Numbers 32 & 33

To log onto UNITYINCHRIST.COM’S BLOG, Click Here

Share on Facebook

Numbers 32:1-42

“Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; 2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, 3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon, 4 even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle: 5 wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan. 6 And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? 7 And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them? 8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them. 10 And the LORD’s anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying, 11 Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: 12 save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD. 13 And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed. 14 And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel. 15 For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy the people. 16 And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: 17 but we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward. 20 And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the LORD to war, 21 and will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him, 22 and the land be subdued before the LORD: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. 23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceedeth out of your mouth. 25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth. 26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead: 27 but thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord saith. 28 So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel: 29 and Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the LORD, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: 30 but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. 31 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the LORD hath said unto thy servants, so will we do. 32 We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours. 33 And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribes of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about. 34 And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, 35 and Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah, 36 and Bethnimrah, and Beth-haran, fenced cities: and folds for sheep. 37 And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim, 38 and Nebo, and Baalmeon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded. 39 And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it. 40 And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein. 41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havoth-jair. 42 And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED592]

“Numbers chapter 32, the Book of Numbers, Hebrew “Be Midbar” [Micpar, Strongs # 4557] “in the wilderness” we’re still there, but we are in the wilderness now after 38 years of journey, and we are camped on the Jordan River, and within view of the children of Israel are the walls of Jericho. All that God had promised to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to succeeding generations is before their eyes. A generation has perished in the wilderness because they refused to enter in, a new generation now has made this complete circuit, 38 years later they’re there, and all that God had promised them, all that God has told them that they would have. He doesn’t speak about it as though there was any doubt at all, it’s sitting in front of them. And now in this chapter we have an interesting situation where Reuben, one of the tribes of Israel, and Gad, two tribes that camped on the south side of the Tabernacle, so evidently there was a lot of concourse between them, and ultimately they’ll drag half the tribe of Manasseh into their complacency. They come to the edge of the Promised land, they have defeated on the east side of Jordan the Amorites, the Moabites, Og of Bashan, and the land over there in Gilead and Bashan is good grazing land, it’s green. And they decide ‘Hey, we don’t need to go any further, we’re happy as a lark here, this looks great to us.’ And they’re going to come to Moses and say ‘Hey, we want to stay here, we don’t want to go over the Jordan.’ And of course Moses is going to blow his stack, and Moses, the thing he wants more than anything else is to go across that Jordan, he’s not going to get to go across, Moses is going to remember 38 years before this when 10 guys turned the whole nation away because of the evil report of 10 spies, and the discouragement they brought has caused a whole generation to perish in the wilderness. Now he’s got two and a half tribes that don’t want to go over, 300,000 people or more that don’t want to go over. So it presents an interesting picture for us. And as we go through, certainly we want to make application as we look at these things.

Two And A Half Tribes Don’t Want To Go Over The Jordan--Moses Is Going To Blow His Stack

