1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:01,960 All right, good morning. Apologize for the delay. 2 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:04,200 We were on church retreat all weekend. 3 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:08,840 And so we are scrambling because we we just left the retreat site 4 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:10,600 this morning and just got in town. 5 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:13,880 But I'm delighted that you're here this morning to worship 6 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,080 with us. And so if you have your Bible or 7 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:20,400 your device, if you would turn or type in the Book of Numbers 8 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,120 this morning, we're going to be in chapter 33, Numbers 33, we're 9 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:25,840 going to be in the entire chapter. 10 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,280 It's quite long. It's 56 verses and a lot of it 11 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:33,760 is just places of names. And as I read through this this 12 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:37,560 week before I was, we headed out for retreat, I was thinking, 13 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:40,880 what am I going to do with this chapter? 14 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,760 Because it's, it's, it's literally just a, a recounting 15 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:49,640 of places. But I, I asked myself, why did 16 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:54,600 the Lord want Moses to do this? And it occurred to me that God 17 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,240 wanted them to remember the journey. 18 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,160 And so that's what the title of the sermon is this morning, 19 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,560 Remembering the journey. So as you guys turn there or 20 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:08,440 type that in, I won't be reading the text upfront. 21 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:11,360 I'll read parts of it as we go through it. 22 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:15,960 But let's pray as we get ready to listen to God's Word this 23 00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:17,160 morning. If you will pray with me, 24 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:27,080 Father, we pray now that you would give us ears to hear what 25 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:32,200 the Spirit is speaking to us. God, we, we believe by faith. 26 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,720 We know that your word has told us that the Spirit is always 27 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,600 speaking. He is always convicting and 28 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:43,120 pointing us to Christ and leading us in truth and guiding 29 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,320 us. And so this morning, Lord, we, 30 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:48,000 we don't doubt whether the Spirit is speaking, but we, we 31 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:53,040 do, we're keenly aware that our ears may not be listening. 32 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:57,360 And so we ask God that you would help us to have ears that hear 33 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:00,560 this morning. Help us to listen well, Lord, to 34 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,640 what you are teaching us. Help us, God, to remember the 35 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:10,280 journey that you have had us on. As we look at the Israelite 36 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:12,920 journey this morning, I pray this sin now in the name of 37 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:20,000 Jesus, Amen. Why does anybody keep a 38 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:27,120 scrapbook or a photo album? Why does anybody create a 39 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:32,680 timeline or why does anybody write a diary or a journal? 40 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:36,920 Because it's a means to remember. 41 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,320 It's a means to remember where you've been and how far you've 42 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:46,880 come. We have to spend so much time in 43 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,880 our lives looking to the future, right? 44 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,000 We want to see where we want to go. 45 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:56,960 It's understandable, but we've often spent so much time doing 46 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,440 that that we forget that. We also that from time to time 47 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:05,480 need to look to the past and to see how far we've come and how 48 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:10,080 faithful God has been. God came to Moses and he 49 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:15,360 commanded him to write down their starting places of the 40 50 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:16,720 year journey in the desert. He said. 51 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,480 I want you to write down each of your starting places stage by 52 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:26,440 stage as a means to remember the journey that you have been on 53 00:03:26,920 --> 00:03:28,400 and that I have brought you through. 54 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:31,360 And that's what the sermon is about this morning, remembering 55 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,600 the journey through the wilderness. 56 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,000 A lot of what we go through this morning is going to be a 57 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,120 recounting of what we looked at in numbers. 58 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:42,920 And then also Exodus, which we have not looked at it for 59 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,200 several years, but you probably are familiar with the story. 60 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,320 So this morning I'm going to position and application of the 61 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:51,520 text. I'm going to merge those two 62 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:53,400 together as we work our way through it. 63 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,880 We won't read all of it, but we'll read most a large chunk of 64 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:58,760 it. So let's start reading verses 65 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:03,720 one and two and Numbers 33. This is what Moses writes to us. 66 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,960 These are the stages of the people of Israel when they went 67 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,120 out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the 68 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:15,040 leadership of Moses and Aaron. Moses wrote down their starting 69 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:20,320 places stage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these 70 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:25,920 are their stages according to their starting places. 71 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,120 Stop there for now. So we get to the last four 72 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,480 chapters of Numbers. We only have 4 chapters left in 73 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,080 the book of Numbers. Israel is about to cross the 74 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:38,240 Jordan to begin their conquest of the Promised Land. 75 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,520 Moses is about to enter glory. He's going to pass off his 76 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:44,680 leadership to his successor, Joshua. 77 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:49,040 But before he dies, Moses is going to take the time to write 78 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,760 down their starting places, stage by stage. 79 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,920 Now, I imagine the Israelites are anxious to cross the Jordan, 80 00:04:58,560 --> 00:04:59,880 right? They're right on the edge of the 81 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,520 Jordan. They're anxious to cross into 82 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:07,160 the future. But before they cross into the 83 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,000 future, they need to remember the past. 84 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,760 They need to remember their past. 85 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,720 My boys have started watching this TV show called Lost. 86 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:22,240 It's it's, it's like a 20 year old show. 87 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,200 Some of you may have heard of it or seen episodes or whatnot. 