Numbers (Part 8) (BST 3-2-08)

Numbers (Part 8)
Bible Study Time 3-2-08
(From James Roberts 3-21-99)

Last week in our journey through the scripture we looked at the book of Numbers, chapters 14 and 15. We saw in these chapters that the people of Israel were right at the gateway to the land of Canaan at Kadesh Barnea. This was the Promised Land and God would have taken them right on into the land, but instead of believing God, they believed the report of the ten spies. These spies went into the land for 40 days and reported back that the giants of the land were too great for the children of Israel to overcome.

The people became discouraged and plotted to stone Moses and Aaron as well as Joshua and Caleb, but God overruled. Instead, He told them that they would have to go back into the wilderness where they would wonder one year for every day that the spies had been in the land of Canaan. God said that all of those who were twenty years old and older would die in the wilderness but that He would then take the next generation into the Promised Land.

We saw also in the 15th chapter that God told the people to put tassels as a border on their garments, and they were to run a blue thread through this border. This blue thread was to be a constant reminder of the fact that God had called them unto Himself as a holy people. God had set them apart, and they were not to take part in all of the idolatrous worship of the nations round about them.

Now, in the 16th chapter of the book of Numbers, we see a very sad situation. Here we see a great rebellion against the appointed leaders of Israel. Numbers 16:1 says:

Numbers 16:1-2 NKJV
1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men;
2 and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown.

Korah and certain others went around stirring up the leaders of Israel, and they found 250 men who were willing to join them in a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. These are men of renown. They are respected men in the congregation and notice what they did:

Numbers 16:3 NKJV
3 They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"

These men said that Moses and Aaron were full of pride and were exalting themselves as princes over the whole congregation. They said that Moses and Aaron were making themselves out to be holy when, in fact, the whole congregation was holy in the sight of God.

This argument had some validity. God had indeed called the whole nation of Israel to be a holy nation, but God had further separated out certain people for different areas of leadership. Korah and his followers were actually complaining about the position of authority that God had given to them. They were simply jealous of Moses and Aaron.

Certainly, Korah should have known better than to complain against Moses. Previously, Miriam and Aaron had complained that Moses was too proud and that he was assuming too much authority among the people. However, at that time God set the record straight by stating that Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth. And certainly, Moses was a very humble person.

When God called Moses at the burning bush, God told Moses to go and speak to the children of Israel and to Pharaoh, but Moses said, I’m not able to do that; I’m a man of stammering lips. So God said, OK Moses, I’ll give you Aaron to be your spokesman.

You see, Moses was very humble, and when Miriam and Aaron complained against Moses, God gave Miriam leprosy, and she had to stay outside the camp for seven days. In this way God made a public example out of Miriam, and Korah and his fellow rebels should have known better that to complain against Moses.

Nevertheless, they started complaining that Moses and Aaron were exalting themselves as princes over the people, and Numbers 16:4 says:

Numbers 16:4-7 NKJV
4 So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face;
5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, "Tomorrow morning the LORD will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him.
6 Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company;
7 put fire in them and put incense in them before the LORD tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the LORD chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!"

Korah said that Moses was taking too much authority, but Moses came back and said that Korah and his followers were assuming too much authority by rebelling against God’s appointed leaders. In verse 8, Moses said:

Numbers 16:8-10 NKJV
8 . . . "Hear now, you sons of Levi:
9 Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to serve them;
10 and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? . . .

The fact is that Korah, as a Levite, has been chosen to serve the Lord in a special way in the tabernacle, and he should have known the significance of such a calling. However, he was not content with that which God had called him to do. So Moses reminded Korah and his followers of the great privilege of their calling, but then Moses asked:

Numbers 16:10 NKJV
10 . . . are you seeking the priesthood also?

God had called the tribe of Levi to serve the Lord in the tabernacle, but He had further separated out Aaron and his family as the priests of Israel. While the priests offered up the sacrifices and offerings of the people, the Levites were to do the various other duties that related to the service of the tabernacle. Now, verse 11 says:

Numbers 16:11 NKJV
11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD. And what is Aaron that you complain against him?"

