IN THE DESERT

2009-01-04T11:53:00.000-08:00

Grace

2008-03-19T04:19:00.000-07:00

Please read Numbers 15.

What did you make of this passage? What on earth is it all about? At first glance it seems to a rather odd collection of various sacrifices, rituals and laws with very little connection to the story of Numbers so far. What have these to do with being “in the desert?”

In fact some of the more liberal commentators take this chapter as evidence that Numbers was cobbled together later on (not written down by Moses). “It bears no connection to what comes before or after” they say. However, that is simply not true.

This chapter is all about God’s grace and, in particular, how he responds to the rebellion of the previous story. Remember that not only has he disciplined the people for their wanderings, but they have refused to accept his discipline (they went up to fight anyway – and lost). As God has said “right, you lot, 40 years of wandering” they have thumbed their noses at him and said “NO!” Where does this leave us? The million-dollar question is this, ‘How will God respond to this continued defiance?’

Chapter 15 of Numbers is the answer, and the answer is GRACE. It’s a rich vein that runs through the sacrifices, laws and rituals and helps us make sense of them.

It’s important to see this thread because it is easy to mis-read these kinds of passages in the Old Testament. Our temptation is always to latch onto one particular idea and run with that, rather than trying to see the big ideas God is trying to convey.

For example, my bible software on my computer downloads sermons that have been preached on a passage. Out of interest, I looked up the top five sermons for Numbers 15. They were: (1) How to use tassels today; (2) The beauty of the prayer shawl; (3) The sin of omission; (4) Sabbath: a salvation essential; and (5) Numbers 1-36 in an hour!

Though these may all be very interesting it rather feels as though they are missing the point – especially when there is such a significant subject as grace on the agenda!

God actually does a very good job of dividing the passage for us. Remember that one of the Jewish titles for Numbers is “and the Lord said.” This important phrase appears as a marker in the text three times – giving us three sections teaching us three lessons about grace. So, what can we learn?

First, grace means that God does not treat us as our sins deserve (verses 1-16). This is the theme of Scripture over and over again. Most famously it features in David’s wonderful worship song that we call Psalm 103. “He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our iniquities.”

Try and see the situation from God’s point of view. Or, if it is easier, imagine being an offended parent. Perhaps little Johnny has done something naughty and so he is sent to his room to be trained. “Shan’t!” he shouts back at you and puts his thumb to his nose. How do you react? If you were angry before, you are not less angry now, are you? His double rebellion does not pacify you and make you less agitated! Of course not!

For little Johnny, read Israel. Having been sent to their room, so to speak, they utter a very loud “Shan’t” despite the protestations of Moses (see 14:39-45). How does God respond? By outlining the sacrifices and offerings that will be given in the land.

It’s an incredible response. There’s nothing particularly new in the sacrifices themselves – these rules are a restatement in summary form of much of the opening section of Leviticus. No – what is incredible is that the offer of a continuing relationship with Almighty God still stands.

In fact the most incredible phrases in this section are “when you enter the land I am giving you…..” (v1) and “throughout your generations…” (v14). God is saying, in effect, ‘despite your pig-headed rebellion I will keep my promises. Israel will enter the land. You will offer the sacrifices to me that I have ordained.’

This is grace. Grace which does not treat us as our sins deserve. Christians are called to love and serve the Lord Jesus with all of their heart, soul and mind. He has saved us to serve him and give our all to him. Yet there remains a bit of a rebel within us. It is not the same rebel as before. Nevertheless it still leads to sin. And so we need to know the grace of God which does not treat us as we deserve.

In fact, a living, vibrant relationship with God is more than simply having our sins overlooked. Grace means God forgives the sinner who repents (v17-36). Sometimes criminals are found guilty in court and given suspended sentences. These mean that they do not have to serve the time unless the court decides, at a future date, to impose the original sentence. The result is that the criminal is not really treated as he deserves. Nevertheless, he always has the threat of the punishment hanging over him.

Not so with God. Sins are forgiven. This is the grace of God. It is remarkable that God knows our hearts and accommodates himself to our weaknesses and frailties. This section (v17) appears to begin in the middle of the section about sacrifices, but in fact the dough sacrifice is a new idea.

Essentially, every time the Israelites make bread they are to break off a piece of dough and make it an offering, a reminder that the Lord himself has given them this land. Simple and effective you might think. But the truth is that it is easily forgotten.

Anyone who makes bread, as I like to do, knows that it is easy for the mind to wander and be distracted. What if the offering is forgotten? Well – God’s grace says ‘it’s not the end of the world.’ Forgiveness is possible: “when you sin unintentionally and do not obey all these commands that the Lord spoke to Moses…” – i.e. all the commands to do with sacrifices and offerings, including the dough commands.

And in fact this grace is much broader even that that, for the Lord continues, “all that the Lord has commanded you through Moses” – in other words, all the previous commands and laws that were received.

God’s grace is extensive. What, though, about intentional sins. Because this passage in Numbers only mentions unintentional sins and defiant sins (v30), some people think that these are the only two categories. If we take that view, we are left with a very bleak picture in Numbers, and one which contradicts Leviticus. Remember that these laws are not new laws, but reminders of ones already given. In Leviticus there are offerings for sins that are both intentional and unintentional. The defiant sin is something else (more of that in a moment).

God’s grace extends to all sins of the repentant man or woman. Take King David as an excellent example. In one episode, with Bathsheba and Uriah, he manages to wilfully and deliberately (no lack of intention here) break as many of the Ten Commandments as it was just about possible to do. And yet, his testimony is “purify me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51.7).

Christians sometimes worry if this means that they have to confess every particular sin. The short answer is ‘no.’ When we repent and are born again all our sins are covered and forgiven by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Past, present and future sins – he died for them all. We may not know what they will be – but he knew them when he died.

So what is the place of ongoing repentance? What of passages which speak of “confessing” sins – either to one another or to God. These reflect a heart attitude which every Christian must have. If I do something wrong I know I have forgiveness because in history past Jesus died for me. But that does not change my attitude now, which should be repentant and remorseful.

So, God’s forgiveness and grace are very broad indeed! In the passage they cover community sins and personal sins, but they do not cover one particular class of sins – what the Bible calls “acting defiantly” or, more literally, “sinning with a high hand.” On hearing this, Christians immediately worry that this is a sin they might have committed – particular because the penalty is very severe – “he will certainly be cut off…his guilt remains on him” (v31).

A high hand, then and now, is a symbol of utter defiance. The best illustration of this is the two athletes at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Two black US sprinters – Tommie Smith and John Carlos – came 1^st and 3^rd in the 200m men’s race. Famously, on the podium, they both raised their right hands bunched into a fist whilst the anthems were being played. Their protest was at the treatment of blacks in some parts of the United States and was an act of defiance against the government.

Such a gesture is saying ‘you don’t rule over me’ or ‘I’m not yours.’ They were expelled from the Olympics. With the benefit of hindsight one would say that their attitude was right – they stood up for equality.

But such a gesture towards God is never right. It is plain in the passage. Such a person “blasphemes the Lord” and “he has despised the Lord’s word and broken his command” (v30-31). This is not, and never can be, the attitude of a Christian.

Rather, it is the attitude of someone who rejects God’s goodness, his offer of salvation, his new life and says, in effect, ‘Get lost! You don’t rule over me! I don’t want you!’ or ‘If you think you can tell me what to do you’ve got another think coming!’

Though God’s grace is immensely broad, there is no grace for such a person. The Sabbath breaker illustrates this point. This is not a separate point about keeping the Sabbath. In fact, back in Exodus 16, Sabbath breakers got little more than a rap over the knuckle. God says, in effect, ‘don’t do that, guys.’ They stop (presumably repentant) and that is the end of that.

The man in verses 32-36 is different. He is shaking his fist at God. He has a high hand towards God. ‘You think you can set the rules? Telling me what I can and cannot do? Think again! Watch me!’ You can see the consequences!

People who hear and reject the good news of Jesus are heading for the same destiny. Each time someone rejects the gospel – perhaps says ‘it’s not for me’ or ‘another time’ their hand is rising higher and higher. The fist is bunching a little more. There is no grace for such people.

And Christians should take this as a sober warning not to raise a fist to God – because there is always the danger that once the hand is raised a little, it is easier to raise it fully. God’s grace is big, enormous! God forgives repentant sinners. But his grace is not inexhaustible.

The third section shows us God’s grace in a different light because there God reminds us of our walk with him (v37-41). Grace is not just about salvation from sin. We are saved by grace, we are forgiven because of grace, and we continue in our walk with Christ by grace. This is the point of the tassels.

Now let’s get these right! We should not start tying them onto our clothes! The chances are, if we did that, we would miss the point. The Pharisees of Jesus day outdid one another to make their tassels the longest (you can read about it in Matthew 23.5) but it doesn’t need a vivid imagination to see how it would have been: ‘Look how long mine are!’ ‘No, mine are longer!’ ‘No they’re not, measure them, go on’ and so on….!

The purpose of these tassels is explained in verses 40-41 – it’s to remember God and his commands. “This way you will remember and obey all My commands and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord your God.”

God’s grace is that he gives us reminders to help us walk faithfully with him, following Christ, serving Christ, giving our all to Christ. And the reason we don’t need tassels is we have things beautifully more significant, more precious and more effective.

