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