Notice that in the sight of the Lord this was no small thing that Korah was doing. Korah was the ringleader of this rebellion, and certainly, this rebellion was different from that of Miriam and Aaron. While Miriam and Aaron had complained about Moses among themselves, Korah had complained to the leaders of the all the tribes of Israel. This was a serious offense against the Lord. In fact, the book of Jude mentions Korah’s rebellion. In verse 10 of that book we read that false teachers:

Jude 10-11 NKJV
10 . . . speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.
11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Notice that Korah is placed right in the same company with Cain and Balaam. Cain had refused to offer the required sacrifice before the Lord, and he then he killed his brother. Balaam was tempted to place a curse upon the children of Israel in exchange for money. Clearly, Korah’s rebellion is presented as one of the great rebellions of the Old Testament. So how did Moses respond to Korah’s challenge? Numbers 16:12 says:

Numbers 16:12 NKJV
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come up!

These men were coconspirators with Korah, but it may be that they were actually led astray by Korah. When Moses called for them, they said:

Numbers 16:12-13 NKJV
12 . . . "We will not come up!
13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey . . .

Just think about what they were saying. They had been in Egypt under terrible hardship, and yet they said that Egypt was a land that was flowing with milk and honey. Well, that might have been the case for the Egyptians, but it certainly was not the case for the children of Israel.

These men went on to say, is it a small thing that:

Numbers 16:13-14 NKJV
13 . . . you have brought us up . . . to kill us in the wilderness, that you should keep acting like a prince over us?
14 Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!"

These men were now blaming Moses for the fact that they had not been allowed to go into the land of Canaan. When the children of Israel refused to go into the land, Moses pronounced the judgment of God. But then, there were certain Jews who refused to accept the judgment of God. They decided to go in and take the land in their own strength, but they were killed by the Canaanites.

Now, these men were saying that Moses had failed to take them into the Promised Land. They were unwilling to accept that it was their own rebellion against the Lord that had prevented them from entering into the land. Now, notice in verse 15:

Numbers 16:15 NKJV
15 Then Moses was very angry, and said to the LORD,"Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them."

At this point, God physically separated Moses and Aaron from Korah and his followers, and Moses instructed the children of Israel to physically separate themselves from those who had rebelled. Then Moses said:

Numbers 16:29-32 NKJV
29 If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.
30 But if the LORD creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the LORD."
31 Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them,
32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods.

May I just say this to you? This may seem to be a small thing that Korah and his followers did. They simply questioned the authority of Moses, but when you look in the book of Jude, you see that this was a great rebellion against God. Obviously, those who rebelled against the Lord under the Law died without mercy, but today we live in the age of God’s grace.

Today, people openly express their hostility to the word of God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they seem to experience no adverse consequence. However, the Day of Judgment is coming. It is a terrible thing to trample underfoot the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, when the Day of Judgment comes, all those who have rejected Jesus Christ will be eternally condemned to the lake of fire.

Do you know Christ today? Those who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ have no reason to fear the judgment of God for there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

I see that our time it gone for this morning. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Numbers (Part 7) (BST 2-24-08)

Numbers (Part 7)
Bible Study Time 2-24-08
(From James Roberts 3-14-99)

Last week in our journey through the scripture, we saw the children of Israel at Kadesh Barnea, right at the doorway of the land of promise. God had given them that land and would have taken them right on into the land, but the people refused to go in because they heard an unfavorable report from ten of the spies who went in to spy out the land.

These ten spies said that the land was indeed a land that flows with milk and honey but that the giants of the land were too great to overcome. They reported that the children of Israel would never be able to take the land because the obstacles before them were too great.

Joshua and Caleb were the two spies who came back insisting that God was able to give them the land even as He had promised. They said, if the Lord delights in us, He will take us into the land; truly the land has many giants, but the Lord is able to take us into the land and give us the victory.

The people believed the spies who predicted defeat, and they became discouraged. As a result, they took up stones to stone Joshua and Caleb.

Then the Lord told Moses that the children of Israel were going to have to go back into the wilderness. They would have to wonder in the wilderness one year for every day that the spies were in the land of Canaan.

The spies were in the land of Canaan for forty days, and so the children of Israel were sentenced to wonder in the wilderness for forty years. God said that all those who were twenty years old and older would die in the wilderness, but then He promised that He would bring their children into the land of promise.

Now, in Numbers, Chapter 15, we find God giving the children of Israel some instructions for when they did enter into the Promised Land. He said, when you do enter into the land, there will be strangers who will be with you in the land.

These strangers were people who were not a part of the nation of Israel; they were to be what we would call proselytes. They were Gentiles would live among the Jews and accept all of the laws and customs of the Jews.

The Lord said that there was not to be one law for the stranger and another law for the children of Israel. No, there was to be only one Law for both the Jew and the stranger. These strangers were to come in and live among the children of Israel, but they were to live by all the rituals and forms and ceremonies that were prescribed in the Law, and they were to live by the same civil code as the children of Israel.

