1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:05,480 And as you find your seat, let me invite you all to open your 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:18,080 Bibles. Let me invite you all as you 3 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:21,640 find your seat, to open your Bibles to the Book of Numbers, 4 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,400 Chapter 27. We've been going through numbers 5 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:28,360 for several months now. Maybe push in a year and we've 6 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:30,960 made it to chapter 27 last week. We're in chapter all of chapter 7 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,320 26 and this morning will be all in in all of chapter 27. 8 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:37,160 I won't read the text upfront just for time's sake. 9 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:40,760 I'll read it as I go through it. But the title of the storm this 10 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:45,680 morning is this Women honoured and leaders established. 11 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,960 There's basically two stories this morning that really don't 12 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:51,360 have too much to do with each other, but we're going to look 13 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:53,560 at both of them. Women honoured and leaders 14 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:55,840 established. So if you will, I'm going to 15 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,120 open and a word of prayer, if you'll pray with me, and then 16 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:00,400 we'll jump into our text this morning. 17 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:08,320 Let's pray. Father is with great joy that we 18 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:15,400 gather to fellowship, that we gather to see each other's faces 19 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,480 and be exhorted and encouraged by the presence of one another. 20 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,560 But most of all, Lord is with great joy that we gather to 21 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,800 worship your name. That you would be exalted in 22 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,800 this place, Lord, through the singing of praises to your name, 23 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:34,000 through the preaching of the word, through the fellowship of 24 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:38,600 the Saints, through the giving unto you, Lord, and, and 25 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,720 everything that we do, Lord, we recognize is our offering to 26 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,320 you. And we are, we are glad. 27 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:48,400 And please, Lord, knowing that you are pleased. 28 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,600 And so, Lord, now as we look at this text, would you help us to 29 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:57,960 see your heart, to honor women and to establish leaders. 30 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,640 Help us to see your heart, Lord, in these two stories this 31 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:04,800 morning, I pray in the name of Jesus, Amen. 32 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:15,360 If you have a court case, the odds of that case being taken up 33 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,600 by the Supreme Court are extremely low. 34 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:22,640 In other words, a person cannot simply just walk up to a Supreme 35 00:02:22,640 --> 00:02:25,960 Court Justice or the Supreme Court justices and ask them to 36 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,560 review their case. Doesn't work that way. 37 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,240 If you have an issue with Amazon and you think that Amazon is not 38 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,560 treating you properly or so forth, the odds of being of your 39 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:41,800 issue being heard by the CEO of Amazon are extremely low. 40 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:45,760 There's just too many people. There's too many issues. 41 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,760 If you want to make a change to Washington DC, you simply cannot 42 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:53,280 just walk up to the president and make a request. 43 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,920 Billionaires can probably do that, but not us. 44 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:07,960 And yet when 5 women, five sisters had a legitimate case 45 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:14,000 that that needed to be heard, not only did Moses hear it, but 46 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,480 so did the Lord. And this testified the two 47 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:22,920 truths. Number one, that God values the 48 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:29,320 honouring of women and #2 God values the importance of 49 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:35,200 establishing qualified leaders. That's what the sermon is about 50 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:39,760 this morning. Women honoured and leaders 51 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:41,880 established. So we're going to look at our 52 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:43,640 text this morning. I'm going to go through a kind 53 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,120 of section by section. I'll read the text, I'll give us 54 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:49,960 exposition, and I'll give us application as we go through it. 55 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:51,840 We're going to be in the whole chapter, so we need to jump 56 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:54,560 right in. So let's start reading Numbers 57 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,680 27, beginning in verses one and two. 58 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:03,360 Then drew near the daughters of Zella, Fahad the son of Heifer, 59 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:08,160 son of Gilead, son of Mahir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of 60 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:10,560 Manasseh, the sons, the son of Joseph. 61 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:17,160 The names of his daughters were Mahla, Noah, Hagla, Milka and 62 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,440 Terza. And they stood before Moses and 63 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:24,040 before Eliezer the priest, and before the chiefs, and all the 64 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:28,480 congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting saying, and 65 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,280 we'll stop right there. So last week we had looked at 66 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:38,240 chapter 26, where a census was taken in the nation of Israel. 67 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:40,560 And this is at the end of the 40 years. 68 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:43,440 They took a census at the beginning of the 40 years and 69 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,840 they took a census at the end of the 40 years. 70 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:51,360 And we saw that in that census. There was a comment made by the 71 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:56,240 narrator in verse 33. Look at it with me and Numbers 72 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:02,400 2633. This is what the says now. 73 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:09,480 Zelophahad, the son of Heifer, had no sons but daughters, and 74 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,640 the names of the daughters of Zelfahad were Mahla, Noah, 75 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:19,720 Hagla, Milka and Terza. And as I mentioned last week 76 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:24,080 that it seemed odd that this detail was given in a census, A 77 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:28,280 census that was given primarily to know how many men do they 78 00:05:28,280 --> 00:05:31,880 have who are able to go to war. So why in a census like that, 79 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,800 would you highlight the fact that there is a man who had five 80 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:39,960 daughters and no sons? And this morning we discover why 81 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:43,960 this is highlighted. There is a man named Zela Fahad. 82 00:05:44,280 --> 00:05:50,760 He has five daughters, Mahla, Noah, Hagla, Milka and Terza. 83 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,840 And after the census is taken, these five women, these five 84 00:05:55,840 --> 00:06:02,240 sisters, they come and present themselves to Moses Eliezer, the 85 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:06,760 priest, all the chiefs of the people of Israel, and before the 86 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:11,720 whole congregation. And they do this at the entrance 87 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:15,880 of the tent of meeting. Now, I want you to consider what 88 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,600 boldness this would have taken for the women to do this. 89 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:20,880 It would have taken tremendous boldness. 