Graph made courtesy of NCES KidsZone.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Praying for Muslims
Our family will be using this 30 day guide to praying for Muslims during the feast of Ramadan (starts tomorrow).
Want to join us?
[HT: JT]
Want to join us?
[HT: JT]
Being "Untwerped" by the Small Pond
Jack Brooks:
"...seminary showed me what a little twerp I really was, and how far I had to go to even get marginally untwerped."
Read the whole thing.
"...seminary showed me what a little twerp I really was, and how far I had to go to even get marginally untwerped."
Read the whole thing.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Joy to Jesus and Joy in Him
Psalm 16 "Pleasures Forevermore"
Sermon by Guest Blogger Russell J. Muilenburg
Not Original
Today we are going to continue looking at our new vision statement here at Hope Church. We are using this short, simple statement to summarize what Hope Church has always stood for; to explain what the Bible expects of the church; and to paint a picture of the kind of church we want to be.
We've put the emphasis on joy. We've said that:
We are here to bring joy to Jesus and to experience joy in Him.
I think this statement captures the heart of our church while also conveying an invitation to those outside of the church.
Now, today, I have a confession to make. As much as I would like people to think this statement is an original idea, it's really not. This isn't something that the consistory pulled out of thin air. Rather, this statement is really just a re-wording of a document that's about 360 years old.
The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks: “What is the chief end of man?” In other words, “Why are we here?” “What's our purpose?” The same basic question we've been asking about the church. And the answer given is this:
Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Now, I don't know if you know much about the Westminster Catechism—it's kind of a big deal in the Presbyterian church—but this is a summary of Christian belief that has been around for a while and it is pretty well-respected. Personally, I think this is about as good an answer to the “Why are we here?” question that has ever been penned.
And the thing I want you to notice is the emphasis on joy. The Catechism doesn't just say that we are here to glorify God, it says that we are also here to enjoy Him. Or, as our vision statement says, “to experience joy in Him.”
Now, I think that is remarkable. Again, you might not know much about the Westminster, but the folks who wrote this were what you would call Scottish Puritans. A group of people very similar to the Pilgrims who settled Massachusetts. Calvinistic, with long beards and very plain clothing, these were not necessarily guys you would associate with joy. History likes to paint them as very severe.
And yet, when they sat down to write a summary of the Biblical reason for human existence, they put an emphasis on joy. We are here to enjoy God. We are here to experience joy in Him.
The Power of a Conjunction
In fact, I don't see the two parts of this answer as if they are separate things.
The word “and” could imply that there are two activities that constitute man's chief end. We are here to glorify God AND enjoy Him forever. Two different things. But the question doesn't ask for two answers, it asks for only one.
John Piper, a pastor up in Minneapolis, and one of my heroes, points out that we could really replace the word “and” with the word “by.” The answer could read:
Man's chief end is to glorify God BY enjoying Him forever.
Because, really, that's what is being said. Our reason for existence, our purpose for being, is to glorify God. And the way we will do that best... the way God will most be honored by us... the way to bring the greatest joy to God... is to find our joy in Him.
John Piper puts it like this:
God is most glorified in us
when we are most satisfied in Him.
In other words, it is when we obey and trust and follow and worship God—when we show that His promises are sufficient and that His will for us is good—that we most honor Him. When we find our happiness and our contentment and our joy and our pleasure in God, then He is indeed displayed to be the greatest thing in our universe.
Or, to put it in negative terms, if we find no pleasure in God, if we are not seeking to find our joy in Him, then we are not really glorifying Him.
So I don't see our vision statement as two things, but one thing.
We are here to bring joy to Jesus and to experience joy in Him.
As we experience the joy of belonging to Jesus, and display that joy to the rest of the world, we are in the best position to put a smile on our Savior's face.
Psalm 16
So that's our vision statement and where it comes from. Now, in the time we have left today I want to look at the second half of the statement—the “experience joy” part—and show you that this isn't something that theologians have just made up. I want you to see that this is a very Biblical idea. The Bible invites us to experience our greatest joy in God. In Jesus.
And to see that, I want to invite you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 16. Psalm 16 will be our text today. Here's what it says:
What I want you to notice from this Psalm is the number of words that express joy: “delight” in verse 3, “secure” in verse 5, “pleasant” and “delightful” in verse 6, “glad” and “rejoices” in verse 9, “joy” and “pleasures” in verse 11. The Bible really does want us to be happy. God really is interested in us experiencing joy.
Look more closely with me at verse 11. To me, this is the key verse to the whole Psalm:
11 You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
God's presence is where true joy is found.
“Eternal pleasures at your right hand.” The King James Version says “pleasures forevermore.” That's where I got the title for this message.
When you are in God's presence—living for Him and trusting in Him and seeking to do His will—then you are in the best possible place a human being can be. A place where not only does God receive joy, but so do you!
I phrased it like this: God has designed us to find our deepest joy in Him. The way God has made the world, the way He has put us together, is so that we will find our greatest happiness in Him.
If we are seeking our joy in anything less than God, then we are short-changing ourselves. With apologies to Snickers, nothing can satisfy like our God.
And if we go back to the rest of the Psalm, we will find four ways in which this joy can be experienced.
Delight in the Saints
First, there is joy in the company of God's people. We experience joy in God when we spend time with His people.
The first verse of our Psalm is a general prayer for protection and a declaration of faith. “Keep me safe, O God; for in you I take refuge.” Then verses 2-4 start to talk about where the Psalmist gets his joy:
2 I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing."
3 As for the saints who are in the land,
they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.
4 The sorrows of those will increase
who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their libations of blood
or take up their names on my lips.
On the one hand, the Psalmist can say that apart from God he has no good thing. God is his only treasure. Yet on the other hand, he can say, "I delight in the saints of the land. They are a good thing." You want to ask, “Which is it it?” But the Psalmist evidently sees no either-or, no competition between having God as his only good, and yet placing a very high value upon the saints in the land.
The point seems to be that it is because they are saints—that is, they are people who love God and trust Him and obey Him—then our delight in them is simply an indirect delight in God. In other words, God is honored when we enjoy being in the company of His people.
The implication, then, is that we should enjoy being with other believers. We should delight to be in the company of people who love and worship and seek to follow God.
Like I've been saying the last couple of weeks, being here on Sunday, being together to worship and learn and pray, ought to be the highlight of our week. We should look forward to this gathering, we should delight to come and be with God's people.
To go back to the painting in our lobby, that picture of the party thrown for the lost sheep from Luke 15, we should reflect that party atmosphere when we gather together. Maybe there won't always be dancing and balloons, but that same spirit of joy should be present in our time together. Because when we experience joy together, we are experiencing some of the joy of following God.
It follows then that we're not going to run with the wrong crowd. That's what verse 4 is about. If we find our delight with God's people, then it will keep us from falling in with those who worship and serve other gods.
So, God has designed us to find our deepest joy in Him, and one of the ways we do that is in the company of God's people.
Delight in the Plan
Second, there is joy in the results of God’s faithfulness. We experience joy in God when we reflect on the blessings of our lives. Verses 5 & 6:
5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
When we look back over our lives, we will find that God has been faithfully blessing us all along. He assigns us our portion and our cup, our food and our drink.
I like the way verse 6 puts it: “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.” That's an allusion to what happened when the children of Israel finally made it to the Promised Land and God assigned the parts of the land to the various tribes. The Psalmist is saying that his inheritance was pretty good. Metaphorically speaking, he's saying he's happy with where the boundaries of his life came out.
It's kind of like having a map of your life. And if you stop and look back on it, you'll find that God has been faithful throughout. That He's taken the circumstances of your life and—as Romans 8:28 says—worked them out for your good.
This doesn’t mean that every follower of Christ has a perfect life. Quite the opposite. Christ told us that those who follow Him will have to carry crosses of their own. He made it clear that in this world there would be trouble. And yet, for those who follow Him, He promises that He will always be faithful. That we will find joy even in our trials.
Take Chris Klein for example. Chris had a difficult child birth. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his throat and for 45 minutes he was deprived of oxygen. He has cerebral palsy. The muscles in his body never stop moving, but he has no motor control. He needs to wear gloves, because his index fingers are constantly digging into his thumbs, causing painful sores. He is confined to a wheelchair and needs help just to go to the bathroom, bathe, or eat.
But Chris can communicate by typing onto a computer with his left big toe. The computer speaks for him. He is highly intelligent and graduated from Hope College and Western Theological Seminary. Today he is a traveling preacher who speaks at camps and churches. This is what Chris says about his disability:
I had faith in God, but I didn't rely on it because I thought God had given me a bad deal. But suddenly I understood that God had given me a gift of disability. It is a gift because I am able to boast in my weakness, and people will be able to see Jesus shine through me.
Now, I'm not trying to make light of your difficulties or struggles. I'm not saying, “at least you don't have it as bad as this guy,” or anything like that. We all have had bad experiences and bad breaks, and some of you may be in the midst of some rotten stuff right now.
But I am saying that if we are alert to what God is doing in our lives, then we will find that even in our most trying circumstances God is still faithful. Like Chris Klein, we can say that the boundary lines have fallen for us in pleasant places.