It says “Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,” faked those great, didn’t I? “even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and” just so happens, “thy servants have cattle: wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.” (verses 1-5) You know, Moses, 120 years old, he’s becoming a little intolerant at this age, you know, he’s spent 40 years in Egypt, 40 years on the backside of the desert, and 40 years leading 2 to 3 million people through the wilderness. God has told him that within this year he will come up to Pisgah and die and give his life. And now on the edge of the Promised Land he has these tribes coming. Now they’re much like Lot, in Genesis 13, they have looked with the natural eye, and they’ve said ‘This land is great, we have cattle, let’s not make our decision based on the Word of God, let’s make our decision based on cows.’ [Is a cow smarter than God? That’s what they’re saying 😊] ‘We have cows, this looks like a cow-place, we should stay here.’ But the Word of God had continually told them that the land he was bringing them into was a land that flowed with milk and honey, by that it means a land that flows with milk is a land of good grazing, a land that flows with honey is a land of pollination, it’s rich for agriculture. And they’re saying, ‘You know, we’ve been looking with the natural eye, instead of the eye of faith,’ it’s a picture of spiritual mediocrity, they’re willing to settle for less than what God has for them, thinking that they’re smarter than God. Here, all of centuries have gone by, God had told Abraham in four generations, when the iniquity of the Amorite is at the full, that’s when your descendants are going to enter into the land, where promises were made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now they’re on the edge of those promises, God has brought them there in fact for that very reason into Canaan, entering into battle, and being victorious and taking the land of Canaan and being his judgment rod at the same time in regards to the wickedness of the inhabitants of the land. And in the middle of all that here comes Reubena and Gad saying ‘You know, it’s been a great trip, was really cool, River turned to blood, the Red Sea parting, the Manna all these years, it was really cool, we really liked it--but I think we’re going to stay here instead of going on into Canaan. Is that alright with you?’ I don’t think Moses is going to react the right way here, and I understand. “And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?” (verse 6) this is God’s very path for their lives. In Deuteronomy it says ‘Because he’ the LORD ‘loved thy father, therefore he chose their seed after them, and thee out of his sight with his mighty power, out of Egypt, to drive out the nations from before thee, greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance as it is this day,’ it says ‘because he loved thee,’ he made this plan and had this decision, ‘because he loved thee, he decided to bring thee into this land and give it to thee.’ That’s God’s best for them, it was written in God’s Word. And remarkably at this point in time, evidently they’re deciding they’re picking and choosing what parts of God’s Word they like. God has given his Word, he’s given instruction, he’s given commandments, he’s challenged them 38 years earlier when they turned away from the land. Now they’re back on the border of the land, and two of the tribes, and half the tribe of Manasseh is going to join them, and say ‘You know what, we kind of like this side, we don’t want to go over Jordan.’ And Moses says ‘So you’re going to let your brethren go to war while you sit here?’ In verse 7 he says “And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath” past tense, “given them?” The land is already theirs, the land is already theirs, ‘Are you going to discourage them by sitting here?’ Now look, it’s going to be an interesting chapter because as we go into this, it’s going to deal with the sin or the sins of omission. There are sins that people commit, of adultery or murder, as we go through the commandments. But this is a sin of omission. There are times when we are told to do something by God, and we don’t obey, and it’s going to say in this chapter that that is sinning against the LORD. It isn’t that a sin is being committed, where God has said ‘Don’t do this,’ and someone does it anyway. This is a situation where he said ‘I want you to do this,’ and they don’t do it. And it is a sin of omission. And in all of our lives there can be certainly sins of commission, things that we commit are always it seems on the front page. But there are things that we should do sometimes that we don’t do, and God said those things also affect those that are around you. If there is patriotism in our country, there should be as it were, patriotism amongst God’s people, we should be patriots, we should realize that our behavior in the Church and what we give ourselves to effects those around us. If we are satisfied with less, if there’s spiritual mediocrity in our lives, then we cause others to compromise, and we convince them it’s ok to do the same thing. ‘Oh I know God said that, but this is cool. I mean, look here, we’re cow people, you know, we got cows, I don’t know, God don’t have cows, but we have cows, we gotta survive down here, and this is cow country man.’ People come up with all kinds of excuses. Moses said ‘You’re gonna sit here, while your brethren go to war? You’re gonna watch while somebody else struggles and struggles and struggles, and does their best, you’re going to sit by and be a discouragement instead of an encouragement?’ I pray that’s not your spiritual gift. Some people, their favourite indoor sport is gossip and complaining. I heard someone say that the Church is a lot like a football game, there’s 50 guys on the field that are really in great shape, but really tired from doing their best trying to play the game, and there’s 50,000 fans that are really in lousy shape, that’s standing around and telling them what they’re supposed to do to play a good game. And sometimes the Church can be like that, you can have a smaller group of people that are really giving themselves, and really trying, they’re really tuckered out and doing their best, and then you’re surrounded with armchair quarterbacks telling them how they should do something, and they haven’t joined in the battle, they haven’t joined in the fray. And here as we look at this, it says “And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them? Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them.” (verses 7-9) It’s been theirs for 38 years already, and they haven’t gone in. And Moses is thinking ‘Man oh man, if 10 guys could discourage the whole nation, what’s two tribes going to do? I can’t wander for 40 more years, I’m too old, I don’t want to come back here at 160.’

Are We Wholly Following The Lord?

Now he’s telling them what happened in the past, “And the LORD’s anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying, Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD.” (verses 10-12) he, Caleb, became entrenched in Israel, the Kenezites were not even Israelites, not from one of the tribes, he becomes a believer and joins himself to the children of Israel. So there’s a challenge here, about mediocrity. Are we wholly following the Lord? You know, Jeremiah says this ‘Thus saith the LORD, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, saith the LORD.’ Paul in Acts 20 says that even though he knows there’s persecution ahead of him, but he said ‘None of these things move me, that I might finish my course.’ In Philippians chapter 3, he said there, when he talked about his pedigree, of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the 8^th day, all of these credentials, all of these things that people would be proud of, his doctorates in theology, he said ‘But I count all of those things as nothing, as dung, that I might know him,’ he’s very specific about that. Jesus in Matthew 6:33 says ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added.’ And this is what happens to us. We can get this idea, where cattle comes first. Now cattle was a great part of the commerce of the day, where today the most important thing is education, education is important, the most important thing is money, money is important, it’s a great tool to use against the devil, the most important thing is my career. No, the most important thing is your calling, and that should sit in the middle of your career. You know what, all of those most important things dwindle when the doctor calls and says your test for cancer is positive. All of those things fade away, when your child has a terminal illness. All of that means nothing when we’re on the hospital bed and we’re breathing our last, what matters is that we knew him, that we finished our course, that we pressed forward, that we have apprehended that we have been apprehended for, that we sought first the Kingdom. And in the context of that, I believe we should excel, I believe whatever we give our hand to we should do it with all of our might, whatever the Lord puts in front of us, and whatever we do we should be the best at it, so we have that testimony. But that’s not the end-game. The end-game is following him wholeheartedly, and standing in eternity, success will be defined vastly differently than it is in this world. And as believers, we have to look out so that sometime we’re not infected with the standards that this world would foist upon us. Because the thing is, in and of those things, many of them are not wrong in and of themselves. But for you and I the question is, are we following wholeheartedly? In his leading us in college, we should be following wholeheartedly and be a steward over everything he’s given us, when he’s leading us in this direction we should follow wholeheartedly. There are guys, even on the battlefield tonight, the Lord has led them to be there, they are warriors and they love Christ, and doing the best that they can do [in the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God we believe that we shouldn’t serve in the military killing others. But there are two incredible examples, one depicted in the movie Hacksaw Ridge, where Desmond Doss served as a U.S. Army medic, risking his life to save his comrades in arms, and yet refused to carry a rifle, a weapon (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2-1hz1juBI ). There was a German Sabbath-keeper who was drafted into the Wehrmacht, and essentially refused to kill, and somehow got away with it, while serving on the Eastern Front, quietly doing what he could to warn Jews of the approaching German extermination squads that followed behind his unit (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL0-eVPThnw ). They both served, but refused to bear arms during World War II], there are surgeons that are doing that, there are people in the mission field that are doing that, there are people that are grandfathers and grandmothers that are doing the best to invest in their grandchildren. They understand that the stakes are high. The point is whatever we do, we should be following him wholeheartedly, and we shouldn’t be sitting around saying ‘I got cows, it looks better over here [mooo!],’ not when God’s Word says it’s better over there. Cows will survive over there, this is not about cows, it’s about human souls. This is about eternity, not T-bones. And Moses is challenging them here in regards to those things.

