This morning we're continuing our series on God's work through
the life of Moses in the books of Exodus and Numbers.
In the book of Exodus, we see God's power on display as he
powerfully leads his people up out of Egypt and into the
wilderness. In the Book of Numbers, which we
began last week and we'll continue in this week and next
week, in that book, we began to see God's love on display as he
disciplines God's people in the wilderness towards the edge of
the Promised Land. We don't often associate love
with discipline. And yet this is the way and the
wisdom of a Heavenly Father who, as Hebrews says, disciplines
those he loves that they would grow into his likeness in
holiness. That is what Hebrews teaches us.
That's what we see on display in the book of Numbers.
God's people consistently, regularly sinning, literally
wandering around a desert as a result of their sin and God's
discipline. And yet it was always a
discipline with a purpose, the holy God making his holy people
to grow in holiness that they might be prepared to go into a
Holy Land. And so too for you and I, God's
discipline in our lives. Some of you may feel it keenly
today. It is not without purpose, and
it is not apart from his love, the Book of Numbers.
In so many ways it's sometimes hard and sometimes strange to
apply. But the Apostle Paul says that
in that way and in so many ways, the events of this Book of
Numbers are profoundly relevant, profoundly practical for us.
In First Corinthians 10, Paul says now these things, and he's
Speaking of the events of numbers.
These things took place as an example for us that we might not
desire evil as they did. We must not put Christ to the
test, nor grumble. And so, as we come to this
passage this morning, let's remember this book is for you.
It's for us, and it is leading us by God's holy hand to find
our hope in Jesus Christ alone. So if you're able, please stand
for the reading of God's word. We're going to read from #1617
and Hebrews 7 as these passages together teach us about dwelling
with God in Jesus Christ. #16 versus one through 5 is where
we'll begin now. Korra the son of Ishar, son of
Kohath, son of Levi and Dathan, and Aburam the sons of Eliab and
on the son of Pelef, sons of Ruben took men, and they rose up
before Moses with a number of the people of Israel. 250 chiefs
of the congregation chosen from the assembly, well known men.
They assembled themselves together against Moses and
against Aaron, and said to them, You have gone too far, for all
in the congregation, or holy every one of them, and the Lord
is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves
above the assembly of the Lord? When Moses heard it, he fell on
his face, and he said to Cora and all his company.
In the morning the Lord will show who is his and who is holy,
and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses, He will
bring near to him. In chapter 17 the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel, and get from
them Staffs, one for each father's house, from all their
chiefs, according to their father's houses. 12 Staffs.
Write each man's name on his staff, and write Aaron's name on
the staff of Levi, for there shall be one staff for the head
of each father's house. Then you shall deposit them in
the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with
you, and the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout.
Thus I will make to cease from me the grumblings of the people
of Israel, which they grumble against you.
Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and all their chiefs
gave him Staffs, one for each chief, according to their
father's houses 12 Staffs, And the staff of Aaron was among
their Staffs, and Moses deposited the Staffs before the
Lord, intent of the testimony. On the next day Moses went into
the tent of testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron, For
the House of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds, and produced
blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.
Then Moses brought out all the Staffs from before the Lord to
all the people of Israel, and they looked.
And each man took his staff. And the Lord said to Moses, put
back the staff of Aaron before the testimony to be kept as a
sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their
grumblings against me, lest they die.
Thus did Moses, as the Lord commanded him, so he did.
And the people of Israel said to Moses, Behold, we perish, we are
undone, we are all undone. And from Hebrews Chapter 7.
Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical
priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what
further need would there have been for another priest to arise
after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the
order of Aaron? For when there is a change in
the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law
as well. For the one of whom these things
are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no one has ever
served the altar. For is evident that our Lord was
descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses
said nothing about priests. This becomes even more evident
when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who
has become a priest not on the basis of a legal requirement
concerning bodily dissent, but by the power of an
indestructible life, For it is witnessed of him.
You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, for on
the one hand a former commandment is set aside because
of its weakness and uselessness, But the law made nothing
perfect. But on the other hand, a better
hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God may be seated.
