NUMBERS 23-29 SECOND CENSUS2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Numbers 23-29 Second Census

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012.

And we'll be looking at chapter 23 through chapter 29 of the book of Numbers. And as we begin, as we always do, looking at the background, the information about Numbers. The name Numbers means numbers. That's not very difficult to understand. It was written by Moses during the time that the children of Israel were in the wilderness. And it was written by Moses during the time that the children of Israel were in the wilderness.

And that's the theme of the book, in the wilderness. About 29 times that phrase is used because it's talking about dealing with the time that the children of Israel are in between the land of Egypt and

and the land of Canaan. That time where they're wandering in the wilderness. They leave Mount Sinai. They wander in the wilderness for 40 years and then they begin their journey to prepare to cross the Jordan into the promised land and that's all recorded for us here in the book of Numbers.

So on our timeline, that puts us right there where that brown bar is. It says wilderness at the top. That's what's being referred to or being discussed here in the book of Numbers. So we're zooming past all the things that we studied already in Genesis,

Exodus, the leaving of Egypt, then into Leviticus, dealing with the priesthood. Now we're looking at that time in the wilderness, which begins with Numbers chapter 9 verse 5. Chronologically is really the beginning of the book of Numbers. That's one year after leaving Egypt. They've been camped at Mount Sinai for a year, and they celebrate the Passover for the second time.

Then that goes on through the end of the book of Numbers, 40 years in the wilderness. Numbers chapter 33 verse 38, we have Aaron's death. You saw that last week already in the reading, but it's referred to again and pointed out that it happened their 40th year after leaving Egypt.

So 40 years is basically being covered in the book of Numbers, or really 39 years. As they leave Mount Sinai, they get right to the border of the Jordan River and about to go into the land of Canaan. Well, here's the geography for the book of Numbers, things that we're dealing with. The children of Israel were in Egypt. They were in bondage and they were led out by Moses. They went down to Sinai, Mount Sinai, and camped there for a year.

There God gave them the tabernacle, the law, those types of things. Then they went up to Kadesh Barnea to go into the land of Canaan. And you might remember they refused to enter in. They got scared at the report of the spies. And so then God decreed that they would wander in the wilderness. So they spent 40 years just wandering in circles there in the wilderness and

And now as we're looking at the chapters this evening, we've come to the end of that 40 years of wandering. And now they're making their way up north. The land of Canaan there is the land that God had promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. That he would give that land to their descendants. And so now God's about to make good on that promise and lead them into that promised land.

Well, last week, as we were looking at the chapters, as Pastor George was sharing, you watched Israel go from Kadesh Barnea the second time. Now they're really going to enter in. Remember, Edom would not let them pass through the land. And so they had to go around the land of Edom and then up the King's Highway, they had to

with the Amorites and there was conflict there. Then they had to deal with Bashan. Remember King Og and King Sihon. And now what they've done is they've circled back around. So they went all the way up north by the Galilee, but they circled back around and they're camped out right near the beginning of the Dead Sea. And it's called the Plains of Moab where they're camped out right across from the city of Jericho. And they're going to enter into

the land of Canaan and deal with the city of Jericho in the near future. For us, it'll take a little bit because we got to get through Deuteronomy first, but this is where they're at. They're right on the border. They're about to head in, and that's what we're looking at as we look at our chapters together today. So that brings us to Numbers chapter 23. As we begin our time looking at the chapters we read this week, verse 26 is the key verse, and it says this,

So Balaam answered and said to Balak, did I not tell you saying all that the Lord speaks that I must do? Well, we're picking it up right in the middle of the account of Balaam and Balak here in chapter 23.

Balak was the king of Moab. Now, let me just back up for a second here. You see Moab there, it's kind of blocked by the arrows right along the right side of the Dead Sea. That was a region that was inhabited by the Moabites. Now, Balak was the king of Moab, and so he was concerned about this place.

population of people, the children of Israel. They've just won some pretty good victories against kings to the north of him. And now they're camped out right near Moab, right in what's called the plains of Moab. And so he is concerned. He figures God's with them. And so what I need to do is to somehow curse them so that we could win them in battle. And so Balak sends for Balaam.

The names are similar, but there's no relation. It's just to confuse you. He sends for Balaam, who is a prophet of some kind, and Balaam is summoned by Balak to curse the nation of Israel. And so we got to see in chapters 22, Balaam coming to Balak.

