Skip to content Numbers 1-36 - The Bible from 30,000 Feet | Skip Heitzig Apr 25 · 1 hr 4 min ...more
Numbers 1-36 - The Bible from 30,000 Feet | Skip Heitzig
April 25, 2024 · 1 hr 4 min
Numbers details two Hebrew censuses: one of the Exodus generation's journey and their disobedience, and another of the new generation led into the Promised Land by God's faithfulness.
Series The Bible from 30,000 Feet | Skip Heitzig
Skip Heitzig ministers to over 15,000 people as senior pastor of Calvary Church in Albuquerque. He reaches out to thousands across the nation and throughout the
April 25, 2024 · 1 hr 4 min · The Bible from 30,000 Feet | Skip Heitzig
Numbers details two Hebrew censuses: one of the Exodus generation's journey and their disobedience, and another of the new generation led into the Promised Land by God's faithfulness. ...more Show the full description Show less Numbers details two Hebrew censuses: one of the Exodus generation's journey and their disobedience, and another of the new generation led into the Promised Land by God's faithfulness.
Series The Bible from 30,000 Feet | Skip Heitzig Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
In this video 0:00 The Journey of Faith and Obedience18:29 Complaints and Consequences40:09 Lessons from the Wilderness
The Journey of Faith and Obedience 0:02 The Bible from 30000 feet, soaring through the Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.0:13 You know, you don't have to love algebra or be a mathematician or an accountant or even like math to appreciate the Book of Numbers, because it's not a book about mathematics, even though0:25 it's called the Book of Numbers. And even though the Greek title for this book is Arithmoi, from whence we get arithmetic, that's0:37 really not what it's about. And even though the Latin Vulgate is the title numeri or numeri, which means numbers, it's really not0:48 about math or numbers or algebra. It's about taking a census. That's what the book gets its title from. In the book, there are 21:00 times where God instructs Moses to get the leaders to take a census or a numbering of the people. Numbering,1:12 to be more specific, of the fighting men or the men available to be conscripted into a battle, age 20 and above, who can fight1:24 in wars that will take place in the land that he's bringing them into. To catch you up, the family of Jacob has grown immensely.1:37 When we close the book of Genesis, we found them safely perched in the land of Egypt. There was a famine in the land. Joseph became the prime minister. The children of1:49 Jacob find their protection and provision in the land of Egypt. That's where the book closes. So they have found their protection in the land of Egypt. By the time we
2:00 get to the book of Exodus, it opens up where their provision turns into persecution. 400 years go by. Now there is a pharaoh on the
2:12 throne of Egypt who does not know who Joseph, the 1 time prime minister, was. And frankly, he doesn't care. He enslaves the Hebrew people because they are
2:24 growing very quickly. And the Lord in the book of Exodus raises up a guy by the name of Moses to lead them out of Egypt. So the book
2:36 of Exodus is an exit. That's what exodus means. They leave Egypt via the leadership of Moses. And God brings them out into the wilderness, once again
2:48 protected and provided by God himself. That takes us to the book of Leviticus where for 1 year, a little over a year, year and a couple months, they're encamped around Mount Sinai.
3:00 At Mount Sinai in the book of Leviticus, God gives them laws. He has given them the 10 commandments, but he gives them way more than that. He gives them laws covering virtually every area of life,
3:12 and God gives them a blueprint for a very interesting structure we have already noted called the tabernacle. So they are told who to worship, they are told how
3:24 to worship, and they are given a place where to worship in the tabernacle. By the time we get to the book of Numbers, it is time for the journey to begin. That
3:36 is why some people call the book of Numbers the book of journeyings because it is about a journey that takes place. Others
3:48 who have read a little more carefully don't call it the book of journeyings. They call it the book of murmurings Because a lot of that takes place, if you've read this book, if you're a bible student, you
4:00 know that the children of Israel become really, really good at griping. In fact, they have refined it to an art form by the time we get to this book. They do it so
4:11 much. So the book of Numbers or the book of Journeyings or the book of Murmurings. I'm gonna give it my own title. On the Road Again. That's the theme song of
4:23 this book. On the Road Again, Moses and I traveling on the road again. Because they're journeying, but they manage to take an 11 day
4:35 journey and turn it into a 40 year wandering, or you might say, a 2 week trip into a 40 year trial as they meander and
4:47 wander in the desert. So Mount Sinai, where they are at this point, the book begins at Mount Sinai, and it ends at the plains of Moab getting
4:59 ready to enter the promised land. But about almost close to 40 years transpired. 38 years and 11 10 months to be most exact.
