I invite you to open the Bible and turn with me to the book of Numbers. And I don't know what you know about this book. If you've read this book before, I can tell you that I thought I knew some things about Numbers. And then in preparation for our time together today, I read the entire book of Numbers, again, and I was shaken when I actually read this book, and I want to share with you what God is teaching us from the book of Numbers. We're going to start in chapter 1, verse 1, and out of respect for God's Word, I'm going to invite everyone to stand up for the public reading of Scripture, even if you're watching online with us here today. I hope that you can give this your full and undivided attention because this is the Word of God. This scripture is profitable for us to teach here this morning. And so, please follow along as I read Numbers1:1-3.
The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company.
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and have your seat. So, I've been going around our church, and I've been asking people, what do you know about the book of Numbers? And a lot of people look at me like, why are you asking me this right now? Right? Like, a lot of people honestly don't have a lot to say about the book of Numbers. Some people, they were right. They're like, hey, there's a census being taken. And I was like, yes, correct. Why is the census being taken? And then they look at me like, why are you asking me this? So, we want to make sure we understand why is this book in the Scripture, and what does it mean? Is it relevant for you and for me? And so, if you've got your bulletin, there is a handout in there, where you can take some notes there on a piece of paper. And if you do take notes, if you're interested in doing that, the first thing I'd love for you to write down is Exodus chapter 19. Because it's been since Exodus 19, that the people of Israel have been here in the wilderness at Mount Sinai, and God has been speaking to his people from all of Exodus 19 to the end of that book. All of Leviticus was God speaking to people from his mountain. And now Numbers, chapter 1, verse 1, all the way to Numbers 10:10, is God giving his people even more instructions here at Mount Sinai. So, from Exodus 19, to Numbers 10:10, the people of Israel are in the wilderness at Sinai, where God is speaking to them from this mountain. And one of the things that now we're getting here in Numbers, the reason we've gone from Leviticus to Numbers, is we're now getting marching orders. And the marching orders are, we're going to go to war; it's time for God to judge the nations that are in the Promised Land and give it to the people. Because when God made the covenant with Abraham, he said that he would give him the land as an everlasting possession. And so, it's time for them to go and get the land that was promised to them. So, let's find out how many fighting men we have. And so, the census that God gave, the reason there are so many numbers in Numbers, is we're counting who's able to go to war. So, if you were to go through Numbers, chapter 1, and that phrase there that's mentioned in verse 3, who are able to go to war, you would see that repeated at least twelve more times, just in Numbers, chapter 1. Because how many tribes are there and the nation of Israel, everybody? Twelve. So, some people are like, well, why are there so many numbers? Well, you’ve got to get reports from all twelve tribes. So, if it seems repetitive, yeah, because we’ve got 12 different results coming in from twelve different counties, so to speak, right? Twelve different camps within the big camp. And so yeah, it goes through here in chapter 1, all 12 tribes. Now, if you really pay attention, in the book of Numbers, you'll see that the tribe of Levi has been set apart because God has a special purpose for them to be the priests. And we’ve got a lot of instruction about the sacrifices and the priests in the Book of Leviticus. And so, since Levi is kind of set apart, the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh, they kind of instead of having a tribe of Joseph, Joseph kind of ends up with two tribes through his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. And so, you can see we're going to get reports. Well, first, we're going to identify twelve guys, one from each tribe, who can help us go count all the men. And you’ve got to be at least twenty. And then you’ve got to be able to go to war. And so, we're counting all of those guys. And we're getting results from the twelve different tribes. So, the purpose is this should be an inciting incident in the book of Numbers. War is on the horizon, taking the land that was promised to us and settling in that land. God didn't just get us out of Egypt to bring us to this mountain. No, now he's prepared us to take us into the land. And so, you're starting to get a sense of forward direction where the story is going, is we're going to the promised land. And so that should be getting us interested in the book of Numbers, not just like, I don't want to read all these numbers and discarding it. No, we’ve got to put ourselves in context. If I started counting, if I asked every man to stand up, who's over twenty, and then we made a distinction on whether you were able to go to war or not, your family would be very interested in this. Where are we going? What are we fighting? What's going to happen? Going to war, that's a big deal. And so, the book of Numbers, if you think of it as boring, well, maybe you’ve got to just think through a little bit more the context of what's going on here. These people are getting ready to go to war, and they're counting soldiers. That's actually very interesting. If we were all getting counted, of who was going to go to war, and it was going to be your spouse, or your kid or somebody that you knew and loved is now going into battle, that would be something that would arrest your attention.