88 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:27,760 They started watching it. Me, I've never let him watch it 89 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,680 before. And when we watch it now, I 90 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:33,080 screen every episode ahead of time and I make sure which parts 91 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:38,040 I need to Fast forward because there is some content in it and 92 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:39,960 I Fast forward through anything. I think it's inappropriate. 93 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:42,600 So in case if you're like, pastor let's his kids watch 94 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,640 this, I make sure that I screen it. 95 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,880 When they started watching it, they got so into it. 96 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:54,160 They wanted to know everything. They're like, they wanted to 97 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:55,600 know how it ended. They're like, we don't mind. 98 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:57,600 We, we, we, we like knowing how it ends. 99 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,120 And they wanted to hear every full story of every character. 100 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:03,680 And I just kept telling the same answer. 101 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,280 I mean, they literally asked me like 50 questions and I just, I 102 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:07,920 kept telling the same answer over and over again. 103 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:15,320 You have to wait and see why. There is value in seeing the 104 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,040 progression. There is value in seeing the 105 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:24,320 highs and the lows, the successes and the failures. 106 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:29,880 There is value in seeing how did this character get from point A 107 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,560 to point Z? What was the progression? 108 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,840 Each of these places that we are going to look at, or if you read 109 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:43,000 this morning, each of them was a memory for the Israelites. 110 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:45,960 Some of them we're familiar with, some we are not. 111 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,720 But for them, when they looked at this place name, they 112 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:54,680 remembered there were memories made at each of these places. 113 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:59,800 Some of these places they had tasted the goodness of the Lord, 114 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,880 and some of them they had tasted the bitterness of their own sin. 115 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:08,160 Paul teaches us that we should not dwell on the past. 116 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,800 He says we are to forget the past and strive or strain 117 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:18,440 forward to what lies ahead. But every now and then it is 118 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:26,640 good to remember the past, to remember how God has LED us and 119 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:32,200 how He has fed us, to remember how God has sustained us and how 120 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:39,400 He has restrained us. God commanded Moses to write 121 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:45,880 these places down that they would remember their journey. 122 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:51,960 Look at verses 3 to 4. They set out from Ramsays in the 123 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:54,600 first month. On the 15th day of the first 124 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,880 month, on the day after the Passover, the people of Israel 125 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:01,720 went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 126 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,440 while the Egyptians were burying all their first born whom the 127 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:10,080 Lord had struck down among them. On their gods also the Lord 128 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:15,160 executed judgments. So the journey began 40 years 129 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,360 ago. It began on the 15th day of the 130 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,920 first month. About 600,000 men on foot, 131 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,800 besides women and children, set out from the Egyptian city 132 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:28,760 Ramsays. It was the day after Passover. 133 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:34,600 The people of Israel had lived in bitter, harsh slavery for 400 134 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:39,200 years. That's almost twice as long as 135 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:47,040 old as America is. 4, 100 years. After 4 centuries, the people of 136 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:50,720 Israel finally went out triumphantly in the side of all 137 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:55,240 the Egyptians. The Egyptians were left burying 138 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,400 their first born while Israel left. 139 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:04,520 Moses writes on their gods. Also, the Lord executed 140 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,520 judgments. This is a reminder that what God 141 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,760 did to Egypt was not cruel or unfair. 142 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,600 It was his judgement on their gods. 143 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,560 If you remember, the Lord had commanded Pharaoh. 144 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:21,960 He said let my people go. Pharaoh had opportunity after 145 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,840 opportunity to let them go, but each time he hardened his heart 146 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:29,840 and he would not let them go. And so God sent them plague 147 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:34,920 after plague after plague. There is a plausible theory that 148 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:38,120 with each of the plagues, God was not just executing judgment 149 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,360 on the Egyptians, he was also executing judgment on the 150 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:46,840 Egyptian so-called gods. The Egyptians worshiped the sun 151 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:49,320 God and God caused it to be dark. 152 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:52,680 The Egyptians worshiped the Nile and the Nile turned to blood. 153 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:58,160 Many of their gods had images of frogs and cattles on them and 154 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:05,240 God used these plagues to show the Egyptians I am superior to 155 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:09,240 your gods. Pharaoh's even first born son 156 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:12,120 was considered divine. All the Pharaohs were considered 157 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:17,960 divine and God put Pharaoh's first born son to death. 158 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:24,120 The Exodus is clearly a type. There's a strong typology in the 159 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:26,480 Exodus. In other words, rather than 160 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:34,200 killing a lamb, God put to death the spotless Lamb of God. 161 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:38,720 Rather than smearing an animal's blood on the doorpost of their 162 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:43,720 homes, Jesus smeared his own blood upon the cross. 163 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:48,880 And rather than putting to death the Egyptian first born, God put 164 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:55,800 to death his only begotten Son. You see, just as every Israelite 165 00:10:55,800 --> 00:11:00,280 was to look back at the Exodus for all generations to come for 166 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:05,520 the next several 100 years, the the Israelites were to always 167 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:09,200 look back at the Exodus at this moment. 