We sometimes call these “means of grace.” Or, at least, you do if you’re over 50. The phrase has rather gone out of fashion, which seems a shame. It’s not particularly a biblical phrase, but one coined by Reformers (particularly Luther) to describe how God applies the benefits of a saved life to us.

They are things that God gives us in grace to help us continue in grace. To grow in grace and learn more about living a life of grace. Like tassels, they are vivid reminders of what God has done and is doing, and God uses them to help us grow. This is what John Wesley said about them in one of his many sermons on the subject.

‘The chief of these means of grace are prayer, whether in secret or with the great congregation; searching the Scriptures (which implies reading, hearing, and meditating thereon); and receiving the Lord's Supper, eating bread and drinking wine in remembrance of Him: And these we believe to be ordained of God, as the ordinary channels of conveying his grace to the souls of men.’

God gives us these reminders today – rather than tassels – to demonstrate his grace and help us to grow in his grace. If you want to know more and more of God’s grace then here are the means! They are often ignored and freely undervalued.

Notice that prayer, for example, is described by Wesley as being both the private and public kind. How we need to learn that in churches today! Searching the Scriptures can be incredibly broad – no doubt it includes private study, the preaching of the Word in church – but also the one-to-one ministry that every believer has “teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).

What do you make of those? How can you expect to grow if you ignore the very gracious provision God has given you to remind you of how to walk with him. Don’t neglect the grace of God!

Rather celebrate it.

LORD, I’M GRATEFUL, amazed at what You’ve done.

My finest efforts are filthy rags;

But I’m made righteous by trusting in the Son:

I have God’s riches at Christ’s expense!

Because it’s grace! - there’s nothing I can do

To make You love me more, to make You love me less than You do.

And by faith I’m standing on this Stone of Christ and Christ alone,

Your righteousness is all that I need, because it’s grace!

Questions

1. Grace is more than about being saved. It is about going on with Christ. Why?

2. If we know we will always be forgiven when we repent, what temptation might we fall into?

3. What do you make of the means of grace God outlined above? Do you value and use these enough?

Rebellion

2008-03-19T04:16:00.001-07:00

Please read Numbers 13-14.

It’s a different story, but it all feels uncomfortably familiar. Same discontent. Same grumbling. Same rejection of God’s goodness. Same judgment. Same mercy. However, though this story has a familiar ring to it, it is obvious that it is altogether more serious than the complaining that has gone on before. The Lord nails the problem in 14:11. “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me?”

It’s a sobering story, especially because the writer to the Hebrews picks up on it to make a point for Christians. Hebrews 4 is essentially a detailed Bible Study on these very events – sometimes called the rebellion at Kadesh Barnea – the location where all our action takes place.

“Let us, then, make every effort to enter that rest [Bible shorthand for the Promised Land] so that no one will fall away by following their example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11, NIV). This is one of those occasions where Scripture itself shows us precisely what lesson to draw from the Old Testament story.

The lesson is slightly puzzling. We hear a lot in church about assurance – the great truth that believers will make it to the end of the journey because God will keep them. It’s an astounding promise – I couldn’t keep myself saved; I know that only too well. But God can and does keep me. Some of my favourite song words are based on this premise: “no power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from his hand” and “eternity will not erase my name from the palm of his hands.”

Yet Scripture also teaches that we must take great care not to fall away. We must make every effort to enter God’s rest. It holds these truths in tension. We have an electricity sub-station at the rear of our garden. It is dangerous, and so it is well fenced in, with a sturdy gate and a secure padlock. It’s actually not possible to just walk in. Nevertheless, I still tell my children “watch out” and “don’t go in” and “stay away” even though I know they can’t get in.

So it is with our salvation. We cannot lose it (that’s assurance) and we must make every effort to keep it (that’s Numbers 13-14). How do we manage this? What must we make “every effort” to do if we are to stay saved and not fall away? Numbers 13-14 teaches us that we must believe.

First, if we are to make it to the end of our journey, we must believe in God’s power. Doubting God’s power (as we saw in chapters 11-12) was essentially the heart of Israel’s problem. They loved the land all right – it dripped with goodness, it was everything they hoped for. Everyone agreed on this – even the explorers. “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey!” (13.27).

Caleb himself describes it as “exceedingly good” (14.7) but more literally what he says is “good is the land exceedingly exceedingly” – in other words, the land is brilliant! So, it’s not that the Israelites don’t like it, or don’t want to be there. No – the problem is that the people don’t believe God can give it to them.

Caleb does believe it: “We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!” (13:30) and he explains later what he means by that: “Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us” (14:9). In other words, God can do this! God defeated the number one superpower in the whole world, don’t you think he can give us Canaan?

Er, no. The Spies don’t think he can. The people don’t believe it can be done either, despite what Caleb and Joshua say. They don’t take much persuasion. There are no debates or discussions as to whether to accept Caleb’s version of events or the spies. There is a sense in which they almost seem glad to have an excuse. They haven’t learnt the lessons of the last time they grumbled, and now there is no doubt. They don’t believe in God’s power.

Christians must believe in God’s power. There are all kinds of situations where we need to grasp this truth. The New Testament speaks about God’s power in all sorts of situations: in preaching (1 Thessalonians 1:5); in our fight against Satan (Ephesians 6:10); in God’s presence in church (1 Corinthians 5:4); in the depth of our knowledge of Christ (Ephesians 3:16-19). All require God’s power.

Perhaps two areas are worthy of particular note. We need to believe in God’s power over sin and temptation in our own lives. We need to believe that when the temptation comes to sin again, that same old sin perhaps that keeps dragging us down, God’s power gives us the ability to “deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age” (Titus 2:12).

We also need to believe in God’s power for our witness. “For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment” (2 Timothy 1:7). Isn’t that a truth Christians need to learn in their personal witness? “Oh, no, it’s too hard. Too embarrassing to talk about Jesus. Too many difficult questions.” That’s the Israelite in you talking!

We must also believe in God’s sovereignty if we are to ensure we make it to the end of our journey. God’s sovereignty is his rule over all things: everything that happens (even the bad stuff) happens because, ultimately, God wants it to. In the story, the Israelites doubt, essentially, that God knows what he is doing. “Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder” (14.3). In other words, “God doesn’t know what he is doing!”

We need to grasp that God does rule, he is in control – so rather than grumbling about our circumstances – as we are inclined to do – we must live in the situations in which God has placed us. That doesn’t mean we never do anything about our situations – after all, God was calling the Israelites to go into Canaan. But it does mean we accept where we are as part of God’s divine plan.

That can be hard. Of course it can. But actually, ultimately, it is only a belief in God’s sovereignty that will get us through life. Otherwise we will live constantly being battered by our situations and letting them get to us.

It’s easy to think “surely God does not know what he is doing.” Health. Family. Finance. Work. House. Car. Whatever! But that kind of thinking is the path to falling away.

And believing in God’s sovereignty is actually a comfort! Watch out for false teaching (called “open theism”) which is sadly growing in acceptance. It basically denies the sovereignty of God. It teaches that God is surprised as you are when, for example, you (or someone you love) are diagnosed with a terminal disease. God sympathises, God cares, God puts his arm around you and says “I didn’t see that coming.”

But that’s no comfort at all! I’ve got plenty of people who can do that for me! What is really a comfort is that God puts his arm around you and says “you know, my dear child, I know what I am doing! Will you trust me on this?” That’s a comfort.

Third, we must believe in God’s leaders. The two at the forefront here are Caleb and Joshua. If only people had listened to them! How much better things would have been. Of course, Caleb and Josh are not to be followed for their own sake. They are not be followed because they are successful or good looking or charismatic or rich. They are to be followed because they are faithful teachers of the word.

In this case, they both know the promises of God. And they preach them correctly. The little sermon in verses 5-9 of chapter 14 is bang on the mark. Caleb is taking the things God has said and he is faithfully applying them to the Israelites.

That is the task of the pastor-teacher, the elder, in the church. He is to take the things God has said and he is to faithfully apply them to the church. And when he does so, believe it! Do it! Listen! Obey! God places leaders in the church for precisely this reason – to keep us from falling away.

Be careful – we don’t want this to be a return to the priesthood where the priest rules the roost and becomes Lord of the Manor. That used to happen and still does: I was reading about a Catholic celebrity just the other day who had given up on Catholicism. “Why?,” said the interviewer. “Because we were all scared to death of the priest and the rule he had over us,” said the celebrity.

No, we don’t want that! The leaders have no authority of their own – their authority comes from the word of God, the Bible. But when they faithfully teach the truths of Scripture, they must be believed!

This passage teaches us that a healthy belief in God’s leaders, men God has given us as means of grace, is essential to making it to the promised land. As is, fourthly, a belief in God’s discipline.
God disciplines his people. They don’t stop being his people, though in the story God’s first reaction is to throw them out (v 12). No, they are still his, but they are disciplined by God.

Discipline is not judgment or punishment – God punishes believer’s sins at Calvary and does not need to punish them again (that would be unjust). In fact, discipline is the word Moses uses to describe what is going on when he reports on it in Deuteronomy 8:5 “keep in mind that the Lord your God has been disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.”

It took just 11 or 12 days to get from where they were before to the edge of the Promised Land. Just 12 says – think of that! Not even a fortnight. There they waited 40 days whilst the spies made their grand tour. And because of their rebellion, the discipline against them was also a 40 – 40 years!