The Cost Of Staying On This Side Of Jordan

Verse 13 again, he says “And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years,” they should have known that, they’re the kids of the wanderers, “until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed. And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men,” you’re just chips off the old blocks, “to augment yet the fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel. For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy the people. And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: but we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land.” (verses 13-17) Again, it seems honourable what they’re doing [and it is], you can give them credit. ‘We’re not saying we won’t go, we’ll reenforce some of these cities here, we’re going to leave our children, our wives, our cattle here, but we’ll go over with the armies of Israel, and we will fight until everybody comes into their inheritance, we’re gonna do that, that seems like a fair thing.’ Back in verse 5 they had said ‘If we have found grace in thy sight,’ well they should have found grace in the eyes of the LORD, is what they should have been worried about. They said unto him, ‘The land is given unto thy servants,’ well they weren’t Moses’ servants, they’re supposed to be the LORD’s servants. Here they’re saying ‘What we’ll do is we’ll leave our families and we’ll leave our children here, and we’ll go over and fight the battles of the LORD, and when all of that is done, then we’ll come back to this territory.’ And you know, there are some major problems with that. When you study Kings and Chronicles, the first tribes to be carried away, and the first tribes to face battle was Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, because they were in the wrong place, [see https://unityinchrist.com/kings/2.html and https://unityinchrist.com/kings/3.html ], they were carried away first. Satan doesn’t just strike on the other side of Jordan, he strikes over there in Gilead just as easily [and if you study the history in those two links, you’ll see it was the Assyrian Empire that struck those two and a half tribes, because they were closer to Assyria]. Secondly, they’re ripping their kids off, because there is a generation of kids that are going to cross that Jordan River with their fathers, and they’re going to watch their fathers, and how this nation lacks fathers, with the sword in their hands, and they’re going to see the walls of Jericho fall down. They’re going to see the sun and the moon stand still in the Valley of Aijalon, they’re going to see things that are going to change their little hearts and their little minds, and there’s a whole generation that’s going to stay on the other side, and these guys think they’re going to be safe over there. Well look what he’s saying, ‘Well we gotta fortify things because of the inhabitants,’ it’s not really good for them, they gotta fortify things to leave them here [and some troops must have had to stay behind in reality]. Don’t do that, take them with you, take them with you. Because there’s going to be battles on either sides of God’s will. If you settle for less, where you are, there’s going to be war. If you follow the Lord wholeheartedly, there is never spiritual progress without warfare, it’s just impossible. But I’d rather be on the side of Jordan where I see the walls fall down without a human hand. I’d rather be on the side of the Jordan where I see the sun and moon stand still in the Valley of Aijalon. If I’m gonna fight, I want the Lord in the battle with me, I don’t want to be fighting my own battle to protect my cows on the other side of Jordan. And how sad for the children. It seems so logical, ‘We’ll do our best, we’ll follow the LORD, we’ll settle for less, but our kids will be safe,’ but your kids will never be safe if you settle for less. Your kids will never be safe in this world if you settle for less. Your kids will never be safe, or your grandkids, if you settle for less. Because if all you leave them is a bunch of cows, if all you leave them is something a lawyer can settle, you haven’t left them anything at all. If you don’t leave them a spiritual heritage, if they don’t see you standing firm for the things of God, with the Sword of God, the Word of God in your hand, you haven’t left them anything at all. If they don’t see in you ‘I’m willing to follow him anywhere, he is my Shepherd, my Shield, my Buckler, my rearguard, he is my strong tower, he is my life, and if I’m going to glory in anything I’m going to glory in the fact that I know him,’ if they don’t see that in your life, you haven’t left them anything at all. A great place to graze cows? There’s more than that for you and for me. Believe me, I’m preaching to myself, not just to you guys. “and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward. And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the LORD to war, and will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him, and the land be subdued before the LORD: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD.” (verses 17b-22) I don’t know about you guys, it means leaving your wives, that means leaving your wives and your kids for 7 years, there were at least 7 years in the wars of Canaan, that’s a long time, that’s a long time. I’d rather have them tagging along, I’d rather come home at the end of the day with a few scars and say ‘Man, you should have seen what the LORD did today.’ and have the kids say ‘Daddy, tell us,’ ‘You should have seen what he did today!’ Instead they’re growing up on the other side of Jordan, 7 years. What happens to a kid between 5 and 12 these days? What happens to a kid between 8 and 15 today? What happens to a kid between 10 and 17 today? Sad. ‘If you do this,’ Moses said, ‘and you go with us to war, every man with his sword, and you stick this out to the end when everyone else has received their possession, then this will be your possession before the LORD.’