168 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,680 This is where God rescued us from slavery. 169 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,360 We too are to look back at the cross. 170 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:23,480 There should never come a morning we wake up where we 171 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:31,080 don't remember. This is where I was rescued from 172 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:37,040 slavery. Look at verses five to seven. 173 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:41,120 So the people of Israel set out from Ramsays and camped at 174 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:43,520 Sukkoth. And they, they and they set up 175 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,240 from Sukkoth and camped at Ethan, which is on the edge of 176 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:48,680 the wilderness. And they set out from Ethan and 177 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:53,040 turned back to π Hyrid, which is east east of Bail Zephon. 178 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:57,840 And they camped before Migdol. So the Israelites that when they 179 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:00,280 left, they they left Ramses, the Egyptian city. 180 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:03,000 They then went to Sukkoth. They then went to eat them. 181 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:08,080 And then when they got there, they turned back to π Hyrith. 182 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:13,600 God told them to turn back. Now why would God do that? 183 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:15,760 You were leading us out of Egypt. 184 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:17,960 Why did he tell them to turn back? 185 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,520 Here's what God says, Pharaoh will say of the people of 186 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:24,520 Israel. They are wandering in the land. 187 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:29,840 The wilderness has shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's 188 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,320 heart. He will pursue them and I will 189 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:37,160 get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts, and the Egyptians 190 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:45,040 shall know that I am the Lord. Can you imagine God telling you 191 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:49,840 to turn back in this moment? This probably made no sense, 192 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:52,560 probably seem like a waste of time. 193 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:57,760 Doesn't God often tell his people to do things that make no 194 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:01,480 sense or seem like a waste of time? 195 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:09,400 Elizabeth Elliott. Our plans are interrupted. 196 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:15,440 His or not his plans are proceeding exactly as scheduled, 197 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:23,280 moving us always including those minutes or hours or years which 198 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:28,600 seem most useless or wasted or unendurable. 199 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:36,760 Brothers and sisters, what we label as a detour, what we label 200 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:41,720 as a dead end, God calls the driveway. 201 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:48,000 God never wastes any seasons in your life. 202 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,480 May feel like that you are just wasting time, may feel like that 203 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,920 you are spinning in a circle. You're not moving anywhere, 204 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,200 you're not going anywhere, nothing's happening. 205 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:02,440 What is going on? God? 206 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:08,040 God never wastes any seasons in your life. 207 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:14,760 He has a purpose for when He tells you to turn back, for when 208 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,040 He tells you to stay put, and when He tells you to move 209 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:21,680 forward. The good verses 8-9. 210 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:26,560 And they set out from high, high risk, pass through the midst of 211 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,240 the sea into the wilderness. And they went a three days 212 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:32,480 journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Mara. 213 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,480 And they set up from Mara and came to Elam. 214 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:40,920 At Elam there were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees, and 215 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,600 they camped there. Now, if you remember from the 216 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,880 story in Exodus, when God told them to turn back, it seemed 217 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:52,880 like he led them into a trap. When they turned back, they were 218 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,760 in camp by the sea. So on one side of them was the 219 00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:59,440 Red Sea. On the other side of them was 220 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:01,600 the Egyptian army bearing down on them. 221 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:05,360 That's like, how is this a good plan? 222 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:10,720 You just let us into a trap. And when the Israelites realize 223 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:13,040 this, they begin to become very fearful. 224 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:17,240 They they accuse Moses of leading them into wilderness to 225 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,880 kill them. And what does Moses say to them? 226 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:25,200 Moses says fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the 227 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,160 Lord, which he will work for you today. 228 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,040 You see, God will bring us into impossible situations. 229 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:40,640 He'll bring us into situations where we feel trapped, like we 230 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:42,400 feel like we have no other choice. 231 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:45,200 God, you know, I have no other choice here but to disobey. 232 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,400 I have no other choice but to take matters into my own hands. 233 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,560 You did this, God. You forced me into this. 234 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:00,280 But God is not doing that to tempt us. 235 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:04,960 He's not doing it to trick us. He's not doing it to trouble us. 236 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:13,360 He's doing it to test us. Will we trust him? 237 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:21,680 I guarantee you, in this moment it did not cross any of their 238 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,280 minds. Oh, he's just going to park the 239 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:34,770 water. God brought them to this moment 240 00:16:34,770 --> 00:16:39,320 to test them. Afterward, God brings them 241 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,480 through the midst of the sea. He brings them into the 242 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:43,920 wilderness. They go on a three days journey 243 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,320 into the wilderness of Ethan, but they found no water. 244 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,480 As they cross the sea and they go into the wilderness, they 245 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,080 find no water. They come tomorrow. 246 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:56,200 And the good news. What's this? 247 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:59,160 I don't have this in the story, but Mara is where we get the 248 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:00,520 name Mary. You know what the name Mary 249 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:01,960 means? Bitter. 