The Law was good and holy. If the children of Israel had obeyed that law, it would have given them perfect direction in their relationships one with another. The stranger who came to live among the Jews was to be a beneficiary of this just and holy law.

In the Law, God gave a law to deal with people who committed presumptuous sins. These were sins which were done intentionally, and there were certain prescribed offerings that they were to bring before the Lord for presumptuous sins. Then, there were also certain prescribed offerings which they were to bring if they sinned unintentionally.

As you know, the Law of Moses said to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. The children of Israel were to keep this law perfectly and do no servile work on the Sabbath. Whether it was the weekly Sabbath, the yearly Sabbath, the Sabbath of Sabbath’s, or whether it was the year of the jubilee, all of the Sabbath days were to be kept. These were holy days that were to be set apart completely for the Lord.

Now, in Numbers 15, we see an incident which relates to the law of the Sabbath. In verse 32, we read:

Numbers 15:32 NKJV
32 Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.

This seems to be a very innocent kind of activity, doesn’t it? This man was simply going around gathering sticks. It could be that he was planning to build a fire to bake bread or cook his meal, and this was forbidden on the Sabbath day. So in verse 33 we read:

Numbers 15:33-36 NKJV
33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.
34 They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him.
35 Then the LORD said to Moses,"The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp."
36 So, as the LORD commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.

God told Moses to have this man stoned with stones because he was gathering sticks on the Sabbath. What a severe judgment this was, and it’s very interesting to compare this event to what Jesus taught about the Sabbath.

The Lord Jesus ministered under the Law covenant, and He did keep the Sabbath day. He did not advocate breaking the Sabbath day. However, He did heal people on the Sabbath, and He did do all sorts of good deeds on the Sabbath day. When confronted by the Jewish religious leaders, the Lord explained that man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for man. Then He said, my Father works on the Sabbath, and just as my Father works on the Sabbath, I also work. He reminded them that the priests were permitted to minister on the Sabbath day according to the Law.

Essentially, the Lord Jesus was reminding the Jews that God never ceases from His work. By Him all things consist. By His power the many processes of our universe continue in harmonious function. If God stopped working for one moment, the universe would disintegrate into nothing. It is God who holds all things together.

In the Genesis account of creation, the Bible says that God rested on the Sabbath day, and this means that God rested from his work of creation. This does not mean that God stopped his work of holding the universe together. God works continuously and so Jesus said, just as the Father does good things continuously, even so I must continue doing good works even on the Sabbath.

When we come to the book of Colossians, Chapter 2, and verse 16, the Apostle Paul says that we today should not let any man judge us in regard to meat or drink or the Sabbath days, and then in verse 17 he gives the reason. He says that these things were:

Colossians 2:16 NKJV
17 . . . a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

God rested on the seventh day of creation, and He gave all of the Sabbath days of the Law, but these things were simply pictures or shadows of Jesus Christ. He says that the substance is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today, if anyone wants to enter into a Sabbath rest, they must cease from their own works just as God ceased from His work on the seventh day of creation. As God rested in His finished work, even so you and I must cease from our own works of righteousness which we have done. Today, God calls us to rest in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross.

The great difference between having salvation in Christ and having religion is found in the matter of works. Religion says that if you do this and this and this, then God will look upon you with favor. But our salvation in Christ says, to him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted to him for righteousness.

In Numbers, Chapter 15, we see that the Law was a law of condemnation. The book of Galatians and the book of James both remind us of the fact that if a man breaks one law, he is guilty of breaking the whole Law. So in Numbers, Chapter 15, when this man was out picking up sticks, he was guilty of breaking the law of the Sabbath, but he was really guilty of breaking the whole Law. It didn’t matter that he had not committed adultery, and it didn’t matter that he had not stolen or lied. He had broken the Law by picking up sticks on the Sabbath day.

This pictures for us so vividly the condemnation that comes by the Law. We are all guilty of breaking the Law. Not one person has kept that Law perfectly except the Lord Jesus Christ. But because Jesus Christ kept the Law perfectly, He was able to go to the cross and shed His blood as the blood of the spotless Lamb of God. This is the blood that God accepts as the payment for all sin.

The only way that you and I can enter into a Sabbath rest is to put our faith in the saving power of the shed blood of Christ. When we do this, we can rest in the finished work of Christ. This rest is certainly a rest that outshines by far the Sabbath rest of the Law. As Paul said, the Sabbath rest of the Law was merely a shadow of the rest that is provided in Jesus Christ.