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.”

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.” (verse 23) Notice, he’s worried about a sin of omission, there’s something they need to do. “Behold” means “think about this, consider this. “you have sinned against the LORD,” not just against the other 10 tribes. “and be sure your sin will find you out” if you’ve ever wondered where that comes from, it comes from that verse, right there, death and taxes. Certain things are inevitable. One of them is this, “be sure,” it’s not a chance, not it might happen, it means certainty, it means to know. Be sure, he’s telling them, get this in your mind, “be sure your sin will find you out,” the Septuagint says “afflict you,” the Vulgate [the Roman Catholic Bible] “your sin will overtake you.” Jeremiah said it this way, “thine own wickedness shall correct thee, thy backsliding shall reprove thee. Know therefore and see, that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not before thee, saith the LORD of hosts.” Your own backsliding is going to reprove you, your own sins will correct you. It says “be sure your sin will find you out,” it doesn’t say ‘be sure the LORD’s going to drag you out in front of everybody else in the church and humiliate you and embarrass you,’ it’s not what it says. That’s not what he does, it’s not what he’s like. It just says, if you sin, and if you sin against him, and if you put yourself in a place of compromise, if you sell yourself short of what the Lord has for you, you can be sure, certain, that that will find you out. There are consequences attached to that. You know we think of it, certainly, you can think of it in the sense of sins you might commit. When we lived on the West Coast, ah years ago, of course we moved back here in 1981, so before some of you all were born. When we lived on the West Coast, that there was an article in the Paper, I remember this couple on the way to the beach pulled into this place, they had a cooler and everything, they wanted to get a bucket, a large bucket of chicken to take with them to the beach. And they did so and went on their way. Well what had happened at the restaurant was that the owner normally made a deposit every so many days, and the bank had forgotten the cash bag that he normally took the cash to the bank in. And he thought ‘Well what I’ll do is I’ll roll the cash up and rubber band it and put it in this chicken bucket, and when I’ll walk out with that nobody will ever suspect this is cash, and I’ll be safe going to the bank.’ And he took this large bucket of rolled up bills, I don’t know how many thousands of dollars was in it, he put it down on the counter for a minute, and the guy filling the order didn’t realize it, picked it up, it was heavy, it was filled with rolls of cash, and he gave it to the couple to go to the beach. So they get down to the beach, and when they get there, they open it up, and it’s filled with cash. So the interesting twist in this story is, instead of having a party and keeping it, they decide ‘We’ll call.’ So they called back there, and the owner of course was overjoyed, ‘Come back, I’ll give you a reward, I’m so thankful.’ Well on the way back, it ends up the police are there, and it ends up the media get it, it’s a human interest story because somebody’s actually bringing that amount of money back, and when they get there the media’s there, the police are there, and the guy comes in with the chicken bucket, and the owner says ‘No, no, go get your wife, we want to get some pictures,’ and he said ‘No, please don’t do that,’ ‘What are you talking about?’ and he said ‘It’s not my wife.’ [laughter] He was out with some other woman, and he got caught with a chicken bucket. So be sure your sins will find you out. I have a better one here, it’s one of my favourite stories here. And I have to do these, excuse me, it’s my problem. I love this one. John invited his mother over for dinner. During the meal his mother couldn’t help noticing how beautiful John’s roommate was. She had long been suspicious of the relationship between John and his roommate and this only made her more curious. Over the course of the evening while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between John and the roommate than met the eye. Reading his mom’s thoughts John volunteered ‘I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Julie and I are just roommates.’ About a week later Julie came to John and said ‘You know, ever since your mom was here to dinner, I’ve been unable to find that beautiful silver gravy ladle my mom gave me. Do you suppose she took it?’ Julie said, ‘Well I doubt it, I’ll write her a letter just to be sure.’ So he sat down and he wrote ‘Dear Mom, I’m not saying you did take the gravy ladle from my house, and I’m not saying you didn’t take the gravy ladle from my house, but the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.’ Several days later John received a letter from his mother, which read ‘Dear son, I’m not saying that you’re sleeping with Julie, and I’m not saying that you’re not sleeping with Julie, but the fact remains, if she was sleeping in her own bed she would have found the gravy ladle under her pillow by now.’ [loud laughter] ‘Love Mom.’ Be sure your sin will find you out. 😊 Be sure, be certain. Not that the Lord wants to humiliate, not that the Lord, it’s inevitable, the hens come back to roost, it’s inevitable. There is a process the Bible talks of sowing and reaping. And there are times when the Lord wants us to step into the fray, there are times when the Lord wants us to give, these are not sins of commission that we commit, but there are times when the Lord wants us to do something. It says in this verse “If you will not do so.” So what he’s really coming to us and challenging us about is doing something, he doesn’t want us to live in spiritual mediocrity, he doesn’t want us to live in compromise, he wants us to step over the line. And look, for so many of us in the room including myself, sometimes everything Jesus has for us is one step beyond our comfort zone. You know so many of us come to the edge of that, ‘No, no, I’m not going to do that. I sing, I put money in the offering, I help in the bookstore, but I’m not gonna…’ and the Lord, the Holy Spirit is bidding us and bidding us, he’s given us gifts, he’s given us things that he’s waiting to develop that will affect the lives of others, instead of discouraging it will encourage them, and sometimes we come to that place, we’re never willing to step beyond that, we’re never willing to step beyond that. And the truth is, that everything that Jesus has for the rest of our lives sometimes is one step beyond our comfort zone. And he’s asking us to do something, he’s asking us to do something. Not just asking us not to do things. Sometimes he’s asking us to enter into the battle with everyone else. He’s telling us to put on your helmet and get out on the field, he’s telling us to step into the fray, there are people that need your support, they need your encouragement, they need you to open your mouth and speak the truth, ‘I have invested in you for years, you need only open your mouth, to be an encouragement, to be an exhorter, to be a prophet, to be a prophetess, to encourage others.’ And it’s an interesting picture here. [see https://unityinchrist.com/evangelism/Short-TermMissions.htm ] He says to them, “But if you will not do so,” and that’s something that’s incumbent upon us. James says this, “Therefore to him, that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17, “Therefore to him, that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” The LORD says “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.” (verse 23) your sin will afflict you, it will take hold of you, it will come forth, it will find you out, that is the idea.

