Most Americans believe in heaven and that they'll be there.
What about you? Do you hope in heaven?
Are you headed there? How often do you meditate on the
hope of heaven? Daily.
Weekly, Rarely. Richard Baxter meditated on
heaven often one of the most significant 17th century English
Puritans. He wrote over 140 books.
I don't even know the average, you know, per year, including an
800 page book on heaven. It was a runaway bestseller,
multiple editions within the first couple of years, but I'm
afraid today it likely would have flopped.
Even in churches, conversations about heaven seem to be on the
decline. One professor studied the
difference between songs used in American churches from 2000 to
2015 and those used from 1737 to 1960.
He said among the many similarities, one difference was
striking. The topic of heaven, which was
once frequently and richly sung about, has now all but
disappeared. Now, I trust this professor's
never visited Trinity Baptist Church on a Sunday morning like
today. We sing a lot about heaven, but
we still need to recover our heavenly hope.
So why should we remember where we're headed and how we'll get
there? Why is that important for us?
Because God presents the Christian life like this, we're
in the middle of an exodus from death to life, a journey from
the city of destruction to our heavenly home.
In other words, we're walking through the wilderness and we
need to make it home. And one of the books God's given
us to lead us along is the book of Numbers.
So if you have your Bible, please open in Numbers chapter
31. If you don't have a Bible,
please raise your hand. Somebody would be glad to bring
you a Bible right now in this moment so you can follow along.
Anyone need a Bible? It's our gift to you.
If you don't own one yourself. And if you're not familiar with
the Bible, you can just look at the table of contents at the
very beginning. You'll find Numbers, 5th book of
the Bible early on in the Bible, Numbers chapter 31.
This is the last sermon and a series of sermons on Numbers.
Numbers is about how the Lord delivered his people from
slavery to Egypt and then prepared to lead them to the
Promised land, but they had to go through the wilderness.
Numbers is 36 chapters. You probably could have told the
story in just a few chapters because the journey should have
just taken a few weeks. But it took 40 years because
when the first generation was on the verge of the promised land,
they refuse to enter God's rest. So Numbers is the story of how
the Lord led his people to the promised Land despite their
rebellious refusal to enter. Now the book begins in the
wilderness of Sinai. That's chapter one, verse one.
We're going to see the last verse today and it ends by the
Jordan at Jericho, meaning in chapters 31 to 36.
What we're going to cover today, Israel's on the verge of the
promised land. They're on Jordan, stormy banks.
You know, when the apostle Paul reflects back on numbers in
First Corinthians chapter 10, he says these things were written
down for our instruction on whom?
The end of the ages has come. Numbers was written down for
Christians, us, people living in the last days.
And as we live in those last days, with heaven just over the
horizon, what instruction do these six chapters of Numbers
have for us? Here's the main point of today's
sermon. Be ready to depart this
wilderness and dwell with God in heaven.
Friends, be ready to depart this wilderness and dwell with God in
heaven. Now to help us on our way,
Numbers gives us 4 pictures of us on our journey.
That's what we're going to consider this morning. 4
pictures. First, chapter 31, we're
soldiers in a battle. That's the first picture.
We're soldiers in a battle. I'm going to read a little bit
of chapter 31 before just a quick overview of the chapter.
You have to remember back to chapter 25 first.
In chapter 25, the Midianites seduced the Israelites to commit
spiritual adultery against the Lord, leading to a plague.
Thousands died. Now here in chapter 31, the Lord
sends the Israelites to pay back the Midianites with vengeance.
Chapter 31 I'll read verses 1 to 18.
The Lord spoke to Moses saying avenge the people of Israel on
the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered
your people. So Moses spoke to the people,
saying, armed men from among you for the war, that they may go
against Midian to execute the Lord's vengeance on Midian.
You shall send 1000 from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.
So there were provided out of the thousands of Israel, 1000
from each tribe, 12,000 armed for war, and Moses sent them to
the war. 1000 from each tribe, together with Phineas the son of
Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the
trumpets for the alarm in his hand, they ward against Midian.
