Numbers 9: Holy GPS

In Hebrew, the Book of Numbers is called "In the Wilderness." That is what this book is all about. It picks up where Exodus left off. We are on our way to the Promised Land. Along the way, there are many lessons to learn about trusting God and believing for miracles in every area of life.

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Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Today’s Focus
• 0:47 Community Invitation & Ratings Request
• 1:12 Setting the Exodus Context
• 2:28 The Second Passover Explained
• 5:40 Inclusion, Symbols, and Foreshadowing
• 7:34 Guided by Cloud and Fire
• 10:25 The Levites’ Move-and-Set Rhythm
• 12:20 From External Signs to Inner Fire

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Hey everyone, and welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

SPEAKER_01: 0:23

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. And today we're going to talk about the best tour guide in history. It's going to be absolutely awesome as we go through Numbers chapter nine. And I can't wait to get into this chapter about just it's finally time. It is finally time for the nation of Israel to get going. And also, they're going to experience a milestone in this chapter that's that's really awesome. And before we get started, if you've enjoyed this and you enjoy walking through the Bible, make sure that you like this on YouTube, if that's where you're at. You uh subscribe to this podcast, share it with people. If you don't mind, go and rate this. We already have three people. Thank you so much. Three people who have rated this podcast. And when you do that, it kind of helps to get out to more and more people. And what would it look like if we created a community where we just read through the Bible together? I think that would be amazing. And this is one of those. Now, don't forget the context. The nation of Israel has just got through getting out of Egyptian bondage. They have gone to Mount Sinai, where they received the covenant from the Lord. They are preparing to march straight toward the promised land. Now, you and I know it's going to take 40 years for them to get there, and an entire generation is going to die off in the process. But that's not what they think. They think they're about to just go right on in. And this is a really, really exciting time. What we're going to look at today is we're going to look like, look at one year after they have gotten out of Egyptian bondage. And you just imagine what's going on. And so I'm going to give you the context before we get into this. And that's once again, remember, the context is king when it comes to reading the Bible. The Bible was not written for us, or excuse me, the Bible wasn't written to us, but it was written for us. So if we tried to read the Bible as though someone wrote it yesterday, then we're going to miss the primary context. The primary context of this was all the way back written to a nation that had just gotten out of Egyptian bondage. And when we realize who it was written to and what was going on during the time, it just adds so much context. Once again, the Bible was not written to us, but it was written for us. And here's the context as we get ready. If you have your Bible, want to open it up with me to Numbers chapter 9. We're going to be reading verse 1 in just a second. But the first half of this chapter talks about this is the second Passover. If you remember, the first one was what was celebrated when they were still in Egyptian bondage, and they were still hoping for liberation from Pharaoh and all the Egyptians. And the Passover was when you took a lamb, you slaughtered it, you put the blood on the doorposts, and you go inside and you you eat lamb chops at night for dinner. While you're they were doing that, the death angel went and slaughtered the firstborn of all of the nation of Egypt. And that's the Passover. You know, that's why they call it that is the death angel passed over all the homes in in Israel, and this is one year later. Imagine the first time they ate it, they were in bondage. Now they eat it and they're free. So let's read this. Numbers chapter 9, verse 1. I can't wait to get into this. Here we go. The Bible says, A year after Israel's departure from Egypt, the Lord, remember, every time it said all caps, Yahweh, Yahweh, the Lord, spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. In the first month of that year, he said, Tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover at the prescribed time. At twilight, on the fourteenth day of the first month, be sure to follow all my decrees and regulations according to this concerning this celebration. So Moses told the people to celebrate the Passover in the wilderness of Sinai at twilight, and it fell on the day of that month. And they celebrated the festival there, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. But some of the men had been ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, so they could not celebrate Passover that day. For more context, read the entire book of Leviticus, but not us. We're going to keep going. They came to Moses and Aaron that day and said, We have been ceremonially unclean by touching a dead body, but why should we be prevented from presenting the Lord's offering at the proper time with the rest of the Israelites? So Moses answered, Wait here until I have received instructions from the Lord. This was the Lord's reply to Moses. Give the following instruction to the people of Israel. If any of the people now or in the future generations are ceremonially unclean at Passover time because of touching a dead body, or if they are on a journey and cannot be present at the ceremony, they may still celebrate the Lord's Passover. They must offer the Passover sacrifice one month earlier, at twilight, on the fourteenth day of the second month. They must eat the Passover lamb at the time with the bitter salads and the bread without yeast. They must not leave any of the lamb until the next morning, and they must not break any of its bones. They must follow all the normal regulations concerning the Passover. But those who neglect to celebrate the Passover at the regular time, even though they are ceremonially clean and not always are not away on a trip, they will be cut off from the community of Israel. And if they fail to present the Lord's offering at the proper time, they will suffer the consequences of their guilt. And if foreigners living among you want to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, they must follow the same decrees and regulations. The same law apply both to the native-born Israelites and the foreigners living among you. So what was happening was is they wanted to celebrate the second one, but Mima or somebody, that's horrible, somebody had died and they got to bury somebody. And they're like, hey, I still want to celebrate. So God made concessions so they could still celebrate the Passover. And if you think about it, think about these specific things. They are to eat unleavened bread, they are to eat bitter salad, and they're eat the lamb, and they cannot leave any of the lamb until morning. You see some of the shadow and symbolism of what's coming in the future? The lamb represents Christ. And he was completely used up. He he died completely on the cross. Bitter salad. He was crucified and it was a bitter thing for him. Unleavened bread. There was no sin in him. There's just parallels all over the place