5:11 So the book begins at Mount Sinai. The trip from Mount Sinai get this. The trip from Mount Sinai to the entrance to the land of promise, a
5:22 town called Kadesh Barnea, is an 11 day journey. It's all it takes. How do we know that? Because Deuteronomy, Moses reminds them of that. Said it's really an 11 day
5:34 journey. But they managed to take an 11 day journey and and move it to a 40 year march because that's what happens in this book.
5:46 38 years and 10 months later, instead of 11 days, they come to the edge of the promised land. As I was reading the book of Numbers this week, and by the way, every time I read the book of Numbers,
5:58 there's a little thing that happens in my mind. I think back to my family vacations. My dad loved to drive across country. And we had, at a particular time for a lot of our vacations, a
6:10 white Rambler station wagon, 4 door with a hatch in the back. And dad figured he could, you know, drive from California to New Ulm, Minnesota straight
6:22 through. It's 2000 miles. Well, when you have 4 little kids, I have 3 older brothers. I was the baby in the family. And during that trip, I acted like 1, and so did my other 3 brothers. But
6:34 it was like a gripe fest. That was a miserable time for a lot of us and I'm sure for my parents. Are we there yet? We gotta pee. We're hungry. Stop at Stuckey's. You know, just this
6:47 so that's that's me with 3 brothers. I can't imagine being Moses with 3000000 people in his Rambler station wagon going from
6:59 Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea. And it gets so bad Well, you'll see it for yourself. Now, I mentioned there are 2 numberings in this book, 2 census takings.
7:11 Right? Chapter 1 is 1. Chapter 30, chapter 26 is the other. And that's because there's 1 generation that is numbered. They effectively die off. You'll see
7:23 why. The new generation is numbered in chapter 26. If you wanted to, you could divide the book of numbers up that way, just in 2 sections. The first section being the first
7:34 generation, chapter 1 through 25. The second part, chapter, 26 through 36, the second census that is taken. But I prefer to give you
7:46 this outline for the book of Numbers. Chapters 1 through 4 is organization. Organization. The people are organized. God says number them. Number them by
7:58 tribe. Number them by by leaders' names. Get them all numbered. Number the priests as well. So it's all about organization. That chapter is 1 through 4. The second after organization
8:09 is disorganization. You'll see why they get so disorganized. It's their complaining that disorganizes the camp. That's chapter 5 through chapter 25. So
8:21 you have organization, disorganization, and the third section of the book is reorganization. And the reorganization takes place not with the old, but a brand new
8:33 generation, those who have grown up effectively in the wilderness wandering. So organization, disorganization, and the last part of the book, reorganization. Let's begin right in chapter
8:45 1 with the organization of the people and the priesthood. So chapter 1 brings us to that first numbering, the census that has taken for fighting men in the military. Verse 1.
8:57 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the tabernacle of meeting on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt. So this
9:09 is 2 years after the Exodus. This is year number 2. It's the second month. And he said, take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel by their families,
9:21 by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male individually, from 20 years old and above,
9:33 all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies. So now you know where the book of numbers comes from. It comes
9:45 comes from numbering the men who are able to be conscripted to fight in military as they enter the promised land. This is the first census that has taken. And so the, the
9:57 the tally is given in verse 46 of that chapter. Says all who were numbered were 603550 men, 20 and
10:08 above, who are able to fight. We have a horde of about 3000000 people in the wilderness. These are those who are able to fight. Now what's so great about a census?
10:20 What's so spiritual about a census? I mean, this is included in the Bible. What's so great or spiritual about a census? Well, nothing,
10:34 unless your name happens to be in it. If it was your name and you read it, you'd be pretty stoked. Him in the Bible. There's a verse with my name in
10:45 it. Here's the tribe I'm from. Because there are numbers and names, not all of the names with all of the numbers, but names of families and tribes and households
10:57 that are named. Why is this important? It's important because once they were in Egypt where they were just a number. Now God gives numbers and names. There were
11:09 just numbers in Egypt. There was an innumerable hoard of slaves. That's all they were. They were seen not as individuals with names having importance before God. They were just a number to do the work of
11:21 a slave. A few years back, several years back, a really great musician whom I've grown to love, Tommy Walker, gave a great song to the church. See if you remember it. He knows my name. Remember
11:33 that song? He knows my name. He knows my every thought. He sees each tear that falls, and he hears me when I call. I love that song. He knows my name. The God of heaven knows my name. And if your name
11:45 happens to be on the list, that's pretty exciting. Saint Augustine said, and we call him Saint Augustine because he's just a brother in the Lord back in the fourth century, said God loves each 1 of us
11:57 as if there were only 1 of us to love. The love of God reaches beyond the numbers, beyond the hordes, beyond the mass, and goes to the
12:08 names, and people are precious to God. Nobody gets lost in the crowd with God. He loves you more than a number. And whenever God counts people, mark this,
12:20 whenever God counts people, it's because people count to God. And so he counts them here and tells Moses to get the job done. In chapters 2 and 3, the job is done. They are
12:32 numbered according to tribe. There are how many tribes in the children of Israel? 12 tribes. There's a tabernacle in the middle. They're to camp around it. How many sides are there of the tabernacle? 4, like the
12:44 directions, north, south, east, and west. So they are to orient their tents. They're camping in the wilderness for 40 years. They don't know it's 40 years yet. They think it's 11 days.