Delight in the Rules
God has designed us to find our deepest joy in Him. There is joy in the company of God's people. There is joy in the results of God's faithfulness. Now, third: there is joy in the wisdom of God’s counsel. We experience joy in God when we follow His rules. Look at verses 7 & 8:
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
The Psalmist talks about the Lord's counsel. The Lord's instruction. What he has in mind here are God's commands. God's instructions for how to live the best possible life.
You see, a lot of people have this idea that God's commands are restrictive. All these “Thou shalt not”s and “don't”s, it seems like God wants to keep us from having any fun. That's why there is so much controversy about teaching the Ten Commandments, we're a libertarian society, and telling people what they can't do tends to cramp their style.
But what we have to realize is that God doesn't give us rules to ruin our fun, but to protect us. God's instructions for living are all about how to have the best possible life. He doesn't want us to short-circuit our joy, or settle for a lesser joy, by settling for sin.
There's a great verse in the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 2:13, that goes like this:
My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
The spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
A cistern is a basically a bucket, something that you store water in. And God is saying that we all have a bucket inside of us; a bucket in our souls that can be filled up with our contentment or joy. The fuller our bucket, the happier we are.
And so we need to go to the bucket store, and get a bucket. And sin has this really fancy looking bucket store. Like a Crate and Barrel or Bed, Bath and Beyond. And sin has all this glitzy marketing and slick advertising and you walk into sin's store and you see all these high-end buckets. And they all look so good: Anger, getting back at those people who have hurt you. Pride, making yourself feel good by pointing out other people's weaknesses. Selfishness and greed, thinking life is all about you. Laziness. Lust. All these fancy buckets that promise instant happiness.
And God has a bucket store too. Only it's nothing fancy. Just a humble little main street shop. And the buckets at God's store are not too exciting: obedience, doing things God's way, trust.
So the buckets, the cisterns, that sin offers look so much better. But, here's the thing, you buy one of sin's buckets and you try it out, and it fills up your capacity for joy for a while, but then it springs a leak. It always happens. Sin's buckets can't hold water. And so you always have to go back for more, and more.
God's buckets, on the other hand, might not fill up as fast, but they are always reliable. They always hold water. Our capacity for joy when we draw from the spring of living water, is always so much greater.
What the world offers to us in sin is a counterfeit. Sin promises pleasure for a moment, but it is always with consequences. I read a great line on the Internet the other day: “Sin will always take you further than you want to go, it’ll keep you longer than you want to stay, and charge you more than you want to pay.”
And God wants to spare us from that. He doesn't want us to settle for counterfeit joy, but to go for the real thing, the kind of joy that is found in obedience to Him.
There's joy in the wisdom of God's counsel.
Delight in the Resurrection
Fourth and finally, there's joy in the security of God’s protection. We can experience joy in God when we look ahead to eternity. Verses 9 & 10:
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
When the Psalmist thinks about the future, one thing he is sure of is that it will not be the end for him.
He knows he will die. He knows that some day these bodies of ours will give out and we'll stop breathing. He knows there is a casket and a narrow plot of earth waiting for all of us.
But he is not afraid, because he also knows that God will not abandon him to the grave. For those who trust in the Lord, there is joy in God's presence and eternal pleasures to come.
Verse 10 is a verse that gets quoted in the New Testament with reference to Jesus' resurrection. According to the Apostle Peter, Jesus is the “Holy One” that this verse refers to (Acts 2:25-32).
That doesn't really change the promise of this verse for us, though, because it is only by the death and resurrection of Jesus than any of us have any hope of being resurrected ourselves. By virtue of Jesus' resurrection, the resurrection of all who believe in Him is also guaranteed. If you have taken Jesus as your savior, you too know the joy of security for the future.
And if you haven't taken Jesus as your savior, you can do that today and know with a certainty that you will be in the presence of God for eternity.
There is joy in the security of God's protection.
A Place of Joy
So, God has designed us to find our deepest joy in Him. He wants us to experience joy. He wants us to be deliriously happy. And He knows that will only happen if we are seeking our joy in Him. As Psalm 16 says, there is joy in the company of God's people. There is joy in the results of God's faithfulness. There is joy in the wisdom of God's counsel. And there is joy in the security of God's protection.
At Hope Church, we want to be people who experience joy in God at the highest levels, and we want to invite those around us to experience that joy as well.
Sermon by Guest Blogger Russell J. Muilenburg
1 Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." 3 As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. 4 The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips. 5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. 7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. 8 I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, 10 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Quotable Quote of the Day
“It’s not that I’m surrounded by incompetence that bothers me; it’s that I fit in so well.”
~Unknown
[HT: Steve Shields]
~Unknown
[HT: Steve Shields]
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Matt's Messages - Summing Up Numbers
“Summing Up Numbers”
Life in the Wilderness
September 9, 2007
Numbers 30:1-36:13
As I’ve been praying and thinking about what our church needs right now in our spiritual diet from the feast of God’s Word, I’ve become convinced that we should rapidly end our study of Numbers and move on to something else.
I think that you’ll agree that we’ve found Numbers to be an amazing book. Perhaps the strangest book of the Bible that we’ve studied so far. It’s been full of numbers! Numbers of people, numbers of clans, numbers of sacrifices, numbers of disappoints, numbers of times that God has come through for His people.
We’ve experienced together a taste of “Life in the Wilderness,” living in that place between God’s Rescue and the Promised Land.
As I said the first Sunday of this series, way back on January 7th, we have studied the book of Numbers because it is Holy Scripture. Numbers is God’s Word to us. And I think we’ve heard from Him again and again as we’ve learned about the censuses, the concentric circles of holiness in the camp, the blessings of the LORD, the Retreat of Unbelief, the battle with Baalam, the dangers of complaining and envy and disobedience, and the blessings of purity, obedience, and zeal.
I told you on January 7th, that preaching the book of Numbers is my gift to you. I desire greatly that our little church would know the Big Picture of the Bible. That everyone from our smallest children to our most senior saints would know the Big Story of Genesis through Revelation. And so, on odd numbered years, I’ve planned to take us through the foundation books of the Old Testament that carry that story through. Genesis in 2003, Exodus in 2005, and Numbers in 2007.
Not only is this a great book, but preaching it has been an opportunity for me to give you a great gift. Few people have ever heard a sermon on Numbers, much less been taught the entire book. I love you and wanted you to have that gift.
And the third reason I told you back in January why we took on book of Numbers, is that Jesus is here in Numbers. And we’ve seen Him every week.
His name is not here, but there are signposts in every chapter. Numbers is a part of God’s revelation of His character. And Jesus is the fullest revelation of God. “Every story whispers His name.”
And I think that today, God is calling us to “sum up” the book of Numbers and finish our slow trek through its pages. This is the 24th sermon in Numbers, and I think it should be our last for this series. “Summing Up Numbers”
I’m going to do the preaching a little differently today, I’m not going to read all of the verses. If I did, it would take the whole time. In fact, I’m going summarize a lot here so that we can cover 7 chapters in one sermon.
And as we go through these last summary chapters, I want to point out 5 things we can see about God in them. They are 5 things that we’ve seen all along in the book about God. Because God is the Main Character in the book of Numbers. And each of these facets of God’s character call for a personal response. So that will be our application as we sum up the book of Numbers.
***
Pop quiz! I’m sure you expected it on the last day of Numbers!
Where are the people of Israel right now?
Are they in the Promised Land? No they are not.
Where are they? They are parked on the plains of Moab, right across from the Promised Land, right across the Jordan River, right across from the city of Jericho.
And the last several chapters of the book of Numbers are concerned with getting the people of Israel ready to cross over, conquer, inherit, and possess the Promised Land.
They have offspring, they have blessing, they will soon have land.
Last week, we saw that chapters 28 and 29 got the people ready for sacrifices on Holy Days in the Promised Land. It laid out the Holy Calendar for the people of God.
In chapter 30, God is getting them ready for the Land by explaining the laws concerning vows.
Vows were religious promises made, and they should be kept. Chapter 30, verse 1.
“Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: ‘This is what the LORD commands: When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.”
Often, a man would tell the Lord, that if the Lord would give him some success in some endeavor, then that man would vow to offer a certain sacrifice or set of sacrifices in thanksgiving. This never obligated God, but it did obligate the man.
And he should keep his obligation.
But the chapter then goes on to explain what would happen if a woman made a vow. What if a woman wanted to promise God something if He did something for her?
Chapter 30 teaches through various situations that a woman could make a vow, but if she was a minor still in her father’s home or an engaged woman, or a married woman under the headship of her husband, if her husband considered the vow hasty or rash, he could nullify it. And that would be a protection for their family.
I used to think that this chapter was unfair. That women were treated as less than equal with their husbands. But I now see that this chapter is about protecting women who were in a difficult place in the social setting of the ancient Near East. V.8 and v.15 use the words “rash promise” and “responsible for guilt.”
This is about protecting a young woman or a wife from the consequences and obligations of a bad decision.
If it is unfair, it is unfair to the man. Because men make rash vows, too! But they would have to keep each one. That’s part of the responsibility of headship.
Remember headship? I preached on the biblical teaching on headship almost a year ago today. Husbands are called to lead, provide, and protect their wives. They are called to a greater level of responsibility for the women in their lives.
And here’s why. It’s point #1. In “Summing up Numbers,” we find a GOD WHO CARES.