when you look at this. And I love the fact that the Passover could be celebrated by anybody, which is already opening the door for one day. Jesus wasn't just going to die for a few, he was going to die for the sins of all for all time. So this is the second one. And you just imagine how excited they were. I mean, I I would imagine if I were in their place, I was like, look, there's gotta be something I can do, something. I want to celebrate this with my family because we are free. And God says, sure, let's figure out a way we can do this together. Now, the next part, I want you to think about this for a moment. Have you ever had a friend who was a tour guide? Maybe somebody who worked at a museum or a national park or something like that, and you went to where they worked and you got to be on their tour, right? If you've ever done that, then on any other day, on any other tour, you get a nice tour of the artwork or the the countryside, depending on what it is. But if you have a friend who takes you on one, then they do it right. They tell you all the little things and nobody else will tell you. They'll tell you the little things they found out. You might get a VIP pass. You just you just get to have so much fun. And as they lead you, there's never a moment that you wonder what they're doing, right? Like you have complete confidence. My friend is leading, and because he is leading, it's okay. Well, imagine that the King of Kings, God Himself, says, I want you to go from point A to point B, and I'm going to be your GPS. I'm going to be your holy GPS. I'm going to lead you and guide you. That's what the nation of Israel had. And so they have left Egyptian bondage, they've gone to the Mount Sinai, they've got the covenant. They're now, it's a one year later, they're ready to go. And God says, I'm going to lead you to the promised land, and I'm going to lead you. This is how he does it. The Bible says in verse 15, on the day the tabernacle was set up, a cloud covered it. But from evening until morning, the cloud over the tabernacle looked like a pillar of fire. So a pillar, once again, if you remember, just a just a long thing that went from the top of the tabernacle all the way up to the sky, and it looked like fire. So it was some it was either it was actually fire or there was something about it that was like a red tent that made it look like it was fire. This was the regular pattern. At night, the cloud covered the tabernacle that had appeared uh the appearance of fire. Whenever the cloud lifted over the sacred tent, the people of Israel would break camp and follow it. And whenever the cloud settled, the people of Israel would set up camp. In this way, they traveled and camped at the Lord's command wherever he told them to go. They then they remained in the camp as long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle. If the cloud remained over the tabernacle for a long time, the Israelites stayed and performed their duty to the Lord. Sometimes the cloud would stay over the tabernacle for only a few days, so the people would stay only for a few days, as the Lord commanded. Then at the Lord's command, they would break camp and move on. Sometimes the cloud only overnight and lifted the next morning. But day or night, when the cloud lifted, the people broke camp and moved on. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, the people of Israel stayed in camp and did not move on. But as soon as it lifted, they broke camp and moved on. And they camped or traveled at the Lord's command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses. So I can't get away this idea of God is leading them everywhere they go. And there's very practical reasons why he would have. I mean, you're talking between one and three million Israelites, you got to go from water source to water source, and God knows how much that land can sustain them or how long. So he's gonna go from one place to another place, but at the same time, you've got to think it's so funny. I mean, imagine, imagine you are living as a nomad. So you're living very light, you have just a few possessions, but so so for it's one thing for you to get up and go. But imagine you're one of the Levites and you're in charge of moving the tabernacle. So you got to wait for the one group to go in and get all the sacred objects and then they're gone. Okay, then you then the next group goes in. Come on in, uh, group B. You know, group B goes and they get all the curtains down. Okay, they got that down. Now, group C. Group C, those are the those are the weightlifters, right? They're the ones that got to get all the the sticks and the timber and all the all the things. Well, they go and they move. Well, God moves them two miles down the road. They go two miles down the road. All right, group C, go set it up. Group B, but up, and then group A goes in. And then imagine the next day the Lord moves. You know, at least one Levite was like, Really? Really? I just got to bet. God, you know, and then the cloud starts to get dark like it's about to lightning. No, no, no. God, I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about somebody else. It's fine, it's fine. You know, at least one time. They were like, God, I hope you know what you're doing. But he did. And for 40 years, God told them when to move and when not to move. And that really speaks to us today. Because you know, God still does that. The amazing thing is, though, is we don't have to wait and look for a cloud, but we can read God's word. When we read God's word, he leads us and guides us every single day. Because that's what happens. I like to tell people all the time, it doesn't matter what your problem is, read the Bible. Well, Pastor, that this particular situation is not in the Bible. You're right. That particular situation might not be. But as you read God's word, you start to get the mind of Christ. You start to understand the wisdom of God's word. And the Holy Spirit will speak to you through his word. And instead of there being a fire that you can see on the outside, a fire lights on the inside. And he starts to lead us, direct us, and guide us every day. And so if I were to give this chapter a title, it would be a divine GPS leading the way. I wonder what you would do. I want you to put it in the comments if you're looking on YouTube. If you're on the podcast, I have no idea yet how we're going to get connected. I've been thinking about maybe creating a Facebook post or a group because I want to I want us to read this together. Like I want to hear your insights. I want to hear how God is speaking to you. So I look forward to talking to you next time. I want to pray for you and then we're going to read our scripture. And I hope you have a great day. So let me pray for you. Father, thank you that you are our divine GPS. Thank you that you lead us and you guide us in every day. I pray as we read your word together, your word will come alive to us. Your word says your word is quicker than a two-edged sword. It divides the joint and the mouth, the soul, and the spirit. And I pray that as you quicken us on the inside, you'll give us the wisdom we need to live on the outside. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God's word says in Numbers chapter 6, verse 24. May the Lord bless you and protect you. May He smile. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you His peace. I love you. Hope you have a great day. I'll see you tomorrow for Numbers chapter 10.