As the Lord commanded Moses and killed every male, they killed
the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evie,
Reckham, Zur, Kor, and Reba, the five kings of Midian.
And they also killed Balaam the son of Bayor, with a sword.
And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and
their little ones, and they took his plunder all their cattle,
their flocks, and all their goods, all their cities in the
places where they lived, and all their encampments.
They burned with fire and took all the spoil and all the
plunder, both of man and of beasts.
Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to
Moses and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the
people of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab by the
Jordan. At Jericho.
Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the
congregation went to meet them outside the camp.
And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the
commanders of thousands, and the commanders of hundreds who had
come from service in the war. Moses said to them, Have you let
all the women live? Behold.
These, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to
act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Payor.
And so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.
Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill
every woman who has known man by lying with him.
But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him,
keep alive for yourselves. We'll pause there, friends.
Notice this is the Lord's final assignment to Moses, vengeance
on the Midianites. So in verse 4, Moses sends 1000
soldiers from each tribe to war. They kill every male.
Verse 75 Kings and Balaam, that military medicine man, the
sorcerer who tried to curse them into oblivion in verse 8.
But it's who they don't kill that angers Moses.
He commands them to kill every male child and every woman who's
known a man. You probably have questions
about that. We'll get to that in just a
minute. But the rest of the chapter
includes the Israelites who participated in this war,
purifying themselves and then distributing the plunder.
Look at verses 32 to 35. It's an amazing plunder.
Over 600,000 sheep, over 70,000 cattle, over 60,000 donkeys, and
32,000 virgin women. This is all a foretaste of the
abundant blessing that awaits them in the promised land.
And what's even more amazing is verse 49.
Look at verse 49. When they counted the Israelite
soldiers, not a single one was missing.
They marched into battle by faith and God supernaturally
spared them. He protected them.
Now, why did Moses command them to kill the male infants and the
women who'd been with a man? Maybe you're wondering, is this
right? Is this genocide?
Friends, this is not genocide like what's happening to the
Uyghurs in China, because it has nothing to do with race and
everything to do with rebellion, as verse 3 makes clear.
Look at verse 3. This is the Lord's vengeance on
Midian. The Midianites were rebels
against God. They bow down to false gods, and
they seduce the Israelites to do the same.
And so the male children are killed because they represent
the seeds of future Midianite revenge.
The women who'd known a man are killed because they're the ones
who Moses says seduced Israel. These are not innocent people
slaughtered. These are rebellious people
judged by a holy God. If you have problems with this
passage, consider it once again how holy our God is and how
sinful we are. God is holy, friends, we are
not. The truth is, every person on
this planet deserves this same judgement.
This war against the Midianites is a picture of the final
judgement ushered into the present.
So what's the lesson for us? Why was this written down for
our instruction? Here's two First, our journey to
heaven is through a war zone. Now.
The battle lines have changed since numbers.
Our warfare is now spiritual in nature.
We are soldiers in the Lord's army.
We've been given the full armour of God.
We must put to death the deeds of the flesh.
Friends, that is the Christian life.
I was talking to a friend recently who had signed up for a
cruise, Celebrity Cruises. It was a special section on the
cruise called The Retreat. Sounds nice, doesn't it?
I mean, you get a personal Butler, all your meals are made
by a Michelin star chef. And in that section of the
cruise, and I love children. No children are allowed peace
quiet as you just cruise through whatever destination you choose.
Is that the picture of the Christian life we're given in
scriptures? Friends, the Christian life is a
war. This church is a little
battleship. We're sailing through enemy
lines as we speak. I wonder if you feel like your
life is a war zone. Satan's schemes around every
corner, your own enemy within attacking you at every moment,
that last enemy death ever looming on the horizon.
If you feel like life is war, then you just might be marching
in the right direction. Jesus said the gate is narrow
and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it
are few. In this life you need to make
war, but as you wage war friend, don't forget to enjoy the
spoils. In Isaiah 9, the prophet Isaiah
describes the joy of the gospel as the rejoicing that occurs
when victors divide the spoil after defeating their enemies.