Now, in Numbers 15:38, we find the Lord telling the children of Israel to do something that is very interesting. He tells Moses:

Numbers 15:38-41 NKJV
38 "Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners.
39 And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined,
40 and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.
41 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God."

This blue thread that ran through the tassels of their garments was to remind the children of Israel that God had given them the Law to separate them from all other nations. It was to remind them that they were not to take part in all of the religious idolatry of the other nations. They were to be a holy people, separated and holy for the Lord.

May I say this to you this morning? God has given to believers today His Holy Spirit to dwell within us, and He has given to us His word to remind us of who we are. Like the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, we are to be a holy people. We have been chosen by God to be His own peculiar, unique treasure. He says therefore that we should not walk as other Gentiles walk, but we are to be reminded that we belong to a heavenly company. We are members of the Church which is the Body and Christ, and Christ, Himself, is our Head. He wants us to be separated unto God for His work.

I see that our time it gone for this morning. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Numbers (Part 6) (BST 2-17-08)

Numbers (Part 6)
Bible Study Time 2-17-08
(From James Roberts 3-7-99)

Last week in our journey through the scriptures, we looked at chapters 13 and 14 in the book of Numbers, where we saw the children of Israel at Kadesh Barnea. At this point, the children of Israel were standing just outside the Promised Land. Kadesh Barnea was the gateway to the Promised Land, and all they had to do was to enter into the land that God had given to them.

Now, you may remember that God told them to select twelve men to go in and spy out the land. They were to select one man from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, and these men were to go through the land and bring back some of the fruit of the land so that the people could see how glorious the land was that they were going to inherit.

When the spies returned from their mission, they did give a glowing report of the land. They showed the people a cluster of grapes which took two men to carry, and they described the land as a land that flows with milk and honey.

However, ten of the spies reported that they would not be able to take the land because the men of the land were too great. They said, the men of the land are giants who live in walled cities, and we are as grasshoppers in their sight.

After this, Joshua and Caleb gave their report. They said that the nation of Israel would have no problem conquering the land. They said, if the Lord delights in us, He will give us the land that He has promised to us.

Unfortunately, the children of Israel sided with the ten spies who doubted the power of God, and so they began to murmur and complain. They said that God had brought them out of Egypt to kill them, and they started making plans to return to Egypt.

Then God spoke to Moses and asked, how long am I going to put up with these people? He said, I am going to disinherit them and make of you a great nation.

Moses reminded God of the fact that if He killed the Israelites, the Egyptians would say that the God of Israel was not powerful enough to take His people into the land of promise. They would say, the God of the Jews was able to take them out of Egypt, but He was not powerful enough to take them on into the land of Canaan.

Moses negotiated with God on the basis of the glory of God, and it was on this basis that Moses pleaded with God to forgive the sin of the children of Israel. Numbers 14:20 says:

Numbers 14:20-24 (KJ2000)
20 And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to your word:
21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
22 Because all those men who have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put me to the test now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
23 Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to give unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him will I bring into the land in which he went; and his descendants shall possess it.

So we see here that God told Moses that He would not allow that generation of Jews to go into the land of promise. But notice in verse 26:

Numbers 14:26-38 (KJ2000)
26 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, says the LORD, as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you:
29 Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me,
30 Doubtless you shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore to make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
31 But your little ones, whom you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.
32 But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness.
33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your harlotries, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness.
34 After the number of the days in which you searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.
35 I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
36 And the men, whom Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,
37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.

God brought the children of Israel right up to the door of the Promised Land, but they refused to enter into it because of their unbelief. And God said, because you have done this, you are going to turn around and go back into the wilderness, and you will know my rejection for forty years.

God said that for each day that the spies were spying out the land, the children of Israel would wander in the wilderness for one year, one year for each day. Furthermore, all of the men of Israel who were over 20 years of age would die in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb.

In I Corinthians, Chapter 10, Paul says that believers today should be aware of what happened to the children of Israel in the wilderness. He says:

1 Corinthians 10:11,12 (KJ2000)
11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.
12 Therefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

These events recorded in the book of Numbers were given as examples for our learning, and we find a detailed application of these events in the book of Hebrews where the writer explains that the Law Covenant which was given at Mt. Sinai ended with the death of Jesus Christ. He explains that the death of Jesus Christ established a new and better covenant.

