Old Testament in a Year: Numbers 18-30

When a woman is about to give birth to a baby and has her body, is preparing for the delivery, she enters into a phase that's called the transition phase. It's the final, most intense, and the shortest part of the first phase of labor. It can last anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. During the transition phase, the contractions become the most painful. She feels oftentimes overwhelmed and fearful and exhausted and just wants to give up because the emotional state is at its highest point. And it's during the transition phase that the support of the medical team and of family members is the most crucial, and it's the most needed. This transition phase leads to the moment that she's dreamt about, the moment of holding her baby in her arms, but listen to me, without the transition, the promise cannot be realized. Let me say that again. Without the transition, the promise cannot be realized. Transitions in life are meant to lead us from one place to a better place. But as we're going to see today, sometimes they come with challenges and they come with adjustments and at times they come with painful lessons. If you're new or if you're joining us recently, we are doing something this year and next year that's a bit different. I'm preaching through the entire Bible in a two-year period, all Old Testament in 2026, all New Testament in 2027. We have a reading plan, many of you are following. Here's the second quarter reading plan. It's blue. We had a mistake on the first one of that, but these are available now at the information desk. It's also there on your app. And I encourage you, if you're brand new, you're just joining us, jump in today and begin reading Scripture with us because what you'll do in a two-year period, you'll read through the entire Bible cover to cover. Now today in our Scripture and what we're talking about is numbers, chapters 18 through

30, 13 chapters that we're covering. And what we're going to see today is that the Israelites are in a transitional period. Now they've already undergone a major transition some 40 years prior when they transitioned out of 400 years of slavery in Egypt and then began wandering in the wilderness. Should have taken them two to three weeks to move into the promised land, but because of their disobedience, they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. Now what we're going to see today is that the Israelites are once again in a transition phase, and it's necessary for them to apprehend the promise. But in this transition phase, they're going from an old generation to a new generation. They're going from 40 years of wandering in the wilderness into the promised land, but it's going to come with some adjustments, and it's going to come with some major tests and some things that God wanted to teach them before they move into the promised land. We're going to cover that today. The notes are on your app. I'm going to talk about three stories, three lessons that we see in Numbers chapters 18 through 30, and in each of these stories, I'm just going to give you a few takeaways. So here we go. Here's the first story. Here's the first lesson that they needed to learn in Numbers chapter 20. It's the lesson of water coming out of a rock. Beginning in verse 1 of Numbers chapter 20, and if you don't have your Bible or your device, we're putting all the verses on the screen. You can follow along as I read, but we'll read this. In the first month of the year, the whole community of Israel arrived in the wilderness of Zion and camped at Kadesh, and while they were there, Miriam, Moses' wife, died and was buried. There was no water for the people to drink at that place, so they rebelled against Moses and Aaron. The people blamed Moses and said, if only we had died in the Lord's presence with our brothers.

Why have you brought the congregation of the Lord's people into this wilderness to die along with our livestock? Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us here to this terrible place? This land has no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates, and no water to drink. Moses and Aaron turned away from the people and went to the entrance of the tabernacle where they fell face down on the ground, and then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to them, and the Lord said to Moses, you and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community. What's the people want? Speak to the rock over there and it will pour out its water. You'll provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock. Keep in mind, we're talking about an upwards of two million people along with cattle. And so Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord. Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. Listen you rebels, he shouted. Must we bring you water from this rock? And then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff and water gushed out. And so the entire community and their livestock drank their fill. Here's takeaway number one. In adversity, choose honor. In adversity, choose honor. We read in verses two through five that here the people now are about to move

into the promised land. What do they do? They did the same thing they've been doing for 40 years. They complained against leadership. They leveled accusations against Moses and Aaron. Keep in mind, these are the two men who brought them out of 400 years of slavery. And now, what are they doing? You brought us out here to kill us. Why did you bring us into this terrible place? Why did you bring us out of Egypt just so we could all die out here in the wilderness? Listen, what we see in the Israelites is what we often see in our own lives and it's this. That when we're under pressure or when we're in a season of adversity or when we're in a wilderness season, one of the first things that we do is we try to find somebody to blame. And here are the Israelites and they're about to move into the thing that they've waited for, yet they have no water. So what do they do? They just immediately start pointing their finger at the two men who are responsible for bringing them out of 400 years of bondage and slavery. Now, oftentimes, when we revert to human nature and we look for somebody to blame in a season that's difficult for us, we dishonor the leaders that God has put in our lives.

