Learning to Follow God Numbers 18-20
Learning to Follow God-Numbers • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 7 viewsWhen we place our trust in God, we begin a journey learning to follow Him. The journey is never wasted time, but it is strategic time.
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Welcome and Announcements:
If you are joining us for the first time today, we would like to thank you for joining us. We know you have options, and we are honored that you would choose to be with us today.
We open our Sundays with prayer time at 9 a.m. in the Bryant Center across the street. At 9:30 a.m. we have Sunday school classes, children included. We also typically have a prayer group that meets at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon to pray for the needs shared on Sunday mornings as well as other requests provided. If you have a special prayer need, I would like to encourage you to put a note in the offering plate and we will include it in our prayer time.
In our Summer & Fall Sunday services, we have been working our way through the Old Testament. We are currently in the book of Numbers and will continue there through November. The Old Testament is critical to understanding Jesus and why He came and needed to die on our behalf. It also helps us understand what is happening in our world today. The events in Israel right now are directly related to these Old Testament historical events. However, these events also are full of wisdom for our own personal lives. The books of Genesis and Exodus are great reads to understand the background of what we are talking about in Numbers.
If you enjoy listening to your phone, I highly recommend the phone ap, “Through the Word.” You can do a chapter a day Bible study in less than 20 minutes. It is a great way to be in your Bible each day, which helps us to understand how people came into existence and what our ultimate purpose is and our eventual destination.
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Advent Devotionals
Psalm 19:7-14
Psalm 19:7-14
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. 11 By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. 14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
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Worship Through the Word:
Learning to Follow God
Learning to Follow God
Last week, I was pretty tough on the lay leadership of the church. Well today I will bring it in balance because, spiritual leaders (i.e. Pastors) are not off the hook. Today we will see that they sometimes fail, and God holds them just as accountable.
In the book of Numbers, God sounds like a hard task master. He can come off seeming cold and insensitive. When we walk away feeling this way, we have not spent enough time in the Word because that is not the case. In fact, I just heard a pastor say this week. “God does not expect us to be perfect. God just wants us to follow Him.” To this, I would add, God understands that if we do not follow Him, we will suffer eternally. He loves us and is trying every way He can to save us. But He has no desire to take our free will away from us. So, God leaves the choice up to us. That means, our end destination is our own choice.
Moses loved God. He followed God even when he was feeling insecure. However, in today’s account, Moses fails. In a moment of rash behavior, he disobeys God and suffers the consequences. Believe it or not, there is a lesson here that should be a great encouragement to all of us. So, without further ado, let’s jump into it.
Numbers 20:1–13NIV
1 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. 2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” 6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lordappeared to them. 7 The Lordsaid to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.” 9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He 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?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. 12 But the Lordsaid 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.” 13 These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.
The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God!
Father, please bless this Word which you have provided and which we now receive. Amen!
I. Spiritual Leader’s Accountability Notwithstanding
I. Spiritual Leader’s Accountability Notwithstanding
An interesting thing happened to me as I was writing this sermon on Tuesday. I have a software program I use when writing my sermons and when I enter a passage of scripture (i.e. Numbers 20), it inserts the text into my document. This time I entered the wrong passage. I entered Genesis 20 instead of Numbers 20. It took me a moment to figure out my mistake because in Genesis 20 Abraham is in the vicinity of Kadesh and in Numbers 20, we find Moses and the Hebrews at Kadesh. I wonder if it even occurred to them that they were standing on the same ground as their great and who knows how many greats, Grandfather Abraham?
I do not know about you, but when I am visiting historical places, I often think about that. When I was in Philadelphia and standing in Independence Hall, it blew my mind that I was standing in the same spot where George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and so many other historical people had stood. It almost gives you a feeling of defying space and time. You think if you concentrate hard enough, you may even see them. I know! I watch too much sci-fi.
Of course, this is not the first time that these children of Israel have stood on this site. It quickly becomes a “been here, done this” kind of moment for Moses and Aaron. You see, once again they have no water and once again, the people complain instead of asking Moses to ask God for help. However, God wants to do something new this time. But Moses messes up!
Now, in all fairness to Moses, the man was grieving. His big sister died. He had moments of frustration with her. After all, she was a sibling and sibling rivalry is a true thing. But anyone with brothers or sisters will tell you that you may get frustrated with each other, but you still love each other.
Moses is also an old man of 120. He has been leading these people for 40 years and they keep making the same mistakes repeatedly. He is tired of it. When will they learn?
He initially does the right thing. He and his brother Aaron, fall before God seeking God’s council. Now God gives new instruction. Moses is to speak to the rock. If you remember, in Exodus 17 when they were in this position, God had directed Moses to strike the rock. This time, God directs Moses to once again take his staff but to speak to the rock. God does not explain Himself here, but God obviously has something He wants to illustrate for the people.
