SERMON OUTLINE:
Death & Failure (chapter 20):
• Death of Miriam (vs 1).
• Failure of Moses & Aaron (vs 2-13).
• Failure of Moses in negotiation (vs 14-21).
• Death of Aaron (vs 28).
Life & Conquest (chapter 21):
• God gives victory (vs 1-3).
• God gives water (vs 10-21).
• God gives healing (vs 4-9).
SERMON BODY
Note: this is a simple overview and not a verse by verse commentary!
Ill:
• A man in North Dakota U.S.A. self-penned his own obituary;
• It has been published in his local newspaper;
• And what makes it unique is that it is only two-words long.
• The notice informing people of Douglas Legler's death;
• Simply reads: "Doug died."
• The masterpiece of brevity also featured a photo of the 85-year-old man;
• His daughter Janet Stoll, told the newspaper:
• "He said over and over, when I die I want my obituary to just say 'Doug Died.'"
• And so his wish was granted!
Ill:
• Regarding death and last words;
• 15 years before his own death, Mahatma Gandhi wrote these words:
• (By the terms he used, he must have been reading, or read “The Pilgrim's Progress.“)
"My days are numbered. I am not likely to live very long - perhaps a year or a little more.
For the first time in fifty years I find myself in the Slough Of Despond.
All about me is darkness; I am praying for light."
Ill:
• According to those who were near him,
• John Bunyan the author of The Pilgrim's Progress.“
• While struggling with death, his last words were,
“Weep not for me, but for yourselves. I go to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who will, no doubt, through the mediation of his blessed Son,
receive me, though a sinner;
where I hope we before long shall meet, to sing the new song,
and remain everlastingly happy, world without end. Amen.”
• TRANSITION: As we do an overview of these two chapters,
• You will notice the themes death and life flow all the way through them.
• Sadly some people die without hope,
• But the believer always dies in hope!
• Quote: Martin Luther King Jr.: “Death for the believer is a reward!”
• (American clergyman and civil rights leader and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize):
Death & Failure (chapter 20):
• This chapter (20) starts with the death of Miriam,
• Verse 1:
“In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.”
• This chapter closes with the death of Aaron,
• Verse 28:
“Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain.”
• So this chapter opens and closes with two deaths;
• And in between these two bookends of death;
• We have the sin of Moses and the sin of Edom,
• So at first glance it is not the most cheerful of chapters,
• It is a chapter of death and failure!
Note:
• It is an important chapter because it marks the end of forty years of wandering;
• For the Children/People of Israel.
• And it is the beginning of marching, positively moving forward.
• Chapters 14 to 20 of this book,
• Is the only section that deals with the forty years of wandering in the wilderness.
• Forty years of going nowhere fast, forty years of going around in circles.
ill:
• One of God’s little creatures is a special Caterpillar,
• What makes this caterpillar different to all other caterpillars;
• Is its instinct to follow the one in front, they literally line-up head to tail,
• If you were to gaze casually at them;
• You might think that they were joined or locked together.
• This unusual behaviour gives the caterpillar its name,
• It is called the Processional Caterpillar.
• The 18th early nineteenth century botanist Jean Henri Fabre`
• Once saw some of these caterpillars and tried and completed a famous experiment.
• Leaving no gaps, he lined them up in a big circle;
• And got them to march around the base of a stone pot,
• He wanted to see what they would do.
• For almost a week these caterpillars went around and around in circles,
• All foolishly following the one in front of them;
• They were using a lot of energy but they were going nowhere fast!
• TRANSITION: Just like the Children/People of Israel;
• Going around in circles and getting nowhere fast!
• The journey from Egypt to Canaan, was an 11-DAY journey!
• These people took 40 YEARS to get there!
• And most of the original people (including Moses) never did make it!
• The reason for their long delay was not lack of directions;
• It was lack of belief (Numbers chapter 14 verse 34).
• "For 40 years you will suffer for your sins.
• That is one year for each of the 40 days you checked out the land..."