90 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:25,040 We may not understand this as well in our culture today, but 91 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,520 thousands of years ago, in a heavily patriarchal society, 92 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:34,080 this would have taken extreme courage, extreme boldness for 93 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:39,320 these women to do this. Now, what made them so bold? 94 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:47,920 They are desperate. They are desperate, and we'll 95 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:52,840 see why in just a minute. But here's what I want to say to 96 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:57,960 you. Desperation breeds boldness. 97 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:04,400 How many women do we see in the Bible that their desperation 98 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:09,000 bred boldness in them? Take for example, Abigail. 99 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,680 Remember Abigail, All the males in her family were on the brink 100 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,360 of destruction. David and his men are marching 101 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,960 there to go and kill all the males in her family. 102 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:23,600 And in her desperation, she boldly approaches David to make 103 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:28,040 amends for her husband's folly. Or think about Esther. 104 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:29,840 We're going to Esther in our Sunday school right now. 105 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:32,720 All the Jews in the Kingdom are on the brink of destruction. 106 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,720 And in her desperation, she says, I will go to the king, 107 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:41,480 though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish. 108 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,560 Or what about Shipra and Pua? Pharaoh had given an order to 109 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,880 kill all the Hebrew baby boys. They were commanded by their 110 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,760 sovereign ruler kill all the Hebrew baby boys. 111 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:57,400 But instead they boldly preserved the lives of these 112 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,600 children. Or think about the bleeding 113 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:03,200 woman in the gospels. She had a discharge of blood for 114 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,520 12 years. She had spent all of her money 115 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:07,600 on physicians trying to heal this. 116 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,000 And in her desperation she fights her way through the crowd 117 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:16,760 just so she can touch the fringe of Jesus garment. 118 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:20,680 She is unclean and yet she is bold. 119 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:25,640 Or think about the woman or women who anointed Jesus feet. 120 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:29,720 Luke tells us that she was a sinful woman and she was 121 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:33,280 condemned by the Pharisees. But in her desperation she 122 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:38,039 anointed Jesus feet in the midst, right in the middle of 123 00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:40,480 all these condemning Pharisees surrounding her. 124 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:43,039 Why? Because she is desperate. 125 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:53,720 Desperation breeds boldness, you see, it's very easy for Satan or 126 00:08:53,720 --> 00:09:02,120 the world or even yourself to tell yourself I'm not this or 127 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:07,160 I'm not that. I'm not a competent person. 128 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:10,920 How many of you, you don't have to raise hand, but how many of 129 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,480 you, if you were self admitting, would admit I'm not a confident 130 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:21,920 person, I'm not a bold person, I'm not an eloquent person. 131 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:24,880 Listen, that may very well be true. 132 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,000 That may very well be true. But brothers and sisters, 133 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:36,720 desperation breeds boldness. So let me ask you a question. 134 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:46,400 How desperate are you? How desperate are you? 135 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:55,440 These women were desperate. What were they desperate for? 136 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:59,680 Look at verse three. Our father died in the 137 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:02,160 wilderness. He was not among the company of 138 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:04,760 those who gathered themselves together against the Lord and 139 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:09,720 the company of Cora, but died for his own sin, and he had no 140 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:13,800 sons. So their father, Zela Fahad has 141 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:17,960 died, but they want the leaders to know that their father was 142 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,480 not part of Korra's rebellion. Now I want to point something 143 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:27,480 out just as a side note in #16 the narrator says that the 144 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:32,080 Korra's rebellion had assembled themselves together against 145 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:36,240 Moses and against Aaron. But look at what the daughters 146 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,040 say. He was not among those who 147 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:42,920 assembled themselves together against the Lord. 148 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:46,120 These daughters have good theology. 149 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:49,120 Just as we have looked at in the book. 150 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:53,840 The people's grumbling was not against Moses and against Aaron. 151 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:55,280 Their grumbling was against the Lord. 152 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,800 And the people's rebellion was not against Moses and against 153 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:00,920 Aaron. It was against the Lord. 154 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:04,560 Now, why do they mention the fact that their father was not 155 00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:07,440 part of Korres rebellion? Gordon Wenham, who's a 156 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,600 commentator, writes this. Most probably, it indicates that 157 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:14,400 those found guilty of serious religious offenses were not only 158 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:18,080 put to death, but their property was confiscated as well. 159 00:11:19,680 --> 00:11:23,360 And so they wanted them to know that our father was not part of 160 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:27,040 this rebellion. He died for his own sin. 161 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:30,600 Now that's interesting. Again, these women testify. 162 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:34,520 They have good theology. They recognize long before Paul 163 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:37,560 penned the words the wages of sin is death. 164 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,520 They recognize our father died for his own sin. 165 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,720 Now the problem here though, is that Zela Fahad had no sons. 166 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,880 He had five daughters, but no sons. 167 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,440 Now why is that a problem? Look at verse 4. 168 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:59,200 Why should the name of our father be taken away from his 169 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:05,120 clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among 170 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:08,640 our fathers brothers. Now what does this mean? 171 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:14,480 In the Old Testament, daughters did not usually have a share in 172 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:18,080 the family estate. If you wanted property or land, 173 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:21,720 you had to marry into it. A father's property was divided 174 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:26,640 between his sons after his death, the eldest son receiving 175 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:29,760 twice as much as the other sons. That's how it normally worked. 