So Build You Cities For Your Little Ones, And Folds For Your Sheep

“Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceedeth out of your mouth. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead: but thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord saith. So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun,” because he knows that he will, Moses will pass off the scene, he won’t be there in the land, it will be Joshua and Eleazar that will have to make sure this takes place, “and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel: and Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the LORD, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the LORD hath said unto thy servants, so will we do. We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours. And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribes of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.” (verses 24-33) Verse 34 tells us the cities of the children of Gad took and rebuilt and fenced, verse 37 tells us the cities that the children Reuben took and rebuilt, and their areas, and then verse 39 says the children of Machir, whose the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and he took and dispossessed the Amorites, and it describes how they took the land there. “And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein. And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havoth-jair. And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.” (verses 40-42) [Comment: In reality, the future reality, the land east of Jordan was not necessarily wrong for them to possess, because of the larger territory that was promised to go to Abraham’s descendants in Genesis, going from the western shores of the River Euphrates to the Mediterranean and all the way south to the ends of the eastern shores of the Nile River, and all the way along the eastern shore of the Nile River down to Somalia. And the eastern border which would encompass a huge territory going all along the western shores of the Euphrates all the way up to it’s headwaters in northeastern Turkey, and all the way down to the Gulf of Arabia encompassing the western half of Iraq, all of Syria and Lebanon, all of Saudi Arabia, and then cutting across to Somalia all the way up along the eastern shore of the Nile River up to the Nile Delta. (the Arabs and Muslims don’t like this prophecy given to Abraham at all, they bristle at it). That territory is what the future nation of Israel, all 12 tribes, plus the tribe of Levi, will encompass in what the Jews term “The World To Come,” or what one denomination has termed “The World Tomorrow.” Exciting times are coming, we’re about to go for a prophetic ride, as we enter into the year 2025! The world is exploding with wars and rumours of wars, we’re at Matthew chapter 24, verse 8, about to step into verses 9-14. The Russo-Ukraine war is exploding, the Hamas-Israeli and Hezbollah-Israeli war is exploding, and 13 million souls are about to starve to death in the Sudanese civil war, with poor, destitute black Sudanese being exterminated by the other Sudanese, forcing them to flee across into Chad. China is arming for World War III and threatening the Philippines and Taiwan. That’s just what’s going on right now, as of September 2024.]

