Numbers (Session 5) Chapters 15-20

well we are engaged in a review of the Book of Numbers and it gets its name from the Greek translation of that in the Septuagint but the Hebrew name is the mid bar in the wilderness and it really records the wilderness wanderings of course as soon as I say that I realize I'm exaggerating because the wilderness wanderings are 38 years which has a surprising scarcity of detail a few incidents here and there are recorded for our learning but it's actually wasted years and we'll explore some of that the thirty-eight years from the giving of the law at Sinai to the eve of conquest when Joshua takes over and they they head into the land these 38 years are the wasted years it took only 40 hours to get Israel out of Egypt it took 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel to get the world world in this behind them and the chronicle of successes and failures of the wilderness wanderings are recorded some of them in Exodus some of them here in numbers some of them summarized in the book of Deuteronomy why do we have why do we study this we're New Testament Christians well Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 10 verse 11 now all these things happened unto them for examples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come we should expect to get all kinds of insights from any study of the scripture Old Testament or new but these in the Torah especially and one of the dangers we face is that we can get so entangled with the little rules and details that we missed the real point and especially as that point applies to our lives so I'm going to try not to get into how many pounds of flour drops of oil we're in which offerings there is a place to do that and if you're if you're if the Lord leads in that direction I encourage you to undertake a study of the Book of Leviticus which goes that back quite systematically it's the only book on holiness in the Bible and but we'll try to take a little different cut at this to try to understand what the lessons are for us the word examples in the Greek estuvo switch which we get the turn their word type like a prototype and that's a figure or an image a pattern a prefiguring an engineer makes a prototype to see what the final thing will probably look like that sort of thing and that the word type in biblical literature refers to a a perspective that is gained from an incident about something in the future and there's some very dramatic examples which clearly are engineered deliberately by the Holy Spirit in the text so you want to be sensitive to those one of the things we learned in that previous chapters was the order of March we had Moses and Aaron then the camp of Judah then the two families that Levites then the camp of Reuben and the third and final the kohathites and anyway we have the four camps of Israel the camp of Judah Reuben Ephraim a den each one of three tribes each and we discovered they're assembled by trumpets and how many trumpets are there seven and that's interesting preamble when you study Revelation chapter 8 we also talked about manna this strange material that fed them during that 38 years little thin flakes that were white or almost white and tasted like something paper-doll Avoyelles and a couple of quarts of that were kept near or in there's a big medical debate was it in the Ark of governor just in front I won't get into that here they were memorialized for some time and but when they finally get to Gilgal just before Joshua takes him in the land that manna ceases it was a special provision for their wilderness wanderings and so it's interesting even though they're in rebellion even though they're in in disbelief God is still providing for them in the days of Esther God is very invisible and yet providing we need to understand that so the next handful of chapters we looked at last time is the quailing the rebellion the quails and all that Miriam's murmuring they murmur how many times do you think good guess seven right on we talked about at some length the intelligence mission the sending in of 12 spies and obviously and and result of the reports the management because of those 12 tribes only 10 earned their pay so to speak Caleb and the one that was named renamed Joshua by Moses they gave the good report and because they did they were the only survivors the other ten were killed on the spot later I'm shortly after which spot and the entire generation that failed to take advantage of the opportunity arguing that they were that Moses has brought them out there to die in the desert he says no you got it backwards your kids are going to go in the Promised Land you guys are going to die in the desert and that entire generation passed away and when the last of them pass away with the exception of Caleb and Joshua that's when the end of the land and that the 38 years are wasted years but this brings us to tonight's session chapters 15 to 20 the journey having failed at Kadesh Barnea they were had the opportunity to go in and they wouldn't take it then when God closes the door they have the presumption to try to go in anyway and they get clobbered yeah that's as bad as the first you know it's amazing how many of us probably have occasions where we have a lack of faith on the one hand and we counter that then with acting on our own presumption rather than God's leading there you can air both ways not responding in faith to the opportunity when God calls and presuming an opportunity of our own flesh not of God's making and that's our challenge is to understand what's really happening so we could call this faltering fumbling and fussing through the wilderness as the 38 years might be labeled these are wasted years without much recorded a few incidents and we'll focus on a few of those incidences it's interesting we'll discover when you get to Joshua 5 they didn't even circumcise during those 38 years first thing Josh wants to do is get the whole nation a couple million people the male's circumcised they didn't practice the basic one of the basic rights or practices of Judaism they failed to do 338 years they repair that of course at Gilgal Joshua does it they did not undertake the offerings we'll find all these details about the offerings if you look at the language carefully will discover when you get in the land you'll do this that the other thing they didn't do that they didn't they didn't offer Amos chapter 5 deals with that in fact they went the other way they worshiped idols and that's not my conjecture Amos hammers away at that in Amos 5 and it's also alluded to in acts 7 by Stephen in the summary of this period see we - you and I we're also strangers pilgrims wandering in the wilderness we are not citizens of this world the book of Revelation makes a distinction one of the groups in the book of Revelation are the earth dwellers and that term doesn't just mean they're physically on there that means they dwell upon the earth they are in distinction of the believers we are not earth dwellers we should have a light touch on this world we're passing through so we have lots to learn by watching the the confrontations that occur throughout the Book of Numbers so let's jump in word our session starts now with numbers 15 verse 1 the Lord spake unto Moses saying speak unto the children Israel and say unto them when ye come into the land of your habitations which I give unto you and we'll make an offering by fire unto the Lord a burnt offering or a sacrifice and performing a vow and a free will offering or in your solemn fees to make a sweet savour in the Lord of the herd or of the flock then shall he that offereth his offering unto the Lord bring me a meat offering of a tenth deal of flour mingled with a fourth part of a hint of oil and the fourth part of a hint of wine for a drink offering shelter I'll prepare with the burnt offering or sacrifice for one lamb or for a ram thou shalt prepare for a meat offering 210th deals of flour mate with a third part of a hint of oil and for a drink offering thou shall offer the third part of a hint of wine for a sweet savour unto the Lord and when thou prepares the Bullock for a burnt offering or a sack for sacrifice performing a vow or peace origin of the Lord then shall ye bring forth the Bullock a meat offering a free tenth deals the flour mingled with half a hint of oil we could spend a lot of time talking about the distinctions of these there's some slight differences and some supplements to the Book of Leviticus I'm not going to spend time on that we've got plenty other material to cover here but I do encourage you to to get a background in the various offerings what kinds there's five basic different types in the Book of Leviticus and how this works but this continues with these instructions thou shalt bring for a drink the drink offering half a hint of why hidden is about forgotten now a court I think either a quarter