And that's how the book of Numbers begins. And as I'm reading this, it really got me thinking, you know, if we counted how many men would we have here in our church, and I don't mean men who are able to go to a physical war. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4. And let me share with you a verse I want to be a theme verse for us in the year of our Lord 2024, at our church here in Huntington Beach. You know, we can count how many people are here at this service right now. We can count how many people attend a church on a weekend here on Saturday night and Sunday. But look what it says here in Ephesians 4, when it talks about identifying the men that are among us here. In Ephesians chapter 4, pick it up with me in verse 11, talking about how Jesus is over the church, and it says he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, the pastor teachers, people like me, I guess, and Ephesians 4:12, he gave them to equip the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. So, we've asked that question at our church many times before. Who does the work of the ministry here at this church? Well, it's not just the pastors, it's everybody. The pastors are here to equip the saints, that's all of God's chosen holy ones, all of those who have been set apart. We're all supposed to be doing the work of the ministry. We're all here to build up the body of Christ, to build up our one-anothers. But then, look what it says in Ephesians 4:13. And this is the verse I want to set before you as a theme verse for our church this year, Ephesians 4:13, until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and have the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. So, one of the things that I've experienced growing up going to church primarily in Southern California, is a lot of people have this attitude, like you don't need to worry about me, I believe in Jesus, I'm good to go. And what the scripture says is, hey, do you believe in Jesus? Great. Now, let's press on to maturity. That's the idea in the Scripture. The Scripture wants you to be saved in Christ. But if you're in Christ, can you now become mature in Christ? Look at how it describes it there in verse 13. We all want to have unity in our faith. We all want to know Jesus as the Son of God, we all want to mature, we don't want to stay as immature kids in our faith. We want to be like mature men. We want to have the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So, the scripture would say to everybody who's a Christian, everybody who's a brother or sister in Jesus here today, hey, are you saved? Well, praise the Lord that you're saved. But here's the thing. Are you experiencing the fullness of what it is to be in Christ? Have you now matured in Christ? One of the kind of ideas that I hear a lot even here at our church, I hear this a lot, which is, hey, are you a mature Christian? Well, yeah, I've been a Christian for thirty years, hey, I've met some thirty year olds who are not anywhere close to mature. You don't need to give me an amen on that, because we all know that's true in the America that we're living in. I've met men who are married; doesn't make them mature. I've met men who have fathered many children; doesn't make them mature. And amount of time on planet Earth and amount of time of salvation in Christ does not necessarily mean that you are experiencing the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. No, maturity is not just I've been around for a while, I'm familiar with it. I know the language. I know that culture. No, no, no. Maturity is you’re in Christ. What Christ has started in you is being made perfect. It's being made complete. That's the idea. You're no longer a kid. You're a mature man. And when it says mature here, it's this Greek word we’ll throw it up here on the screen, it says Greek word teleios. And I love this Greek word. Maybe you have heard Jesus cried out when he was on the cross tetelestai, It is finished. That's from this kind of same word of teleios, or here, in this form tetelestai, it's this idea of when Jesus says it's finished, it's complete, it's reached its fullness is the idea. Sometimes it's translated perfect. Or sometimes it's translated, mature, know, like, hey, what Jesus has begun in you, it's now being made complete, it's now reaching its fullness. That is the goal.
So, I can count how many people are here at church. But it makes me wonder like, how many are really mature in their faith, they're mature, and that they're ready to go and really lead in their marriage or teach their kids the Bible, or go and teach what they know about Jesus and pass it on to somebody else, because they could be an example to that person. And they could go and make a disciple because they are mature disciples themselves. That's a number I don't know how many of those men we have. And when I say men here, or when it says mature manhood here, I can throw those Greek words up here on the screen, too. We have aner and then we have the word for children, nepios. So clearly, there's a contrast here. This isn't just about being male, so much. In this passage in Numbers, they're definitely only counting men. But sometimes the Scripture speaks in a masculine tone, but it might be referring to both males and females. And I think that would be true here. When it's saying mature manhood, it's referring to the idea of being grown up versus being a child. And kids, when they get in the waves, they run away from the waves, they're afraid of the waves, the waves can kind of toss children around, but a grown person, they can stand there in the waves and not be blown about. And that's the idea like, hey, if you're in Christ, have you grown up in Christ, whether you're a man or a woman?
Let's ask the question like this, point number one: “Would God count you as a mature Christian?” Would God count you as a mature Christian? We can count you in attendance at church, but God, who sees through your skin and bones to your soul, does he think that when he's has saved you in Christ, you are now maturing, you are now growing up into the fullness of what it means to be in Christ? See, a lot of people that I talk to, they get blown about very easily. They're like, did you hear what happened over here? Or did you hear what this person said over here? And somebody's kind of shrewd, a false teacher who wants to use some cunning, some scheming. We know Satan's all about scheming and deceiving people, hey, get caught up in this thing. Hey, come and get all worked up about this. And you see, some people say yeah, they believe in Jesus, but they're off over here on this thing. And then they're way over here on this thing. That's not mature manhood, that's not experiencing the completion or the fullness of Christ. Man, here's a great goal for 2024 is for you to be one of those who could be counted as mature among the people of the church of Jesus Christ. And I just want it. I think that's a great goal for every man who's a Christian, every woman who's a Christian, even a young person who's here’ If you have faith in Jesus, you want to grow up in that faith. Nobody should be starting 2024 as a complacent Christian, I already know Jesus, good enough. I'm already like Jesus enough. I'm already less like the old me and enough like Jesus. No, everybody here should want to be mature. And would God count you as mature? Or would God actually think that you're still immature in your faith? That's something worth considering.