176 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:35,480 Now, this meant that all five of these women would be given no 177 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:38,920 inheritance. It would be given to their 178 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:43,240 father's male relatives unless they married into it. 179 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,440 The problem with that, though, is that the portion that would 180 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:49,600 go to their father would not go to them. 181 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:51,680 It would be given to somebody else. 182 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,320 So the five daughters make a request, they say give us a 183 00:12:55,320 --> 00:13:00,040 possession among our fathers brothers, meaning give us land 184 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:04,480 among our fathers relatives. If you remember from last week, 185 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:08,600 part another reason for the census in chapter 26 was to 186 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,240 determine who got which portion of land. 187 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,320 When they conquer the promised land, they're they needed to 188 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:16,560 divide up the land. So they take the census to know 189 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:19,280 who gets what size, what portion of land. 190 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:24,680 And so the daughters are like, wait a minute, we don't, our dad 191 00:13:24,680 --> 00:13:27,960 didn't have a son. Remember the game of musical 192 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:29,840 chairs? Remember playing that in like 193 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:32,760 middle school or, or like, I don't know, elementary school 194 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:35,680 where there's like chairs and there's, there's like 13 people, 195 00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:38,560 but there's only 12 chairs. And you go around and then the 196 00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:39,720 music stops. You got to sit down. 197 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:41,480 And there's always one person left without a chair. 198 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:47,440 The daughters want to make sure that they're not the only ones 199 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:53,600 left without a chair. They need this land. 200 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,080 They want this land. Keep in mind, this is an 201 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:58,120 agrarian society. Land is everything. 202 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:03,080 It's everything. Land is not only prosperity for 203 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:06,240 you, land is prosperity for your descendants as well. 204 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,680 You would pass down land to your children and your grandchildren 205 00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:12,120 and your great grandchildren. It was a means by which you 206 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:16,280 could farm and take care of all your descendants for ages and 207 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:18,480 ages to come. So the dog said, look, say, 208 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:20,800 look, we want to make sure we're not looked over. 209 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:25,080 When we conquer the land and you begin divvying out portions of 210 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:29,360 land, we're going to get none. We're going to be looked over 211 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:33,160 because all they're going to look at is father, son, father, 212 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,920 son. But Zela Fahad had no son. 213 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:43,960 Now, one of the thing I want to mention one, one last element 214 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:49,560 that highlights these women's faith is John Calvin wrote the 215 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:53,360 request of Zela Fahad's daughters showed their faith in 216 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:56,200 the divine promises. Did you notice that? 217 00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:01,200 In other words, the fact that they are making this request 218 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:06,200 testifies that they believe that God will give them the land. 219 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:10,600 Remember, their parents generation did not believe it, 220 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:14,480 they doubted God. But the women, these women, they 221 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:19,560 believe that God, they're like when we conquer the land, they 222 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:21,520 believe that God is going to give it to him. 223 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:27,800 Look at verse 5. So Moses brought their case 224 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,760 before the Lord. I love that verse. 225 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:35,120 Moses brought their case. As I've mentioned before, one of 226 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,360 the most helpful tools when you're reading the Bible is not 227 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,680 only reading what is there, but reading what is not there. 228 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:47,640 I want us to consider what Moses didn't do here. 229 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:51,400 Here's what he didn't do. He didn't dismiss these women. 230 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:56,960 They come and present their case, and Moses says, well, I 231 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:00,200 hear what you're saying, ladies, but rules are rules. 232 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:06,400 Sorry, he didn't do that. He didn't make his best possible 233 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:09,720 decision. He's like, that seems fair to 234 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:11,320 me. OK, sure. 235 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:13,240 I'll make sure you get inheritance. 236 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,520 He doesn't ask Eliezer. Eliezer. 237 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:22,000 What do you think, priest? He didn't do any of that. 238 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:29,640 Look at what Moses did. Moses brought their case before 239 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:36,560 the Lord. Moses has a pattern of seeking 240 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:41,720 the Lord's counsel and our family worship time. 241 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,640 We were recently reading through the book of Joshua and something 242 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:47,360 stood out to me as I was reading the book of Joshua. 243 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:51,280 I love the character of Joshua. I absolutely love his character. 244 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:53,520 But there's one, there's one time, I mean maybe multiple 245 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,160 times, but there's at least one time that he messed up. 246 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:59,240 It stood out to me and I forget about it because it's just a 247 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:00,720 story that's kind of tucked away in there. 248 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:03,400 If you remember the story of the Gibbey Nights, the Gibbey Nights 249 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:05,800 come. They hear about Israel 250 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:07,800 conquering people and they realize that they're about to 251 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,079 get annihilated. So they act deceptively. 252 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:12,400 They come up with, they come up with a beautiful plan. 253 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,160 They, they put on old clothes and old shoes and they have old 254 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:19,480 bread and old wineskins. And they come to Joshua and 255 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:22,760 they're like, hey, we're from a very far away country. 256 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,319 And they're at first they're kind of like, I don't know about 257 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:26,960 this. They're like, no, no, look, look 258 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,120 at our old clothes. Look at our old wine. 259 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,120 And here's some bread. This bread was fresh when we 260 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,000 left. And now look, it's all mouldy. 261 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:38,320 And the narrator makes this comment. 