of fraction of the court now thou shalt bring for a drink offering half a hint of wine and for an offering made by fire a sweet savour unto the Lord thus shall it be done for one Bullock or for a ram or for a lamb or a kid according to the number that you shall prepare so shall you do everyone according to their number the only thing I really want to obviously remember get into all the details but it's interesting that God is very specific as to what he expects so often we sort of assume that what sounds good dust may sound good to him and you know better if we did the other way around better if we find out his buying habits might understand what he likes and respond accordingly all that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner in an offering and in offering and offering made by fire of a sweet savour in the Lord and if a stranger sojourn with you or whosoever be among you in your generations and will offer an offering made by fire of a sweet savour of the Lord as he do so he shall do it's interesting that they did allow strangers foreigners to travel with them but if they did they expected them to conform to their practices not the other way around we sort of get that backwards oe1 ordinance shall be both for you and of the congregation and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you an ordinance forever in your generations as ye are so shall the stranger be before the Lord that's an interesting instruction one law and one manner shall be for you and for the stranger that sojourneth with you the Lord spake unto Moses saying speak on the children Israel and say unto them when you come into the land whither I bring you then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land he shall offer up a heave offering unto the Lord now heave offering is like a wave offering is you understand what happens to that after it's waved in the direction of tabernacle it belongs to the Levites and 1/10 of what the Levites GetGo the priests so this is so the it was still useful it was burned too that it wasn't burned ashes it was it was offering that for the for the people involved so he shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for a heave offering and as he do the heave offering of the threshing floor so she'll even and the first of your dough shall you give unto the Lord a heave offering in your generations and if he ever aired and have not observed all these Commandments which the Lord has spoken unto Moses even all of the Lord have commanded you by the hand of Moses from the day that the LORD commanded Moses and henceforth on your generations then it shall be if aught be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation that all the congregation shall offer one Young Buck for a burnt offering for a sweet savour and the Lord with his meat offering and a drink offering according to the manner of one kid of the goats for a sin offering we're dealing here with sins of ignorance they're not ignored they still need to be paid for because they're still sin men are not lost because they haven't heard the gospel they're lost because they're sinners Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost we need to understand that being lost is our natural state that's our genetic inheritance from Adam and man that mankind is not sitting down in grief today because they haven't heard the gospel the fact they're not even anxious to hear it the Gospels there to repair their fallen state but the fallen states are given you can understand that and that's part of what undergirds all of us here and the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children and she'll be forgiven them for it is it for it is ignorance and they shall bring their offering a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord and their sin offering before the Lord for their ignorance and she'll be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel and the stranger that sojourneth among them seeing all the people were in ignorance now if any soul sin through ignorance then he shall bring a she-goat of the first year for a sin offering and the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly when he sent us by ignorance before the Lord to make an atonement for him and it shall be forgiven them again this is partly and part of it is to teach that the the base condition we're dealing with you should have one law for him that sinneth from ignorance both for him that is born among the tune of Israel and for the stranger that sojourneth among them but the soul that doeth ought presumptuously whether he born in the land or a stranger the same R approaches the Lord that soul shall be cut off from among his people because yet despised the word of the Lord he has broken his commandment that soul shall utterly be cut off as an equity shall be born upon him and and while the Joan of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day and they that found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses to Aaron and to all the congregation we're going to see that they kill him and it's very severe for what gathering sticks on the Sabbath day no that's not the point the point he's presumptuously doing it in defiance of God's direct commandment and some feel people feel this is very very severe or we always forget that the Sabbath laws were also embroidered by the Pharisees that Jesus spoke against Jesus the Lord of the Sabbath and the Pharisees added these Jewish regulations - that are not contained in the Old Testament to provide their own loopholes for themselves and the Lord of the Sabbath teaches that the law is designed for man's spiritual enjoyment and to satisfy his deepest needs the Sabbath was designed for our spiritual growth not to keep a lot of rules and regulations but the Bible nowhere makes light of takes a light attitude of towards the deliberate transgression of any of God's laws and they put him in Ward because it was not declared what should be done to him and the Lord said Moses the man shall be surely put to death all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp and all the congregation brought him without the camp stoned with stones and he died as the LORD commanded Moses the death penalty was the penalty for breaking any of the Ten Commandments and we need to understand this because it tells us what it means that Jesus Christ died in our behalf someone had to die to pay for our sin and that's part of the teaching that's going on so I said Jesus that pretty severe for the guy no it's a way of sparing thousands of others that word learned by that that God takes these things seriously that coin has two sides the Lord spake unto Moses saying speak unto the children of Israel and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribbon of blue so that's a tradition that has very very deep and it shall be unto you for a fringe that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord it's like string around the nation Israel's finger you ever do that any less probably an old-fashioned thing you tie a string around your finger to remind you something and what was that supposed to remind me of I forgot that anyway but the same kind of idea this is to remind them to remember all the commandments of Lord and to do them and that seek not after your own heart after your own eyes after after which you used to go a whoring that you may remember and do all my Commandments and be holy unto your God that is set aside do you got I am you know the Lord your God which brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God I am the Lord your God to be holy you know glib phrase what does it really mean it means to be separate to be set apart it's interesting how many churches try so hard to be part of the world they got it backwards you got it backwards not that they should be just obnoxious but the point the concept is to be separated from things of the world but I'm not married to them but I will talk a little bit to understand these fringes you want to understand a basic biblical understanding of what hems are all about in Hebrew the theorem can be is Sheol and it's a hem a border a fringe the bottom edge of a skirt or a train you and I take those for granted but we tend to embroider rank on the sleeve like stripes of an admiral or on the shoulder of a other different ranking but we carry ranked in other ways but the ancient cultures they did it on the fringe of their garments in ancient Mesopotamia to cut off the hem was to strip someone of their personality authority and so forth there was an expression of stripping you of what you really are to cut off your him because the him a husband could divorce his wife by cutting off the hem of a robe a nobleman would authenticate his contract on a clay tablet by pressing his unique embroidery into that tablet because he had an embroidery on his him that would we represent of his clan his family or