250 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:04,240 I told my mom that my mom's name was Mary. 251 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:05,720 I was like, Mom, one day I found the other mom. 252 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:07,960 You know your name means bitter. She's like, yes, thank you, 253 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:18,040 Matthew. The good news was that there was 254 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:22,000 water. They come tomorrow and God gives 255 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:23,720 them water. That's the good news. 256 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:25,960 Here's the bad news. The water was bitter. 257 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,840 They couldn't drink it. Doesn't it feel like that's how 258 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,920 God provides for us sometimes? It's like, God, please provide 259 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:38,360 water, water. Thanks God. 260 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:42,760 You go to drink it. Thanks God. 261 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:48,760 Doesn't it often feel like that's how God provides for some 262 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,000 time? He gives us water, but it's 263 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:55,680 bitter water. Why did God lead them to bitter 264 00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:01,640 water? To show them their own 265 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:07,720 bitterness, the people bitterly grumbled against God. 266 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:13,080 But the Lord was merciful. He listened to their cries. 267 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,680 And what did he do? He made the water sweet. 268 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,640 If there's one thing we know about the Lord is that God, our 269 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:27,080 God, is not only merciful, but He is also gracious. 270 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:30,680 Because what happened right after that? 271 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:33,360 God brought them to Elam, the very next place. 272 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:38,400 They went to Elam where there were 12 springs of water and 70 273 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:42,200 palm trees. Abundant water, abundant shade. 274 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:45,320 And if you know anything about walking in the wilderness, water 275 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:49,840 and shade are everything. They are life, and God gives 276 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:51,760 them abundant water and abundant shade. 277 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:53,360 You ever had God do that for you? 278 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:58,000 You ever had God show you grace when you were in sin? 279 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,200 You see, it's one thing to show grace when you're doing things 280 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:03,640 right. It's another thing when you are 281 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,200 shown grace when you're walking and sin. 282 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:11,320 The other day my wife and I were in conflict. 283 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,560 I don't remember what it in that I'm sure you never conflict was 284 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:17,040 about anymore. I don't even know what it was 285 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,640 about. I didn't want to talk to her. 286 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:24,280 I was upset, I was hurt. I didn't want to talk to her. 287 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:30,480 I walked into my room and I noticed she folded my clothes 288 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:37,360 and as I saw the neatly stacked pile of clothes on my dresser it 289 00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:40,000 just removed all hurt and all pride. 290 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:51,240 There's something so beautiful about showing grace to a Sinner, 291 00:19:55,560 --> 00:20:02,920 it just cripples you. Look at verse 10:50. 292 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:08,200 They set up from Elam and camp by the Red Sea, and they set out 293 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,800 from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of seeing. 294 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:17,000 They left Elam and they camped by the Red Sea, and then they 295 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:19,440 set up in the Red Sea and camp in the wilderness of seeing. 296 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:24,040 This is where they first began grumbling about lack of food. 297 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,960 I mean, if you read the Book of Numbers and the book of Exodus 298 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,200 and somebody said give me one word, right? 299 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:35,800 Give me one word to describe the people of Israel in these two 300 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:39,800 books. A good answer would be this 301 00:20:40,120 --> 00:20:44,640 grumbling. Describe the people of Israel 302 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:52,120 grumbling, right? As painful as it is, I think it 303 00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:58,440 is helpful to look at our past and remember just how sinful we 304 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:05,840 were in the past and how patient God was to our sin. 305 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,720 It's painful to do that. It's sometimes the reason why we 306 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:13,000 don't want to think about our past is because it's painful to 307 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:19,160 do it. It just seems like the people 308 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:21,040 were always looking for an opportunity to grumble. 309 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,840 I mean, every time they, it was like there's no food. 310 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:29,600 God, Well, here's food. Well, we're tired of this food. 311 00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:31,560 Well, here's some different food. 312 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:35,640 Well, we want vegetables with our food. 313 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,240 You ever look back on your Christian life and you're just 314 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:45,960 appalled at some of the things that you used to say or used to 315 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,720 do? I mean, I, I hate doing this 316 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:56,760 because there's a website calledawkwardfamilyphotos.com If 317 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,320 you've never seen it, I highly please don't check it out now, 318 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,720 but I, I highly encourage you to check this website out. 319 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:08,360 When you look at this website, there's really only one question 320 00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:16,560 that comes to mind. Why, why, why did you do this? 321 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,600 Why did you think this photo was a good idea? 322 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,560 Everybody has awkward family photos, don't they? 323 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,280 Especially from middle school. You ever look back at some of 324 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:30,400 your old middle school photos? It's like, Oh my gosh, like 325 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,960 what? Why did I go for this look? 326 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:37,480 It's painful to look back on them. 327 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,920 Remembering our past can be quite painful. 328 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:51,720 Why did you do this, Matt? Why did you say this? 329 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:02,920 But our past highlights the patience of our God. 330 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:11,080 Look at verse 12 to 14. They set out from the wilderness 331 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:15,560 of sin and seen and camped at Dofka, and they set up from 332 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,320 Dofka and camped at a lush, and they set up from a lush and 333 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:23,880 camped at Rafidum where there was no water for the people to 334 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,440 drink. So they leave the wilderness of 335 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,120 seeing. They go to Dofka. 