Thank you for coming tonight is great to see you we're going to embark on some extreme lessons through the wilderness as we go through the book of numbers and I approach that with some fear and trembling Knowing that I'd never done it before for number one number two. I'd never listened anyone do it before so All that disclaimer to say it's God's Word and I think we're going to profit a lot as we go through it roughly a chapter a week and And before we do that, in concert with the book, and you should turn, Mike, my voice way down when we do this, I'd like us to sing Count Your Blessings. So turn in your hymnals as an opening theme song to 563. 563. Great song, great hymn for all of us, me included, to remember from time to time. We will go through life much like a wilderness at times, so we need to give thanks for what God has done. Let's pray. We'll go through a portion of Numbers, and then we'll have some prayer time together afterwards. Thank you, Father, for what a wonderful book you've given us, your Word, and that Numbers is a portion of it. I ask that you yourself would teach us that you yourself would draw us to hear what your spirit says through these pages. In Jesus' name, Amen. Okay, I do have some cool little handouts. At least, I sort of think they're cool. So, here you go. Some things to think about as we go through it. Do you want to take that one? It's right in front of you. There's two of them. Okay, you got them all. Great, thank you. Yes, one each is good. As we go through the book of Numbers, I have several goals and I just want to introduce them to you and review them for myself as we look at this great book. My goal is to teach and explain Numbers 36 chapters in such a way that we see God's glorious attributes in every chapter as He deals with man, Israel in particular, but also all the peoples, all the nations. I desire that we would see man's sinful responses to various situations. Because once we begin to recognize that we are likely, it's easier to avoid them ourselves and not fall into the traps of sin, whether it's a test, a trial, or just daily life. I desire that we would note and take to heart how the New Testament refers to the book of Numbers. Isn't that one of the most amazing things, to see how the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, Jesus or the apostles, and what they do with it? As we go through Numbers, we need to conduct ourselves more and more by confident faith, not confidence in ourselves, but confidence in the living God, living by faith, not by sight. So let's get the lay of the land by mapping out the big picture of the book of Numbers. You should have in a moment a little tan colored sheet that says, letter A, mapping out the big picture. And this is just, I tend to be more visual oriented in terms of reading and learning by reading, so if this is a distraction to you, like one of my friends said, just put it away and listen. If it helps you, you're welcome to look at it, you're welcome to write on it, but do whatever helps you learn and listen the best. As you look at the Book of Numbers, we could name it with a theme several different ways, but my way tonight is to say, this is the wilderness. And in the wilderness you have extreme conditions. We're going to look at some extreme lessons that will count. Extreme lessons that matter. God put them in his word because they matter. They count. And that's sort of a wordplay because this is a book that counts people and it counts what God has done. So as we look at these extreme lessons that count, one question is how much time is covered in this documentary? When does it start and when does it end? Wild guesses or informed guesses? OK. Roughly 1,450. We could even say 1,446, 1,445. It depends on which scholars you're reading. But about 1,445, 1,446 is our estimate for when it begins. And the first 10 chapters cover only 20 days. That's pretty interesting. 20 days in just 10, it takes 10 chapters to talk about it because very important things are happening. Then numbers 11 to 25, you get to cover 38 years plus three months and 10 days is some calculations. The last 11 chapters, 26 to 36 are five to six months and end 40 years later, roughly in 1406, 1405 BC. Well, where did these 38 plus years take place? More than one spot. Where did they begin? We know they began when they left Egypt and they all gathered at what mount? Mount Sinai. Yes, they were there. And our outline says the law giving was out at Mount Sinai all the way from Exodus 19 verse 1 through chapter 10, verse 10 of Numbers. They were there. And we're going to see that there are three law-givings in the book of Numbers, and then there are two journeys from one law of giving to the next. So you think of three instruction sets from God, and then two journeys that bridge those. So they were given the law at Sinai, then they journeyed from Sinai to Kadesh, chapters 10-12. And once at Kadesh, God instructed them again, in 13-19. After Kadesh, they journeyed from Kadesh up to the plains of Moab. That took about 38 years. Now it's said you could do that walk on a camel or donkey in less than two weeks. And you know why, it took 38 years. Because God had to say, some of you are so hard-headed, you won't take a gift when God gives it to you. You won't act on it, so you're going to lose that gift, and your descendants are going to get a shot at it. So that's why it took 38 years to go that far. Chapters 20 through 22. And then the law giving on the plains of Moab in chapter 22, verse 2 through 36, verse 13. So that's a little outline. And I'm going to refer to it several times, but you can remember there's a geographic outline, which is a five-parter right here, three law givings and two journeys. And you can remember there's a chronological outline, which follows with a three-pointer. So that's just to give you some big picture to the book. Well, are there some key verses that summarize well what happens in this book? Yeah, there are. How about you? Does any of you have a favorite key verse just off the top of your head from the book of Numbers? Jane is chuckling like, are you kidding? Okay, give us the gist if you would, Pastor Tim. Be sure your sins will find you out. That was my parents' theme verse when I was a kid. Over and over and over. Be sure your sins will find you out. And I always thought that referred to Aachen. But Pastor Tim's going to find the context and tell us when the Lord said that. It's pretty surprising. Okay? Who else has a favorite verse from Numbers? Well, in a few weeks, I bet more of us will have favorite verses from Numbers. I hope so. I picked Chapter 23, verse 19, God is not a man that He should lie, or a son of man that He should change His mind. Has He not said and will He not do it? Or has He spoken and will He not fulfill it? Numbers 23, verse 19. What's the emphasis? God's faithfulness. Oddly enough, this is a true statement God gave through a false What was that prophet's name? Yeah, yeah, Balaam. Wow. God took Balaam, a false prophet, and he spoke truth to others through that guy, and he himself was convicted by the things he could not say. Amazing. That's a powerful God. And that's part of the point. God loves to take those who are opposed to Him, sometimes He turns their heart toward them, sometimes He just blasts right through them, and they have to They have to deliver His truth and His message. 