God cares about His people. Especially those people who are weak or oppressed or in difficult situations.
We’ve seen this again and again in the book of Numbers. Here it is women. In earlier chapters it was hungry Israelites, it was unclean Israelites, it was thirsty Israelites, it was attacked Israelites. It was Zelophehad’s orphaned daughters. He took care of them all.
God cares about His people. Especially His people in weak situations.
Do you need to hear that today? It jumped off the pages to me this week as I was studying this.
I’ve always turned my nose up at Numbers chapter 30 as old-news that might even put down women. But I saw this week that God wanted, as they went into the Land, that His men provide protection for His women.
Because God cares. Do you need to know that God cares? 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Cast your cares on Him.
But that’s not all that God is.
Some people would like to think of God as caring, yes, but not as wrathful.
But the very next chapter shows us His perfect justice.
We see in chapters 31 and 32, (#2) A GOD WHO JUDGES.
In chapter 31, God calls for a holy war. Look at chapter 31, verse 1.
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.’”
This is Moses’ last military assignment. He is supposed to take vengeance on the Midianites.
Why? Remember Baalam in chapters 22 through 24? The Midianites were in on that.
And they really in on the sneak attack on Israel in chapter 25. That’s when the women of Midian and Moab snuck in and seduced Israel so that they were almost destroyed from inside. Remember that?
If it wasn’t for zealous Phinehas, Israel would have been destroyed.
And now God is telling Moses that Midian’s time is up. They need to bring judgment.
This isn’t a personal vendetta. This it the LORD’s perfect justice in the LORD’s perfect time.
So they put together a crack team of 12,000 soldiers, one thousand from each tribe. Led by zealous Phinehas. And they fought the Midianites.
And God, because He is just, gave them victory. Overwhelming victory with amazing spoils and (catch this!) no casualties on the Israelite side (chapter 31, verse 49)!
They succeeded in killing the five kings of Midian, including Cozbi’s evil father, Zur (Chapter 31, verse 8).
And they also caught the Osama bin Laden of their day–Baalam son of Beor and brought God’s justice to him.
We don’t understand Holy War because we don’t live in Old Testament times. There will be no more legitimate holy war until Christ returns and wages the Last Battle.
But this kind of war was a demonstration of the perfect justice of God.
They had attacked God’s people, they would get God’s vengeance.
Now, that’s a scarey thing. But it’s also a wonderful truth.
God will see that justice is done. He doesn’t always do it on our time-table (in fact, He seldom does, especially because He is so patient and gracious!). But He will see that perfect justice is done.
We’ve seen that over and over again in the book of Numbers. God’s discipline and judgment. Forty years of wilderness wanderings. An entire generation of Israelites dead in the desert.
God takes sin seriously.
In this story, they had spared the women. And normally, God wants that to happen.
But in the case of the Midianites, it was the wicked women who had infiltrated Israel with their seduction, so everyone woman who had slept with a man had to be executed.
We think that is harsh, but in that day, it was a mercy to Israel, or they would have been trapped again.
And God is just. He sees to it that justice is done. That is what is for. And though it is a terrible thing to think about it, think about it, we must!
In chapter 32, it looked like the Retreat of Unbelief was going to happen again.
The leaders of the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh came to Moses and asked if they could settle on this side of the Jordan river. (Verses 1 through 5).
Was that in the Promised Land? No. Israel had conquered it, and it was a great fertile place for the flocks and herds of these tribes, but it wasn’t in the promised land.
And Moses got scared and mad that it was all happening again. They had said (v.5), “Don’t make us cross the Jordan.”
And Moses said, “This is what your fathers did!” (V.8)
And he recounts the trouble they had over the Retreat of Unbelief and promises them more of the same.
But these leaders had a different plan in mind. They wanted the Transjordan land, but they were only going to leave behind their flocks and herds and families.
The soldiers all had faith to go into Canaan and fight until it was all theirs.
Well, that was okay then. So Moses says, (v.20), “If you will do this–if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for battle, and if all of you will go armed over the Jordan before the LORD until he has driven his enemies out before him–then when the land is subdued before the LORD, you may return and be free from your obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will be your possession before the LORD. But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
God takes sin seriously. God is a God who judges.
“You may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
Don’t think that your sin is a secret from God.
It is not a secret. Your life and heart are laid open before His eyes.
And He sees your sin. Repent now while you still can.
“You may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
Your sin is not only not a secret, but it will be the very thing that finds you out and turns you in.
On the day of reckoning, which is coming for each of us and all of us, we will have to give an account for all of the deeds done in the body, whether good or bad.
Turn now. Repent now. While you still can.
The LORD is not just a God who cares.
He is a God who judges.
And He is also, thankfully, a (#3) GOD WHO GUIDES.
Chapter 33 is a long list of camp-sites.
Look at verses 1 and 2: “Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. At the LORD's command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages:”
And then he lists 40 different spots where Israel camped between Egypt and Jericho.
And I think the main point here is that God led them every step of the way.
In verse 50, He gives them their marching orders for the next “Big Story” book of the Bible, Joshua. V.50
“On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the LORD said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides [OUCH!]. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.'”
Those are the marching orders from the Commander in Chief.
And just as God has led them from verse 1 to verse 49, He is promising to guide them into the Promised Land and give them victory.
But they have to follow.
God is God Who Guides, but we have to follow Him.
Do you need to hear that message this morning?
God Is God Who Guides, but We Have to Follow Him.
Israel will be so tempted to follow other gods for the next several hundred years.
They will go into the Land, but they will not do verse 52 very well.
“Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.”
Instead, in a reoccurring spiral, they followed those other gods. And they were barbs in their eyes and thorns in their sides.
God Is God Who Guides, but We Have to Follow Him.
And that means repentance, too.
Remember, 2 weeks ago, when I said that disciples of Jesus follow Jesus.
It sounds like a truism, but it is so often true, that we follow after other gods.
But God is God who Guides! As I’ve reported before many times from this pulpit, I’ve struggled with the idol of gluttony (“their god is their stomach”).
But this year, I’ve been able in a new way to follow God by faith. I’ve lost 17 pounds since mid-June, and the main reason is because of a restoration of right worship in my heart of hearts.
Praise God! God guides. And we just need to follow Him.
In chapter 34, we see another facet of the character of God–probably, the most important theme in the whole book: God’s faithfulness to His promises.
The LORD is (#4) A GOD WHO FULFILLS.
God always keeps His promises. Right? That’s the theme of Genesis and it’s the theme of the entire Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.
God always keeps His promises.
In chapter 34, it’s the promise of the Promised Land.
The entire chapter is a description of the borders of Canaan. Verses 1 through 15 lay out North, South, East, and West. And then verses 16 through 29 give us the new names of the tribal leaders who will lead their clans into their inheritance.
You can almost taste it! The land is almost theirs!
They are ready to go. It’s going to happen.
God will fulfill His promises to His people.
It doesn’t always happen like we think it will.
Strangely enough, Israel never has had these exact borders yet. Even under David or Solomon.
But we know that God will fulfill His promises.
And one day, God’s King will rule all of this land described in Numbers 34, and in fact, there will be no borderline to describe the end of His Kingdom!
God will fulfill His promises.
Do you need to hear that this morning?
I love that new song we learned today, “Blessed Be Your Name.”
The reason I love it, is not the beat or the tune, though they are very catchy.
I love it because it handles a part of the Christian experience that we don’t often sing about, but often have to live.
Not praising God in the good times, but praising God like Job did in the bad times, and like Israel was supposed to in the wilderness times–Blessed Be Your Name!
“When the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say, ‘Blessed Be Your Name!’”
How can we be people like that in the dark times?
It’s because of the Lord’s promises!
He has given us “great and precious promises!” And we can take each and every one to bank.
Even when it doesn’t seem like they could ever come true.
Especially (!) when it doesn’t seem like they could ever come true.
We need to trust His promises.
Because the God of Numbers is a God Who Fulfills.
In the last chapter, chapter 36, the daughters of Zelophehad show up again.
They are still trusting God’s promises for their inheritance in the land. But there is a dispute over what would happen if they married outside of their clan. What would happen to their land then? Would it leave their clan. The answer is given that they can’t marry outside of the clan or they would lose their land.
What do you think they did? They married in their clan! Why?
Because they believed in God’s promises for this land.
Israel is poised to go in and possess it.
The men’s Sunday School class this Fall is going to pick up right here on this side of the Jordan and then study the book of Joshua and see how God fulfills His promises.
What promises have God made to you? Do you know?
You can trust them. You can trust Him. He always keeps them. Every time.
But that’s not all. I have one more.
God is not just a God Who Cares (though He does, cast your cares on Him).
Not just a God Who Judges (though He does, repent now or your sin will find you out).
God is not just a God Who Guides (though He does, and we must follow).
And God is not just a God Who Fulfills (though He does, and we can trust Him).
But God is also a (#5) GOD WHO FORGIVES.
In Numbers chapter 35, God tells Moses to instruct the Israelites to create forty-eight cities for the Levites. And six of those cities are to be what He calls, (chapter 35, verse 13), “cities of refuge.”
These are special cities where a man can a flee to if he unintentionally sins and kills someone else.
The chapter makes it clear that if he is a murderer (established by 2 or 3 witnesses), then he must be executed for his crime, if they didn’t they would pollute the land (which I think says something to us about capital punishment).
