[0:00] I hope that you have enjoyed the day the Lord has given us and so thankful for it. I take your Bibles and go with me to the book of Numbers, Numbers chapter 10.
[0:11] Numbers chapter 10 will be in verses 11 through 36, which will wrap us up in Numbers chapter 10 this evening. This morning was a little bit of an oddity for me.
[0:25] It's always strange when I do not preach in the mornings. And sometimes I think it's a little bit harder for me when I'm not preaching in present as it is when I am preaching in present.
[0:36] But it's just it's OK. It's just kind of the maybe not the physical part of it, but just the internal. It's hard for preachers not to preach. OK, let's just put it that way. It's hard for preachers not to preach.
[0:48] And I've heard more than one pastor and preacher say that, you know, preachers really never retire. They just kind of move somewhere else.
[0:59] A lot of I know a lot of who have retired and then end up finding themselves filling a pulpit somewhere and end up doing it again. This is hard for preachers not to preach. And that's just part of it.
[1:10] But we are back in the book of Numbers. And as I introduced this morning, this is a transition point. And I will show you why. In Numbers chapter 11, the first verse there kind of opens up the transition.
[1:22] But we need to know how we got there and the way we got to what we will see in Numbers 11 is what we will read tonight. Now, one of the things that we looked at last week, I believe last week we were together, is Numbers is kind of like the book of Judges in that it starts on a high note and ends on a low note.
[1:42] Unlike the book of Judges, Numbers ends with kind of a sense of renewed expectation. And by renewed expectation, I mean the old generation has died out and the new generation under the leadership of Joshua is going to go in.
[1:59] The reason we say the numbers ends on a low note or starts on a high note and ends on a low note is because the first 10 chapters show us the people walking in absolute obedience.
[2:11] They're counting. They're camping where they should camp. They're organizing as they should be organized. They are doing everything God tells them to do. And it's really, they're still at the base of Mount Sinai.
[2:25] We'll see it here in just a moment where they're at. So they're at the Mount of the Lord. They have completed the tabernacle. It kind of puts everything, what happened in those days, which immediately followed the construction of the tabernacle.
[2:39] And then all of a sudden there's this shift. They go from walking in complete obedience to walking in absolute disobedience. And we want to see how we got there.
[2:51] And we'll see that tonight. Now, this has application to our study as we're on Sunday mornings going through the book of Hebrews because where we will be at next Sunday, if the Lord allows us to, if the Lord tarries and doesn't call us home and he allows us to be gathered together, we'll be in Hebrews chapter 3.
[3:06] We'll be in the latter half of Hebrews chapter 3, which says, Let us not fail as those who wandered in the wilderness fail. Let us not fall away. Let us not fall short of that which God had called them to.
[3:23] Let us not be overtaken by the deceitfulness of sin. And again, the author of Hebrews is pointing back to these events as examples to spur us on to live in motivated obedience.
[3:40] So we need to see how they got there. What caused this shift from going, Okay, yeah, that's great. That's great. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. This is awful. I'm not doing this.
[3:50] This is terrible. Because it's really that immediate. And we'll see it in just a moment. So let's read the word of God. We'll be in Numbers chapter 10, starting in verse 11.
[4:01] I'll read all of the remainder of the 10th chapter. And then I'm going to read into the 11th chapter, even though that is not our text tonight. Because I want you to see the transition. Because this is the bridge part.
[4:13] This is the gap. Numbers chapter 10, starting in verse 11 says, Now in the second year, in the second month, on the 20th of the month, the cloud was lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the sons of Israel set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai.
[4:30] Then the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. So they moved out for the first time according to the commandment of the Lord through Moses. The standard of the camp of the sons of Judah, according to their army, set out first with Nashon, the son of Amminadab, over its army, and Nathanael, the son of Zor, over the tribal army of the sons of Issachar, and Elib, the son of Helan, over the tribal army of the sons of Zebulun.
[4:56] Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merara, who were carrying the tabernacle, set out. Next, the standard of the camp of Reuben, according to their army, set out with Elizar, the son of Shador, over its armies, and Shilamuel, the son of Jerushadai, over the tribal army of the sons of Simeon.
[5:15] And Elisaf, the son of Dul, over the tribal army of the sons of Gad. Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy objects, and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival.