whatever and now we find God's covenant with Israel is expressed this way in Isaiah 6 this vision of throne of God where God says I'm going to spread my skirt over you meaning I want to put my authority and protection over you same expressions in Ezekiel 16 and also in Ezekiel 39 David is in a cave and hiding in a cave and saw inadvertently picks that cave to sleep in overnight so David realized he's got an opportunity here but he doesn't take advantage of and killing Solomon killing so like Susan II he doesn't take advantage that by killing Saul what he does he cuts off the hem of His garment so he can prove later that he was there the next day when Saul's down the valley David's on the mountain says proving that he could have killed him showing David's grace in this issue later David is even grieved there because he also feels he had no right to cut off the hem of the King even that was a injustice in David's mind to saw Ruth in the climactic scene in route 3 where she asks Boaz to spread his skirt over her many people misunderstand verse 9 of chapter 3 as that she's propositioning for sex no no it's worse than that she's asking him to take her on as a wife and he understand that it's flattered by it and of course get her the whole thing with the points the whole that whole idea of spreading his skirt Boaz being in the kinsman redeemer to spread his authority over her to take her as a lever right a bride and so forth the Lord's hem is sought for healing in Matthew 14 mark 6 Luke 8 number places in fact there's one case where the woman that had the issue of blood as crowded who wants to touch the hem of his garment and it does so and Mark 9 and and Matthew 9 I should say in mark 5 and of course this also it all echoes the significance of the fringes with the blue to remind them of their of their covenant heritage well let's go to the next few chapters going to the priesthood and we have the gainsaying of korah this is mentioned by the way in Jude 11 in the New Testament as one of the marks of false teachers in the last days so as we read this strange story of Korah who leads this rebellion against Moses and Aaron let's recognize that the New Testament expressly links our lives to this story because it's indicative of the false teachers in the last days and we see forthcoming here a rebellion against Moses by Korah on the Levitical side and Reuben and his cohorts on the civil side there's two groups have different agendas but they're both United and trying feeling if they've been disenfranchised by Moses presuming Authority here they're all ignoring the fact that God rather dramatically established them in their position so by the way Korah was evidently a cousin of Moses which makes the rebellion even more serious but Cora the son of SR the son of Kohath the son of Levi and Dathan and abiram the sons of Eliab and on the son of sons of Reuben took men that was this other group of conspirators are of the tribe of Reuben the Reuben Knights were probably upset because they were the fern was the firstborn but he lost that franchise because he was he will be upstaged that's where Judah takes over but they rose up against Moses with certain of the children Israel 250 princes of the assembly famous in the congregation mentor Iran so we got 250 guys that have joined this rebellion against Moses and Aaron they gather themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said under them you take too much upon you seeing all the congregation of the Lord you know this is a false accusation Moses didn't want the job you may recall and so on so we've got up there is a proverb that's meaningful here it's one of the more useful ones to keep in mind proverbs 13 10 says that only by pride cometh contention whenever you see contention of whatever kind pride is at the root of it in this case it's I'm sure jealousy is a major part of it and there are a few complications the background I won't spend a lot of time on but these are which is the brother of amram is the second son of Co F and for some reason unrecorded he was he was supplanted by a descendant of the fourth son of God who was appointed a chief or Prince of the Khoa fights this is all in back in numbers chapter 3 by the way but anyway discontent with the precedent of having someone younger a younger relative you know originating a getting in a better situation may have been one of the reasons he participated in this seditious movement but anyway when Moses heard it he fell upon his face and he spake on a car and unto all his company saying even tomorrow the Lord will show you who are his and who is holy and will cause him to come near unto Him even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto Him and so the people that are taking too much on themselves are Korah and his gang kind of backwards they're causing division so God's going to show them how you really divide and now the murmuring isn't really against Moses against God because God is the authority for Moses Authority and I'm always reminded by Psalm 105 15 where the scriptures touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm reminds me many years ago I was in a asked to mediate an angry dispute between two partners well actually the three partners Hal Lindsey was in partnership with two other gentlemen and the two other gentlemen started to have a war between the two of them Hal asked me to step in and see what we could do and and the one guy that was quite aggressive I just you know to my Bible in the conference table it says I quoted someone he said you you will acknowledge the house anointed by God don't you oh yeah yeah well let me read you some 105 15 touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm so we recommend we cut the venture in half and give half to each partner the aggressive partner later got sold off to somebody forgotten how that all went the other half was by Bob Hawkins who became a harvest house that's a whole team when I was the Midwife that birthed harvest house any years ago but whenever I see this kind of situation I was think of 700 515 and it's also repeated in first chronicles 15 22 but some other than five 15 is easy to remember somehow anyway anyways serious problems require serious responses so watch out Korah this do take you sensors that's a holder of fire in sense all take you sensors Korah and all his company and put fire therein and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow and it shall be that the man whom the Lord death choose he shall be holy you take too much upon you ye sons of Levi and Moses that under car up here I pray you you sons of Levi seemeth it but a small thing unto you that the God of Israel have separated you from the congregation of Israel to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord and the stand before the congregation administer unto them and he have brought thee near to him and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee and seek ye the priesthood also which cause both you and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord and what is Aaron that you murmur against him and moment said to call Dathan and abiram the sons of ilium which said that we will not come is it a small thing that I always brought us up out of the land that floweth with milk and honey and to kill us in the wilderness except they'll make us thyself altogether a prince over us again this is a false charge they were where they chose to be if they'd follow Moses they'd be in the land with milk and honey the reason they're not in the land is they chose not to this whole thing is it's it's it's astonishing even today in our media to watch accusations that are absolutely inverted absolutely upside down absolutely upside down and I just been in major media ganging up with falsehoods we witnessed recently four or the five major media deliberately presenting knowingly false information in an attempt to unseat a sitting president during time of war it's called treason now we live in a world where the inversions are astonishing we look at our we have a war against terror but why aren't we defending Israel against terror and we could go on and on but anyway let's move on here moreover thou has not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards wilt thou put out the eyes of these men we will not come up Moses was very Roth and I can understand why and set out to the Lord with respect not bow their offering I have not taken one ass from them neither have I hurt one of them no he didn't get he didn't take any benefit by the burden of his responsibilities Moses said in Decorah be thou and all by company before the Lord thou and they and Aaron tomorrow I take every man his censer and put incense in them and bring me before the Lord every man is sensor 250 sensors now also an error in each of you his sensor they took every man his censer and put fire in them and laid in since thereon