And now in chapter 23, Balaam is going to attempt to do what Balak has asked him to do. He's going to attempt to bring a curse upon Israel so that Moab could defeat them in battle. And so that's what we have here in chapter 23. Three times here in chapter 23, Balaam is attempting this. So in verses 1 through 12, you have Balaam's first blessing.

Now he's not trying to bless them. He's trying to curse them. But what God gives him, what God puts in his mouth is a blessing. And so he ends up pronouncing a blessing upon Israel, which is very frustrating to Balak because he's hiring Balaam. He's paying him a good amount of money in order to curse Israel. But instead, Balaam is blessing Israel.

Well, then they try it again. So verses 13 through 26 record the second blessing that Balaam pronounces. Again, he's trying to curse Israel, but he ends up blessing them because that's the word that God gives him. And then it happens a third time in verse 27 through 30. We see the beginning of it and we'll see the rest of that third blessing in the next chapter.

Now, while all this is happening, Balak is taking Balaam to different vantage points to overlook the nation of Israel in order to try to, you know, get him to be able to curse them.

George showed you this slide last week. And so this possibly is what the camp of Israel looked like and is possibly what they saw actually as they were up on the mountain looking down at Israel because of the numbers that were in each camp. Mathematically, it works out to the shape of a cross. It could have been more of a square configuration. We don't know exactly. God didn't give us a picture. But it's a square configuration.

But it is interesting that mathematically it works out to be, you know, the shape of a cross. And so it's very possible that this is what they were looking down upon as they looked upon Israel in attempt to curse them. Now here is a

closer view of the map of the Dead Sea here and you have the Jordan River running into it there. Jericho's up there on the left. The camp of Israel, if it was the shape of a cross, would be there directly across from Jericho about to cross over the Jordan River. And then you have on the right side Moab and the different points that they...

were at trying to curse Israel. So the first one doesn't say exactly. So this is another high point there. It might have been the high places that are referred to. There's a couple other mountains in the area. So it was somewhere in that region probably that they were there. They were looking down on Israel and Balak says, curse them for me. And so they set up the altars and he attempts to

Curse Israel. But verse 4 here in chapter 23 is interesting because it tells us there that as Balaam is there offering the sacrifices, seeking to curse Israel, in verse 4 it says that God met Balaam. Now, whatever we might think about, whatever we might consider our own opinions about Balaam and his role and who he was and did he really know God, aside from all those things, here's what we know.

Whether he was a good guy or a bad guy, God met Balaam. And then verse 4, the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth. And so here's what we know for sure. Balaam is there and God meets with him. He has an encounter with God and God gives him a word. He puts a word in Balaam's mouth, it says. And that is the blessing that he pronounces upon the nation of Israel.

One commentator says that God met Balaam not in compliance with his incantations or his sorcery, but to frustrate his wicked designs and compel him, contrary to his desires and interests, to pronounce the benediction. So what's happening here, as we look through the text, as we continue on looking at Balaam, we understand Balaam's intention is not good.

And God met Balaam and put a word in his mouth contrary to what he desired to do. He was not trying to bless Israel. He was trying to curse Israel as Balak had asked him to do. Well, it doesn't work. God meets him. God gives him a word. And so now Balak takes him to Mount Pisgah.

So it's a little bit farther north. And from this perspective, Balak is thinking, perhaps you'll be able to see them a little bit better, maybe see a different section of the camp. And so then you'll be able to curse them. So he takes them to that high place. And there again, verse 16 tells us, the Lord met Balaam and put a word in his mouth.

And so every time Balaam is seeking to place this curse upon Israel, God's intervening. And he's meeting with Balaam and putting the blessing of Israel in Balaam's mouth. And so Balak is frustrated once again. And so he gives the third attempt. He takes Balaam over to Mount Peor.

And there, from a different perspective, seeing a different part of the camp of Israel, perhaps you'll be able to bless or to curse them instead of bless them. And so they're attempting, they're trying over and over again. Now as Balak, the king of Moab, is frustrated, I think it's interesting what Balaam says in verse 8. He says, "...how shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?"

He says, how can I curse those that God has not cursed? I'm taking some time here on this first chapter because I think this is really important for us to grasp hold of and understand as well. It is not possible to curse those whom God has blessed. Balaam tried. He had great incentive.

In fact, we'll see later on. That was his motive. That's what he desired. He desired the reward that Balak promised him. And so he was seeking for that opportunity to curse Israel. But it was not possible. Warren Wiersbe says, Satan and his followers do their best to curse God's people today.

