Good morning, everybody. I would wonder how many of you had time to read Numbers 1, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 we talked about. I know a few of you came up to me. Thank you that you took the time. It's exciting stuff, isn't it? Come on now. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 is pretty grueling, painstaking detail. But boy, as the pastor said just a few minutes ago, God is deep with the things of God. He has something there for us. So, we got a lot to cover this morning. I'll give you, give me some, trying to put all this together for you guys. Trying to get the font right, so hopefully it worked today. Doing that changed a little bit of the outline here, but Numbers chapter one and two, the reason why we're going over this is because it's closely connected to the tabernacle. In fact, you can't study the tabernacle without studying Numbers chapter one and two. And so it really deserves our careful attention this morning. God is providing detail, and I mean painstaking detail, about how He wants the tribes laid out in chapters 1 and 2 of Numbers. So much so that God speaks to the details in chapter 1, but then He turns around and repeats Himself almost exactly as He does in chapter 1 in chapter 2. But he adds a caveat in chapter two. He adds the locations of each of the tribes and where they're to be laid out. So there's a lot of important details there. I find it interesting as I'm reading through scripture, especially in the tabernacle and here in Numbers, that God tends to repeat himself over and over. And so I kept asking myself, why again, Lord, in chapter two, are you telling us the same thing? And I've come to the conclusion that If something's being repeated by God, it has a special importance in God's purpose, and we should take note of it. So even in the tabernacle from Exodus 25 to 40, he repeats himself sometimes three times the same details. I think he's just stressing the importance. It's also a process of learning. You know, somebody, I think it was the Romans that said that learning was the mother or repetition was the mother of all learning. And so there's truth to that. So we can learn, as God repeats Himself, we really do, it sheds light, I should say, on the mind of God, who is the architect and designer of the tabernacle and the layout of the tribes that He specifically gave us here in chapter 1 and 2 of Numbers. And I find it important that we go back to the verse that Christ spoke when He was in the temptation, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word. He was a literalist. Every word. Now, we're not going to study every word in numbers. But I have taken the time to go through a lot of those and then summarize it for you so you can see You get a little glimpse into the mind of God and His design and what He had for us in the deeper things of God. Not only is God about details, but God is about what I would call the little things. That's what details are. What's often overlooked by man is not by God. But God cares about the little things. He put them in the scripture for a reason, and He wants us to pay careful attention. especially for the students of Scripture. I'm going to give you a couple examples here about the little things. Here in Luke chapter 12, verse 6 and 7, we read, Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Sometimes that's almost hard to take literally, but God does not forget what's going on in the little things. The second verse here is, But even the very hairs of your head are numbered. Now, for those of us who've lost or are losing, we just grow beards. We keep the angels busy counting the hairs. But God said, the little things matter in these verses. Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. I think some of us struggle with the little things. When we go to God, we want to bring the big things to God. But God cares about the little things. He's put them in Scripture for us. And a good verse of this is in Matthew 8, verse 14, 15, when Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid and sick with a fever. Come on, a fever? It's not that important. What's the big deal? But for Christ, it was a big deal because it says he touched her hand and the fever left it. He cares about the little things. Thus we should care about the little things. Even when we're reading and it seems laborious and painstaking and what's the use? There's something there in the details. Someone said unwisely that the devil's in the details. The truth is God is in the details. Numbers 1 and 2 will lay that out for you very clearly. Any study of the tabernacle, like we studied the Ark, clearly shows that Christ is all over the tabernacle. His work, His suffering, His glory, the believer's walk, everything is there for us to learn. All the New Testament doctrines are found in the tabernacle. What is important to God is found in Numbers chapter 1 and chapter 2. Not only is God concerned about the details, God is the God of order and structure. We read in regards to worship in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 40, let all things, not some things, all things be done decently