Now, here is where things get interesting. Moses does not follow God’s instruction. Instead, Moses strikes the rock, not once but twice. By doing so, Moses robs God of the symbolic demonstration He wished to portray and there may have been an even greater offense in this. Let me break these down for you as these are often missed by a general reading of this account.
First, God wanted them to see that even the earth obeys His commands. If the organic matter of this world obeys, why cannot these people?
Second, God was giving them a preview of what would come in the form of the Messiah. The Messiah would bring “living water” and it would be received through a spoken request. All these symbolic visuals are continually found throughout the Old Testament. God was continually pointing to what was yet to come.
However, there is a third possibility that makes this especially tragic. Some believe that just as God led Israel in the form of the cloud/pillar of fire, that Jesus was there in the form of a rock. To understand why they think this, we must go to the writings of Paul in I Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 10:1–4 NIV
1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
If Paul was speaking literally, then Moses literally hit Jesus. This makes Moses’ offense a much greater offense.
If that were not enough, Moses and Aaron took credit for what God was about to do.
Numbers 20:10NIV
10 He 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?”
And this is what brings us to our point today. God’s Spiritual leaders are no less accountable for their actions than any other of God’s people. We see this accountability not only in chapter 20 but also in chapter 18-19.
To help us understand this responsibility of the priests and spiritual leaders. I want us to look at chapters 18 & 19, which follow what we spoke of last week There are several points I wish us to see. I am not going to go into these in great detail but just give a quick overview of each.
God had just proven to all Israel that Aaron was His appointed priest. God follows this with a list of...
A. The Responsibilities of the Priesthood . Numbers 18 & 19
A. The Responsibilities of the Priesthood . Numbers 18 & 19
God wanted both Aaron and the people to understand. This was a position of honor, but it also came with great responsibility as well as accountability. I am skipping a lot in this chapter and just focusing on the basic details, so I recommend reading it through. Some of it is repetitive of things addressed in Leviticus. It is detail oriented, but the details are important.
First, I want you to recognize that God is relating to all Israel the responsibility that God is assigning to Aaron and his family members who follow in his shoes as priest.
1. Responsibility means taking accountability for what goes wrong. Numbers 18:1
1. Responsibility means taking accountability for what goes wrong. Numbers 18:1
Numbers 18:1NIV
1 The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your family are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood.
In other words, “the buck stopped with the high priest.” The high priest oversaw everything pertaining to the Tabernacle. It was his responsibility to make sure things were done correctly and properly. If they weren’t, it was his responsibility to deal with it or be dealt with.
Probably the best example of this was Eli. Do you remember the story of the boy Samuel? Samuel’s mom wanted a baby, but she was barren. She went to the Temple and prayed to God asking for a child and she would in turn, dedicate that son to God’s service. God answered her prayers and at a young age, Samuel was delivered to the priest Eli to raise as a priest. Eli seems to have done right by Samuel, but Eli did not do right by his own boys. They were also being raised as priests, but they did not take it seriously. They used it for their gain and personal enjoyment. Eli did not stop them. The end result? They all died. Eli’s sons fell in battle. God did not protect them because they abused their positions as priests. Eli was a fat, old man and he probably had a heart attack or stroke when he heard of their deaths, as we are told he fell dead from the stool he was sitting on. Samuel then replaced Eli’s family.
With great responsibility comes great accountability.
Even though the priesthood carried heavy responsibility, it was also considered a place of honor and was to be treated as such.
2. The priesthood was a gift from God. Numbers 18:7
2. The priesthood was a gift from God. Numbers 18:7
Numbers 18:7NIV
7 But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.”
It was a gift for the Levites as they were so near to God. It was a gift to Israel as they served Israel as God’s representatives. Think of it this way. Is just anyone chosen to be a Kings right-hand advisor? No! A king chooses someone who has proven himself to be a reliable counselor and someone who gets things done swiftly and correctly. The Levites had shown a passion for God in a very dark time. Israel had sinned and when God asked who was on His side, the Levites stepped up to the plate and purged the people of those who were sinning. God then chose them to be His priests. This did not make them perfect, it just meant that they had a heart for Godly things. They were willing to act when God called.
However, to be God’s chosen is not always easy. How rewarding, or how difficult, depended on the people’s response to God. For one reason, unlike others who just went to work or sold their wares for an income...
3. The priests income and provisions were provided by the people. Numbers 18:11-14, 21
3. The priests income and provisions were provided by the people. Numbers 18:11-14, 21
Numbers 18:11–14, 21 NIV
11 “This also is yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it. 12 “I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the Lord as the firstfruits of their harvest. 13 All the land’s firstfruits that they bring to the Lordwill be yours. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it. 14 “Everything in Israel that is devoted to the Lord is yours…21 “I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting.