However, through it all, God's grace still works. God's people are still blessed and God's name is glorified for God can turn the curse into a blessing. For those who are children of God, we need to know, we need to understand, you as a child of God cannot be cursed. It's impossible. It will not work.

They can attempt. But God is able to turn their curses into blessings. They can try and they can try over and over again from different vantage points and from different. But God is able to work in the midst of it. In verse 23, Balaam says, there is no sorcery against Jacob.

nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob and of Israel, oh what God has done. Balaam says, I'm trying, but there's no sorcery that will work against them. I'm trying everything I know. I'm conjuring up all the spells. I'm conjuring up all the curses. I'm doing the best that I can, but no divination, no sorcery will work against

Because God has blessed the nation of Israel. It reminded me of the passage of Isaiah chapter 54 verse 17. If you don't know that verse, if you don't know that passage, write it down, check it out later on. Here's what it says. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. And every tongue which rises against you in judgment, you shall condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. And their righteousness is from me, says the Lord. God says, look, this is the heritage of my servants. This is the condition of those who are my children, of those who follow me. This is the state that they are in. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. Be encouraged. Be strengthened.

We will have trial. We will have affliction. But for those who are children of God, no attack of the enemy will succeed in accomplishing what he desires to accomplish. No attack, no curse that people would bring against you can succeed against what God desires to do for the child of God. They can try. And Satan surely is at war against us.

But as Paul says, God works all things together for good to those who love God and are the called according to his purpose. And so we see here in chapter 23, Balaam trying his best to curse Israel, but we learn that you cannot curse those whom God has blessed. Well, we continue it now in chapter 24.

And we get to see the rest of these blessings that Balaam brings. But verse 10 is the key verse. It says, Then Balak's anger was aroused against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, I called you to curse my enemies. And look, you have bountifully blessed them these three times. Balak is frustrated. I brought you here to curse them. We got to beat them in battle. They're going to overwhelm us.

And now you've just blessed them three times. He's so angry and frustrated with Balaam. Because in verses 1 through 14, Balaam now pronounces this third blessing. Now again, his original intention is to curse Israel. But it's interesting in verse 1, it says, Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to seek to use sorcery.

Balaam is starting to learn some lessons here. He tries to curse them. God gives him a blessing. He tries it again. God gives him a blessing. So this time he's like, okay, let's throw out the sorcery stuff. I don't need those things. What do you want to say, God? He kind of just gives up. What am I going to do? I can't fight against God. So he doesn't try to use sorcery this time. He just sets his face towards the wilderness. And now God gives him another blessing that

to pronounce. This is amazing because if you remember when Balaam was first summoned God said don't go. When Balaam was summoned the second time he really wanted to go. All these great promises of riches and wealth and honor were being given to Balaam. And you remember the whole situation with the donkey and the angel of the Lord and God warned him only say what I tell you to say.

He had a clear encounter with God and yet here on the mountains he's attempting to use sorcery. He's attempting to disobey God. He's trying to. He's doing his best to curse Israel even though God had told him not to. And yet God is meeting with him, speaking to him and giving him words to share. This can be very difficult for us to understand sometimes.

But God can use people who are trying to be disobedient, who are in a state of rebellion. God can speak to them. He can speak through them. Even if they're unbelieving or living in sin or trying to disobey Him. God is the King of kings and Lord of lords. And He's even able to use the rebellious to bring forth His blessings upon His people.

So he pronounces a third blessing upon them and then a fourth blessing there in verses 15 through 25. And some great blessings are promised, some great prophecies. There's a prophecy of the Messiah there in verse 17. He says, I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near. A star shall come out of Jacob. A scepter shall rise out of Israel.

So we see it's probably referring to David, but also to the Messiah who would come, the scepter that comes out of Israel. In verse 25, we conclude the chapter with Balaam heading his way. It says, So they're unable to curse Israel, and so Balaam goes on his way.

But we know from the rest of the scriptures, it's not actually the end of the story. Verse 25, as Balaam heads away, that's not the complete story. That's not the whole picture. Before Balaam leaves, he actually teaches Balak how to cause Israel to be cursed. He tried cursing them. That didn't work. So instead, he teaches Balak, here's how you can cause them

to bring curse upon themselves. And we get this insight from Jesus actually in Revelation chapter 2 verse 14. There is Jesus is writing to the churches. He says, I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.

