There’s a famous peanuts comic strip where one frame has Linus, standing with his mouth wide open, shouting, “I love mankind . . . it’s people I can’t stand.” Obviously, the humor is to be found in the impossibility of the statement. You can’t love mankind and hate people any more than you can love the church while hating Christians (as the one is made up of the other).
But while it’s easy to laugh at such statements, it’s sadly true that we fall prey to thinking such contradictory thoughts more often than we’d like to admit. Maybe our thoughts aren’t as directly contradictory as saying you love mankind and hate people. Perhaps they’re more along the lines of saying, “I trust God. I’m just worried he won’t give me what I really need.” or “I want to love God more. I just don’t want to give myself to prayer.” And what’s so dangerous about these thoughts is that the more and more we say them, the more reasonable and believable they sound. What once might have appeared obviously contradictory becomes more reasonable and believable so that the contradiction is simply no longer obvious. You can actually find a way to tell yourself that holiness is compatible with gossiping, looking at pornography, or exalting your own desires above everyone else’s around you. That’s one element of the deceitfulness of sin.
And because we’re prone toward drifting into such places and dulling our ability to discern right from wrong and truth from error, it’s incredibly helpful simply to remind ourselves of what should be elementary truths for believers. After all, Paul noted this reality before the Philippians, writing, “To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you” (Phil. 3:1). Frail and forgetful as we are, we need to hear the same things again and again. It’s safe for us, as Paul says.
And because we need reminders and repetition in our lives, it is good and safe for us, as Paul would say to look at Numbers 26-36 this morning. The reason I note that this text is something of a reminder or act of repetition for us is because Numbers 26-36 is very much a repeat of what took place in Numbers 1-10. The book ends a whole lot like it begins. There’s a census in Numbers 1, and there’s a census in Numbers 26. But that’s not where the parallel ends. Just as the first ten chapters provide detailed instruction for what needs to be done to enter and dwell in the land, so these last eleven chapters do the same. The difference is that these last eleven chapters deal with the next generation – the generation that actually will enter the land. You might even structure the book of numbers as three sections. In chapters 1-10, the generation of Israelites that the Lord brought out of the land of Egypt are prepared to enter the promised land. In chapters 11-25, that generation of Israelites rebels against the Lord, the Lord swears they’ll not enter the land, and they die (wandering in the wilderness for forty years). Then, in chapters 26-36, the next generation of Israelites are prepared to enter the wilderness. And the Lord’s preparations for his people are not a whole lot different. That’s why I say that this morning we see a little bit of repetition of what we saw in chapters 1-10.
However, I mean it in another sense as well. This morning, as we look at the text, I want to point out some truths concerning Israel’s task of entering the land that I believe can be seen to be true for us as well. And as you note them, I don’t think you’ll find them to be new information. If you’ve heard much preaching of the Scripture before, these truths have probably been stressed and applied to you. But that’s okay. In fact, I think it’s a good thing, for just as the Lord saw fit to go through all the preparations again with the next generation just as he had the first generation, so he saw fit for us to read Numbers 26-36 not too long after reading Numbers 1-10 (if we’ve been reading through the book). And I think it’s because the Lord knows we need repetition. He knows we need reminders – even of elementary truths. He knows, after all, that we are prone to being deceived and soon doubting what was so obviously true to our minds at one point or believing something to be good that we once quite clearly knew was wicked.
Therefore, this morning, I want to highlight some truths that I think we see from the text concerning Israel’s task of entering the promised land, for I believe that these realities were not only true and helpful for them to understand but equally are applicable and helpful for us. And because of that, I want to make each point directly applicable to us. So, with that said, the first thing that I want to note from the text is that:
Now, you’ll have noticed that I’ve not given an overview of these chapters yet, which is probably necessary any time you’re preaching eleven chapters. But that’s because I think it’s probably best to do it in making this point. You see, I think that Numbers 26-36 can probably be summed up as the Lord providing everything necessary for the task of entering the promised land. These are eleven chapters concerning the Lord’s provision. But, looking in a bit more detail, let’s walk through each of the chapters, showing how the Lord is providing for the task ahead.