Jesus Christ came to the Jews offering Himself as their Messiah or King, but according to the New Covenant, He also serves as Israel’s High Priest. Hebrews says that this twofold ministry is pictured in the Old Testament figure of Melchizedek for Melchizedek was a King-Priest. Under the Law of Moses, the king was to come from the tribe of Judah, while the priest was to come from the tribe of Levi. No one could serve as the king and as the priest under the Old Law Covenant, but the book of Hebrews declares that the Lord Jesus Christ came after the order of Melchizedek and that as such He is able to serve as both King and High Priest.

The writer of Hebrews says that the children of Israel were standing in a position that was identical to the position of the Jews as they stood at Kadesh Barnea. They too were standing at the door to the promised kingdom. They were in a position where they could go right in and enjoy the rest that God had promised them. All they had to do to enter into the promised kingdom was to believe the word of God.

Hebrews warns the children of Israel of the consequences of not believing God, and it warns them of the consequences of not entering by faith into that which God has promised. Hebrews reminds the children of Israel that when their forefathers at Kadesh Barnea refused to go into the land of Canaan, they were forced to wander in the wilderness until all the men of that generation were dead. Hebrews 4 says:

Hebrews 4:1-3 (KJ2000)
1 Let us therefore fear, lest, although a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
3 For we who have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest . . .

Why did the Jews at Kadesh Barnea not enter God’s rest? It was because they did not believe that God would give it to them. Even though God had revealed His power to them time and time again through mighty miracles, they would not believe the promise of God.

God had promised them the land of Canaan, and He had told them to go in and spy out the land to see what a wonderful land it was, but even after seeing the glory of the land, they refused to believe the word of God. Therefore, they came short of entering into the Promised Land, and as a result, that generation was rejected by the Lord for forty years in the wilderness. They rejected God’s word, and God rejected them.

At the time that the book of Hebrews was written, Israel’s promised earthly kingdom was being offered to the nation of Israel. If they would just believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah, God would send Jesus back to establish the kingdom. The book of Hebrews warns the children of Israel of the dire consequences of refusing to believe the word of God and of refusing to enter into that which God has promised.

During the thirty years that followed the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, God used the Apostles of Jesus Christ to make this offer of the kingdom to the Jews. However, the Jews steadfastly refused to accept Jesus was the Christ, and as a result, God temporarily set aside Israel’s kingdom program. At that point, God started revealing His program for today through the Apostle Paul.

God called the Apostle Paul to reveal the program for the Church which is the Body of Christ. This was an entirely new program which had never been mentioned in the prophesies of the Old Testament. This program was a mystery. It was a sacred secret which had been kept secret since before the foundation of the world. God never gave one hint concerning this program to anyone until it was clear that the Jews of the Acts-period were going to reject Jesus Christ and His kingdom.

When Israel rejected Jesus Christ and the kingdom, God set their kingdom program aside, and He began to call out the Church to which we belong today. In this Church, there is neither Jew nor Gentile. The Jew does not have preeminence over the Gentile, and the Gentile does not have preeminence over the Jew.

Let me just close by saying that there may be one listening to this program today who has never really trusted the Lord Jesus Christ. If that is the case for you this morning, then you are standing, as it were, at your own Kadesh Barnea. If you are fearful of moving on into the salvation which God has provided for us, let me encourage you to believe what God had said Jesus Christ and move on into the salvation of God. You don’t know what tomorrow might bring. Won’t you put your trust in Jesus Christ today and enter into that rest that God has provided for you.

I see that our time it gone. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Numbers (Part 5) (BST 2-10-08)

Numbers (Part 5)
Bible Study Time 2-10-08
(From James Roberts 2-28-99)

On our journey through the scriptures, we have come to the book of Numbers, and last week we looked at Numbers 11 and 12. There we saw the great sin of the people of Israel as they began to murmur and complain against Moses and ultimately against the Lord. The Lord had been providing them with manna from heaven day by day. This food was delicious and it was an all purpose food, but the people began to despise the manna when they thought about the flesh pots of Egypt. They began to long for the cucumbers, garlics, and melons.

The manna is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who is that bread from heaven. He is the One who satisfies the hungry soul. Our gracious God has provided the true bread for us. May we never be like the people of Israel who began to despise the precious manna that fell from heaven.

When God the lust of the people for flesh, He told Moses to sanctify the people against tomorrow for I am going to show them my great glory by giving them meat to eat.

But Moses asked, how can we feed all these people, will we have to kill all the sheep and all of the herds in order to be able to feed all these people?

But God said, my arm is not shortened that I cannot do what I have said I will do.

So the next morning, God sent a great number of quail into the camp. They were piled up about three feet deep all around the camp for about day’s journey. At last the people were able to eat the meat that they had been craving, but God sent judgment upon the people because of their sin of rebellion.

