THROUGH THE BIBLE - Numbers..
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Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.
com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. I'm going to invite you to please read together with me chapter 36 of this book of numbers. And by God's grace, if the Lord extends our days and he doesn't come back before next Sunday, then we're going to start with the book of Deuteronomy.
And I'm going to invite you, as I always do, to start reading whatever we're going to be studying ahead so that you have that in your heart and in your mind and you're prepared. when you come to the exposition of the word. Today, we're going to be addressing Numbers chapter 36. As I said, we come to the conclusion of this book. In a sense, beloved of Christ, this chapter that we have in front of us is a continuation with perhaps the fulfillment of chapter 27.
You remember the story of the daughters of Zelophehad who asked of Moses a portion of land because their dad had not had sons. Hence, they were going to lose the inheritance. And this is the fulfillment of it. So we're going to read carefully here, Chapter 36, and we're going to see the continuation of that story, the fulfillment of that story, of the allocation, the allotment of the inheritance, a portion of the land for the daughters of Salafihat and what happens around that. This is Numbers Chapter 36.
And let's read together. by the Holy Spirit and with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who has saved us, redeemed us and made us alive so that we will be able to hear his voice. This is Numbers chapter 36. The heads of the fathers' houses of the clan of the people of Gilead, the son of Machir, son of Manasseh from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel. They said, The Lord commanded my Lord to give the land for inheritance by law to the people of Israel.
And my Lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Salafihat, our brother, to his daughters. But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. It will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. And their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.'
And Moses commanded the people of Israel, according to the word of the Lord, saying, The tribe of the people of Joseph is right. This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad. Let them marry whom they think best. Only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another.
For every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his father's. So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold unto its own inheritance. The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses. For Malah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father's brothers.
They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's clan. These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. Amen. That is the word of the Lord. And that is the conclusion of this book by God's grace.
Beloved of Christ, I want to share with you simply a couple of thoughts from this chapter and from the story of the daughters of Salafi had. And that is that I want us to meditate on the fruit of the faith of the daughters of Selafihad. They had faith and that faith had fruit a result. So I want us to meditate upon upon the fruit of the fate of these daughters of Salafi had that, as I said, their story started in Chapter 27 when they approached Moses and the leaders to ask of them a portion of the land because their father had passed and he had no sons to inherit the portion of land that corresponded to him. So they came to Moses and asked for that portion of land.
And now here in Chapter 36, we have another request. In this case, in numbers 36, this request is not by the daughters of Salafi hat, but rather by their brothers or the fathers, the leaders of the tribe that they belong to, namely the tribe of Manasseh. And they saw a problem. It was good that Moses had decided that the daughters could inherit the portion of land that belonged to their father if he had no sons. But then they saw and they understood that if these daughters were going to marry someone who did not belong to their tribe, that immediately that portion of land will be transferred to the head of this marriage, whoever that person was and whatever tribe they belonged to.
And that in the end of the day, they were going to lose the portion of the land that corresponded to them. Now, these daughters of Salafat had faith and that faith can be seen in chapters in chapter 27 of hearing numbers. What is that faith? You will say, well, that faith is that these girls, whatever their age was, they approach Moses with the certainty and with the confidence that they were going to inherit a piece of land that they had not already achieved or that they had not entered into yet. Yet they had the full assurance that this portion of land was going to be of the people of Israel.
And based on that certainty, they approached Moses before they crossed the Jordan River to ask Moses to get a piece of land. And the first fruit of the faith of the daughters of Salafi had beloved of Christ is that indeed in time they are going to receive the portion of the land that they requested by faith in this side of the Jordan. You can read in Joshua chapter 17, when Joshua is given the allocation of the pieces of land, that these daughters of Zelophehad will receive the portion of land that by faith they requested before even they crossed the Jordan River. That is the first fruit of their faith. Just as the faith of the saints of the new covenant that they have in their heart that they will inherit that which is given by the Lord, by faith these daughters of Zelophehad, they don't believe in that, but the time came in which they actually received the portion of that land.