In Isaiah 9, the battle that he's reflecting on is this
defeat of the Midianites. Friend, have you experienced the
joy of the gospel? Have you enjoyed the plunder
that Christ has won four sinners on the cross?
As we've seen in our passage, God is holy.
We are rebellious and deserving of his wrath, his vengeance.
And yet the beauty of the gospel, the good news of the
gospel, is that the only innocent man, Jesus Christ,
truly God and truly man, took vengeance.
All of God's wrath that you deserved for your sin, if you
trust in him and turn from your sin.
Friends, the the beauty of the gospel is that in Christ there's
only one casualty. The innocent man is the only one
slain, and those deserving of wrath are pardoned, forgiven if
they've trusted in him. And Jesus rose again, truly
victorious over the grave, victorious over all his enemies,
and he's seated at the right hand of God the Father, and he
will come again. Friend, if you've not trusted
Christ, turn from your sins and trust in him.
And those spoils of the gospel, that plunder can be all yours.
Oh, brothers and sisters, what joys do we have in the gospel?
The forgiveness of our sins, Friendship with God, everlasting
life, the Spirit, the local church?
Lovejoy, peace, hope. It is all ours in Christ Jesus.
Yes, we're walking through a war zone, but friend, if you're in
Christ, the battle has already been won and all those gifts are
just a foretaste. They are the appetizer of the
main course, which is yet to come.
Friend. The second lesson, the second
lesson from this passage is it's brief, but it's sobering.
It's a warning. It's a warning for all those who
haven't trusted Christ. God's judgement is certain.
Not everyone who thinks they'll enter heaven will be there with
God. Jesus said the gate is wide and
the way is easy. That leads to destruction, and
those who enter by it are many. Friend, if you've not repented
of your sins, if you're not trusting in Christ, if you're
not following Him, then a day of vengeance is imminent for you.
You're fighting for the wrong army.
The path that you're walking on right now is not heading to
heaven. It's heading to hell.
Friend, don't you want to enter heaven and dwell with God?
Sadly, in chapter 32, not everyone does.
Not everyone wants to enter the promised land. 2 tribes in
chapter 32 try to settle east of the Jordan.
Here's the second picture of us on our journey.
We're a family with brothers and sisters.
We're family with brothers and sisters.
In chapter 32, two tribes, Reuben and Gad, fixate on their
possessions and they actually try to forsake the Promised
land. Thankfully, after Moses rebukes
them, they repent and they commit to crossover the Jordan
with the rest of the tribes. Look at chapter 32.
I'm going to read verses 1 to 15 now.
The people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great
number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazzer
and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place
for livestock. So the people of Gad and the
people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eliezer the
priest, and to the chiefs of the congregation, Aderoth Dibben,
Jazzer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elila, sebum Nebo.
And beyond. The land that the Lord struck
down before the congregation of Israel is a land for livestock,
and your servants have livestock.
And they said, If we have found favour in your sight, let this
land be given to your servants for a possession.
Do not take us across the Jordan.
But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben,
shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here?
Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel
from going over into the land that the Lord has given them?
Your father's did this when they sent them from Kadesh Barnia to
see the land for the when they went up to the valley of Eshkol
and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the
people of Israel from going into the land that the Lord had given
them. And the Lord's anger was kindled
on that day. And he swore, saying, Surely
none of the men who came up out of Egypt from 20 years old and
upward shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed
me. None except Caleb the son of
Jefuna the Kenazite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have
wholly followed the Lord. And the Lord's anger was kindled
against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness 40
years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight
of the Lord was gone. And behold, you have risen in
your Father's place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still
more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel.
For if you turn away from following Him, He will again
abandoned them in the wilderness, and you will destroy
all this people. Friends, look again at the 1st 4
verses of this passage. What could be so important to
Reuben and Gad that they're willing to forsake the promised
land, abandoned their brothers, and depart from the Lord?