262 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:44,880 So the men took some of their provisions but did not ask 263 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:50,840 counsel from the Lord. And so they made a covenant with 264 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:55,680 a giving of nights, and they were spared, but they weren't 265 00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:00,840 supposed to be. And thus Joshua and his men were 266 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:04,800 deceived. Church family, I want to 267 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:12,760 encourage you, don't make any major or even semi major 268 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:17,440 decision in your life without bringing it before the Lord. 269 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:24,920 Don't make any major or even semi major decision your life 270 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:27,160 without bringing it before the Lord. 271 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,400 I say this with such urgency because as a pastor, I know good 272 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:37,960 and well that there are many times that people don't do that 273 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:42,120 very thing. I was thinking about why is this 274 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,120 even for myself? I'm guilty of this too, for the 275 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:48,240 times I make decisions and I don't bring it before the Lord 276 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,400 before making a decision. Why is this? 277 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:52,800 I came up with four reasons. I'm not saying this is 278 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:54,800 exhausted, but I came up with four reasons why. 279 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:58,200 Sometimes we don't seek God's counsel before making a decision 280 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:01,360 #1 impulsivity and or impatience. 281 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:04,160 Sometimes we're just impulsive, are we not? 282 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:06,760 We just make a decision and we just act. 283 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,040 Or perhaps we're impatient. I don't got time for this. 284 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:16,200 Who's got time to wait for the Lord #2 overconfidence. 285 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:19,440 Sometimes we think we know what's best. 286 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:27,080 We think we know what's wise. We know what we should do #3 287 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,360 oversimplification. Sometimes we think the decision 288 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:33,520 is simply straightforward, right? 289 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:35,560 Sometimes the problem is not overconfident. 290 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:37,720 Sometimes the problem is oversimplification of the 291 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,720 problem, that we think it's a straightforward problem. 292 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:42,480 There's no need to seek counsel on this. 293 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:45,480 This is very straightforward. And yet how many times do people 294 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:50,080 come to Jesus and ask him for counsel and he blew their minds 295 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:53,320 with what he said. It seems straightforward, and 296 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:55,080 yet Jesus is like, this isn't straightforward at all. 297 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:01,320 And #4 sometimes we don't ask because we don't want to hear 298 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:06,200 the answer. In the same way that Jonas said 299 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,680 I don't want to go to Nineveh because I know what you're going 300 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,120 to do there. Sometimes we say I don't want to 301 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:16,840 ask God because I know what he's going to say. 302 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:23,120 What is it easier to ask for forgiveness than permission? 303 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:33,880 Brothers and sisters, bring your decisions before the Lord and 304 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:41,280 wait for Him to answer all decisions. 305 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,880 Who to date or even if you should date? 306 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,760 Where to go to church? Where to serve in a church? 307 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:55,760 Whether you should get married? When you should get married, 308 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:59,080 whether you should have kids, when you should have kids, how 309 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:05,080 many kids you should have, what college to go to, what career 310 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,080 you should choose, what job you should take, whether you should 311 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,800 leave a job, whether you should leave a church. 312 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:17,240 Bring every decision before the Lord. 313 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:24,920 Ask His counsel. Look at verse 6/7. 314 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,600 The Lord said to Moses, the daughters of Zela Fahad are 315 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,400 right. You shall give them possession 316 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,640 of an inheritance among their fathers brothers and transfer 317 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:37,280 the inheritance of their fathers to them. 318 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:43,040 Now notice the Lord says they are right. 319 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:45,760 You you kind of wonder how would God respond to such a request. 320 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:49,880 The Lord says the daughters are right, meaning that what they 321 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,440 have said is correct. They have a valid claim. 322 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,640 And so God says that when you conquer the land and you begin 323 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:01,000 dividing up the land, their father's inheritance shall pass 324 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,600 to them. God makes basically a new law 325 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:05,640 here. This is the new law in Israel. 326 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:07,840 And God makes this. You know what I find 327 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:09,720 fascinating? This is to me, the most 328 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,960 fascinating thing about Zela Fahad's the story of his 329 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:17,680 daughters. God is running the universe. 330 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:24,760 He's running the entire universe and he cares about these five 331 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,400 women. There are five people. 332 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:31,400 It's five. It's, it's one, it's one, it's 333 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:35,720 really one situation. He's running the entire universe 334 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:39,840 and he cares about their individual situation. 335 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:45,960 The Bible often gets a bad Rep when it comes to women. 336 00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:48,440 I know this. Especially if you had a church 337 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,400 which is complimentarian, which we are. 338 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:57,480 I don't think it's a bad Rep, which I find fascinating because 339 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:01,120 there are so many stories of the Bible where women are treated 340 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:04,760 with a tremendous dignity and tremendous honour. 341 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:11,280 The only person that God saves in Jericho is a woman. 342 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,400 God uses Deborah to judge the people during a dark time in the 343 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:19,800 nation. The story of Ruth and Naomi 344 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:23,400 shows God's heart not only for widows but also for foreign 345 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:27,720 women. Esther is stolen from her life 346 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:31,280 that she knew and she is thrust into a King's harem. 347 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:33,520 But God used her to save a nation. 348 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,880 How many women were barren in the Bible and God heard their 349 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:44,200 prayers and gave them children? Sarah, Rebecca. 350 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:49,360 Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth. Think about how many women that 351 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,160 Jesus encountered in his ministry. 352 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:54,080 Women who would have been considered social outcast by 353 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,280 everyone. The Samaritan woman at the well, 354 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:01,080 Mary Magdalene who had seven demons, the bleeding woman who 355 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:06,240 was unclean, the two or three women who anointed him, and even 356 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:11,760 the Apostle Paul who almost the entire world online brand 357 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:16,720 stigmatizes as a chauvinist. The Apostle Paul writes these 358 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:21,360 words. Husbands, love your wives as 359 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:28,240 Christ loved the church. We take that for granted. 