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