I think we can often look at the ancient Israelites and think they were a stubborn lot. Tis’ true for sure, but I know my own heart needs the Lord’s grace everyday as I can easily fall in the same way.
Numbers 14: The People Rebel
1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.
2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?"
4 And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.
8 If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.
9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."
10 Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.
11 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?
12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."
Moses Intercedes for the People
13 But Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them,
14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.
15 Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say,
16 'It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.'
17 And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying,
18 'The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.'
19 Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now."
God Promises Judgment
20 Then the LORD said, "I have pardoned, according to your word.
21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD,
22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice,
23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.
24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea."
26 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
27 "How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me.
28 Say to them, 'As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you:
29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me,
30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected.
32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.
33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.
34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.'
35 I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die."
36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land---
37 the men who brought up a bad report of the land---died by plague before the LORD.
38 Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.
Israel Defeated in Battle
39 When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly.
40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, "Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned."
41 But Moses said, "Why now are you transgressing the command of the LORD, when that will not succeed?
42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies.
43 For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you."
44 But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp.
45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.
Numbers 15: Laws About Sacrifices
1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you,
3 and you offer to the LORD from the herd or from the flock a food offering or a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pleasing aroma to the LORD,
4 then he who brings his offering shall offer to the LORD a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil;
5 and you shall offer with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, a quarter of a hin of wine for the drink offering for each lamb.
6 Or for a ram, you shall offer for a grain offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil.
7 And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
8 And when you offer a bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or for peace offerings to the LORD,
9 then one shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with half a hin of oil.
10 And you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
11 "Thus it shall be done for each bull or ram, or for each lamb or young goat.
12 As many as you offer, so shall you do with each one, as many as there are.
13 Every native Israelite shall do these things in this way, in offering a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
14 And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he shall do as you do.
15 For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD.
16 One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you."
17 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
18 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land to which I bring you
19 and when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a contribution to the LORD.
20 Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it.
21 Some of the first of your dough you shall give to the LORD as a contribution throughout your generations.
Laws About Unintentional Sins
22 "But if you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses,
23 all that the LORD has commanded you by Moses, from the day that the LORD gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations,
24 then if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation shall offer one bull from the herd for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the rule, and one male goat for a sin offering.
25 And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the people of Israel, and they shall be forgiven, because it was a mistake, and they have brought their offering, a food offering to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD for their mistake.
26 And all the congregation of the people of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who sojourns among them, because the whole population was involved in the mistake.
27 "If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering.
28 And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who makes a mistake, when he sins unintentionally, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.
29 You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them.
30 But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people.
31 Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him."
A Sabbath-breaker Executed
32 While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.
33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation.
34 They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him.
35 And the LORD said to Moses, "The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp."
36 And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Tassels on Garments
37 The LORD said to Moses,
38 "Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner.
39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.
40 So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.
41 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."
Things to think about…
1. Does the Lord ever get sick of our complaining? Num 14:1-14 would suggest that He does. Joshua and Caleb were two isolated voices in the wilderness against the masses who were speaking out against the taking of the land and the danger of the battle. The people were now speaking against both Aaron and Moses and only Joshua and Caleb were defending the leaders. When we attack those who speak on the Lord’s behalf we are speaking out against God. Our great calling is to be the Lord’s mouthpiece of grace and truth. Please uphold our leaders both in the church and over the country, especially in this period of isolation. We all need Christ’s wisdom.
2. Look at Moses, Num 14:13-19. Even though the people were speaking out against him he intercedes for the people and pleads on their behalf for the Lord to show His character of mercy and grace. Moses shows a true type of Christ – even though he was despised, he loved the unlovely. I confess I find this very difficult at times. What about you? The reality check is to consider the great debt we have been forgiven and then act with grace.
3. Never misrepresent the Lord. The ten spies who came back and gave a bad report died of the plague, Num 14:37. Those who believed their report twenty years old and above would also die, vs 29. The Lord assigns them to forty years of wilderness wanderings. But we see a wonderful promise for Caleb, vs 24. The Lord says he has a different heart and the promise is that he will take an inheritance in the land. Young Joshua of course has the same spirit and will also inherit the land, vs 30. Do you know Christians who when they were younger were bolder in their witness but have now mellowed to a lukewarm complacency. Take heed how you stand lest you fall. Let’s continue to stir one another up in love and good works even to the end. It has been sad to hear the passing of Tim Keller this week, but here was a man who was faithful right to the end of his days and now has his reward in Immanuel’s land.