360 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,360 You have to understand, in 1st century there was no expectation 361 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,680 that any husband would love his wife like that. 362 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:43,680 None. These are radical words and Paul 363 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:47,080 says, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through 364 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:53,320 faith, meaning that when we get to heaven, everybody gets the 365 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:58,600 inheritance. God cared about these five 366 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:04,320 women, just as these daughters. They will receive the same 367 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,200 inheritance as the men in heaven. 368 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:13,640 Women and men receive the same inheritance. 369 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,360 We might even go so far to say, and I will, I will go so far to 370 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:23,720 say I firmly believe that there are many women who will have far 371 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:30,280 greater rewards in heaven than many male pastors in heaven, 372 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:37,960 including myself. I tell my wife all the time I I 373 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,320 believe she's far head the line than I am. 374 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,480 And I don't say that as like, you know, the whole like, I mean 375 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,640 that I absolutely believe she's ahead of the line in me. 376 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:58,280 Look at verse 8 to 11. And you shall speak to the 377 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:02,920 people of Israel, saying, If a man dies and has no son, then 378 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:05,440 you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. 379 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:08,240 And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance 380 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:10,480 to his brothers. And if he has no brothers, then 381 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,440 you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 382 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:14,600 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give 383 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,360 his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he 384 00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:19,800 shall possess it. And it shall be for the people 385 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:24,600 of Israel a statute and a rule as the Lord commanded Moses. 386 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:27,880 So God here decides to make a new law for the people of 387 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,400 Israel. This is a brand new law that God 388 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,920 is going to institute for them. This particular situation with 389 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:35,760 Zela Fahad's daughters, it's not a one off. 390 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:39,000 This is not just unique to them. And then, you know, this is 391 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,680 going to be true for all women in this situation for 392 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,840 generations to come. All women will be taken care of 393 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:49,000 that are in this situation. And so God says, here's the 394 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:56,000 order, If a man dies and he has no son, his inheritance will 395 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,960 pass in this order number one, to his daughter or presumably 396 00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:05,440 daughters #2 if he has no children at all, then to his 397 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:11,720 brothers #3 if he has no children and no brothers, then 398 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:16,440 to his uncles. And #4 if he has no children, no 399 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,800 brothers and no uncles, it'll pass to the nearest kinsman of 400 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:23,760 clan of this clan, like a cousin who has to a cousin or 401 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,160 something. And God says this is a permanent 402 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:32,640 statue, a permanent rule so that women now will not have to worry 403 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:37,480 and say, Oh my gosh, my, what do we do if, if, if we don't get 404 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:43,040 married and our dad didn't have any sons, how are we going to be 405 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:47,080 taken care of? And God says you will be taken 406 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:51,120 care of. You know, what's this is a side 407 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:52,280 note. What's interesting is that at 408 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,640 the end of the book of Job, which many think predates this, 409 00:27:57,120 --> 00:28:01,120 Job at the end of the book gives his daughters an inheritance 410 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:07,240 among his sons. Job reflects the heart of God, 411 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:10,480 perhaps even before this law was given. 412 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:18,960 Now we're going to take a hard shift to a brand new story 413 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,000 because that's how the text shifts. 414 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:25,320 We're going to look at verses 12 to 14. 415 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:30,600 Look at it with me, the Lord said to Moses, Go up into this 416 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:34,160 mountain of a Byram and see the land that I've given to the 417 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,320 people of Israel. When you have seen it, you also 418 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:39,440 should be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron 419 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:42,560 was, because you rebelled against My word in the 420 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:45,800 wilderness of Zen, when the congregation quarrel, failing to 421 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:48,840 uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes. 422 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,640 These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh and the wilderness of 423 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:56,240 Zen. So God tells Moses, I want you 424 00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:01,200 to climb this mountain of a Byram for two purposes #1 when 425 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:03,760 you get to the top, I want you to look out and you're going to 426 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,760 see the Promised Land. God is going to allow Moses to 427 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:12,800 have a view of the Promised Land #2 you're going to climb this 428 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:16,960 mountain to die, he says. God says when you have seen it, 429 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,040 you also should be gathered to your people as your brother 430 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:21,600 Aaron was. That's just another way of 431 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:25,800 saying to die. So Moses is going to see the 432 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:29,040 land. But when he gets up there and he 433 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:30,920 sees it, right, you know, sometimes if you like see 434 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:34,640 something, he might get his hopes up and thinks, oh, there 435 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:39,000 it is. The God says, don't get your 436 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,840 hopes up. God reminds him, you're not 437 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:44,640 going to enter it. Now, why is he not going to 438 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,720 enter the land? God tells us, he reminds Moses. 439 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:52,040 He says, because you rebelled against my word, failing to 440 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:57,040 uphold me as holy. Now, just as a refresher, if you 441 00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:01,040 remember back in Numbers 20, the people are in the wilderness. 442 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:05,600 They have no water to drink. They begin quarreling with Moses 443 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,800 and Aaron, and they make some pretty bold accusations about 444 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:10,840 them. They say it would have been 445 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,480 better for us if we had died with our brothers earlier. 446 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:15,840 They even accused Moses of bringing them into the 447 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:19,160 wilderness to die. They call the desert, the place 448 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:22,600 of God's presence, evil. They say this place is evil. 449 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,000 In response, Moses and Aaron, they fall on their faces. 