[5:26] Next, the standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim, according to their armies, was set out with Elishamah, the son of Amihud, over its armies, and Gamaliel, the son of Padasaur, over the tribal army of the sons of Manasseh, and Abaddon, the son of Gidonai, over the tribal army of the sons of Benjamin.
[5:43] Then the standard of the camp of the sons of Dan, according to their armies, which formed the rear guard for all the camps, set out with Ahazar, the son of Amishadiah, over its armies, and Pajil, the son of Achron, over the tribal army of the sons of Asher, and Ahira, the son of Enon, over the tribal army of the sons of Naphtali.
[6:01] This was the order of the march of the sons of Israel by their armies as they set out. Verse 29. Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Rul, the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, we are setting out to the place of which the Lord said, I will give it to you.
[6:17] Come with us, and we will do you good, for the Lord has promised good concerning Israel. But he said to him, I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives.
[6:28] Then he said, Please do not leave us, inasmuch as you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will be as eyes for us. So it will be, if you go with us, that whatever good the Lord does for us, we will do for you.
[6:41] Thus they set out from the mount of the Lord three days' journey, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord journeying in front of them for the three days, to seek out a resting place for them.
[6:52] The cloud of the Lord was over them by day, when they set out from the camp. Then it came about, when the ark set out, that Moses said, Rise up, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.
[7:05] When it came to rest, he said, Return, O Lord, to the myriad thousands of Israel. Now look with me, if you will, at the first couple of verses in chapter 11.
[7:16] Now the people became like those who complained of adversity in the hearing of the Lord. And when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.
[7:29] The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. So the name of that place was called Taborah, because of the fire of the Lord burned among them.
[7:40] Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that you've given us this opportunity. Lord, we thank you for the chance we have of gathering together, Lord, of looking at your word, and we pray that by the power and presence of your spirit that your word would speak to us.
[7:57] We pray that we would come to a greater understanding of it, and Lord, as we understand it, that our lives would be shaped and transformed by it, and that we would be conformed to your image, not to the image of those around us.
[8:11] O God, let us draw closer to you, and may it be for your glory and your honor and yours alone, and we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. As we can see from Hebrews, I mean from Hebrews, from Numbers 11, verse 1, this is a transition period.
[8:27] Starting in Numbers 11, the first verse, we begin to see the complaining and the murmuring and really the disobedience of the people, and that is a theme that will continue on through the remainder of the book of Numbers.
[8:38] It is something that we will see until the very end, where this generation passes on, and the new generation arises up, which Joshua would lead them into the promised land. We know the history of it.
[8:49] But here we are seeing this transition. How do we go from doing everything the Lord commanded them, as we see in Numbers 9 and 10, and this is often repeated, as the Lord commanded them, so they did, until we get to Numbers 11, where it says, so the people became like those who complained of adversity and began murmuring and getting angry and mad, so much so that the Lord consumed the outskirts of their camp.
[9:15] We're not going to really jump into the 11th chapter, because we will get into it next week, if the Lord allows us to. But what leads to that point, and I think it is what we see here in Numbers 10, starting in verse 11 and going through verse 36, and it is the marching at His command.
[9:32] Really, what we see is God had allowed them to stay in one location for 11 months, and in one location for 11 months, they had settled down.
[9:43] Now, let's think about where they are. Let's put ourselves in their place, right? Let's take it in proper context, because it says they are at Mount Sinai, which is the Mount of the Lord. This is the very place where God had called them out of Egypt, and He had brought them across the Red Sea, and He had brought them into this wilderness area, and He had taken them to the Mount of the Lord, and they stopped.
[10:05] They camped. Moses went up on the mountain, and he was there for 40 days. Now, the people played the harlot with the golden calf. Moses came down and rebuked the people. He ground up, put it in the water, and made them drink it.
[10:17] The anger of the Lord was stirred against them, and then Moses went back up to the mountain and was there 40 more days. The people had heard the covenant of God. They were responding to the Decalogue, or the Ten Commandments.
[10:29] They were now living in obedience. During that time, Moses had seen in a vision the representation of the tabernacle in heaven. He was giving clear instructions how they were to build it.
[10:41] He went down, and God had even told him who would build it, so he calls them by name. They received the offering so much so that the people now were giving in excess of what they needed. They had to tell the people to quit bringing their offerings.