First, in chapter 26, he provides a new generation to capture and inherit the land. At the end of chapter 1, after the census, if you knew that this generation of Israelites was going to die in the wilderness, you might ask, “Then how will the Lord replace the little over 600,000 Israelites who were set to enter the land?” Well, the answer comes in chapter 26. Despite the harsh conditions of the wilderness and the numerous acts of judgment that the Israelites have faced, we find in Numbers 26:51 that there are now a little over 600,000 Israelites ready to enter the land. The Lord has provided a generation equal in number to the first that is set to enter the land.
In chapter 27, the Lord’s provides a couple of things. First, he provides a way for a sonless father to get his inheritance. Although Zelophehad had died without sons, the Lord provides a way for his inheritance not to go to another, stating that his daughters can inherit the land. Then, in the second half of this chapter, the Lord provides another leader after Moses, commissioning Joshua to be the people’s leader as they enter the land.
In chapters 28-30 the Lord provides instruction for being able to live day-to-day in the land. In chapters 28-30 he provides instruction for offerings, both on ordinary days as well as special days and in feasts, while in chapter 30, the Lord provides instruction for how to handle vows and whether they will be binding or not in particular situations.
In chapter 31, the Lord instructs Moses to exercise vengeance on the Midianites, since they had enticed Israel to sin, and then the Lord provides the ability for Israel to conquer them. Then, in chapter 32, the Lord provides land where the tribes of Reuben and Gad will settle. They’ll settle on the side of the Jordan short of the promised land, but they’ll fight with their brothers until all the land is captured in Canaan.
In chapter 33, we find a chapter that recounts Israel’s journey along the way, and the Lord provided for them and sustained this generation in the wilderness, while in chapters 34-35 the Lord provides instructions for the boundaries of the land, land for the Levites to live, and cities of refuge where one can go for committing accidental manslaughter.
Finally, in chapter 36, the Lord provides a way for land not to be transferred from one tribe to another. Though the daughters of Zelophehad will inherit the land, they are commanded to marry someone from their own tribe, so that that tribe’s inheritance remains within the tribe.
When we saw these notes in Numbers 1-10, I said then that this reminds us that God accounts for the details of our lives, and I could say that again here, for that is obvious in how many details the Lord addresses in these chapters. However, we could also have said a few weeks ago about chapters 1-10 what I’m saying this morning, namely, that these chapters show that God provides for the tasks to which he calls his people.
God doesn’t just say, “Go into the promised land, and how you will do it, who will lead you, what you’ll do when you’re there, well, all that is up to you.” No, he provides everything necessary. And this is not some exception in the book of Numbers. God faithfully provides what is necessary for his people when he calls them to a certain task. And ironically, we’re always good at pointing out what will be needed.
Consider the call of Moses, for example. The Lord tells Moses that he will go to Egypt and deliver his people from slavery. And what’s Moses’ response? Well, there are a few of them. But one of them is, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice” (Exod 4:1), and another is, “I am not eloquent” (Exod 4:10). Now, do you think the Lord’s thought at that moment was, “I have not considered that at all?” Of course not. And again, when the Lord called Gideon to lead an army of Israelites to destroy the Midianites, Gideon’s response is, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (Judges 6:15).
And the Lord’s response wasn’t, “Why do I keep doing this? I really should consider whether or not this person is going to be able to do the task to which I’m calling him.”
One reason (among many) that that’s not the Lord’s response is because he continually provides for the task to which he calls us. Consider evangelism. He calls us to command a people to repent and believe, but they repent and believe only because the Lord calls them to himself through our words. He provides for the task to which he calls us. Consider the Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians 8-9, Paul encourages them to give generously so as to support the work of the Lord in the churches. Then, Paul declares in 9:8-10, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. . . . He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”
And we could point to other examples, but they’d all affirm the same thing that we see here in Numbers 26-36. The Lord provides for the tasks to which he calls his children. He doesn’t always alert us as to what means he’ll use to provide, but he’ll provide. So, don’t allow yourself to be caught up with anxiety in thinking how God will provide for something you’re doing in obedience to him. Simply trust him and obey what you know to do. I think this is the first and main lesson of these chapters – God provides for the tasks to which he calls his children.