Now, when the people were faithful, they had it pretty good. The best of the first of everything was to come to God. However, when the people were not faithful, they did not give their best. Often, they failed to give much at all. At such times, the priests did not have it so good.
Now, do not get feeling too bad for the priests, because over time, they took advantage of this and robbed the people. In Jesus’ day, the priests were living pretty good, and not through the generous giving of the people.
But what I am saying is that, when the people were right with God, things went well for the priests. When the people were not right with God, the priests felt the backlash of that as well.
Another blessing/sacrifice that the Levites carried in this honored position was...
4. The Lord’s dwelling was their inheritance instead of any land in Canaan. Numbers 18:23
4. The Lord’s dwelling was their inheritance instead of any land in Canaan. Numbers 18:23
Numbers 18:23NIV
23 It is the Levites who are to do the work at the tent of meeting and bear the responsibility for any offenses they commit against it. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites.
While all the other tribes were given land to own and provide for their needs, the Levites had to make their homes around the Tabernacle or the people. They were to take care of God’s dwelling. God does provide for them some land and cities among the other tribes. A priest needs to be near those he or she ministers to. So, each tribal inheritance was to include a city for the priests and land for them to keep the animals given to God. This comes with its own set of blessings and struggles. In our culture we have a similar practice. Many pastors through the years have never owned their own homes. Instead, they lived in parsonages. In these cases, pastors are released from the financial responsibility of a home and not required to have as much income. However, there are financial benefits to owning a home that pastors lose. Especially come their days of retirement. More recently, pastors have been encouraged to own their homes for this reason. However, though a financial benefit to pastors, this is a headache every time a pastor is called to move somewhere new, and we often find we struggle to gain any equity from our homes which defeats the purpose.
Another responsibility was...
5. The priests were required to tithe as well! Numbers 18:26-28
5. The priests were required to tithe as well! Numbers 18:26-28
Numbers 18:26–28 NIV
26 “Speak to the Levites and say to them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord’s offering. 27 Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. 28 In this way you also will present an offering to the Lordfrom all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord’s portion to Aaron the priest.
Just because they were elected to be God’s, did not release them from the same responsibilities to God. It was expected that they obey God and to give God a tithe as well.
There is one last detail found in chapter 19 that I do want to mention. (BTW, if you have heard in the news about Israel’s efforts to get red heifers to reinstate the priesthood, this chapter is where this is discussed). Red heifers were used for special kinds of cleansing, particularly the cleansing and anointing of priests. However, one other practice was…
6. The priests were to cleanse the defiled . Numbers 19
6. The priests were to cleanse the defiled . Numbers 19
For both reasons of spiritual necessity and hygiene, the priests were expected to touch people that no one else had to touch in order to cleanse them. Even today, when someone calls for a pastor, I at times need to visit people that are contagious or have been injured beyond what most like to see. Many pastors serve as chaplains and therefore see graphic deaths and injuries most people are thankful to avoid.
There is honor in such a profession, but there are great sacrifices that many never have to consider. Most of all, we carry the concerns of many who we feel responsible for, who seem to continually turn away from God. It is probably one of the heaviest parts of our jobs.
Now, let’s return to chapter 20 again. This time we will broaden the theme to...
B. The Responsibility of Spiritual Leaders. Numbers 20:1-13
B. The Responsibility of Spiritual Leaders. Numbers 20:1-13
Aaron was the high priest, but Moses could be considered the pastor. Both were spiritual leaders before the people. That means they had a responsibility to be God’s representative. However, over time there are some weaknesses that all such leaders can fall prey to, and I want to quickly highlight four of them from this account, as they affect spiritual leaders still today.
1. Impatience with old issues. Numbers 20:1-5
1. Impatience with old issues. Numbers 20:1-5
Ecclesiastes says there is nothing new under the sun. In other words, the foundational sins occur repeatedly. Sometimes when you hear the same complaints or issues, you become desensitized. It becomes easy to condemn rather than deal with it in a loving, and merciful way.
In this situation, God wanted to show His love. He wanted to demonstrate that all they had to do was ask, and He would answer. However, Moses was tired of it all. He acted in anger, and he robbed God of the mercy He wished to show to the people. God lost an opportunity in that moment to show a gracious response to this new generation who were getting ready to enter the promised land.
Sometimes as pastors, we get tired of hearing some of the same heartaches. Especially if we can see where people have made their own problems through bad behaviors. When I was in my early 20’s, I witnessed a woman who came and cried every week. Her husband had left her, and she was devastated. However, after several months I saw no difference. I became impatient with her and believed that she just did it for the attention. I had no confidence that she would ever grow in spiritual maturity. I then left to go into the ministry. A few years later I saw this woman and did not recognize her. She was very involved in the ministries of the church, and she was so happy. I mentioned my shock to my mom, and she scolded me for being so cold. She told me I needed to learn to be more patient with people. It takes some people longer than others to learn and grow. I took that lesson to heart, and I have tried to be more patient ever since.
