THROUGH THE BIBLE - Numbers..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Numbers chapter 1. The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the tent of meeting on the first day of the second month in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head, from 20 years old and upward.

all in Israel who are able to go to war you and Aaron shall list them company by company and there shall be with you a man from each tribe each man being the head of the house of his fathers and these are the names of the men who shall assist you From Reuben, Elizo, the son of Shedu. From Simeon, Shemuel, the son of Zuri-Shaddai. From Judah, Nashon, the son of Aminadab. From Issachar, Nethanel, the son of Zohar. From Zebulun, Eliab, the son of Helon.

From the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, Elishama, the son of Amihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel, the son of Pidah-huzar. From Benjamin, Abidan, the son of Gidioni. From Dan, Ahiza, the son of Amishadai. From Asha, Pagiel, the son of Okron. From Gad, Eliaseth, the son of Jewel.

From Naphtali, Afira, the son of Inan. These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel. Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named, and on the first day of the second month They assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, head by head, as the Lord commanded Moses. So we listed them in the wilderness of Sinai. Twenty.

The people of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from 20 years old and upward, all who were able to go to war. Those listed on the tribe of Reuben were 46,500. Of the people of Simeon, their generations by their clans, by their fathers' houses, those of them who were listed according to the number of names head by head, every male from 20 years old and upwards, all who were able to go to war, those listed of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300. of the people of Gad, their generations by clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names. From 20 years old and upward, all who were able to go war, those listed of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

Of the people of Judah, their generations by clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war, those listed of the tribe of Judah were 74,600. Of the people of Issachar, their generations by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war, those listed of the tribe of Issachar were 54,000. 400 of the people of Zebulun, their generation, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from 20 years old and upward, every man able to go to war, those listed of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400. of the people of Joseph, namely of the people of Ephraim, their generations by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names from 20 years old and upward, every man able to go to war, those listed on the tribe of Ephraim was or were 40,500. Of the people of Manasseh, their generation by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names from 20 years old and upwards, every man able to go to war, those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,236.

Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names from 20 years old and upward, every man able to go to war, those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400. Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by the father's houses, according to the number of names, from 20 years old and upward, every man able to go to war. Those listed of the tribe of Dan were 62,700. of the people of Asher, the generation by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names from 20 years old and upward, every man able to go to war, those listed of the tribe of Asher were 41,500. The people of Naphtali, the generations by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names from 20 years old and upward, every man able to go to war, Those listed of the tribe of Naftali were 53,400.

Excuse me. These are those who are listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, 12 men, each representing his father's house. So all those listed of the people of Israel by their father's house were from 20 years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel, all those listed were 603,550. 47, but the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. Well, the Lord spoke to Moses saying only the tribe of Levi you shall not list and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel, but appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony and over its furnishings and over all that belongs to it.

They had to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle. When the tabernacle is set out, the Levites shall take it down. And when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp, and each man by his own standard.

But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel, and the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle and the testimony. Thus did the people of Israel. They did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses. Amen. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord, it remains forever.

Well, brothers and sisters and friends, we are blessed by our God to have our time extended, whereby we've been able to work our way through the Bible from Genesis to Exodus to Leviticus. And now we're in the fourth book, which we will be considering together over the next some 36 weeks by God's grace. It is a true blessing the Lord has allowed us to work through the first three books of the Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. We've all read it corporately because we do believe that the Word of God is the supreme authority over us. God spoke through His Word.

It's from the being of God, from the heart of God to the heart of His people. So over the last two or so years we've read through the first three books, and those three books that we've read through and we've contemplated together are essential foundations for us to understand the Book of Numbers. Because we know that working our way through the book of Genesis, we see the creation of everything that we see, and we see God on the sixth day created man in Adam, and then we read about the fall of man. And because Adam is the federal head, and all humanity is in his loins, with the fall of Adam, all of humanity is plunged into sin, and therefore all of humanity is subject to the consequence of sin, which is death. But beloved, God has always had a gracious plan.