and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron stand by and Cora gathered all the congregation against them under the floor of the tabernacle of the congregation the glory of the Lord appeared on all the qanun that should we got their attention Lord speaking to Moses said in Aaronson separate yourselves from among this congregation vete that I may consume them in a moment whoa can't imagine deliberately trying to make God angry can't imagine man yet and they fell upon their face and said O God a god of spirits of all flesh shall one man sin will thou wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation notice is going to the defence the accused Lord speaking the motive saying speaking on the congregation saying get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah Dathan and abiram and Moses rose up and went unto Dathan in the BI room and the elders of Israel followed him and he spake another congregation saying depart I pray you from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs lest ye be consumed in all their sins so they got up from the table radical of the tents that in other words don't confuse Tabernacle to the tabernacle they were talking about their tents of Korah Dathan and byron on every side and death on the bottom came out and stood in the door of their tents and their wives and their sons and their little children and most said hereby he shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works for I have not done them of my own mind if these men die and come and death of all men or if they be visited after the visitation of all men then the Lord hath not sent me but if the Lord make a new thing and the earth open up her mouth and swallow them up with all that pertain unto them and they go down quick into the pit then you shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord I think that would express it pretty well they came to pass because he had made an end of speaking all these words that guess what happened that the ground clave asunder that was under them and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their houses and all the men that appertain Decorah and all their goods they and all that a pertain to them went down alive into the pit and the earth closed upon them and they perished from among account galatians chapter 6 verse 7 says be not deceived God is not mocked whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap these people were sowing division they got division God judges the same way in which man sins that was true of Jacob is true of David Tua Paul the Apostle and it's true of you and me and all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of him but I can imagine where they said lest the earth swallow us up also and there came out of fire from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense so the leadership got sucked in the ground the other followers got consumed by fire rather dramatic day I won't take the time in order to cover their material but you might put in your notes 2nd Peter chapter 2 verses 10 through 22 which tells you what God's view is of those who despise Authority and rebel against God's truth for most of you it's probably a pretty basic material on the other hand I encourage you to refresh your memories with second Peter 2:10 through 22 but the interests of covering the material will keep moving here it's at this point by the way that the Hebrew Bible starts a new chapter there are a few places where the Hebrew Bible and our English translations are slightly different and not big deal but just be aware of it the Jewish scribes felt that the rest of chapter 16 and all of 17 were a unit on the theme of Aaron's unique role as a priest continuing to number 16 verse 36 and Lord speaking to Moses saying speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest that he take up the sensor's out of the burning and scattered out of the fire yonder for they are hallowed and the centres of these sinners against their own Souls let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar and they offered them before the Lord therefore they are hallowed they shall be a sign unto the children Israel they took these sensors and flat and they made them they used it was covering for the brazen altar there's a brazen altar they had it was on a platform they covered it because it was bronze and they could sit down the heat but then secondly that would also be a reminder of this whole event every time they went to the bridge halls they remember these these were of the sensors of the rebellious ones and elion the priest took the brazen senses were what they were burnt and offered to meet broad plates for a covering of the altar to be a memorial unto the children of Israel that no stranger which is not of the seat of Aaron came near to offer incense before the Lord that he be not as Korah and his company as the Lord had said to him by the hand of Moses but on the morrow the congregation of the children saw a mermaid against Moses and against Aaron saying he have killed the people the Lord can you believe this is that by the way this is the sixth murmuring I haven't bothered account as we go but you can check it out there's the sixth murmuring that's recorded as such and this is on the next day people are murmuring against Moses because of his brutal treatment of these people you have kills the people Lord came to pass when the Cahn case was gathered against Moses and against Aaron that they looked toward the tabernacle congregation to behold the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared and Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation the Lord speaking the most saying get you up from among this congregation that I may consume them as in a moment on their faces now this crowd is now murmuring against Moses and Aaron but I want you to notice who goes to bat for the crowd Moses and Aaron take a sensor put fire therein from off the altar and put on incense and go quickly unto the congregation and make an atonement for them for their as wrath gone out from the Lord the plague has begun this is Moses 911 tells Aaron grab a sensor get to it to intervene on behalf of the people the plagues already begun and Aaron took Moses took as Moses commanded and ran into the midst the congregation behold the plague was begun among the people and he put on incense and made an atonement for the people and he stood between the dead and the live and the plague was stayed who is he a type of Jesus who's our high priest who ever liveth to make intercession for who you and me that's his full-time job this is a model in a sense now they died in the plague were 14700 beside them that died about the matter of Korah so when you add it all together is about 15,000 people that's a non-trivial episode and Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle common and the plague was stayed okay now in chapter 17 the Lord speaking to Moses saying speaking of the children of Israel take every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers and all of all their princes according to the house of their fathers 12 rods right thou every man's name upon his rod understand these rods these are staff's they're probably they're old dead sticks probably carved with initials or insignias or they're decorated poles that they used as staffs okay they're dead they're old sticks how big they were but there you can imagine you got 12 of them one for each of the tribes without shalt write Aaron's name upon the Grod of Levi for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers and thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony where I will meet with you and it will come to pass that the man's rod whom I shall choose shall blossom you've got to be kidding and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel whereby they murmur against you and Moses spake in the children Israel and every one of the princes gave him a rod apiece for each Prince one according to their fathers houses even 12 rods and the rod of Aaron was among the rods and Moses laid up the rods before the Lord the Tabard the tabernacle of witness he can't pass then on tomorrow Moses went to the tabernacle of witness and behold the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was butted and brought forth buds and bloom blossoms and yielded almonds and Moses says this bud is for you right I'm sorry all right forgive me for that this bob cornuke favorite line they had to work it in and Moses brought out all but can you picture this though can you imagine overnight overnight this thing this dead stick turns into an almond tree bearing fruit and boss I mean those brought out all the rods from before the before the Lord unto the children Israel and they looked and took every man his rod and in Hebrews the Epistle the Hebrews chapter four it makes reference to this is their seeing them that we are seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our profession for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like we are and yet without sin let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need so when we speak of this confirmation of Aaron let's also recognize that we have confirmation the same way what confirmed Aaron's authority the dead brought to life that that rod which was dead blossom but brought forth truth it was a resurrection admittedly in the botanical world but it was a resurrection that confirmed Aaron's priesthood by God himself and I suggest to you that's the same way that our priest is confirmed by an empty tomb when Sunday morning but this man he was continuous a few chapters later said but this man because he continueth ever half an unchangeable priesthood and wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that coming to God by him seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession for them the writer he was making the point that the Levitical priest died they would disappear the priest we have never will he ever lives to make intercession for you and I that's his full-time job man that's great for such a high priest for such an high priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens who needeth not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice first of his own sins and then for the people for this he did once when he offered up himself done deal - tell us - I paid in full it is finished number 17 verse 10 continuing the Lord said unto Moses bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony be kept for a token against the rebels and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me that they die not and Moses did so and the LORD commanded him so did he the children's were speaking to Moses saying behold we die we perish we all perish whoever cometh anything near into the tablet Lord shall die shall we be consumed by dying well we're gonna talk about the priesthood Aaron's been confirmed let's talk of the whole priest - that's chapter 18 Lord said an errand on thy sons and their father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary and that when my son shall bear sends Whitley shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood and thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi and the tribe of thy father brings out with thee that they may be joined unto the administer under the but thou and thy sons with the shell minister before the tabernacle of witness so again this is confirming the the descendants of Aaron in their roles and they shall keep thy charge and the charge of all the tabernacle owner they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar that neither they nor ye also die they shall be joined unto thee they'll keep the charge of the tabernacle its congregation for all the service of the tabernacle and the stranger shall not come nigh unto you and you shall keep charge of the sanctuary the charge of the altar that there'll be no wrath anymore upon the children of Israel for I behold I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children israel - to you they are given as a gift for the Lord to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation therefore thou and thy son shall key with these shall keep your priests office for everything of the altar and with him the veil and he shall serve and I have given your priests office unto you as a service of service of gift and the stranger that cometh nah I'll be put to death the Lord speaking the errand behold I also given the charge of my heave offerings and Walhalla things of the children Israel under thee have I given them by reason of the anointing and to thy sons by an ordinance for ever this shall be thine of the most holy things reserve from the fire every oblation of theirs every meat offering of there is and every sin offering of theirs and every trespass offering theirs which they shall render unto me shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons in the most holy place thou shalt eat it every male shall eat it and it shall be holy unto thee and this is line the heave offering of a gift and all the wave offerings of the children Israel i have given them unto thee to thy sons and their daughters with thee by a statute for ever everyone that is clean in the house shall eat of it all the best of the oil all the best of the wine and of the wheat of the firstfruits of them would show often to the Lord them have I given thee whatsoever is first ripe in the land which they shall bring the Lord shall be thine every one that is clean in the house shall either everything devoted in Israel shall be thine and everything that openeth the matrix in all the flesh which they bring unto the Lord whether it be of men or beasts shall be thine nevertheless the first born of man shalt thou shirley redeem and the first things of unclean beasts thou shalt thou redeem and those that are redeemed from a month old shall redeem according to the rest finest omission for the money of five shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary which is 20 euros but the first thing of a cow the first thing of a sheep the first thing of a goat thou shalt not redeem they are holy thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar and thou shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a sweet savour unto the Lord and the flesh of them shall be thine as the wave beast and the right shoulder are thine one of the things without getting in all the details here it's clear that the best is what you bring to the Lord the best not the leftovers the best and let your unconscious guide you in that but clearly you show your devotion your respect your awe of God by the prioritization of your life and in the per and the priorities that lead to your offerings to him all the heave offerings the holy things which the children Israel offer to the Lord have I given them thy sons and thy daughters with the forever it is covenant assault forever before the Lord unto thee and did I see with a covenant of salt salt because it was associated with permanence it was an idiom of a serious commitment and the Lord spake unto Aaron thou shalt have no inheritance in their land neither shelf to have any part among them for I am thy part and I inheritance among the chilling of Israel when they get into the land ultimately and when they conquer the land they divide the land the Levites don't get inheritance all the other tribes get inheritance they get as a geographic area that's theirs the Levites did not they got 48 cities scattered throughout six of which were cities of refuge and so on but they did not have title to property they depended upon the donations of the people for the Levites and the Levites in turn to the priests and so forth behold I've given the children of Levi that all the tenth of Israel for inheritance for their service which they serve even the service of the tabernacle congregation neater Mithen must the children Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation lest they bear sin and die but the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle congregation and they shall bear their iniquity it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations that among the children Israel they have no inheritance but the tithes of the children Israel which the offers and heave offering unto the Lord I have given him that Levites to inherit therefore I have said unto them among the children israel they shall have no inheritance the Lord spake unto Moses saying thus speak under the Levites and say to them when you take of the children of Israel the tides which I have given you from them for your inheritance then ye shall offer up a heave offering a bit for the Lord even a tenth part of the tithe and this is your heave offering that shall be reckoned unto you as though it were the corn of the threshing floor and as the fullness of the winepress though she shall offer heave offering of the Lord of all york tides which he received of the children israel and he shall give their up to the lord's heave offering to aaron the priest so you see the hierarchy a congregation gives to the Levites the Levites give to the priests understand the priests not all Levites were priests all priests were Levites but all all Levites increase Levites in general get the types of people and they've been tithes what they have to the priests out of all your gifts you shall offer every heave offering of the Lord of all the best thereof even the hallowed part thereof out of it all the best thereof you could just circle that passage and that covers this whole chapter the best thereof whatever it might be therefore thou shall say to them when you have heaved the best thereof from it then it shall be counted on to the Levites as the increase of the crashing floor as the increase of the winepress and usually eat it in every place