Heavenly Father, we pray that you would take your word, and
that by it you would teach us and form us and give us hope.
We pray that you would cause your word to be living and
active, dividing our hearts, exposing us, and then remaking
us in confidence into the image of Jesus Christ.
In His name we pray. Amen.
This past February, our beloved friend and brother Chad Scruggs
stood in this pulpit and was You're preaching for our winter
grace retreat. You may remember that on that
Sunday, Chad preached from Hebrews, Hebrews 4 and Five
about the confidence that we have in drawing near to God in
prayer because of Jesus Christ. Our great High Priest Chad said
we have God's throne and we have God's lap.
That theme of drawing near to God is at the center of the
passages before us this morning. We speak of drawing near.
We're Speaking of of several different things, all pointing
to the same reality. We're Speaking of being saved by
God, drawing near in salvation, being made right with Him.
We're Speaking of drawing near in, praying to God as Christ is
our mediator, and of being with God, drawing near to Him forever
in His place as his people. We will end in a similar place
of hope in Jesus Christ as Chad expressed in February.
But we're going to begin by seeing the hopelessness of
attempting to draw near to God without His authority and apart
from His Son Jesus Christ. We're going to see what Moses
promises in #16 verse five. Look down again at that of what
Moses says He says in the morning.
The Lord will show who is His and who is holy and will bring
him near to him. The one whom He chooses, He will
bring near to him. This is a reminder that this
gift of drawing near, this confidence that we can have in
drawing near, is not for all, and sometimes our own strategies
for drawing near only make things worse.
This morning we're going to see this theme of drawing near to
God as we follow the story of a false hope from #16, a true hope
in #17, and a better hope from Hebrews 7.
First, a false hope in #16. The false hope is seen in this
man, Cora and the Biddle bitter rivalry that he instigated
against Moses and Aaron. As you read the rest of #16, you
see that it was specifically targeted at Aaron as the High
priest. You see, Cora was a Levite.
The Levite was the tribe of Israel responsible for
maintaining and overseeing Israel's place of worship, the
Tabernacle. This was an incredible honor.
It was a gift of God to this tribe to be entrusted with this
holy work. And yet Cora had become
discontent and began grumbling against Aaron as the high
priest. Look at what he says in verse
three says. They assembled themselves
together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, you
have gone too far for all the congregation, for all in the
congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among
them. Why then do you exalt yourselves
above the assembly of the Lord? Korra's accusation contains 3
main problems. #1 Korra's accusation was loaded with half
truths. He says All the people of Israel
are holy, and that's true in a general way, but not all were
ritually clean and authorized to come into God's place of
worship. It was true that Aaron was above
the assembly of Israel because he was the high priest, but it
was not true that he had exalted himself to that position.
Rather, God had appointed him. Cora's heart was set against God
himself. This is the second main problem
with Cora's accusation. It was not a mere relational or
vocational squabble between Cora and Aaron.
Moses knew and discerned that this was ultimately A complaint
and an accusation against God himself.
If you read down in verse 11, if you have a copy of the Bible
with you, #16, verse 11, it's not in the scripture reading.
But Moses says, therefore it is against the Lord that you and
all your company have gathered together.
What is Aaron that you grumble against him?
Moses knew that Cora's heart was set against the Lord.
And whenever you see that term grumble in the Old Testament or
in the New Testament, this is not mere complaint or a quiet
expression of discontent with what is served for lunch.
This is vocal, rebellious opposition to God.
And so the Israelites grumble about being in the wilderness,
saying it would have been better for us to stay in Egypt.
They grumble about lacking food and water, yet God was
providing. They grumble now.
They grumbled last week, as we saw, as they set spies into the
promised land and said those people are so big that they will
squish us like grasshoppers. That was vocal distrust and
rebellion against God and his promise.
And now here they're grumbling against Aaron and his
priesthood. This is a complaint against God.
But third and most importantly Cora's claim.
The third problem with it is that it is radically man
centered. It's man centered.
Look down at verse 3 again. Who did Cora point to you when
making his case about the Israelites drawing near to God?