We dishonor our parents. We dishonor our spiritual leadership. We dishonor our employer or we dishonor our boss. And listen to me, church, nothing good is ever produced out of dishonor. Let me say it again. Nothing good is ever produced out of dishonor. Here's the second takeaway. In accusation, choose his presence. Here are the people, verses two through five, leveling accusations against Moses and Aaron. Did they deserve it? I don't believe so. They had laid their lives on the line. They had faithfully led the people, not only out of slavery, but for 40 years in the wilderness, and now the people are accusing them. And I would say that Moses and Aaron had every reason to retaliate. In fact, and God always knows better, but had I been leading them, I would have been toe-to-toe with some of them. I would have been nose-to-nose with some of them and say, hey, listen here. All you've done for 40 years is complain. All you've done is murmur. All you've done is level accusations and complaints, and here we go again. And Moses and Aaron could have easily been justified

had they done that same thing, had they gotten in the faces of some of these Israelites and say, hey, what gives you the right to just level accusations against us? But Moses and Aaron did what we should do, and that is, the Bible says, they turned away from their accuser and they went right into the presence of God. Come on, are you hearing me today? Oh, no, maybe you have a right. Maybe you have a good reason that you should engage, that you should argue, that you should level accusations back towards somebody else. Maybe you have a right to do that. But let me tell you the better thing. The better thing is to turn away from your accuser and go into the presence of God. And it was there, as Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before God, that the Bible says the presence of God came. Listen, the thing that you and I need the most, especially when the enemy is accusing, especially when your coworkers are accusing, especially when family members are accusing. The thing you need the most is the presence of God. Here's the third takeaway. In authority, choose obedience. In authority, choose obedience. Let me read again what we just read, verse seven through 11. And the Lord said to Moses, you and Aaron must take the staff

and assemble the entire community. Take the staff and assemble the entire community. As the people, watch, speak to the rock over there and it'll pour out its water. You'll provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock. Watch, so Moses did as he was told. He obeyed up until a certain point. Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord. And then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. Listen, you rebels, he shouted. Must we bring you water from this rock? And then Moses raised his hand and he struck the rock twice with the staff. Did he obey God? Yes, up until a certain point. Listen to me, church. Partial obedience is not obedience at all. Partial obedience is wrongful disobedience. And some of us say, well, I obeyed God up until a certain point. I did my best, I obeyed God. No, you didn't. You obeyed God to a certain point and then you took matters into your own hand. I wonder if after the first time that Moses struck the rock, did Moses think this is not what God told me to do?

Maybe after striking the rock and nothing happened, maybe God captivated his attention and said, no, no, no, no. What did I tell you to do, Moses? I told you to speak to the rock, just like you held that same staff in your hand and you spoke to Pharaoh. I told you to speak to the rock. And maybe at that point, after nothing happened, maybe Moses could have gone and did what God said and spoke to the rock, but something happened where there was a conflict of his soul and Moses said, oh, no, no, no, I'm gonna strike the rock again because I'm gonna do things my way this time. And he struck the rock again. And the Bible says water came out, water gushed out. Listen to me. There are so many leaders nowadays who want to use the end to justify the means. Listen, water still came out of the rock. The people still drank. They drank to their fill. But did it justify Moses' actions? Absolutely not. Some people say, well, I'm bearing fruit. There's fruit in my life. Listen to me. That has nothing to do with you. That has everything to do with the authority