[10:53] Remember that? Quit bringing their offerings. We have more than enough. They built the tabernacle. They organized the camp. All this is going on at Mount Sinai. Now, does anybody remember where Mount Sinai was from the early pages of the book of Exodus?
[11:07] Because this is where Moses saw the burning bush. Because God says, you will bring my people back to this mountain. There's this little phrase there in the early pages of the book of Exodus that says that Moses was on the backside of the wilderness.
[11:22] That's literally what it says. It was in the middle of nowhere. He was on the backside of the wilderness. He was out in the middle of nowhere. He was isolated. And he saw this manifestation of the presence of God.
[11:35] And then God brought them back here. And God had brought them in. Now, let's just put ourselves here. For 11 months, God secluded his people. For 11 months. For 11 months, God manifested his glory among them.
[11:49] They saw the Shekinah glory manifest in the tabernacle. They saw him provide for them for his manna. For 11 months, they were there. And I'm sure after 11 months, it got pretty comfortable. Because it's easy to walk in obedience when there's nobody else around showing a different way to live.
[12:09] For 11 months, God put them in this incubator, if you will. And they're there. And it's just them and God. Then all of a sudden, God says, okay, it's time to leave. Uproot.
[12:22] Let's go. God was calling them to action. God says, okay, for 11 months, I have built this foundation within you.
[12:33] Now, I want you to step out in faith upon that foundation. And friend, I'll go ahead and say, that is where it gets hard. It is one thing to set and go, yes, yes, this is true.
[12:46] Look at everything God's doing. God has promised. He's got a promised land for us. Yes, yes, this is true. He's going to lead us. Yes, yes, oh, isn't God good? Oh, man, it's amazing what he's going to do for us.
[12:57] It's amazing how he's going to use us. It's amazing how he's going to drive the people. Isn't it amazing if God says, okay, let's go do it. And I really didn't want to do it. I mean, it was just cool to talk about it there where nobody else was at.
[13:12] It was really cool to think about it there where nobody else was at. And this is a present day reality because this is the reality. And I know I'm really preaching to the Sunday night crowd and preaching to those who are willing to come because we get a yada.
[13:26] Yes, yes, yes, amen, amen. I'll never forget a story I heard from a pastor and he was, I read it in a book and I shared it with Brother Dindy one morning. I think it was, and I said, the pastor stood up one day, said, God's calling the church to move and there's a deacon on the front and the deacon said, yes, pastor, amen, pastor, let the church move.
[13:46] And the pastor getting a little excited, deacon's talking back, that's why deacons don't talk back to pastors when they preach, right, and the church, and the deacon said, yes, pastor, amen, let the church move and the pastor said, God's calling the church to walk.
[13:57] He said, amen, pastor, let the church walk, let the church walk. He said, God's calling the church to run and the deacon said, amen, pastor, let the church run. He said, now, church, it's going to take money for the church to run and the deacon said, let the church walk, pastor, let the church walk.
[14:10] pump the brakes a little bit, right? Don't call us to do something more. Because that's the reality. And it's humorous, but it's also reality.
[14:24] It's one thing to say and go, yes, yes, God's going to do something. But when God says, okay, and here's how I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it through you. Then we go, whoa, wait a minute.
[14:37] It was kind of a good idea. Sounded great. But you want me to walk? I mean, when Moses says, when the cloud moves, we'll walk. Yes, we'll walk.
[14:49] When the glory of the parks, we're going to leave. Okay, we're going to blow a trumpet. That sounds great. And the first time the cloud leaves, we're like, wait, well, I didn't really want it to leave right now. Because it's pretty comfortable here where nobody else is at.
[15:02] It's pretty comfortable where we've got a little bubble here. And remember, they had just been set free from slavery. They've been born into slavery.
[15:13] And for the first time, they're free. I mean, they're really free. And the only people around them are people like them. I mean, I know there's the mixed multitude. We'll get to those later in the book of Numbers. Actually, we'll get to them in the 11th chapter really quick.
[15:25] Because, by the way, the mixed multitude always causes problems. Because those who aren't genuine believers but want to hang out with believers are usually those who cause problems among believers. I don't know if you've figured that out yet or not.
[15:37] But the mixed multitude always does. And what we see here is that it's good just to be us for a while, right? It's good to be us. And God says, right, but I didn't just call you to be you.
