STRENTH FOR THE DESERT
Today we begin the first sermon from the fourth book of the Bible—Numbers. Numbers has 36 chapters and is divided into six major sections. We plan to develop one message from each section.
The first section of Numbers (1-10:10) is filled with the phrase "The Lord spoke to Moses", just as was true in Leviticus. The very first words of the book of Numbers begins, "The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai…Take a census of the whole congregation of Israelites…." That’s how the book of Numbers got its name. The phrase The Lord spoke to Moses occurs 23 times alone in the first section. The book of Numbers is important because God spoke, and when God speaks we need to perk up our ears and pay attention. What a blessing that God’s words have been preserved for us so that God can speak again to us through His recorded word.
Moses was an excellent leader. He was a man who kept his ears open to God. That meant he had to live an obedient life and take time to listen to God. As leaders and ministers today, there is nothing more important than taking time to hear God so that the people will be instructed. God’s message was never meant for Moses alone but so that Moses could pass on to the people how to be holy! The same is true today.
In the first nine chapters we read about the ideal congregation. Listen to these words: “The Israelites did so, they did just as the LORD commanded Moses.” (1:54). "The Israelites did just as the LORD had commanded Moses." (2:34), "According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses…thus they were enrolled by him, as the LORD commanded Moses." (4:49) and "Just as the LORD had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did." (9:5). In response to the people’s obedience, God spoke a powerful blessing upon them 6:24-26. We still use this blessing as a benediction today.
The first leg of the congregation’s journey in the desert was pretty easy. They seemed energized and willing to listen to Moses. But God in his infinite wisdom knows we need testing experiences to prepare us for heaven even as the Israelites needed testing experiences to prepare them to receive the land he was going to give to them. (Read Deuteronomy 8:2-7 )
The Israelites experience reminds me kids of what you were told last week at your Easter performance practice. Diane told you that right now at the beginning you are excited. Practice seems fun and exciting but there will be practices when you think you can’t get the routines; it will seem too hard and you will want to quit. But she told you to stick with it. She referred to the learning curve that will go down but it will come back up again and then all that you’ve learned will come together and you’ll have a great accomplishment in the end.
The Israelites were tested in the desert and their curve went way down but God was always at work as their instructor lovingly trying to help them to trust him for the journey even as He wants to help us travel through our desert experiences without petering out or giving up or turning against Him. God says to us today, "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power." (Eph 6:10)
Today we will examine one of the commands God gave Moses in the desert to strengthen the travelers and then see how that same command is given to us in the New Testament.
The text begins (9:1-4) "The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: Let the Israelites keep the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its regulations you shall keep it. So Moses told the Israelites that they should keep the Passover." Did you notice that four times God commanded, “You shall keep the Passover?” In other words, You shall hold a Love Feast on the prescribed day of the month. Why was holding the Passover remembrance so important to God and why was it so important for the people to obey his command?
In order to answer those questions we need to go back to Exodus 12 where God first gave his detailed instructions about how they were to prepare to leave Egypt just before he was going to free them in a miraculous way. Each family was to take an unblemished lamb from their flock and slaughter it for the forgiveness of their sins and then they were to roast the mean and eat it. But most important, (Ex. 12:7) "They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it." Then God said 12:13 "The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." In the same chapter God said to the people:
1st time---v. 14 "This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance."
2nd time—v. 17a "You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread."
3rd time---v. 17b "You shall observe this day throughout your generations as a perpetual ordinance."
4th time—v. 25 "When you come to the land that the LORD will give you as he has promised you shall keep this observance."
In God’s sight it wasn’t a matter of you can hold a Love Feast if you feel like it or if you don’t have a schedule conflict. You shall keep this observance! Now we go back to the book of Numbers where God told the desert congregation it is so important that they remember his mighty acts of deliverance on their behalf that they should even arrange a second Love feast one month later. (Read vv. 9-11) Then God made clear how important his command was, “But anyone who is clean and is not on a journey and yet refrains from keeping the Passover, shall be cut off from the people for not presenting the LORD’s offering at its appointed time; such a one shall bear the consequences for the sin." There is no hanky panky with God. Just as the 10 commandments were not 10 suggestions, neither is this command a suggestion. God makes firm commands with consequence and we need to realize God is serious about the commands he makes to us.