He pointed to the Israelites. He pointed to people.
He said the people are holy and the Lord is among them.
He did not appeal to who God is, or what God had done, or what
God had said. He reasoned from a point of man
centeredness. Beloved, if we were to draw near
to God, whether that is in the context of being saved, or
drawing near in prayer, or drawing near ultimately in His
presence eternally, our hope cannot be in us.
It cannot be in anything in us. That is the epitome of false
hope. Embracing that kind of false
hope disorders our lives, and it ends in destruction.
It disordered Cora's life. Cora was a man who had the
privilege and the joy of serving in the Tabernacle and eat and
assisting these priests. He could have lived his days in
humble, joyful service to God, rejoicing that God had been
pleased to draw near to this people and was leading them, and
that he could play a part. But his life became disordered,
and he began being more concerned about his position
than about God's presence, more concerned about his role than
the story of redemption that God was writing.
For Cora, this false hope resulted in destruction.
God responded to Cora's grumbling with swift and severe
justice. We didn't read it, but this
afternoon read through the rest of #16.
God literally opens the ground under Cora's feet and consumes
him to the depths of the earth and his family and his home.
And then God sends fire and destroys those coconspirators,
those 250 well known men that he had aligned in this coup against
Aaron. He destroys them with fire.
And then God sends a plague which afflicts and kills nearly
15,000 of their followers among the laity in Israel until Moses
and Aaron courageously intervene.
Through Cora, we see the destruction of false hope, The
false hope of thinking that drawing near to God is a reward
to be achieved. Nope.
Drawing near to God is like an inheritance.
You cannot draw near unless it is gifted to you.
And that's what we see in the story of Aaron and his sprouting
staff. In Numbers 17 and 17, God gives
true hope for Israel, true hope for drawing near to him.
And he gives this true hope by giving the people a beautiful
sign to confirm who it was that was appointed to draw near as
the priest. God could have confirmed Aaron's
priesthood in all kinds of ways. He could have done it
punitively. He could have done it with added
justice or discipline, but God in his mercy, in his kindness,
in his wisdom. He does it through giving the
people a sign, a symbol, a beautiful symbol that could be
kept even for generations. He gives them a sprouting staff.
He commands the 12 tribes to each contribute a staff to
Moses, with the head or the father of each tribe having
their name inscribed on it. And he promises that overnight,
as those Staffs lay in the Tabernacle before the the
testimony or the arc of the covenant, that one of those
Staffs, the one who would be authorized as the high priest,
one of those Staffs would would sprout.
It would produce some kind of life.
Kids, do you see what's happening here?
God is promising he's going to take a dead piece of wood like
you might find on a summer hike, and he's going to cause it to
grow. He's going to cause it to become
alive. You can even think of how God
caused this Moses staff to become alive earlier in the book
of Exodus. He's going to cause this staff
to become alive in a beautiful way, a good way, producing
something, life giving. He's going to do all of that in
a period of just a few hours overnight in his place.
Earlier this month, my kids and I had the privilege of going to
West Africa with a few other families from PCPC.
It was an amazing trip. Thank you for praying.
Thank you for those who supported.
We praise God for this beautiful partnership between our church
and this church in Senegal, this denomination in Senegal as we
prepared to to travel home. We were in the airport and we
had a few minutes in one of those duty free shops in the
airport and I decided I needed to find my wife.
Just one more small gift and I bypassed the alcohol and the
perfume in the duty free shop and found this.
This, if you can see it, is a bulb for a bow Bob tree.
The bulb for a bow Bob tree. The bow Bob tree is that
quintessential African tree with the big wide roots and it grows
high. It's one of the largest growing
trees in the world. And I picked a bulb and I walked
up to the counter and I went to pay.
And then one of the teens on our team, Nicholas McDowell, came up
to me and said, Mr. Fray, I think you should pick a
different one. This wasn't the one I had
originally picked. He said you should pick a
different one and he handed me one.
We had a sprout coming out the top, he said.