he and your house holds for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation he shall bear no sin by reason of it when you ever heaved from it the best of it neither shall you pollute the holy things of the children Israel lest ye die now we get to chapter 19 which among other things has this strange thing the red heifer you hear more speculations that derive from the practices associated with the red heifer the Lord speaking to Moses and Aaron saying this is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded saying speak unto the children Israel that they bring V a red heifer without spot and there are just all kinds of books being written and so forth as the rabbi's try to decide to try to find a heifer that will qualify as the red heifer to indulge in this practice I'll talk more about that a little bit wherein is no blemish and upon which never came yoke so this is a heifer that's never been used for any other purpose and he shall give her unto Eleazar the priest that he may bring her forth without the camp outside the camp that is and one shall slay her before his face okay and the Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle the con games linking it symbolically of course to the tabernacle even though it's outside the camp one shall burned the heifer in his sight her skin and her flesh and her blood with her dung shall he burn and the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer and the priest shall wash his clothes and he shall bathe his flesh in water and afterward he shall come into the camp and the priest shall be unclean until even and he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his flesh in water and shall be unclean until the evening and the man that is clean shall gather up the ashes red-pepper and lay them up without the camp in a clean place and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children Israel for a water of separation it is a purification for sin and he that gathered the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening and it shall be unto the children of Israel unto the stranger that sojourneth among them for a statute for ever interesting he that touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days he shall purify himself with it on the third day and on the seventh day shall be clean but he if he purify it not himself the third day then on the seventh day he shall not be clean whosoever touches the dead body of any man that is dead and purify if not himself defiled the tabernacle of the Lord and that soul shall be cut off from Israel because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him he shall be unclean as in cleanness yet upon him this is the law when a man diet in a tent all that come into the tent and all that is in the tent shall be unclean seven days every vessel which hath no covering the bounty bond is unclean whoever touches the one that is slain with the sword in the open fields or a dead body or a bone of a man or grave shall be unclean seven days and for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the Burnet heifer a purification of for sin and running water shall be put there into in the vessel and a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and upon the vessels and upon the persons that were there and upon him that touched a bone or slain or one dead or a grave the clean person shall sprinkle a balm the unclean on a third day and on the seventh day and on the seventh day he shall purify himself wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and he shall be clean at evening so this is the purification procedure someone has become unclean by some way tainted by coming in touch with death okay but the man that showed but the man shall be unclean shall not purify himself that soul should be cut off from among the congregation because he has defiled the the sector of the Lord the water separation hath not been sprinkled upon him he is unclean and it shall be a perpetual statute of him that he sprinkle it the water of the separations to wash his clothes that he that touches the water of separation shall be unclean until even and whatsoever the unclean person touches shall be unclean the soul that touches shall be unclean though even now so this is the whole thing the red heifer was selected outside the camp offered burned and the ashes then are used with water to be a purification procedure for all these different conditions now you can understand this probably in terms of while their wilderness wanderings they have now a procedure that they can use when someone you got several million people and you've got B Reeve months you've got funerals you've got other things there all kinds of people that become ritually unclean that need to be purified there's a procedure that can be administered but by others of the priests not the certain high priests to deal with this now after the wilderness wilderness wanderings when they enter the land they're faced with a even more complicated problem they're going to inherit cities spread over the whole country if somebody is up in Galilee and needs to be purified he may not may not be practical for him to get down to Jerusalem to the temple to receive purification you know from headquarters what he did was there was a he would there was available to him Levitical water that came from the red heifer in in for purification one of the places you run into this in the New Testament is in John chapter 2 in John chapter 2 you get through John one the big introduction of the fabulous gospel and then it says on the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there and it goes on well wait a minute third day from what if you're reading John one there's no reference point here the third day sounds like it's the third day from something know what the third day is it's Tuesday it's Tuesday you say why is there a wedding on Tuesdays because Jewish weddings are always on a Tuesday do you know why Jewish weddings are on a Tuesday because of Genesis chapter 1 if you look carefully at the creation every day of creation God does this that or the other thing and saw that it was good on Monday you'll find there was no such statement what he does on Monday he does it isn't till the next day that he blesses that does something else and blesses it too so Tuesday is distinctive of the seven days in that it's the own if it has two blessings not one so two Steve is known to the Jewish mind as the day of double blessing so if you're we get married you do it on Tuesdays so you'll discover Jewish weddings are on Tuesdays because of this and so this is what's happening here on the third day that it's Tuesday there was a marriage in the Khan of Galilee the mother of Jesus was there both Jesus called his disciples for marriage and when they wanted wine the mother Jesus said him that they have no wine and you know you all know the story but what many people miss you get down to verse six and there was set there six waterpots of stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews containing two or three firkins apiece so these they were obviously in the home of a priest these were filled with water that had in it at least technically ashes of the red heifer so it could be used for ritual cleansing now Jesus says to the servants fill the waterpots with water in other words they may have been not full all the way full top them off film to the brim and then they distribute that as wine now it's kind of interesting about this first of all the wedding guests didn't know anything about this the the things it was situation normal he said the best wine was coming last that's kind of neat they make that remark nobody knew what had happened here except the disciples and the servants probably because they recognized what was going on that was it was an inside thing it was not a public spectacle but what was Jesus doing turning water into wine yes but what water was he using from their point of view the ritualistically sacred water he was Lord of the Torah law and not just Lord of in heaven and earth of the Torah of the of these practices and so there's a whole other undercurrent here I'll let you dig out on you and we're gonna get to chapter 22 get a photo finish here chapter 20 is now at the end of the 37 years what you have seen so far has obviously been a lot of rules and regulations are embedded in that yeah I understand but a few incidents out of 37 years we're not quite finished but we're at Kadesh again after 37 years we're now it's going to encounter this seventh murmuring believe it or not and this is going to lead to water being coming out of a rock and as a result of the way it Moses handle this he blows it we won't understand what's going on here and then we have Edom refusing passage and that'll finish up then and then Aaron finally dies and that wraps up chapter 20 so let's get back to numbers chapter 2 and verse 1 that