Numbers 33:1-56

“These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. 2 And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. 3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. 4 For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments. 5 And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth. 6 And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. 7 And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pihahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon: and they pitched before Migdol. 8 And they departed from before Pihahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah. 9 And they removed from Marah, and came to Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they pitched there. 10 And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea. 11 And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. 12 And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. 13 And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. 14 And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink. 15 And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai. 16 And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibroth-hataavah. 17 And they departed from Kibroth-hataavah, and encamped at Hazeroth. 18 And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah. 19 And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmon-parez. 20 And they departed from Rimmon-parez, and pitched in Libnah. 21 And they removed from Libnah, and pitched at Rissah. 22 And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehelathah. 23 And they went from Kehelathah, and pitched in mount Shapher. 24 And they removed from mount Shapher, and encamped in Haradah. 25 And they removed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth. 26 And they removed from Makheloth, and encamped at Tahath. 27 And they departed from Tahath, and pitched at Tarah. 28 And they removed from Tarah, and pitched at Mithcah. 29 And they went from Mithcah, and pitched in Hashmonah. 30 And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth. 31 And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched in Benejaakan. 32 And they removed from Benejaakan, and encamped at Horhagidgad. 33 And they went from Horhagidgad, and pitched in Jotbathah. 34 And they removed from Jotbathah, and encamped at Ebronah. 35 And they departed from Ebronah, and encamped at Ezion-gaber. 36 And they removed from Ezion-gaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh. 37 And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. 38 And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month. 39 And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor. 40 And king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. 41 And they departed from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah. 42 And they departed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon. 43 And they departed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth. 44 And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in Ijeabarim, in the border of Moab. 45 And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibon-gad. 46 And they removed from Dibon-gad, and encamped in Almon-diblathaim. 47 And they removed from Almon-diblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48 And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. 49 And they pitched by Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth even unto Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab. 50 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, 51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; 52 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: 53 and ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. 54 And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. 55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. 56 Moreover it shall come to pass, that I will do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.”

Introduction

“Chapter 33 now. If you read into chapter 33 you’re probably thinking ‘What in the world are we going to do with this?’ That’s what I thought when I went into it too. We’re going to have at least 41 locations mentioned. The interesting thing as we go through here, God knows every stop, every start, every place they had been, he knows where they started, what day they started on. He knows where they are presently in the situation, and he knows where they’re going. He says “When you cross over Jordan.” So the interesting picture for us, certainly the application, is he knows every whistlestop along the way. He knows every step they’ve taken in obedience. He knows every struggle, every joy, every sorrow, every place we’ve been thirsty, every place we’ve been blessed, every place we’ve been in a struggle or battle, every single place is named along the way. And some of them have tremendous lessons, and the point is, God is overseeing the whole thing. None of this happened with happenstance, they were following the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night, and God had led them. And he gives a remarkable history of this 38 years in the wilderness, all of it completely under his care, under his watch.