and the power of the word of God. You cannot justify the end or justify your means because there's fruit that's showing up in your life. No, no, no, no, listen. Obedience is a big deal to God and that staff that Moses held in his hand was more than a walking stick. It was the same staff that he held in his hand after God called him on the backside of a desert to go lead the people out of bondage. And there's four things that that staff represented to Moses. And I believe he was reminded of that in the moment that he struck the rock twice. The first thing that the staff represented was the authority and the power of God. The authority and the power of God where he stood before Pharaoh and he held that staff in his hand. These same staff that he's now holding and striking a rock in disobedience before God. That same staff that he held in his hand when he said to Pharaoh, let my people go. He did that with the authority of God. Secondly, it represented the presence of God. You remember the story when the Israelites are running, they're fleeing, they're finally free from 400 years of slavery and now they're staring at an entire ocean. They have nowhere to go. And the Egyptians are bearing down behind them

ready to kill them. And Moses takes that same staff and he holds it up in his hands over the waters and the waters part an entire ocean parts. And the Bible says that 2 million people walk across on dry ground. That staff was a reminder to Moses and to all the Israelites, I am with you and I will never leave you. never leave you nor forsake you. The third thing that the staff represented was leadership and calling. It was always a reminder to Moses, I'm the one who called you. I'm the one who anointed you. I'm the one who appointed you to lead people out of bondage. And the fourth thing it represented was faith and obedience. And now here we find Moses, rather than speaking to the rock, and he strikes the rock out of disobedience. Moses let his emotions take over. And instead of obeying God's instructions in anger, in frustration, maybe he had just grown weary of the people complaining and murmuring, leveling accusations at him, whatever the reason, Moses obeyed up to a certain point. But partial obedience is not obedience at all. It's wrongful disobedience.

And it was a costly decision. Because in verse 12, and we didn't read that, we find the consequences of Moses' disobedience. Look what it says in verse 12. We read this, but the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people, you will not lead them into the land that I'm giving you. It was a costly mistake. One moment, one mistake, one decision that cost Moses the opportunity to move into a place that for 40 years they had all dreamt about. This transition season that they're in, and God says, I wanna teach you some things that are gonna be so important for you once you move into the land of promise. Now I want you to notice an interesting phrase there. God says to Moses and Aaron, because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness. Listen, God reminds us that a true indicator of his holiness in our lives is not the way we dress. It's not the way we actually live on the outside. But a true indicator of the holiness of God is obedience. Obedience. As God said, you didn't trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness. Here's the second story,

the second lesson we find in Exodus chapter 21. Very interesting story there, beginning in verse four. And then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey, and they began to speak against God and Moses. Here we go again. Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness, they complained. There's nothing to eat here, and nothing to drink, and we hate this horrible manna. In other words, we hate the supernatural provision of God that falls down out of heaven, that nourishes us. We hate this stuff. And so the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people. I thought he was a good God. And many were bitten and died. And then the people came to Moses and cried out, we've sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes. Stop right there again. If I were their leader, and God knew better, I would've said, oh no, no, no, no, no, not so fast. No, no, you brought this on yourselves. You're the one who for 40 years have been complaining. You're the one who has spoken evil against us. You've accused us. You've done nothing but murmur.

You brought this on yourself. You gotta deal with this. But God knew Moses was way more spiritual than I am, because the Bible says Moses prayed for the people. What a godly man. And then the Lord told him, make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will leave it. They simply look at it. So Moses made a snake out of a bronze, out of bronze and attached it to a pole. And then anyone who was bit by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed. Takeaway number one is this. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. That's what Proverbs chapter 18, verse 21 tells us. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. And we always assume, and rightfully so, that when we are speaking words, they have life, they have the power of life, or they have the power of death for the person who's receiving the word. And that's true. Because we can either speak life over somebody or we can speak death over them. But the full context of the meaning of that is not only does it have life or death for the recipient, but it has life. for death for the one who's speaking the words.