and in order, because that is the God we serve. The creation itself speaks to this. Right out of the gate in Genesis 1, God tells you about who He is. And He speaks to it in the place of order and how it's done. The first day, He created light. The second day, there was a firmament. They separated. The third day, what do we have? We have land emerging from the water. What's important about the third day? The third day represents resurrection. Throughout Scripture, you'll see the third day is a picture of resurrection. So it shouldn't be a surprise to us that on the third day, God had the land emerge from the water. That's a type of resurrection. So He did everything in order for a purpose that speaks of His mind and what He had in design. We read here another example of order and structure. when the Lord was about to feed the 5,000 men, by the way, it's just 5,000 men, think about the children, think about the wives, it gets a multiple factor in there, you get a lot more than 5,000. You're gonna go feed more than 5,000 people, you better be organized. And here, we see that he says to his disciples, make them sit down, here it is, here's the order, by 50s, in a company. Could you imagine if he didn't give them instructions, on how to lay it out. It would have been complete chaos, and when there's chaos, there's confusion. Where there's confusion, there's chaos. And the Lord, that's why He brings order to everything He does. If we're not orderly, we don't do things orderly, we're going to have chaos and confusion. We see this in people's houses, people's lives with their children. They just run around out of control, and they keep wondering what's going on with their children. It's because they haven't put order and structure into the family. Because God designed it that way, and outside of that, it becomes chaos and confusion. So we see God has details He cares about, and He does everything decently and in order. God is the architect and designer of the tabernacle and the layout. And part of that, the specifics about this design by God and how it was to be followed was because it was related to worship. God has a set way to be worshiped. He also has a set way to be in fellowship with you. So he lays that out very clearly to make sure that God's people follow it. We read here the summary statements in chapter 40, where thus did Moses according to all Not some, all that was commanded to him. And so did he. And then we read eight times more, the Lord commanded Moses. You'll also see that in Numbers chapter one. Thus did the tribes of Israel all that God commanded them. They laid it out exactly like God did because God wanted it to be followed after a design that was in his mind. Because it represented something important to him. To deviate from that would be to deviate from God's mind. in God's purpose. And so we see here that worship plays out in the mind of God that's represented here on the earth. It's interesting, I was recently visiting a friend for a day or two out in California, and he gave me a little tour of his house. Perched up in the mountains, this was in California, and overlooked the ocean. This house had about 11 fireplaces. It had enough rooms that I literally had my 10,000 steps in for the day. It was that big of a house. It's grandeur. It was a beautiful home. And I was overwhelmed by it, to be honest with you. I mean, 28-foot ceilings, all the lighting, and the electrical work, the plumbing. It was just mind-boggling. I said, there's an architect behind all this. This wasn't the mind of the owner. Now, the owners had influence in this case. But still, most of the home reflected the mind of the architect. I said, hey, where is the blueprints? And he took me over, and which, you know, they had it laid out in the kitchen. They had books, and they had this massive blueprint, about this big, the blueprints. And I just, page by page, was going through, and I was looking at all the details. You remember that, Eileen? And I mean, you see a page on plumbing, a page on lighting, or pages. And it's overwhelming. But what you're reading is the mind and the design of the architect. Now could you imagine a builder going, you know, I just, I really don't think the lighting should go here. I don't think the plumbing should go here. I don't think that measurement's right. Can you imagine? Now I'm sure there's mistakes by the architect, earthly architect, but not God. And so the builders had to follow the design to the T or you're going to end up with a problem at somewhere in the build out. And so that's why we read, as God commanded them for worship and fellowship, thus did Moses all that was commanded of him. Thus it is true with us. Because you want to follow what is the mind of the architect, in this case of God. And given that God is the architect and designer, he designed it as an example, that is the tabernacle and the layout, because it was an example, and we read this before, and shadow, of heavenly things. This is deep. You get this out of Hebrews. You get a little insight about what you're reading in the tabernacle already existed before you read it. The tabernacle was