This did not surprise God, because before Adam was created, in His heart, God already had a plan of redemption. And we see that hinted in Genesis 3, verse 15, after the fall of Adam, where we're told that the seed of the woman will one day crush the head of the serpent. Of course, we New Testament Christians can look back and we know it speaks of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Saviour. And so as we worked our way through Genesis after the flood, which is the result of the human depravity of man and God pours out His wrath on a people whose thoughts and their hearts and the inclination of their hearts was evil continually, we see that God then from the flood, He allows six or eight people to remain alive, Noah and his family. And then we read a little bit longer and then we're introduced to a man by the name of Abraham, or Abraham back then, and then God changes his name to Abraham, which means the father of multitude.

And with Abraham, God covenants. He covenants with Abraham. And he tells him, from his loins, he'll have an abundant offspring. But more importantly, we know, looking back, that it is the unique offspring that matters for all of humanity. that the Son of God would become one day flesh, and He would be born in the lineage of Abraham.

You see, the whole Bible from that point on, it will anticipate the advent of the One who is the Son of God, the Messiah, the One who is the seed of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent. And so for us, as we read the Old Testament, the interpretive grid of the whole Old Testament is Christ. It's Christ. He's pointing to Christ all the while he is pointing to Christ. But we also must not forget that God is a faithful God.

And when God covenanted with Abraham, he also gave him some physical promises which have been accomplished. As I said earlier, he was promised an offspring, a numerous offspring, as numerous as the sand on the seashore, but also he was promised a land, a promised land flowing with milk and honey, a land fertile in the place called Canaan. It's a place where Israel will be given this land, and if they're faithful to God, they will dwell in peace and prosperity in that land and enjoy the greatest privilege known to mankind, and that is to know God. That God will be their God and they will be His people, and in that land they will rest in dying. If they're obedient.

So from Genesis all the way through now, that theme has been traced throughout the Bible. It's about the story of Israel, with true Israel, who is Christ, who is to come. And as we walk through these books together, we become abundantly clear, time and time again, that God is indeed faithful to fulfill all his promises, no matter who he makes them to, in particular those made to Abraham. a promise he made also to the son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Every facet of the promises God has made, he will fulfill.

However, what is also abundantly clear is this, that the people of Israel themselves prove over and over again to be unfaithful to God. And so now we find ourselves here in the book of Numbers, in chapter one, which really the context of this book should have been with the people of Israel now at the base of Sinai, the Sinai wilderness, there should only really be a matter of months before entering into the Promised Land in the context that we're in. The first chapter before us is, we read, of a census taken. In fact, it's a census for all males over the age of 20, then to be numbered and precisely to identify the quantity of men who are able to take arms and go into war and battle against the inhabitants of Canaan. Because Yahweh is giving His people a land.

He's given them His law. He's made a covenant with them, and they've covenanted with Him to obey His law, and now He's sending them into battle. He's sending them into battle to conquer a land that is not theirs, to take fields they haven't planted, to take possession of homes they haven't built. But the occupants of that land are sinful before the Lord, and the Lord is going to judge them through the conquering of His people, and He'll give that land to the people of Israel. But they won't be on their own.

You see, the tabernacle is in their midst, and that's a reminder that God is with them. We see this in the passage before us, towards the end, when it's spoken of the people of, or the Levitical tribe, or the people who are looking after, or who are to service the tabernacle. Because God is with them. The tabernacle is proof to this. but also the grace of God has been manifested and His glorious presence has manifested before them even daily with the glory cloud in the day and the pillar of fire in the night.

He's a constant reminder to these people that He is with them, that He is their God, that they should not fear. Yes, you're going to go into battle against a formidable enemy, but if Yahweh is with you and Yahweh is in your midst, then the battle is one already, because God is on your side. So the men over 20 years of age are counted from all the tribes, apart of course from the tribe of Levi, because they weren't going to battle, because they're looking after the tabernacle, they're servicing before the Lord on behalf of the people in the tabernacle. But those who are in the other tribes who are over the age of 20, they are going to go to war. So the structure of the chapter before us really does have battle in mind, it has war in mind.

