By Bishop Elijah H.
Hankerson III, BA, MA, DD
LESSON NOTES:
I.
THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE ENTIRE BIBLE. If you understand that the Bible is written to show us how
humanity was created for God, fell into sin, was reconciled through Christ (who
was the product of a family) and God will restore everything through His
sacrifice on the Cross; then you have the message of the entire Bible.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 17Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new. 18And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us
to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of
reconciliation; 19To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the
world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed
unto us the word of reconciliation. 20Now then we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead,
be ye reconciled to God. 21For he hath made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
II.
THE AUTHOR OF NUMBERS.
It is commonly believed that Moses was the author of Exodus.
That is the only way that pre-historic information could have been received and
transmitted. Moses received this information when he went to the top of Mount
Sinai and heard from the LORD.
Exodus
19:20 20The
LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top
of the mountain. So
Moses went up
Exodus
24:15 15When Moses
went up on the mountain,
the cloud covered it,
Exodus
24:18 18Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And
he stayed on the mountain
forty days and forty nights.
Exodus
24:12-13 12The LORD
said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will
give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for
their instruction." 13Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses
went up on the mountain of God.
Exodus
34:2 2Be ready in
the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on
top of the mountain.
Exodus
19:3 3Then Moses
went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said,
"This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are
to tell the people of Israel:
III.
WHY THE STRANGE NAME FOR THIS BOOK. This book is called Number because there was a census taken
of the new nation. The people were “numbered” thus it is called Numbers. From
these texts we can see that God is a God of order. There was to be order in
worship, order in the military and order in neighborhoods with the Tabernacle
as the central structure. This is symbolic of how God, in an orderly fashion took
us from Eden to Calvary and how He is taking us from Calvary to the New
Jerusalem.
Numbers 1:1-4 1The
LORD spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first
day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of
Egypt. He said: 2"Take a census of the whole Israelite
community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. 3You
and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who
are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army. 4One man
from each tribe, each of them the head of his family, is to help you.
Numbers 1:47-53 New International Version
(NIV)
47 The ancestral tribe of the
Levites, however, was not counted along with the others. 48 The Lord had said to Moses: 49 “You
must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. 50 Instead, appoint the Levites to be in
charge of the tabernacle of the covenant law—over all its
furnishings and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the
tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and encamp around
it. 51 Whenever the
tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever
the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who
approaches it is to be put to death. 52 The
Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each of them in their own
camp under their standard. 53 The
Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle of the
covenant law so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelite community.
The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the
covenant law.”
IV.
THE PURPOSE OF NUMBERS. Numbers
is filled with murmuring and complaining. It demonstrates that while God’
promises are wonderful; when we fail to respond in faith, we fail to see those
promises materialized in our lives. God has blessed us with a wonderful plan of
salvation. But, if we fail to respond in faith, we cannot be saved.
John 5:24 - Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Ephesians
2:8-9 8For it is by grace you have
been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of
God- 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
A.
THE ISRAELITES HAD ALREADY DONE THEIR SHARE OF GRUMBLIG UP
TO THIS POINT.
Exodus 5:21
And they said to
them, “The Lord look
on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and
his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
Exodus 5:22
Then Moses turned to
the Lord and
said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?
Exodus 5:23
For since I came to
Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have
not delivered your people at all.”
Exodus 14:11
They said to Moses,
“Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die
in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?
Exodus 14:12
Is not this what we
said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it
would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the
wilderness.”
Exodus 15:24
And the people
grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
Exodus 16:2
And the whole
congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the
wilderness,
Exodus 16:12
“I have heard the
grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat
meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know
that I am the Lord your
God.’”
Exodus 16:3
And the people of
Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the
land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you
have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with
hunger.”
Exodus 17:2
Therefore the people
quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to
them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”
Exodus 17:3
But the people
thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why
did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock
with thirst?”
B.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT MURMURING AND COMPLAINING?
1 Corinthians
10:10
Nor grumble, as some
of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
Philippians
2:14
Do all things without
grumbling or questioning,
James 5:9
Do not grumble
against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge
is standing at the door.
Jude 1:16
These are grumblers,
malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed
boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
Hebrews 6:12
So that you may not
be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the
promises.
V.
WHAT WAS ALL THE COMPLAINING ABOUT?
A.
COMPLAINING BECAUSE OF THEIR HARDSHIPS AND LACK OF
DELICIOUS FOOD.
Numbers 11:1-10
And the people
complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard
it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and
consumed some outlying parts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses,
and Moses prayed to the Lord,
and the fire died down. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because
the fire of the Lord burned
among them. Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the
people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We
remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons,
the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. ...