already present. We read bits and pieces of that in Isaiah 6, Revelation 5, Revelation 11. You'll see the ark, the golden altar. You'll see all those things were in heaven, but God said, I want you to make a tabernacle just like the one in heaven. here on earth. So, when you're reading about everything we're seeing, it is a shadow of something in heaven. God's not going to make it exactly because He's using earthly materials in heaven, obviously, heavenly materials. But there we see, as Moses was admonished of God, that He was about to make the tabernacle. See, He said that He'd make all things, once again, all things, according to the pattern shown to thee in the mount." So anything we read here about the tabernacle is already existing in heaven. Again, so let me deviate just a little bit in this study before we get into the tribe, because this is a spiritual... the book is supernatural. What you read in chapter 1 and chapter 2 is spiritual. It's a physical, you're reading about something physical, I understand, but God has something spiritual in there. It's supernatural. And you'll see how, why he laid it out specifically the way he did. And we have to go back to the verses of scripture that, you can't approach God's word like a college textbook. Now you're to study, the Bible says, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2.15, we are given the instructions to study the Scriptures. But studying the Scriptures as if it was some college textbook will never work. It will be nothing more than a bunch of empty words if the Spirit of God does not illuminate what He gives to you. So we have to understand that Scripture If you understand and see these things, it's because God is illuminating that in your life. He's the revealer of truth. I can't reveal truth. I can teach truth, but I can't reveal it. For understanding, it has to come from God. Everything has to come from God. The natural man, here in 1 Corinthians 2.14, receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them. This is why we constantly are doing battle with the world, is because they don't understand God, they cannot see God, and the God of this world, small g, has blinded their minds. They cannot see, and until God illuminates that truth, they're not going to see it. This is a wonderful truth we'll get to see today. May God give us illumination on it. But everything is spiritually discerned. Here's a great verse in chapter 6, verse 63. If you read the context, Jesus is talking about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Now, His disciples were hearing this discourse on eating His flesh and drinking His blood, and they said, well, this is a hard saying. Who can hear it? And Jesus says, does this offend you? And then He speaks these words. It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh, which they were getting, in their mind, they were thinking of cannibalism. They were thinking in the physical realm, not the spiritual realm. And He said, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words, eat my flesh, drink my blood, that I speak unto you, they are spirit. It's spiritual, it's supernatural. What you read in Numbers 1 and 2 is physical, but it's supernatural and it's spiritual. But it takes God to illuminate and to give you understanding of what He meant when He wrote all that detail that most people will never pay attention to. But God wants you to. Another good example of this. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced. By the way, that's the only time in Scripture the Bible said Jesus rejoiced. One time. Now, I'm sure Jesus rejoiced more times. This is the only time recorded. And it's related to the truth being revealed. I love that. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit, said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid Whoo, that's important. Hid these things from the who? The wise and prudent. There's that Pharisee that you talked about last Sunday, Pastor, who thought he exalted himself, but God said, you're not getting anything. But that publican who humbled himself, he gets everything. And that's what he's saying here. Thou has hid these things. He's rejoicing in the fact they're hid from the wise and prudent, but has revealed them unto babes. Somebody who simply believes what God says, God says, I'll give it to you. Abraham, you're about to have a child. Now, Abraham's 90 years old when God tells him that. You're going to have a child. What kind of conversation is that going to look like with God? Like, really, God? I'm going to have a child at 90? My wife? That just doesn't seem like logical. And he says, you know what, God? I'll just believe what you say. And God says, for that, I'll give you my righteousness. He gave them something for believing what he read or what he heard from God, even though it opposed or contradicted logic or reason. But he revealed them unto babes. Then opened he their understanding. This is after the resurrection. The disciples were struggling with the resurrection. They didn't believe God. The Bible says they breathed on them. Illumination with the Holy Spirit and he says, you know, don't you remember