But now in this chapter there is a changeover:
• It marks the end of forty years of wandering for the Children of Israel.
• And now it is the beginning of moving forward.
• They arrive back at Kadesh,
• The old generation of people under judgement have passed away,
• The new generation are ready to march.
• This section from chapter 20 verse 1 to chapter 21 verse 1;
• Records the first set of battle victories as the people march forward.
APPLICATION: Are we wandering or marching?
• If we are outside of God’s will I guarantee we will be wanders,
• And if we are seeking to walk in his will, then we will be marchers.
Ill:
• The story is told that many years ago lived an old Scottish woman,
• She went from village to village, home to home across the countryside,
• Selling thread, buttons, and shoelaces.
• When she came to an unmarked crossroad,
• She would toss a stick into the air and let the wind decide its direction,
• Then she would walk in the direction that the stick pointed too.
• One day, however, she was seen tossing the stick up several times.
• Someone asked her: "Why do you toss the stick more than once?"
• The old woman replied,
• "Because it keeps pointing to the left, and I want to take the road on the right."
• She then dutifully kept throwing the stick into the air;
• Until it pointed the way she wanted to go!
• TRANSITION: Some us try to do that with God’s will,
• He wants us to go one way and we want to go another,
• The end result will always be
• If we are outside of God’s will, we will end up as wanders,
• Going around in circles, using up a lot of energy to go nowhere fast.
• But if we are seeking to walk in his will,
• Then we will be marchers, being led into battle but also into victory!
Ill:
• James T. White tells the story of how at a White House banquet;
• To honour the officers who had won a great battle during the American Revolution.
• A distinguished French officer asked George Washington's mother,
• How she managed to rear such a splendid son.
• She replied, "I taught him to obey
• TRANSITION: That was the problem for the Children/People of Israel,
• And that is so often the problem for you and me today!
• If you want to be a wander then do your own thing,
• If you want to march and experience victory, learn to obey!
Life & Conquest (chapter 21):
God gives victory (vs 1-3).
“When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some of them. Then Israel made this vow to the Lord: ‘If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities.’ The Lord listened to Israel’s plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.”
Ill:
• The Duke of Wellington and Napoleon Bonaparte;
• Were both born in the same year, 1769.
• Each was born on an island,
• Each became fatherless in early boyhood,
• Each had four brothers and three sisters,
• Each attended military school in France and at the same time.
• Both became lieutenant-colonels within a day of each other,
• Both excelled at mathematics,
• Both were great soldiers, and each commanded great armies.
• And both are remembered for what happened at Waterloo,
• Where one became the victor and the other the defeated!
• TRANSITION: Both the old and new generations of Israelites;
• Had the same God and the same opportunities,
• One failed miserably and the other started well with a string of victories.
• So this next generation of Israelites are on the move;
• And the people experience one victory after another,
• These victories are against strong kings and strong armies.
• The sad think is this,
• The previous generation of Israelites could have had a similar experience in Canaan;
• Had they trusted God and entered the land.
• But sadly they failed.
• For the new generations of Israelites these battles acted as ‘dress rehearsal’
• By that I mean it helped train this new generation of men;
• For the time when they would fight and conquer Canaan.
God gives water (vs 10-21).
Verse 16:
“rom there they continued on to Beer, the well where the Lord said to Moses, ‘Gather the people together and I will give them water.’”
• Notice that this time the water did not come from a rock,
• Like in the previous chapter (verses 1-13)
• God is never limited to working only one way,
• God can meet our needs in a variety of ways.
• This time he provides from natural sources and not in a supernatural way;
• He guides them to a well and they will find there sufficient water for all.
• God provides for his people.
Ill:
• An Red Indian (Native American) walks into a bank;
• He looked at the bank manager and said;
• “Grass gone, well dry, sheep dead”
• The bank manager took him into the back room & the Indian opened up his security box;
• It contained a number of gold nuggets.
• The Indian the replied:
• “Grass green, well full, sheep happy”
• TRANSITION: Now the man’s circumstances had not changed;
• But he realised he had the resources to overcome his circumstances.