A journey that should have taken 12 days took 40 years – that’s 14,600 days! And its effect was felt on everyone. Not just the adults, but the children too! It wasn’t their fault that their mums and dads had grumbled – but sin has a nasty way of affecting people around you.

This is hard because we don’t like to think of God this way towards us. We don’t “mind” him judging unbelievers. But Christians? However, the discipline of God is a key part of our walk with him, and we must believe in it. It is for our good. The wilderness wanderings were meant to teach, to change, to rebuke, to train.

Listen to what the Scriptures say about this. “Endure it as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline?....No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:7,11).

We mustn’t get the wrong idea about discipline. There are some Christians who see discipline around every corner, and nothing else. And they are always asking “what is God punishing me for?” “What have I done wrong?” “I am sick, I must have done a terrible sin!”

Those kinds of thoughts are not always helpful. Besides, discipline is a broad word and does not always mean correction – it can be a positive educational experience (see 2 Corinthians 12:7 for a good example of one of these).

Instead ask questions like this “What is God teaching me through this?” “What does he want me to do better, or less, or differently?”

And accept that God disciplines! The Israelites couldn’t do that! When they heard about their punishment, they rebelled again. They said “40 years! Look! I can see the land there! I’ve learn my lesson! Let’s go!” The disobedience amounted to a double dose – first not willing to believe that God could give them the land, then not willing to accept the discipline and training God gave them as a result.

We are not saved for an easy life free from hardship. On the contrary, God teaches us to be holy through hardship. We must rejoice and believe in God’s discipline if we are not to fall away.
Finally, we must also believe in God’s mercy. At the heart of this passage is a wonderful prayer. It is the moment where Moses intercedes for the people. It is where he pleads for them.

See how Moses appeals to God’s name and reputation! He doesn’t appeal to God on the basis of the people. “Look how lovely they are” or “look how obedient they are!” “Look how many of them there are!” He can’t do that! All he can do is to cast his prayers on the one who is “slow to anger, rich in faithful love, forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion” (14:18).

If we do not and cannot believe in God’s mercy, we will never enter his rest. We can’t get to heaven on our own. It’s impossible. We’re like the Israelites – rebels at heart. As we are, God doesn’t want us!

Our only hope is for an intercessor – and an intercessor who is better than Moses, for the forgiveness Moses achieved was only a temporary respite from the rebellion. We have such an intercessor! “He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions” (Hebrews 9:15).

Of course, there’s an application for believers too. Not only must we believe in the mercy we have in Christ, we can also do what Moses did and pray to Christ for those who are not saved. How many of your prayers sound like that of Moses?

Our prayers for the unsaved tend to be lists of names. However, if we are to follow Moses’ example, perhaps our praying should focus more on an appeal to God’s character?
Amazingly, we make every effort not to fall away by believing in God’s power, sovereignty, leaders, discipline and mercy we shall have the very thing we need on our journey – assurance. For it is these very things – the nature of God and his grace to us – that keeps us until we enter our Promised Land.

“In heavenly armour we’ll enter the Land,
the battle belongs to the Lord,
No weapon that’s fashioned against us will stand,
the battle belongs to the Lord.”
Jamie Owens-Collins © 1984 Fairhill Music

Questions
1. In which areas of your life do you need to experience more of God’s power?
2. How does God’s sovereignty change the way you think about your current circumstances?
3. Why do believers not like to think about God’s discipline - and why is it good to do so?

Discontent

2008-02-10T00:57:00.001-08:00

Please read chapters 11-12

Imagine a very hot day in that island paradise. You desperately need to cool off. As you stroll along the beach the water looks so very inviting. But there’s a sign: “Shark infested waters.” You look around. You can’t see any sharks. No tell-tale fins. You’re so hot. So you go for it. And it’s only then that you discover the signs were right all along. Oops! Big mistake.

What, though, if you had been walking along the beach and you saw someone in the water, actually being attacked? You wouldn’t think the water was so inviting then, would you? You wouldn’t be rushing in! You would be counting yourself lucky that you were able to learn from someone else’s mistake.

That is precisely how the Apostle Paul sees the book of Numbers. As we journey to our Promised Land we need to see and learn from the mistakes of the past. This is how he puts it: “now these things became examples for us, so that we will not desire evil as they did” (1 Corinthians 10.6) and, more specifically, the lesson “nor should we complain as some of them did” (v10).

Chapters 11 and 12 contain a series of stories about complaining. They are about discontent - not being satisfied with God and what he has done. Discontent is an infectious disease. Some diseases are very infectious. Once they get into a community or family they spread like wildfire and there is little you can do to stop them. So it is with discontent.

Physically speaking, disease was probably the biggest killer for the wandering Israelites. But often these physical diseases were judgments from God for the spiritual disease of discontent. It is probably true to say that the biggest killer in the wilderness years was the disease of discontent.

We must learn from their example. We must avoid this crippling disease as we journey together. Chapters 11-12 contain four cases. They are all linked, one case from flows the other, demonstrating how catching the illness is. The four cases are introduced by a general explanation (Numbers 11:1-3). This may be a specific case or, more likely, a specific case (Taberah) introducing all the complaining that Israel does – because it contains all the same elements we shall see reappearing again and again, namely, complaint, judgment, intercession and mercy.

The detail of the four cases begins in 11:4 and each brings with it a sobering lesson for us as we journey. The first case of discontent is from the Israelites themselves and it teaches us not do deny God’s goodness (Numbers 11:4-9; 18-20; 31-35). It probably starts in a small way, but it spreads very quickly indeed, so much so that by the time Moses gets involved, “family after family” were crying (11.10). The discontent starts with a rather selective memory.

The Israelites think that they had better food in Egypt. “Fish…cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic”(11.5). Sounds nice! But even if they did have these foods (which is not a certainty), they are being rather selective about what life was like in Egypt. This selectiveness applies not only to food, but the whole Egypt experience. It reaches a climax with the claim in 11.18, “We were better off in Egypt!”

Try to imagine how shocking that would sound today! Remember, in Egypt, the king was trying to wipe them out. They have escaped from nothing less than genocide. That would be like a modern Jew saying “you know, life was a lot better under Mr Hitler!” It’s unthinkable. It’s shocking. It’s a total denial of God’s goodness.

God has been good to them. Consider the evidence! He has heard their cries. He has rescued them. He has led them. He has given them a covenant, a promise. He has fed them with food and provided water. He has taken them through the Red Sea. He has fought for them. He has put up with their rebellion. There is absolutely no doubt – he has been good.

Yet all the Israelites can think to say is “we had better salads in Egypt.” Such a rejection of God’s goodness is scandalous to us and serious to God. So serious that God judges them – deservingly so. The judgment comes in two forms. First it comes in the form of provision. The quail which God provides, seems, at first, an answer to prayer until you realise that God is going to ram it down their throats! They are going to have so much of it they will be sick of it. “What’s for dinner, mum?” “Surprise!” Mum replies. “Surprise? Oh no, not quail again. Please! Ugh!” Chicken is all right once in a while, but not all day, every day. It’s a judgment of monotony.

The second part of the judgment comes in verse 33. While they were still picking the bits of meat from between their teeth God sends a plague upon them. It’s the first recorded case of Salmonella, in all probability. And many die. So many that they name the place “Graves of craving.” Some people say this is a separate judgment – a judgement on those who gathered too much. However, there is no indication in the text that this is so, and given that the judgment was that they could have too much of it, it is difficult to see how they could be judged.

No, better to see the plague as a deserving judgment of their craving – brought on by the desire for food other than God’s gracious provision of manna. It’s doubting God’s goodness. And who can say they didn’t deserve this judgement? It’s a serious business to deny God’s goodness. To say, “he doesn’t give me what I need” or “I’m not content with what he has given me, my circumstances, my marital state, my family, my work.” It’s a serious business to say “the salvation I have in Christ! Ha! It was more fun before I was a Christian!” It’s a serious business to say “what he gives me is not exciting enough. I want more out of life!”

Paul addresses this positively when he is writing to the Philippians. “In any and all circumstances I have learnt the secret of being content, whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:12-13). Learning contentment and the sovereignty of God is the perfect antidote to the grumbling of the Israelites. We have to be careful not to follow their example and doubt God’s goodness.

The next case demonstrates how infectious this discontent is because it spreads to none other than Moses himself. When people around a leader are constantly negative, it is inevitable that it eventually rubs off on the leader himself. The discontent spreads. Looking at Moses we learn not to doubt God’s power (Numbers 11:10-17; 21-25).

Imagine you overheard your pastor praying one morning. “God,” he prays with a deep sigh. “They’re a miserable lot here in this church. They never listen! They never remember! They’re not committed! They are always negative. They always find reasons for not doing things. Grumble. Grumble. Grumble. Oh God – why did you put me here? Get me out of here!” Plenty of pastors pray this, or at least (if they are less honest) think this. It’s pretty much Moses’ reaction to all the grumbling that goes on. “Why do you burden me with all these people?......I can’t carry all these people by myself…..If you are going to treat me like this, please kill me right now” (Numbers 11:12-14).

This is Moses doubting God’s power. It might not seem it at first, but a few clues make it clear. First of all, his issue with God is that he (Moses) cannot cope with all these people. But he has forgotten that it was never his job to cope with them all – that was the Lord’s job! Moses didn’t bring them out of Egypt! Moses didn’t part the Red Sea! Moses did not provide manna! God did! He is forgetting his place. And he is forgetting the power of God to make things happen.