when I was with you all the things I spoke to you that The things must be fulfilled speaking regarding Christ that was written in the Psalms the prophets and the law of Moses Concerning me then he says then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. It's spiritual You can't get it unless God gives it to you I've had people say, I just don't understand. Well, give it time. Get on your knees, and maybe God will give it to you. But it's spiritual. It's supernatural. If we had worldly people in here and what we're about to see, they're not going to see it unless God allows them to see it. Because they have to believe God first. So there's a right way to approach God's Word and a wrong way. Real brief, humility, we read that just a minute ago. Faith, believing what God says as it is. God, I'll just believe you. I'm not gonna try to figure it out. I'm not gonna try to be logical about it. I'm just gonna go with what you said, God. Spirit of God is a revealer and teacher of truth. 1 John 2, I think verse 29 says, you have an anointing that abideth in you. It's referring to the spirit of God. You have an anointing that abideth in you. You need no man to teach you because you have the anointing in you. The Spirit is what teaches you truth throughout Scripture. Even though God uses men to present the truth, it's the Spirit that illuminates the truth and gives you understanding. So we have to have the Spirit of God. We have to have prayer. I love Psalm 118, 119, verse 18 says, Open thou mine eyes that I might behold wonderful things out of thy law. That's a prayer that we should have. God, I need you to show me what's here. Of course, we talked about 2 Timothy, study to show thyself approved. Then there's the application of truth, the ministry of truth, and then there's the repeat. I like this one. This is a whole other study one day we'll get into. This idea of doing this daily is just like the manna that God gave his people. Every day they were to go collect the manna, It was white, by the way, and it was round. One represented eternity, and white represented purity. The Word of God is pure, and it is eternal. And so God said, take the manna every day, daily, and eat from it. And then on the day before the Sabbath, gather twice, because I don't want you doing it on the day of the Sabbath. So every day was represented to collect manna and feast off it. So once again, the right way to approach God's Word is daily. Now, with all that said, everything we're about to talk about will foreshadow the person of Christ, his work, his suffering. You say, that's in Numbers chapter one? Did anybody see anything that foreshadowed Christ in chapter one or two? Anybody here? Anybody see all that detail, all those numbers, all those locations, foreshadowed Christ? It does, in a special way. So let's begin with the importance of numbers and the location in the book of Numbers, beginning in chapter one. Bear with me here as we read a couple things. In verse 19, and then I'm gonna summarize, try to be brief about that. So the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. And here he goes, the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of the fathers, according to the number of the names by their poles, every male from 20 years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war. Those that were numbered, okay, of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were 40 and 1,500. So 40 and 6,500. So that's 46,500. That's how many would be represented in the tribe of Reuben. So now what he does, he takes the 12 tribes and he does this consistently. We'll see this in a second here. Everything's based on the 12, males 12 years and older that could go to war. So with Reuben, it was 46,500. Look down in verse 22, you'll see the children of Simeon. Now I'm gonna summarize, verse 23, and that tribe was 50 and 5,300. So 50 and, excuse me, I don't have my glasses on. 9,300. I have got to get my glasses. 59,300. And then he goes to the, in verse 24, is the children of Gad. They were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were 40 and 5,650. Are you exhausted yet? We're only on three tribes. We got 12 more to go. We're not going to do that all. But you get my point is there's a lot of detail there. Specific numbers. Did you think numbers matter to God? I know sometimes you say, I think God just uses numbers flippantly. I don't think so. I really don't. I think He chooses the numbers for a reason. And in this case, for sure, as you'll see. But there's how it would lay out. And we won't go through each one, but God defines their location in relationship to the tabernacle. That's really important, because He tells you all that information by tribe in chapter 1. Then He repeats it in chapter 2, but He adds that caveat. he gives them a location. So in chapter 2, in verse 10, each of the leading tribes. So in this case, Reuben is the leading tribe. The other two, Simeon and Gad, followed. What's interesting is that there's only one leading tribe here in verse 10. It's on the south side, and that will be the standard of the camp of Reuben. In other words, they had an ensign. They