4. The tragedy of this portion of scripture is that they disobeyed when the Lord’s Spirit was with to take the land and they disobeyed by going later when they were rebelling against the Lord and His leaders. Some think they can take the land in their own strength, even when the Lord nor Moses were present when they left to fight the Canaanites. They all died, Num 14: 39-45. Never fight a spiritual battle with fleshly weapons – you will lose every time. Churches that dull down the Gospel message and go soft on sin and repentance are building with the flesh. Vs 44 reveals their sin, ‘they presumed’ – never do that. Hold me accountable to preach the scriptures faithfully folks, in all its shades in every season.
5. In Num15:1-16 we see the Lord’s grace not only extends to Israel, but also to the sojourner and the stranger that lived among them. Here we see the truth of the gospel as we know it as NT believers – both for Jew and Gentile alike. Let’s never think anyone is ever beyond the reach of the Lord’s love in Christ – pray for grace.
6. More grace – Num 15: 22-31. If anyone sins unintentionally – I.E they did something against the Lord without knowledge – possibly because it was a cultural norm among the people, the Lord gives a space for grace, but only with the appropriate sacrifice. But those who sinned intentionally, they were to be cut off. The same thing is spoken of by Christ in the NT – those who did not know the masters will were beaten with few stripes as opposed to those who knew the masters will who were beaten with many stripes, Luke 12:47. To those who are given much, much is required. But Christ has made a way to be restored, hallelujah!
7. Consider the guy who gathered a few sticks on the Sabbath Num 15: 32-36 – why did they stone him to death? Answer:- He knew not to do anything on the sabbath, yet he sinned against knowledge. We should not think that we serve a different God today. Christ shields the heat, but the fire of judgement is still as fierce. Praise God for grace which covers all our sin. We celebrate this amazing truth this weekend over Easter.
8. The Lord’s table is our tassel of reminder, Num 15: 37-41 “not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after”, vs 39. There are many things that take our attention and we can be unfaithful to Christ as a result, but Jesus by His grace draws us into His presence. We celebrate this Sunday mornings as we gather together for communion. Let’s celebrate the Lord’s supper as we remember Jesus has defeated every enemy this Sunday.
9. Perspective is so important when we understand more about our faith with respect to reasoning out why we should be obedient to God’s word. Num 15:41 “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 “. Our salvation is great, therefore our love and obedience should match the grace extended to us as much as possible.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Sermon:-“Living by faith” – Galatians 3:1-14
a. Abraham was called the friend of God and was considered righteous before the Law of Moses was ever in existence. How was this possible?
b. The Galatians had started well and had accepted and believed the gospel that Paul had preached. Miracles had occurred in their midst. They had ‘fuel in the tank’. What had happened where Paul says “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you”, vs 1.
c. Jay used the example of his old ute not starting because of the fuel. He said imagine if he had been driving around a few months and then decided to try and start the car without fuel again. It would be foolish. How can we, like the Galatians, do the same with respect to faith and the influence and power of the Holy Spirit.
d. Pray for the gospel and your gospel witness to all those who live and work alongside of you.
Prayer Points
1. Continue to pray and Andy in Ipswich hospital and for Sally as she continues to battle Alzheimer’s. Give thanks for Andy’s brother Tad and a loving husband and example of Christ – Richard.
2. The processing of our insurance claim and the repurchasing of equipment.
3. That those who are new to the church are encouraged and settle in well into the church.
4. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you saved.
5. Pray for Kids@church and our Youth group.
6. How you can serve in ministry this year.
7. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. The blessing of our Mother’s Day event on Saturday. Big thanks to Suzanne Willey and many other women who made the day a success. A special mention to Katelyn Gillert who was a great blessing in sharing on her role as a mother as well as a daughter.
2. Young adult’s ministry – keep praying as this ministry grows.
3. Kids@Church ministry is a great blessing. Pray for Rosie and balancing her teaching, family and church worlds.
4. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Church information session 28th May after the morning service.
2. Remember to check your duty rosters for term 2.
3. Community Day Saturday 24th June at Church. More details to follow.
4. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
5. Tune in again this week on our youtube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for May...
Q. 8. Who are they? A. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Bible References – Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2; Jude 20-21.
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” Jer 33:3