That one's probably alive. I am not known for my
agricultural skill or wisdom, so he gave me one with a sprout and
we brought it home and we planted it and the sprouts
continuing to grow. It's probably grown half an inch
in the last three weeks, and in 400 years, maybe we'll have a
bow Bob Tree in North Dallas. This little bulb is a reminder
that what Aaron had given Moses was was dead, Dead.
It was totally dead. And yet God brought it to life.
And look at what God caused. Look at the kind of life or the
kind of growing that God caused in Aaron's staff says on the
next day in verse 8 says on the next day Moses went into the
tent of the testimony and behold, the staff of Aaron.
For the House of Levi had sprouted and it put forth buds
and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds, buds,
blossoms and almonds. It's miraculous and beautiful
sign does three things. Number one, it ceases Israel's
grumbling as God had promised by reminding them God is in charge.
God has authority #2 It affirms Aaron as the priest because it
was his staff that sprouted. But #3 this miracle points to a
future priest for Israel. A better priest for Israel?
You might ask how. So look again at what verse 8
says. What grew out of Aaron's staff
buds? Blossoms and ripe almonds.
Why almonds? Why not bananas?
Why not grapes? Why not mangoes?
Well, in ancient Israel, the almond tree was nicknamed the
Watcher. The Watcher the almond tree in
Mediterranean climate still today is the first tree to
emerge with buds and blossoms and fruit almonds in the
springtime. And so farmers would look to the
almond tree as a hint or a watcher of things to come,
knowing that winter was ending in spring was coming.
It was a clue that other trees would follow, that greater fruit
would come. And so for that reason, the
prophet Jeremiah used the almond tree, and Jeremiah won as a
sign, as a vision for Jeremiah that God was going to fulfill
his word. He gives Jeremiah a vision of an
almond tree and says that that is a promise, that he is
watching over his people and he is watching over the fulfillment
of his word. And so when Aaron's staff butted
Almonds, it was a sign within a sign.
It was a sign pointing that there was a better priest yet to
come. It was a sign of things to come
in the future. In this sign, God gave true hope
as he confirmed Aaron and his descendants as the priests for
Israel in that day and in that era.
But in this sign God also promised a better hope.
Jesus Christ, the perfect permanent priest for all God's
people to draw near to him forever and ever.
And so we have in this, in this miracle foreshadowing of what is
to come through this bunch of almonds.
Hebrews Chapter 7 describes the better hope that we have in
Jesus Christ as our great High Priest, our better hope for
drawing near to God not in ourselves, not in an earthly
temporary priesthood, but in Christ himself.
Flip over to Hebrews 7 As we close verses 14 through 16, the
author shows how Jesus he goes to great pains to show that
Jesus wasn't a Levite, He wasn't descended from Aaron.
Listen to how he says it beginning in verse 14 says it is
evident that our Lord was descended from Judah and in
connection with that tribe. Moses said nothing about
priests. The author of Hebrews is going
to length to show Jesus didn't become a priest over God's
people by ordinary human descent.
He came unexpected. He came as a surprise, as a gift
appointed by God, disrupting the earthly line of human priests.
Verse 15 continues. It says this becomes even more
evident when another priest arises in the likeness of
Melchizedek has become a priest not on the basis of a legal
requirement concerning bodily dissent, but by the power of an
indestructible life, for it is witnessed of him.
You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
You're a priest forever. Author again here is saying
Jesus is not only not descended from Aaron and therefore is this
better priest, but he is also an eternal priest.
He lives without end. He intercedes at God's right
hand without end for his people. In a similar way, later in the
chapter, Jesus is described as being able to save to the
uttermost those who draw near to God through him.
Since he always lives to make intercession for them, he holds
his priesthood permanently. He's better because he is
unique, not descended from Aaron.
He's better because he's permanent.
He's better because he saves. He is the priest who not only
intercedes, but he is the priest who is himself the sacrifice,
offering up himself to once and for all solve the problem of sin
and guilt and death and separation from God.
And so verse 18 in Hebrews 7 says, on the one hand a former
commandment. It's Speaking of these
commandments from numbers of the Levitical priesthood.