12:56 They're to orient their dwellings according to the tabernacle on 4 sides. And so there are effectively 4 camps, north, south, east, and west.
13:09 4 camps, 4 sides. 3 tribes per side because there are 12 tribes. And each of the camps,
13:22 each of the 4 camps has a flag or an ensign or a banner with the lead tribe's logo on it. Now
13:34 we understand from the Jewish traditions and commentaries called the Midrash, and we're told in the Bible, by the way, who the tribes are. So there's the tribe of Judah
13:46 on 1 side, his banner and ensign. The tribe of Ephraim on the other side, his ensign, his banner. The tribe of Dan on 1 side, and the tribe of Reuben. So we have 4
13:58 tribes, and 3 tribes are underneath that 1 tribe's banner. Judah, Ephraim, Reuben, and Dan. According to the Mishnah, the logos I want you to hear this. I want you to
14:10 understand this. The logo, the banner, the ensign of the tribe of Judah was a lion. You probably would guess that. The banner emblem for the tribe of Ephraim was an ox.
14:22 The tribe of Reuben on 1 side was that of a man, and the tribe of Dan had the ensign of an eagle. So you have a lion, an ox, a man, and an
14:34 eagle. Now if you are bible students, things are clicking off in your heart and head right now. Am I right? Because you already know what what's going on. You go, wow. We get hints
14:46 of that in other portions of the Bible. In fact, I'll take a step out and say we have here a model of the throne of God. You already know the tabernacle is a model of heaven. Right? The book of Hebrews says that
14:58 a few places. It's a shadow of heavenly realities. That's the tabernacle. But we have here a model of the throne in heaven. In Ezekiel chapter 1, he
15:10 gets this wild vision. Remember, the prophet is in Babylon at the Kebar River, and he sees this throne, this chariot throne that is being lifted up by wheels. And there are creatures. There are
15:21 4 creatures. And Ezekiel said each had the face of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. Fast forward to the book of Revelation chapter 4. There are 24
15:33 elders, and there are 4 living creatures. And each creature has a different face in that vision, and they are the same, a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle. It's
15:45 interesting, isn't it? It's not by coincidence. It's by design. When we get to the gospel accounts, we discover there are 4 separate
16:02 gospel accounts. Matthew, for example, is the gospel of the kingdom. He refers to the kingdom more than the other gospels. He talks about Jesus as the fulfillment of
16:14 Jewish prophecy. He is, according to Matthew, the lion of the tribe of Judah. When we get to the gospel of Mark, we see a shorter gospel, a rapidly moving gospel. The word
16:26 immediately is used more than than any other of the 4 gospels. It shows Jesus on the move, not really resting, but getting work accomplished like a servant or like
16:38 an ox, if I can use the analogy, which was a symbol of servitude. We get to the gospel of Luke, and he gives us the perfect humanity of Jesus, the perfect man. He uses the
16:50 term the son of man more often. And then we get to the gospel of John. And John writes about the son of God, Jesus in his deity. John says, these things
17:01 were written that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that believing, you would have life in his name. That's the eagle. So we have, again, these representations here.
17:14 What's more, the numbers are given for the 4 camps that are around the tabernacle. The largest is Judah on the east down in verse 9. You may wanna notice there are
17:25 186400 of the fighting men conscripted for army in the first census just in the tribe of Judah. Now if you were to count up the numbers,
17:37 we don't have time to do that. This is after all 30000 feet. I'm just I'm just circling the plain right now a few times around this little camp of Israel as we're looking down. If you were to look down from
17:49 30000 feet or from an aerial view and you were to take all of the different numbers of the tribes and put them out, this is what it would look like from the air.
18:01 Can you see that on the bottom left, that area of Judah has more people than the others? That that's numerically what it would look like. It looks like the shape of a what? Cross. It's
18:13 just interesting, and I can just see the Holy Spirit smiling as even this foreshadows what is going to come in the culmination of God's revelation, the cross of
18:25 Christ. He orchestrated all of this. This is not by coincidence. Chapter 5 begins the disorganization phase. Chapter 5 begins withShow more
Skip Heitzig565K followers
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.