Now we're going to see this carried out in chapter 25. But the insight for what takes place in chapter 25, we learned from Jesus, was actually taught by Balaam. And so again, you can see that his intention, his motivation is not good. He's not there to bless Israel. He is there to

To gain the wealth, the honor, the riches that Balak is offering to him. That's his motivation. That's what he's seeking after. And when God will not allow him to curse Israel, he's scheming in his mind. He's planning. He's plotting. Well, how can I get the money then? How can I get those riches and wealth and honor? And he comes up with this plan. Well, let me teach Balak how to handle Israel so that they bring a curse upon themselves.

Now, he might get the reward from Balak, but we'll see this week in our reading in Numbers chapter 31 that Balak is actually killed by the sword as God instructs Israel to take vengeance out on

on Moab and Midian who are involved in this, what we're going to read now in chapter 25. And so Balaam is killed as a casualty of war as a result of that as well. So he plotted, he planned, he thought, ha, I got what I want. God didn't want me to curse them, but I still got the riches that I wanted. But it was very short-lived and he is put to death in just a couple chapters. Well, that brings us to chapter 25.

Verse 1 is the key verse. It says, Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. So now in chapter 25, we find the fulfillment of the plan that Balaam gave to Balak. And essentially what Balaam told Balak is, Look, we can't curse them, but if you will send out your young maidens among them,

and have those young ladies invite the men to worship their gods with them and participate in their feasts and their religious services, then they will follow those ladies, they'll engage in those practices, and you won't have to curse them because they'll bring a curse upon themselves in doing this. Now, it was a successful plan because Moab sent in the young maidens,

And the men of Israel did fall into the trap. And so it says there in verses 1 through 5 that Israel begins to commit harlotry. Now what's going on here is these young maidens are inviting the men of Israel to worship the god Baal, which was a Canaanite god of fertility. And the way that you would worship Baal

many times was by participating in sexual immorality. It was prostitution. It was all types of obscene things that were practiced in the worship of this God. And so this harlotry is, it's a combination of immorality,

but also it's idolatry. It's worshiping this God. It's turning away from God. And so it's harlotry in that sense. But it's also harlotry because it's also actually involving sexual relationships with these women that were sent down to the camp of Israel. And so this is gross sin that is taking place. As you can see in verses 6 through 15, when Phinehas stops the plague,

As this one Israelite comes and he's like flaunting this Moabite woman before the tabernacle of the Lord and basically saying, hey, look at her. We're going to go engage in sin right now. What are you going to do about it? It's this flagrant, this open sin in this practice of sexual immorality. And so you see what Phinehas does is he stops the plague by dealing severely with sin.

flagrant open sin must be dealt with in such ways. They must be dealt with severely. Well, it stops the plague that has been brought upon the people as a result of their immorality. And now God gives the instruction to deal with Moab. In verses 16 through 18, God commands an attack on the Moabites because of their plan, their plot to try to cause the children of Israel to sin and

God says, you can't let that go. You need to deal with them. You need to attack them and bring back justice for this sin that they've committed. Now, this is important to remember as we head into the book of Joshua. We're coming to the end of Numbers. We'll finish it this coming week.

And then Deuteronomy kind of takes a pause as far as the timeline is concerned. And it's a re-look at the law and the things that God was doing in the wilderness. So the book of Numbers will bring us right to the edge chronologically to the book of Joshua. And then the people will begin to enter into the promised land. And so as we head into Joshua, try to remember. Maybe make a note and come back to chapter 25 and remember that

Because when we head into Joshua, I know there's going to be people who are concerned about why this war? How could God command that these nations be wiped out by the children of Israel? How could he send them into battle like that? But you see the root of it and really the situation of the people here in chapter 25. Because it's not that these are innocent nations that are being dealt with.

These are nations that are wicked and vile and given the opportunity will pervert Israel and cause them to stumble and seduce them into the worship of these false gods. And the end result of Israel, if they're allowed to stay, if those other nations continue on, well, they'll be eternally lost because they were seduced by these other nations. And so God is really dealing with sin as he says.

Has Israel attacked Moab and the rest of the land of Canaan as we'll look at? I always like how Pastor Chuck refers to it or illustrates it. And that is, you know, if you had a child there on the playground and there comes on the playground a dog that has rabies, it's foaming at the mouth and there's this danger now that the child is in, of course you're going to deal very severely with that dog in order to protect the child.