Look at verse 1. Moses awkwardly front loads the
fact that Reuben and Gad had a lot of livestock.
They love their livestock. In the 1st 4 verses livestock is
repeated 4 times. If you struck up a conversation
with Reuben and Gad, I bet you they would bring up their
livestock. Livestock is listed before any
mention of their children. It's listed before their mission
to the Promised Land. It's even listed before any
mention of the Lord himself. In fact, in their first speech,
they only briefly mentioned the Lord one time.
What is important to Reuben and Gad friends?
This is an insight into their spiritual sight.
Their focus is not on receiving the Promised Land, it's on
settling down the first chance they get.
They want to settle east of the Jordan.
Lot separated from Abram and went E to Sodom.
Esau separated from Jacob and went E to Dare.
Reuben and Gad request to settle E away from their brothers and
sisters east of the promised land.
And so of course Moses refuses their request.
Verse 6 Shall your brothers go to war while you kick up your
feet? Moses says they're in danger of
discouraging the heart of the nation and therefore destroying
them. Notice here their desire leads
to discouragement which will lead to destruction.
That's why Moses cares about it. They should be concerned about
their brothers. Their only concern is
themselves. They place their possessions
over people, animals, over their family, and that's why Moses
accuses them. He accuses them of being like
their fathers. He says you're on the verge of
repeating the rebellion of the 10 spies from the first
generation, that generation that died in the wilderness.
If you follow the fathers and desert the land and forsake the
nation, Moses says you'll abandoned the Lord.
What a rebuke. Now, thankfully, this second
generation does not follow their fathers.
They hear the rebuke. They receive it.
You could say they repent and they make a vow to Moses and to
the nation to send their soldiers to not return home
until the Promised land has been won.
And yet Moses still issues a warning to them.
Verse 23, he says, if you fail to keep your vow, be sure your
sin will find you out because with God there's no secret sin.
Here's the picture we're getting here in in Numbers chapter 32.
It's the picture of us on our journey to heaven as a family, a
family with brothers and sisters.
Christian, God adopted you into his family and you're not an
only child. When he brought you home, you
found out you have brothers and sisters.
You belong to one another. We're on this journey together.
So let me ask you, Christian, what could possibly lead you to
forsake your family to refuse heaven and settle for earth?
What were Reuben and Gad willing to trade their family for?
Well, just notice the things they talk about.
Sin in our lives runs like a stream from our hearts.
You just need to follow it, trace it back to the source.
What's that thing in ruining Gad's life that they're willing
to sin to get? If you just listen to their
conversations, their requests, it just leads you to the feet of
their favorite idol. For Ruben and Gad, they love
their livestock. Perhaps they love their careers,
their security that those livestock brought.
They love possessions more than their brothers.
They love their stuff more than their God friends.
Their desires were disordered, and disordered desires leads to
the discouragement of other Saints around you as they see
you fall into sin. Ultimately, it leads to
destruction. How can we rightly order our
desires? One way is to beware of the love
of money. That is what captivates their
hearts. Jesus says the cares of the
world and the deceitfulness of riches have choked out the faith
of many. Money and the things it can
purchase tricks us into thinking we don't need others.
We certainly don't need God. Now here's the thing.
Nobody says I mean mostly. Nobody says I love my livestock
more than I love the Lord. Nobody says I love my job more
than I love the local church. Nobody says that but their
speech. What did Reuben and Gad always
talk about? What came up in reference to the
Lord? What about your conversations?
What about the things that captivate your heart?
What about the replay in your head, your hopes, your
ambitions, your dreams? Friends, we need to be aware of
the love of money. We enter this wilderness with
nothing. If you've ever had a child and
been in the room, the baby comes out with nothing.
There's nothing. We depart this wilderness again
with nothing. So why?
