to get the land. Old folks sat there,
cried, and died. So what's the
result of all this? The result is
judgment, verse 27. "God said, how long shall I
bear with this evil congregation who complaint against me?" God takes it personally. "I have heard the complaints,
which the children of Israel make against me. Say to them, Mo--" he's
talking to Moses here-- "as I live, says the
Lord, just as you have spoken in my hearing,
so I will do to you. The carcasses of you who
have complained against me shall fall in the wilderness. All of you who are
numbered according to your entire number, from
20 years old and above. Except for Caleb,
the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of
Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore
I would make you dwell in." If only we would have
died in the desert. God said, I'm writing that down. That's what's going
to happen to you. You got your prayer answered. Put a name in under
that, and you'll die. Now, we forget what
we ought to remember and we remember what
we ought to forget. Have you found that to be true? We forget the things that
we should be recounting and recalling and believing. We forget them. But we remember the things
we should be forgetting. Psalm 103, the psalm that said,
"bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and
forget not all his benefits." He's talking to his soul. He's counseling himself. Soul, down there, I
don't want you ever to forget how good God is. I don't want you ever to
let go of God's faithfulness in keeping his promises. Bless the Lord. Oh, but Skip, it's so
much more fun to complain. Now, the last part of the
book, the final 22 chapters, shows them going around
in circles for 38 years. We're just going to look
at a couple of things. Chapter 15, verse 1, "then
the Lord spoke to Moses, speak to the children of Israel. Say to them, when you
have come into the land you are to inhabit,
which I am giving you--" now just stop right there. Notice what God said to
this group of complainers that he is going to
kill in the wilderness. He doesn't say if
you enter the land, he still gives
them the assurance that he'll keep his promise
with their children. New generation. But he says, and it's
wonderful, not if, but when. You're going to make it. When you have come into the
land you are to inhabit. Now, from chapter 15 on,
the next few chapters, laws are given. Many of the laws that were
written in the other books that we have already covered. God is reinforcing those laws. He's giving them to
a new generation. Chapters 16 through 19
speaks about the priesthood, four incidents that regard
the priesthood, including one I want to just briefly
touch on, a rebellion. Surprise you? More complaining,
more rebellion. This time, a Levite named
Cora and two Rubinites by the name of Dathan and
Abiram and 248 of their buddies, chapter 16, verse 2,
"they rose up before Moses with some of the
children of Israel, 250 leaders of the
congregation, representatives of the congregation,
men of renown. They gathered together
against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, you take
too much upon yourselves." In other words, we think
that you, as a single leader, have way too much authority. There's too much
authority in one man. You take too much upon yourself. For all the congregation
is holy, every one of them. And the Lord is among them. Why, then, do you
exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord? So Moses hears it and
says, OK, let's have a showdown at the OK
Corral tomorrow morning. Verse 31 tells us what happens. Let me give you a little
bit of background. He says, tell you what. You don't think
that I'm the leader. You think you ought
to be the leader. So let's do this. If you die a normal death, if
you just keep going on living, and you live and
you live your life, and you die like
everybody else dies, and you die a normal death, then
God did not speak through me. But if the Lord does a brand-new
thing and opens up the earth and swallows you alive,
then God spoke through me. He might have even done that. God wasted no time at all. The earth opened up and
swallowed the dissenters and their friends. It says in verse 31, "the
ground split apart under them and swallowed them up." Cora was a complainer,
but he was much more. He was a poser. He was a poser. He wasn't called by God. He wanted the attention
that leaders get. And because they tried to
divide the children of Israel, God divided the earth
and swallowed up those causing division. Galatians chapter 6 is the
principal be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows,
that he shall also reap. Chapter 20, we've
just got to just talk about it move on because
I want to finish the book. Moses was told by God, because
the people needed water, and when they needed water
and food, what did they do? They complained. They complained. So they complain. And God says, go
over to the rock. Don't hit it this
time, just talk to it. Just have a conversation
with the rock. Well, that's kind of strange. So hey, rock, Mo here. Do me a favor, would you? Just give these people water. That's weird. So what he does, he gets so
angry that he beats the rock. He hits it. Must we smite this rock and
bring water forth from you? Who's we? You're not doing anything. God is doing the miracle. But he takes it very
personally, misrepresents God. Because of that
stunt, God says, I'm going to take you to a mountain
overlooking the promised land, but you're going to
die outside of it. You're not going to go into it. That's chapter 20. Chapter 21 is also
an incident I just have to bring up because it's
mentioned in the New Testament. In chapter 21, life gets rough. And so what do the people do? Complain. You should all know the