It's a very similar picture for the nation of Israel. And there's these rabid nations around them that are seeking to destroy them, to cause them to sin, to cause them to turn away from God. And so God is dealing very severely with them. He will with Moab and then the rest of the nations in the land of Canaan. Now, one interesting point on this before we move on is

We looked at, we saw how Balaam attempted. He tried to curse Israel, but he could not because you cannot curse those that God has blessed. It's not possible. It will never work. What we do see here in chapter 25 though is the other side of that coin, the lesson that we need to learn. We can be encouraged. The attempts, the enemies, as they form their weapons, it will not prosper. However,

Those outside attacks will never work. They cannot remove God's blessing. But you, you can remove God's blessing from your life. How so? By turning away from God and engaging in sin. They could not, from the outside, do anything to curse Israel. But Israel, from the inside, when they turned away from God, they brought judgment upon themselves.

We need to remember the danger and the severity of sin. It brings destruction. David Guzik says, "...the mightiest attack of Satan against us can never do as much damage as our own sin and rebellion against the Lord." When we turn away from God, when we ignore His Word, it's more damaging to us than the most mighty of Satan's attacks.

When we're seeking Him, we're walking with Him, there's great blessing and there's great protection against the attacks of the enemy. Because we're walking with Him, we're with Him. But when we turn away from Him, we bring upon ourselves judgment, difficulty. And so the commands of Scripture to repent of sin, they're not just, you know, this is ideal, it'd be a good idea, you know, perhaps if you would turn away from

No, this is real life and death stuff we're talking about. Do not practice sin. Turn away from it. You will destroy your life just as Israel destroyed themselves by practicing this idolatry, this immorality. You will destroy your life. That's a guarantee. The wages of sin is death.

Warren Wiersbe says, if Satan does not succeed as the devouring lion, attacking from the outside, he will come as the deceiving serpent, try to seduce you. Hey, just give in to this. Just practice this. It's okay. It doesn't matter. It's not a big deal. Turn away from sin. Repent of sin. That times of refreshing may come from the Lord. That's what Peter said in the book of Acts. And so we learn these great lessons here from chapter 10.

23, 24, and 25. From Balaam's example, you're protected, you're blessed by God as you walk with him. And there's nothing that the enemy can do about that. There's nothing that people around you can do about that. It doesn't mean we'll have perfect, you know, no problems in life, but God will work all things together for good. But what does the most damage is when we turn away from God.

We disregard his word. We practice sin in our lives. And that brings upon us death, destruction. Because that's what the wages of sin is. Chapter 26, verse 2 is the key verse. It says,

Now here as we go into chapter 26, we're looking at the second census of Israel. We started out the book of Numbers with a census of Israel. And these two numberings of the nation are what the book of Numbers is named after. This census that is taking place in chapter 1 and here in chapter 26. And so they take an account, 20 years old and above, who's able to go to war.

We also see here in verse 52 through 56 that God gives the instruction to divide the land because again they're on their way heading into the promised land and God says it needs to be divided appropriately according to the size of each tribe. We see in verse 57 through 62 a separate census of the Levites. They weren't counted in the men of war because the Levites didn't go to battle.

And so they do the census there of the Levites. And then verse 63 through 65 point out and remind us that only Joshua and Caleb were left from the original census. There in Numbers chapter 1, the census was taken. Well, and you can see here, let me refresh your memory. In Numbers chapter 1, there was 603,550 men. This was 39 years ago that this census was taken. Now,

39, 40 years later, the census is taken again. Only two guys, Joshua and Caleb, are left from that original 603,550. Because they got to the edge of the promised land, remember, and they would not enter in. God says, all right, this generation, everybody 20 years old and above, they're going to die in the wilderness. And it's the next generation that is going to go into the promised land, except for Joshua and Caleb.

And so here it's pointing out to us that this is exactly what happened. Isn't it amazing? What God says is what happens. We're amazed by it every time, I know, but it's how it works. What God says is what happens. And so Joshua and Caleb were the only two guys left from that 603,550 men.

Well, in Numbers chapter 26, there you can see the numbers. Each tribe reports they have their numbers, 20 years old and above. These are all the men who are able to go to war. The end result, you'll notice, is very close. There's not much change. It's about a half a percent decrease in

But, you know, for all intents and purposes, it's about the same. But some of the tribes, there was some dramatic change. For example, the tribe of Simeon went from 59,000 to 22,000. They had a big loss. So there was a lot, you know, from the tribe of Simeon that died in the wilderness, but not as many people.