450 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:30,240 And yet God in his mercy and his compassion still provides water 451 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,680 for them. God tells Moses, Moses, go take 452 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:37,520 your staff. Go strike this rock, and it will 453 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:43,880 yield its water. But instead Moses speaks to the 454 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:50,600 people here. Now you rebels, shall we bring 455 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:54,960 water for you out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand and 456 00:30:55,240 --> 00:31:01,200 struck the rock twice. God says that you committed 457 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:06,120 Moses to egregious sins. Number one, you rebelled against 458 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:10,120 my word. God said speak to the rock. 459 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:16,600 Moses instead struck the rock and #2 He says you failed to 460 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:21,320 uphold me as holy. You see, the rock was a symbol 461 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:25,120 of God's mercy. So to strike the rock was to 462 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,600 strike God. Moses gave the impression that 463 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:32,720 God was capricious. Moses is God's representative, 464 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:36,680 and he gave the impression that he was capricious, fickle like a 465 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,800 human. And Moses was also diverting the 466 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:44,240 people's attention away from God, the true miracle worker to 467 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:48,680 himself. Shall we give you water from 468 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:53,280 this rock? So God says you will not step 469 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,880 foot in the Promised Land. But here's what I want you to 470 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:59,200 see about this. Although Moses cannot step foot 471 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:04,600 in the Promised Land, God and His grace still allows Moses to 472 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:08,000 see it. He says climb the mountain and I 473 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:09,800 want you to see the Promised land. 474 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:16,080 Even in God's discipline, there is tremendous grace. 475 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:19,920 The fact that Moses is alive, there's tremendous grace. 476 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:23,520 God could have put Moses to death right then and there, but 477 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,840 not only does he continue living, God says, I will take 478 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:30,200 you to this mountain where you can overlook the land, and you 479 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,360 will see the glorious promised land. 480 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,440 You will see the land that I'm going to lead these people into. 481 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:40,280 Even in God's discipline, there is tremendous grace. 482 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:46,160 Think about David, who committed adultery and murder, and yes, 483 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:50,400 his child did die and yes, his wives will be taken advantage 484 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,920 of, but God allowed David to live. 485 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:55,920 David should have been killed. God allowed him to live. 486 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:58,680 And not only live, God allows him to continue as King. 487 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:02,480 Think about Jonah. Jonah ran away from God. 488 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:05,240 Jonah even tried committing suicide to get out of this 489 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:08,560 calling and as a result God disciplines him by having him 490 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:11,360 spend three nights, 3 days and three nights in the belly of a 491 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:15,080 fish. But God still use Jonah to bring 492 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:18,640 Nineveh to repentance. Or think about Peter. 493 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:23,360 When Peter denied Christ three times, when he denied Christ 494 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:28,520 three times, he had to look upon the face of Jesus and face his 495 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:36,000 shame, but he also got to look upon the forgiveness on Jesus 496 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:43,320 face on the shores. God will discipline us for our 497 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:49,480 sin as we see right here. But even in his discipline, 498 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:51,600 brothers and sisters, there is tremendous grace. 499 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,360 He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to 500 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:58,160 our iniquities. Psalm one O 310. 501 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,720 You ever wonder, did when Moses heard this discipline, what did 502 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:08,360 he feel? Did he feel like the past four 503 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:14,679 years was a waste? He's like God's, I just spent 40 504 00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:18,120 years separating these people in the wilderness, and you're not 505 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:22,760 going to let me in? Did he feel like it was a waste? 506 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:30,040 I'm not sure. But one thing is sure, Moses is 507 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:36,639 about to enter glory. He's about to enter the eternal 508 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:42,080 promised land. Here's why this matters. 509 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:44,440 Brothers and sisters, whatever God doesn't give you in this 510 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:49,960 life, sometimes we think God's withholding on us, holding back. 511 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:58,680 Whatever God doesn't give you in this life, you will receive a 512 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:06,960 hundredfold in the next. This view that Moses sees in all 513 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:11,320 its glory when he looks upon the land and he sees the land full 514 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:16,200 of pomegranates and grapes and milk and honey, this view and 515 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:21,000 all its glory will not compare to the view he is about to 516 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:25,160 experience, the view of the face of Jesus Christ. 517 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:32,560 He is about to see true glory when he closes his eyes for the 518 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:39,360 very last time. So whatever you don't get in 519 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:46,720 this life, you will receive a hundredfold in the next look. 520 00:35:46,720 --> 00:35:51,760 At verse 15 to 17, Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, Let the 521 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:55,200 Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over 522 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:58,280 the congregation who shall go out before them and come in 523 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,800 before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the 524 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:06,720 congregation of the Lord may not be a sheep who have no shepherd. 525 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:12,320 Now again, as we read what is not there in the text, 1 might 526 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:15,720 expect Moses to complain about the Lord's discipline, right? 527 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:21,000 I mean, I at least in your heart I'm like, oh come on, God, 528 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:27,000 really? Or maybe be sad about it, just 529 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:33,520 kind of like, how'd it go? Moses on the mountain not going 530 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:35,920 in. I hope you guys have fun. 531 00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:44,240 Eat some grapes for me. But look at what Moses's 532 00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:50,080 perspective is. His focus is not on himself. 