answer to that by now. They do this frequently. So what do they do? They complain. And so when they
complain, this time God sends venomous snakes
through the camp to bite them and kill them. So that's not good
because 24,000 die. So Moses prays to God. God says, you want to fix this? Get a pole and put
a serpent on it, a brass serpent on that pole. Raise it up, and tell
people to look at it. And if they look at
it, they'll live. Well, that didn't make
any medical sense, but it makes theological sense
because it was a look of faith. It seemed dumb to look
at something like that and believe that that
was going to heal you of poisonous venom
that is circulating through your bloodstream,
but it worked. It was a look of faith. It healed them. Jesus said, as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, the Son of Man
will be lifted up. The same look of
faith is the same look of faith at this time Christ
on the cross that saves people. It's not by our own works. It might not-- people even
ask, how does that make sense, believing in a guy who died on
a cross 2,000 years ago will get you to heaven? I know it sounds
weird, but it works. It works. It saves people. God has chosen by the
foolishness of the gospel preached. And it's the gospel of
looking at the cross by faith that saves. That's chapter 21. Chapter 22 through
25 is bizarre, for a number of reasons. It's about a guy named
Balaam, or Balaam. But I'm going to say
Balaam because that's what everybody says. Why is it weird? Balaam is weird. Balaam is mentioned
in the Bible 59 times. There are several chapters here. In fact, there is more said of
Balaam in the Bible than Mary, the mother of Jesus, or any
of the apostles of Christ. That's weird. Who was he? He was a Mesopotamian baru. B-A-R-U, if you're taking notes. A Mesopotamian baru. Mesopotamia is the area he was
from, like ancient Chaldea. A baru is an Akkadian
word that means a priest, an oracle speaking priest. A diviner. He read omens and
declared truths based on omens that he read. Well, there was a
local king bummed out that the children of Israel
were so large and moving through the area. So his name was Balak. And he called Balaam
from Mesopotamia to come and do his
magic and curse them. So Balaam sets off on
a donkey, apparently with the wrong motivation. The donkey sees an angel
of the Lord in the path. Most of you know this story. Angel stands in the path. The donkey sees it, has enough
sense to veer off the path. You don't mess with
an angel with a sword. You just don't do that. Donkey knew that. Figured it out. Stopped. Balaam got mad, beat the donkey. He did it again,
beat the donkey. Did it again, beat the donkey. This time, the donkey
speaks to Balaam. Miraculously God-- now,
let me ask a question. Any of you here remember
the show on television-- I'm giving away my
age, but some of you remember the show Mr. Ed? How many of-- I want to see hands. God bless you all. Wasn't that a great show? So Mr. Ed was this
talking horse, and his owner was Wilbur. And he would come into
the barn and "Wilbur." Right? Mr. Ed , I love that. So this is like the
Old Testament Mr. Ed, except he's not
talking to Wilbur. So chapter 22, verse
28, "then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey,
and she said to Balaam-- this is a miracle, obviously. The donkey says, articulating
in human language, "what have I done to you that you have
struck me these three times? And Balaam said to the donkey." This is Wilbur talking to Ed. "Because you have abused me. I wish there was a sword in my
hand, for now I would kill you. And the donkey said to Balaam--"
they're having a conversation now-- "am I not your donkey on which
you have ridden ever since I became yours to this day? Was I ever disposed
doing this to you? And he said no." It's amazing that
a donkey speaks. It's more amazing that the
dude talks back to the donkey. You know, we'd be going, wait
a minute, donkeys can't talk. You know what's
even more amazing? We talk to our
pets all the time. You can't really blame this guy. You do it, and you think
they understand you. Now, I just have to
bring something up before we move on from
Balaam and the donkey. And I love this
because, as one who is called to stand in a
place of biblical authority and speak God's word, the Lord
uses this story for my sake to remind me that those of us
who speak for God should not get too puffed up. I speak for God. So? So did a donkey. It's good for any preacher
to read this story. [APPLAUSE] Chapter 2, verse 41. "So it was the next day that
Balak took Balaam, brought him to the high places of Baal--"
baal worship, Old Testament, false God, from the heights-- "that from there he might
observe, look down on, see the extent of the people." So Balaam looking down
would see a cross. He would see the
covenant people of God in the tabernacle with
the shekinah the cloud and the fire. They're under God's covenant. Chapter 23, verse 8. By the way, he gives several
oracles, three main ones, several of them, though,
verse 8 of chapter 23, he says to Balak, "how can I
curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom
the Lord has not denounced?" And then chapter 24, verse
5, he says, "how lovely are your tents, oh Jacob. Your dwellings, oh Israel, like
the valleys that stretch out, like gardens by the riverside,
like aloe plants by the Lord, like cedars beside the waters." He is unable to curse
the children of Israel. He can only speak blessing. By the time we get
to the next chapter, Balaam has said this to Balak. Look, can't curse these people
because God has blessed them. You heard me. God restrained me
from cursing them. But you could do something where