But there are other truths evident here as well. Another is that:
This is illustrated clearly in chapter 31 of our text. This chapter begins with the Lord saying to Moses in 31:2, “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward, you shall be gathered to your people.” Thus, God calls Israel to conquer the Midianites.
But why? The reason goes back to the text we looked at last week. A Midianite woman and Israelite man had committed sexual immorality in the camp, at the tent of meeting. That’s obviously something the Lord had commanded not to be done. Thus, we see the first reminder that God demands absolute obedience.
Then, the Lord had commanded them in verse 3 to execute vengeance on the Midianites, meaning that they should wipe them out. But instead, the people only kill the males. So, Moses is angry, according to verse 14, and tells them that they must kill everyone, sparing only those women who had not been with a man.
This is another illustration of the holiness that God demands of his people. In fact, these scenes of devastating, merciless judgment are one of the most powerful pictures for the holiness demanded by the Lord.
How do we begin to grasp the perfection and holiness of our God? Well, one way is to take a look and see what punishment is fitting for those who rebel against him. And when you see a scene like that in Numbers 31, you see devastating judgment, don’t you? These are the kind of chapters that are hard to read. It’s hard to imagine anyone would want to make a movie of the scene that takes place in this chapter.
Yet this merciless judgment in Numbers 31 (and that which is found in the book of Judges) is only a pale shadow of the judgment that unbelievers will face in hell. In fact, if we didn’t have scenes of judgment like this in the Old Testament, we might be tempted to lessen the description of hell that is found in the New.
So, we have two things in this chapter: 1) God’s command his people to obey him in executing judgment, requiring absolute obedience because they are to be holy like him, and 2) the Midianites receive harsh judgment because God demands absolute obedience, and they have not obeyed.
You see, one thing we see in this chapter is that obedience, holiness is important to the Lord. He requires it of his people. So, as the Lord directs you to something – whatever it is – mission work, adopting a child, teaching school, whatever, there may be a number of things that you don’t know, and you just have to trust him that he’ll provide wisdom, direction, and strength along the way. But there is one thing you do know. Whatever God calls you to, he expects you to obey him along the way. Whether the Lord directs you to live in this city or that, to do this job or that, in all places, at all times, and in all situations, he calls us to see what he has commanded in his word and obey it.
We can’t lose sight of this. Sexual immorality in the midst of getting ready to go into the promised land just wasn’t acceptable. That should have been clear to the Israelites and to the Midianites after the events of Numbers 31. And it should be clear to us as well. After all, these things were written so that we might not desire evil as they did. So, let us make every effort to obey all things commanded by our Lord in whatever task we find ourselves.
Thus, we’ve seen to this point that the Lord provides for whatever task it is to which he calls us, and we see that he calls us to holiness (absolute obedience) in the midst of that task. But there’s more. We also see that:
Chapter 32 is an interesting one. The tribes of Reuben and Gad realize that the land prior to crossing over the Jordan River and entering the promised land is quite good for having livestock. So, they ask Moses if they can just have this land as a possession. And Moses is not happy, asking, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here?” (32:6). But that is not the desire of these two tribes. Rather, they answer in 32:16-19, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.”
And this answer pleased Moses. Why? Because the Lord had not called ten tribes to conquer the land. He’d called all of God’s people to conquer and inherit land. The task before Israel was a corporate task. If Reuben and Gad had simply been concerned about themselves and their own families, they would have been dishonoring the Lord.
Let me even make it stronger. If Reuben and Gad had devoted themselves to raising their families, memorizing the law, offering their sacrifices, abstaining from immorality and the like but weren’t willing to aid the other tribes in making sure they were accomplishing the task to which God called them, then they would have been disobeying the Lord.
You see, the call to live holy lives in the Scripture is never a singular command. The command of the Bible is never just to watch out for yourselves or even just your own family. If you’re not asking how you might aid others in walking in holiness and persevering in the faith, then you’re not setting your mind to holy living. If you’re not investing in some way in the lives of your brothers and sisters so that they hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant,” then you’re not pursuing holiness. And the reason we can say that is because just as the call for Israel to take the land was a call for all the tribes to perform – for themselves and their brothers – so holiness is also a corporate reality for us. Again, if the second commandment is that we love our neighbors as ourselves, then you cannot seek to obey God without regard for aiding your brother in obedience to the Lord.