The second clue comes in verses 21-22. After the judgement of the quail is pronounced, Moses is flabbergasted. “Can’t be done!” he says. “Too many people. Not enough birds.”

To which God replies, “Is the Lord’s power limited?” There is a word missing in that verse which might better say “Is the Lord’s power limited now?” Moses has actually become as forgetful as the people. He walked between those two walls of water, piling up on either side. Incredible! What are a few bits of poultry to such a God?

Doubting God’s power is a great temptation for leaders. They often slog their guts out for what appears to be very little fruit. They think they are getting somewhere and then a conversation here or there reveals that very little teaching is sinking in. It’s easy for them to whisper to themselves “Can God really do it? Can he really change hearts?” Or even to whisper Moses’ prayer, “God, I can’t do it!” Remember your leaders and remember that their discontent and doubt of God’s power often starts with your grumbling! Save them from this temptation!

However, it’s not just leaders who succumb to this temptation. It’s all Christians. When we see things going a different direction from the way we want, we are all tempted at one time or another to doubt God’s power. This is not only an “evil” to avoid setting our hearts on, it too is deeply, deeply infectious. We know this because discontent spreads to Joshua. Joshua teaches us not to disregard God’s glory (Numbers 11:26-30).

Ironically, Joshua’s sin arises because of the way that God deals with Moses. God’s judgment on Moses is to take away some of his responsibility and divvy it out to seventy leaders. This can be seen as another gracious act on the part of God, responding to Moses’ complaints. But given the way it appears in this section alongside the quail (another provision which is also a judgment), it is better to see it in this way.

The anointing of the elders is a turning point in the leadership of Moses. God called him to do the task. When he complained he got a helper – his brother Aaron. Now his authority is further divided. The presence of the seventy elders is both a help to Moses and a permanent reminder of his discontent and doubt of God’s power.

The elders are supernaturally anointed by the Lord to serve the people. Though this attracts lots of attention, it is actually just two of the elders that get the bulk of the attention, so let us concentrate on them. Their names are Eldad and Medad and they do not follow the pattern of everyone else. They do not come to the Tent of Meeting, but remain in the camp, away from Moses.

When he hears about this, Joshua, Moses’ faithful right hand man, gets a bit hot under the collar. “Moses, my lord, stop them!” (11:28). At first, it’s difficult to know what this is all about. Joshua seems to have a point, doesn’t he? Those of us who like things to be ordered and just so in the church would say, “good on you, Josh. You can’t have people going off and doing their own thing.”

But that’s not what this is about. It’s actually all to do with glory. We know this from Moses assessment of his young assistant. “Are you jealous for my sake?” (11:29). Joshua, it appears, is more interested in Moses reputation than God’s. He is actually hero-worshipping Moses.

His discontent is that Moses is not being given the veneration and adulation that Joshua thinks he deserves. This interpretation doesn’t paint Joshua in a good light – but then discontent rarely does.

Joshua is acting a bit like Grima Wormtongue in the Lord of the Rings books and films – a toady to the evil Lord Saruman the White. Wormtongue is a bit creepy, doing whatever he is told and getting angry when others do not bow down to Saruman as he does. No doubt Joshua is well meaning! But his attention is misplaced and Moses has to rebuke him, saying, in essence, God knows best. God has anointed who has he anointed and who are we to question that.

There’s a specific lesson and a general lesson. The specific lesson is that it is easy to idolise great Christian leaders. This is often done: Lloyd-Jones, Spurgeon, Stott, Piper, Carson – all great men of God that we can put on pedestals they neither deserve nor need, nor would want. These men were, and are, not interested in their own glory, and neither should we be.

This was brought home recently when I posted a blog entry about a certain US TV preacher. It was not particularly rude, just pointing out the hypocrisy of something she had done. Within just one hour an employee from her organisation has posted a response – jealous, in effect, for her name. That person must have spent all their time scouring the Internet for references to his boss. We may pour scorn on that, but we all do it. Dare to disagree with the Doctor? There are people who will come down on your like a ton of brinks. Let’s be careful not to desire the glory of our heroes too much!

There is also a general lesson which is that it is easy and always tempting to rob God of his glory. When we draw attention to ourselves and our churches and our leaders we are actually robbing Christ of the glory, praise, wonder and adulation he deserves. We may be well meaning. But our discontent with the state of our own reputation can often simply be denying God his glory.

This discontent is still infectious because now it spreads to the rest of Moses’ family. Miriam and Aaron teach us not to dismiss God’s leaders (Numbers 12). Miriam is really the ring leader here. Although she is accompanied by Aaron, both the Hebrew of verse 1 and the judgement of verse 10 prove that, in God’s eyes at least, she is behind this fourth case of discontent.

There is a clear link back to the last case. Moses has told Joshua that he should not be so concerned about Moses’ glory and he should be a little more concerned for God’s. “Ah”, thinks Miriam, “if Moses is saying that, then now’s my chance to put myself forward some more.” This is the essence of their complaint. It is dressed up in racial rules – they probably used the marriage to a Cushite woman to drum up support for their scheme.

This issue is not the real issue, however. We know this because when they come to vocalise it, they explain it more honest terms. “Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does he not speak through us?” They want what Moses has. They are discontent with their own position and want a piece of the action. It is not enough for them that they both have highly exalted positions. Both Miriam and Aaron are prophets already (see Exodus 15:20-21 and Exodus 4:16). They want more!

How different they are to Moses! Moses is described in an aside as a “very humble man” (v3). The word for humble here is not the ordinary Hebrew word for humble, but a word which implies a dedication to God. Moses is God’s leader. Miriam and Aaron want that accolade for themselves.

There’s no doubt what God thinks of all this! He actually appears in order to deal with the discontent, so serious is its nature. His speech makes it clear that Moses is the man, and he leaves with judgment in the form of an infectious skin disease. This judgement is significant because it actually places Miriam outside the camp (possibly, she might have thought, permanently) where she is unable to participate in the life of the community (compare Numbers 5:1-4). Even families can be split apart from discontent.

There is an important lesson here for us. We sometimes forget that leaders of church are appointed by God, not by men. In Ephesians 4:11 we read that “[Christ] personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ.”

Ah, you say, but doesn’t the church meeting, or church council, or presbytery or bishop appoint the church leader? No. These groups may vote or meet, but they do so to make judgments about who is the man of Christ’s appointment.

This works both ways. It means that leaders are ultimately not responsible to the churches they serve, but responsible to Christ himself – a higher authority. There is plenty of guidance for them in the New Testament about how Christ expects them to carry out their ministry (for example, 1 Peter 5:1-4). But it works the other way too.

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you” (Hebrews 13:17). We must not let discontent make us dismiss our leaders or reject their authority over us. So many church leaders seem to be little more than super-administrators. Chairman, at best, of the church meetings.

So, discontent is a serious business. We know that because each of these four cases brings judgment: tThe monotony of quail, the plague, the diversification of the leadership, the rebuke to Joshua and the leprosy of Miriam are all evidence that God takes discontent very seriously indeed.

But in each case there is also grace. Each time the people are not treated as they fully deserve to be. Each time there is grace and a measure of forgiveness. And so, as we remember to avoid the evil of discontent we are also driven into the arms of a gracious God who, in Christ Jesus, does forgive. He does restore. “My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous One. He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.” (1 John 2.1).

Let us not presume on the kindness and grace of God, but journey without discontent.

“Now Lord, move me to repent, let me now my sin lament;
Now my proud revolt deplore, weep, believe and sin no more.
If I rightly read your heart, merciful in every part,
As before your throne I bow, pardon and accept me now.”

Charles Wesley (1707-88) from “Depth of Mercy”

Preparation

2008-02-08T03:53:00.001-08:00

Please read Numbers 9-10.

Imagine you are going on a long journey to an exotic location. Perhaps you will need to take a long haul flight. You will have to spend a good number of hours flying time to reach the idyllic location. It’s not going to be an easy journey, that’s for sure. Those seats are so cramped! It will certainly be worth it when you get there, but you still need to plan for your journey. You wish you get on the plane, go to sleep and then wake up at your destination, but you know very well it doesn’t work like that.

How do you prepare for such a journey? The websites of major airlines are very helpful. For example, our national carrier here in the UK has pages of information about what to do at the airport, what to do on the plane, what precautions to take to avoid DVT (deep vein thrombosis), what entertainment is available, what the food menus are and so on. In other words, lots of information about the journey itself to help make it easier for you to reach your destination.

That’s what we’ve got in Numbers. There the Israelites are travelling to their promised land, as we are to ours. We are looking forward to our inheritance, the new heavens and earth created by our Saviour Jesus. But we’re not there yet! And how we journey is important.

Jesus says to his listeners, “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it” (Matthew 7.13-14). It matters how we journey! For if we are not on the right road, then we will not reach the right destination.

How the Israelites journey is important to God in Numbers. We know that because once again we see the familiar repetition of the phrase “The Lord spoke” (or at least something like it). Remember that this is one of the titles the Jewish people give to the book. God is concerned for how the journey is undertaken. And because he cares about it, we must care about it. These chapters establish three very simple but practical principles for Christian travelling.

First, we must not forget where we’ve come from. The Israelites had come from Egypt, but they haven’t simply decided to leave, got up one morning, packed their bags and wandered off. They have been part of an amazingly ambitious rescue plan that makes Dunkirk look like a training exercise. God has rescued something like 2½ million of them from the superpower of the day. And the Israelites need to remember this – they need to remember that it is God that has rescued them.