Boys were born during that time of wandering. And so it all kind of evens out 62% down for Simeon, but then 63% up for Manasseh who went from 32,000 to 52,000. And you can kind of see the changes there. Um,

and see the differences. I don't know the meanings of this. You know, we don't really get insight about why this tribe went down, why this tribe went up, but that's just the way that it works out. And I'm sure there's some significance that God will reveal later on. Chapter 27, verse 18 is the key verse. It says, And the Lord said to Moses, Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.

We have two things happening here in chapter 27. The first deals with the instruction for inheritances. This is found in verses 1 through 11. And then we have Joshua being appointed to lead Israel after Moses. And that's verses 12 through 23. Now the instruction for inheritances is

Remember in chapter 26, God gave the instruction when you go into the land, you need to divide it, you know, according to each tribe and their population. And so now that brings up a question for this one family who their father died in the wilderness, but he had no sons. He only had daughters. Now, typically the inheritance would pass to the son. So when they go into the land, they

The land would be appointed to the son of that man who died in the wilderness, but he has no son. So the daughters say, is that right? I mean, what about us? Shouldn't the inheritance pass to us? And so Moses has to seek the Lord and God gives instruction regarding the inheritance. And God says, they're right. If there is no son, then the inheritance will pass to the daughter.

If there's no son and no daughter, then it'll pass to the man's brother.

If there's no brother, then it will pass to his father's brothers or his uncles. And if there's no uncles, then it will pass to whoever's closest. So the next of kin, the nearest relative that would be able. And so God gives the instruction for those different scenarios. I think this is interesting and it gives us some insight for understanding the scriptures in God's commands.

Because as you come across chapter 27, you see this question about the inheritance. Maybe you ask, did God not think about that beforehand? I mean, was this the first time he said, oh, you're right. That's a good point. Why is it just coming up now? Well, this is the way that God's word was delivered. As God is giving the law, this is important for us to understand. As God is giving the law in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,

He's not giving an exhaustive work covering every situation, every scenario, and every exception that may happen. He's giving the principles. He's giving his laws. But then he's also going to be clarifying and adding additional detail as situations come up. He's addressing the main points essentially and then filling in the gaps later on. Now,

Many believers, as they read through, you know, Exodus, Leviticus, they kind of feel like, man, this is tedious. A lot of this is repetition. There's all this detail. And so if we feel that way already about these things, can you imagine what reading the scriptures would be like if God included every scenario and every exception? He wasn't writing a legal document, you know, a legal contract that was to be

Standard and just, you know, there's no exceptions to this. This is every exception listed here. Have you ever tried to read some of like the terms of service? You know, like when you download software or you, you know, start to use a phone or something and you have to say, okay, I agree or whatever. Or you maybe go through, you know, renting a place or buying a home and there's all this legal documents that you have to deal with. And if you start to read those, it's like insane. You'll lose your mind.

Because it's so tedious. And they have all these, and then if this, then that. And if this, then that. And they're trying to deal with every scenario in that document. God didn't do that when he was writing the scriptures. He was dealing with the situations as they came up.

This approach makes God's law more understandable, more easier for us to read, but also more memorable. Because now you can look back and you can remember, oh yeah, remember the daughters? They came with this question and that's how we learned about the laws of the inheritance. But what I really think is important about this is that even with the law, you still must have relationship with God. That's the point that I think is so important.

Because there's so many times we try to live by the rules. We make the list. We make the rules. We get into that legalism that we tend to get into. And every situation that we encounter is based upon or is judged by, we deal with it according to the system of laws that we adhere to. Whether we find those in scripture or not. But that's not the way that God works. Even as he's giving his law.

There's situations, there's scenarios that come up. And the point is, Moses says, I don't know, God didn't tell us what to do, so let's ask him. The point is, you have to have a relationship with God. You can't just live by rules. You can't just live by laws. You must have that connection with the Lord. Because there will be difficult situations and scenarios that aren't directly addressed.

And you have to know how to hear from God and how to get that direction from Him. You know, people ask questions all the time. What about this? What about that? How do I do with this in my life? What should I do in this situation? And it's hard because there's not a verse that says you should move to Nevada. There's principles. There's main points that God is getting across in His Word. But you have to have that personal connection with Him to fill in those gaps, to hear from the Lord and get that direction and instruction that He desires to give to you.

Well another important thing that we see here is the appointing of Joshua now to lead the nation of Israel. And I love that you get to see a picture of Moses' heart here in verse 16 and 17. It tells us,

God is telling Moses that he's not going to enter into the promised land. He's going to get to see it, but he's not going to enter in. And in verse 16, Moses responds and he says, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd.

