Episode #2: Follow the Leader – Numbers 9-10

Episode #2:  Follow the Leader

Numbers 9-10

• Who studies Numbers?

  • What is going on here?
    • The book of Numbers, fourth book of the Pentateuch, describes Israel’s departure from Mt. Sinai, their journey toward the Promised Land, and why it took them so long to get there.
    • Numbers is part administrative, part narrative, and part history.  It is difficult to outline for the passages are not laid out chronologically nor are they very logical in their structure.  At times it seems that the material is a hodgepodge of different laws, rules and stories that are loosely connected to wherever the Israelites happened to be at that particular time.
    • Within the book of Numbers are several episodes that describe the behavior of the people.  From faithful obedience in the first nine chapters, to complaining, grumbling, and outright rebellion in the middle part of the book, the character and actions of the people are displayed time and again.  The people are shown to be rebellious, stiff-necked, and defiant of the Lord and of Moses over and over again.
    • Numbers then also goes on to display the nature of the Lord.  Numbers gives evidence to the Lord’s self-description in Exodus 34.  We see God’s sovereign power and his unending faithfulness to the covenant that he made with Abraham.
  • What are the major themes in the book?
    • Historically:  To show how Israel made its way across the desert to the Promised Land
    • Pragmatically:  It was to order and organize the Hebrews into a community and a fighting force
    • Theologically:  To show God acting in faithfulness to his covenant while the people rebelled against him
      • The holiness of God
      • The sinfulness of humanity
      • The necessity of obedience to Yahweh
      • The tragedy of disobedience
      • The utter faithfulness of God to his covenant with Israel
      • The testing of the people and of Yahweh
  • What happens in this book?
    • At Sinai: (1.1-10.10)
      • The people are organized
    • From Sinai to Kadesh: (10.11 – 20.21)
      • Grumbling and Unrest
      • Insubordination against Moses
      • Spies in the Land and the people’s rebellion
      • Insubordination and rebellion against Aaron/Moses
      • Organization of the prophets
      • Moses’ Sin
    • From Kadesh to Moab (20.22-36)
      • Aaron and Miriam die
      • Wars with surrounding nations
      • Balaam, his donkey, and prophesy
      • Idolatry and Immorality
      • Additional laws and organization
      • Preparation for taking the Promised Land

• Following the Leader

  • Through the first section of Numbers (1-10.10) Israel’s obedience to the command of Moses is illustrated time and again. (1.54, 9.23).  This is unprecedented in the life of Israel!  They are able to obey.
  • The people had been out of Egypt for 13 months, and had been encamped at Sinai for almost an entire year at this point.  The Lord had given orders for the people to be ordered and numbered.  He was preparing them to move out from Sinai and on toward Canaan.
  • In order to lead them across the barren desert, the Lord formed a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to go before the people of Israel.  We initially see this pillar in Exodus 13 immediately before the Red Sea episode.  The pillar of cloud and fire did not depart from before the people until they came into the Promised Land.
  • Read Numbers 9.15-23
    • How were the people to follow the cloud?
    • Did the people know where the cloud was going, or how long they would be gone?
  • The people never knew when the pillar would move or come to stop
  • Comfort yields complacency
    • The people had been at Sinai for 11 months now.  While it was not the best place for a vacation, they had probably grown accustomed to living there and were making adjustments as they needed.
    • Although they were tired of living there, they dreaded the long march across the desert even more.
    • Why is complacency the enemy to spiritual growth?
  • Read Numbers 10.11-14
    • The Lord is ready to lead Israel away from Sinai and on toward the Promised Land.  He is posed to fulfill his promise to Abraham made so long ago.  He commands the people to get up and how to march out.
  • Nahshon leads the people
    • Who is this guy, and why is he first?
    • Nahshon is the leader of the family of Judah, an ancestor to King David, and therefore in the bloodline of Jesus Christ (cf. Matt 1).  In a sense, Christ is leading his people through the desert.  Through the ancestry of Joseph, Jesus is figuratively (and spiritual) leading the people.

• • What does following God look like today?
    • The Lord is the light
      • Jesus said that he was the light of the world (John 8.12)
    • The Word is light
      • The Word is a lamp and a light (Ps 119.105)
      • Those outside the Word do not have access to the light (1 Cor 4.4ff)
    • We are now in the kingdom of light
      • God has shone in our hearts (2 Cor 4.6) and then transferred us away from the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light (Col 1.12-13)
    • We are to keep watch
      • Just as the Levites had to watch to see when and where the cloud moved, we must keep watch on our souls and watch where God is moving and leading.
      • Matt 24.42, 1 Peter 4.7

• • How are we to follow God today?
    • The importance of faith
      • The Israelites had to keep a close eye on the pillar, a luxury that we do not have now.  We must trust God to see where he is leading and moving and working.
      • We must trust God, through Christ, with our entire lives to know that what he says is true, and where he leads is best.
      • We can trust God’s guidance because he knows exactly what is best for us, and he sent Christ to live and die on our behalf.  The leader we follow has been in our position and knows our faults and failures.  He is qualified to lead for he has suffered in our place and has our best interests in mind.
      • The Israelites were being lead across the desert with no clear idea of where they were headed.  They had to trust God completely-something they failed to do time and again.  They did not have faith in God’s rule and provision.
    • The importance of counsel
      • Since we do not have a pillar to follow out in the desert, how are we to make decisions about God’s leading?  Is there some Magic-8 ball remedy to deciphering God’s call and will for our lives?
      • Read Numbers 10.29-32
      • What do you think about Moses’ decision to ask Hobab to be Israel’s eyes in the wilderness?  Did this indicate a lack of trust in the Lord?  Why or why not?
    • The importance of action
      • “We ought to learn from this, I think, that while we ever seek the guidance of God in providence, yet we may frequently find direction and guidance in the use of our own common sense, our own discretion with which the Lord has endowed us.” – Spurgeon
      • Why can we not sit around and wait for God to show up in a cloud, a burning bush, or any other mystical means.  God has provided a way for us to obtain wisdom, and we must be obedient to learn from him.  Making choices must be part of what we do as people who follow God.
      • Why can we not sit around to await God to show up in a cloud?
      • The Hebrews were being lead to the Promised Land, the land of rest.  We are moving toward the eternal promised land of heaven.  That way is only obtained by following Christ step by step without any deviance on our part.
      • But what about the day-to-day decision we come across?  While it is necessary to seek God’s will in our life, where do we draw the line as to where we can make a decision on our own?

• Focusing on the Leader
  • Instead of following the desires of our own heart, let us pursue the kingdom of God.
  • Matt 6.19-34 / James 4.13-16
  • Where have you become comfortable and how is God telling you to set out and move on?
  • Making decisions and making plans in light of God’s overarching provision and governance.  By not putting our desires above the kingdom, we are able to freely make decisions that will glorify him and not compromise our arrival in the Promised Land.

• The majority of this material came from Warren Wiersbe. Be Counted: Living a Life that Counts for God. and Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament.  2nd Edition.