God Knows Every Step We’ve Taken In Our Journey

“These are the journeys” plural “of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. And they departed from Rameses” God knows our beginnings “in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month;” he knows the day “on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand” a strong hand on God’s part, “in the sight of all the Egyptians. For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.” (verses 1-4) If you want to dig into this, Donald Gray Barnhouse, “The Invisible War,” has a whole chapter on the gods of Egypt and how each one of them specifically God judged in the judgments of Egypt, it wasn’t just happenstance, it wasn’t just ecology, each one of those judgments fell upon one of the Egyptian deities. And he’s proving to the generation that had grown up in Egypt that they in fact were not gods, and that he was the True and the Living God [also see https://www.unityinchrist.com/The-Exodus-From-Egypt.html ]. He says also “upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.” “And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth. And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pihahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon: and they pitched before Migdol. And they departed from before Pihahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.” (verses 5-8) There’s the place where the water was bitter and they had nothing to drink, and the branch was thrown in and the water was sweetened, and God leading them and teaching them. “And they removed from Marah, and came to Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they pitched there.” (verse 9) And in your journey, when you get to Elim, you want to stay there, and become an Elimite. Twelve fountains, 12 springs, 70 palm trees, what a place to stay. But God led them from there, “And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea. And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.” (verses 10-14) Isn’t it interesting? God leading, Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Cloud, in one place there’s 12 springs and 70 palm trees, and in another place there’s no water at all. I guarantee you by the time they left Rephidim and they looked back, they would rather have been in Rephidim than Elim. Because it was at Rephidim where Moses stepped on the rock and took his staff and smote the rock, and a river came forth in the middle of the desert. It was at Rephidim that Amalek attacked and they were victorious, it’s when Moses held up his rod and Aaron and Hur helped him and the battle would go their way, it was at Rephidim where they saw supernatural things take place. Elim was nice, I’m a no hassle kind of guy, I could spend some time at Elim, but you get in those other circumstances, and when you’re done with it you look back and say ‘Lord, I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.’ This is so amazing, Rephidim. “And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai.” (verse 15) Now they’re there for 2 years, by the Mountain, “And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibroth-hataavah.” You remember that, the graves of lust? “And they departed from Kibroth-hataavah, and encamped at Hazeroth. And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah.” (verses 16-18) Now, this is the interesting thing, in this verse some scholars get it wrong and they put it over in verse 36. This is where the first stop at Kadesh-barnea is, you go back and you read through chapter 11, 12, 13 and 14. It was from Kibroth-hataavah to Hazeroth, then to Kadesh-barnea where they turned away. It’s interesting, there’s no mention of it here. There’s no mention of their failure here. God is talking about his leading and his faithfulness. You want to read through the rest of these names? Ok, here we go again, “And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmon-parez. And they departed from Rimmon-parez, and pitched in Libnah. And they removed from Libnah, and pitched at Rissah. And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehelathah. And they went from Kehelathah, and pitched in mount Shapher. And they removed from mount Shapher, and encamped in Haradah. And they removed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth. And they removed from Makheloth, and encamped at Tahath. And they departed from Tahath, and pitched at Tarah. And they removed from Tarah, and pitched at Mithcah. And they went from Mithcah, and pitched in Hashmonah. And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth. And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched in Benejaakan. And they removed from Benejaakan, and encamped at Horhagidgad. And they went from Horhagidgad, and pitched in Jotbathah. And they removed from Jotbathah, and encamped at Ebronah. And they departed from Ebronah, and encamped at Ezion-gaber.” (verses 19-35) And I’m sure, if you take the time on your own, get your Strong’s Concordance or some resource, and you look up those names, there’s lessons contained in them. They’re crazy names as we read through them, but if you sit and take time, there’s wondrous things I’m sure hidden in all of this. “And they removed from Ezion-gaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.” (verse 36) Now this is 38 years later, they’re back again, “And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.” (verses 37-38) God knows, and he knew that it would be the 1^st day of the 5^th month, 40 years after they came out of Egypt. He always had an appointment with Aaron, and he always had an appointment with Miriam [and their next conscious, waking moment that they experience they will find themselves rising up at the 1^st resurrection to Immortality, rising up and going to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb (cf. 1^st Corinthians 15:49-54 and Revelation 19:7-9)], and he has an appointment with everybody in this room, everybody here has an appointment with Jesus. And that’s where success is measured, when we hear ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant,’ That is success, ‘enter into the joy of your Lord,’ that is success. “And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor. And king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. And they departed from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah. And they departed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon.” sounds like Chinese food, doesn’t it? “And they departed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth. And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in Ijeabarim, in the border of Moab. And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibon-gad. And they removed from Dibon-gad, and encamped in Almon-diblathaim.” I need to remember this next time I play scrabble, because I could wipe everybody out with that place, “And they removed from Almon-diblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.” (verses 39-48) within view of all of the Promises that God had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, “And they pitched by Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth even unto Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.” (verse 49) Now look, that’s about an 8-mile wide camp up to the Jordan, and we’re not sure how deep it is. Again, this is between 2 and 3 million people. Figure the city of Philadelphia is a million and a half. So this camp is twice the size of the city of Philadelphia, if you can imagine that. That’s a lot of people to be constantly on the move through the desert, and how God’s provision was there. Verses 50 to 56 kind of sum this up, and there’s almost a challenge like there was in the 32^nd chapter, about being complete and thorough in the things that we do for the LORD, and how important that is.