[15:47] I called you because I want to use you to show the world what I am like. And the only way I can use you to show the world what I'm like is to put you among the world.
[16:01] And they said, well, wait a minute. I don't know about that. Because I was good just being me. And we see this in Scripture. More than here, and I know I'm really just setting the stage because how we're going to look at this marching at His command.
[16:16] We'll see kind of how it happens before it happens because they start out marching in obedience. But I want you to get the picture of what's going on here. We see it with the disciples.
[16:26] The disciples were great as long as Jesus was among them. Those were the best three and a half years of their life. The moment Jesus says, I'm about to leave. That doesn't sound good. You know, we don't like that.
[16:37] And He says, but don't worry. The Spirit's going to come and I'm going to indwell you and make my tabernacle with you. And I will use you. Peter goes back to fishing. Remember that? And so does everyone else. They go home. I don't really want to do that.
[16:49] I'd rather not. And Jesus calls them out again. So we see this historically being repeated. That every time God says, okay, I'm going to take you out of this bubble.
[16:59] And now I'm going to use you. It becomes this pull on the inside. But the way they got there is God commanded them to march. So we see the marching at His command.
[17:10] And I want you to see three things from the passage really that they were doing right. But led to this internal conflict within them. Number one, we see the outset or the beginning of this march.
[17:22] It says, now in the second year, in the second month, on the 20th of the month. So the second year after their release, after their freedom, right? The second year after they left Egypt. In the second year, in the second month, on the 20th of the month, the cloud was lifted from over the tabernacle of testimony.
[17:39] And the sons of Israel set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. What I want you to see, all I want you to see is the outset was a very definite time. God had called them at a very definite time to do something.
[17:54] Now I love how scripture dates things. Because man would love to know exactly what year was it in our calendar year that they left Mount Sinai.
[18:09] We get this wrestling all the time. Because it kind of messes with us a little bit when our calendar years and biblical years really don't coincide. Like I know we are in 2021 A.D., which is supposedly based upon the life of Christ, right?
[18:26] But then when we realize that, biblically when we read into it, if we want to make it match up with Herod. Because Herod's reign ended in 4 B.C.
[18:41] Technically it was before Christ. Well how was Jesus alive? So really the birth of Jesus happened around either 5 or 4 B.C.
[18:55] And most people get really bent out of shape about that. That means my calendar's wrong. You know, because we love to date things. Like exactly how long was the nation of Israel in captivity?
[19:06] Scripture says 400 years. And the literal number is 430. We read that from things. They were in Egyptian captivity 430 years. Now God told them it would be 400 years. It ends up being 430 years.
[19:17] And we can bring that back. And there are certain dates that we can coincide in the calendar. And we can make it work. And there are a lot of Bible scholars who want to make it work. I love how Scripture dates things. You know how Scripture dates things? They date things based on events that God did in their life.
[19:33] In the second year after God set them free. It really doesn't matter which calendar year it was. It was the second year after God set them free. And it was the second month of the second year.
[19:43] And remember this, the Jewish people's calendar month started so much different than everybody else's calendar month around them. Because their first month was everybody else around them's middle month.
[19:55] Because God said the beginning of your years should be Passover time, right? It should be the time when I set you free. Because you have been made new. God doesn't care so much about our counting and dating.
[20:08] I don't want to say care. That's a hard word. I don't want to say he doesn't care. But the way the people of God are seeing things here is it's based upon what God was doing in their life. So in the second year, the second month, on the 20th day, God did something.
[20:22] And that was a very specific point. And it was so intentional. Moses wrote it down because God moves in space and time. God calls us. Now, it doesn't mean we always have to remember the exact date.
[20:35] We don't always have to remember the exact date of everything that God has called us to do. I can't remember the exact dates of everything that God has called me to do. I cannot tell you on this year or that time. But what we see is that God interrupts our life at a particular time to call us to do something.
[20:53] Every moment he calls us to start or every moment he calls us to walk by faith, it is an interruption of history. And it is an interruption at a point.
[21:03] Now, this is important because when we get in Scripture in the New Testament, it says today is the day of salvation. It literally means that today is the point in history in which God is speaking to me to lead me to walk by faith and faithful obedience to him.