How are they going to remember? They, like us, tend towards forgetfulness, so it is not enough for God to say “just remember, all right?” They need a reminder, and God in his grace gives it to them. It comes in the form of a meal, called the Passover meal, and Numbers 9:1-14 explains how it works. It’s a meal that will be celebrated once a year (9:2-3) on an appointed time (less likely to be forgotten than if its celebration is haphazard). The meal is a vivid reminder that one day in the past, God sent his angel to destroy the first born of all living creatures in Egypt and Israel only escaped because the blood of a lamb on a doorpost was a sign to the angel to pass over. The widespread death and subsequent mourning was the moment that God used to rescue the Israelites and bring them out.

It is such an important meal that chapter 9 deals with those who cannot make the date. On the day this meal is celebrated, some were outside the camp (compare 9:6 with 5:1-4). They could not, physically, take part. Nor could they ceremonially participate because of uncleanness. What was to happen to such people? Moses is not sure, so he asks God. God is sure, however. The meal is so important that those who cannot celebrate it are given an alternative date one month later (9:12). Moreover, anyone who does not celebrate the meal, but could, is considered an outcast (9:13). Even foreigners who came out with the Israelites (see Exodus 12:38, where the exiles are described as “ethnically diverse”) are permitted to participate.

It is absolutely crucial that the Israelites do not forget where they have come from, nor that it was God himself who brought them out.

Why is this focus on the past required? Perhaps there were Israelites among the returning exiles who did not want to remember the past! Perhaps some had been very badly treated? Perhaps others had lost relatives, killed in the brutality of the Egyptian regime? For them, surely, the best strategy would be “put it all behind you.”

However, the Passover meal is not, primarily, a reminder of the situation they were in (oppression, tyranny, attempted genocide) as a means of remembering how they were brought out. The danger for the Israelites was that they got so excited about the Promised Land that they forgot they had been rescued. There’s a very sobering account of this in the book of Judges.

Judges begins just a very few years on from the events we are reading about. In Numbers, Joshua is alive, and Judges 2:10 records what happens when Joshua and his contemporaries finally die. “After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works he had done for Israel.” Frightening! In such a short time the Israelites forgot that it was God who brought them up out of Egypt.

And so they began to fight for the land in their own strength, thinking how mighty they were. They stopped trusting in God and started trusting in their own power. And when they did this, they failed. They failed miserably (as even a cursory reading of Judges shows).

It is always easy for God’s people to forget the past. Christians can get so excited about the future that we forget what we were and, most importantly, how Christ rescued us when we dead in our transgression and sins. That’s why, in his grace, God has given us a meal too. Our meal – the Lord’s Supper – is a reminder of what we were and, more significantly, how we were rescued. It helps us overcome our forgetfulness. It shows us that our salvation was (and is) entirely dependent on the death of the Lord Jesus in our place. We did not save ourselves – we could not. And we need to go on trusting him for our salvation unless we are to start down the slippery slope that the Israelites experienced.

This is why the church finds itself in such difficulty today. We have forgotten where we came from and how we were rescued. We are not trying to do things in our strength – and often failing! It is clear how we must journey – not forgetting where we have come from. This is the backwards part of journeying – a look over the shoulder to remind us our the past. But our journey is also about looking forward.

So, second, we must focus on where we are going. We can illustrate this best by looking at the silver trumpets in Numbers 10:1-10. These trumpets are not like the orchestral instruments we know today with wound bores and valves. They are more like the fanfare trumpets used on ceremonial occasions by monarchs – long tubes with a bell end which amplifies the sound.

They had two practical uses. One (v5-6) was the setting out signal. How else were 2 million plus people going to know when to move? Easy – blow on the trumpet! The eastern edge of the camp was to be the first to respond (v5), then the southern part of the camp (v6). All very organised!

The second use (v7) was to call the people together. This would be like church bells in less modern days. Church bells are redundant in their use today (though they make a nice sound). They come from the time when people did not have watches or clocks and needed to know when the church meeting was. Similarly, the trumpets sounded the call for the people to come together.

God thinks of everything! However, what is interesting to note is that these trumpets have another use which will only kick in when the people actually reach the Promised Land. There they will be used as battle trumpets (v9), guaranteeing victory because the Lord will fight for his people. They are also to be sounded at the various Festivals that will be celebrated in the future (v10).

In other words, every time a trumpet is sounded, each Israelite would have felt a tingle of anticipation running up the spine. Imagine two from one tribe. Let’s call them Nebo and Heshbon. Their tents back on to one another. They are packed, ready to move on, just waiting for the sound of the trumpet. It sounds – and off they go! As they set off, Nebo says to Heshbon, “you know, brother, look at us with all our baggage, trampling through this wilderness! I can’t wait for the trumpet which announces the Festival when we get to our Promised Land!” “Me neither,” replies Heshbon – and then as they walk along they dream together about what the future holds!

The same anticipation is also built into the Passover regulations, though you may have missed it. The extra date (9:10) is provided not just for those who are unclean, but for those who are “on a distant journey” – which implies being away from the land.

The airline website does not just show us what preparations to make for the journey. It also tells us about our ultimate destination. If tells you places you can visit, perhaps there are photos or a video to download. It gives information about where to stay, where to eat and so on. So, all the time you journey you are excited about your destination. You looking forward to it.

Christians are not, ultimately, living for this life. We are living for the life to come. It’s a reality all of will know at some point. Some sooner than later. Others may have to wait decades. But it will come to all. Yet however far off it seems, it is something we must focus on.

Again, the Lord’s Supper helps us. It is only a temporary meal. Just like the trumpets only had a temporary use, so our bread and wine celebration is not for ever. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). The meal has an in-built expiry date and so it encourages us to look forward to the future.

Most great meals are ones you look forward to having. “Venison tonight! Great!” This is a meal we should look forward to not having, because then we shall be with our Saviour. Then we shall see Christ as he really is – glorified and sitting at the Father’s right hand. How few Christian lives are characterised by this kind of forward focus! God says “this is how to journey.”

Thirdly we must follow the Lord’s commands. So far, the encouragement of Numbers has been to look backwards and forwards. But we must not do so at the exclusion of the present. The present matters. It does count. Christians often suffer from one of two errors. On the one hand, there are those who never think about the Promised Land. On the other, there are those who think about it so much that they forget that the Christian life begins now.

In Numbers 9:15-23, God gives the Israelites specific instructions about their travelling. The remainder of chapter 10 describes these commands being put into practice. Essentially, the guidelines boil down to one oft-repeated phrase: “at the Lord’s command.” Read through verses 15-23 again and see how often this phrase is repeated. In fact the repetition and parallelism is such that some commentators think these verses are actually a poem or song.

Sailors in Nelson’s time always sung the same song as they travelled into battle – “Hearts of Oak.” Perhaps this is a similar idea? Perhaps, every time camp was struck the Israelites sung this song together – it would certainly have been a good thing to do.

The repeated phrase shows us that there is a certain way to travel. It is not just about looking back and forward and thinking that will do. If the Christian life is a race, then it is a marathon not an orienteering course. In a marathon you run the prescribed 26 miles, 385 yards along a precise course. You cannot decide that you know a better route or short cut. That will only lead to disqualification.

In an orienteering race you must travel from A to B but how you do it is entirely up to you! In fact, the easier the route you choose, the more likely you are to win. Many have made the marathon that is the Christian life into an orienteering course. “I know I have to get to heaven,” they say “and I know God has rescued me, but how I get there is up to me.”

Of course, they may not put it in such words, but that is the essence of it. However, Numbers shows us clearly that it does matter how we get there – it is at “the Lord’s command” that we are to journey. So we cannot be lazy about sexual ethics and morality and the content of what we sing and commitment and so on, and think that it just doesn’t matter. It does! For Jesus says “if you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

We are so much more privileged than the Israelites. We live this side of the cross. We know real forgiveness in Christ. We know the power and life of God dwelling in us by the Holy Spirit. We have the Scriptures to show us our God and what it means to follow him. Despite these privileges, our temptation to travel as we want to are just as strong as they were in the Israelites. Let’s not succumb, but instead travel Jesus’ way.

“All the way my Saviour leads me: O the fullness of his love!
Perfect rest to me is promised in my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed, immortal, flies to heaven’s eternal day,
This my song through endless ages, ‘Jesus led me all the way’”

Frances J van Alstyne (1820-1915)

Worship

2008-02-07T03:37:00.000-08:00

Imagine the excitement! The Ark of the Covenant was lost, now it was recovered. The Philistines had stolen it, but now it was back in the hands of the people of God. King David wanted to make much of the recapture, bringing it into his city with fanfare and great rejoicing. What a moment! The ark was set on a new cart and it was transported from Abinadab’s house where it had rested.

But as they all descended the hill the cart lurched to one side. That was not unexpected. The roads were little more than rutted tracks and the cart was carrying the huge weight of the ark. The procession party had anticipated such a stumble and so had placed two good men, sons of Abinadab, to guide the cart. One, Uzzah, reached out to steady the ark. We read that “the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah and God struck him dead on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there next to the ark of God” (2 Samuel 6:7). Have you ever wondered why? Doesn’t it seem a bit harsh or unfair?

Please read Numbers 6:22-8:26.