“When Ye Are Passed Over Jordan”--A Warning

“And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,” notice this, “When” not “if” “ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; then ye shall drive out all” and they don’t, but they’re instructed to “the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy” “abad” in the Hebrew, it’s where we get Abadon, the Destroyer, “all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images,” all of their idols made in the furnace, brass and iron, molten images “and quite pluck down” that’s “completely demolish” “all their high places: and ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein:” (verses 50-53a) and the high places is where the Ashteroth, the sexual worship of the high places in the mountains, which would be a continual plague to the children of Israel [see https://unityinchrist.com/kings/1.html ]. Ah, let me back up, verse 52a, “then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures” that’s an interesting idea there, these are engravings and they were pornographic, sometimes they were done in tile, sometimes they were engraved on the walls. We have the word 6 times in the Old Testament, Leviticus 26:1, Proverbs 25:11, Ezekial 8:12, Psalm 37:7 it’s translated “imaginations,” Proverbs 18:11 it’s translated “conceit” in regards to sin. It’s not pictures the way you and I would think of it, they were engravings, they were normally pornographic, ‘Destroy all of that.’ I mean, what an exhortation for the day that we live in. huh? And this is to be done completely. This is to be done thoroughly. Look at the words that he’s using. “then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy” “abad” “all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down” completely demolish “all their high places: and ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.” (verses 52-53) Now “dispossess” “possess” and “drive out” are all parts of the same word, and it means either to be an heir, to have inheritance in the land, or it means to be dispossessed, or to be driven out as an heir. If you occupy, this is your territory and you’re supposed to take this, you’re an heir, it’s your inheritance. When you’re dispossessed, you’re an heir or inheritor that’s been driven out. So he’s telling them, for you to be the heir of all of this, for you to inherit all this, for you to take all of this, you’re driving out, you’re destroying what’s evil, you’re getting rid of all of the imagery and so forth, it has to be thorough, it has to be complete, it has to be done thoroughly, and he says, ‘then you will be in the land, I have given you the land to possess.’ “And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance,” the larger tribes got a greater territory, “and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance:” of course it fell out by lot, remarkably and miraculously, in Joshua, “every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. But” the warning, here it is, “if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you;” now this is a sin of omission, and it ties back to the idea, “be sure that your sin will find you out,” “then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I will do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.” (verses 54-56) Like getting thistles in your eyes, they will blind you. “and thorns in your sides” only they’re self-inflicted here, “and shall vex you” that word means “to cramp” or “to besiege,” “to bind” or “oppress,” they shall vex you in the land where you dwell. If you don’t get rid of what’s diseased, if you don’t get rid of what’s infectious, if you don’t get rid of what’s destructive, if you don’t get out of your lives the things that will destroy you, then those things will blind you. They’ll vex you, it’ll be self-inflicted. Because the LORD’s saying when you go in, he’s going to drive out the inhabitants, all along the battle belongs to the LORD. And again, when we follow Joshua in, any victory, as militarily, is a secondary victory. It’s a victory where he prayed about it first, and God told him what to do. The few defeats that he has, are secondary defeats on the battlefield, the primary defeat was because he didn’t pray and seek the LORD in regards to that battle. But the point is, if God is leading God provides, he guides, he gives us the victory. And the challenge here is one again of omission. If you don’t deal with the things in your life, and look, applicable to us tonight, if you don’t deal with the things in your life that are destructive, they’re going to blind you in the long run, they’re going to afflict you, it’s going to be like thorns, it’s going to be sore, it’s going to be inflected. And it will be self-inflicted. The Lord says if you measure your obedience in completeness and in thoroughness, you’ll have security, you’ll have peace, you’ll have inheritance. If you measure your obedience by partiality and by compromise, you have ruin, you have destruction, you have disappointment. It hasn’t changed. It hasn’t changed tonight. It’s the same in our lives. It’s the same in our lives. Last verse “Moreover it shall come to pass, that I will do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.” (verse 56) Instead of you being a possessor you will be dispossessed. Great encouragement for us. Look, we spend a lot of time thinking about the things that we shouldn’t do, and there is a host of them, and we’re attracted to them, we have a fallen nature, we have a traitor that dwells within. But God has given us the victory in Christ, we’re more than conquerors through Christ, him that loved us, we can bring every thought into captivity to Christ. But there are sins of omission, things that we are supposed to do that we don’t do. And sometimes we think we can let them sit, sometimes we think, ‘hey, this is not bad.’ Paul tells us there are things that are not unlawful but they are not expedient. If we are perceptive enough to look at the picture, eternity is what measures everything of this life. Because the Bible says this life is like a vapour, snap! it’s gonna be gone like that. Moses writes Psalm 90, and he says ‘LORD, teach us to number our days.’ This guy led the longest funeral procession in history, ‘teach us to number our days.’ He watched it. He watched over half a million people die, teach us to number our days, he understood what the endgame was, an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away. [and that’s for believers, they’ll have their chance later] You know, when this guy goes up on mount Pisgah and gives up his life, it says “Moses, the servant of the LORD died.” When you breathe that last breath, that’s the title you want to have attached to you. Joshua we read, “the servant of the LORD died.” Judges, when we get there, is going to be a mess because it says “Those were the days when every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Every man did what was right in his own eyes. It was constant defeat, constant warfare, the enemy vexed them, the enemy was thorns in their sides, and we’re going to hear the same descriptions given over and over. For us tonight, be sure of this, you know there are certain things you can be sure of. Look, I’m sure at home, because I’ve been doing this a long time, when I want to get in the shower, everybody can be sleeping, taking naps, watching their favourite movie, snoring in the backyard, but if I get in the shower, the whole house is inspired, to flush the toilet, to start the washing machine, to run the water, and I’m in the shower ‘Ooh, hot, cold,’ and then I have to remember God says ‘Vengeance is mine,’ cause when they get in I want to get the cold and hot faucets going. If you’re waiting for a phone call, get in the shower, go to the bathroom, the phone will ring. There are things that are inevitable, and we pay attention to the stupid things, we’re all laughing, because we all have a sense of that. But these are big issues, be sure of this also, and he’s telling us that because he loves us, your sin will find you out. God’s not going to say ‘I’m going to drag you out into the open and humiliate you in front of everybody.’ But you have to understand this, if your actions, your behavior, if you refuse to enter into something that’s paid for in the blood, that’s handed to you, that’s given to you, if you settle for spiritual mediocrity, it will haunt you, it will come back and bite you. And your kids, and everybody whose effected by you settling for less. I hope you’re all millionaires, I hope you all become PhD’s, I hope you all own corporations, all of that is great. But if everything we leave to that next generation is something a lawyer settles, we have failed, we have failed, we have failed. Let them look at us with our Swords in our hands, and our hearts after God’s, and let it be real, let it be real, step across those lines that you’re so hesitant to step across. There are things that the Lord is calling me, each of us to do, and he’s patient. He doesn’t say ‘By the time I count to three.’ Are we moving, are we yielding? even if it’s slow, all the progress in my life is slow, my middle name is Slow. But are we yielding? Are we moving? Are we trusting? I encourage you to step out. Don’t have the ministry of discouragement, have the ministry of encouragement, be on fire for Jesus Christ. Not a lot of time left. He’s coming. He’s coming. Let’s stand, let’s pray, let’s have the musicians come…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Numbers 32:1-42 and Numbers 33:1-56, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]