This is one reason why we have small groups, for example. And it’s one reason our small groups are not so small as to only include your family. We could say, “Take Wednesday nights and make sure your family is applying the sermon in your lives.” But we want more than that. We want our kids to understand that their responsibility is bigger than that. Therefore, we gather with others families, other individuals, and help one another. We pray for one another, serve one another, exhort and encourage one another. And we do it for the same reason that Reuben and Gad would not even consider making their brothers fight for the land by themselves, namely, because God has called all of us to this task. And regarding holiness, God has called his church, his people to holiness.
Therefore, let us devote ourselves more intentionally to seeking out the holiness and growth of our brothers and sisters even as we do our own. That is what, I think, is pictured for us in Numbers 32.
Now, we’ve seen that God provides for the task to which he calls his children, that he demands holiness in every task to which he calls us, and that the call to holiness is a corporate call so that we are responsible to labor for the holiness of our brothers and sisters as well as ourselves. And I want to add one more thing.
The Lord had called this generation of Israelites to take the land. It was a task that God had prepared them for. It was a task in which they were to obey at all times. It was a task they were doing together. But what about those days when they doubted? What about those days when they were tempted to ask, “Is God really going to provide for us? Is God really going to give us strength to conquer the giants?” What were they to do then?
I think the answer to that question is found in Numbers 33. In Numbers 33:1-2, we read, “These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these are their stages according to their starting places.” And thus chapter 33 is filled with the record of their traveling, from one place to another, again and again.
It’s not thrilling reading. And it couldn’t have been a thrilling task for Moses. I doubt Moses ever thought, “I just can’t wait to get into the bed and sit and write, “Set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez.”
So, why did he do it? Well, the text says the Lord commanded him. Well then, why would God command him to do such a monotonous task? I think the answer is so that it would serve as a testimony of God’s faithfulness. If ever the people were tempted to think, “Will God continue to guide us to where we need to go?”, they could read Moses’ record of their journey and say, “Well, he did faithfully guide us all that way.”
It’s the same truth that John Newton was communicating, I think, when he wrote, “Grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” That is, as he looked back on God’s faithfulness, he had every reason to trust that God would continue to be faithful in the future.
So, let’s take your life right now. Perhaps the Lord has set before you a difficult task. Maybe you’re in a position where he has you walking through life single when you wish you were married, raising kids by yourself when you wish you had a spouse with whom to raise them, providing for your family with a job that is harder and less enjoyable than you wish you had, or a thousand others. And it’s wearing on you.
Well, let’s apply the truths of this text as you consider your position in life. First, God had your days written in his book before any of them had been lived. This is not surprising to him. He’s not saying, “I did not see this issue arising.” Rather, he’s put you where you are, and he’ll provide what you need to obey him.
Second, whatever the task before you looks like and the numbers of questions you might have, one thing you can know is that he’s called you to obey him. In the midst of a thousand questions you have, stop, read the Bible, see what he’s clearly commanded, and obey it. And keep doing that.
Third, as you live your life, seeking to honor and obey God in the midst of whatever task he’s given to you, do not forgot that he’s also called you to seek the holiness of others. Do not withdraw and tend to yourself simply because the task that he’s given you is challenging. We’re called to walk together corporately.
And, finally, as you seek to obey Christ and the task he’s set before you, take time to remember his numerous past graces to you so that you might realize that you can trust him now and in the future. And one of those places is Numbers 33. If the Lord provided for their journey, as Moses records, we have every reason to think he’ll provide for ours.
But actually, there’s something more powerful we can remember than Numbers 33. We can look to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. After all, that’s a demonstration of God’s love for us when we were his enemies. It’s a picture of how he’s saved us when we were running from him toward hell. Therefore, this morning, as we come to the table, let us remember the work of Christ, and let this encourage us to trust and obey the Lord who provides for us and has done everything necessary to save us despite our failures in obeying all his commands. Amen.