Let me tell you, if you speak life over somebody, then life is gonna be produced inside of you. But consequently, if you speak death, if you're complaining, if you're murmuring, if you're accusing, if you're bad-mouthing leadership, let me tell you what it does. It comes full circle, and it produces death on the inside of you. Life and death are in the power of the tongue, not just for the person receiving them, but for the person who is delivering those words. Takeaway number two, words have consequences. They have consequences. Verse six and seven, the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. I thought God was a good God. He is, but there's always consequences to sin. Do you hear me today? And then the people came to Moses and cried, we've sinned, please pray. Let me tell you, the bottom line is this, whatever we sow, we're also gonna reap. Your words have the power to affect other people positively and negatively, but also to affect you, and it comes back in the form of consequences, and listen to me, God does not tolerate dishonoring your leaders. God doesn't tolerate complaining. God doesn't tolerate murmuring.

Some people say, well, it's just the way I was raised. My mother did that, my grandmother did that, my father was always doing that, and we don't mean anything by it. It's just the way we were always raised. Don't take it too seriously. Let me tell you, God takes it seriously. You can't be flippant or casual about complaining all the time, or murmuring all the time against the leaders that God has put in your life. Here's takeaway number three. I love this part. God always provides a remedy. Amen. Even when we don't deserve it. Even when we're the ones who have blown it. And the reason there was an outbreak of poisonous snakes was not just because God was in a bad mood. It's because they blew it. They complained against leadership. But God, in his mercy, come on, is anybody thankful for this? Always provides a remedy for us. And we read it a moment ago, and we see it again in verse seven. Pray, pray, Moses prays. And then the Lord told him, I want you to make a replica of a bronze serpent, and I want you to attach it to a pole.

And then I want you to just hold it up. Hold it up. And anybody who looks at it is gonna be healed. They don't even have to touch it. You just hold it up in their midst. And anybody who sees that bronze serpent, they're gonna be healed. Amazing, beautiful. We've learned that everything in the Old Testament is a type and shadow of Jesus. And we see that exact same thing in John chapter three. Look at this. Fascinating. John chapter three, verse 14, and verse 15. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man, Jesus, must be lifted up so that everybody who believes in Him will have eternal life. This was a foreshadowing of the one named Jesus who would be lifted up on a cross. And everybody who looks to Him would be saved, would be delivered, would be healed. Jesus said, if I be lifted up, I'll draw men unto myself, I'll heal people, I'll forgive them, I'll cleanse them of their sin if they just look on me. And that was the reflection of Jesus as Moses held that bronze serpent up. But listen to me.

The danger, and we see this in Scripture, is that if we're not careful, we'll begin to worship the vehicle more than we do the one who's providing salvation or healing. Watch this. Second Kings chapter 18. Look at what we read in verse four. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made, for up to that time, the Israelites had been burning incense to it. Never again in Scripture do we find God using the bronze serpent to bring healing to people. One time. But now all of a sudden, People are fixated on the vehicle. And we do the same thing. God moves in a certain way. God moves at a certain place. God moves through a certain person. And we, if we're not careful, become fixated on that person, are fixated on that place, that geographical spot, are fixated on that era of time. Now listen, what we just read in 2 Kings chapter 18, verse four, when the people are still burning incense to a bronze serpent, because God used it, used it powerfully, used it supernaturally. People were healed instantly by just looking at it. But people were burning incense to this.

And look, what we just read, 900 years later. 900 years later, they're still fixated on an object. And God said, I'm not using that anymore. I've moved on to something else. And oh, we're prone to do the same thing. God moves through a certain person, and we think God can only move now through that person. God moves in a certain way, in a certain place. And we think God's gotta do it again. And we become so fixated, oh God, move, come Lord, I'm gonna show up, I'm gonna go to that spot. Listen, I had the privilege back in the mid-90s of attending the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida. It was supernatural, it was powerful, it was incredible how God moved. Can you imagine if people were still showing up there today? And I know the young man pastoring the church now. But if people were still showing up there today, going God's gotta do it again, God's gotta move the same way, God's gotta, oh, guess what, he's not doing that. He's moved on to something else. And if we take our eyes off of him, we'll miss the move of God. So we have to be careful that we don't get fixated on the instrument of the anointing and the power of God. Y'all still with me? Yes. Here's the third lesson. It's the example of Phinehas.