You get to see here, Moses' concern was for the people. He's not going to get to enter in. So Lord, raise up somebody. Raise up a shepherd for the people that will be able to lead them and protect them.

It's a very cool heart that Moses has. It's a shepherd's heart for the people. Now, as I've been studying through the book of Numbers, as we've been reading day by day, you know, it's really been striking me more and more. I think it's pretty interesting. Numbers is a very accurate picture of ministry.

So especially for those of you who feel called, feel led, you know God wants you to be involved in ministry, in leading ministries, in leading Bible studies, in perhaps pastoring churches. Study the book of Numbers. You know, it's easy to look at ministry, whether it be, you know, like a women's ministry or men's ministry or that type of ministry that happens in the church, or to look at pastoring and to think,

that's so glorious. I mean, you know, the spotlight makes you look really good. And, you know, it's just, you get to tell people what to do. And you get to teach Bible studies. And you get to study the scriptures all the time. And it just must be so glorious. And indeed, there are very incredible and glorious aspects to serving the Lord.

There's blessing and victory and miracles. And you get to see that in the book of Numbers. Those works that God does. But don't focus on that and neglect. How many times did we see the people complain throughout the book of Numbers? How many times did we see them rebel against Moses throughout the book of Numbers? How many times did we see the people accuse Moses of

and taking too much upon himself. How many times do we see maybe what we'd consider tedious things like counting all the people and let's try about this many and let's try about this many and let's try about this many and let's try about this many and then again and let's try about this many and let's try about this many. It's like, oh, this is tedious. I don't even want to read today. Listen, this is a very accurate picture of ministry. For those of you, be warned. If you're called, God's tugging on your heart. He's laid that out for you

It's glorious to serve God. And every one of us need to be obedient to whatever call God's given to us. But don't enter into it thinking, hey, this is going to be just wonderful. Everybody's going to love me. And we're all going to get along. And I'm just going to stay at home and read the Bible all day. It's going to be amazing. I'm just going to get to play the guitar all day. Right, Ronnie? Just worship like, you know. No, no, no. Listen. There's also the complaining.

There's also the tax. There's the spiritual warfare. There's the thirst for power. And it happens in the church. These fleshly struggles for position, for power. There's also tedious things where it just feels like you're just counting numbers all day long. There's great glories. There's great victories. But study the book of Numbers. It's a very accurate picture of ministry.

Well, now Joshua is appointed by Moses. He's going to lead the people into the land. He's been chosen by God to carry on. He's going to lead the people over the Jordan River into the promised land and to conquer those nations that are settled there.

Chapter 28. Verse 2 is the key verse. Command the children of Israel and say to them, My offering, my food for my offerings, made by fire as a sweet aroma to me, you shall be careful to offer to me at their appointed time. Chapter 28 and 29 go together, and they're the instruction that God gives for all the different offerings that are to take place at these specified times. So in verses 1 through 8, you have the daily offerings.

And so every day in the morning and in the evening, there were offerings that were to be made. A male lamb was to be sacrificed along with the ephah flower and the quarter hen of oil, or one-tenth of an ephah flower, rather. And so there was the grain offering, the oil offering that was to be offered along with the male lamb every morning and every evening.

Now, I think these sacrifices, you know, of course, they are important for the nation of Israel. They're no longer necessary because of what Christ did. Read the book of Hebrews. But these are really great examples of the consistency that you and I should have in our relationship with the Lord. God wanted every morning there to be this reminder of sin, but also forgiveness. This reminder of God and that we need to worship Him.

And offer to him what he is worthy of. And then in the evening. So you begin the day and end the day with these offerings to the Lord. Now this wasn't every person was to offer these. But as a nation, the priest was to offer one lamb in the morning, one lamb in the evening on behalf of the nation. Well then in verses 9 and 10, you have the Sabbath offerings. So every Sabbath...

In addition to the morning and evening offerings, they would offer two lambs along with the flower and the drink offering as well. So the Sabbath offering would happen every Saturday. So there would be an extra offering that would take place there on the Sabbath. And then they had the beginning of month offerings, verses 11 through 15. And so at the beginning of the month, they would offer two young bulls. They would offer a ram and seven lambs.