603,550 is the total number of men, in verse 46, that are over the age of 20 and capable of going into war. Now when you think about that alone, over 600,000 men over the age of 20, Now, conservative estimate, based on that, because women and children aren't included here, you would come quite easily to a population of over 2 million at this point in time. Now, think about this. When they entered into Egypt some 400 years ago, there was barely 70 of them. And now they're about 2 million strong, if not more.

Beloved, if that's not a boost for them to trust in Yahweh, then what is? The abundant offspring promise to Abraham has been fulfilled and will continue to be fulfilled because we know the population will continue to grow. And that is a lesson that the God of Israel, the only true God, is a God who keeps His promises. He kept his promise to Abraham. These people are to look back and see this.

Despite coming out of Egypt, their population did not diminish in that horrid condition under the Egyptian slavery, but rather they grew and grew, and the promise God made to Abraham is being fulfilled. Now, despite the faithfulness of Yahweh, in every way, in every facet, We will soon all too often see in this book that his people of Israel continue in unbelief. I almost guarantee that once we're done with the Book of Numbers, you'll be probably sick of all the complaining and the grumbling and the moaning and the murmuring over and over and over again throughout the book. Dear beloved, this is the nature of man, which means this is our nature as well, the sinful nature. Because as people, as human beings, we tend to forget what God has so graciously done in the past and so quickly complain and murmur in unbelief because of a present difficulty or a present tribulation.

When he's been infinitely faithful in the past, we seem to block that out of our memory and go, God, what are you doing now? And I think this is a situation which proves that the Israelites are going into as we speak. But again, as I said earlier, this book proves over and over again that God remains faithful. And Moses, the inspired author of this book, the book of Numbers, I believe he wants us to see that over and over again. You see, even from the first verse, we're reminded that these people are aware.

They're in the wilderness. They're in the wilderness. Now don't take that for granted. They're in the wilderness. They're in the desolate wastelands.

The word means barren, a place that cannot support life, a place that cannot support crop. It cannot sustain life in the wilderness. How are the people going to survive? How are they going to eat or drink in the wilderness? How are the animals going to eat?

It's not just here in Sinai. True, they're packing up and they're getting ready to leave Sinai. But no less than 44 times in this book, in less than 36 chapters, we're reminded that they remain in the wilderness. You see, against all odds, God will provide, and He will continue to provide. We'll see this as we work our way through this book.

We've seen it already, and we'll continue to see He does provide supernaturally. Because, you know why He'll provide for these people? Because He said He will. That's it. Because He's faithful.

That's who He is. He said, I will provide. I've made a promise to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and I will fulfill that promise no matter what. Why? Because I am God.

and He'll continue to provide. So God's people are to trust Him. They trust Him. Don't complain. Don't harden your hearts to His goodness.

Trust Him. Trust in His promises. He's spoken. Believe what He has said. Believe He will always fulfill what He has promised.

He's faithful to do it. He's powerful to do it. And He will do it because His name is God. His name is Yahweh. But beloved, the people of Israel we see all too often don't trust the Lord.

For the most part, these people don't trust. When the time comes for these men that we've just read about here in chapter 1, these fighting men, these young, vigorous men who have energy, who are ready to take up arms and fight on behalf of God and the people, to be God's army, when the time comes for them to march forward into the land of Canaan, in the strength of the Lord, and conquer the enemy, and take possession of the land flowing with milk and honey, they cower back. intimidated by the occupants of the land. So they cowed back and so did the whole congregation. In fact, in chapter 14, they conspired to stone Joshua and Caleb.

Do you know why? Because Joshua and Caleb were the two spies that went in and came back, and when they came back, they saw what the others saw. They saw the occupants, they saw the formidable enemy, but they trusted in God. And they were pleading with the people, let's take the fight to the people of Canaan. Why?

Not because we're stronger, but because who is with us. Yahweh's on our side, they said. The battle's already won, but do you think they convinced the people? Now, well, in chapter 26, I think this is the answer. In chapter 26, there's another numbering of the fighting men.

Another census is taken, but this time it's 38 years later. And the only men counted both in this census, or the numbering of the fighting men here in chapter 1, and the ones 38 years later in chapter 26, the only men whose names are found in both are Joshua and Caleb. See, rather than trust God for victory and enter into the promised land, only a few months from this time here in Numbers chapter 1, Israel will wander the wilderness for another 38 years. Another 38 years wasted in the wilderness because they lacked trust in God. And beloved, some 600,000 plus fighting men that we read about here in chapter 1 will all perish.