336 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:31,480 They then go to a lush. They didn't go to Rafidum. 337 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:35,720 And at Rafidum is where they once again had no water. 338 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,160 And they begin to quarrel with Moses and the Lord. 339 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:43,120 They once again accused Moses of trying to kill them and this is 340 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,200 the first of two times. We looked at the second time in 341 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:49,280 Numbers. This is the first of two times 342 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,840 where God provided water for His people from the rock. 343 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:58,280 Why did God give his people water to drink from a rock 2 344 00:23:58,280 --> 00:23:59,920 times? Why did God do this? 345 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:03,680 The Apostle Paul tells us this. They all drank the same 346 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:07,760 spiritual drink, for they all drank from the spiritual rock 347 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:12,840 that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 1st Corinthians 10 348 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:18,040 For in other words, God gave them water from a rock so that 349 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:22,920 they would know that it was God who gave it to them. 350 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:29,120 If God just put water in the desert, if he, you know, either 351 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:32,880 he led them to the water or he just made a pool of water up 352 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:35,080 here. If God did that, they would be 353 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:39,080 thankful for the gift, but they may not be thankful for the 354 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:44,240 giver. They made us think, wow, water, 355 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:51,960 what a great coincidence. You see, water is a gift. 356 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:56,080 We all want the gift of water. Water is a gift, but so is 357 00:24:56,080 --> 00:25:00,240 thirst. Thirst is a gift too. 358 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,600 It's a gift that reminds us that we need the Lord. 359 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:13,480 Marriage is a gift, but so is singleness. 360 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:21,560 Children are a gift, but so is barrenness. 361 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:29,640 Employment is a gift, but so is unemployment. 362 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:37,680 Friendship is a gift, but so is loneliness. 363 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:45,640 They are all a gift because they've revealed to us our need 364 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:54,400 for the giver. I need the giver of gifts more 365 00:25:54,600 --> 00:26:00,800 than I need the gift. Look at verse 15 to 16. 366 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:05,240 And they set out from refedum and camped in the wilderness of 367 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:07,720 Sinai. They set up in the wilderness of 368 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,640 Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hotava. 369 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:16,040 When they left refedum, they camped in the wilderness of 370 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:17,920 Sinai. This is where Moses went on top 371 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:21,160 of the mountain and he met with God is where God gave Moses His 372 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:24,120 commandments and His law is where God taught His people 373 00:26:24,120 --> 00:26:27,160 about His Holiness. You see, the law was a mercy of 374 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:29,120 God. It was a means by which His 375 00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:32,080 people would not be consumed by him, right? 376 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:35,960 God, For as many times as God almost consumed His people, He 377 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,480 would have for sure consumed them had they not had His law, 378 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:43,040 had they not had a means that they could have a right 379 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,920 relationship with the Father. It's very easy to think of this 380 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,160 law that God gave them as a burden. 381 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:53,680 But listen to what God tells Moses when he went up Mount 382 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:55,200 Sinai. Here's what he says to him. 383 00:26:55,400 --> 00:27:01,200 If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall 384 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:07,440 be my treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the 385 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,840 earth is mine, and you shall be to me a Kingdom, a priest, and a 386 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:15,920 holy nation. Exodus 19 You see, God is a 387 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:24,000 king, but He is not a tyrant. Tyrants don't make their people 388 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:31,360 their treasure possession. After they left Sinai, they went 389 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:34,760 to Kibroath Hatava. If you remember at Kibroath 390 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,840 Hatava, this is where the people complained there was no meat. 391 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:43,640 They said we remember the fish that we ate in Egypt and they 392 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,080 had a strong craving for this meat. 393 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:48,560 Then therefore God gave them meat. 394 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:52,240 God gave them exactly what they asked for, but He also gave them 395 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,600 something else. He gave them a very great plague 396 00:27:55,600 --> 00:28:01,320 and they were buried with the meat in their mouth. 397 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,520 Church family, Be careful when manna is not enough. 398 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:16,400 Be careful when mana is not enough. 399 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:20,640 You see, the world has a lot of meat to offer. 400 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:27,840 They hang it in their window shops, tempting us to step 401 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:32,880 inside. Come on, just a bite. 402 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:42,160 You want this, you need this. Brothers, sisters, there's 403 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:47,440 nothing for us in there. There's nothing for us in there. 404 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:57,120 It is better to sit at a table of bread and contentment than to 405 00:28:57,120 --> 00:28:59,920 be buried with a mouthful of meat. 406 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:10,760 Verses 17 to 35, I'm not going to read that because it is a 407 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:13,920 bunch of place names and that's really all that it is because 408 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,160 almost all of these place names, we know nothing about what 409 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:20,080 happened at them. They're not mentioned again as 410 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:23,480 much as the as thick as this book is, it could be 10 times as 411 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:27,280 thick. So here's what I want to say 412 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:30,560 about this. If you read 17 to 35, almost all 413 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:33,400 of these place names are never mentioned again in Scripture. 414 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:36,640 We don't know what happened. There's maybe only a few that 415 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:38,720 are mentioned maybe once, but even then they're not. 416 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:40,880 We don't know what happened. They're just mentioned the name. 417 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,440 What I take away from this, when I read that section, I was like 418 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:46,920 17 and that's a large section of the chapter. 