had a flag that represented that group of tribes and then he would repeat this process for each of the tribes so in chapters 2 verse 10 through 16 he repeats everything we just read but Reuben was the standard and he was to be on the south side really important and the total number is 151,450 so as you look it out there's Reuben there's Simeon There's Gad they're all on the south end. I've obviously I've set this up as a typical compass would be north south east and west and We see here that the tabernacle was in the center of everything Someone asked about where the Levites in all this the Levites were never counted in the tribes The Levites were the priests that surrounded the tabernacle. They were the they did all the work around the tabernacle So they weren't counted But nevertheless, I didn't list them here because they're not listed. Amount's not listed. They're just around the tabernacle. So there you see the first grouping of the tribes. Reuben is the standard. He has an ensign, a sign. What that sign is, that's another study for another day. That total was 151,000. Now what happens is God repeats the process for each of the groups and their respective tribes. The tribe of Dan represents the north, and that is found in chapter 2, verses 25 through 31, because I know you folks will be checking on me. I already had somebody last week. I made a mistake on one of the slides. I had an incorrect, I had chapter 3 and it was chapter 1 I meant. And I usually proofread my stuff, but thank you for doing that. You know, she's checking the word of God. She's like, hey, whoa, whoa, hey, brother, you got that verse wrong. She wasn't being very pleasant about it. But my point is, I wanna be very detailed here. If you go through these, you'll do that on your own. The tribe of Dan represents the North and his, Asher and F. Fowley, his total, their total is 157,600. That is almost identical to who? Reuben, who was 151, this one's 157. So on the north side, Naphtali, Asher, and Dan. If anything you get out of this, you'll learn the names of the tribes. And so we have that total being 157,600. Now the tribe of Judah. Where did Christ come from? He's the Lion of the tribe of Judah. So Judah's ensign is what? The Lion. So one day we'll... We'll probably, if we have time, we'll talk about that. But the tribe of Judah is located east. That is going to be very important, by the way, when we study the tabernacle. So keep that in mind, why he placed them on the east side of the tabernacle, because the direction of everything in the tabernacle went east to west. East to west. By the way, brother, when you talked about the kingdom of God last Sunday, one of the best messages I ever heard on the kingdom of God, by the way. I think I shared it with a thousand people it was Every the whole world needs to hear that but you notice something while you were talking that the direction of God's movement was east to west It always has been when he set up the tabernacle. It was east to west Judah was on the east side and That's the entrance you go in because it represented Christ who was of the tribe of Judah or the tribe of the Lion of Judah So east is important and includes the tribes of Iskar and Zebulun. And by the way, this was the largest group. That's very important. Remember, Dan and Reuben were almost the same. Now you have this massive group or population from Judah. It's 186,000. So it would have been on the east side, and it'll look, it'll have been formed like that. Now the tribe of Ephraim is located West and includes the tribe of Manasseh and Benjamin Someone said why is Joseph mentioned in chapter 1, but the there's no Population connected to Joseph because Joseph was included in Ephraim. I Don't know exactly why pastor maybe we can More digging would figure that out, but he didn't include Joseph if Ephraim is included in Joseph So the tribe of Ephraim is located west and includes the tribes of Manasseh and Benjamin. This is the smallest group, and it was 108,000. So it would have looked like this. Benjamin, Manasseh, Ephraim was the leading, who held the flag, the ensign for all the groups, and that was the smallest of the groups at 108,000. Everybody with me so far? So remember, all this is supernatural. It's spiritual in nature. God set up this physical layout because it was the mind of God. He's the architect and designer of everything that we're reading about. So as we start to put these groups together, we're going to see something that is supernatural. God is the architect. For Jesus said, for He, Moses, which we're reading about what Moses wrote, He wrote of Christ. And then we know that what we're reading about should be an example or shadow of heavenly things. So here we have Reuben, and I'm not going to list all the tribes, I'm just going to list the leaders of the tribes, in this case, 151,000. The same amount, size, population, location, everything is on the north side here for Dan. But then you have Judah, being the largest, and then you have the smallest being Ephraim. When you put all that together, you begin to see the mind of God and why he designed it exactly like that. What I'm