The answer to this perplexing question is found in our Numbers text. God gave very precise instructions, enacted through Moses, as to how the various trappings of the Tabernacle were to be transported. Many of these were taken on carts. The Gershonites received two carts for their service, the Merarites received four. “But he did not give any to the Kohathites, since their responsibility was service related to the holy objects [including the ark] carried on their shoulders” (7:9).

Things had to be done a certain way. Things had to be done God’s way. The ark was meant to be carried by hand. By the time of King David, the people thought they knew better. They rejected what they saw as “the old ways” and put something else in its place. No doubt they were sincere and well meaning. They weren’t entirely thoughtless (they used a “new” cart, for example). Yet they were now doing things in a way other than that which God wanted.

Herein lies the message of these two chapters. They are, essentially, about worship. About God’s people coming to him. It is true that the word worship can have a much broader meaning, but it is also valid to use it to describe the people of God approaching God. This is what is going on in the first church in Acts 2:46, “and every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex….praising God and having favour with all the people.”

Today worship of this kind is a hot topic. Is there a right way to approach God? More seriously, is there a wrong way? What does God want from his people when it comes to worship. Our worship is fundamentally different from that of the Old Testament. Many of the centralities of Israel’s worship have gone – the feasts, the sacrifices, the tabernacle/temple. Yet these two chapters help us establish some broad principles about worship – and how God wants us to approach him.

First, worship is God-centred. We have already seen how the organisation of the camp was both militarily and spiritually significant. The focus of the people’s worship was on the Tabernacle, the place where God dwelt. As the people worshipped they were not to think of themselves, but to think of him. As we read through the pages of the Bible we see time and time again that it is God who is deserving of worship.

In Revelation, John receives a vision of what heaven will be like. He sees crowds of angels and men praising the living Saviour, “They said with a loud voice, ‘The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing!’” (Revelation 5:12). The worship of the church must have the same focus – it must be Christ-centred. Too much worship is man centred. It focuses on me, my feelings, my problems, my situation. Too much preaching is like this as well.

The Apostle Paul sets a good benchmark. “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthaisn 2:2). This is the standard for the worship of God’s people. This is how God himself wants our worship to be.

Second, worship involves being together. Numbers 7:5 contains the alternative name for the Tabernacle. It is called “the tent of meeting.” Of course, not everyone (of the 2½ million) could fit in! Nevertheless, people met around it. In the New Testament the word church (ekklesia) is used to describe this assembly or congregation (see, for example Acts 7:38).

After the Day of Pentecost the first 3,000 plus believers are described in just these terms. Acts 2:42-47 presents a church who were “together.” Being together is a key part of worship. That’s how God has designed it. The old excuse “I can worship God on my own” is actually not consistent with the message of the Scriptures.

Churches in the West generally meet on a Sunday. True, this celebrates the first day of the week when Jesus rose again – but there is nothing particularly holy about a Sunday; what it has going for it is that the majority of the church are free to meet. Good! But what about a church in a country where Sunday is a working day. What should they do? Meet on a day when they can, as far as possible, be together. Perhaps it will be a Friday. They are no less a church for doing that. In fact, they are thinking through more carefully what it means to worship God together.

What must we do once we are physically in the same place. The answer is participate. This is our third lesson. Worship involves everyone. It is not a spectator sport. In Numbers 7:12-83 each of the tribes makes an offering to contribute to the worship of the people. Notice that each offering is exactly the same. This does not mean that all contributions to worship should always be equal (elsewhere in the Law there is often a link between what can be afforded and what must be presented). Rather, it is setting out the principle that everyone has a part to play and is equally as important.

The togetherness of this worship is striking. It is captured in one of David’s songs of ascent. “Jerusalem, built as a city should be, solidly joined together where the tribes, the tribes of the Lord go up to give thanks to the name of the Lord” (Psalm 122:3-4). Our focus is now on the New Jerusalem rather than an earthly city. Nevertheless, the idea is still relevant. When we come together to worship we need to be solidly joined together and that means everyone has an equal part to play.

You can’t attend a church worship service. You can only participate in one. Sadly, much of modern worship (and highly traditional worship) misses this point. Worship is often hijacked by over-enthusiastic worship leaders. Leaders are fine and good (as we shall see in a moment). But the ancient leaders (the Levites) led – they did not do the worshipping for the people.

It is the same in very traditional services. A choir singing anthems may be beautiful and moving. But it is not participative. There is an inequality of contribution. No – we can’t just listen to others, whether it be a beautiful choir or an energetic worship band. Worship is an involving experience.

Fourth, worship involves giving. This is clear from the offerings made by the tribes. The togetherness and participation of the tribes is expressed in what they give. Fewer churches today hand round collection plates. There are good and valid reasons for this. Many in the church will give through their banks, and so an empty plate passed around is somewhat meaningless. Other churches are keen not to embarrass visitors into giving.

This means we need to find other ways to remind ourselves that giving is part of worship. That might mean a prayer or reflection in our meetings together, possible some information about where the money has gone.

Of course giving should not be limited to money. We worship God by giving our abilities and talents as well. All our work together in the church is giving of one kind or another.

Fifth, worship requires ministers or leaders. These are the Levites consecrated in Numbers 8. These Levites are not the priests (though they include the priests). They are a broader group who assist and lead the worship of God’s people. The priests function ends, of course, with the coming of the Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus. The writer to the Hebrews is keen to point out that his coming makes the Old Testament priesthood redundant, “but Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant” (Hebrews 8:6).

Nevertheless, the principle of people being set aside to assist worship still stands. It certainly applies to the explanation and application of God’s word (more of this shortly). The pastor-teacher is, in this sense, a Levite. “And [Christ] personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in works of ministry, to build up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12).

These ministers have always been God’s gift to his people. “From the Israelites, I have given the Levites exclusively to Aaron and his sons to perform the work for the Israelites at the tent of meeting…” (Numbers 8:19).

The necessity of such leaders underlines the importance of organisation and order. Worship cannot be chaotic since “God is not a God of disorder but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). A better translation might possibly be “harmony.” Order is needed not because worship must be strict and formal (it need not be) but because this is the only way it will be participative and together. If everyone is doing their own thing (i.e. there is no leadership) then it will, by definition, be exclusive and excluding.

We must not despise the role of leaders in worship – God’s gift to his people. They, whether preachers, pray-ers, musicians, readers, have a role to play in bringing us together to worship, no mean feat! By bringing us together, they assist in making our worship acceptable to God.

Lastly, worship must be Bible centred. The climax of these two chapters comes in Numbers 7:89 when God speaks. It is as though all the preparations have been building to this moment. “When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony from between the two cherubim. He spoke to him in that way.” The mercy seat is also called the atonement cover and takes us direct to Christ, who is himself described in the New Testament using exactly the same phrase from the Greek version of the Old Testament. “God presented him as a propitiation [=mercy seat] through faith in his blood, to demonstrate his righteousness” (Romans 3:25).

It is the work and word of Christ which stands at the heart of our worship. Listening to his voice is a key element of our time together. In our church, we often present this to newcomers as the best way to understand our times together. We spend half our time, we say, in speaking to God (singing, praying etc) and half our time in listening to him (reading and explaining the word of God). The importance of listening shapes how our times are structured – about half the time on each.

There has always been pressure to move away from Bible-centred worship. This is especially true today. The reading and explanation of God’s word is being slowly squeezed out from worship and replaced with other activities. Some of these are very good in and of themselves. But we must question whether it is right, say to spend 80% of our time singing against only 20% of listening. The climax of Numbers 8-9 shows us that this balance cannot be right.

Let’s return to Uzzah and his cart. Uzzah was struck down because he was irreverent. It matters to God how we approach him. Those who claim to take worship seriously often major on relatively minor issues – what we wear, when we meet for example. However, there are major issues for us to think through and Numbers makes these plain.

“Eternal Light! Eternal Light! How pure the soul must be,
When, placed within your searching sight,
It shrinks not, but with calm delight can face such majesty.”

Thomas Binney (1798-1874)

Purity

2008-02-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

Please read Numbers 5-6.

It’s impossible to read Numbers 5-6 without it stirring up some pretty strong emotions. The apparent “trial by ordeal” of Numbers 5:11-31 seems more than a little barbaric! It perhaps reminds the reader of the medieval witch trials – where a suspected witch was ducked in the water. If she drowned she was innocent (but dead anyway). If she survived, she was a witch and therefore burnt at the stake. What you might call a lose-lose situation.

Such ordeals did exist in the time of Moses. They were not dissimilar. History records one ancient near-east practice which was itself a test for marital unfaithfulness. The accused woman had to put her hand in boiling water. If it emerged unscathed, she was innocent. This was as unjust as the witch trials.

But we need to see that this provision is entirely unlike either of these. In fact, what God is doing is taking an existing practice (the unjust ordeal) and putting quite a different slant on it. Before we go any further, it is worth exploring this because the chances are we will find it very hard to get to the point of these two chapters unless we first address our disquiet over the faithfulness test.

First of all, it is not chauvinistic. The penalties for adultery were the same for men and women – death. This is prescribed in Leviticus 20:11, “both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.” Second, it is not dangerous. Unlike ducking or boiling water, the bitter drink is not deathly for the innocent (only distasteful). Thirdly, the ritual is loaded with meaning. It is accompanied by many words which explain what is going on. The water that is used is holy water. The priest is involved in the process. The woman has to stand “before the Lord” (5:16).