But there's another beloved of Christ fruit of their faith that I want us to pay attention to. And that is that the Lord used the faith of the daughters of Salafi had to give to the people of Israel an inheritance law that will be very important in the coming of the Messiah again. The Lord God of Israel used the faith of the daughters of Salafat in chapter 27, when they came and approached him to ask for the peace of land. The Lord God of Israel used that request that was based on faith to give the people of Israel a law about their inheritance, which will be very important in the coming of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to point your attention there in chapter 27 to that law that was given.
If you go there, please, to Numbers chapter 27, we can see it there from verse 7 to 11. Because of the faith of the daughters of Salafi had the door, the law is not only going to solve their case, bring a resolution to the case, but also from the resolution to the case. He's going to give a law that is permanent for the people of Israel for the preservation of the inheritance. So in numbers, Chapter 27 in verse 7 through 11, we can see there that law that was given to Israel through the request of the daughters of Salafi had. We have the answer given there in verse 7, upon the request, it says, the daughters of Salafi had a right upon the request.
You shall give them possession of our inheritance among their fathers, brothers, and transfer the inheritance of their father to them. That is the resolution of their case. They have requested something. And upon the request, this is going to be solved by giving them the inheritance. But now in verse eight out of the resolution of that case will come a law that will be permanent when it pertains to the inheritance for the people of Israel.
In verse eight. And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brother. And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan.
and he shall possess it, and it shall be for the people of Israel a statue and rule as the Lord commanded Moses." The resolution of the request by faith of the daughters of Zelophehad ended up in a law given to the people of Israel that said that the inheritance was to be kept in the family. That if a man did not have sons, that it was going to be passed to the daughters or to a relative, to a relative, to a relative. He was meant to be kept in the family. But now, as we have seen in Chapter 36, there is a door open for that law.
And now the fathers or the leaders of the tribe will come upon again with a request and come with me again to Chapter 36 so that you can see how the Lord now is going to take this other request of the people of Manasseh and is going to give now a law in the preservation of the people of Israel, or namely the tribes. In verse 6 of chapter 36, pay attention to this, the same language here. This is going to be the answer to the request of the people of Menassas about the inheritance of the daughters of Salafiha. And it says in verse 5, And Moses commanded the people of Israel, according to the word of the Lord, saying, The tribe of the people of Joseph is right once again, just as in Numbers chapter 27. This is verse six.
This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Salafihat. Let them marry whom they think best. Only they shall marry within the clan of their tribe of their father. And that is the resolution now of the case. But out of this resolution of the case, now the initial law that was given in Chapter 27 is going to be now reshaped, if that is a word in English.
But now let's just read in verse seven how this law is going to be now strengthened in verse seven there in Chapter 36. It says the inheritance of the people of Israel, not taking it to the people of Israel, the inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another. For every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel might possess the inheritance of His father's verse nine is the summary of the law that was the result of the faith of the daughters of Salafi hat. And after that, the approaching of the of the leaders of men, I say this is the result of all of this story.
Verse nine. So no inheritance shall be transferred. from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance." That is the fruit of the faith of the daughters of Salafi had that was used from Chapter 27 to give the people of Israel this law for the preservation of the inheritance of each one of the tribes. Israel was comprised by 12 tribes.
And all of them were Israelites, but each one of them had received a specific portion of inheritance that spoke about the personal, if you want, the tribal, if you want, relationship that they had with the Lord God of Israel. And it was vital and it was important that nothing off that land will be transferred among them. Even if remained in Israel, it was important that the tribe off Dan will remain the tribe of Dan that the tribe of Simeon, even though he was very small, will remain as the tribe of Simeon. It was very important that the tribe of Judah will remain the tribe of Judah. It was vital and important that each one of the tribes will not disappear.
that all the tribes will remain in the context of the people of Israel. And you can see even the pain of the Israelites when we get into Judges, when one of the tribes almost disappeared because of their sin. And even though it almost disappeared at the hand of their brothers, people were broken in their heart that even one of the tribes was about to disappear because of the lack of people. Now, it was important for the Lord that all the tribes will remain in existence, not only in people, but also in the land that had been allocated to them. Now, the question that follows is why?
Why is it important that all the tribes of Israel or at least some of the tribes of Israel or that the land of the tribes of Israel will remain until the time that the Lord allows? Because Before Beloved of Christ, because before Israel was even formed as a nation, before even there was a promise of a specific land of this wilderness and this promise of this specific land, before there was an allocation of pieces of land to each one of the tribes, there was a promise that was given to the fathers of those tribes. that was prophetic in nature and that spoke primarily of the coming of the Messiah. That is when I'm going to invite you to go to Genesis chapter 49. Because in Genesis chapter 49, we have the blessings of Jacob upon the patriarchs, and now he's going to give beloved.