On the one hand, the former commandment is set aside because
of its weakness and uselessness, for the law made nothing
perfect. But on the other hand, a better
hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
A better hope, just as Hebrews describes Jesus coming and
bringing a better covenant, found it on better promises
through a better sacrifice, in better blood, to bring God's
people to a better country. He is for us as we think about
drawing near to him, whether that's for salvation, whether it
has for communion and prayer, whether it has to live with him
forever. He is the better hope because
he's the only hope. We cannot trust in ourselves.
We cannot trust in those old ways we trust in the name of
Jesus Christ. If our hope is in ourselves, we
are condemned. If our hope is in some old form
of drawing near, such as the Levitical priesthood, we have
missed out and have traded the fulfillment for foreshadowing.
Now, I'm confident that not many of you are looking to the
Levitical priesthood for confidence when you pray, or as
you come to worship, or as you think about your eternal home
and dwelling place. But in a similar way, we can
find ourselves subtly seeking a sense of confidence before God
through through another person, through a pastor or a writer or
a parent or a friend. Someone who we look to as more
mature, more able to give help and wisdom and counsel when we
are in need. Or perhaps through some.
Perhaps we feel more able to draw near through some good
action that we perform through church attendance or volunteer
service or daily devotions or going on a missions trip.
Are those things wrong? No.
They're just not our hope. They are not our hope.
As we saying earlier in Christ alone, my hope is found.
Now not many of us are going to say, you know what?
I hope that God will hear my prayers because I did this thing
or I know this person. Not many of us would have the
gumption to say that. Most of us probably understand
that that doesn't line up with the gospel.
But think of the inverse scenario.
How many of us have ever felt further from God because of sin
that we have felt further from God because of another person's
disqualifying failure? Who has shepherded or mentored a
pastor, a writer, a parent, a friend, or, because of some
wrong action on our part, lack of commitment to the assembly of
the church, Selfish use of time or money, sexual sin or
addiction? Are those things wrong?
Absolutely. Are they a reason to despair?
Never. Never.
Christ is our hope. And if Christ is our hope, He
then gives us the ability to confess to Him and to one
another, to repent, to change. That's the work that God was
doing in the people of Israel in this book.
They were sinning and He was disciplining them, that they
would grow in holiness and likeness to Him.
And that's the story that He's writing.
If you're a child of God today, the story of your Christian life
is 1, where you have and will fail, and God your loving
Heavenly Father well discipline in love to grow you up into the
fullness of His Son, Jesus Christ, to bear greater fruit in
you. Our hope cannot be in ourselves.
I don't know what you're facing this week.
I don't know what temptation or what suffering, what relational
strife, what material need you are facing, but I know this.
You need a great High priest this week.
You need to draw near to God. You need to enjoy and experience
life with him. If you're here this morning and
you're not a Christian, draw near by faith, seeing Jesus,
trusting Jesus as the way to draw near to the living God and
have sins forgiven. If you are a Christian and
you're living this life of of wilderness wandering, of sorrows
and sufferings, of challenges and responsibilities, you need
to draw near to God in prayer. You cannot do it on your own.
You need this great High Priest, the one who is perfect, the one
who is better. He is all sufficient.
Five years ago this week, the last week of July 2018, my
mother had an emergency surgery to operate on a brain tumor.
And the night before her surgery, she couldn't sleep and
she spent hours texting out on her flip phone a a repeated
message to several different people.
And because of the brain tumor affecting her, there was
misspellings and there were some changes in Word order.
But about 20 people got the same essential message.
Her message was this 3 words. Jesus is enough.
She didn't explain all that that
meant theologically or biblically or experientially to
her, but it was a sign and a communication that come what
may. In that surgery, Jesus was
enough. We can trust him always as a
savior, as our priest, as our friend.
He is yours. Draw near, Father.
We thank you for the gift that you have given in Jesus Christ,
the gift we always needed and never deserved or expected.
We pray that in this week, in this day, however it is that we
need to take hold. We pray that we would that we
would draw near to you in Him. Father, help us in this for
we're weak, we're distracted, we're so often self reliant.
Give us that faith, that pure faith, to cling to Christ and to
him alone. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. Let's stand together and sing as
we close.