going to do is just turn this over, just clockwise, so you can see that what God designed it was the form and the shape of a cross. You can't miss it. Each of these Why isn't that 180,000? Why isn't that 104,000? The reason for those numbers exactly is because when God put that thing together, He wanted to look at the cross of His Son. Because God does all fellowship, all communion, all worship through the cross. They may not have understood it, but God did. In the mind of God, it was already done. The lamb that was killed in Genesis 3 and the lamb that was killed in Exodus chapter 12 before they were redeemed into the wilderness is the same, is a picture of the Lamb of God that take away the sin of the world. He took it away through the cross. Everything God does is through the cross of Christ. There's no question in my mind that God laid this thing out exactly in the form and shape of a cross. You get all that from all those details. Some artist, there's only two pictures in all that I could find online. I said, Lord, cross of the wilderness, cross in the wilderness, and I got two. Whoever this artist was figured it out. Because that's how God would see it. From the aerial view, now they wouldn't see it on the ground. They had no idea what God was doing, but God did, because God is showing us what is important to Him, not necessarily to us, but to Him, at that time, was the cross of Christ. Because it's the cross that He would fellowship with His people. It was the cross that God would use to commune and worship. Without the cross, you have nothing! But God said, let it be the shape of a cross, exactly how it's laid out. That's why all those details were there, because you've got the mind of the designer and the architect. Not only is it from that perspective, which we know everything God does is through the cross of Jesus Christ, but even the layout of the tabernacle itself. When you enter into the tabernacle, you have the altar of burning incense, you have the laver, They have a holy place and in there you have on your right side You have the golden camp or the table of showbread on the left side You have the golden candlestick and then in front of you you have the the golden altar the golden incense Which is the burning of the incense and then of course you had the altar of or the Ark of the Covenant. So when you look at the shape and how it's laid out, even in the tabernacle, you have the shape of a cross. God is stamping the cross and everything He does on the work of the tabernacle and the layout of His people. Because God wants us to know that's what's important to Him as the designer and the architect. Now, I mentioned earlier about this. I don't really have time to go into all this, but Judah being The representative is an ensign, what we would call a family emblem. People would say, where's your crest? So Judah would have been the lion. The other three are really more difficult to figure out. But when you study this out, it's interesting that God has four cherubs that surround the throne of God. And the four cherubs have the face of a lion, eagle, ox, and a man. So we see even God setting it up as if the center of God's throne was there in the tavern. We know through the ark, they're surrounded by that what was important to him. In heaven, it was a shadow of it on the earth. So God's dealing with his people is always on the basis of the cross of Jesus Christ. Let's turn our Bibles to 1 Corinthians. as we conclude here this Sunday School. 1 Corinthians 1, some good verses here, verse 17. 1 Corinthians 1, yeah, verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. Then he says, verse 18, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. We read down here in chapter one, verse 23, but we preach Christ crucified under the Jews, a stumbling block, and under the Greeks, foolishness. And here in chapter two, in verse two, for I am determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." The cross was at the core of everything God did. Because it's there where the blood was shed, the Lamb of God, and the blood was shed. So we see the mind of God in chapter 1 and chapter 2 of Numbers. May the Lord bless. And let's go to the Lord in prayer with this. Father, we thank you for this this wonderful truth. We thank you for the details that Lord sometimes we often overlook, but we know that you have a purpose in every word. We thank you Lord that through numbers one and two, we could see the cross through the tabernacle. We see the cross and we know why, because father, we know that this is your design and it was a shadow of heavenly things. What was important to you should always be important to us. God help us Lord to live by the cross. and to love our Savior, Jesus Christ, who we pray will be lifted up in this hour of worship. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. If you would like to know more about the Lord Jesus Christ, you may contact us at the church website, gospelbaptistchurch.com, or you can go to Facebook and type in Gospel Baptist Church, Bonita Springs, Florida. Also, you could call the church office at 239-947-1285. Thank you, and God bless.