Why should we spend our time in between fixated on passing
possessions? Friends, another way to rightly
order our loves, our desires is to be aware of the needs of our
brothers and sisters. Our love for God is seen through
our concerning care for our brothers and sisters in the
church. The apostle John said if anyone
says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar.
He's lying. Brothers and sisters, we will
get to heaven together or we won't get there at all.
That's the purpose of friendship in the local church.
We're helping one another make it through the wilderness to the
city of God because no one can faithfully follow Jesus alone.
one-on-one disciple is one way we carry this out, whether
that's over a quiet cup of coffee or while you're folding
laundry at home. It's crucial to our ministry to
think of one another, to invest in one another, to pour in our
spiritual efforts towards one another's well-being.
Another way is prayer. Maybe you don't have time to
meet with anyone right now. That's OK.
Are you struggling on behalf of the members of this church in
your prayers? It's vital to our care for one
another. And you can't really do any of
this if you're neglecting to meet together.
If you're forsaking the assembly, you can't care.
Love, show concern for your brothers and sisters.
Brothers and sisters, none of us can make it to heaven by
ourselves. We need one another.
We need one another's help. We need to help one another.
Who are you helping to heaven? If you're not helping anyone to
heaven, is it possible that you're not heading there
yourself? True Christians help one another
to heaven because we're family. We're brothers and sisters now.
No family is perfect. Trinity Baptist Church is not a
perfect church. But by God's grace, thank the
Lord for the way that this is already being cultivated in our
very church members who just met each other eight months ago for
the first time, caring for one another, showing spiritual
concern for one another, knowing one another's needs and meeting
them. Let's pray that that just
continues to grow more and more throughout our church.
Picture #3 picture #3 is a big one.
Chapters 33 through 35. Here's the picture.
We're pilgrims on a holy path. Chapters 33 to 35.
Now I'm making a choice here. I'm only reading a few verses,
and I'm going to summarize a lot of it.
This text of numbers, Numbers 31 to 36 is 5000 words.
If I read the whole text in this sermon, I would say Amen, let's
pray, and that'd be the sermon. So that's a choice we're going
to make, and it's fine. Hopefully you read the passage
beforehand, and if you haven't, read it after the service later
today. Chapters 33 through 35 form a
unit. First, Moses recounts Israel's
journey, and that's kind of like an introduction to the Lord's
last five speeches to Moses in the Book of Numbers.
So you have the intro, the recounting of the journey, and
then that leads to five speeches from the Lord to Moses.
We'll look at the recounting first, and then we'll look at
the five speeches. So look at chapter 33.
I'm just going to read 2 verses, Chapter 33.
These are the stages of the people of Israel when they went
out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the
leadership of Moses and Aaron. Moses wrote down their starting
places, stage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these
are their stages according to their starting places.
Now in 49 verses, Moses retells Israel's history.
They started in Egypt and they're ending by the Jordan.
In between there's 42 stages, 42 stops along the way.
And what's remarkable if you read through these about the
Lord's recounting of their story, is that there's not a
single mention of their complaining.
They're grumbling, their unbelief, their outright
rebellion. It's as as if in the Lord's
recounting he is passing over their former sins, and therefore
the rhythm is simply this. They set out and they can't.
They set out and they can't over and over again because the
wilderness was never meant to be their home.
They were always simply just passing through.
I don't know if you've ever been camping.
I love camping, personally. I'm not talking about glamping,
You know, where you bring an air conditioner and 3/4 of your
household and you've set it all out and you've got ATV, you
know, it's basically as if you're home.
No, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about Backcountry
camping. Like you go into the woods with
a backpack and everything that you have with you is in that
backpack. And I love that.
I love going through the woods, sitting by the fire, drinking
coffee in the morning around the campfire.
But I'll tell you what I love also when camping is over and
when you get back home and there is air conditioning and I'm
thankful there's air conditioning in this gym today.
You know, I love that experience.
When you get home, you shower and you get to sleep in your own
bed. People who tell you that camping
and sleeping work together, they're lying.
It does not. You can only sleep when you get
home. Everyone knows that.