A messianic prophecy or a messianic blessing to one of the tribes. Now, of course, you know what tribe that is, right? So then you go to Genesis chapter 49. And then from the blessings, I don't mean to speak too much here because there's something else that I want to share with you. My beloved of Christ, this is the blessing that Jacob is given now to the 12 patriarchs, even before there is an allotment to a location of land or inheritance of land.
Genesis chapter 49 in verse eight, it says Judah. Your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's sons, that is your brothers, shall bow down before you. This is going to come to pass.
Just read Judges chapter 1. Judah is going to prevail over the other tribes, is going to prevail. in power and importance over the other tribes. And it was fundamental, it was important that not only the tribes will remain as tribes, but more importantly, that Judah will remain and we endure until the coming of the Messiah. Because we have this prophetic utterance from Jacob in verse 9, Judah is a lion's cub.
From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who dares rouse him? He is powerful and mighty." Then he comes in verse 10, "...
the scepter of a king, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute, or Shiloh, comes to him, which is the Messiah, until tribute, or Shiloh, comes to him, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples." Jacob is given to Judah, I promise, not only of power over his brothers, but also that their nations will come in obedience to Judah, that there will be a scepter that will not depart from Judah. Of course, this is a messianic prophecy that is not only fulfilled in David when he comes, but from the fleshly seed of David that is the person of Jesus Christ. It was important that the tribes will remain in existence until the coming of the Savior, because it was necessary that the Savior will be born under the law, that will be born under a law that was existing and it was operating under a people that was active. That's what you see through history of the people of Israel, that Judah not only prevails over the other tribes, but is the one that keeps and remains until the coming of the Savior.
The Savior now is going to come as their fulfillment, not only of this prophecy, but he's going to be the king of king and the Lord of the inheritance, the inheritance that was impossible to be taken by the power of Joshua and by the power of the people of Israel. Then the Lord Jesus Christ will come and take possession of it. Completely not an inheritance that is physical and that is temporal and that is in the front of the eyes off the people of God, but rather an inheritance that is eternal in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He's the skin of King. He's this.
Lion of Judah, for whom the law and the system and the land was preserved and kept, so that when He will come and conquer everything under that system, He will make available salvation and inheritance for all of those who will have faith in Him. making and preserving that inheritance for those who await and have this hope in the Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, beloved of Christ, we know that the Savior, Jesus Christ, keeps for us an inheritance that is yet to come, an inheritance that is reserved for us in heaven. And we know, beloved of Christ, that this inheritance that is yet to come is to be received by faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ. And that upon that faith alone, no works, no deeds, but only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He promised us that he does not only gives us the hope of the promise that is to come, but he seals us with his Holy Spirit so that we will have the guarantee that we are going to acquire possession of that inheritance. And Paul says in Ephesians that that is for the praise of the glory of God. that the acquiring, the obtaining of that inheritance in Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit is for the praise of the glory of God. And one has to ask, what do I have to do in order to receive that inheritance? Nothing!
Only come in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and He will give you of the Holy Spirit that will seal you and guarantee that you will receive that. And not only that, one may ask, what do I have to do to preserve that hope of the inheritance that is to come? And the answer to that is the same. You are to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and remain in faithful union to Him. Because blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, the same Father who has begotten us again, according to His abundant mercy, to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, for an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and unfaithful, that is kept in heaven for us, and that we're being kept and guarded by God's power through our faith.
But then the question that the Christian may ask, what is that important for me now? I understand the hope of an inheritance that is kept and reserved by this glorious Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the one who died upon the cross for me. Why is now this important? Not about this hope that is to come only, which I know and believe. But why is this important?"
Then the Apostle Paul, in Colossians chapter 3, will give the answer to that. So please read this with me, beloved of Christ, with faith. Because this is the reason why Israel and the inheritance and Jesus Christ and the hope of eternal salvation is important for us today. It's okay. Don't worry.