B.
COMPLAINING BECAUSE THE SITUATION IN THE PROMISED LAND
WAS NOT WHAT THEY EXPECTED. While the
land flowed with milk and honey (meaning it was fruitful) it was infested with
giants. Out of the twelve spies that investigated the land; only Joshua and
Caleb brought back a good report. The report of the other brethren, sent the
nation into an uproar.
Numbers
14:26-37
And the Lord spoke to
Moses and to Aaron, saying, “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble
against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they
grumble against me. Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my
hearing I will do to you: 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, 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. ...
1.
GOD SWORE THAT THESE
PEOPLE WOULD NOT ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. The men 20 and over would not enter
in. Only their children, the Levites, Joshua and Caleb and those that believed
God.
Deuteronomy
1:39 39And the
little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet
know good from bad-they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they
will take possession of it.
Psalm
95:11 11So I
declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'"
Hebrews
4:3 3Now we who
have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on
oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet his works
have been finished since the creation of the world.
2.
EVENTUALLY POOR MOSES
COULD NOT EVEN ENTER THE PROMISED LAND; BECAUSE OF HIS FRUSTRATION WITH THE
PEOPLE. Causing him to act out unseemly.
Numbers 27:12-14 New International Version (NIV)
12 Then the Lord said
to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see the
land I have given the Israelites. 13 After
you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother
Aaron was, 14 for when
the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you
disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were
the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)
C.
COMPLAINING BECAUSE THEY FELT THAT MOSES AND AARON HAD
TOO MUCH POWER.
Numbers 16:3
They assembled
themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have
gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among
them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”
D.
COMPLAINING BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT MOSES WAS PROMOTING
HIMSELF.
Numbers 16:13
Is it a small thing
that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill
us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us?
E.
COMPLAINING AMONG THE
LEVITES OF AARON AND HIS FAMILY HAVING TOO MUCH INFLUENCE. This was instigated
by Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
Numbers 16:14
Moreover, you have
not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us
inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We
will not come up.”
And Moses said to
Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: is it too small a thing for you that the
God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you
near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the
congregation to minister to them, and that he has brought you near him, and all
your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood
also? Therefore it is against the Lord that you and all your company have gathered
together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”
F.
COMPLAINING THAT THE TROUBLE MAKERS HAD BEEN JUDGED. God opened up the ground and swallowed the
instigators alive. But, the people yet complained.
Numbers 16:41
But on the next day
all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against
Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.”
1.
BUT GOD CONFIRMED AARON’S LEADERSHIP AS HIGH PRIEST.
Numbers 17:10
And the Lord said to
Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign
for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest
they die.”
G.
COMPLAINING THAT THERE WAS NOT FOOD OR WATER.
Numbers 20:2-5
Now there was no
water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against
Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would
that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! Why have you brought the
assembly of the Lord into
this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have
you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place
for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”
Numbers 21:5
And the people spoke
against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die
in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this
worthless food.”
VI.
SEXUAL SIN WAS A CONSTANT ISSUE. This was somewhat of a family issue that had gone
back to the time of Abraham and Lot. Keep reading…
A.
BALAK THE KING OF MOAB HIRED BALAK TO CURSE THE
ISRAELITES. What is amazing is that this is Israel’s own
flesh and blood trying to curse them. The Moabites were descendants of Lot,
Abraham’s nephew. Lot had had drunken sex with his two daughters and one result
was ancestor of the Moabites (Genesis 19:37). The other was the ancestor of the
Ammonites.
Numbers
22:1-6 1Then the Israelites
traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho.
2Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the
Amorites, 3and Moab was terrified because there were so many people.
Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites. 4The
Moabites said to the elders of Midian, "This horde is going to lick up
everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field." So Balak
son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, 5sent messengers
to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River, in
his native land. Balak said: "A people has come out of Egypt; they cover
the face of the land and have settled next to me. 6Now come and put
a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I
will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that
whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed."
Numbers
23:8 8How can I curse those whom
God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?
B.
BALAAM GOT THE ISRAELITE TO CURSE THEMSELVES BY THEIR
COMMITTING SEXUAL SIN.
Numbers 25:1-9 1While
Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality
with Moabite women, 2who invited them to the sacrifices to their
gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. 3So
Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the LORD's anger burned
against them. 4The LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of
these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so
that the LORD's fierce anger may turn away from Israel." 5So
Moses said to Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death those of
your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor." 6Then
an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes
of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the
entrance to the tent of meeting. 7When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the
son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his
hand 8and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear
into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman's stomach.
Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; 9but those who
died in the plague numbered 24, 000.
VII.
JESUS IN NUMBERS.
A.
JESUS IS
SYMBOLIZED BY THE BRAZEN SERPENT. The people complained so bad that God
had snakes to start biting them. The remember was to make a brass snake and
lift it up on a pole. Whoever looked up lived. Whoever did not look up died.
Numbers
21:4-8 4They traveled from Mount
Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew
impatient on the way; 5they spoke against God and against Moses, and
said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" 6Then
the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many
Israelites died. 7The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned
when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take
the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8The
LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is
bitten can look at it and live."
1.
THE SNAKE BEING LIFTED UP REPRESENTS
JESUS ON THE CROSS!
John 3:14-16 14Just as
Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted
up, 15that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."
16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life.
B.
JESUS IS
SYMBOLIZED BY WATER FROM THE ROCK THAT WAS STRUCK. Moses struck a
rock so that the people could receive water. (This also led to his denial of
entrance into the Promised Land).
Numbers 20:10-13 10He and Aaron gathered the
assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen,
you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" 11Then
Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed
out, and the community and their livestock drank. 12But the LORD
said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor
me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community
into the land I give them." 13These were the waters of Meribah,
where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he was proved holy among
them.
1.
JESUS IS THAT
ROCK, THAT WAS STRUCK FOR US, SO THAT WE CAN RECEIVE LIVING WATER.
Ephesians 2:19-22
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Psalm 118:22-23
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the LORD’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Psalm 118:22-23
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the LORD’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
Isaiah 28:16
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
“ Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
“ Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.
Matthew 21:42-44
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘ The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the LORD’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘ The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the LORD’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
1 Corinthians 3:9-12
For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
1 Peter 2:6-8
Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
"Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,
"The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone," and
"A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
"Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,
"The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone," and
"A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
Isaiah 8:14
He will be as a sanctuary,
But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
To both the houses of Israel,
As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Daniel 2:34-35
You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
He will be as a sanctuary,
But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
To both the houses of Israel,
As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Daniel 2:34-35
You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Daniel 2:44-45
And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold;the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."
And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold;the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."
Luke 6:49
But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
Acts 4:11
This is the "stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone."
This is the "stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone."
Romans 9:33
As it is written:
' Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.'
As it is written:
' Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.'
1 Peter 2:4
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
Matthew
26:67-68 67Then
they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others
slapped him 68and said, "Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit
you?"
John
18:22 22When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby
slapped him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high
priest?" he demanded.
Isaiah 53:4 4Surely
he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isaiah 12:3 3With
joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
John 4:14 14but
whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I
give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to
eternal life."
John 4:10 10Jesus
answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for
a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you
living water."
C.
JESUS IS
SYMBOLIZED BY JOSHUA REPLACING MOSES. Moses was to consecrate his successor in
the person of Joshua.
Numbers 27:12-23 New International Version (NIV)
12 Then
the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim
Range and see the land I have given the Israelites. 13 After you have seen it, you too will be
gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14 for when the community rebelled at the
waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me
as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh,
in the Desert of Zin.)
15 Moses
said to the Lord, 16 “May
the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint
someone over this community 17 to
go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in,
so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
18 So
the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the
spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him. 19 Have him stand before Eleazar the priest
and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. 20 Give him some of your authority so the
whole Israelite community will obey him. 21 He
is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by
inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his
command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his
command they will come in.”
22 Moses
did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before
Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. 23 Then he laid his hands on him and
commissioned him, as the Lord instructed
through Moses.
1.
JOSHUA IS SYMBOLIC OF JESUS. Moses represented the Law. The Law could teach you how to
life once you left Egypt. But, it could not take you into the Promised Land.
Only Joshua could do that. Joshua’s name in Hebrew is YESHUA. Jesus name in
Hebrew is YESHUA. Because of what Jesus did, that is the saving name!
Acts 4:12 12Neither is there salvation in any
other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we
must be saved.
VIII.
PRAYER
FOR SALVATION. As we close, if you
have not received this Jesus pray this simple prayer:
"Father, I know that I have sinned against
You. Please forgive me. Wash me clean. I promise to trust in Jesus, Your Son. I
believe that He died for me—He took my sin upon Himself when He died on the
cross. I believe that He was raised from the dead. I surrender my life to Jesus
today.
"Thank You, Father, for Your gift of forgiveness and eternal
life. Please help me to live for you. In Jesus' name, Amen."
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