[21:20] And it tells us not to grow weary in doing good. Right? Not to be worn out in doing good today. But to be focused on today. The book of James tells us not to look forward to tomorrow, not to boast about tomorrow because today is the only day we've been given.
[21:33] God interrupts us in a particular time. There is a day that God did something and the people marked it down because this started at a particular time.
[21:45] It says, and God moved. The cloud moved. So all of a sudden they have to leave. It says, and the sons of Israel set on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran.
[21:56] So they moved out for the first time according to the commandment or the mouth. That word commandment's mouth. According to the mouth of the Lord through Moses. All I want you to see is this started at a time chosen by God at an intentional moment.
[22:14] There's nothing holy about the 20th day of the second month. Other than the fact that this is when God says, okay, now is the day. And that was the day that they were all called to begin to walk.
[22:28] So what we see is God has the freedom. And this is the scary thing to each one of us. God has the freedom to interrupt the ordinary comfortable life at any moment.
[22:42] To say, now is the time I'm calling you to follow. And this is the command that God shows us throughout scripture.
[22:53] So we see the outset. The second thing that we're overwhelmed with. Because the bulk of the portion of scripture in this chapter deals with this. And it is the order or the organization.
[23:06] The order that the camp goes out. We are reminded again of the order. Now we can see this order particularly here. And it's very clear because we've read about it. By the way, this is the third time the names of these individuals are mentioned.
[23:20] This is the third time that the 12 leaders of the tribal armies are mentioned. They're mentioned with the division of the tribes. Actually, it's the fourth time. They're mentioned twice.
[23:30] With the divisions of the tribes, they're mentioned again in, I believe it's the seventh chapter. With the offerings after the dedication of the tabernacle. And then they are mentioned again here in Numbers 10.
[23:41] This is the fourth time their names are recorded in ten chapters of Bible scripture. Fourth time. And what does that show me?
[23:51] Me in particular. If I'm reading the history of God's interaction with man. And the point in history, which is what we're doing when we read the Bible, right? We're reading the interaction of the history of God's interaction with man.
[24:03] Just so we know, we all need to be aware of this. There were a lot of other things going on in the world on the second year of the second month of the 20th day. There were a lot of things going on in the world.
[24:15] Okay? I mean, it isn't like this is the only thing that happened historically on that day. It just says that any other day in past history, a lot of things happened. But on that day, we see here the history of God interacting with this particular people.
[24:27] And if I was to tell you, I want to study the history of how God was interacting with his people in the second year after their captivity, in the second month, on the 20th day. I would probably be led to find recorded for me a lot about Moses and Aaron and probably his sons.
[24:42] Because the major players in the historical scheme of things here, what we would call the people, the important people, right? The important people. If I was to tell you we were going to study the history of what happened on the day, there are some people that you say, well, I expect to read about this person, this person, or this person.
[25:00] Or if I was to say any point in history that seems to be a famous time, we would say, well, I would expect to find a lot of information on these people because they're important. They were the major players on the scene.
[25:12] And if we were to say this is the time we're going to look at, then we would expect to find a lot of Moses and Aaron and his sons. But rather, what we do when we open this up is we see the listing of 12 names again for the fourth time that all we know about them is they led that tribal army.
[25:31] What does that show me? That even the laymen that God uses in his work are important in his son. God doesn't have important people.
[25:44] Right? God uses people. Everybody he uses has a name. Even if a guy named Billy the Goatown butchers that name reading it so many years later, God knows their name and he records it.
[25:59] We get that every time we read genealogies. God knows every one of these people's names. These are not the important people that we would like to. This is not the Moses and the Aaron or the Eliezer or any of these people, right? But these are people that were important because they had something they were doing that God had called them to do.
[26:18] And God records it for us four times in ten chapters of the Bible. These people did exactly what I called them to do. They led. They led. They led. They didn't do anything else.
[26:30] All we know about them is they did this, right? So we are reminded of the order. So this is what they go. The cloud moves and the trumpet blows. Remember? And as soon as the trumpet blows, all of a sudden the Ark of the Covenant sets out first.
[26:41] Because they have to break down the pagan apple. And the Ark of the Covenant always leads the camp. Always. Because God leads the camp. And the Ark of the Covenant is a representation of the presence of God.
[26:52] So the Lord goes before them. So the Ark of the Covenant goes out first. The trumpet flies, blows. Again, there's the sound of the alarm in the tribe of Judah. Because the tribe of Judah is always first.