Exodus chapter 25. The example of Phinehas, beginning in verse one, and while the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods. So the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. In this way, Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the Lord's anger to burn, to blaze against his people. And the Lord issued the following command to Moses, seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the Lord in broad daylight. And so his fierce anger will turn away from the people of Israel. So Moses ordered Israel's judges, each of you must put to death the men under your authority who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor. And just then, one of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman into his tent right before the eyes of Moses and all the people, as everyone was weeping at the entrance of the tabernacle. And when Phinehas, son of Eliezer and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw this, he jumped up and left the assembly. He took a spear and rushed after the man into his tent. Phinehas thrust the spear all the way through the man's body and into the woman's stomach. And so the plague against the Israelites was stopped,

but not before 24,000 people had died. Before the Israelites could inherit the promise of God, God needed to remind them that he was a jealous God, that he would not tolerate compromise, that temptation would always attempt to lure them away from him. Two takeaways, number one. Takeaway number one, watch your relationships. Listen, watch your relationships. People are like elevators. They're either gonna take you up or they're gonna take you down. There's no in between, there's no stagnant, there's no just neutral ground there. They're either gonna positively influence you and take you closer to Jesus or they're gonna have a negative impact on you. And lead you away from him. And that's why God says to the Israelites, it's so important because there's gonna be a temptation and there's gonna be opportunity as you move into the promised land for you to compromise. And you've gotta learn this lesson now. I'm a jealous God. And you've gotta watch your relationships. God forbid them from intermarrying and intermingling with people who worshiped other gods. He knew the risk of compromise. Yet the Israelites chose to roll the dice and they catered to their flesh.

And the very thing that God had warned them. him about is the exact same thing that happened. Now listen to me, this had nothing to do with skin color. 20 years ago, this was a bigger deal. It's not a big deal now in our culture, thank God. This is not about God saying, no, you cannot marry somebody of a different color. That's nonsense. This has nothing to do with this. This is all about people who are not worshiping Jehovah, not worshiping God, not following Jesus. It was a warning. You cannot align yourself in relationship with someone who does not share the values that you share related to following Jesus. Now Paul warns the Corinthian church about this. Second Corinthians chapter six, verse 14 and 15. He says, don't team up with those who are unbelievers. Your version might say, don't be unequally yoked together. And he says this, how can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? The topical lexicon paints a beautiful word picture for us and defines for us what that phrase unequally yoked actually means. The picture there is to take two different types of animals of different size, of different strength, of different temperament and force them to the same plow.

Now yoke was the instrument that would join two animals together so that they could combine their strength and they could plow together. And commonly it would be two oxen that were yoked together. They had the same size, they had the same temperament and they would work together to plow a field. But the word picture that the apostle Paul thinks for the Corinthian church is taking two animals, like let's say an oxen and a little miniature donkey and trying to yoke them together. And what's gonna happen is that they're not gonna work in tandem with each other, they're gonna work against each other. And the apostle Paul says, you cannot be unequally yoked together with somebody who's completely different than you and rather than you working together because of your shared value of a relationship with Jesus, that you're gonna be working against each other. Because what's gonna happen is they're gonna damage each other and they're gonna damage the field that they're supposed to be plowing. That's the word picture there. And this warning from the apostle Paul to the Corinthian church and what God was trying to show the Israelites is that you should not align yourself with another person in a dating relationship that doesn't share your values.