Then in the twelfth chapter we saw a very sad thing where Miriam and Aaron began to speak out against Moses. They complained that Moses had married an Ethopian woman, but this was just an excuse. In reality, they were upset that Moses was getting too much credit for all of the glorious things that God was doing. They admitted that God had spoken through Moses, but then they proclaimed that God had also spoken through them. They said that they were just as deserving of leadership as Moses.

When Moses brought Miriam and Aaron to the tabernacle, God spoke to them and said, I speak through visions and dreams to other prophets, but I speak to Moses as a friend would speak to a friend, face to face. Then the Lord challenged Miriam and Aaron and asked them how they could dare to murmur and complain against Moses.

The Lord was so angry with them that Miriam was stricken with leprosy, and she had to be put outside the camp. Aaron as the High Priest was to pray for Miriam so that she could be healed. In seven days, Miriam was healed and brought back into the camp again.

In the thirteenth chapter, we see the children of Israel continuing on in their journey to the Promised Land. When they arrived at Kadesh Barnea, they found themselves standing at the door to the Promised Land. God told Moses to select one person from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Those selected were to go in and spy out the land.

Moses told them to go in and travel throughout the land to see if the people were rich or poor, if they lived in camps or strongholds, if they lived in cities or out in the country. They were to evaluate the condition of the land and the people. Moses told them to bring back some of the fruit of the land, and he told them to be of good courage as they went about accomplishing this task.

Well, these men did as Moses told them to do. While they were in the Valley of Eshcol, they found a cluster of grapes that when it was cut down and hung on a pole, it took two men to carry it.

After forty days, they returned to Moses and the children of Israel. They showed them the cluster of grapes which they had collected, and they said, truly this is a land that flows with mild and honey. But then they said, nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong, the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak.

Then Caleb said, let us go up at once and take possession of the land for we are well able to overcome it. But the other men said, no, we are not able to go up against the people of the land for they are stronger than we are; the people of the land of Canaan are giants; when we saw the Canaanites, we were as grasshoppers in our own sight, and we were as grasshoppers in their sight as well.

Actually, these ten men who were afraid to enter into the land were half right. Undoubtedly, the children of Israel were much smaller, and they did appear as grasshoppers to the giants of the land of Canaan. But it’s interesting that they said that they were like grasshoppers in their own sight. From the natural, human viewpoint, they were just being realistic. In the natural realm, they would not have been able to have overcome the giants of the land of Canaan. They were just like grasshoppers in comparison to them.

When the children of Israel heard this, they began to complain against Moses, saying, why have you brought us out here with our children to die; why didn’t you just leave us alone in Egypt? Some even wanted to select a new leader who could lead them back to Egypt. But notice what Joshua and Caleb said in Numbers 14:6.

Numbers 14:6-7 (KJ2000)
6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of them that searched the land, tore their clothes:
7 And they spoke unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceedingly good land.

Now, in the next verse we are going to see the eye of faith. The ten fearful men were looking at their situation through the eyes of the natural man, but Joshua and Caleb were able to see through the eye of faith. They said:

Numbers 14:8 (KJ2000)
8 If the LORD delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey.

Now, why is it that Joshua and Caleb could say this? In Numbers 13, verse 1, we see that:

Numbers 13:1-2 (KJ2000)
1 . . . the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
2 Send men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel . . .

Obviously, Joshua and Caleb took God at His word. When God said, I’m giving this land to the children of Israel, Joshua and Caleb knew that God was able to overcome the giants and take the nation of Israel into the land. So they said, if the Lord delights in us then He will bring us into the land. They did not say, we will go into the land, but they said, He will bring us into this land which flows with mild and honey. Then they said:

Numbers 14:9 (KJ2000)
9 Only rebel not against the LORD, neither fear you the people of the land; for they are bread for us . . .

They said, we can eat these giants up for the Lord will be with us to give us the land. Then they said:

Numbers 14:9 (KJ2000)
9 . . . their defense is departed from them, and the LORD is with us . . .

You see, the reason the Canaanites had no protection is that the Lord was the shield, and the protector and the defender of the people of Israel, and the Lord had given them that land. Therefore, the people of the land of Canaan were defenseless before the Lord.

Joshua and Caleb knew this and they were ready to go in. They begged the people of Israel not to rebel against the Lord, but to take Him at His word. But do you know what they did? In verse ten we read?

Numbers 14:10 (KJ2000)
10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.