Wow, we're counting the men who are able to go to war. Am I someone that God is able to use because I could be an example and I know things about God from his Word that I could share with other people, could God count you as one of his mature people? That's it? That's an interesting question. And I do want to say to the men, that if you flip your handout over there, men, we have a conference in three weeks here at this church called wait for it Mature Man has been taken exactly from a visions for 13. This is coming up in in three weeks in on Friday, January 26. Can we take a moment to praise God for giving us a church where we can have a conference right here at our own church? So, let's do it. Let's make the most of this space that God has given to us. Hey, if you are a man, let me just tell you, your wife would really like for you to go to this conference. I'll tell you that right now. I'll tell you if God has blessed you with kids, and you're a man, and I'm speaking to you right now, the future of your children will be greatly impacted by how mature you are in Christ. And if you allow yourself to be continued to be immature in Christ, that will have a negative result on your marriage and on your children, who were supposed to be all going for this goal until we all attain to this unity in our faith. And in our knowledge of the Son of God, too. We all mature, that we would all be people who are who gets to say, I'm putting on the armor, I'm ready to go to battle for the Lord. I'm here, God, use me, put me in. I want you to do something with me because I've grown up in my faith in Christ.
So, go back with me to the book of Numbers, because we're counting the soldiers, we're counting the men who are able to go to war. But there's another detail here that I want to draw your attention to. As a part of our introduction to the book of Numbers here today, I want you to see this place where God is speaking. If you look back in numbers, one, it says the Lord YHWH is speaking to Moses, we know they've been in the wilderness of Sinai since Exodus 19. But he's speaking, and then you might want to underline this, this is a really important thing in Numbers, the Tent of Meeting. The Tent of Meeting is the Tabernacle. So, you’ve got to put yourself in the context. You can't be like, oh, the Tabernacle, I don't know what that's about, I don't need to really get into it. Now the Tabernacle is because God loves his people. God wants to dwell in the midst of his people. God always wants to have a people and he always wants to be there. God, this is the passion. This is the heart of our God. God wants to be your God, he wants you to be one of his people. And so, they're actually trying to figure out in Israel, how to have God actually physically spatially to dwell there in the midst of them. And so, we found out, wow, that's very complicated. There are a lot of meticulous details, because we've got to build this tent. And this tent has to have a place that is holy, that is set apart, where God is going to dwell by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and his glory is going to fill the Tent of Meeting. But to have it be holy, well, we’ve got to have sacrifices, and we've got to have priests, and we've got to determine what is clean, and what is unclean. And so, the whole second half of Exodus was about how we're going to build this thing. And all of Leviticus was about how we're going to use this thing. And now it's finally happening, where God is speaking in the tent to his people. And so, this is something that you may have never really thought of, because we go to church, we see one another, we worship God, but we worship God in spirit and in truth. We don't expect God to physically spatially be here, and to behold his glory right here, among us. That's not something maybe that you've thought about. That's what they're talking about here in Numbers. Hey, we've constructed this holy tent, we've got priests doing sacrifices, we’ve figured out how to be clean when we go before the Lord. And you’ve got to be careful when you go before God because if you go work for God the wrong way, you could die.
By the way, you don't just casually approach God, if God's down the street from you, that's actually dangerous is what we found out. And so, you’ve got to go to God in the right way. And now there's going to be instruction, as you're reading through Numbers, if you read through it with us, we're going to talk to the Levites. We're going to break the Levites down into three different groups. And here's how we're going to move all this stuff that we just made for God, because we’ve got to keep God first and foremost in everything we're doing.
Go over to chapter 2 of Numbers. And let me show you what it says about the arrangement of the camp. Here, in chapter 2, it says, “The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, ‘the people of Israel shall each camp by his own standard with the banners of their fathers’ houses.’” We're going to have the camp, and the twelve different tribes, and circle this, underline this, if you're taking notes. They show camp facing the Tent of Meeting on every side. So, what is their camp? The camp is Tabernacle in the middle and then all the twelve tribes all the way around God's presence right there in the center of what they're doing. And so, you can go look this up. And there's all kinds of drawings you can see on the internet. If you search for it, if you type camp of Israel book of Numbers, you'll see how the twelve tribes, some of the tribes or to the north, south, east, west, there are tribes in all four different directions of the compass around the Tabernacle. But the point is, we're going to keep God in his glory at the center of our camp, even as we move, we're going to have the Ark of the Covenant lead the way because it's like we're doing this with God is the idea. And some people, they really start geeking out on this, because some of those drawings, if you look them up, they look like a cross if you just put three above and, and tribes below and three tribes over here, you can make the shape of a cross and, and it's like, was God looking at the shape of a cross while his people were in camp? And there's nothing that actually says that here in Numbers. So, if you've been geeking out on that, I'm sorry to pop your Bible nerd bubble on that one. But there's nothing that actually says that that's just a cool artistic rendering. But the point is, we've got this presence of God among us, and we're all centering around it. Like our entire focal point of our life is on God and him being among us.