But if he didn’t mean to do it (and there are a lot of examples to show how that could be, involuntary manslaughter), then he could run into one of these cities of refuge and be safe from the avenger of blood.
You see in this time, if one of your family members was killed, it was the duty of another family member to make sure that justice was carried out. That family member was the “avenger of blood.” And he would chase the killer all the way to limits of the city of refuge.
If he found him outside the city, he could dispense justice.
But if he made it inside and was not guilty of murder, he could live.
He had to live in that city of refuge until the death of the high priest who was serving when the killing happened.
After that, he could go free. He was forgiven.
The cities of refuge were a place for grace.
Does that remind you of anything?
It makes me think of the Cross. Remember, Jesus is in Numbers.
Of course, Jesus is much greater than a city of refuge. You can run to Him even if you are a murderer!
But He is the place of grace now.
He is the place where forgiveness happens. Not just vengeance, but forgiveness!
Have you been scared today that your sins will find you out?
Run to Jesus!
In your heart and with your mouth, turn from your sins and trust in the Savior and you will be forgiven! Run to Jesus!
Because our Great High Priest Jesus died! And with His death, forgiveness has been poured out on those who turn from their sins and trust in Him!
The God of Numbers is a God of grace.
He is a God of wrath. But He is also full of forgiveness for those who trust in Him.
Run to Jesus.
God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish (like they deserve) but have everlasting life!
Run to Jesus.
Life in the Wilderness
September 9, 2007
Numbers 30:1-36:13
As I’ve been praying and thinking about what our church needs right now in our spiritual diet from the feast of God’s Word, I’ve become convinced that we should rapidly end our study of Numbers and move on to something else.
I think that you’ll agree that we’ve found Numbers to be an amazing book. Perhaps the strangest book of the Bible that we’ve studied so far. It’s been full of numbers! Numbers of people, numbers of clans, numbers of sacrifices, numbers of disappoints, numbers of times that God has come through for His people.
We’ve experienced together a taste of “Life in the Wilderness,” living in that place between God’s Rescue and the Promised Land.
As I said the first Sunday of this series, way back on January 7th, we have studied the book of Numbers because it is Holy Scripture. Numbers is God’s Word to us. And I think we’ve heard from Him again and again as we’ve learned about the censuses, the concentric circles of holiness in the camp, the blessings of the LORD, the Retreat of Unbelief, the battle with Baalam, the dangers of complaining and envy and disobedience, and the blessings of purity, obedience, and zeal.
I told you on January 7th, that preaching the book of Numbers is my gift to you. I desire greatly that our little church would know the Big Picture of the Bible. That everyone from our smallest children to our most senior saints would know the Big Story of Genesis through Revelation. And so, on odd numbered years, I’ve planned to take us through the foundation books of the Old Testament that carry that story through. Genesis in 2003, Exodus in 2005, and Numbers in 2007.
Not only is this a great book, but preaching it has been an opportunity for me to give you a great gift. Few people have ever heard a sermon on Numbers, much less been taught the entire book. I love you and wanted you to have that gift.
And the third reason I told you back in January why we took on book of Numbers, is that Jesus is here in Numbers. And we’ve seen Him every week.
His name is not here, but there are signposts in every chapter. Numbers is a part of God’s revelation of His character. And Jesus is the fullest revelation of God. “Every story whispers His name.”
And I think that today, God is calling us to “sum up” the book of Numbers and finish our slow trek through its pages. This is the 24th sermon in Numbers, and I think it should be our last for this series. “Summing Up Numbers”
I’m going to do the preaching a little differently today, I’m not going to read all of the verses. If I did, it would take the whole time. In fact, I’m going summarize a lot here so that we can cover 7 chapters in one sermon.
And as we go through these last summary chapters, I want to point out 5 things we can see about God in them. They are 5 things that we’ve seen all along in the book about God. Because God is the Main Character in the book of Numbers. And each of these facets of God’s character call for a personal response. So that will be our application as we sum up the book of Numbers.
***
Pop quiz! I’m sure you expected it on the last day of Numbers!
Where are the people of Israel right now?
Are they in the Promised Land? No they are not.
Where are they? They are parked on the plains of Moab, right across from the Promised Land, right across the Jordan River, right across from the city of Jericho.
And the last several chapters of the book of Numbers are concerned with getting the people of Israel ready to cross over, conquer, inherit, and possess the Promised Land.
They have offspring, they have blessing, they will soon have land.
Last week, we saw that chapters 28 and 29 got the people ready for sacrifices on Holy Days in the Promised Land. It laid out the Holy Calendar for the people of God.
In chapter 30, God is getting them ready for the Land by explaining the laws concerning vows.
Vows were religious promises made, and they should be kept. Chapter 30, verse 1.
“Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: ‘This is what the LORD commands: When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.”
Often, a man would tell the Lord, that if the Lord would give him some success in some endeavor, then that man would vow to offer a certain sacrifice or set of sacrifices in thanksgiving. This never obligated God, but it did obligate the man.
And he should keep his obligation.
But the chapter then goes on to explain what would happen if a woman made a vow. What if a woman wanted to promise God something if He did something for her?
Chapter 30 teaches through various situations that a woman could make a vow, but if she was a minor still in her father’s home or an engaged woman, or a married woman under the headship of her husband, if her husband considered the vow hasty or rash, he could nullify it. And that would be a protection for their family.
I used to think that this chapter was unfair. That women were treated as less than equal with their husbands. But I now see that this chapter is about protecting women who were in a difficult place in the social setting of the ancient Near East. V.8 and v.15 use the words “rash promise” and “responsible for guilt.”
This is about protecting a young woman or a wife from the consequences and obligations of a bad decision.
If it is unfair, it is unfair to the man. Because men make rash vows, too! But they would have to keep each one. That’s part of the responsibility of headship.
Remember headship? I preached on the biblical teaching on headship almost a year ago today. Husbands are called to lead, provide, and protect their wives. They are called to a greater level of responsibility for the women in their lives.
And here’s why. It’s point #1. In “Summing up Numbers,” we find a GOD WHO CARES.
God cares about His people. Especially those people who are weak or oppressed or in difficult situations.
We’ve seen this again and again in the book of Numbers. Here it is women. In earlier chapters it was hungry Israelites, it was unclean Israelites, it was thirsty Israelites, it was attacked Israelites. It was Zelophehad’s orphaned daughters. He took care of them all.
God cares about His people. Especially His people in weak situations.
Do you need to hear that today? It jumped off the pages to me this week as I was studying this.
I’ve always turned my nose up at Numbers chapter 30 as old-news that might even put down women. But I saw this week that God wanted, as they went into the Land, that His men provide protection for His women.
Because God cares. Do you need to know that God cares? 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Cast your cares on Him.
But that’s not all that God is.
Some people would like to think of God as caring, yes, but not as wrathful.
But the very next chapter shows us His perfect justice.
We see in chapters 31 and 32, (#2) A GOD WHO JUDGES.
In chapter 31, God calls for a holy war. Look at chapter 31, verse 1.
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.’”
This is Moses’ last military assignment. He is supposed to take vengeance on the Midianites.
Why? Remember Baalam in chapters 22 through 24? The Midianites were in on that.
And they really in on the sneak attack on Israel in chapter 25. That’s when the women of Midian and Moab snuck in and seduced Israel so that they were almost destroyed from inside. Remember that?
If it wasn’t for zealous Phinehas, Israel would have been destroyed.
And now God is telling Moses that Midian’s time is up. They need to bring judgment.
This isn’t a personal vendetta. This it the LORD’s perfect justice in the LORD’s perfect time.
So they put together a crack team of 12,000 soldiers, one thousand from each tribe. Led by zealous Phinehas. And they fought the Midianites.
And God, because He is just, gave them victory. Overwhelming victory with amazing spoils and (catch this!) no casualties on the Israelite side (chapter 31, verse 49)!
They succeeded in killing the five kings of Midian, including Cozbi’s evil father, Zur (Chapter 31, verse 8).
And they also caught the Osama bin Laden of their day–Baalam son of Beor and brought God’s justice to him.
We don’t understand Holy War because we don’t live in Old Testament times. There will be no more legitimate holy war until Christ returns and wages the Last Battle.
But this kind of war was a demonstration of the perfect justice of God.
They had attacked God’s people, they would get God’s vengeance.
Now, that’s a scarey thing. But it’s also a wonderful truth.
God will see that justice is done. He doesn’t always do it on our time-table (in fact, He seldom does, especially because He is so patient and gracious!). But He will see that perfect justice is done.
We’ve seen that over and over again in the book of Numbers. God’s discipline and judgment. Forty years of wilderness wanderings. An entire generation of Israelites dead in the desert.
God takes sin seriously.
In this story, they had spared the women. And normally, God wants that to happen.
But in the case of the Midianites, it was the wicked women who had infiltrated Israel with their seduction, so everyone woman who had slept with a man had to be executed.
We think that is harsh, but in that day, it was a mercy to Israel, or they would have been trapped again.
And God is just. He sees to it that justice is done. That is what is for. And though it is a terrible thing to think about it, think about it, we must!
In chapter 32, it looked like the Retreat of Unbelief was going to happen again.