Spiritual leaders are God’s representatives and the most important thing we can demonstrate is God’s love and patience. I know that God has not sounded so patient at times through these events, but I hope next week I can show you why that is. God is patient. But God had a short period of time to teach these people something extremely important.
The second mistake spiritual leaders can make is that they forget that...
2. The solution comes from God not us . Numbers 20:6-9
2. The solution comes from God not us . Numbers 20:6-9
God had a plan how He wanted to resolve this problem and as I said before, it was to reveal His love and to point to His future act of love. As God’s representative, Moses was expected to follow God’s instructions to the letter. Moses began well. He and Aaron went to God and prayed. When God instructed him to get his staff, he complied. However, for some reason, Moses did not follow through with God’s final instruction. Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses hit it twice. Maybe he felt this was more dramatic. Or maybe he was tired that they were in this position again. Maybe he was angry because he feared the people’s response would keep them from entering the promised land again. We will never know this side of heaven. One day, we may come across Moses on those streets of gold and when we do, we can pull him aside and ask him. “What were you thinking?!” Until then, we can only guess. But at that moment, Moses took on solving the situation by himself. God was gracious by giving water anyway. The people needed the water, and God provided it despite Moses lack of control.
If his actions were not bad enough, Moses made an even greater sin that too many of us do as well. That is...
3. Taking credit for what God has done. Numbers 20:10-11
3. Taking credit for what God has done. Numbers 20:10-11
Look again at Moses words...
Numbers 20:10NIV
10…“Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”
It can be too easy to take responsibility for things God has done. Not just for leaders but for anyone. King Hezekiah made this mistake when he bragged about all that he had. I have at times found myself doing the same, even when it has not been in a pastoral capacity. Through many miracles God provided me a camping trailer back in 2004. I have at times found myself saying to people, “I got this in a great deal.” It was not a deal. It was a miracle of God from beginning to finish. Yes, the price was unheard of, but I know it was only because God was in the deal. God even directed in how I found it. We need to be careful about taking credit for things God has done.
And finally,
4. Forgetting that we are not above God’s discipline . Numbers 20:12-13
4. Forgetting that we are not above God’s discipline . Numbers 20:12-13
Aaron must have been complicit with Moses. Maybe it was a situation like Eli in that he didn’t speak out against it. Whatever the case, neither Moses nor Aaron gets to enter the promised land. This wasn’t easy for Moses. In fact, in a later chapter of Numbers we find Moses asking God to allow him to briefly see it. God says, “no.” Not because God isn’t compassionate. Because God is just. God does not make one rule for His leaders and another for the followers. God expects both to obey and even more so, those in leadership.
Jesus spoke about the responsibility and accountability of leaders in Luke 12. He says, “Too whom much is given, much is required.” There are many blessings in spiritual leadership. However, there are many sacrifices and accountability as well. So, those like Korah whom we spoke of last week, need to keep these in mind when they covet our positions.
Conclusion:
As I close, there is one final thought I wish to share from this passage. This is the biggest takeaway I wish to leave you today. This account of Moses’ failure should give us great encouragement. This may seem weird, but here is my take on this account. Many of those people who died in the desert had no real love or interest in God. They never made it to Canaan, and I doubt they made it to the place called Abraham’s bosom. If you recall the story that Jesus shared of the beggar who asked for food from the rich guy. They both die shortly after, and you see the rich guy in torment. He then sees some distance away, the beggar in Abraham’s bosom being fed and comforted. These places demonstrated the holding places of the Old Testament dead until Jesus died. I suspect many if not all of those who died in that desert found themselves with that rich man in torment. They had no real love for God. Their attitudes never changed. They never really trusted God. However, the story was different for Moses, and I assume Aaron as well. How do I know? Because Moses is with Jesus in that moment when He was transfigured before the apostles. Moses is alive and with Christ. Moses was not perfect, and he suffered the consequence of his disobedience in that moment. However, Moses loved God. He accepted God’s discipline here on earth, but it never carried over into eternity. Instead, he has his full reward.
Take this to heart! If you love God, you may sometimes fail. You may even feel the sting of consequences here on earth. However, it isn’t over for you. God doesn’t expect you to be perfect. If we were able to be perfect, Jesus would not have had to die for our sins. Our salvation would depend on our work and our perfection, which we have already shown we are unable to achieve. OH, how glad I am that this is not the case. Salvation is through faith in Jesus’ death on the cross for my sins. I may not be perfect, but I am saved! Hallelujah!
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