Go with me to Colossians 1:28, and let's now apply this to us, okay. They're counting men to go to war. They're centering their camp around the Tabernacle, the tent where they meet with God. We're not necessarily having a tabernacle or going to war, but we want to mature in Christ, and Colossians 1:28 is a verse you want to know about our goal of maturity in Christ. It says, this is why we're preaching Jesus here today. Colossians 1:28, him we proclaim, and we're warning everyone. And we're teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. How many people who are saved here at our church? Do we want to be mature in Christ? What is the answer there? Okay, so that's not how we think these days, we don't think that we would expect every man that claims to be a Christian here today, and every woman that claims to be a Christian here today, we don't think that we expect everybody to be mature, we think, well, there are some people, they really get into it, and they get really mature. And we don't really think everybody's going to get mature. That's what he's saying, the goal is to this church. Like, we don't want anybody to stay a child in their faith, we want everybody, but that's why we're warning you of what can happen if you fall away from the faith. That's why we're teaching you and instructing you how to build up and how to grow in your faith, because we want every single one of you to reach the goal of maturity. And so it begs this question like, Is your life focused on Christ? Like, is Christ the center of your life? Or is Christ just one of the things in your life? Can you say that everything you do keeps Jesus first and is for the purpose of knowing Jesus and making Jesus known, of Jesus getting the glory? Or yeah, we'll do some Jesus here. But then we're doing this over here. And then we're involved in this over here, we’ve got family, we’ve got career, we’ve got hobbies, we’ve got free time, we got a lot of things. And Jesus is just one of the things, or Jesus is the center of all things. Which one is it? Because you're not going to get to be mature in Christ, if you're just okay with a little bit of Christ in your life.
So, let's ask that as our second question. The second question is: “Is Christ the center of your life?” Just like they put the tabernacle of God's presence right there in the center of the camp? Can you and I say that Jesus is the center of everything we're getting into in 2024. Jesus is first place in all of it. Is that true? Well, you're not going to reach this goal of completion, fullness to lay us in Christ if Christ isn't the center of all things in your life. I'm really concerned that for some of us, Jesus is one of the things rather than he is the center of all things in your life. And so, in Colossians, which could be one of the most focused on Jesus-letters that Paul ever writes. I mean, he has never even met these people, but he wants these people to know Jesus. Look at chapter two here in Colossians 2:1 for I want you to know how great is the struggle I have for you. And for those that Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, so he's never even met these people in person, but he's writing them this letter that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, and in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Like I don't even know you guys, I haven't even met you guys, but I want you to know Christ, I want you to have assurance in Christ. I want you to know the treasures of wisdom that are in Christ. Look at how he says it in Colossians 2:5, “though I am absent, embodied, yet I am with you in spirit. I'm rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.” Like I don't even know you guys, but I know you guys have Christ and I rejoice in hearing that you are firm in your faith in Christ. And so, therefore, what do we do? Colossians 2:6-7, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Do you see how this is the opposite of maybe the attitude that some of us here today have? I'm in Jesus, I'm good to go, bro. I'm good. I believe, I'm fine. I'm there. This guy, Paul, he's like, hey, have you received Jesus? Are you in Christ? Well, let's get rooted. Let's get built up. Let's walk in Jesus, let's really get to the fullness, to the completion of being in Christ. So, we’ve got to evaluate ourselves, are we complacent in where we're at with Jesus? Or do we want to experience a maturity in Christ? And Is Jesus really the center of what we do?
I think a great theme verse for us for maybe for you this year, could be Colossians 224. Look down the page there. Do you see Colossians? Won't that be cool? Colossians 2:24 for 2024. Let's go. Problem is there are only 23 verses in Colossians. Does everybody see that right there? So that means Colossians 3:1 is Colossians 2:24. Right. So, let's read that verse right there. “If then you have been raised with Christ,” I'm just asking who would say they're a Christian here today at Compass Bible Church. Would you claim to be a Christian? Would you say that you're in Christ? Is that why you're here? Because you believe in Jesus? Well, here's a verse for you. “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Do you realize that that verse is telling you to do exactly what they did in Numbers? Keep the tent in the middle and have everybody face towards God's presence? Well, if you're in Christ, then where is Jesus right now? Is he in heaven? Is he at the right hand of the Father, then seek him right there where he is. Set your mind on the things of where Jesus is? Make sure that wherever Jesus is, he's at the right hand of the Father. We’ll then seek him there. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth, verse 3, “for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God, when Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Is Jesus just a part of your life? Or can you say with Paul here in Colossians today that Jesus Christ is your life? And you're seeking him with all that you've got? You're setting your mind on the things of Jesus, you're letting Jesus sitting at the right hand of the throne, set the tone for your life in 2024. Is Jesus the center of your life? Or is he just wanted as the pieces in your life? See, this is what it's going to take. If you're going to be mature, you're going to have to really make sure that your focus is Christ.