then came the children Israel even the whole congregation into the desert of Zin in the first month and the people bought and Kadesh and Miriam died there and was buried there now we could spend a lot of time talk a little bit about Miriam she gets a bad rap here because she was murmuring but she also had some she took care of Moses when his baby mercy was older and he was obviously and she had her moments but in any case she passes away and there was no water for the congregation and they gather themselves together against Moses and against Aaron the people chose chode with Moses and spake saying would God that we had died when our brother had died before the Lord now of course they didn't mean it how often how often do we all do that say something we really me but there they are again wishing they had died not really why have he brought up the con Gatien of the Lord into this wilderness that we and our cattle should die there hey you're there because you chose to be their gang wherefore have you made us to come up out of Egypt to bring us into this evil place it is no place of seed or figs or vines or pomegranates neither is there any water to drink Moses Aaron went from the presence of the assembly onto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation they fell upon their faces and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them the Lord spake with Moses saying take the rod notice what God says very carefully take the rod gather thou the assembly together thou and Aaron thy brother and speaky unto the rock before their eyes and it shall give forth his water and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink and Moses took the rod from before the Lord and he commanded them now what we really should do if we had the time but you can do it on your own you can go to Exodus 17 and you will remember of course there was an incident like this very early in the proceedings that's literally at sign personally at Sinai and there again the people were without water they were upset God tells Moses to take your rod and strike the rock which he does the rock splits open and a gush comes out they found that rock by the way I didn't have time to dig out the pictures that was gonna show throwing them in here they found the rock and it's one of the supporting evidences that the real Mount Sinai is not in the Sinai Peninsula it's a legend that comes from tradition the real Mount Sinai is exactly where Paul said it was the book of Galatians it's in Arabia in that north north western corner of Arabia called Midian and it's Jabal al lawz and there's a lot of evidence of that there's quite a story about that you can dig into that but one of the things they found the rocks a very impressive isolated pinnacle that is split and in front of it there's huge evidence of erosion water erosion of the desert it's really quite dramatic it's one of the markets they found over a dozen corroborating evidences that seem to indicate that that really is the real Mount Sinai and there's a lot of books about that you can check into it but the point is this event that we're seeing here had occurred a few decades ago very obviously familiar in the memories of the people and where the water came out of the rock but here God tells Moses his instructions are slightly different in detail he doesn't tell him to strike the rock he says speak to the rock you say well that's splitting hairs no it's splitting rocks but we're going here okay so Moses took the ride from Florida and as he commanded him and before we go on I want to call your attention what Paul says in first Corinthians 10 verses one through four Paul says more of a brother and I would not that she should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea this is of course talking about the Exodus and we're all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea and in all eat the same spiritual meat did all and speaking the mount man and so forth did all drink the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was what Christ now that means that rock was physically Christ no of course not but he's speaking idiomatically here that that that rock that was providing here or the provision was by Jesus Christ and Christ was hovering over them Christ was taking care of them he's linking that up so the the site what you can do today in your notes make it make yourself an assignment go through your Bible with a concordance and find all the places that a stone or a rock is alluded to and you'll be astonished how those idioms are used by the Holy Spirit the stone that the builders rejected has become the headstone of the corner and that stump up those that stumble on the rock those are crushed by the rock the rock is Christ and all those can it's always Jesus Christ in some surprising ways to check it out do it on your own the rock was Christ is the point here okay so we're down to chapter 20 verse 10 Moses Aaron GAD the cognition together before the rock and he said unto them get this here now ye rebels must we fetch you water out of this rock big mistake big mistake who was providing the rock or the water Christ is or God is certainly not Moses but he's really upset he's at the end of his tether if you will and Moses lifted up his hand and with his rod he smoked the rock twice didn't just brush up against it he hammered it twice doing exactly what he did few decades earlier at ref edema in effect but that's not what God told him to do he didn't follow directions you say well gee came close that only counts and hang grenades and horses right okay Moses left of his hand with his right he smoked through the rock twice and the water came out abundantly in the congregation drank and their beasts also so God provided in spite of the fact that Moses did not follow directions the way God had instructed him to because what part of the problem here probably the root problem here is that Moses was misrepresenting God to the people he gave the people the impression that God was angry God was not angry God is glad to provide their needs that's he's and that's the business he's in he's in the abundance business and Moses is giving them the impression that God is angry and Moses also inadvertently I think taking credit for it and that's tragic it's gonna in here's under get the picture here Moses was 40 years old when he killed that Egyptian and had to flee the country then he spends 40 years in the Midian Det wilderness tending sheep and what have you in the so he's 80 when the burning bush takes place goes back to Egypt and goes through the whole Exodus thing he's 80 years old he's now led this rebellious cantankerous group for 40 years through the wilderness he's a hundred and twenty years old what's his dream to see the enter the Promised Land and because he didn't follow directions God says here in the penalty box you're out of the game we'll let you see it from the hilltop but it's over buddy did Moses ever get in the promised land a trick question careful has Moses ever been in the Promised Land yes he was I'm not Transfiguration trick question for your home group ok and the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron because you believed me not and to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel therefore ye shall not bring this congregation in the land which I have given them this is the water of Meribah because the children is nostro for the Lord remember means you know straining over the Lord and was sanctified in them the word Kadesh is added to it the Deuteronomy equivalent passage and so far to distinguish it from the Meribah of Exodus 17 so we have two of these things twice water from the rocks at refa deem Exodus 17 where he strikes the rock and rock water flows now before I make that next part I want to make I want to underscore something else obviously the critical thing that Moses did was to misrepresent God and this underscores something that I've come to believe very strongly that the commandment says thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain has nothing to do with swearing or cussing or vocabulary in my opinion what it has to do is ambassadorship if you're going to take on the name of the king you better represent him fairly and this is an example Moses's error was to give the people the misimpression that God was angry he wasn't angry in proverbs chapter 30 verse 9 one of the pleas of the writer there is Lord that I might not steal I don't to be rich because I might forget you and I don't want to be poor that I might steal and thus take your name in vain how can stealing taking the name of it know it because he would be misrepresent we're in dining the name of our King well but there's another aspect of this that people miss I thought I'd just share illusion at redeem that's the first occasion the rock is struck Christ is smitten if you will right at Meribah in that numbers 20 Moses was