419 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:48,160 What am I going to do with this Lord? 420 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:56,080 Here's what I took away from this is that most of life is not 421 00:29:56,080 --> 00:30:02,720 the parting of the Red Sea. Most of life is simply living in 422 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,080 a no name place in the wilderness. 423 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:09,120 That's what most of life is, isn't it? 424 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:16,120 In other words, we want to go to the fireworks show, but most of 425 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,880 the Christian life is simply faithfully collecting manna on 426 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:26,480 the ground. See, faithfulness is measured 427 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:30,480 not only if we have the faith across the Red Sea, that's true, 428 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:34,360 But faithfulness is not just do we have faith to cross this Red 429 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:40,160 Sea, Faithfulness is also do we have the faith to trust God when 430 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,280 it nothing's really happening in our life. 431 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:55,320 I'm just stuck at Horhagidada or Jatbata or a Brona. 432 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:04,240 Can I trust God when it seems like nothing is really happening 433 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:11,880 in my life? Look at verses 36 to 39. 434 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:20,200 And they set out and they camped from Izan Gieber and camped in 435 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,000 the wilderness of Zen, that is Kadesh. 436 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,400 And they set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor on the edge 437 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:29,120 of the land of Edom. And Aaron the priest went up 438 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:32,040 Mount Hor at the command of the Lord, and died there in the 40th 439 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:34,200 year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of 440 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:36,320 Egypt on the first day of the 5th month. 441 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:42,040 And Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor. 442 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:46,160 They next come into the wilderness of Zen, and they 443 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:51,000 stayed in Kadesh. In Kadesh is where Miriam died 444 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:54,880 and she's buried. This is important because Miriam 445 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:57,960 was a prophetess. She was a leader among the women 446 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,160 in the wilderness. And now she has died. 447 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:07,240 Along the way of our journey, we all experience death. 448 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:14,040 It might be death of loved ones. It might be death of our dreams, 449 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,920 might be death of our plans. It might be the death of our 450 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:23,960 desires, but we all experience death. 451 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:28,920 And just as Miriam's death seemed to have an impact on 452 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:33,320 Moses, if you remember, it was right after Miriam's death that 453 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:37,560 Moses disobeyed God and struck the rock and anger. 454 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:39,480 And you have to wonder if they were connected. 455 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:42,280 I think they were, but I don't know. 456 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:48,440 But it seems very likely that Moses, because he is grieving 457 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:53,280 his sister's death, that he had a little bit less patience with 458 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:57,720 the people and he struck the rock and anger. 459 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:05,080 We too must be careful not to let the things or people who 460 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:09,560 have died in our life cause us to sin against God. 461 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:18,400 When the angels physically removed Lot and his family from 462 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:21,200 their houses, remember in Sodom and Gomorrah, they told him to 463 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:23,040 leave and they didn't. The angels had physically 464 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:27,960 removed them out of the city. They were uprooting Lot and his 465 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:30,720 wife and their kids from their entire lives. 466 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:37,240 That was all they had known. Lot's wife was experiencing the 467 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:42,040 feeling of death, the death of her life, the the death of 468 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:47,720 everything she had known. But rather than let this life 469 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:54,360 that she had lived be buried with the city, what did she do? 470 00:33:54,800 --> 00:34:01,280 She looked back. She looked back and she became 471 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:14,280 as the city that she longed for. Be careful not to let God will 472 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:15,960 put things to death in your life. 473 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:18,639 It may be your dreams, your plans, maybe you had you ever 474 00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:21,199 had your life all planned out. It's like this is my plan. 475 00:34:21,199 --> 00:34:23,639 I got a five year plan, 10 year plan, 20 year plan is what I'm 476 00:34:23,639 --> 00:34:25,239 going to do next year. I'm going to do this next year 477 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:36,679 and God just smashes it. Be careful that you don't let 478 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:40,560 that sin cause you to sin against God. 479 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:47,920 Only four. Marian passed four months after 480 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:49,880 his sister passed. His brother passes. 481 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:55,120 Aaron passes. He's a 123 years old Aaron. 482 00:34:56,719 --> 00:35:01,360 And Aaron reminds us, oh, Aaron, you got to love Aaron. 483 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:04,520 It's like Aaron reminds us that God uses deeply flawed 484 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:08,160 characters. When Moses went up Mount Sinai 485 00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:10,880 to receive the law of God, Aaron caved to the pressure of the 486 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:12,840 people and he built them a golden calf. 487 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:15,680 You got to love the answer he gives when he came down, He's 488 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:18,800 like, the people gave me this gold and I just threw it into 489 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,160 the fire and then a calf came out. 490 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:29,160 I don't know. When Miriam challenges Moses 491 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:32,400 authority, Aaron joins his sister in her irreverent 492 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:35,560 insubordination. When Moses struck the rock and 493 00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:39,680 anger and stole God's glory, Aaron's right there with his 494 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:42,080 brother doing it in his rebellion. 495 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:44,440 Aaron. It was a deeply flawed 496 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:48,000 character. And yet God used Aaron for his 497 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:51,560 glory. Aaron was Moses spokesman. 