[27:03] Judah has preeminence in the Old Testament because Judah is the one from which the preeminent one, who is Jesus, will come from in the New Testament. He is a lion from the tribe of Judah. So Judah goes out first.
[27:16] And then we see the armies, each one, the groups of three, right? Then the groups of three, and then after the first grouping of three, the tabernacle, which is the poles and the rods and the sockets and the tents, all that heavy stuff.
[27:27] And the carts that are carrying it. So you have the Ark of the Covenant. You have the tribe of Judah. And the other two tribes that are with them. Those who were camping on that side of the, that was supposed to go out first.
[27:37] That would be the southern side. Because Moses and Aaron and his sons camp from east. They camp from south. Then he went to the west. And then those to the north.
[27:49] So they would go out. Those three would go out. Or four. Those groupings of four would go out. And then you would have the Ark of the First. Then you had the tabernacle.
[27:59] They would be. Then after the tabernacle, you would have another grouping of four. And then you would have the holy objects. Right? And then you would have that final grouping of four.
[28:10] The order is important. And the reason it's important is because God has told them to march in this order. So think about this. Even the organization of this. The Ark of the Covenant would arrive first.
[28:24] Okay? Would arrive first. Signifying the presence of God. When God stopped the Ark, stopped. When the cloud stopped, the pillar of the Ark stopped. Inside. Now, where was the Ark of the Covenant in the Covenant?
[28:37] Inside the Holy of the Old. Right? Anyway, curtain to curtain inside the Holy of the Old. So, now I'm not a master builder, but I do know one thing. When God stopped, it would be much easier to set the Ark down and build the tabernacle around it than it would be to try and bring it to the den.
[28:52] When God stopped the Ark of the Covenant, stopped and said, what is the very next thing that comes? The tabernacle itself. Then they erect the poles and the bars and all the stuff. And then what comes after the next group?
[29:05] The furnishings. Because it has to be prepared. So by the time the Ark stopped, and all of a sudden Judah and his armies and everybody there to protect the Ark. Then the tabernacle comes. And by the time they get erected, as soon as it's erected, then all of a sudden the holy objects are supposed to go in the tabernacle.
[29:20] Which would have been the altars and the brazen basin and the candles and the lamps and all this stuff. Then they would be here because the tabernacle's already erected. It's there. Things were in perfect order.
[29:32] And, just so we know this, Dan and his grouping, because Dan is a major player of that last grouping, they were the rear guard. Dan's tribe. The tribe of Dan, by the way, is a very militaristic tribal that we find even in the book of Judges.
[29:50] They like to fight battles. They're the ones who went to go conquer themselves in New England and end up getting themselves in trouble for that. But Dan seems to be those who like to fight. So they end up putting those at the rear.
[30:01] God knew what he was doing. But the tribe of Dan could not say, I'm tired of walking in the back. I'd rather walk up there where Judah is. Because God had dictated the order. But one thing we are astounded at.
[30:13] And I know we kind of get, this seems kind of, why are we reading this again? It is so monotonous. One thing we must remember is God is not the author of confusion, Scripture tells us.
[30:23] God is a God of order. This is why when we look around, everything seems to work in perfect order. It doesn't seem to work.
[30:33] It does work. The heavens and the earth, everything that is created has a perfect order and a perfect balance to it. Now this is a confusing thing for me, so stay with me in this.
[30:45] Therefore, if God is not the God of confusion, but rather He is a God of order, and everything God calls us to do runs in perfect order, therefore, if I look at my life and things seem to be in chaos, I can assume they are not from the world.
[31:08] Because that's what God calls us to do, always for us. And it always fits you up.
[31:21] My wife and I talk about it quite a bit. I'm sure the two ladies right here remember it. Because they were also present at First Baptist Church in Normandy. Brother Kenneth Swine.
[31:32] Remember Brother Kenneth Swine came to talk to you about the Rocks of Revelation. Brother Kenneth Swine had a Sunday school class in Normandy. He taught the adults. I'm not going to tell you what age group of adults he taught, but he taught the adults in Normandy, one of the adult classes.
[31:49] And in his class, he had a lady who was an artist, Sandy Therrell, who was there. Sandy and Larry, you know Larry Holback. Larry Holback. One of his good friends was Larry Therrell.
