Next Generation (Num.26-Deut.8)

Num.26

Another Census of men 20 and older able to go to war.

1st Census (Num.1:46) - 603,550

2nd Census (Num.26:51) - 601,730

How many had been lost? Not 1,820. Num.26:65 “...For the Lord had said of them, "They shall surely die in the wilderness." And not a man was left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun...” 603,548 had been lost.

Num.27

Questions about transfer of inheritance are answered.

Moses gets a look at the land, but won’t be entering. Why? [His disobedience in striking the rock instead of speaking to it]

Joshua commissioned as the successor.

Num.28

More instructions about 1st month Holy days.

Num.29

More instructions about 7th month Holy days.

8 days of sacrifice took tremendous commitment.

What about Christ’s sacrifice?

Num.30 Vows

30:2 Man shall not violate his word!

30:8 Father or husband can annul a woman’s rash vow.

No lawyers involved here!

Num.31

God tells Moses that his last act would be vengeance on the Midianites. Who were the Midianites?

Descendents of Abraham via Keturah (Gen 25:1)

Relatives of those who sold Joseph to Egypt (Gen.37:28)

Relatives of Moses by marriage? He spent 40yrs here after fleeing Pharaoh.

Midianites slaughtered, except 32,000 young women.

How many Israelites were lost in this battle? Num.31:49 “...Your servants have taken a census of men of war who are in our charge, and no man of us is missing...”

Gratitude led to offering of 16,750 shekels.

Num.32

32:23 “...be sure your sin will find you out...”

Context?

Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh wanted to park their flocks in the land of Gilead, east of the Jordan, short of the promised land (actually the original promise was to extend from the Great Sea to the Euphrates).

They promised to do their part in taking Canaan.

Saying is always easier than doing. But our hearts are known, just like Balaam’s heart was known. Sin will find you out.

Do battle? Be comfortable? Which would you choose?

Do we settle for less than the promise?

Num.33:4 “...while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the Lord had struck down among them. The Lord had also executed judgments on their gods...”

How did God judge “their gods”? Does God judge our erroneous exaltations?

List of places Israel camped:

11 camps up to Sinai.

22 camps after Sinai, then Aaron dies at 123 (33:39)

9 more camps to the Jordan

42 in all. So only 22+9 times was the tabernacle down/up?

Num.33:51-52 “...Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places...”

What would happen if not all? Num.33:55 “...But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live...”

There is a major difference between destroying and making disciples. But failure with either leaves pricks, thorns, and trouble.

Num.34 - Dividing up the land

160 miles in length, and about 50 in breadth.

Eastern border for the 9 ½ tribes was Jordan River.

Was this less than the original promise? Why do we always end up with less than God’s best intentions?

Num.35 - Cities of refuge

Levites to have 48 cities (6 to be cities of refuge).

Why cities of refuge? [for unintentional killings]

Not violent with hard object (35:16-18)

Not premeditated or hateful (35:20-21)

Required more than 1 witness (35:30)

No bail, no early release (35:32)

Confined until the high priest died (35:25)

Only thing that comes close to our current penal system.

Num.35:29 “...These things shall be for a statutory ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings...”

Why? Num.35:33-34 “...So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. 'You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel..."

What has abortion done to America?

DEUTERONOMY - a restatement of the law for the next generation.

The wrong way to think: Deut.1:27 “...and you grumbled in your tents and said, 'Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us...”

The correct way to think: Deut.1:29-30 “...Then I said to you, 'Do not be shocked, nor fear them. 'The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,..”

Deut.2:25 “...This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under the heavens, who, when they hear the report of you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you...”

God’s part?

Deut.4:2 “...You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you...”

Don’t go beyond what He says. Don’t omit anything.

Prov.30:5-6 “...Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar...”

Rev.22:18-19 “...I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book...”

Deut 4 Instructions:

4:9 - Keep your soul diligently.

4:10 - Remember ...teach your children.

4:15 - Watch yourselves carefully.

4:16 - Do not act corruptly.

4:35 - Know the Lord. He is God.

4:39 - Take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

Deut.4:29 “...But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul...”

What do you think it means to search for Him will all your heart and all your soul?

Deut.5 - Ten Commandments

God’s heart: Deut.5:29 “...Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!...”

People’s choice: Deut.5:32-33 “...So you shall observe to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. "You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess...”

Deut.6:4-9 “...Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. "You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates...”

6:7 - teach ...diligently to your sons.

6:12 - watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord.

6:13 - fear only the Lord.

6:16 - not put the Lord your God to the test. NOTE: We test him when we question his Intentions and Expectations.

6:17 - diligently keep the commandments.

6:18 - do what is right and good.

Deut.7:12-15 “...Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. "He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. "You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle. The Lord will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you...”

Deut.7:26 “...You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned...”

Their part? Listen, keep.

His part? Love, bless, multiply.

No abominations? [remember Lev.19 holiness list]

Deut.8:2-6 “...You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. "He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. "Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. "Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. "Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him...”

Where does God lead us? [through our wilderness]

What is He accomplishing? [humbling us, making us understand, disciplining us]

What is the final result? [walking in His ways and fearing Him]