So, we're organizing the men, we're going to war and we're going to go to war with God as the strength, as the focus, because God's the one who made the promise for us to get to the promised land. Now go back to Numbers with me, and let me kind of take you into what happens. We've seen the beginning, we've seen the setting while now we've been counting in this tribe’s votes are in or the tally from this tribe is in and if you read through Numbers 1, you'll see we’ve got the twelve guys, they go over see it in the twelve different tribes, and then count it all up. And from the tribe of Rubin, we've got this many, and Simeon, we've got this many, and it's tens of thousands of each tribe. And if you go in Numbers 1, look at verse 44. Numbers 1:44-46. This is the final count here. There are those who were listed, who Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel. Twelve Men, one from each representing his father's house. So all those listed of the people of Israel by their fathers’ houses from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel, all those listed were 603,550 men. That sounds like a lot of dudes right there.
Okay, now, let's just go ahead, let's turn some pages in Numbers. And in chapter 10, they blow some trumpets, the Lord is with us who can defeat us if we ever are a good attack, just blow the trumpets and the Lord will come and save us. So, then we set out and what do these people start doing? They start complaining right away? Where's the food? Why is it like this? Where's the water? My Moses, why do you do it like this? And there's complaining and complaining. And then I learned this song. When I was going to church when I was growing up. Twelve men were sent to Kane and ten were bad. And two were good. Has anybody else ever heard that song before? And it had hand motions, like ten were bad guys. And two were good guys, right? And then you sing this song over and over faster and faster, if I'm bringing back anybody else's childhood. When I read through the book of Numbers, right now, to prepare to talk to you about it here today, what I realized is 603,550 men were sent to Canaan, only two actually made it. That's the story of this book. They counted up over 600,000 Guys, and only two of them make it to where they're saying they're going to go. And you know their names. If you're familiar with the Scripture much at all. You've probably heard of Joshua and Caleb, they're the only two guys that make it to the promised land. Moses doesn't even make it. That's when if somebody came up to you at church, and they're like, What do you know about the book of Numbers? That should be what comes to your mind right away. They counted up a whole bunch of men who were able to go to war. But when they sent those twelve spies out, ten of those spies came back and they said, the people in this land are mighty, the people in this land are great. We're not going to take this land. And Joshua and Caleb are going around saying, no, we'll take it if the Lord is with us. Well, if the Lord delights in us, if the Lord promised it to us, we can take it. And the people they listen to the ten spies rather than to Joshua and Caleb as the two spies. And God gets angry with the people. And he says, why do you despise me? Why will you not believe what I have told you. And God is ready to wipe out the people. If Moses didn't intercede and pray for them. And in the end of Numbers, in Numbers 26, we're going to have to count all over again, because this whole generation is going to be lost, and they're going to die off. And we've got to wait over 40 years for them to all die, because none of them are going to get to go into the Promised Land, because they didn't really believe in God. Two out of 603,550 make it. That's meant to get all of our attention.
In fact, turn with me to 1 Corinthians 10, where Paul refers to this, like it's something he expects people at church to know, I really want to draw your attention to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And when Paul writes this letter to the Corinthian church, if you know about this church, they had a lot of division in their church, they had sexual immorality that was being allowed in their church. And Paul has to say some intense things to the church in Corinth. And then he gets to this in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,[a] that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them.” And the rock was… Who does he say the rock was there, everybody? So, he's describing here the people that came out of Egypt. He said, these people, they had the cloud of God's presence leading the way, these people walked through the Red Sea on dry ground, and then they saw the waters drown the Egyptian horses and chariots that were chasing after them. They saw the 10 plagues, they saw the pillar of fire by night, they heard the very voice of God thundering at them from the mountain, these people that God bread falling from heaven as manna for them to eat. And they saw when there was nothing to drink in the wilderness. They saw water flowing from the rock. These people who saw all the miracles of God. Don't you remember them? That's what he's saying to a church of people.