At this point, the children of Israel could see that the Lord was about to speak.

Numbers 14:11-12 (KJ2000)
11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will it be before they believe me, with all the signs which I have shown among them?
12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a greater nation and mightier than they.

God told Moses that the children of Israel were all worthy of death, and He told Moses that He would make a great nation of him. God was offering to take the promise that had been given to Abraham and give it to Moses, so that only the descendants of Moses would be the heirs of the promises of God.

Numbers 14:13-19 (KJ2000)
13 (But then) Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for you brought up this people in your might from among them;)
14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that you LORD are among this people, that you LORD are seen face to face, and that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them, by daytime in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
15 Now if you shall kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying,
16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to give unto them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.
17 And now, I beseech you, let the power of my LORD be great, according as you have spoken, saying,
18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
19 Pardon, I beseech you, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of your mercy, and as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

Moses negotiated with God, saying, Lord, you have forgiven these people so many times, and now I am standing before you, between you and these people, and I am asking you to forgive their sin.

Here we see Moses as the great intercessor, the great mediator between Israel and God. In this, Moses is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.

May I say this to you just in closing? You and I were just like the people of Israel. We were rebellious people; we were children of wrath; we deserved the wrath of God because of the enormity of our sin. Every one of us, as children of Adam, deserved the wrath of God, and God could not just clear us of our guilt. But God did provide a way whereby we could be cleansed and cleared of all guilt.

God took care of our guilt by sending His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to bear in full the penalty for our sins that we might become the children of God in Him. Because of the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross, God is just and justified when He justifies all those who believe in Him.

And now we have a mediator, we have an intercessor, at the right hand of the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous One. He is the One who pleads our case before the Father for He has paid in full the penalty for our sins.

I see that our time it gone. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Numbers (Part 4)(BST 2-3-08)

Numbers (Part 4)
Bible Study Time 2-3-08
(From James Roberts 2-14-99)

Last week in our journey through the scripture, we saw that God brought the people of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. He led them through the Red Sea and took them to Mt. Sinai where they stayed for about a year. During this time, God prepared them for their journey through the wilderness.

At Mt. Sinai, God gave the children of Israel the Law and the ordinances of the tabernacle. In the Law, God taught them how to worship so that He could be their God, and they could be His people. The tabernacle was going to be the dwelling place of God among His people.

When the time came for the children of Israel to leave Mt. Sinai, they had no sooner started their journey than they began to murmur and complain. God had made great provision for the children of Israel by giving them this very unusual food called manna, which was bread from heaven. This manna was an all-purpose food which could be prepared so many different ways and it was delicious. But when the people of Israel began to remember the food that they had enjoyed back in Egypt, they began to yearn for those things which they had left behind.

This is a picture of the carnal Christian today. God has provided the Lord Jesus Christ to meet our needs as we travel on our wilderness journey. He is the true bread from heaven, and He is so precious. But many times, as we begin to look at the things of the world, we begin to yearn for those things which we have left behind. As a result, the preciousness of Christ is diminished, and we may even begin to despise the things of the Lord. Only as we judge that sin and confess it before the Lord can the Lord become precious to us once again.

In our previous lesson in Numbers, we saw the inability of Moses to provide the leadership that the people needed. Moses asked the Lord, How can I bear this people; what have you got against me that you would put this leadership role upon me; I can’t bear this people.

And you know, Moses had the Spirit of God upon Him so that he could have done that work, but because of His own weakness, he began to complain against the Lord. Moses’ weakness is a picture of man under the Law covenant. Romans, Chapter 8, tells us that:

Romans 8:3,4 (KJ2000)
3 . . . what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, (judged) sin in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

In the book of Numbers we see that God heard Moses’ prayer and gave Moses 70 men from all of the tribes of Israel. God put His Spirit upon these men so that they would be able to share the burden of leadership.

From this we see that you and I today, in our own strength and power, cannot do those things that God has called us to do, but as we look at Romans 8 once again, we see that the Spirit of God helps our infirmities. He helps our infirmities just as these 70 men were given to Moses to help him.

What a great difference is seen between Moses and Christ. Moses was a faithful man in all of God’s house, but Moses was called as a servant. In the book of Hebrews we see that Jesus Christ is faithful in His own house; He serves as a Son.

Jesus Christ is the One who is always there to help us as we face the difficulties of life. John said that the Law came by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, and what a great blessing it is to be able to live under the grace of Jesus Christ as opposed to living under the Law.