• The Israelites were still wandering around unsure of where the water might be;
• But their God knew and their God would provide!
• Quote: The Scottish preacher George Morrison defined peace as:
• “The possession of adequate resources”.
• In other words if there is enough money in your bank account;
• You don’t worry when the postman delivers bills.
• These Children/People needed to learn that God will provide for their needs!
God gives healing (vs 4-9).
Notice that four things characterize these dramatic events:
• FIRST: The people of Israel complained against God,
• SECOND: He sent judgment upon them,
• THIRD: They repented of their sin,
• FOURTH: He forgave them and delivered them.
These people were habitual sinners,
• Again and again they fell into the same trap their predecessor had fallen into.
• The grumbled and they moaned and they were complainers.
• Bad habits stick and are hard to get rid of!
Ill:
• I like the story of the grey haired lady;
• Who told her friend that after 40 years of marriage,
• She has finally stopped her husband from biting his nails!
• The friend asked her how she had managed to do that,
• The grey haired lady replied, “Easy, I started hiding his teeth!”
• TRANSITION: These people were grumblers, moaners, complainers.
• And in the Old & New Testaments the Bible says God does not like complainers!
• As Christians we are challenged not to grumble or complain,
• (Philippians chapter 2 verses 14-15; 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 9);
Let’s briefly look at these four stages:
FIRST: THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL COMPLAINED AGAINST GOD (VS 4-5),
“They travelled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go round Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”’
• The Old Testament Hebrew word for “Complain” means to;
• “To apportion blame, to find fault,".
• The New Testament Greek word translated “complainer”
• Means literally “one who is discontented with his lot in life.”
• Complaining is destructive and debilitating personally;
• It’s contagious like the measles,
• Starts with one person and very soon many others are also infected.
The people of Israel griped about the "miserable food" God provided for them:
• The people "spoke against God and Moses."
• God takes our mouthing and complaining about Him seriously!
• "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?" they asked.
• "For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food."
• God was keeping two million people from starving to death in a wilderness;
• And they were grumbling at Him.
• The "miserable food" they were eating was “manna”
• God was supernaturally providing for them daily, bread from heaven!
• True, it wasn't steak on a plate, and there was not a lot of variety;
• Manna sandwiches, manna pie, manna burgers, and manna…you name it!
• But the point is this: it kept them alive and healthy.
• They went to bed with full bellies,
• But sadly they also went to bed with empty hearts!
Ill:
• One thing that impacts me when I come back from a country like Moldova,
• Is just to be thankful for all I have.
• My kids also know not to complain when I have been away;
• Otherwise they get the rebuke, “In Moldova the children there…”
• Now I don’t say it in an angry or patronising way,
• I just want then to realise how blessed they are in the UK.
Note:
• For the Christian it will make your witness to the world much more difficult.
• Who, for instance, would be attracted to a religion;
• Whose adherents are dissatisfied with life and who continually grumble and complain?
Note also:
• While it is not wrong to complain to God, it is wrong to complain about God.
• Let me give you that again:
• While it is not wrong to complain to God, it is wrong to complain about God.
• David the Psalmist brought his complaints to God.
• He let God know he was not happy with his situation or his circumstances.
• But although he complained to God,
• He never complained about God – and there is a big difference!
• These people were complained about God and so that is why stage two took place.
SECOND: HE SENT JUDGMENT UPON THEM (VS 6):
“Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them;
they bit the people and many Israelites died.”
• The Lord sent venomous snakes among the people and they bit the people,
• The result was many people of Israel died.
• The Bible teaches sin always brings death;
• i.e. "The wages of sin is death." (Romans chapter 6 verse 23)
• i.e. "The soul that sins will surely die." (Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 20),
• That fact is still true. That truth won't go away. It is a law of life.
• We experience physical death in this life;
• (Separation form the world and all the people we know in this world)
• And spiritual death in the life to come!
• (Separation from God – there is a heaven to be gained and a hell to shun)
THIRD: THEY REPENTED OF THEIR SIN (VS 7):
“The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people.”