And then the thing that I find fascinating here is he's saying that story of our fathers out there in the wilderness, that's not some old story that's irrelevant to us. And doesn't matter to us. He's actually saying that the rock that they had giving them life for them to stand on was Christ, the same exact rock that we have today. He is saying they are. Look what he says here in 1 Corinthians 10:5. Nevertheless, with most of them, with many of them with over 600,000 of them, God was not pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for, who does it say there everybody? Church going folk, that two people who are gathering together as believers in the Gospel of Jesus after he died and rose again, what happens with those people overthrown in the wilderness is an example to you that there could be over 600,000 men counted, and two of them will make it. That's something that's supposed to get everybody's attention. And so, he starts going through it here, he says, 1 Corinthians 10:6, “These things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did.” And then he starts to give some specific examples of the evil that they fell into that we're supposed to learn from 1 Corinthians 10:7, “Do not be idolaters, as some of them were, as it is written,” and this is a quote from Exodus here, “the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” That's from the golden calf. Remember, even while Moses was up on the mountain, receiving the 10 commandments, they made an image to worship, which God had already made it clear not to do and here they were quickly falling into that idolatry that's meant to be an example. But then the rest of these examples are from the book of Numbers. Look at 1 Corinthians 10:8, “We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did. They allowed sexual immorality into the camp and 23,000 fell in a single day that's 23,000 died in a single day as a consequence of their sexual immorality. That's Numbers chapter 25 that he's referring to right there. 1 Corinthians 10:9, “We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did.” Notice, he doesn't say, well, they were putting God or YHWH somebody different to the test. He says they were putting Christ to the test, as some of them did, and they were destroyed by serpents. Do you know this story in Numbers 21, where God sends snakes among the people because they're testing him and complaining so much. And they're called fiery serpents, meaning that when these snakes bit people, when the venom kicked into their veins, they felt like they were on fire as they got infected with the venom, it felt like they were burning alive as they died. That is supposed to be an example to us. Then it says this in 1 Corinthians 10:10, this is so intense nor grumble, these people were known for their complaining, a corrupt, crooked, and perverse generation complaining in the wilderness. And no, we're not supposed to grumble like they did, as some of them did. And they were destroyed by the who does it say there everybody? Destroyer with what a capital D, referring to who? Know that's God right there. As God, judging his people, for complaining against him. Satan doesn't get a capital D. No, I mean, that's Numbers. That's Numbers 14. Look what it says in the very next verse, 1 Corinthians 10:11. “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” Are you living at the end of the ages? Are you living at the same time I'm living in where there's wars and rumors of wars, and many earthquakes? Is anybody else living at that time? Guess who the book of Numbers was written for? For who? You and me. Have you been treating the book of Numbers like it was a sober warning written to you? Because that's what Paul was referring to it as he refers to it here in 1 Corinthians 10. He refers to it in Philippians 2. The writer of Hebrews uses it as a big example. Don't harden your heart like they did. Make sure you don't do what they did. Hey, don't you remember the story that's meant to be this like massive warning for all of us? We thought it was intense. If you've read Leviticus, in Leviticus, there are two men named Nadab and Abihu, who and they go offer in Leviticus 10, this unauthorized fire this strange fire that God didn't command they go do something in God's presence that God didn't tell them to do. And both of them end up dead because they go before God in this casual way. And I've heard people refer to that like, well, that was intense. When Nadab and Abihu, who got killed, that makes me think I’ve got to be careful how I approach God. I’ve got to really have the reverence and respect and fear of God. And I've heard a lot of people act like, wow, that was intense. When those two guys died, I'm telling you in the book of Numbers, only two guys make it out alive is what I'm telling you.
You thought Leviticus was intense. This is meant to be an example. This is written down for our instruction. You're supposed to know about the last generation in the wilderness?
Now, when we look back at verse 5, let me just draw your attention to what verse five says, Nevertheless, with most of them, see, it's trying to get you to think here, wow, over 600,000 people, it's really trying to grab your attention with most of God's own people, people that he loved, that he led out of Egypt that he wanted to take to the Promised Land. With most of them, God was not pleased, because they despised him and did not believe what he said. But most of them God was not pleased with. And then it says, for they were overthrown. And then this right here, you got to circle underline, you got to remember this in the wilderness. So, what I want to tell you is that when the Hebrews compiled the Scriptures, they didn't call it the book of Numbers. I'm not even sure when it became called the book of Numbers. But it was originally called The Hebrew word Bamidbar. And Bamidbar means in the wilderness. And so, when Paul writes here to people that he's expecting to understand the history of the Jews, and he says in the wilderness, that is a direct reference to what we call Numbers, but they called Bamidbar. In the way that the Hebrew Scriptures are with the law and the prophets and the writings, they wouldn't have called it Numbers, the fourth book of the law of Moses, they would have called it what happened in the wilderness. And notice how it describes it. They were overthrown in the wilderness. Let me throw the Greek word here, up on the screen. If you try to pronounce it, you can see that Katastrunnumi. And to me, it sounds like a catastrophe. It's a word they translated overthrown here, but when you really dig into the root meaning of this word, it's like they were strewn about. It's like they were spread out. Do you know what he's referring to? He's referring to the dead bodies of 600,000 men strewn about in the wilderness? Don't you know the example? Haven't you read what was written for our instruction? Don't you know that over 600,000 men died, and their bodies got left behind in the wilderness, Bamidbar.
In fact, go with me to numbers 14 And look at what I think is kind of a theme verse for the book of Numbers. And Numbers 14:29, I think this is the quote of what God says that Paul is referring to in 1 Corinthians 10:5. So Paul is writing to a church of people. But he's quoting, I think, directly referring to what happens in Numbers, I think he's referring to what God says here, I'm going to start reading in Numbers 14:26, so you can get the full context. And you can hear for yourself what God says this is after they sent out the twelve spies after there'd been a whole lot of complaining; Moses was even getting frustrated with the people, this whole going off to war thing. It was terrible, it was not going well. And only two of the spies had faith, the other ten they doubted what God was able to do. They despise the Word of the Lord, and the people went with the ten spies, and God had enough. And so, here's what God says, in Numbers 14:26-30. “And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ‘How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.’” I think we just all need to hear God say that. Like this is how seriously God takes his people grumbling against him. This is how seriously God takes his people not believing in what he has promised them. You want to come against me? God says, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. Only two will make it, Caleb and Joshua. And what did God say about them? Go back to verse Numbers 14:23, where he's saying that they're not going to see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. None of those who despise me shall see it. But verse 24, but my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit, it and has followed me fully. I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
Have you met some people named Joshua in your life, met some people named Caleb in your life? Those are two famous names because they followed God fully. But there were 603,498 men twenty years old who were counted, but only two actually counted. That is something that you and I are supposed to hear and take to heart.