directed to speak unto the rock now he didn't he hid it and he also showed the people is angry and that was probably the major part of the sin but there's another subtlety here that gets missed I think if Moses had followed directions these two rocks would be emblematic of the two comings of Christ he's smitten on the first one he's not smitten on the second when Moses spikes the rock on his own so to speak he blows the model you see I think God would have preferred the model to be there as an emblem of the first and second coming and because that he's denied the entry in the promised land so I'll leave that with you and we just I want to share something else I want you imagine this scene we talk about the destruction of Jerusalem big event the time of course is actually this is the fall of Jerusalem under the Babylonians no no the Romans time is 586 BC the place is Jerusalem the event is the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian armies we see angry soldiers as they wrecked the walls and slay the people and burn the city we can picture that the Babylonians are tearing down Jerusalem but here's part of the scene that most people don't realize we see something else we see a group of neighboring citizens as they stand on the other side and they cheer the Babylonians to ruin the city they say raise it raise it they're calling for the Babylonians - they're little children against the stones and wipe out the Jews who's saying this who's saying this nothing about the boys course are doing no no who are these neighbors they are kinsmen they are brothers of the Jews there's mentioned Psalm 17 remember Oh Lord the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem who said raise it raise it even to the foundation the rev ho daughter of Babylon who art to be destroyed happy shall he be that rewarded these thou has served us happy shall he be in the take of and dashes thy little ones against the stones this is heavy stuff these are cheering the atrocities Genesis 25 gives you the clue here just 25 these the generations of Isaac Abraham's son neighbor and begot Isaac Isaac was 40 years where he took Rebekah to wife the daughter of Bethy well the Sirian of banana RAM and sister of Laban to sister of Laban the Syrian and Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren the Lord was entreated of him and let Rebecca his wife conceived and the children struggled together within her and she said if it be so why am i thus and she went to inquire the Lord the Lord said under two nations are in thy womb two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels the one people shall be stronger than the other and the elder shall serve the younger and we're days were delivered to be delivered were fulfilled behold there were twins in the womb the first came out red all over like a hairy garment and they called his name red Esau and after that came his brother out his hand took hold and he saw his heel and his name was called Jacob or he'll catch her and Isaac was threescore years old when she bared them when the boys grew and he saw was a cunning hunter a man of the field and Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents spending most of his time on the Internet no I'm sorry I didn't and Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison but Rebekah loved Jacob so you know the story how Jacob you know buys the birthright and so forth Jacob's name Yaakov may he or God protect it's a play on words because a cab means heel and a cob means deceitful sly insidious so the name suggests both he's he'll catch her on the one hand that was event his birth but he also becomes quite a conniver quite a shifty character I often quipped that you would not buy a used car from Jacob you know he said it's a whole thing he's one that grabs the heel or one who trips up is the idea so the bitterness between Jacob and Esau you can imagine when he saw again and again and again in the young days gets defrosted when Jacob meets he saw he's really sweating it and they they have a peaceful gathering but that's because Jacob handle it very skillfully let's get back to numbers Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom thus saith thy brother of Israel seen these mentioned there he's a brother thou knowest all the travail that have befallen us how our fathers went down into Egypt and have dwelt in Egypt a long time and the Egyptians vexed us and our fathers and when we cried unto the Lord he heard our voice and sent an angel and hath brought us forth out of Egypt and behold we are in kadesha city and the uttermost of thy border let us pass I pray thee through thy country we will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards neither will we drink of the water of our Wells we will go by the Kings Highway we will not turn to the right nor the left until we have passed thy borders there was a thoroughfare that was widely traveled a very advantageous route that they were hoping to use but they would require his permission Edom said I am thou shalt not pass by me lest I come out against thee with the sword the children israel said unto him we will go by the highway and if i and my cattle drink of thy water then i will pay for it I will only without doing anything else go through on my feet and he said thou shalt not go through and he didn't came out against him with much people and with a strong hand thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his mortar wherefore Israel turned away from him very very key event in Israel's history if you study even you'll discover of course it's known it's in numbers 20 and 21 that I mentioned again in judges 11 because it refused Israel passage by the king's highway israel was forbidden to abhor brother in Deuteronomy 23 despite this treatment Israel is instructed by Moses in Deuteronomy not to abhor is eating my brother Balaam predicted the conquest of Edom we're going to we're going to deal with that in the next session this we're going to encounter in our next session this bq-- your character called Balaam the Assyrian inscription show that even became a vassal state of Assyria after 736 BC and after the fall of Judah Edom rejoiced there again 137 similar to the one we read and the prophets are full of foretelling the judgment of Edom because of her bitter hatred Jeremiah 49 lamentations for is equal 25 35 most departments Obadiah the entire book of Obadiah happens you the shortest book in the Bible but the book of Obadiah is just focused on the destiny of Edom wrapping it up the child of Israel even the whole congregation journey from Kadesh and came to mount hor the Lord speaking to Moses into Aaron at Mount Horeb by the coast of the land of Edom saying Aaron shall be gathered unto his people for he shall not enter the land into the land which I have given of the children Israel because he rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah so Aaron pays for this - and Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount hor and strip Aaron of his garments put them on Eleazar his son and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people he shall die there and Moses did as the LORD commanded they went up to Mount hor on the side of all the congregation Moses stripped Aaron of his garments put them up Eleazar his son and Aaron died there in the top of the mount and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount and where all the congregation saw that end was dead they mourned for air in 30 days even all the house of Israel you and I will never have that bitter experience these people had to mourn their high priest the one that it's always been their comfort or the one that had been you know a large measure the through all these years we will never have to do that because our high priest will never die he's alive for ever now you all know the Hammond is up to the north Moab eat and we're going to go around eat him through Moab and that's what the next section will deal with some very strange episodes there for the next session I want you to read numbers 21 through 25 21 22 23 24 125 5 chapters and the journey into Moab where you'll meet this strange event called the brazen serpent and I defy you to make any sense of the brazen serpent by limiting yourself to the Old Testament alone we will talk about that next time but do reflect on that and we're also going to encounter this strange character the Prophet Balaam is a Mesopotamian he's not Jewish yet he has the word of the Lord he's very prominent very strange in his behavior he's alluded to in three different ways by Peter Jude and others we'll talk about that next time very strange character he also predicts the Christmas in Maine many people feel that he predicts the Star of Bethlehem little to you with that when we get there let stand for closing word of Prayer

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Published: Fri Mar 13 2020