The question then is, how about now? For the answer we need to turn to I Corinthians 11. Here Paul is appointed to convey God’s command. Paul is the new Moses. And this is the way God commanded Paul to command us: 11:23 "ForI received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also after supper saying\, “this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.” Do this is not a suggestion, but a firm command.
Just as it was important for the people in the desert at the time of Moses to set aside a time to make their animal sacrifices to God and keep their memory fresh about how the blood of the sacrificed lamb on their doorposts covered over their sins and saved them from the plague of death, so it is important for us too to set aside a time to remember in a special way that the blood of Jesus doesn’t just cover over our sins but washes them away and saves us from eternal death.
Jesus commands us to prepare bread and the cup to remember how he was the perfect lamb slain for us. He says eat the bread as an intimate way of remembering that his body was broken and sacrificed for us.
Then he commands DO THIS, drink from the cup and remember that it was his blood shed for us to make us clean. ( I Peter 1:18, 19). Jesus also answers the question, Why? We are supposed to proclaim his death!! Not his life. Scripture tells us that ’Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.’ Jesus commands us to proclaim the message that Jesus died; he gave his very life for our sins! (I Pet 2:24). The command to us is do this, proclaim his death until his comes.
Again just as was true of the congregation in the desert, God does not intend that we observe this special remembrance meal only when it suits us or only when we think we’re good enough to participate. He intends that we examine ourselves as the passages goes on to instruct (v. 28). That doesn’t mean we need to bring our lamb to sacrifice it for our sins but since that has already been done for us we need to examine our lives prayerfully even as the Psalmist did and pray, ’Search me God and know my heart, test me and know my thoughts and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.’ We need to ask God to cleanse us, restore us and give us the courage to seek reconciliation where broken relationships exist so that we are ready to obey his command, DO THIS… as present-day disciples of Jesus around his table.
I know it is easy to be sloppy about observing the Love Feast we hold. Too often Christians make it a hit or miss affair, “If I don’t hit it this time, maybe next time I’ll get there.” I believe God is serious about our obedience and he says to us who are his disciples today even as God spoke to the congregation in the desert, it is a sin not to take Jesus commands seriously. It is a sin to be a disciple of Jesus and yet be negligent and absent from his table.
The passage in I Corinthians goes on (v. 30) ’For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged.’ It is that important that we examine ourselves, get restored and obey lest we become weak, ineffective, dying Christians.
We too are living in desert conditions spiritually. I think we could say we’re living in Desert Storm! It’s tough to be a Christian today because:
- Satan throws sand in people’s eyes so that they’re getting mixed up and confused about what to believe. A lot of people are just groping around, not knowing what to hold on to. They are not reading God’s Word to know what he commands and what he promises.
- Resources are scarce for lots of people. So in our desert storm, people are trying to find quick fixes for desert living. Even Christians are buying lottery tickets, others are working additional hours to buy more earthly pleasures in order to make desert living more tolerable. Too often it becomes a vicious circle that only spirals downward and away from God..
Today’s hard life is causing people to become depressed, unable to cope so they are reaching out for the wrong substances to keep themselves functioning instead of looking up to God. Yesterday when driving past the local bar, we noticed the parking lot was packed. We’d never seen so many cars in their lot and I had to think, wouldn’t it be wonderful if all those people inside the bar chose to come to church today because they knew Christ was the answer instead of alcohol.
So how can we survive desert living today? We can survive by faithfully obeying God’s commands. They are for our good not for our harm. God commands that his people gather together to remember Christ’s death. Do this, Jesus says. I’m convinced we have sick and weak Christians all around us because they are not taking Christ’s commands seriously. I’m also convinced that when we gather at the Lord’s table in obedience, we receive a great measure of strength and blessing to survive our desert journey with joy and confidence so like the Psalmist we can say “We go from strength to strength.” (84:7) rather than limping along from one break down to the next one. We dare not take our responsibility lightly as the people of God. When we gather at the Lord’s table, we’re not only carrying out his command to proclaim the saving message of Christ’s death, we’re also receiving the necessary strength, courage and renewed faith, the very essentials we need to survive the desert storm we live in today.
May God help us to give ourselves to him in total obedience to all his commands. Obedience is the pathway to blessing.