Fourthly, it avoids mob control. We only have to look at very male dominated cultures to see how women can be treated with contempt, even within the judicial system. It does not take to much imagination to see how an innocent woman could easily be condemned by her husbands’ mates. Men tend to stick together on these kind of things.

Most importantly, there is a clear message. It is pretty obvious reading through the passage what God thinks of unfaithfulness in marriage. Which brings us very neatly to theme of both of these chapters – purity.

It is easy to read these sections as rather isolated laws and regulations – but the theme of purity links them all. For example, Numbers 5:1-4 is often described as ancient health and safety legislation. Disease was a big killer in confined communities. So, take it out of the camp. However, the text itself does not lead us to that conclusion.

Notice, for example, that it is not the dead bodies that must be removed from the camp (the potential source of infection) but those who have been in contact with dead bodies. Skin diseases and discharges may be infectious – but often were not. The issue at stake is not health, it is purity. God makes this clear in his explanation: “send them outside the camp, so that they will not defile the camp” (5:3).

At the heart of the pilgrim journey that we are all on is the character of God. This was true for the Old Testament people, for at the heart of the Law stood the command, “be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:1). This command stands today. “as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16).

In other words, as we journey, we must journey a certain way. We cannot dismiss the present and say it doesn’t matter. We have God at the centre of our camp, and he demands a certain lifestyle. This passage in Numbers helps us understand why that is. Why purity? Why is this essential for the people of God to know and to practice?

The first reason is that the Lord is holy. All the way through these two chapters this point is made clearly. As we have already seen, it is made strongly in 5:3, “send them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps where I dwell among them.” It is seen even more clearly in the provision that is made for dealing with sin in 5:5-10. These verses are much more general in their application, but the same point is evident.

Anyone who does something wrong “acts unfaithfully toward the Lord and is guilty” (5:6). This is a very radical view of sin. Let’s say I do something wrong to my wife. Whom have I wronged. I have wronged her, of course. But according to the Bible that is only half the story. I have also wronged God because he is holy.

King David murdered a man who got in the way of an affair he was conducting with his wife. Yet, in his prayer of repentance he says, “against you – you alone – I have sinned and done this evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4). It’s not that Bathsheba and Uriah had not been wronged, but that ultimately God was.

In verses 11-31 of chapter, the issue is more precise. It is marital unfaithfulness. Yet this same principle applies. Why else must the matter be settled in the Tabernacle? Back in Exodus 18, Moses has, on the advice of his father-in-law, set up judges from “all Israel” to judge disputes and matters of the law. But that mechanism is not used here. This is an issue to be determined before a priest – because it goes right to the heart of how sin offends a holy God.

In chapter 6 the same point is made yet again. Chapter 6 is different from chapter 5 in that one deals with the negative side of offending God’s holiness, the other deals with the positive side of setting oneself apart to serve God’s holiness – but the holiness of the Lord is still the same. So, in this first model for short term voluntary service, we see that the Nazirite has to “consecrate himself to the Lord” (6:2, 5). His service is a reflection of God’s character – that he is holy.

This is a radical way of thinking about holiness. In the world today, holiness is seen as a negative. If you want to be holy you cannot do this and you cannot do that. But in Scripture, holiness is seen as a positive. You can be like God, in fact, you should be like God. It is a calling to do something positive, not a calling to be negative about life.

And it is precisely that radical view we need as we travel towards our Promised Land. We are, uniquely among all God’s creatures, made in his image. We present to the world what God is really like (a rather sobering thought!). When we live impure lives we defile the image and give the world around us the wrong impression.

That is why the picture of the Nazirite stands out. He lives holiness! He shows holiness! Look at his hair! Look at what she will not eat! You would never be in any doubt should you meet a Nazirite in the street. He could not even attend family funerals (6:7).

However, this in itself is not enough to explain why we must be holy. Why isn’t it enough, for example, to say that God is holy, period? I can support a great football team, and as long as they are excellent players it doesn’t matter whether I can kick a ball or not. No one minds what kind of player I am!

Once again, this passage explains everything. Not only is the Lord holy, we can also assert that the Lord is present. Most other nations had their own sets of gods and deities and most were considered far off. Disinterested, at best, in what went on. Worship became a series of pleas that the worshipper would be heard.

Not in Israel. “For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him?” (Deuteronomy 4:7). This is illustrated clearly in the text. Take, for example, the issue of the camp in 5:1-4. We know that God is present in the inner sanctum of the Tabernacle – the Most Holy Place. However, he is also, he says, present in the camp “where I dwell among them.”

Our pilgrimage must be marked by purity because God is pure and God is present. He is not far off and disinterested. The application is very straightforward. Purity is important at school, college, in the workplace, in the home, on our own and even, taking our lead from Numbers 5:11-31, in the bedroom. Why? Because God is present in all of those places.

This same idea is, of course, strongly represented in the New Testament. There the imagery of the tabernacle is replaced with the imagery of the temple. Paul, in particular makes much of this language. “Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary [temple] of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God” (1 Corinthians 6:19). The issue at stake there? Sexual immorality. Little changes!

Even more significant, this language is applied not just to individual purity, but corporate purity. “Don’t you know that you [plural] are God’s sanctuary [singular] and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Purity is not just an individual issue. In the text this comes across strongly. Purity in the camp is an issue for the camp not just for the individual. Wrongdoing of any kind is an issue for the people and its redress is public.

Perhaps it is the issue of the Nazirite that makes this point the most clearly. The laws concerning the Nazirite are not just given for his or her benefit – they are given to everybody. Moses is to speak these commands to the entire assembly (6:2) because the benefit of the Nazirite’s pledge is not just for himself, but for all the people. Don’t, in other words, go around offering grape juice to a man with long hair!

These two rich chapters give us one more reason why purity is important as we journey together. The Lord is holy, present and the Lord is concerned. Purity is an issue in which he is deeply interested. We know this because he speaks about it. Remember, one of the Jewish titles for Numbers is “the Lord spoke” and here that marker is repeated several times (5:1, 5:5, 5:11 and 6:1).

If something is important, it is worth saying, and it needs to be said. God doesn’t waste words with meaningless issues. God says nothing in his word about which sports franchise we should support. Without wanting to be flippant, this is because he doesn’t really care – he is not concerned about that! But he does say a lot in his word about how we journey and live. It is a subject dear to his heart.

We must never presume on God’s kindness and forgiveness and think that is does not care about how we live. Nothing could be further from the truth. And the cross, supremely, proves the point. For if God did not care how we live, then the cross would be redundant and a barbaric cruelty. This is so much at the heart of God that we can say that if God is not holy and if God is not concerned about holiness, then he is not God at all.

We also see this in the way that provision is made for impurity to be dealt with. We are not left hanging. God knows that his standard of holiness is way above us and so our text also provides for forgiveness. This is most clearly seen in 5:5-10. There sin is to be recognised, confessed, redressed (an important point left out of much of the church’s teaching) and atoned for.

Verse 8 contains a wonderful provision for atonement which takes us directly to Jesus’ death for us, achieving what, ultimately, could not be achieved by sacrifices and offerings. God calls us to live holy lives, and when we do not he provides an atoning sacrifice. “If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ the righteous One. He himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).

Even the example of the Nazirite encourages us to face up to impurity. For even this man or woman who specifically sets out to be holy and consecrated finds the need for forgiveness at the end of the term of service. Verses 13-15 describe how the sacrifice of perfection is to be given to complete his term – an unwritten assumption that the Nazirite cannot be holy, however hard he or she may try!

“Behold him there! The risen Lamb, my perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM, the King of glory and of grace!
One with himself, I cannot die, my soul is purchased by his blood;
My life is safe with Christ on high, with Christ my Saviour and my God.”

Charitie L Bancroft (1841-1923)

Numbers

2008-02-06T01:29:00.000-08:00

Please read chapters 1-4.

Every ten years, the UK Government commissions a census of the population. Aside from a few headlines following its completion it is of little lasting interest to those who take part. It appears to just be a counting exercise which aids government, excites statisticians and provides interesting snippets of information to future family history researchers.

However, the census in Numbers 1 is altogether different. For a start, it is commissioned by God himself. That’s a rather curious detail. After all, God did not need to know how many Israelites of a certain age there were! It seems as though the census was as much to teach Moses and the people something as provide a numerical analysis.

However, even before we get to the counting exercise, we have to pause to remind ourselves how it is that the Israelites are here at all. The book begins with a time marker – “on the first day of the second month of the second year, after Israel’s departure from the land of Egypt…” Right from the start we are reminded that the people of Israel have been rescued from slavery. This is not just counting any old rabble or group of people – these are the rescued people of God.

Remember that their slavery was total. In fact, Pharaoh had determined to wipe them out because they were growing too large. Their fate was sealed and it was only the supernatural intervention of their powerful God that saved them. Their journey begins, not with a counting exercise, but with salvation.

It is difficult to over-emphasise this point. We see it over and over again in the Old Testament. Take, for example, the Ten Commandments. Jews, Catholics and Protestants count the Ten Commandments differently. The very first words of Exodus 20 do not feature in the Protestant counting, yet they form the first of the Ten Commandments as they are counted by Jews. “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.”

Even the Ten Commandments begin with salvation! Arguable, Protestants might have been better off to adopt this counting scheme as we would avoid the danger of making the Ten Commandments into a means of righteousness, rather than a response to God’s salvation!