The leaders of the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh came to Moses and asked if they could settle on this side of the Jordan river. (Verses 1 through 5).
Was that in the Promised Land? No. Israel had conquered it, and it was a great fertile place for the flocks and herds of these tribes, but it wasn’t in the promised land.
And Moses got scared and mad that it was all happening again. They had said (v.5), “Don’t make us cross the Jordan.”
And Moses said, “This is what your fathers did!” (V.8)
And he recounts the trouble they had over the Retreat of Unbelief and promises them more of the same.
But these leaders had a different plan in mind. They wanted the Transjordan land, but they were only going to leave behind their flocks and herds and families.
The soldiers all had faith to go into Canaan and fight until it was all theirs.
Well, that was okay then. So Moses says, (v.20), “If you will do this–if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for battle, and if all of you will go armed over the Jordan before the LORD until he has driven his enemies out before him–then when the land is subdued before the LORD, you may return and be free from your obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will be your possession before the LORD. But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
God takes sin seriously. God is a God who judges.
“You may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
Don’t think that your sin is a secret from God.
It is not a secret. Your life and heart are laid open before His eyes.
And He sees your sin. Repent now while you still can.
“You may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
Your sin is not only not a secret, but it will be the very thing that finds you out and turns you in.
On the day of reckoning, which is coming for each of us and all of us, we will have to give an account for all of the deeds done in the body, whether good or bad.
Turn now. Repent now. While you still can.
The LORD is not just a God who cares.
He is a God who judges.
And He is also, thankfully, a (#3) GOD WHO GUIDES.
Chapter 33 is a long list of camp-sites.
Look at verses 1 and 2: “Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. At the LORD's command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages:”
And then he lists 40 different spots where Israel camped between Egypt and Jericho.
And I think the main point here is that God led them every step of the way.
In verse 50, He gives them their marching orders for the next “Big Story” book of the Bible, Joshua. V.50
“On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the LORD said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides [OUCH!]. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.'”
Those are the marching orders from the Commander in Chief.
And just as God has led them from verse 1 to verse 49, He is promising to guide them into the Promised Land and give them victory.
But they have to follow.
God is God Who Guides, but we have to follow Him.
Do you need to hear that message this morning?
God Is God Who Guides, but We Have to Follow Him.
Israel will be so tempted to follow other gods for the next several hundred years.
They will go into the Land, but they will not do verse 52 very well.
“Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.”
Instead, in a reoccurring spiral, they followed those other gods. And they were barbs in their eyes and thorns in their sides.
God Is God Who Guides, but We Have to Follow Him.
And that means repentance, too.
Remember, 2 weeks ago, when I said that disciples of Jesus follow Jesus.
It sounds like a truism, but it is so often true, that we follow after other gods.
But God is God who Guides! As I’ve reported before many times from this pulpit, I’ve struggled with the idol of gluttony (“their god is their stomach”).
But this year, I’ve been able in a new way to follow God by faith. I’ve lost 17 pounds since mid-June, and the main reason is because of a restoration of right worship in my heart of hearts.
Praise God! God guides. And we just need to follow Him.
In chapter 34, we see another facet of the character of God–probably, the most important theme in the whole book: God’s faithfulness to His promises.
The LORD is (#4) A GOD WHO FULFILLS.
God always keeps His promises. Right? That’s the theme of Genesis and it’s the theme of the entire Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.
God always keeps His promises.
In chapter 34, it’s the promise of the Promised Land.
The entire chapter is a description of the borders of Canaan. Verses 1 through 15 lay out North, South, East, and West. And then verses 16 through 29 give us the new names of the tribal leaders who will lead their clans into their inheritance.
You can almost taste it! The land is almost theirs!
They are ready to go. It’s going to happen.
God will fulfill His promises to His people.
It doesn’t always happen like we think it will.
Strangely enough, Israel never has had these exact borders yet. Even under David or Solomon.
But we know that God will fulfill His promises.
And one day, God’s King will rule all of this land described in Numbers 34, and in fact, there will be no borderline to describe the end of His Kingdom!
God will fulfill His promises.
Do you need to hear that this morning?
I love that new song we learned today, “Blessed Be Your Name.”
The reason I love it, is not the beat or the tune, though they are very catchy.
I love it because it handles a part of the Christian experience that we don’t often sing about, but often have to live.
Not praising God in the good times, but praising God like Job did in the bad times, and like Israel was supposed to in the wilderness times–Blessed Be Your Name!
“When the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say, ‘Blessed Be Your Name!’”
How can we be people like that in the dark times?
It’s because of the Lord’s promises!
He has given us “great and precious promises!” And we can take each and every one to bank.
Even when it doesn’t seem like they could ever come true.
Especially (!) when it doesn’t seem like they could ever come true.
We need to trust His promises.
Because the God of Numbers is a God Who Fulfills.
In the last chapter, chapter 36, the daughters of Zelophehad show up again.
They are still trusting God’s promises for their inheritance in the land. But there is a dispute over what would happen if they married outside of their clan. What would happen to their land then? Would it leave their clan. The answer is given that they can’t marry outside of the clan or they would lose their land.
What do you think they did? They married in their clan! Why?
Because they believed in God’s promises for this land.
Israel is poised to go in and possess it.
The men’s Sunday School class this Fall is going to pick up right here on this side of the Jordan and then study the book of Joshua and see how God fulfills His promises.
What promises have God made to you? Do you know?
You can trust them. You can trust Him. He always keeps them. Every time.
But that’s not all. I have one more.
God is not just a God Who Cares (though He does, cast your cares on Him).
Not just a God Who Judges (though He does, repent now or your sin will find you out).
God is not just a God Who Guides (though He does, and we must follow).
And God is not just a God Who Fulfills (though He does, and we can trust Him).
But God is also a (#5) GOD WHO FORGIVES.
In Numbers chapter 35, God tells Moses to instruct the Israelites to create forty-eight cities for the Levites. And six of those cities are to be what He calls, (chapter 35, verse 13), “cities of refuge.”
These are special cities where a man can a flee to if he unintentionally sins and kills someone else.
The chapter makes it clear that if he is a murderer (established by 2 or 3 witnesses), then he must be executed for his crime, if they didn’t they would pollute the land (which I think says something to us about capital punishment).
But if he didn’t mean to do it (and there are a lot of examples to show how that could be, involuntary manslaughter), then he could run into one of these cities of refuge and be safe from the avenger of blood.
You see in this time, if one of your family members was killed, it was the duty of another family member to make sure that justice was carried out. That family member was the “avenger of blood.” And he would chase the killer all the way to limits of the city of refuge.
If he found him outside the city, he could dispense justice.
But if he made it inside and was not guilty of murder, he could live.
He had to live in that city of refuge until the death of the high priest who was serving when the killing happened.
After that, he could go free. He was forgiven.
The cities of refuge were a place for grace.
Does that remind you of anything?
It makes me think of the Cross. Remember, Jesus is in Numbers.
Of course, Jesus is much greater than a city of refuge. You can run to Him even if you are a murderer!
But He is the place of grace now.
He is the place where forgiveness happens. Not just vengeance, but forgiveness!
Have you been scared today that your sins will find you out?
Run to Jesus!
In your heart and with your mouth, turn from your sins and trust in the Savior and you will be forgiven! Run to Jesus!
Because our Great High Priest Jesus died! And with His death, forgiveness has been poured out on those who turn from their sins and trust in Him!
The God of Numbers is a God of grace.
He is a God of wrath. But He is also full of forgiveness for those who trust in Him.
Run to Jesus.
God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish (like they deserve) but have everlasting life!
Run to Jesus.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Matt's Messages - Holy Days
“Holy Days”
Life in the Wilderness
September 1, 2007
Numbers 28:1-29:40
Lord willing, we’re going to finish the book of Numbers this month, in the next 4 messages.
It’s a little hard to get back into Numbers because we’ve taken 3 weeks off of Numbers with Jack Kelly’s visit and the messages on Re-Focusing and Going Fishing. And before that, we only had 2 messages in Numbers following 4 Sundays with guest preachers! So you might not even remember what is going on. Let’s review.
We’ve found ourselves at the end of the book of Numbers.
Israel has been rescued from Egypt, numbered once, prepared to go into Canaan, and then refused to go at the Retreat of Unbelief. They have then wandered for 40 years in the wilderness, Life in the Wilderness, and a whole generation has died off in God’s discipline. They have grumbled, complained, and rebelled a number of times. And yet God has been faithful to them. In fact, He has blessed them! They are a truly blessed people–even powerful magicians could not curse them. And there have been a few stand-out, faith-filled believers who have risen to the top, as well, especially: Joshua, Caleb, Zelophehad’s daughters, and zealous Phinehas.
And now, they have been numbered again. And the rest of the book, chapters 28-36, is full of the unfinished business that is important to record before the second generation is fully prepared to enter into the Promised Land.
In some ways, the last 9 chapters will seem like appendices to us, add-ons. The storyline doesn’t move a whole lot, and when it does, it’s about battles we don’t necessarily care about and decisions about property that we don’t really understand.
But, as we’ve seen over and over again in 2007, the book of Numbers is God’s Holy Word. It is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training so that we will be equipped for every good work!
And with a little digging, we’ll get a bigger vision of our God and we’ll come to better know Jesus–because every story whispers His name!