I don't have to curse them. God will curse them. Send your women into
the camp to seduce them, these young,
pretty priestesses, to bring idols with them for
worship, to lay down with them and have sexual relations. You just entice these
young men with your women, and during that act, you
bring out that worship and you make sure that those men
bow down and pray to that idol. So he caused a stumbling
block, the Bible later on says, for the children of Israel
by this kind of counsel. Chapter 26, verse 1, we come
to the final phase of it. 26 through 36 is
reorganizations, the brand-new generation. Chapter 26, verse 1, "and it
came to pass after the plague." Last chapter, plague
killed 24,000 people. "That the Lord spoke
to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron
the priest, saying, take a census of
all the congregation of the children of
Israel 20 years old and above by their
fathers' houses who are able to go
to war in Israel." So this is the second census. Everyone 19 years old and below
is included in this census because everyone 20
years old and above has died in the wilderness. It's time for a new
generation to be numbered. The original number of
the census was 603,550. Of that group, only two
are left, Joshua and Caleb. The new census,
chapter 26, verse 51, is 601,730, a loss, a net
loss, a generational loss of 1,820 people. Statisticians would call
this zero population growth. That's what all that murmuring
and complaining and wandering has brought. Chapter 31 through 36,
the land is apportioned to the children of Israel. 2 and 1/2 tribes want
to stay on the east. Moses says you can, as long as
you go over to the other side, help the rest of the
tribe settle their land, and then come back to your land. Chapter 33, if you
just look at it, you notice a whole bunch
of names of places. It's a journey log of all the
places they went and camped. And so that's where
the cloud stopped and the pillar stopped,
and then moved on and stopped and stopped
during those wanderings where they camped. Chapter 34 are the
boundaries given to the land. Four boundaries, north,
south, east, and west. Chapter 34, verse 13, Moses
commanded the children of Israel, saying "this is the
land which you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has
commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half tribe." So there were 12 tribes,
but some settled east and the rest settled west. The book ends with
that new generation at the brink of the
Jordan River on the plains of Moab overlooking Jericho. Look at chapter 36, verse 13. And we will close
with this verse. "These are the commandments
and the judgments which the Lord commanded
the children of Israel by the hand of Moses in the
plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho." This is where their
pilgrimage ended them. Let me close with this thought. Every Christian is on a
journey, a pilgrimage. Right? We make our journey
through life. We are on a journey
toward maturity, toward sanctification,
toward service in the Lord. For some of us, it's been
a pleasurable journey, but not for most of us. I think that, for
most of us, we would say the journey has been
marked by pain, suffering, discouragement,
disillusionment, struggle. Right? Sometimes we feel
like we're wandering. We read a book about
a group of people who knew better, but
didn't live better. So as we make our
journey through this life toward maturity and
service and sanctification, what should we learn? Let me give you three quick
takeaways really quick. Number one, complaining
is contagious. We already discussed that. Complaining is contagious. You will ruin the whole
scene if you come in and start complaining. It's contagious. It will spread. Number two, doubting
is disastrous. It was for them. Their corpses, it
says in this book, shall fall in the wilderness. Can I just say, if you are
bent on doing your own thing and going your own way
and not letting God in, it's going to hurt a lot
more than any trouble on a journey toward heaven. The Bible says, in Proverbs
29, he was often rebuked and hardens his neck, will
suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. Doubting is disastrous. Here's the final point. Wandering-- or
excuse me, walking is better than wandering. An 11 days walk would be a whole
lot better than 38 months-- 38 years, 10 months,
total of 40 years wandering in the wilderness. They turned and an 11-day
dream into a 40-year nightmare. Walking is better
than wandering. It's always better to walk by
faith than to wander by fear. If you're facing something
tonight, this week, this month, it seems
so big, the diagnosis seems bleak, the decision
you heard from a spouse seems horrible, don't go back. Go forward. Walk forward. Walk by faith. Walk. Keep walking. Keep believing. Keep trusting. And watch what God
is going to do. He's going to do something. The story isn't over yet, but
don't wallow in the wilderness and wander for months and years. Keep walking. God has good things for you. Father, we want to
thank you for this book. And Lord, we do applaud
because we're applauding you and your work in our lives. And I pray for
anyone who maybe has been hardening their
hearts against you and not letting you
in to their lives, that they would
put an end to that, stop that, and invite Christ
to be the reigning king supreme of their present
and their future, because Jesus took care
of our past at the cross. We look to that cross
by faith, and we pray that that faith would
take us into the promised land. In Jesus' name, amen. We hope you enjoyed this message
from Skip Heitzig of Calvary Church. For more resources,
visit calvarynm.church. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from The Bible from 30,000 Feet.