Sister, at least we know that you're listening to the Bible. Don't worry, sister. Colossians chapter 3. Now, beloved of Christ, listen to this and keep attention in the explanation that I'm going to give and just read these words in Colossians chapter 3 verse 12. After he has said that we are to die to the old man and to put on the new man, he says, put on them as God chosen one.
Please listen to this with fear, but with faith. Put on them as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion in hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you so that you also must forgive. And above all this, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.
And be thankful. Verse 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Pay attention now to this. Verse 17.
And keep verse 17 in your mind. And whatever you do, whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to him, the father, giving thanks to God, the father, through him. Put that verse in your mind and in your heart, brother, sister, children, that verse 17. And whatever you do in word or deed, whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through him. Now, one would expect now that the things that come after this.
are somehow disconnected from the argument, because now in verse 18 he's going to speak about wives and inverse 19 about husbands and children. But continue with this verse 18. Wives, set me to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Remember that verse 17. Whatever you do in word or deed.
Verse 18. Wives, set me to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, Love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. And then it comes the conclusion of the argument that I started in verse 17. Whatever you do, Work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. And then becomes this very important word that I've mentioned to you before, knowing that it's going to give the power to the instruction, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Immediately speaking, of course, of bond servants. But with verse 17, capturing wives and husbands, and children and fathers and all of them, because we are all called to whatever we do, do in word or deed, everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. Beloved brothers and sisters, This religion is not the religion of the preacher, of the pastor, of the one that studies the scripture, of the one who gives himself to instruct others and to guide people onto the things of the scripture. This is how God designed the church to operate.
that we have been called to do everything that we do for the Lord. And as we do everything that we do for the Lord, we are accumulating unto ourselves, according to the Scriptures, the right to the reward of the inheritance which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Wives, when you sacrifice your life for your kids, for your husbands, when you give yourself in your time, and when you many times are unable to sleep, and you're tired, and you don't even know what is the purpose in many of the things that you do. The Lord is pleased in what you do, and in what you do before the Lord is with the ultimate purpose that you will receive the reward of inheritance that has been promised to the saints. This reward of this inheritance is not for those who seem to be preeminent among the church.
Those are the weakest ones. This reward is for everyone, wives, husbands, brothers, when you are giving yourself to your work and you are laboring and laboring and laboring in secular matters that sometimes are not even connected and you don't see the purpose in that with the things that are spiritual. Beloved of Christ, brother, you are to give yourself unto what you do wholeheartedly and to do everything in the eyes of the Lord, because when you do so, then you are doing it to obtain this reward that the Lord has promised to those who love Him. The single, single sister and single brother, when you keep yourself pure for the day of marriage, when you keep your thoughts unto the Lord, when you strive to be a good son or a good daughter, when you strive to be a good sister or brother in the church, you are doing that before the Lord to receive the reward of the inheritance that He has promised to those who love Him. Children, when you study and you obey your parents, you're not obeying your parents just for the sake of your parents.
You have to do it wholeheartedly for the Lord. And in that which seems small, you are glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ and obtaining for you the reward of the inheritance that the Lord has promised for those who love Him. The single, the young, the elderly, the sick, the one that is strong, those who do what they have been called to do in the role that they have been allocated and given. They are to do things in faith for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they are accumulating unto themselves.
Glories that do not come from men, but from the mouth of the Savior, who will give them the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." The life of the Christian goes beyond this church, goes beyond Sunday, and goes beyond whatever activity we do and gather together, beloved. We are to give ourselves in whatever you have been called to do. Praise God for what He has called you to do, to be a mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a kid, whatever. Thy Lord has blessed you in that.
And then you can bless the Lord in return by doing everything, expecting and desiring the coming of the inheritance of Christ. In when He will say to you, Well done, my faithful servant, in the little that was given to you, You did it with your heart, and now I'm inviting you to my eternal joy. Do not take unto yourself that which has not been given to you. Rejoice in the Lord for what he has given you, and find in the Lord Jesus Christ the rest that is needed, so that you will be strengthened to glorify him above all things, and that your faith as the faith of the daughters of Zelophehad will be used for the betterment of your soul, the edification of the church and the mighty workings of God that many times are unknown to you, but it does not matter because they need to be known only to God and in heaven. And with that, we shall be always pleased.
Amen.