533 00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:58,240 His focus is on the people. Moses concern is not with what 534 00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:01,160 he wants, but what the people need. 535 00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:08,880 You see, we all have a great need to look beyond ourselves 536 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:12,640 and to care for the people of God. 537 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:18,120 I was thinking about how tempting it is to make ministry 538 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:23,400 or church about ourselves. I don't want to suggest that 539 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:25,800 like our problems are not real. And I want to suggest that we 540 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,680 don't come in these doors and feel tremendous pain, sometimes 541 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:31,920 tremendous discouragement. That's that's 100% true. 542 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:35,240 But here's what I would say. Sometimes we may come in the 543 00:37:35,240 --> 00:37:40,560 doors and we're so focused on our own problems, my own trials, 544 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:47,440 my own sadness, my own agenda, my own desires, that I 545 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:49,240 completely overlook the people of God. 546 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:56,720 I don't even see the people of God because all I can think 547 00:37:56,720 --> 00:37:59,680 about is my own self, my own problems. 548 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:05,960 Moses reflects the heart of Jesus here. 549 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:09,360 I mean, so often Jesus wanted to get away from the people. 550 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:13,720 He needed a break, He needed rest, He needed alone time. 551 00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:17,080 He couldn't step out of a boat without there being a crowd 552 00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:20,960 there, and every time he stepped out of a boat, there's a crowd 553 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:23,480 and you kind of like they're just always waiting for him and 554 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:26,640 what does he do? When he saw the crowds, he had 555 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:31,680 compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like 556 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:39,560 sheep without a shepherd. Moses concern is not with 557 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:45,240 entering the land, but with establishing a leader. 558 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:51,840 Moses asked God. He said his request is Lord 559 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:56,280 appoint a man over this congregation. 560 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:02,000 They need a leader God, they need a leader who will go before 561 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:05,720 them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and 562 00:39:05,720 --> 00:39:10,040 bring them in. Moses knows that he has been the 563 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:15,840 people sole leader for 40 years. They've had one shepherd, one 564 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:18,160 leader for 40 years. That's all they've known as 565 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:21,080 Moses. Moses, not this Moses. 566 00:39:21,240 --> 00:39:28,200 The Moses, like the Moses, is their leader for 40 years, and 567 00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:34,200 he's about to leave them. And Moses knows the danger of 568 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,280 sheep existing without a shepherd. 569 00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:40,160 How does he know this? Because the brother was only 570 00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:45,160 gone for 40 days and they built a golden calf. 571 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:53,080 He went on sabbatical for 40 days and they've already built a 572 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:57,440 golden calf. So what is going to happen when 573 00:39:57,440 --> 00:40:00,680 Moses leaves them for the next 40 years? 574 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:08,440 So Moses says, Lord, make sure they have a proper shepherd. 575 00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:15,240 But here's the question. Who in the world could follow up 576 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:18,880 Moses? I was thinking about this. 577 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:21,080 Like, imagine if I went to, like, apply for a church and, 578 00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:23,520 you know, like, can you tell me about your former pastor? 579 00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:29,760 Well, yeah, His name was Moses. Like, like, like Moses who? 580 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:31,520 Like Moses. Just be Moses. 581 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:40,200 How do you follow up Moses? Look at verse 18. 582 00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:46,880 So the Lord said to Moses, take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in 583 00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:50,520 whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 584 00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:55,880 God answers Moses's prayer. God chooses Joshua to succeed 585 00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:58,040 Moses. Now, just as a refresher, if 586 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:00,560 you're not familiar with who Joshua was as a refresher, 587 00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:03,240 Joshua was a soldier. Initially he fought with a 588 00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:05,240 Malek. Remember when Moses had to hold 589 00:41:05,240 --> 00:41:07,360 his hands up? It was Joshua down on the ground 590 00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:10,640 fighting the battle. Joshua went with Moses on top of 591 00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:12,280 Mount Sinai to receive God's law. 592 00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:15,240 He was the only one chosen to go with Moses to receive the law. 593 00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:18,000 Joshua did not depart from the tent of meeting. 594 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:21,880 Whenever Moses left the tent of meeting, Joshua stayed there and 595 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:25,520 guarded the tent of meeting. Joshua was Moses's assistant 596 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:29,960 from his youth and he was also one of 12 spies when they went 597 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:32,480 to spy of the land. He's also one of only two who 598 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:35,720 did not doubt God and believe God that He would give them the 599 00:41:35,720 --> 00:41:39,800 land. And then here we are given a new 600 00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:41,560 piece of information about Joshua. 601 00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:48,160 We learned that he is a man and whom is the Spirit. 602 00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:54,240 Now I've mentioned this before, that this does not mean that 603 00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:57,160 Joshua was indwelt by the Spirit the same way that we are indwelt 604 00:41:57,160 --> 00:41:58,960 by the Spirit. I don't think there was anybody 605 00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:01,400 in the Old Testament that was in dwelt the way that we are, but 606 00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:04,440 there were several men in the Old Testament that the Spirit is 607 00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:09,320 said to have come upon. Joseph Bezale. 70 elders, 608 00:42:09,560 --> 00:42:13,680 Balaam, Otneil, Gideon, Samson, Jephta, Saul, David, MSI, 609 00:42:13,720 --> 00:42:16,880 Azariah, Jehazio, Zechariah, Isaiah, Ezekiel. 610 00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:18,720 It's actually a lot longer list than you thought. 611 00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:22,040 Here's why this detail is important. 612 00:42:25,320 --> 00:42:35,080 What equips us, what empowers us, what qualifies us, what 613 00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:41,560 makes us wise or competent or useful, is the Spirit. 614 00:42:45,240 --> 00:42:55,880 Joshua is qualified to follow up Moses because he has the Spirit 615 00:42:56,040 --> 00:43:04,440 of God upon him. Why did Peter go from denying 616 00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:10,400 Christ three times to proclaiming Christ to 3000 the 617 00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:15,080 Spirit? How did the early church change 618 00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:19,560 the known world because of the outpouring of the Spirit. 619 00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:25,040 How was Jesus able to defeat Satan's temptations in the 620 00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:28,120 wilderness? Because he said he entered the 621 00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:33,160 wilderness full of the Spirit. How did Stephen have the courage 622 00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:36,960 to stand there and become the first Christian martyr in 623 00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:39,960 history that we know of? Because he was described as a 624 00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:46,120 man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit who was qualified to 625 00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:48,960 go with the apostle Paul on his first missionary journey. 