[32:01] But I was in the Holback. But anyway, Sandy Therrell was an artist, and Brother Kenneth went to her and said, I want you to draw me a picture. So they drew a picture on this campus. Now, she was a fantastic artist.
[32:13] Could just draw anything she wanted to. And just astounding. We went to some art exhibits that she was a part of. I mean, just beautiful. But what he asked her to do was something very simple. It was all stick figures.
[32:24] And he kept it hanging up in his Sunday school class. But he carried that. I don't know if it's because I've cleaned the church down here for 17 years. And I saw this thing every week. And I hadn't dust it. Or it just stuck with me.
[32:36] But I remember saying, and I always walked by. There's this campus. And on this campus, there were two circles. Two circles. And in each circle was a chair.
[32:46] It was just a little stick chair. I mean, the thing could be asked this artist who could draw. So it was just a little stick chair. And the circles were kind of one of two things. And the one circle on the chair was a cross.
[32:59] And that was to represent Christ. And as long as Christ was on the throne, because the chair was to be the throne, everything around it was perfectly organized. You have your family, your friends.
[33:10] Everything was so clean and crisp. But on the other circle, it just said self. And everything was messed up. There was a cross coming in there somewhere. It was all jumbled up.
[33:21] And what Brother Kent was trying to get across, and what he did, it leads to some media. It's awesome. When Jesus is on the throne, everything is in order. When you put yourself on the throne, your life seems to be in chaos.
[33:35] And it really, this is such a simple illustration. But it's something we see in Scripture. When God calls His people to do something, it works.
[33:46] Because God is not the God of confusion. Paul says this, and particularly to the church. God is not the God of confusion. When He comes together, let everything be done decently and in order. Right?
[33:57] God is God of order. He needs to be a representation. Now, I am not a very well organized individual. Miss an interviewer does about that. It's even a lot. She didn't know what her hand had.
[34:07] I'm like, oh yeah, I was supposed to give you something tonight. Try to go back to the office life a third time. I'm not necessarily a very organized person. My wife does about that. Think, go go in the office, and look, it is a mess in there.
[34:19] But one thing that I really am big on, is I want Sunday morning services to go smooth. I mean, smooth.
[34:30] It bothers me when it doesn't. And the reason, I'm not because I am OCD or CDO, like some of you OCD people really want it to be in alphabetical order.
[34:41] I'm not that way, right? It's because I don't understand what Scripture says. When we come together, we are to be a picture of the order of God. And God is not a God of Jesus.
[34:52] Everything that comes together is calling. So, we see this in this order that when things are chaotic, and by the way, they get chaotic a lot in numbers, it's because they're not walking in obedience.
[35:05] God calls them to do things perfectly. Judah's going to go first. Judah's the biggest tribe. So, if I'm an opposing army, I don't want to see little Naphtali walking up, right?
[35:18] I want to see big Judah. 70,000 plus people. Oh, that's a lot of people. If I'm going to come up from behind, nothing against anybody else.
[35:31] But I would hate to run into the tribe of Dan, because I don't think, I'm not picking on them, but when I read in Scripture, they don't seem to like anybody. Probably the worst people to run up on behind.
[35:45] God knew what He was doing. So, in our life, when He's called us to do things, remember, it's order. So, we see the outset, we see the order, and also we see here, finally, the opportunity.
[35:56] Because every time, God calls His people to walk in faith. Often, it leads them to go to what happens in the 11th chapter, but we're not there yet. But every time God calls His people to walk in faith, He is also calling His people to walk in faith, so that an opportunity would arise for others.
[36:15] He is calling them to step out and trust Him, because their trust, their faith, their obedience, will be an opportunity for others.
[36:28] We see this. Look at what it says in verse 29. Then Moses said to Hobab, that's his brother-in-law, okay, Hobab, the son of rule. I know elsewhere, he's called Jethro.
[36:39] Evidently, his name's also rule, okay, Jethro, the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, or rule, the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law. So, Moses turns to his brother-in-law.
[36:50] Now, that shouldn't strike us that Moses' brother-in-law is there, because they are in Mount Sinai. They are in the backside of the wilderness, where he was tending his father-in-law's flock, right?
