04) Numbers 01-04
Title: "Preparing for the Journey"
Text: Numbers 1-4
Theme: God gets His children organized, assigned and ready for the journey through the Wilderness to the Promised Land.
Introduction:
- What does it mean to prepare for a journey? First and foremost, you figure out where you're going, and then what you will need. Who is going with you? What are your responsibilities? What are some obstacles that you may encounter and how can you proactively prepare for them? Alexander Graham Bell once said, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”
- As we begin the book of Numbers, Israel is preparing to go on a Journey. A journey to the Promised Land.
- Exodus 3:8 "And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.”
- It's important to note, that the Promised Land is not a Type of Heaven. The Promised land, is actually a type of Faith, Rest, and Victory for the Christian. In the Promised land, there were still enemies and battles. This is not Heaven, as in Heaven there will be no more Battles.
Transition:
- The Children of Israel have come a long way, but their journey is far from over. They began in Bondage in Egypt, were miraculously delivered by God, brought through the Red Sea, and led into the wilderness. They were given God's Law on Mt. Sinai and He established the Tabernacle. Now, as the Book of Numbers begins, God is preparing His children to leave Mount Sinai and continue their journey toward the Promised Land.
(Read Title) "Preparing for the Journey"
Outline: How God prepared His Children for the journey through the Wilderness, and how we too, can be prepared for our journey as a Child of God.
I. Know Who You Are: Numbers 1 (This speaks of your Identity)
- Moses is commanded by God to take a census of the Children of Israel. (A census is a count or a population survey.) The census would be counting men who were 20 years old and older who could go to war. They were counted according to their tribe, family, and father's house. The Levites would be set apart from this census because God had a different role for them in tending to the tabernacle.
- Before the Journey begins, Israel needed to know who they were, and whose they were.
- Let's talk about identity and why it is important. The questions "Who are you?" or "Who do you belong to?" are critical questions to ask before going on this journey to the Promised Land. Every journey has obstacles (hiking example = rough terrain, weather, setbacks, fatigue, etc.) and who you are determines how you will respond to those obstacles. The people you meet, the places you go, and the obstacles you face, can actually try and define you and tell you who you are.
- Illustration: (How can the devil get broken people to stop running to the Church for help? A loss of identity. When the Church becomes Judgmental, Nationalistic, etc. people don't run to it, they run from it.
- Physical Church; Politics; Time revealing who people really are; refusing to change etc. (There is a reason people are who they are. Sometime our identity can be found in the wrong things)
- Think about Joseph for a minute, the people, places, and circumstances of his life were constantly trying to define him. A slave in a pit; a servant in Potiphar's house, a prisoner, to eventually a leader in the Palace. This all changed but one thing remained the same... Joseph was a child of God. "But the LORD was with Joseph"
- Before you go on the journey through the Wilderness, it's important to not only know where you are going (The Promised land = the place of Victory for the Believer.) But Who you are. Who are you? You are a child of God. Washed in the Blood of Christ, declared Righteous, a joint-Heir with Christ, conquerors through Him and declared victorious.
Verses:
2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
John 1:12 (KJV) “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”
Colossians 3:3–4 (KJV) “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
II. Know Where you Belong: Numbers 2 (This speaks of your Community)
- There are 12 tribes of Israel. In Numbers 2, each tribe is given a specific place to camp around the Tabernacle. This establishes order in which they will travel. There is order as each Tribe is given a place with the Tabernacle at the center. The Children of Israel camp together, travel together, fight together, and depend on one another. Before the journey to the promised land, they needed to know where they belonged and who was around them.
- We spoke of Identity, now let's talk about Community. God did not design us to be alone. We need each other.
- In the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Captain Jack Aubrey, played by Russell Crowe, leads his ship, the HMS Surprise. Captain Aubrey is a wise and discerning commander, full of courage and discipline. He is able to lead his crew toward accomplishing an almost impossible mission. However, one of the messages of the story is that he couldn't do it by himself. He needed his crew, and they needed each other.
There were sailors working the sails, men maintaining the ship, officers giving commands, a doctor caring for the wounded, and men fighting together for a mission they believed in. Everyone had a place, everyone had a job, and everyone depended on someone else. The crew never would have succeeded if they had not banded together as one unit.
- The same is true with Israel in their Journey, and us in our journey. The journey is personal, but it was never meant to be traveled alone.
Verses:
Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 — “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”
Galatians 6:2 — “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
Hebrews 10:24–25 — “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
Proverbs 27:17 — “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”
Romans 12:10 —“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;”
Know who you are. Know where you belong. Find your tribe (Band of Brothers/Sisters) Local Bible Church; Life Together
III. Know Your Responsibility: Numbers 3,4 (This speaks of your Purpose)
- In Numbers 3 and 4, God sets apart the Levites for the work of the Tabernacle and their responsibilities are divided up among the families of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The Responsibilities differ but they all matter. Every person contributes to the work God has given His people. God gives them a place to serve and a responsibility to fulfill.
- When Nehemiah led the rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall, he didn't have one person trying to rebuild the entire thing. Different people were responsible for different sections.
- Some repaired the gates.
- Some repaired sections of the wall.
- Some worked near their own homes.
- The Priests,Craftsmen, Merchants and Families worked.
- Romans 12:4–8 (KJV)
“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”
What Paul is actually saying
The key phrase for your point is:
“all members have not the same office” — Romans 12:4
- Here “office” means function or work. Paul compares the church to a human body: the different parts belong to the same body but don't perform the same function.
- At home, at church, at work, and in your community—ask yourself: “What has God given me to do here?” Then, through the strength Christ gives you, do it well.
Conclusion:
How do we Prepare for the Journey?
1.) Who are you? What is your Identity:
2.) Where do you belong? Where is your Community?
3) What is your Responsibility? What is your Purpose?
Be confident in who you are in Christ. Encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ, and allow them to encourage you. Help others, and be willing to let others help you. Do your job. Everyone has a purpose and a place. Find yours, and through the power of Christ, do it well.