626 00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:54,840 Barnabas, a man, a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and a 627 00:43:54,840 --> 00:44:02,400 faith when I was starting out in ministry some 20 years ago was, 628 00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:06,200 I mean like brand new. We had a college and young 629 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:09,440 singles minister who led the ministry named Jamie. 630 00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:12,480 He, he was my disciple, disciple of me for two years. 631 00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:16,600 And he was our shepherd. He was, at the time, he was the 632 00:44:16,600 --> 00:44:18,400 only shepherd I ever knew as as a Christian. 633 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:24,000 He was my best friend too. And one day he said he was 634 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:26,480 moving. Just out of the blue. 635 00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:31,400 He said he's moving, he's leaving, and he entrusted me to 636 00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:37,200 shepherd the group after him. It's like some 50 to 75 college 637 00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:40,040 students. We'd have like sometimes 75 638 00:44:40,040 --> 00:44:42,280 college students and young singles meet at our house. 639 00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:44,320 The fire department got called several times. 640 00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:54,040 What did I know? How was I qualified to do this? 641 00:44:56,880 --> 00:45:00,200 I remember one of the girls in the group, not my wife, there's 642 00:45:00,200 --> 00:45:03,960 another girl, one of the girls in the group, she wrote me a 643 00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:09,080 letter. And the first thing she wrote in 644 00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:11,680 her letter was, I sense some insecurity on your part. 645 00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:17,080 And she began to use the example of Moses and Joshua. 646 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:20,840 She basically wanted to encourage me. 647 00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:27,560 This Joshua was never going to be Moses, and you may never be 648 00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:33,160 Jamie. None of that matters because it 649 00:45:33,160 --> 00:45:36,160 is the work of the Spirit that makes the man. 650 00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:42,240 And I want to say the same to you, brother and sister. 651 00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:51,080 If you want your life to matter, if you want your life to count 652 00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:57,480 for something, be a man or a woman who is full of the Holy 653 00:45:57,480 --> 00:46:02,680 Spirit, not just indwelt by the Spirit. 654 00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:05,480 Don't settle for just being a Christian. 655 00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:13,280 Be a man or a woman who is full of the Holy Spirit, consumed by 656 00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:19,640 the Holy Spirit, controlled by the Holy Spirit, and your life 657 00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:22,320 will matter. Your life will count for 658 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:28,880 something. Look at verse 19 to 23, our last 659 00:46:28,880 --> 00:46:32,920 text. Make him stand before Eliezer 660 00:46:32,920 --> 00:46:34,840 the priest and all the congregation, and you shall 661 00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:37,960 Commission him in their sight. You shall invest him with some 662 00:46:37,960 --> 00:46:40,400 of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of 663 00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:42,840 Israel may obey. And he shall stand before 664 00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:45,840 Eliezer the priest, who shall inquire for him, by the judgment 665 00:46:45,840 --> 00:46:49,720 of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, 666 00:46:49,720 --> 00:46:52,600 and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people 667 00:46:52,600 --> 00:46:54,480 of Israel with him, the whole congregation. 668 00:46:55,120 --> 00:46:57,360 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. 669 00:46:57,640 --> 00:47:00,680 He took Joshua and made him stand before Eliezer the priest, 670 00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:03,680 and the whole congregation. And he laid his hands on him, 671 00:47:03,880 --> 00:47:07,880 and commissioned him, as the Lord directed through Moses. 672 00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:11,000 So God tells Moses, Moses, lay your hands on Joshua. 673 00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:14,360 Make him stand before Eliezer, the priest in the entire 674 00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:17,160 congregation. You shall Commission him in 675 00:47:17,160 --> 00:47:19,640 their sight. In other words, inaugurate him 676 00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:24,280 or ordain him. God wants the people to see that 677 00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:26,200 Joshua didn't just take this role. 678 00:47:26,200 --> 00:47:29,560 He didn't just, you know, sneak in and big I'm leader now. 679 00:47:30,160 --> 00:47:33,440 He wants everybody to see. This is the divinely appointed 680 00:47:33,440 --> 00:47:37,600 leader by God. God says you shall invest him 681 00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:41,240 with notice some of your authority. 682 00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:44,360 Why does he say some some of your authority? 683 00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:47,560 Well, I think the reason is, is because Moses would speak to God 684 00:47:47,560 --> 00:47:51,840 face to face, but Joshua's not going to speak with God face to 685 00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:55,480 face. Moses was unique with Joshua. 686 00:47:55,480 --> 00:47:58,240 He's going to speak to Joshua through the Urim and Thummim. 687 00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:00,560 That's how God's going to speak with him. 688 00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:02,520 He'll have to go through Eleazar. 689 00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:06,080 Eleazar will cast the Urim and Thummim and that's how Joshua 690 00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:07,440 will discern the will of the Lord. 691 00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:12,240 I want you to notice that the purpose of this authority is not 692 00:48:12,240 --> 00:48:14,880 for control. It's not for power. 693 00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:19,240 What is it for? It's for the people's obedience, 694 00:48:20,720 --> 00:48:22,560 God says. I want you to make sure Joshua 695 00:48:22,680 --> 00:48:28,040 has authority over the people so that the people obey, or another 696 00:48:28,040 --> 00:48:30,120 way to put it, so that I don't kill them. 697 00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:36,320 Joshua will stand before Elias of the priest, who will inquire 698 00:48:36,320 --> 00:48:38,040 of God for him. He will use the Urim and 699 00:48:38,040 --> 00:48:41,840 presumably the Thummim as well. Aaron had this role with Moses, 700 00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:45,080 and now Aaron's son Eliezer will have this role with Joshua. 701 00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:49,600 When Joshua tells people to set out, the people will set out. 702 00:48:50,240 --> 00:48:52,560 When he tells them to come in, they will come in. 703 00:48:53,560 --> 00:48:56,200 Joshua will be their new spiritual head. 704 00:48:58,360 --> 00:49:01,600 And here's what I love. Moses obeyed. 705 00:49:05,120 --> 00:49:09,200 I want you to notice that Moses has no misgivings about his 706 00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:13,160 power or his role or his status as a leader. 707 00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:21,760 For 40 years, he's been the sole leader, and he has no misgivings 708 00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:25,800 about passing this on to someone else. 709 00:49:28,840 --> 00:49:32,360 He's ready to pass on the torch to the next generation. 710 00:49:35,240 --> 00:49:41,360 Our job is to raise up the next generation of disciples. 711 00:49:44,560 --> 00:49:46,600 I was talking to this. I don't have this in the sermon, 712 00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:47,880 but it really quick. I was talking to Frank this 713 00:49:47,880 --> 00:49:50,600 earlier. One of the reasons that I love 714 00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:58,320 being here right at 925 S King St. is because Cherise, Bethany 715 00:50:00,600 --> 00:50:07,600 Teresa, somewhere we have an opportunity to invest in people. 716 00:50:08,840 --> 00:50:13,760 You're here for three months and while you're here, we're going 717 00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:18,320 to disciple you. We're going to pour into you to 718 00:50:18,320 --> 00:50:30,400 raise you up. Kyle, our job is to raise up the 719 00:50:30,400 --> 00:50:40,280 next generation to train you. Moses raised up Joshua, Elijah 720 00:50:40,280 --> 00:50:43,720 raised up Elijah. Jesus raised up the 11 721 00:50:43,720 --> 00:50:46,640 disciples. Peter raised up John, Mark, Paul 722 00:50:46,640 --> 00:50:49,920 raised up Timothy and Titus. What about you? 723 00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:54,880 Who is God called you to raise up? 724 00:50:57,120 --> 00:51:00,520 Or who is God calling you to be raised up by? 725 00:51:04,520 --> 00:51:11,160 We are all here to train and raise up the next generation or 726 00:51:11,160 --> 00:51:14,160 be raised up by them the future, the previous generation. 727 00:51:15,040 --> 00:51:19,240 I pray you will take up this mantle of ministry. 728 00:51:19,920 --> 00:51:20,320 Let's pray.