[37:00] So, he's in that Midianite region, and he's there. He says, so he says to Hobab, the son of rule, the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, we are setting out to the place of which the Lord has said, I will give it to you, come with us, and we will do good, or do you good, for the Lord has promised good concerning Israel.
[37:17] Look at this. The promise was given to Moses and the sons of Israel. The opportunity is extended to the Midianite, Hobab.
[37:27] He says, if you come with us, we will do good to you, because the Lord is going to bless us. Now, here's a particular truth that we need to grasp from Scripture.
[37:41] When God calls his people to walk in faith, God blesses them in their faithful obedience to him, but their blessings are not for their soul use and consumption.
[37:52] He blesses them so that they will be the conduit, of doing good to others. Now, Hobab says, no, I'm going to stay here with my own people.
[38:03] I'll just stay in my own land. But Moses is persistent, because he said, I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives. Then he said, that is Moses, please do not leave us, inasmuch as you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will be as eyes for us.
[38:17] So it will be, if you go with us, that whatever good the Lord does for us, we will do for you. Now, we have to address this, and we have to look at this, because some people say, well, the cloud was to lead them by day, and the pillar of fire by night, so why would Moses need Hobab to go with them as well?
[38:30] Because God was going to show them where to camp. I love how Charles Spurgeon says, in this text, Spurgeon says, it is true that we should trust the Lord, but we should also trust the fact that God has equipped others, to be of assistance to us, as we trust him.
[38:46] Sometimes, God puts people around us, who are wiser than us. He says, you know the land, and where God stops, there's a cloud, or a pillar of fire, maybe there's a particular place, that would be a little bit better for us to camp, in that area, than when I would choose.
[39:02] So yes, we are to walk in faith, and trust, and obedience, but we are also to walk in partnership, with those he puts around us. Now, what I want you to see here, is the opportunity is extended, to a Midianite, and the opportunity was, that good would be done to him, because of the blessing upon God's people.
[39:20] You come with us, and you will have good done to you, because the Lord is going to bless us, and your very presence with us, the blessings of the Lord will flow to you.
[39:31] It came to him, because Moses, invited him. Moses knew, that every blessing, that the Lord was going to pour upon them, would be more than sufficient, to also do good to others, and therefore, was not stingy, with those blessings, but was rather moved, to invite others, to rejoice, and share in them.
[39:54] You say, well he didn't go, evidently he did, because elsewhere, in the Old Testament, when we open up, when the nation of Israel, was in the promised land, there's a group of people, called the Midianites, who live among them. So evidently, Hobab was persuaded, and said, okay, sounds like a good idea.
[40:09] And they relished, in the goodness, that God provided, to his people. Because here's the thing, there is ample opportunity, for the people around us, to enjoy, the good things of the Lord, that flow through us, as we walk in obedience.
[40:31] But quite often, it's just waiting, on an invitation from us. It's waiting on an invitation from us. And we see this, as so important, because there is an opportunity, as we follow the Lord, as we trust the Lord, and as we walk, and march at his command, there is this great opportunity, for others to be blessed.
[41:00] Now we don't have to worry about, will we be blessed, because the blessings, he pours out upon us, will flow from us, onto others. And they will have, good done to them, because what God, is doing to us.
[41:17] Isn't that a powerful thing? That really we can say, Lord, you know what, I'm following the Lord, and he is so blessing me, that if you just, hang out with me, now I know it seems, a little conceited, but it's the truth.
[41:31] If you just hang out with me, you'll experience, his goodness. By the way, I think that's what Hebrews 6 says, where it says, those who fell away from the faith, it said that they had tasted, of the Lord's goodness, and they had seen his power, they had been around God's people, and experienced the goodness of God, and yet wanted nothing to do with him.
[41:56] And that's not, sure, salvation, but what an invitation, we can extend to others. If you want to experience some good things, then walk with me, or hang out with me, as I walk in obedience, to what God is calling me to do, and I march at his command.
[42:12] Here is the invitation, that Moses extends, and really, it's just the invitation, we have to extend to others, as well. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you so much, for this night, and God, I am so thankful, for your word.
[42:26] I rejoice, Lord, that we have the opportunity, to go through it, and we have the opportunity, to look and see the truths, that it contains. But Lord, I rejoice even more, at what these truths, are going to do in our life, for your glory.
[42:39] And we ask it all, in the sweet name of Jesus. Amen.