So, Numbers continues this emphasis. It’s an emphasis that Christians need to have. As we journey to our Promised Land through the wilderness of the world we need to remember that we do because God has saved us. Jesus has died for us. Jesus has secured our place in God’s kingdom by dying on the cross. The very fact we are on the journey at all is a reminder of his grace and mercy.

We must not let that memory be dulled or obscure. If you want to compete in the Olympic Marathon you have to pass the qualifying standard – around 2 hours 37 minutes currently. The spectators know that those racing at the summer Olympics have reached this standard – that is why they are racing. Similarly, we need to remember that the reason we are pilgrims is because the qualifying standard has been reached for us by Jesus our Rescuer.

Though Numbers is not about maths, we have to do some maths to get to grips with it. The census focuses on men of military age (more of this in a moment). There are thirteen tribes in all (thirteen because the tribe of Joseph is counted as two: Ephraim and Manasseh). The largest of these tribes is Judah which has a fighting force of 74,600 (Numbers 1:27). The smallest is, not unsprisingly, one of the half tribes – Manasseh – which numbers just 32,200 (Numbers 1:35). The Levites are not counted as part of the army force for they have specific duties in relation to the Tabernacle (Numbers 1:47-51). The total fighting force is 603,550 (Numbers 1:46).

What do all these numbers tell us? The temptation with lists such as these is to quickly move on to what we perceive to be more interesting issues. But we mustn’t be too hasty.

These numbers tell us about God’s faithfulness. Though the exercise is primarily a military one, we cannot help recall the opening verses of the book that described their escape from Egypt. “The total number of Jacob’s descendants was 70, Joseph was already in Egypt” (Exodus 1:5). So – 74 in total! But now 603,550 soldiers (let alone women, children and the infirm).

The very fact that Israel has an army at all is testament to God’s faithfulness. This is especially true when seen in the light of Pharaoh’s determination to wipe Israel out (and, it has to be said, Israel’s reluctance to go along with God’s plans). Some commentators get very wound up about these numbers – could a column of 2.5 million (probably near the total) really travel as described?

But such questions miss the point. The point is the faithfulness of God in bringing them to this point. God made two promises to Abraham, both of which are being fulfilled as the count takes place. First, he said to him “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them….your offspring will be that numerous” (Genesis 15:6). The census certainly proves the promise to be true!

God also told Abraham, in the same chapter, that “your offspring will be strangers in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years. However, I will judge the nation they serve and afterwards they will go out with many possessions” (Genesis 15:14). Here is the proof that God’s word stands!

Attending church is a great boost for Christians. Just being there and gazing around reminds us of the faithfulness of God to his promises. It reminds us of his faithfulness to send a Saviour to make for himself a holy nation, a royal priesthood. It reminds us that Jesus himself promises not to lose any of those he is given. It reminds us that Jesus promises that his church will not be overcome. Our very existence, like that of the Israelites in the desert, is testimony to God’s faithfulness.

These numbers also tell us about the Israelites’ formation. The formation is an army formation. In fact, Numbers 2 describes in great detail how the camp must be arranged (and, according to verse 34, the way they marched too). The diagram shows how this camp was arranged.

Military strategists tells us that before the invention or artillery, a square was considered the strongest and best fighting formation. And here it is! The formation of the camp is designed with one purpose. The Israelites are going to have to fight to claim their land. The rest of Numbers makes that patently clear. The journey is not going to be a stroll in the park, but a battle in the desert. A campaign. Enemies are not going to succumb easily or give up territory without a fight.

God’s people have to be prepared to fight. And it is a fight that everyone must give themselves to. There are no excuses in the fighting count. Only the Levites (for other reasons) are excused. If you can carry a weapon, you can fight. And you must.

Here is the first indication of the togetherness that is required in battle. Everybody has a part to play - presumably not all (or even many) were experienced soldiers, or large or tall or strong. But everyone can fight.

Christians do not talk about fighting too much today, which is something of a shame. Few modern songs, for example, use military language to describe our wilderness wanderings. We’re slightly uncomfortable with the “soldiers of Christ, arise” and “fight the good fight” terminology.

However, the Christian pilgrimage is a fight. Paul says as much to Timothy, “Fight the good fight for the faith” (1 Timothy 5:11). Perhaps the Crusades and centuries of “religious” wars have made us nervous about such language. But we must not jettison it. If anything, our battles are more significant and frightening than those of the Israelites. They fought against visible human powers. But Christians fight in a different realm. “For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war in a fleshly way, since the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).

We used to talk about the church militant and if we are to be effective in our pilgrimage we have to reclaim some of this kind of thinking. Of course, it is possible to direct our military aims in the wrong direction. Unlike the Israelites, our battle is no longer physical – but it is a battle nonetheless, and we must be structured and prepared to fight.

The numbers also tell us about the people’s focus. Although the Levites do not form part of the military census, they are still counted (Numbers 3-4) and given very specific tasks. These tasks are all to do with the Tabernacle – scan through the two chapters to see what some of them were. It is clear that the transportation, setting up and ministering at The Tabernacle is central to the wilderness pilgrimage of the people of God.

The camp plan shows not only the unity of the tribes, but the centrality of the Tabernacle which represents God’s presence with his people. Personally, I love poring over old maps and plans. It does not take long to recognise the significance of this particular one!

God’s presence is the people’s focus – and it is also, of course, a key part of their military strategy. Moses knew this, which is why he said to God at Sinai, “If your presence does not go….don’t make us go up from here” (Exodus 33:15). God’s presence does go and the people know success when they rely on his presence and power for the battles they face.

The weakness of many churches and Christians is in their inability or unwillingness to allow this pattern to continue. Numbers teaches some pretty sobering lessons about the consequences of fighting in our own strength. Nothing has changed. If God is not at the centre of church life – more precisely, if Christ is not at the centre of our church life - our singing, our praying, our teaching, our fellowship - then our battle is already lost and our journey will be hard and long.

We have no tabernacle, nor temple – but Christ is our temple and he dwells in his church (also called the Temple of God!) by his Holy Spirit.

“Fight the good fight with all your might,
Christ is your strength and Christ your right;
Lay hold on life and it shall be
Your joy and crown eternally.”
(JSB Monsell 1811-75)

Introduction

2008-02-05T23:28:00.001-08:00

One of the most well-loved, well-read and well-known Christian books is The Pilgrim’s Progress, written by John Bunyan and first published in 1678. Famously, it begins, “As I walked through the wilderness of this world…..” All Christians can identify with this description. Paul, Peter and the writer to the Hebrews all tell their readers that they are “aliens and temporary residents” in this world. We have a sense that we don’t belong here; that we are just passing through and that we’re on the way to a much better place – better, in fact, “by far” as the Apostle Paul puts it.

Peter is more explicit. He tells us that we have “an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:4-5). Our Promised Land awaits!

The trouble for Christians is that we’re not there yet. We’re on the way; we are, as the hymnwriter puts it: “pilgrims through this barren land.” This is where the Scriptures are so helpful. They tell us not just about the glories that await, but how we travel towards them. They speak about the joys of life eternal and the joys of following Christ right now.

Numbers is a key book as we journey together. It is quite possible that you have tried to read through your Bible and come unstuck in Numbers. Sure, you may know some of the stories well – the lifting up of the snake, the budding staff of Aaron, the talking donkey – but how do these apply to the Christian life?

It is best to see Numbers as a description of a journey. The people of Israel have already been rescued when the book starts – God has brought them up out of Egypt. At the end they stand on the brink of the Promised Land – and in between we have their journey through the barren land.

This pilgrimage is captured in one of the Jewish titles. Our English title – Numbers – comes from the Greek version of the Old Testament, but this rather undersells the book and fails to capture the excitement and continuing importance for believers. The Jewish people have two names for the book both of which are entirely appropriate and are taken from Numbers 1:1.

The first of these is “And the Lord spoke” taken from the first few words of the verse. As we shall see this is a useful and important title. The phrase is frequently repeated, often at critical times, and serves as a reminder that it is God taking his people through the wilderness – rather than a vague, listless wandering.

The second title is “in the desert” taken from one Hebrew word also found in the first verse of the book. Again, this is an eminently suitable title for both the wanderings of the Israelites and the wanderings of the church.

We need to see that it is “the church” – and not just a series of individual journeys. The census, the marching order, the camping order – all these speak of a togetherness which is found in early Israel and the early church but is often missing from the contemporary church. Numbers teaches us how to journey as a body. We are, like the phrase Stephen uses in Acts 7:38, a “congregation in the desert.”

If we are in any doubt that we should use the book in this way, Paul puts our minds to rest. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 he explains how the desert wanderings are instructive for us today. “Now these things became examples for us, so that we will not desire evil as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6).

In these lessons we, supremely, of course, see Christ. We see Christ explicitly – Jesus says the snake incident in Numbers 21 is an illustration of the crucifixion. We see him implicitly because the entire journey is one of grace. The Israelites in themselves do their best to disrupt it, but God keeps them on track. It is he who eventually brings them to the Promised Land, just as he has promised. As Christians journey to glory, God keeps us too, because Christ himself is the way, the truth and the life.

We have a great future! And we have a great present, because God is with us. Though we may feel put upon and pressed in, though we may (and should) feel uncomfortable in the wilderness of the world we can journey God’s way, according to his holy word. So, let’s learn together what it means to be “in the desert.”