"Numbers 33"

U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris

CP Walker Multicultural Gospel Service

Daegu, Korea

BIG IDEA: RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT should INDICATE MURMURING AND COMPLAINING NO LONGER EXIST while OTHER HINDERANCES, to walking in the spirit, ARE DRIVEN OUT.

REFERENCES: Numbers 14:29-30 ( Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware * to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun); Romans 7:24 (O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?); Numbers 16:1-49 (The rebellion of Korah and Abiram murmuring and openly challenging the authority of Moses and Aaron … the ground opened-up and swallowed up Korah, Abiram and their families); Jude 1:16 (These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling [words], having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. ) Philippians 2:14-15 (Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; ); Luke 17:11-19 (The ten lepers healed, but only ONE was thankful and returned … Jesus asked, where are the nine?); Proverbs 14:12 (There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.); Proverbs 3:5-6 (Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. ); 1 Corinthians 10:11 (Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. ):

I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: Numbers 33:50-56

II. READ THE PERICOPE: Numbers 33:50-56

III. READ THE TEXT: Numbers 33:51-52 (Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: ).

IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the HEARERS to affirm to others that when you receive the Holy Spirit you should cease from MURMURING AND COMPLAINING WHILE OTHER hinderances, to walking in the spirit, are driven-out.

V. SERMONIC THEME: “NUMBERS 33”

VI. Proposition: Do we as believers give thanks MORE or COMPLAIN MORE?

INTRODUCTION: (Open Up With Thanksgiving Reflections … tie them in with the 10 lepers … healed, but only one returned to give thanks … it was so important for the 9 to give thanks … that Jesus asked - in Luke 17:11-19 – WHERE ARE THE NINE? …)

- The introduction to The Book of Numbers reminds us that the English title to this book is derived from its title, Numeri, in the Latin Vulgate. This title was obviously based on chapters one through three, especially chapter one. For example, in chapter one, we are confronted with a considerable array of numbers. For instance, Israel’s tribes culminated in a grand total of 603,550. All of this can serve as a reminder to us that from olden times until now, people have always been impressed by numbers, quite often too much impressed. But mere numbers are not always indicative of strength. On the contrary, frequently they are indicative of weakness. Is this not the case in the church and religion today? We are obsessed by numbers. We measure the success of a church by numbers. We estimate the effectiveness of a religious service by numbers. Like the material world around us, we lay stress on size rather that substance, on quantity rather than quality.

According to our historical research, God delivered the Israelites from the sin and slavery of Egypt. They were delivered across the Red Sea from the threats of Pharaoh and His Army, into the wilderness and on the very border of Kadesh-Barnea – right across from the Promised Land, where God said to them, “move forward and possess the land”.

For you see, … my brothers and sisters … according to Biblical Research, the plan was obviously to carry 2,000,000 people from Egypt through the wilderness experience to Canaan within a short period of time (perhaps 40 months or even 40 days). In other words, it wasn’t God’s perfect will for the Israelites to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Because he had great expectations of the Israelites early on. He was their God. And they were his chosen people. He had already prepared the hearts of the inhabitants of the Promised Land to relinquish the land – once the Israelites made it through the desert of their wilderness. But, unfortunately, they MURMURED against their CIRCUMSTANCES. THEY MURMURED AGAINST GOD’S EFFORT TO BLESS THEM, and they MURMURED AGAINST THE AUTHORITY OF GOD expressed through Moses and Aaron.