Go back to 1 Corinthians 10. When Paul brings up that reference, and he's reminding them hey, don't you remember what happened in the wilderness? Don't you remember their dead bodies were strewn about when they were overthrown? Don't you remember? How will it happen when they allowed sexual immorality? Don't you remember what happened when they were testing God? Don't you remember what happened when they were grumbling against God? Are you guys allowing that same sin to creep in in your life? Haven't you learned from the warning? Haven't you heard the story of what happened in the wilderness? The story that was written down for our instruction, this is 1 Corinthians chapter 10. I'll just read verse 11 again, and then I'll go into verse 12, where he says here, that all these things that happen to them that you can go read about in Numbers, they happened as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come. “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” Okay, so now, maybe you can see that verse in better context than you ever had before. When it says fall, what does it mean there in that context, it means dead bodies in the wilderness. Over 600,000 of them, I don't know why they call it the book of Numbers, they could have called it the book of Funerals is what they could have called it. The book of Death is what they could have called the book where many set out and only two made it is what they could have called it. But it's known as Bamidbar because not just because God spoke to his people in the wilderness, but God's people were left, fallen dead in the wilderness. So, if you can hear this, what are you supposed to do? Take heed? It says, pay attention. Watch out. Do not assume that you are right with God, have assurance that you are right with God. Those are two different things. Don't just casually think that you're accepted by God, know really, take heed, watch out if you don't think you could fall, you might already be falling. Watch out. Take heed. He who thinks that he stands what? That's the person who's going to fall. Oh, we're the people of God, we're good. We're fine. We're Jews, we’re from Abraham. We're okay. No, that's don't you remember what happened to them in the wilderness? You think, Oh, I'm fine. I'm a Christian. I'm good. No, take heed if you think you stand, lest you fall. And then it gives us one of the great promises and all of scripture here in 1 Corinthians 10:13. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
So don't think I'm good to go. Like you might hear some people actually talk. Like, no, take heed, humble yourself, and be ready for temptations, and be ready to turn to the Lord to provide the way of escape. Don't you know, the book of Numbers is meant to produce within us a sober reflection that God's people who saw all of his glory did not make it to the Promised Land? They're dead in the wilderness. And that's an instruction, a warning for us to take heed here today. Have you ever really learned the point of the book of Numbers? Have you ever really taken it to heart before this day, I want to encourage you to join me you can see there's a whole outline of the book of Numbers that we've given you there in your bulletin and I want to encourage you over the next four weeks, will you read through numbers with us? Will you get this point that God is trying to make with his people and this is really a good four part outline for the book. Hey, they get their marching orders, we're going, everybody gets counted. But then it's a campaign to complain and God says we know you're not going to go because of the way that you're doing this. And then if you keep reading numbers and you get to Numbers 21, 22, 23. I mean, these chapters, they are glorious, and what God does in the midst of his people. I mean, the people might be falling, but God is faithful. God is awesome. And by chapter 26, we’re recounting the next generation, they were afraid that their kids were going to be killed if they tried to go into Canaan, while their kids actually grew up, and are the ones who actually went into the promised land. And so, numbers 26 is like recount, take two, let's do it all over again. And this time, they're ready to follow Joshua and Caleb straight in and not despise the Lord and believe his promise. And so, if you've never really known that Numbers was a warning for you, if you've never really believed that it was written for your instruction, I'm going to ask you, will you please read the book of Numbers with me this January, and let's have you think that you stand? Well, let's take heed, lest you fall. And I just think that a lot of people, the way they approach their relationship with Jesus is taking it way too for granted. And if you're one of those people, and you want to talk to me, or Brad, or somebody after this service, we would love to talk with you. Because it meant, you think that you stand, check yourself, my friend, take heed, have a sober moment of reflection. Remember what happened to the people who came out of Egypt. Remember them in the wilderness. Now look to yourself. That's the idea of the book of Numbers.