Look down, beloved. Look down on that page. Look down on chapter one. What do you see? What I see is I see young men's dead bodies scattered across the desert wasteland.

That's what I see. And I see also the congregation or over 20 of the same. And they didn't experience the rest that they could have had. Instead, they died in the wilderness. You know why?

Because of their rebellious, unbelieving parts. And so God swore in his wrath, they shall not enter into his rest. Hebrews 4.3. And that's referring, I believe, back to chapter 14.

You see, he miraculously rescued them from Egypt, from the bondage of the Egyptians. He supernaturally provided for them all the while, the food and the clothing and the water. He's been providing for these people in the wilderness. He's blessed them with a visual manifestation of His glorious presence in the tabernacle, in the cloud by day, in the pillar of fire by night. He's proved over and over and over to be faithful, yet Israel hardened her heart against Him and continued in unbelief, and this generation all perished in the wilderness.

Now that's a sad story. And so as we begin to study the Book of Numbers and these ancient people, we might ask ourselves, okay, but how does that benefit me today? How do I profit from reading this narrative about a people who existed some three and a half thousand years ago? Well, I was thought of taking you to Hebrews chapter 3 and 4, a couple of chapters that speak about the ultimate rest that is found in Christ. But instead, I'll let the Apostle Paul answer that question.

So if you open your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians 10, let's go there and we'll read from verse 1 through 6. 1 Corinthians 10 from 1 to 6. and all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place." I want you to hear this. As what? As examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did.

That's the answer to the question. Why do we look back? Because we learn. But this, what we see before us in the unbelieving hearts and the hardened rebellion of the people of Israel, it's an example to us. It's a warning to you and I, Christian, to be found with an unbelieving heart.

Today we hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Knowing our nature and our propensity to sin, our hearts or our flesh's desire to sin, that's actually a scary thought. But there's hope, because it's not predicated on man or our own abilities. You see, the fighting men with their generations are listed for us in what we read of in Numbers chapter one. They're part of a nation.

They're part of a nation called Israel, we know this, and it's a nation that Yahweh, in Exodus chapter 4, called His Son. They were baptised into the Red Sea, we read that in the section in 1 Corinthians, and then they were entrusted, these fighting men were entrusted by Yahweh to fight the enemy, conquer the land, in order that they will find rest as His covenant people. But beloved, they failed. and they perish in the wilderness, their bodies are scattered, and they don't get that rest. One's hope cannot be in man.

Mere men will always let you down. We know that lesson is true. But there is another who's mentioned along with his generations in Matthew chapter 1. And after being baptized in the Jordan River, God's voice from heaven declared, this is my son. But unlike the people of Israel, he continues, in whom I am well pleased.

In the name of God, he too enters into the wilderness to battle with the enemy, a formidable enemy, in fact, Satan himself. You remember the story of the temptation of our Lord Jesus Christ. But Jesus doesn't care about it. Rather, he defeats the enemy with paralyzing blows, trusting in God, and in the Word of God, he lives a perfect life according to the Lord, and then lays down his life to secure the rest that no one else on this planet could have secured for you and I, Christian. A true rest.

A rest that the land of Palestine, flowing with milk and honey, would only be a symbol of, a type, and a shadow. It was all pointing to the ultimate rest found in Jesus Christ. So the book of Numbers is an example for us not to drift, not to drift into unbelief. Not because we're stronger or more faithful than that generation of Israel back three and a half thousand years ago, but beloved, because our salvation and our rest has already been fought on our behalf and won by Jesus Christ. We look back to Israel in the wilderness, and that example stirs us up to set our eyes upon Jesus, to fix our gaze like flint, steadfast upon Him, because He is our Redeemer.

He is our Savior. He is our conquering King. He is the true Son of God, and He is the true Israel. and to trust in him alone for our full and final redemption, beloved, yet to be realized in time that already accomplished on the cross when he cried out, it is finished. Assuming you have come to believe in him.

Let's pray.