Here's the thing, this picture of the Christian life, it's one
of a big camping trip. It's one where we're pilgrims
walking through the wilderness, not home yet.
Parents, one way to get this in your kids bones.
This is a tip from Sunday school this morning.
Eric Beech said this. Read your kids pilgrims progress
written by another Puritan. That is a great allegory of what
the Christian life is. It's a pilgrimage.
It's from the city of Destruction, headed to the
Celestial City. The Christian life is in
between. We're not home yet, friend.
Reflect on your journey so far. In God's wisdom.
Where has he taken you? What are you could say your
stages? That'd make a good for a good
question. At the potluck after the
service, if you're sticking around, ask somebody who's
there. What are your stages?
Where's the Lord taking you? You know, for me it's cities.
Worthington, MN where I was born, where I think I became a
Christian. Kansas City where formative
years of my Christian life were lived.
A brief stint in Fayetteville, AR where I grew a ton because of
a faithful local church. Dubai United Remembrance. 7
years there with dear friends and a dear church. 5 months
formative months at in Washington DC at a great church
there. Now here in Durham slash Chapel
Hill we're technically right on the border and I live right over
there so Durham is technically part of my journey.
Good churches along the way too. I am so thankful for Unity
University Baptist Church in Fayetteville, AR and Covenant
Hope church in Dubai and Capital Baptist Church in Washington DC
and Trinity Baptist Church here. So many Christians who have
helped me along the way. I couldn't name them all.
I miss many of them dearly. What about you?
What are your stages? Where has the Lord brought you
through? Where has He brought you from?
The Lord leads us through every stage, and every stage is a
further departure towards our final destination.
Sometimes in this journey, we feel confused or lost.
Sometimes it feels like we got off on the wrong stop, like
we're staring at a dead end, like we're in the middle of the
valley of the shadow of death. Sometimes it feels like we wish
we could go back, but we can only go forward.
Brothers and sisters, keep walking by faith, not by sight.
In 1761, John Newton encouraged his friend.
When you get to heaven, you will not complain of the way by which
the Lord brought you. He who has been with us thus far
will be with us to the end. Christian, you're a Pilgrim.
You're just passing through and you're on a holy path.
And that's really what the next 5 speeches are about.
Holiness. After the Lord recounts their
journey, he speaks to Moses. Five more times in the book of
Numbers, five more speeches. You can see those speeches.
Each one begins with the Lord spoke to Moses.
Chapter 33, verse 50. Chapter 34, Verse 1, Chapter 34,
Verse 16, Chapter 35, verse 1, Chapter 35, verse 95.
Speeches, each with instructions, looking West of
the Jordan, life in the promised land.
That's what the five speeches are about.
Here's a brief recap. There's actually a pretty clear
logical ordering of the speeches.
The first speech, they're told they must drive out the
inhabitants and destroy all the idols of the land.
The second speech, they're then given the boundaries of the
land. So once the inhabitants are
removed, here are the boundaries of the land.
In the third speech, they're told how they can divide the
land among the tribes, and in the fourth speech, once the land
is divided, cities need to be chosen to give to the Levites to
care for them. And the 5th and final speech, of
those Levitical cities, some will function as cities of
refuge. Now what's the point though of
these five speeches? If you look at chapter 35, the
last verse says the point, chapter 35, verse 34, you shall
not defile the land in which you live in the midst of which I
dwell, For I, the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of
Israel. The reason the Lord was giving
them the promised land was so that they could dwell with Him.
In other words, the point of the land was the Lord.
The land was a gift that pointed to the gracious giver of all
gifts. And because there was, because
their Lord was a holy God, they were told to rid themselves of
all idolatry and to continue to make sure that they themselves
were wholly devoted to Him. Friends, the glory of heaven.
It's not ultimately reuniting with loved ones, though that
will be a sweet reunion. It's not ultimately that there's
no more sin, though. Imagine that day, the glory of
heaven, the goodness of heaven. The point of heaven is God
himself. In high school I remember
conversation with friends and they they asked the question,
would you go to heaven if God wasn't there?