• The people realised the seriousness of their sin;
• And so they urged Moses to intercede on their behalf.
Ill:
• While on mission in Moldova I often used the story of the Lost (Prodigal) Son,
• As an illustration in many of my sermons.
• When you read Luke chapter 15 one verse always jumps out at me;
• Verse 15: ‘When he came to his senses’
• When he realised what a fool he had been in turning his back on God;
• That awareness allowed him to ‘turn around’ to ‘repent’
• And to go back home to his loving father.
• TRANSITION: These people finally admitted
• "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you."
• And when they confessed to God their evil attitude and behaviour.
• Then Moses prayed that the LORD would remove the serpents from them.
FOURTH: HE FORGAVE THEM AND DELIVERED THEM (VS 8-10).
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived”
• The LORD provided the antidote for their sin!
• This "look" involved a look of faith in God to save them.
Note:
• The emphasis in this passage is not on some magical healing,
• But on an act of faith.
• The bronze snake was a symbol of salvation;
• That God offered to all who would look to Him and live.
Earlier we read from John chapter 3 where Jesus borrowed the object lesson from history:
• He said, just like Moses raised the serpent up in the wilderness,
• He, too, must be lifted up on a cross,
• So that sinful men and women who believe in Him,
• May move from death to life!
• Jesus made it clear to Nicodemus that in His death God would provide salvation.
• There is a divine imperative in the death of Jesus.
• The Son of Man "must" be lifted up.
• It was God's deliberate choice and purpose to crucify Jesus.
• It was no accident, or the martyrdom of a good religious teacher.
• He died as an act of God. His death was necessary for our salvation.
• I quoted earlier on from the apostle Paul (Romans chapter 6 verse 23).
• Who wrote; “The wages of sin is death” but he then went on to say,
• "But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"
• A look of faith to Jesus Christ gives eternal life to those doomed to die.
• i.e. John chapter 3 verse 16:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
• The emphasis Jesus is making is that salvation comes through believing.
• And believing in him!
• It comes by simple faith,
• Looking up to the cross of Jesus and believing that He died in your place on the cross.
• There is no other way of salvation.
• Remember that salvation came not through the serpent on the pole,
• But through God's sovereign provision.
• They were not saved by what they saw, but by God their Saviour.
Ill:
• It was January 6th 1850.
• A snowstorm had almost crippled the city of Colchester, England.
• A teenage boy was unable to go to the Church he normally attended.
• So he stopped at a nearby Primitive Methodist Church.
• Because of the weather the guest preacher was unable to attend.
• So a lay preacher who was very unprepared substituted for him.
• His text was Isaiah chapter 45 verse 22:
• “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth”.
Unknown to the preacher:
• This young teenager had been under deep conviction of sin for many months,
• Despite the fact that his father and grandfather were preachers he was not yet saved.
• Because the lay preacher had stood in at short notice;
• He hadn’t actually got a lot to say.
• So he just kept repeating his text;
• Again and again he repeated it and then added these words;
“A man need not go to college to learn to look”, he shouted,
Anyone can look – a child can look!”
• As he spoke he noticed the visitor and he pointed towards him saying;
• “Young man, you look very miserable. Young man, look to Jesus Christ!”
• That young man heeded his advice, and by faith looked to Jesus Christ and lived.
• That is the story of how the great preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon was converted.
Quote: Wycliffe, quoted in Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, W. Wiersbe, p. 235
• Charles Spurgeon was saved on January 6, 1850,
• And on February 1 he wrote the following prayer of consecration:
“O great and unsearchable God, who knowest my heart, and triest all my ways; with a humble dependence upon the support of Thy Holy Spirit, I yield up myself to Thee; as Thy own reasonable sacrifice, I return to Thee Thine own. I would be for ever, unreservedly, perpetually Thine; whilst I am on earth, I would serve Thee; and may I enjoy Thee and praise Thee for ever! Amen.”
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=iQc3h4q9VBVb26IM6UVg5Xgx05SgUFJw&forceSave