Numbers chapter 28 and 29 are about “Holy Days.”
Tomorrow is a United States holiday: Labor Day.
These days, a holiday is a break from normal work to celebrate or remember something, in this case, the value of work, labor.
But the word “holiday” originally came from the two words: Holy Day which were originally special days set aside to celebrate and remember God.
And Numbers chapters 28 and 29 are a calender of Holy Days.
They list the important days on the calendar of the nation of Israel set aside for the celebration, remembrance, and worship of the LORD.
And more than that, these two chapters record in great detail the exact kinds and numbers of sacrifices that were required by the LORD to be sacrificed by the priests for those particular days on the calendar of Holy Days.
So what I want to do is walk you through these two chapters and show you the basic features of this Calendar of Holy Days, and then I want to particularly draw your attention to three prominent themes that I think have deep application value for us today and will really prepare us for the Lord’s Table.
The first 8 verses talk about the daily offering.
The first Holy Day is every day. V.1
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Give this command to the Israelites and say to them: 'See that you present to me at the appointed time the food for my offerings made by fire, as an aroma pleasing to me.' [God’s requirement.] Say to them: 'This is the offering made by fire that you are to present to the LORD: two lambs a year old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each day. Prepare one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight, together with a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives. This is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the LORD by fire. The accompanying drink offering is to be a quarter of a hin of fermented drink with each lamb. Pour out the drink offering to the LORD at the sanctuary. Prepare the second lamb at twilight, along with the same kind of grain offering and drink offering that you prepare in the morning. This is an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.”
Do you get the picture? How often are these sacrifices made?
Daily. How many lambs? Two. When are they offered? Morning and Twilight.
Okay, that’s daily. The next category is weekly. V.9
“'On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil. This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.”
When is the Sabbath? Friday evening to Saturday evening. How often does that come? Every week. On those days, the morning and evening sacrifices are doubled. Every day is holy, but once a week, the day is even holier.
What do you think is next? Daily, Weekly...Monthly! V.11
“'On the first of every month [every month!], present to the LORD a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; and with each lamb, a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil. This is for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the LORD by fire. With each bull there is to be a drink offering of half a hin of wine; with the ram, a third of a hin; and with each lamb, a quarter of a hin. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon [that is, monthly] during the year. Besides the regular burnt offering with its drink offering, one male goat is to be presented to the LORD as a sin offering.”
That’s daily, weekly, and monthly. What’s next? Yearly.
And there are several yearly Holy Days on Israel’s calendar.
The first listed is the Passover. V.16 [Listen for the word “seven” or its multiples!]
“'On the fourteenth day [7 times 2] of the first month the LORD's Passover is to be held. On the fifteenth day of this month there is to be a festival; for seven days eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Present to the LORD an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. With each bull prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths; and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. Prepare these in addition to the regular morning burnt offering. In this way prepare the food for the offering made by fire every day for seven days as an aroma pleasing to the LORD; it is to be prepared in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. On the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.”
What was the Passover? It was the commemoration of the saving of Israel from the last and deadliest of the 10 plagues on Egypt–the death of the firstborn which was followed by the Red Sea Rescue.
The Passover was to be observed yearly (we’ve witnessed two historic Passover celebrations so far in the book of Numbers) and is marked by sacrifice, ceasing work, and sacred assembly.
The next Holy Day is the Feast of Weeks. V.26
‘On the day of firstfruits, when you present to the LORD an offering of new grain during the Feast of Weeks, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths; and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. Include one male goat to make atonement for you. Prepare these together with their drink offerings, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering. Be sure the animals are without defect.”
The Feast of Weeks came 50 days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread (connected to Passover), and it was a firstfruits celebration, a thanksgiving celebration for the beginning of the harvest.
In Numbers 29, there are three more yearly feasts. All three of them take place in the seventh month. There is something holy about the number 7, and there are 3 Holy Feasts in the seventh month.
The first is the Feast of Trumpets. V.1
“On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets.”
This as the time when they would sound the Shofar. It was a time of joy!
I’m not going to read verses 2 through 6. It’s more lists of offerings. Bulls, lambs, goats, flour, oil, wine.
It’s not called the book of Numbers for nothing, is it?!
V.7 tells us about the Day of Atonement. It’s the 10th day of the 7th month. V.7
“On the tenth day of this seventh month hold a sacred assembly. You must deny yourselves and do no work.”
The Day of Atonement was a solemn assembly. Not a feast but a fast.
And verses 8 through 11 describe the sacrifices for that day of repentance and receiving atonement for sins.
And then following that, in the same month, they had the biggest feast of all–the Feast of Tabernacles. V.12
“On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Celebrate a festival to the LORD for seven days. [Seventh month, seven days of feasting.]”
Verses 13 through 40 list all of the stipulated sacrifices for each day of the feast of Tabernacles.
For the feast of Tabernacles, the Israelites would all go camping! They would build a tent next to their homes (notice that this assumes that they are in the Promised Land!), and they would live in their tents for a week.
And they would sacrifice, a little less each day, bulls, lambs, goats, flour, oil, wine.
I’m not going to read it all to you.
The point was to remember what God had done. How they had gone from living in tents in the wilderness to living in their homes in the Promised Land.
And praising God that He had done it!
Skip down to verse 39. It brings out the bottom line. “‘In addition to what you vow and your freewill offerings [we learned about those back in chapter 15], prepare these [two chapters worth of required sacrifices] for the LORD at your appointed feasts [your Holy Days]: your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings and fellowship offerings.’ Moses told the Israelites all that the LORD commanded him.”
Now, I could preach a whole series of messages just on this calendar of Holy Days. There is so much here when you get the big picture, we could spend a lot of time on it.
But today, I just want to point out three themes here and draw specific application to our lives and prepare us for the Lord’s Table.
Here’s the first one. I think you’ve probably already noticed it. I’ve tried to draw attention to it.
Have you noticed how structured and planned this worship Holy Days is?
Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and several Yearly times specifically set apart for holiness.
This is a calendar! And it was required. It was not optional. Not to be neglected.
It often was neglected in the sad history of Israel, but it wasn’t supposed to be.
There was a rhythm to worship. Morning and evening, 1,2,3,4,5,6 days and then Sabbath, every time the smallest sliver of a moon appeared, and the first of year, the seventh month, specific days: there was a plan to this worship and it was regular and rhythmic.
Let me put it this way:
#1. WE NEED HOLY DAYS.
We need regularity and rhythm in our worship, in our communion with God.
It needs to be planned and on our calendars.
For the last 3 weeks, I’ve been asking this question:
Do you have a regular appointment for one-on-one time with God?
It’s built into us that we need it!
It’s built into us that we need regularity and rhythm in our relationship with God.
We need regular planning of when we are going to worship.
Now, there are problems that. We need to be able to worship whenever and wherever. People make the mistake of thinking that they can only worship and relate with God at certain set times and places. That’s not true. Anywhere and everywhere.
But we also need to plan for it! Often things don’t happen unless we plan for it.
At the Mitchell household, we’ve been looking at our calendars a lot recently. It’s the Fall, and we’re trying to fit in as many people and programs and things for the family, as we can. So, we’re constantly talking about our calendar.
If we don’t plan it, it probably won’t happen.
The same is true of our relationship with God. We need to plan to meet with Him.
Do you have a regular appointment for one-on-one time with God?
Now, this calendar in chapters 28 and 29 does not directly apply to us in the New Covenant.
These were Old Covenant sacrifices and Old Covenant Holy Days. Colossians chapter 2 says that they were just shadows of what was to come and the reality was Christ (vv.16&17).
So, we don’t have to worship at these particular times listed here.
But I think that there is a principle here that we would do well to heed, and that is systematic planning for regularity and rhythm in our relationship with God.
One person may choose one pattern and another a different pattern, each should be fully persuaded in their own mind. But I think that all should be developing a pattern.
Do you have a regular appointment for one-on-one time with God?
Pastors throughout the ages have recommended following the pattern of Morning and Evening Offerings and meeting with God morning and evening. That makes a lot of sense to me.
And more than just one-on-one time with God, we have a weekly meeting of this church, you are attending it right now.
And we are meeting with God right now as we listen to His Word.
I think that every believer should plan to be at this meeting every week.
Now, there will be times that that’s not possible. We are all away from time to time. I’m normally away about 8 times a year.
But wherever I am, I’m almost always, unless I’m sick or home with a sick kid, in church somewhere.
For the last 3 weeks, I’ve been asking the question:
Are you regular in Sunday morning attendance?
I don’t ask that question because I get year-end-bonus when we have good attendance at church. I don’t!
I don’t work on attendance commission!
I ask that question because we need it! Both you and I need planned and regular worship.
Daily, Weekly, Monthly. We celebrate the Lord’s Table here monthly.
A monthly reminder of Jesus’ Crosswork for us. We’re going to do it in just a few minutes.
And what about other Holy Days? I’ve been trying to work out a quarterly prayer retreat. What might you need to do to plan in a regularity and rhythm to your relationship with God?
Recently, my wife has realized that she can’t effectively get in her time with God during the afternoon nap time at home. With the pressures of homeschooling and just mothering four small children, she has realized that she needs a new plan.