498 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,160 He was the first high priest and the only high priest for 40 499 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:57,840 years in the wilderness. And it was Aaron, if you 500 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:01,720 remember, who stood between the living and the dead and made 501 00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:05,640 atonement for the people and kept the plague from being any 502 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:11,840 worse. God is willing to use deeply 503 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:18,960 flawed characters. Look at verse 40 and the 504 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:22,560 Canaanite, the king of Arad who lived in the Negev in the land 505 00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:27,080 of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel. 506 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:30,840 I like how it's just one verse, but it if you remember this, the 507 00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:33,960 Canaanite king, we looked at this of several months ago, the 508 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:37,120 Canaanite king attacks Israel and he takes some of them 509 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:39,720 captive. This is ironic because God had 510 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:43,920 rescued them from slavery and now they're God says I'm 511 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:47,160 rescuing you from slavery to bring you into Canaan and then 512 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:50,840 some of them are captured and in slavery in Canaan and it's like 513 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:55,600 slavery, slavery. God, if you wanted us to be in 514 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:57,200 slavery, we could have stayed in Egypt. 515 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:02,440 But here the the Kenai king defeats them and slaves them. 516 00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:04,360 But that's not the end of the story. 517 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:06,560 The Israelites make a vow to the Lord. 518 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:09,520 They say, Lord, if you will give us victory over them, we will 519 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:12,480 devote them all to complete destruction and God listens to 520 00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:14,920 their plea. He gives them victory over them. 521 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:22,720 This short story is a reminder that when trials seem hopeless, 522 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:26,280 God is not finished writing our story yet. 523 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:32,160 We just got back from our retreat where our theme was 524 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:34,200 abounding hope. That was our retreat theme. 525 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:38,040 Abounding hope. You see, God loves. 526 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:41,640 He loves to lead us into hopeless situations. 527 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:45,800 He delights to do it. Why? 528 00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:51,440 Because it is in the Valley of Despair where he strengthens our 529 00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:56,400 hope. People don't get their hope 530 00:37:56,400 --> 00:38:00,760 strengthen on the mountaintop. They get their hope strengthened 531 00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:07,040 in the Valley of Despair. Look at verses 41 to 49. 532 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:11,160 And they set up from Mount Whore and camped at Zalmona. 533 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:13,680 And they set up from Zalmona and camped at Punan. 534 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:16,080 And they set up from Punan and camped at Oboth. 535 00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:20,240 And they set up from Oboth, and camped at EI Byram in the 536 00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:23,320 territory of Moab. And they set up from Yaim, and 537 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:26,360 camped at Debond Gad. And they set up from Debond Gad 538 00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:31,160 and camped at Almond Debatheim. They set up from Almond 539 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:34,440 Deboytheim and camped in the mountains of A Byram before 540 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:36,200 Nebo. And they set up from the 541 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:38,880 mountains of A Byram and camped in the plains of Moab by the 542 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:42,240 Jordan at Jericho. They can't buy the Jordan from 543 00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:48,840 Bait Jeshimov as far as Abel Shateem and the plains of Moab. 544 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:51,800 Now most of those names that I just read, they're not mentioned 545 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:53,120 again. Or if they are mentioned, 546 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:54,600 they're given no context of them. 547 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:58,960 But we certainly remember at the very end this comment about the 548 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:04,520 plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, because that is where 549 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:10,800 the king of Moab hired Balaam to come and curse Israel. 550 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:16,040 For three chapters, the narrator recounts to us how this Pagan 551 00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:20,360 diviner tried four times to curse Israel, but God turned it 552 00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:22,720 into a blessing. Do you know what I find 553 00:39:22,720 --> 00:39:24,920 fascinating about that entire story of Balaam? 554 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:32,920 On top of the mountain is Balaam and Balak and the Lord, and 555 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:37,760 we're never told if Israel down in the plains has any idea this 556 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:42,720 is going on. Maybe they did, maybe they 557 00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:46,120 didn't, but we're never told. Like, do they have any idea 558 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:51,360 what's going on above them? Balak and Balak are on top of 559 00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:53,520 this mountain. They overlook all the people 560 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:56,120 sitting in the plains. And as far as we can tell, they 561 00:39:56,120 --> 00:39:59,680 have no idea that the king of Moab has hired A Pagan diviner 562 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:03,240 to curse them. Nor do they know, perhaps, that 563 00:40:03,240 --> 00:40:06,520 God is taking control of Balaam and is using him for his own 564 00:40:06,520 --> 00:40:12,480 purposes to bless Israel. How many times are there battles 565 00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:17,040 being fought in the heavenly places and we have no idea 566 00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:18,560 what's going on behind the scenes? 567 00:40:22,240 --> 00:40:24,480 You ever wonder that you ever, you ever had a day like where 568 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:27,520 you were just so angry, like like every, every little thing 569 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:29,960 just set you off and you're like, why? 570 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:35,760 How many times are the things going on behind the scenes and 571 00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:40,000 you have no idea what is going on behind the scenes? 572 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:49,000 Peter would have had no idea that Satan had demanded to sift 573 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:55,280 him had Jesus not told him what's going on with Peter. 574 00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:58,280 Why does Peter falter in this moment? 575 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:01,520 Why? Because Satan is sifting him. 576 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:05,640 He would have never known that had Jesus not told him. 577 00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:13,240 The church in Smyrna would have had no idea that the devil was 578 00:41:13,240 --> 00:41:16,480 about to throw some of them into prison, that they may be tested 579 00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:18,120 and for 10 days have tribulation. 