Friends, heaven is in heaven if God is not there.
Everything good about heaven flows from the presence of our
holy God. We're pilgrims on a holy path.
We're heading to our holy God, and we reflect that heavenly
hope today by walking in holiness.
Like Israel was called to drive out the inhabitants of the land
to destroy all the idols. We can't grow complacent in
mortifying our sinful nature. It's a cancer.
It will spread throughout our bodies and into our churches.
It must be put to death. What does holy holiness look
like as you walk to heaven? Holiness looks like taking every
aspect of your life and then devoting it to the Lord.
Your home, your family, your career, your work, your
relationship with your colleagues, your quiet moments
when you're alone with your thoughts, your future and
devoting it to the Lord. Lord, this belongs to you.
Lord, this is yours. Heavenly hope changes your
present day behaviour. It causes you to think about
every weight that you have, to consider every sin that clings
so closely that's keeping you from dwelling with the Lord.
It's remembering that the Lord's dwelling with you even now.
As Jesus said to us, Behold, I'm with you always, even to the end
of the age. How does knowing that Christ is
dwelling with you now help you walk a holy life today?
Are you aware of various of your life that you've sectioned off
from Christ, from holiness? Are you aware of patterns of
thought that continue in your heart that you need to devote to
the Lord? Once again, pilgrims regularly
re evaluate their path. Am I headed on the right
direction? Am I walking in holiness today?
Friends, we've covered 3 pictures.
We're soldiers in a battle. We're citizens of a heavenly
Kingdom. We're pilgrims on a holy path.
Here's the 4th. The final one turn to chapter
36, where a bride awaiting her groom, Chapter 36 where a bride
awaiting her groom. In chapter 36, the daughters of
Zola Fahad desire life in the promised land with the Lord.
They represent Israel, they symbolize the Lord's faithful
bride. Look at chapter 36, The heads of
the father's houses of the clan of the people of Gilead, the son
of Machar, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of
Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the
chiefs, the heads of the fathers houses of the people of Israel.
They said, the Lord commanded my Lord to give the land for
inheritance to Lot to the people of Israel.
And my Lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of
Zelophahad our brother, to his daughters.
But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes
of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken
from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the
inheritance of the tribe into which they marry.
So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.
And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then
their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe
into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from
the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.
And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the words
of the Lord, saying, The tribe of the people of Joseph is
right. This is what the Lord commands
concerning the daughters of Zelophaha.
Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry
within the clan of the tribe of their father.
The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred
from one tribe to another. For every one of the people of
Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribes of his
father's. And every daughter who possesses
an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be
wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that
every one of the people of Israel may possess the
inheritance of his father's. So no inheritance shall be
transferred from one tribe to another.
For each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on
to its own inheritance. Verse 10.
The daughters of Zelophah did as the Lord commanded Moses.
For Mala, Terza, Hogla, Milka, and Noah, the daughters of
Zelophah had were married to the sons of their fathers brothers.
They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh, the
son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the
tribe of their father's clan. These are the commandments and
the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the
people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at
Jericho. If you remember back Genesis 17,
the Lord promised Abraham, I will give to you and to your
offspring after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land
of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.
Numbers 36 ends with more than a promise that the land will be
given. It ends with a promise that the
land will be preserved from one generation to the next.
Now, as you've probably noticed as I read, the keyword of this
chapter is inheritance. It's mentioned 17 times in 13
verses. The inheritance of the land will
be passed down for generations to come.
The gift of the land will be a lasting 1.
And we see all of this come through the daughters of
Zelophahan, if you remember them, Mala, Noah, Hogla, Milka,
and Teresa. Back in chapter 27, they faced a
problem. Their father had died, meaning,
and he also had no sons, which meant that they would not
receive the inheritance of the land.