So, starting this week, she’s set the coffee pot to go off an hour before everyone else gets up. And though she really loves sleep, she has pulled herself out of bed, grabbed that cup of joe, her Bible and her journal, and she’s regularly met with God.
What’s your plan?
We need Holy Days.
The second thing, I want to point out is also really obvious. And that is the massive amount of sacrifice that is going on in these two chapters.
There is so much blood in these chapters!
If my numbers are correct, every year there were to be sacrificed 113 bulls, 32 rams, 1,086 lambs, 1 ton of flour, and over 100 bottles of oil and wine.
And that’s just for the required sacrifices. That doesn’t include when people sin and break the covenant or the voluntary sacrifices that we learned about back in chapter 15!
That’s just the day in and day out and Holy Day sacrifices!
That’s a massive amount of blood flowing on that altar.
Why?
#2. WE NEED A HOLY SACRIFICE.
For the person who knows the New Testament, these two chapters just scream: “Jesus Christ!”
They just yell out “The Gospel!”
Because we have sinned and rebelled against our Holy Creator, we have a massive sin debt that can only be paid by blood sacrifice.
Only be paid by a substitute on our behalf.
Only be paid by a sacrifice without blemish or defect.
Only be paid by an atoning sacrifice.
We need a holy sacrifice to pay for our sins.
And all of these sacrifices in the Old Covenant were just a foreshadowing of the One Ultimate Sacrifice that was to come–Jesus!
In fact, all of these Holy Days pointed to Jesus.
He is now our Sabbath!
He is now our Passover!
He is now our Thanksgiving (our Feast of Weeks!)
He is now our Joy (the Feast of Trumpets!)
He is now our Day of Atonement. His substitutionary atonement pays for our sin debt.
He is now what we celebrate and what we anticipate (The Feast of Tabernacles).
I could preach on how Christ fulfills these Holy Days for weeks, but today, I just want us to see that He is our Holy Sacrifice!
John the Baptist pointed a finger at Jesus and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
The writer to the Hebrews says, “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
The two chapters of blood in the book of Numbers point us to the blood of Jesus.
And there are millions of applications for that. But I want to point out at least 3.
First, if you are not trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you do not have the Holy Sacrifice that you need.
The good news is that you only need to turn from your sins and trust in His Holy Sacrifice alone and you will be saved! Do it today!
And second, we need to share this gospel with others! We need to get serious and stay serious about fishing for the lost. We need to fill out FISH Cards and more than that, we need to pray and fast and share the Gospel with them.
And third, if we are trusting Jesus Christ and His Holy Sacrifice, then we have everything to be thankful for and everything to motivate us to living obedient and holy lives for Him.
And that’s the third and last thing I want to point out this morning.
It’s this. We not only need Holy Days, and a Holy Sacrifice...
#3. WE NEED HOLY PEOPLE.
The majority of the sacrifices listed in these two chapters are the burnt offering kind.
In the burnt offering, the entire offering was consumed by fire.
And among other things, that was a picture of total dedication.
Now, we can’t make ourselves holy.
We can’t earn it. We can’t produce it.
But if we are saved, we can live holy lives of total dedication to God.
That’s why Paul says in Romans 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy [in view of the Cross], to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.”
We can’t make ourselves holy, but after we experience the grace of God, we can offer ourselves (body and all) as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God (an aroma pleasing to Him)–this is our spiritual act of worship.
We need to give God our all.
Everything we have. Everything we are.
We need to be Holy People.
Have you given everything you are to God?
Have you done it today?
Worship at the Lord’s Table
As we approach the Lord’s Table, we are remembering the Lord’s sacrifice.
“We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Hebrews chapter 10, verse 10.
And we meditate on this enormous sacrifice!
“You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed ..., but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
And as we approach the Lord’s Table, we are reminded of God’s call to give Him our all.
“In view of God's mercy [in view of the Cross]...offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.”
And we now set aside this time, as a holy time to remember and celebrate Him.
Life in the Wilderness
September 1, 2007
Numbers 28:1-29:40
Lord willing, we’re going to finish the book of Numbers this month, in the next 4 messages.
It’s a little hard to get back into Numbers because we’ve taken 3 weeks off of Numbers with Jack Kelly’s visit and the messages on Re-Focusing and Going Fishing. And before that, we only had 2 messages in Numbers following 4 Sundays with guest preachers! So you might not even remember what is going on. Let’s review.
We’ve found ourselves at the end of the book of Numbers.
Israel has been rescued from Egypt, numbered once, prepared to go into Canaan, and then refused to go at the Retreat of Unbelief. They have then wandered for 40 years in the wilderness, Life in the Wilderness, and a whole generation has died off in God’s discipline. They have grumbled, complained, and rebelled a number of times. And yet God has been faithful to them. In fact, He has blessed them! They are a truly blessed people–even powerful magicians could not curse them. And there have been a few stand-out, faith-filled believers who have risen to the top, as well, especially: Joshua, Caleb, Zelophehad’s daughters, and zealous Phinehas.
And now, they have been numbered again. And the rest of the book, chapters 28-36, is full of the unfinished business that is important to record before the second generation is fully prepared to enter into the Promised Land.
In some ways, the last 9 chapters will seem like appendices to us, add-ons. The storyline doesn’t move a whole lot, and when it does, it’s about battles we don’t necessarily care about and decisions about property that we don’t really understand.
But, as we’ve seen over and over again in 2007, the book of Numbers is God’s Holy Word. It is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training so that we will be equipped for every good work!
And with a little digging, we’ll get a bigger vision of our God and we’ll come to better know Jesus–because every story whispers His name!
Numbers chapter 28 and 29 are about “Holy Days.”
Tomorrow is a United States holiday: Labor Day.
These days, a holiday is a break from normal work to celebrate or remember something, in this case, the value of work, labor.
But the word “holiday” originally came from the two words: Holy Day which were originally special days set aside to celebrate and remember God.
And Numbers chapters 28 and 29 are a calender of Holy Days.
They list the important days on the calendar of the nation of Israel set aside for the celebration, remembrance, and worship of the LORD.
And more than that, these two chapters record in great detail the exact kinds and numbers of sacrifices that were required by the LORD to be sacrificed by the priests for those particular days on the calendar of Holy Days.
So what I want to do is walk you through these two chapters and show you the basic features of this Calendar of Holy Days, and then I want to particularly draw your attention to three prominent themes that I think have deep application value for us today and will really prepare us for the Lord’s Table.
The first 8 verses talk about the daily offering.
The first Holy Day is every day. V.1
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Give this command to the Israelites and say to them: 'See that you present to me at the appointed time the food for my offerings made by fire, as an aroma pleasing to me.' [God’s requirement.] Say to them: 'This is the offering made by fire that you are to present to the LORD: two lambs a year old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each day. Prepare one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight, together with a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives. This is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the LORD by fire. The accompanying drink offering is to be a quarter of a hin of fermented drink with each lamb. Pour out the drink offering to the LORD at the sanctuary. Prepare the second lamb at twilight, along with the same kind of grain offering and drink offering that you prepare in the morning. This is an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.”
Do you get the picture? How often are these sacrifices made?
Daily. How many lambs? Two. When are they offered? Morning and Twilight.
Okay, that’s daily. The next category is weekly. V.9
“'On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil. This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.”
When is the Sabbath? Friday evening to Saturday evening. How often does that come? Every week. On those days, the morning and evening sacrifices are doubled. Every day is holy, but once a week, the day is even holier.
What do you think is next? Daily, Weekly...Monthly! V.11
“'On the first of every month [every month!], present to the LORD a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; and with each lamb, a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil. This is for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the LORD by fire. With each bull there is to be a drink offering of half a hin of wine; with the ram, a third of a hin; and with each lamb, a quarter of a hin. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon [that is, monthly] during the year. Besides the regular burnt offering with its drink offering, one male goat is to be presented to the LORD as a sin offering.”
That’s daily, weekly, and monthly. What’s next? Yearly.
And there are several yearly Holy Days on Israel’s calendar.
The first listed is the Passover. V.16 [Listen for the word “seven” or its multiples!]
“'On the fourteenth day [7 times 2] of the first month the LORD's Passover is to be held. On the fifteenth day of this month there is to be a festival; for seven days eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Present to the LORD an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. With each bull prepare a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths; and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. Prepare these in addition to the regular morning burnt offering. In this way prepare the food for the offering made by fire every day for seven days as an aroma pleasing to the LORD; it is to be prepared in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. On the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.”
What was the Passover? It was the commemoration of the saving of Israel from the last and deadliest of the 10 plagues on Egypt–the death of the firstborn which was followed by the Red Sea Rescue.
The Passover was to be observed yearly (we’ve witnessed two historic Passover celebrations so far in the book of Numbers) and is marked by sacrifice, ceasing work, and sacred assembly.
The next Holy Day is the Feast of Weeks. V.26
‘On the day of firstfruits, when you present to the LORD an offering of new grain during the Feast of Weeks, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths; and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. Include one male goat to make atonement for you. Prepare these together with their drink offerings, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering. Be sure the animals are without defect.”
The Feast of Weeks came 50 days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread (connected to Passover), and it was a firstfruits celebration, a thanksgiving celebration for the beginning of the harvest.
In Numbers 29, there are three more yearly feasts. All three of them take place in the seventh month. There is something holy about the number 7, and there are 3 Holy Feasts in the seventh month.