580 00:41:18,240 --> 00:41:20,640 They would have had no idea had Jesus not told them. 581 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:31,840 God is always working behind the scenes, testing us, trying us, 582 00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:40,800 blessing us, supplying us. We only see a small fraction of 583 00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:47,080 what's really going on. There is an entire war going on 584 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:51,840 behind the scenes. We don't wrestle against flesh 585 00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:55,720 and blood. We wrestle against 586 00:41:55,720 --> 00:41:57,600 principalities and powers of darkness. 587 00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:05,080 Look at verses 50 to 54. And the Lord spoke to Moses in 588 00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:06,960 the plains of Moab by the Jordan of Jericho. 589 00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:09,240 Saints, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, when you 590 00:42:09,240 --> 00:42:12,160 pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall 591 00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:15,240 drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and 592 00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:18,520 destroy all their figured stones, destroy all their metal 593 00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:20,760 images, and demolish all their high places. 594 00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:23,680 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I 595 00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:25,680 have given the land to you to possess it. 596 00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:29,200 You shall inherit the land by lot, according to their clans. 597 00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:31,640 To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance. 598 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:33,920 To a small tribe you should give a small inheritance. 599 00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:36,920 Wherever the lot falls for anyone that shall be his, 600 00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:40,800 according to the tribes of your father's, you shall inherit. 601 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:45,880 Moses is about to die, and he is not going to cross over the 602 00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:47,400 Jordan with them. He's not. 603 00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:49,960 So God says. Here's some final instructions. 604 00:42:50,520 --> 00:42:52,480 Make sure you communicate this to the people. 605 00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:57,000 God says when you cross over the Jordan and you walk into the 606 00:42:57,000 --> 00:43:01,240 land of Canaan. When you step foot into the land 607 00:43:01,240 --> 00:43:06,240 of Canaan, your first order of priority when they get there is 608 00:43:06,240 --> 00:43:12,880 not building a house. It's not to go on a scouting 609 00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:15,680 trip to scout out all the farmland. 610 00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:22,280 Where are the best fruit trees. It's not to go check out the 611 00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:29,480 Canaanite nightlife. Your first order of priority 612 00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:35,400 when you step into this land is to drive out all the inhabitants 613 00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:40,760 of the land. You are to destroy all their 614 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:45,560 figured stones, all their metal images, all their high places. 615 00:43:47,360 --> 00:43:51,680 That's your first priority. That's your only priority right 616 00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:55,320 now. Certainly we don't have holy 617 00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:58,200 wars anymore. We don't wage war against people 618 00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:05,480 groups or against nations. But we do have a holy war 619 00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:15,280 against our so-called gods. We are at war with our idols. 620 00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:26,040 I asked Chad TBT the other day. What would you say is the most 621 00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:30,880 worshipped idol in America? I was really curious what answer 622 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:34,560 it would give. That was really curious, Do you 623 00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:37,400 know what it said? Quote. 624 00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:42,320 If I had to name just one idol that dominates American culture, 625 00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:51,120 I'd say it's the self expressed through individualism, autonomy, 626 00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:59,400 and personal fulfilment. Wow, that's what I would say. 627 00:45:04,930 --> 00:45:12,330 I would agree. When we are baptized in the 628 00:45:12,330 --> 00:45:18,250 river Jordan and we crossover into the promised land of 629 00:45:18,250 --> 00:45:25,210 salvation, we go to war with self. 630 00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:39,840 We are always at war with our self, and the danger of not 631 00:45:39,840 --> 00:45:45,000 going to war is the exact same danger the Israelites faced. 632 00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:51,120 Look at 55 and 56. If you do not drive out the 633 00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:54,960 inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them 634 00:45:54,960 --> 00:46:00,560 who whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns 635 00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:03,800 in your sides, and they shall trouble you and the land where 636 00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:07,200 you dwell. And I will do to you as I 637 00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:11,720 thought to do to them. God makes it very clear what 638 00:46:11,720 --> 00:46:14,120 will happen if they fail to drive out the Canaanites. 639 00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:19,280 He says these people, they'll be barbs or like thorns in your 640 00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:23,400 eyes and thorns in your sides. Now what does that mean? 641 00:46:24,280 --> 00:46:27,120 What does that mean? Have you ever tried clearing out 642 00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:29,800 brambles or like BlackBerry bushes? 643 00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:32,480 Ever tried clearing them out? It's very difficult. 644 00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:35,920 It's very, very difficult. If you don't clear them out 645 00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:41,760 completely, they will come back. I mean, I, I cut the ones out 646 00:46:41,760 --> 00:46:44,440 front here and like next week there's just a whole new they, 647 00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:47,040 they just come right back. If you don't clear them out 648 00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:52,720 completely, they will come back. They will take over and they 649 00:46:52,720 --> 00:46:57,320 will hurt. The same is true for the 650 00:46:57,320 --> 00:47:01,800 Canaanites. It will not do to clear out 25% 651 00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:05,320 of them. It will not do to clear out 50% 652 00:47:05,320 --> 00:47:11,880 of them, or 75% or even 90%. It won't do to clear out 95% of 653 00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:12,320 them. Why? 654 00:47:12,440 --> 00:47:15,480 Because whatever remains, whatever portion of this 655 00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:19,960 remains, it will function like a thorn in your eyes. 656 00:47:20,080 --> 00:47:25,640 It will blind your spiritual vision so that you can't see God 657 00:47:25,640 --> 00:47:29,400 clearly. They will function like in your 658 00:47:29,400 --> 00:47:33,640 sides so that when you try to run this race, it will 659 00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:37,360 perpetually keep you from running effectively. 660 00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:44,800 The Canaanites must be driven out completely and so must our 661 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:53,700 sin be driven out completely. It doesn't take a large piece of 662 00:47:53,700 --> 00:47:59,520 glass to stop us on our journey. Just take 1 little sliver of 663 00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:04,640 glass, step on it and get it into your foot and you can't 664 00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:11,160 walk very far. John Owen writes. 665 00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:14,360 There is no trifling sin in the sight of God. 666 00:48:14,680 --> 00:48:19,320 A little sin, if it be allowed to grow, is enough to ruin the 667 00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:24,640 soul. Brothers and sisters, the 668 00:48:24,640 --> 00:48:34,120 Promised land is to have no Canaanite gods, and this temple 669 00:48:36,120 --> 00:48:43,600 is to have no false gods. Clear them out, go to war with 670 00:48:43,600 --> 00:48:47,200 them every day. Let's pray.