They presented themselves to Israel's Supreme Court, to Moses
and to the leaders, and the decision was from the Lord that
they were right. But here they face another
problem. Their problem is that if they
marry outside of their clan, eventually their tribe will lose
the land. So again they appeal to Moses,
and the Lord says again, verse 5, they're right.
So the Lord commands the daughters to marry whomever they
think best, as long as it's someone in their tribe.
And the problem's resolved. Why does Moses choose to end the
Book of Numbers with the daughters of Zalufahad?
Why are they so important that they actually frame the second
generation? They're mentioned in chapter 27.
They're again here at chapter 36.
The reason is because if you remember from Numbers 11 to 25,
the first generation complained about the food, despise the
land, and in chapter 25 even committed spiritual adultery
against the Lord by bowing down to Baal.
And then in chapter 27 we were presented with the daughters of
Zola Fahad. They are presented as the
faithful bride of Israel, a picture of what the nation
should be, a people who have fearless faith, who long for
life with the Lord in the Promised land.
And here in chapter 36, Israel is on the verge of the Promised
Land. They're about to experience life
with the Lord forever in their home, with their divine husband.
It's no coincidence then, that the book concludes by
referencing the daughters of Salafah had and their marriages.
They represent Israel, the faithful bride of the Lord.
You know, I remember waiting for my wedding day.
Hannah and I got married March 19th, 2016.
It's also our Wi-Fi password. It's an easy way to remember
your anniversary. I tried to marry Hannah many
years before then. That's another story.
We eventually dated for six months around, engaged for five
months, married in a little barn in Fayetteville, AR.
I remember those months leading up, the anticipation, the
longing, the days could not fly by fast enough and then they
make you wait at the front as the bride comes in the room even
more. I remember when those doors
opened and their Hannah was and the waiting was over.
Friends were presented in the Scriptures as the bride awaiting
her groom. Whether you're single or married
or a man or a woman, the Bible depicts the church as the bride
of Christ. You know, the apostle John saw a
vision of that glorious day in Revelation 19.
He said. I heard what seemed to be the
voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, and
like the sound of mighty peals of Thunder crying out.
Hallelujah for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exalt and give Him the glory, for the
marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself
ready. Brothers and sisters, this is
the wedding that you've been waiting for.
That's the groom you were created for.
Jesus is the one that your soul longs for.
So how should we wait for that day?
Like the daughters of Zalufa hat with eager longing, with
courageous risk taking, with bold faith, our heart should cry
out, come, Lord Jesus. Brothers and sisters, these
things took place as examples for us.
Numbers was written to remind us that though we walk through the
wilderness, our wilderness days will soon be over, will soon
depart and dwell with the Lord forever.
Let's turn our hearts towards heaven more often as we
conclude. The Puritan Richard Baxter, the
brother who wrote that 800 page treatise on heaven.
His heart was turned towards heaven during the winter of 1647
when his nose started to bleed and the medical wisdom of the
day said that he had an excess of blood and so he opened up 4
veins followed by more blood. The loss of blood nearly killed
him and it was there on his deathbed that he began to write
what he initially intended to be his funeral sermon.
Those thoughts, those thoughts steadily grew into that best
seller on heaven, The Saints Everlasting Rest 800 pages,
reflecting on one verse of the Bible, Hebrews 49.
There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, and Baxter
dedicated the book to his beloved church members at
Kidderminster. The dedication reads written as
it were, by a man who was between living and dead.
He wrote in his book, Reader, take your heart once again and
lead it by the hand. Bring it to the top of the
highest mountain. Show it the Kingdom of Christ
and glory of it. Say to your heart all this will
your Lord bestow on you. It is the Father's good pleasure
to give you this Kingdom. Friends, don't settle for earth
when you were made for heaven. Let's pray.
Father, we pray for us as we journey to heaven together.
Lord, we pray you give our hearts hope.
Hope that Christ is with us now, hope that Christ will return.
And Lord, we pray that that hope would prepare us well as we show
concern and love for one another as we head to heaven together.
We pray in Jesus name, Amen.