So, I want us to just have a moment to think about God's saying, I'm going to give you what you asked for, and there's going to be your dead bodies in the wilderness. Somebody ever asks you in the future, hey, what's the Book of Numbers about? You should look at them and be like, whoa, why would you bring that up? That's very intense. That's very harsh. Wow, you're talking about Bamidbar. You’re talking about the dead bodies in the wilderness? That should be what comes to our mind. And if you think that this is intense, what we're saying here today, this is harsh, what we're saying here today, that's exactly what God wants you to think. That's exactly why this book is written down to get you thinking that way. And I guarantee you if you heard Jesus preach, if you ever got to hear Jesus, after he did some of his miracles to the crowds that gathered to him, have you ever heard Jesus speak in an authoritative way? Guess what you would think if you ever heard the teaching of Jesus, you would think, wow, that's really harsh. That's really intense. That's what you would think, you know what Jesus said, He said, you need to be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect. That message won't fly in a lot of churches in America these days. But that's what Jesus said.
You need to mature you need to be complete, you need to be full. Go over to Luke 13 with me and I don't know if you read through the Gospel of Luke over Christmas break, but in the middle of Luke, there's this scene here in Luke 13:23. And it doesn't tell us who asked Jesus this, but they come and ask Jesus a question. And this is after we've heard some of the teachings of Jesus, and we're starting to get this idea of where Jesus is going. And Jesus is saying things like, Hey, if you don't repent, if you don't really turn to God, if you don't really come and confess your sins, and trust that God is the only one who can save you, if you don't really have a high view of God and believe in God's promises, believe in God's gospel, believing God's word. If you don't repent, we're all going to perish. We're all going to die in our sins if we don't repent and turn to the Lord. This is the kind of stuff Jesus is saying, and they're hearing Jesus, they're led to ask this question, look at it with me, Luke 13:23-24. “And someone said to him, ‘Lord, will those who are saved be few?’ And he said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.’” Like, wait a minute, Jesus, the way you talk, the way you talk about the narrow way, the way you talk about repentance, the way you're talking to the crowds of people, like maybe they're not all okay? Just because there are a crowd of people gathering in the name of Jesus. Like the way you talk. You're making me think Jesus, that only a few people might be saved. You see what Jesus says here in verse 24. Oh, bro, don't worry about it. If you've prayed a prayer, you're good to go. Is that what Jesus says? That's what a lot of people today say that might be what you think today. That's not what Jesus says. Jesus says STRIVE to enter through the narrow door for many, many I tell you will seek to enter and will NOT be able how many will maybe over 600,000 in the wilderness.
I was reading a commentary by this guy Darrell Bock who did this teaching on the Gospel of Luke? And he said something I've never forgotten. He said, the question is not will the saved be few, the question is will the saved be you? Like right now God's got to count. And the book of Numbers is meant to get you thinking, am I one of the numbers? God got me as one of his people just got no money. And he's like, yeah, that's, that's a guy who followed me fully. He wasn't just there in the crowd, he wasn't just saying he believed it. But that guy. He's different. Caleb, Joshua, those guys, they followed me fully. See, it's a good time for us not to be complacent as we begin a new year. But to take heed, lest we fall. And to think, Hey, Am I ready to press on towards maturity? Am I ready to experience completeness can form the fullness of what Christ is doing in me.
And so I hope that you will read the book of Numbers, and you will take this sober warning, and you will take heed as we go through this book together. Let's pray.
Father in heaven, I just want to confess to you, that many of us in the church in America today, I know for myself and other people I've gone to church with here in Southern California, in my life, we have overlooked the book of Numbers. We thought it was about some other people in some other place and some other time. We did not think it was an example for us. But we did not approach it like it was written for our instruction. We were not nearly bothered enough about the dead bodies that have fallen in the wilderness because they despised you and did not believe you. And Father, I pray that as we begin 2024 here at our church, that you will give us a revival that comes from the Bible that you will stir up our hearts, that you will speak to our souls, and that you will teach everybody here what the book of Numbers is really about. It's about that many people can be counted to go to war, and only two made it. And then we're supposed to take heed if we think we stand that we need to take heed, we need to be warned. And we need to press on to maturity, we need to press on to completion and fullness, we cannot be complacent with where we already are. But we need to follow Christ fully. We need to STRIVE to enter through the narrow gate. Father, I pray that you will speak to us in the book of Numbers, like you never have, I pray that we will see what happened at the Bamidbar when they were strewn about when they were spread out in the wilderness, and we will be careful. We will be assured, we will take pains to notice I'm not going to be one of those people. I'm going to trust in Christ all the way to the end, I'm going to follow Jesus, I've decided that I'm going to follow Jesus and there is no turning back. And even if nobody goes with me, I still get to follow Jesus all the way to the end. I pray that that would be our firm resolution as we begin this new year that I'm seeking where Jesus is. I will set my mind on the things above, I want to be a mature man, a mature woman, I want Jesus to be the center of my life. Father, I pray that we would set Jesus and nothing else before us, that Jesus would be first and there would be nothing else in second place. And that we would run to Jesus all the way to the end of our race. And when we get to the place that you promised us when we get to see you in the presence of all your glory. When we get to worship you face to face, beholding your radiant Splendor and the beauty of your holiness, we will say how did somebody like me get to a place like this? Yet it was not I, but it was Christ in me. And so let us be the people of Jesus, the people who trust him and follow him fully. Let us be one of the Church of Jesus Christ. We pray this in his name. Amen.