In addition to the morning and evening offerings. And if it happened to fall on a Sabbath, then they would offer that as well. So these were every first of the month offerings.

every Sabbath, every day they had these specific offerings. And it, again, speaks to me about that, that continuation, that day by day we're walking with the Lord. We need to have that connection with the Lord, offering ourselves to the Lord. And then on the Sabbath, or perhaps you could consider for us Sunday, you know, not changing Sunday into the Sabbath, but

but we have that one time a week where every week we come before the Lord and we re-offer ourselves. We connect with him. We spend time in worship together. And then at the beginning of the month, I thought it was interesting. What do we do at the beginning of the month? We partake of communion together. And so, you know, just these great reminders about what God has done for us, the forgiveness that we have in him and the work that he's done and the worship that he deserves.

So the annual feasts that are discussed here in chapter 28 are the Passover, that's the one that comes next, and then the unleavened bread, Passover and unleavened bread go together, and then the first fruits, and then the Feast of Weeks.

And so in each of these, there were specific offerings that were to be offered for Passover. They would offer two young bulls, a ram and seven lambs, as well as a goat sin offering. That was in addition to the Passover lamb that would be sacrificed by all of the families. And then the day of first fruits, they would offer the same offering as the daily Passover offerings or the unleavened bread offerings. So there would be...

those special offerings. And then the Feast of Weeks, they would have the offerings that God designated there as well. And so all of these different offerings were commanded and instructed for the specific times. And then chapter 29, verse 39 is the key verse. These you shall present to the Lord at your appointed feast, besides your vowed offerings and your freewill offerings, as your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, as your drink offerings and your peace offerings. So here we have the Feast of Trumpets,

verses 1 through 6 and the offerings that go along with that. The feast or the day of atonement offerings verses 7 through 11 and then the feast of tabernacles offerings. So these last three feasts here in chapter 29 are the last three feasts of the year. They would the the latter part of the year it was the seventh month of the Jewish calendar which corresponds with September and October for us.

So if they were to be practicing these this year, the Feast of Trumpets would be on September 17th, the Day of Atonement would be on September 26th, and the Feast of Tabernacles would be on October 1st. And so at those feasts, they would offer these different sacrifices. On the Day of Trumpets, they would offer a young bull, a ram, and so on and so forth. The Feast of Tabernacles is interesting because

The first day of the feast, there would be offered 13 bulls, 2 rams, 14 lambs, and 1 goat.

And then the next day it would be 12 bulls. All the rest of the sacrifices would be the same. But each day, there was eight days to the feast, the number of bulls that were offered would be decreased by one until the eighth day it would just be one bull that was offered, one ram, seven lambs, and one goat. And so there was all these specific offerings. Now notice there in verse 39, God says...

You're to do these offerings in addition to your sin offerings, in addition to your burnt offerings, whatever you were bringing, you know, as a worshiper, then those sacrifices would be made. And very quickly we can see how this was a big job. There was a lot of sacrifices to offer. This was a big job that the priests were entrusted with in offering all of these sacrifices to the Lord.

As well as all the sacrifices that the people would bring for their sins, for their fellowship with the Lord, and whatever else they may be offering to God for. Well, it says their vows as well. So you promise, hey God, I'm going to offer this to you, you know. And so you would bring those offerings as well as these other sacrifices.

And so these are the instructions for the different feasts, the offerings, the sacrifices that were to be made because God is worthy. Now it's interesting that God was to be the center of their life. He was the center of their camp. Their calendar was based upon remembering God, what God did, who he is, and worshiping him. And I think it should be the same for us as well. And so as we finish up this evening, I want to encourage you, as we started from the beginning, listen, you're blessed by the Lord.

But make sure, as a child of God, you're under His protection. He's with you. He works all things together for good. But make sure you have Him in the center of your camp. And your calendars are based upon Him. Your days begin and end with Him. That you are walking with God. That you have that relationship with God. And that you're not bringing curse upon yourself. Bringing judgment upon yourself. By disregarding His word and by living in sin. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would help us.

Again, to turn away from those things that are not of you and to pursue you, to seek after you, to chase after you, to connect with you in the morning and at night and to be reminded of you at the beginning of the month and throughout the year, to celebrate who you are and what you've done for us, the great victories that you've accomplished. And it's not about being religious and going through rituals, but having that real connection with you. It's not about following laws and a list of rules.

It's about knowing You and hearing from You. And so God, I pray that You'd speak to our hearts. Speak to each one. Lord, in their situations, the decisions that they have to make, the questions that they have, God, I pray that You'd minister to each one, that You'd reveal Yourself. Lord, You could speak to Balaam who is not even seeking after You. And so for sure, You can speak to us. We desire for You to do so. We invite You to do so. God, speak to our hearts.

Lead us and guide us. We want to follow you. Help us to obey as you give us the instruction that we need. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.