Skip to content The Path of True Discipleship: Numbers 6-7 Mar 17 · 12 min ...more
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The Cost of True Discipleship: The Nazarite Vow 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Our journey today takes us to numbers chapter 6 and 7. Verse 27 of chapter 6, so they shall put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.0:22 Back when I was in high school, I first read the book, The Cost of Discipleship by the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I've since read it a few more times, but he understood that there was a cost0:34 there was a cost to being a follower of Jesus Christ. Now the book, first published in 19 37, could not be more relevant to the church today. Bonhoeffer0:46 wrote of cheap grace, treating God's grace as a as a common thing. This is what he said. Quote, cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline,0:58 communion without confession, absolution without personal confession, cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ living and incarnate.1:10 Commitment is costly. I mean, just look at what god's commitment to us cost him, his only begotten son. So with that back backdrop, let's look at numbers1:22 chapter 6 beginning in verse 1. Then the lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the children of Israel and say to them, when a man, either a man or a woman, consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazarite to1:34 separate himself to the lord, he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink. He shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink, neither shall he drink any grape juice or1:46 eat fresh grapes or raisins. All the days of his separation, he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine from seed to skin. All the days of his vow of his separation, no razors shall come upon1:57 his head until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the lord. He shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of of the hair of his head grow. All the days that he separates himself to2:09 the lord, he shall not go near a dead body. He shall not make himself unclean even for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister when they die because his separation to god is on his head.2:22 All the days of his cell separation, he shall be holy to the Lord. So chapter 6 is about a Nazarite vow unto the Lord. What is it? Well, the word Nazarite is a2:34 verb meaning to separate or to abstain. Remember that the entire nation was to be sanctified or set apart unto the lord, but the priest had an even greater call to be2:46 set apart and the high priest even more so. A Nazarite vow was a voluntary vow of consecration unto the lord, generally by a non priest. Couple of2:58 examples from the Old Testament are, Samson, not the best, but God did use him. He was a Nazarite. And Samuel, in the New Testament, there was John the Baptist. These were men that3:10 were used in, I think, pretty incredible ways by God. And there were 3 main requirements of this Nazarite vow, as we just read. No wine or product of the vine. Now this is obvious. They3:21 were not to be under the influence of wine, or alcohol, but rather the holy spirit. Be filled with the spirit rather than wine, Paul wrote to the Ephesians. No cutting of the hair,3:33 an outward sign of and reminder of this vow, a form of accountability because others knew that they had taken this vow by their outward appearance. And 3, no contact with dead body3:45 bodies, not to be spiritually defiled. This was the same standard for the high priest. Now the vow could be temporary or it could be for life. If temporary, once it was fulfilled, the person3:57 was to make an offering before the lord. We read this verse 13. Now this is the law of the Nazarite. When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of meeting and shall4:08 present his offering to the lord, 1 male lamb in its first year without blemish as a burnt offering, 1 ewe lamb in its first year without blemish as a sin offering, 1 ram without blemish as a peace offering,4:21 a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their grain offering with their drink offerings. Now stop and think about this for a4:33 moment. Commitment to god is costly. Look at what, what was to be made here. Sin offering, this was atonement for sin, a burnt offering, dedication and surrender to4:45 God, a grain offering, which was a thanksgiving and praise offering, a peace offering, which was fellowship and peace with God. Now these these would cost4:56 about 1000 dollars today to to just to to make this offering. It's about 1000 dollars. There's nothing cheap about god's grace and our commitment to him. And, so we we should be5:08 mindful of this, and this is what these offerings were constantly reminding them that god's grace was not cheap. By the way, these 3 offerings, represent 3 dimensions of5:20 restoration, the cleansing, the consecration, and the fellowship. Now over to chapter 7. In chapter 7, we have extravagant worship. TheExtravagant Worship: Tribal Offerings in Numbers 7 5:32 leaders of the 12 tribes bought brought offerings, to the tabernacle. Now you'll recall the first offering, that was made when the children of Israel came out of Egypt was the materials5:44 that were brought for the construction of the tabernacle. This offering is given for the service and the worship in the tabernacle. Verse 1, chapter 7. Now it came to pass when Moses had finished setting up the5:55 tabernacle, did he appoint he anointed it and consecrated it and all of its furnishings and the altar and all its utensils, so he anointed them and and consecrated them. Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their6:06 father's houses who were the leaders of the tribes who and and over those who were numbered made an offering. Verse 3. And they offered their offering before the lord 6 covered carts6:18 and 12 oxen, a cart for every 2 of the leaders, and for each 1 an ox, and they presented them before the tabernacle. Then the lord spoke to Moses saying, accept these from them that6:30 they may be used in doing the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service. By the way, chapter 7 here of Numbers6:42 is the second longest chapter in the Bible. Do you know what the longest is? I I bet you do. It's Psalm 1 19. Now the longest chapter is about the word of god. The second longest chapter is6:54 about the worship of god. Now the leaders of each of these 12 tribes brought the this elaborate offering to the lord. They were all identical. And this, worship,7:06 this procession lasted 12 days. Now this was the third time that they had given money in worship. The first time, they gave it for the golden calf. The second time was for the construction of the7:17 tabernacle, and this third 1 was for the service of the tabernacle. Now it is obvious that they truly did plunder the, Egyptians when they came out. Nearly 400 years of7:29 back wages is what sustained them for the 40 years in the wilderness and gave them the resources to launch this nation. Now the order of the tribes was not random.7:41 It was according in terms of in chapter 7 here of how they gave their gifts. This was according to the organizational structure that God had set up for the nation centered around the tabernacle. We've7:53 already read about this. This is this is basically the order in which they were placed around the tabernacle. East side, that was the first to move when Israel traveled. That was Judah, Issachar, and8:05 Zebulun. The south side of the tabernacle was Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. The west side, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. Then the north side was Dan,8:17 Asher, and Naphtali. And this was gonna they were the rear rear guard Dan was. Some have inquired about the placement of the various tribes and whether or not they were significant to their placement.8:29 Well, they were all in covenant. So, covenantally, they all stood on equal ground as reflected in the offering. The offering was the same from all8:41 12 tribes. However, their positions of service and leadership did differ and in some ways reflected the blessing going all the way back to Jacob upon his son his sons. Now the8:53 tribes on the east side of the camp, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, did carry a special prominence. They had the, the the entrance to the the entrance to the temple9:05 faced east. Judah led the march when, Israel traveled. And then, east and the ancient near east,9:17 symbolized prominence in the camp. So 1 final look. I want you to 1 final point rather. I want you to look at the very last verse, verse 89 of this long chapter.9:29 Now when Moses went into the tabernacle of meeting to speak with him, he heard the voice of 1 speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony from between the 2 cherubim. Thus, he spoke9:41 to him. Notice, god was speaking to Moses above the mercy seat on the ark, which contained the 10 commandments, which is there we have mercy and truth. There is9:53 no mercy without truth. And both we hear god speaking. Let me go back, to chapter 6 as we close, today's, session. In verse 24,The Aaronic Blessing and God's Presence 10:05 we have the blessing, the blessing that Aaron spoke over the people. And and I and I I just wanna leave you with this this morning. Verse 24 of number 6. The Lord bless you10:17 and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to to you. The lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And in verse 27, so they shall10:29 put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them. You see, the name of god carries with it the blessing of God. Go forth in10:41 the name of our lord and savior Jesus Christ and be blessed. Father, we thank you for your word, and, lord, you're so good. Your your grace, your10:53 mercy is, just amazing. And I pray that we would not cheapen that grace because it has been extended to us in such abundance, lord. May we not11:05 take it for granted. Respond to your call to holiness, to walk in relationship with you knowing how expensive your grace is. It required the death of your11:16 son on the cross. We thank you that he rose again from the dead overcoming grave the grave and death. And I pray that we would walk in the newness of that life11:29 with, empowered by the Holy Spirit as we trust in him. So father guide and direct us this day. Use us for your kingdom and glory for we pray this in Jesus' name.11:41 Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning, and until next time, keep standing on the word.11:49 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you12:01 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at f r c dot o r g slash bible.In this video 0:00 The Cost of True Discipleship: The Nazarite Vow5:25 Extravagant Worship: Tribal Offerings in Numbers 710:04 The Aaronic Blessing and God's Presence
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