Oh, but I'm gonna win them to Jesus. Yeah. Oh, I'm gonna bring them up spiritually. No, you're not. They're gonna pull you down. It happens every single time. Amen. Scripture's warning us, we should not align ourself in a covenant relationship in marriage with somebody who does not share our passion for Jesus. Now, let me just say this. If you joined in marriage before you were saved, you were both just wilding out, having a big time and you married and now you're saved or maybe one of you is saved or both of you are saved, this does not give you a license to say, oh, I'm unequally yoked with you because you're not saved yet and I am so I can leave the marriage. No, no, no, you still honor the covenant and you trust that God's gonna bring them along and Scripture's clear about that as well. The warning from Scripture is that you should not align yourself in a business relationship with someone who doesn't share your value of serving Jesus. Don't do it. Oh, but they're a good person.

Don't do it. Oh, but we've known each other for years. Don't do it. Don't do it in ministry. Listen, we've been very careful for 22 years about who we align ourself with in ministry and in ministry partnerships and ministry relationships and that's the warning from Scripture. The Israelite. disregarded it, and as a result, they began worshiping false god. It provoked the anger of God. Here's the second takeaway. Y'all still with me? Be zealous for the holiness of God. Be zealous for the holiness of God, and that's the example of Phinehas that we see. God is saying, don't align yourself in relationship with people who don't share your passion for Jesus. And God wanted to remind the Israelites, as you move into the promised land, I want you to be zealous for my holiness. And the Bible says there that the people began to repent. They knew they had blown it. They knew they had messed up, and they're weeping at the entrance to the tabernacle, pleading for the mercy of God. And as they're doing that, as they're repenting before God, there comes this Israelite man by the name of Zimri, and he's got a Moabite woman on his arm by the name of Cosby, and he's parading his sin in front of the house of God. He's parading his sin in front of a repenting, weeping people. And the intention is clear. Everybody knows what he's doing. God forbid this, and we're weeping now over the very thing that we did, which was to compromise the Word of God. And here is Zimri just parading his woman in front of the temple of God, parading his sin in front of a repentive, weeping people, and he takes that woman, that Moabite woman straight into his tent, and everybody knows what they're about to do. And they're all watching this, just like we have a church that's watching the world parade their sin in front of the house of God, parade their sin in front of people who are saying, no, no, no, we want to stand on the side of the Word of God, but we don't know what we should do about this. And there was this young man by the name of Phinehas, and the Bible says as Zimri is parading his immorality in front of the people of God, Phinehas jumps up, and

he runs into his own tent, and he grabs a spear. And Phinehas says, not on my watch you won't. Not on my watch are you going to parade your immorality in front of us. And the Bible says Phinehas takes his spear, and he chases after Zimri, and he goes right into his tent. Now listen, don't any of you get any wild ideas about your neighbor who's partying like a madman? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. There's a different way we can go about this. It's the example, it's the example of being zealous for the holiness of God. And Phinehas goes into the tent of Zimri. And I don't have to be graphic about this. You can figure this out. But he runs his spear through Zimri, and it goes straight through Zimri's body right into Cosby's body as well. You can guess what they were doing. And I want you to notice what we read in verse 11 there, Numbers chapter 25, it says this, Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites by being as zealous among them as I was. God is calling His people to be zealous for the holiness of God in a day where the world and our culture is parading its immorality in front of us and daring us to do anything about it, mocking the Word of God, mocking the principles of the Word of God, daring the church to say anything, daring the church to do anything. And many people are standing by going, well, what can we do? What can I do? I might offend somebody if I speak up about this. Oh, I might offend somebody if I cut off the head of their Philistine champion named Goliath. I might offend the Philistines if I do that. And God is saying, no, I'm looking for a people who will stand for my holiness and who will help usher in an end-time revival. I'm looking for people who will be zealous for my presence, zealous for my standards, zealous for the principles of the Word of God, and who will say, not on my watch. You're not going to do that to us. You're not going to do that in front of us as we are. in the presence of God. No, we're gonna do something about it. We can stand up, we can speak up. We can defend the honor of our God like David did, like Finney has did, and I believe God's looking for people in these last days who will do exactly that.