The first is the Feast of Trumpets. V.1
“On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets.”
This as the time when they would sound the Shofar. It was a time of joy!
I’m not going to read verses 2 through 6. It’s more lists of offerings. Bulls, lambs, goats, flour, oil, wine.
It’s not called the book of Numbers for nothing, is it?!
V.7 tells us about the Day of Atonement. It’s the 10th day of the 7th month. V.7
“On the tenth day of this seventh month hold a sacred assembly. You must deny yourselves and do no work.”
The Day of Atonement was a solemn assembly. Not a feast but a fast.
And verses 8 through 11 describe the sacrifices for that day of repentance and receiving atonement for sins.
And then following that, in the same month, they had the biggest feast of all–the Feast of Tabernacles. V.12
“On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Celebrate a festival to the LORD for seven days. [Seventh month, seven days of feasting.]”
Verses 13 through 40 list all of the stipulated sacrifices for each day of the feast of Tabernacles.
For the feast of Tabernacles, the Israelites would all go camping! They would build a tent next to their homes (notice that this assumes that they are in the Promised Land!), and they would live in their tents for a week.
And they would sacrifice, a little less each day, bulls, lambs, goats, flour, oil, wine.
I’m not going to read it all to you.
The point was to remember what God had done. How they had gone from living in tents in the wilderness to living in their homes in the Promised Land.
And praising God that He had done it!
Skip down to verse 39. It brings out the bottom line. “‘In addition to what you vow and your freewill offerings [we learned about those back in chapter 15], prepare these [two chapters worth of required sacrifices] for the LORD at your appointed feasts [your Holy Days]: your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings and fellowship offerings.’ Moses told the Israelites all that the LORD commanded him.”
Now, I could preach a whole series of messages just on this calendar of Holy Days. There is so much here when you get the big picture, we could spend a lot of time on it.
But today, I just want to point out three themes here and draw specific application to our lives and prepare us for the Lord’s Table.
Here’s the first one. I think you’ve probably already noticed it. I’ve tried to draw attention to it.
Have you noticed how structured and planned this worship Holy Days is?
Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and several Yearly times specifically set apart for holiness.
This is a calendar! And it was required. It was not optional. Not to be neglected.
It often was neglected in the sad history of Israel, but it wasn’t supposed to be.
There was a rhythm to worship. Morning and evening, 1,2,3,4,5,6 days and then Sabbath, every time the smallest sliver of a moon appeared, and the first of year, the seventh month, specific days: there was a plan to this worship and it was regular and rhythmic.
Let me put it this way:
#1. WE NEED HOLY DAYS.
We need regularity and rhythm in our worship, in our communion with God.
It needs to be planned and on our calendars.
For the last 3 weeks, I’ve been asking this question:
Do you have a regular appointment for one-on-one time with God?
It’s built into us that we need it!
It’s built into us that we need regularity and rhythm in our relationship with God.
We need regular planning of when we are going to worship.
Now, there are problems that. We need to be able to worship whenever and wherever. People make the mistake of thinking that they can only worship and relate with God at certain set times and places. That’s not true. Anywhere and everywhere.
But we also need to plan for it! Often things don’t happen unless we plan for it.
At the Mitchell household, we’ve been looking at our calendars a lot recently. It’s the Fall, and we’re trying to fit in as many people and programs and things for the family, as we can. So, we’re constantly talking about our calendar.
If we don’t plan it, it probably won’t happen.
The same is true of our relationship with God. We need to plan to meet with Him.
Do you have a regular appointment for one-on-one time with God?
Now, this calendar in chapters 28 and 29 does not directly apply to us in the New Covenant.
These were Old Covenant sacrifices and Old Covenant Holy Days. Colossians chapter 2 says that they were just shadows of what was to come and the reality was Christ (vv.16&17).
So, we don’t have to worship at these particular times listed here.
But I think that there is a principle here that we would do well to heed, and that is systematic planning for regularity and rhythm in our relationship with God.
One person may choose one pattern and another a different pattern, each should be fully persuaded in their own mind. But I think that all should be developing a pattern.
Do you have a regular appointment for one-on-one time with God?
Pastors throughout the ages have recommended following the pattern of Morning and Evening Offerings and meeting with God morning and evening. That makes a lot of sense to me.
And more than just one-on-one time with God, we have a weekly meeting of this church, you are attending it right now.
And we are meeting with God right now as we listen to His Word.
I think that every believer should plan to be at this meeting every week.
Now, there will be times that that’s not possible. We are all away from time to time. I’m normally away about 8 times a year.
But wherever I am, I’m almost always, unless I’m sick or home with a sick kid, in church somewhere.
For the last 3 weeks, I’ve been asking the question:
Are you regular in Sunday morning attendance?
I don’t ask that question because I get year-end-bonus when we have good attendance at church. I don’t!
I don’t work on attendance commission!
I ask that question because we need it! Both you and I need planned and regular worship.
Daily, Weekly, Monthly. We celebrate the Lord’s Table here monthly.
A monthly reminder of Jesus’ Crosswork for us. We’re going to do it in just a few minutes.
And what about other Holy Days? I’ve been trying to work out a quarterly prayer retreat. What might you need to do to plan in a regularity and rhythm to your relationship with God?
Recently, my wife has realized that she can’t effectively get in her time with God during the afternoon nap time at home. With the pressures of homeschooling and just mothering four small children, she has realized that she needs a new plan.
So, starting this week, she’s set the coffee pot to go off an hour before everyone else gets up. And though she really loves sleep, she has pulled herself out of bed, grabbed that cup of joe, her Bible and her journal, and she’s regularly met with God.
What’s your plan?
We need Holy Days.
The second thing, I want to point out is also really obvious. And that is the massive amount of sacrifice that is going on in these two chapters.
There is so much blood in these chapters!
If my numbers are correct, every year there were to be sacrificed 113 bulls, 32 rams, 1,086 lambs, 1 ton of flour, and over 100 bottles of oil and wine.
And that’s just for the required sacrifices. That doesn’t include when people sin and break the covenant or the voluntary sacrifices that we learned about back in chapter 15!
That’s just the day in and day out and Holy Day sacrifices!
That’s a massive amount of blood flowing on that altar.
Why?
#2. WE NEED A HOLY SACRIFICE.
For the person who knows the New Testament, these two chapters just scream: “Jesus Christ!”
They just yell out “The Gospel!”
Because we have sinned and rebelled against our Holy Creator, we have a massive sin debt that can only be paid by blood sacrifice.
Only be paid by a substitute on our behalf.
Only be paid by a sacrifice without blemish or defect.
Only be paid by an atoning sacrifice.
We need a holy sacrifice to pay for our sins.
And all of these sacrifices in the Old Covenant were just a foreshadowing of the One Ultimate Sacrifice that was to come–Jesus!
In fact, all of these Holy Days pointed to Jesus.
He is now our Sabbath!
He is now our Passover!
He is now our Thanksgiving (our Feast of Weeks!)
He is now our Joy (the Feast of Trumpets!)
He is now our Day of Atonement. His substitutionary atonement pays for our sin debt.
He is now what we celebrate and what we anticipate (The Feast of Tabernacles).
I could preach on how Christ fulfills these Holy Days for weeks, but today, I just want us to see that He is our Holy Sacrifice!
John the Baptist pointed a finger at Jesus and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
The writer to the Hebrews says, “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
The two chapters of blood in the book of Numbers point us to the blood of Jesus.
And there are millions of applications for that. But I want to point out at least 3.
First, if you are not trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you do not have the Holy Sacrifice that you need.
The good news is that you only need to turn from your sins and trust in His Holy Sacrifice alone and you will be saved! Do it today!
And second, we need to share this gospel with others! We need to get serious and stay serious about fishing for the lost. We need to fill out FISH Cards and more than that, we need to pray and fast and share the Gospel with them.
And third, if we are trusting Jesus Christ and His Holy Sacrifice, then we have everything to be thankful for and everything to motivate us to living obedient and holy lives for Him.
And that’s the third and last thing I want to point out this morning.
It’s this. We not only need Holy Days, and a Holy Sacrifice...
#3. WE NEED HOLY PEOPLE.
The majority of the sacrifices listed in these two chapters are the burnt offering kind.
In the burnt offering, the entire offering was consumed by fire.
And among other things, that was a picture of total dedication.
Now, we can’t make ourselves holy.
We can’t earn it. We can’t produce it.
But if we are saved, we can live holy lives of total dedication to God.
That’s why Paul says in Romans 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy [in view of the Cross], to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.”
We can’t make ourselves holy, but after we experience the grace of God, we can offer ourselves (body and all) as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God (an aroma pleasing to Him)–this is our spiritual act of worship.
We need to give God our all.
Everything we have. Everything we are.
We need to be Holy People.
Have you given everything you are to God?
Have you done it today?
Worship at the Lord’s Table
As we approach the Lord’s Table, we are remembering the Lord’s sacrifice.
“We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Hebrews chapter 10, verse 10.
And we meditate on this enormous sacrifice!
“You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed ..., but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
And as we approach the Lord’s Table, we are reminded of God’s call to give Him our all.
“In view of God's mercy [in view of the Cross]...offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.”
And we now set aside this time, as a holy time to remember and celebrate Him.