It’s very interesting to see that after these 70 men were commissioned and were given the Spirit of God, that God told Moses:

Numbers 11:18 (KJ2000)
18 . . . say unto the people, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat flesh: for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and you shall eat.

The people were to sanctify themselves because God was about to do something that was unheard of, something that was almost unimaginable. God said that he was going to feed meat to the people, and Moses asked how that could possibly be. He said, if we go out and get all of the fish in the sea, it won’t be enough to feed all these people; will the people have to kill all of their herds of cattle?

But the Lord said to Moses:

Numbers 11:23 (KJ2000)
23 . . . Is the LORD'S hand shortened? you shall see now whether my word shall come to pass unto you or not.

God said, my arm is not shortened that I cannot do all that I have said I will do. This is a great eternal principle that we all need to keep in mind. God is able to do whatever He says He will do. In the book of Ephesians, God tells us that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. At times we may think that our circumstances are so difficult and so burdensome that there is no way out, but the Lord is able to deliver us.

I believe the Lord was preparing Moses and the people for that time when they would stand at the very border of the Promised Land ready to enter in by faith. God wanted to emphasize to Moses that there was nothing too hard for God to perform. God was indeed perfectly capable of taking them into the Promised Land, and He miraculously provided meat for them to eat there in the wilderness to prove His power.

Now, let’s look in Numbers 11:31, and we’ll see exactly how God was able to feed all the children of Israel with meat.

Numbers 11:31 (KJ2000)
31 And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quail from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and about a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits high above the face of the earth.

Notice that God provided quail all around the camp for about a day’s journey, and the quail were about two cubits deep all through this strip of land around the camp. A cubit is about 18 inches, so the quail were about three feet deep for a day’s journey all around the camp. Now, notice verse 32:

Numbers 11:32 (KJ2000)
32 And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quail: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.

So, the people worked all day, all night and all the next day, gathering quail and preparing them for food to eat. God had said that He would provide so much meat that they would be sick and tired of it, and so it was that they ate and ate and ate, and verse 33 says:

Numbers 11:33 (KJ2000)
33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague.

I believe that this plague came upon those who had not sanctified themselves and prepared themselves for this day. Moses had told the people that they were to be sanctified against tomorrow. But there were many who went out and with greediness they devoured that which God had given them. As a result, God’s anger broke out in the camp and killed a great number of the people, and the dead were buried there in the desert.

Now in the twelfth chapter of Numbers, we see something very sad. We see Aaron and Miriam began to be jealous of Moses. They began to think in their own minds that Moses was taking too great a burden upon himself. They thought He was becoming too proud as a result of what God was doing through Him.

To support their case against Moses, they raised the issue of His having married an Ethiopian woman. This was undoubtedly Zipporah, the wife that Moses had married while he was on the backside of the desert in the land of Midian. This was before God brought Moses back to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. They complained about Moses’ marriage and said:

Numbers 12:2 (KJ2000)
2 . . . Has the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? has he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it.

The Lord heard what they said and was obviously very displeased because in the next verse we read:

Numbers 12:3 (KJ2000)
3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men who were upon the face of the earth.)

Moses was not proud and arrogant. His position of leadership had actually caused him to be very humble before the Lord. Miriam and Aaron were simply jealous. But notice what God says in verse six. After having Miriam and Aaron brought to the tabernacle, God said:

Numbers 12:6 (KJ2000)
6 . . . Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

The book of Hebrews tells us that God spoke through the prophets in many different kinds of ways. He often spoke to them in dark speeches. Many times the people could not even understand what the prophets were saying, but God would tell the prophets to proclaim the message anyway. God spoke to these prophets in visions and in dreams, but God told Miriam and Aaron that this is not the way He spoke to Moses. Verse 7 says:

Numbers 12:7,8 (KJ2000)
7 My servant Moses is not thus, who is faithful in all my house.
8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even clearly, and not in dark sayings; and the form of the LORD shall he behold: why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

We find out later in this chapter that Moses’ sister, Miriam, became leprous, and she had to be put outside the camp for seven days because of her rebellion against the Lord. Aaron was not stricken because he was the High Priest, and he was the one who was going to make intercession for Miriam in order that she might be healed.

Now, I want to just mention that many times you and I as believers may develop a spirit of jealousy in our minds and in our hearts, and it causes us to be ineffective in the work of the Lord. When that is the case, God wants us to bring judgment upon ourselves, as it were. We need to judge that sin by confessing it to the Lord so that we can be brought back into fellowship with the Lord. Only by this means can we truly be cleansed of our sin and used by the Lord for His honor and His glory.

I see that our time it gone. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/