32, verse 33. 32, you can mark this down and correct it in my speech. Chapter 32, verse 23. Chapter 32, verse 23. So it says 3, 2, 2, 3. We should all remember 3, 2, 2, 3 after today. Good. Makes sense? I'm not sure about that. And 2319 was the verse that God spoke through Balaam. That's a different one. But there's another key verse that I wanted to pin to this book, and that's in chapter 20, verse 12. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, now He's speaking to His own spokesman, because you did not believe in Me to uphold Me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them. Oh, man, that hurts. What's the emphasis here? Man's faithlessness. Our failure to believe that God will do what He said He would do. I mean, we deal with that all the time, do we not? Will God really crush me if I do this? Will God really bless if I obey even though it's sacrificial? Will God really build this church if we simply teach the truth and pursue people? Or do we have to do lots of tricks and bells and whistles and stuff? We wrestle with that on a pragmatic level every day. But that's what God said to Moses and Aaron. Because you didn't believe in me and uphold me as holy, then there was a consequence. Wow. So I would see two contrasting themes with these two verses. God's faithfulness and man's faithlessness. And those aren't the only two important verses. The whole book, every word, is from God. And I would like us to pay close attention to every word in Numbers, because all Scripture is what? Okay, all Scripture is inspired, or God-breathed, and therefore, the P word is profitable. All of it is profitable. Yet, as we look at the details, well, and we also need to remember, the things which are written before are written for our instruction, right? For us, okay? But as we look at these details, I don't want us to become proud saying, you know what? I know a number is one, things you don't know. Well, you might use that to crush someone's pride and teach them, humbly, the truth. But I don't want us to just get big heads over this. I really want us to be transformed by what we hear. Our attitudes and our actions to be transformed as we listen and read. And you know what James 1.22 says, but be doers of the word and not what? Not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Or as one other translation says it, do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. That is a challenge for me. You can learn in Bible school, seminary, or Sunday school a lifetime of things to know from God's Word. But unless I start working them out, it takes a lifetime to do it. To do it takes every day, over and over and over. I never get it all perfect until we meet the Lord and He transforms us. So we want to work at applying the book of Numbers as we go through it. Now, to that end, I've handed out the white sheet, which is called Personalizing the Biblical Text. There are some settings, and I think this is generally a truism, there are some churches where there is so much emphasis on doing things that they really don't know much about God's Word. They're just always doing, always doing, action, action, action, action, action. And sometimes there can be a church that's so much emphasis on learning, learning, learning, learning, nobody ever schedules time to work out God's Word, to obey it. We don't want to be either end of those extremes. We want to learn a lot and then do a lot in response. So I put this together maybe 15 years ago just to help me communicate and remind myself as well as others, I need to personalize my response to the biblical text. So some of you are fast readers, I can see you're already down two-thirds of the first page. That's fine, you'll get to hear it while I speak it too. That's good. Go ahead. But after determining the meaning of the text, That's the observation, investigation, interpretation, and correlation steps. It's important to apply it to my own life. Here's some key questions to ask of every biblical passage you and I study. One, are there examples for me to follow? And correspondingly, to not follow. Secondly, are there commands for me to obey? Thirdly, are there errors to avoid? And numbers is filled with them. Fourthly, are there sins to forsake? Sure. Fifthly, are there promises to claim? Hmm, we'll have to weigh that carefully because none of us are in the nation of Israel as a theocracy. Even if you're Hebrew, it's not a theocracy in the current form. How do we claim promises? We will have to look to the New Testament a lot to get that straight. Sixth day, are there new thoughts about God? I would guess you are going to have some new thoughts about God by the time we're done with numbers. I do, every time I study a new portion of God's Word, I get new thoughts about God I didn't think about before. Are there principles to live by, which is sort of an all-encompassing last statement. So most of you have probably heard these kinds of questions before. Take them to heart. Pass them along. If you already know them, pass them along. If they're new, put them to work. Another way to think through these is to ask these questions. Does it reveal something I should believe about God? Something I should praise or thank or trust God for? Something I should pray about for myself or others? You all do this. You pray in response to God's Word. I hope you do. The whole book of Psalms is just prayer after prayer after prayer in response to what's going on in the writer's life. We need to pray in response to God's Word. Is there something I should have a new attitude about? Does it reveal something I should make a decision about? Hmm, convicted of something right to do, something wrong to kill or get rid of. Does this text reveal something I should do for the sake of Christ, others, or myself? Wow, that's a mouthful. So if you ever, and this is a mature bunch, so you probably never read Scripture and say, well, I didn't learn anything there. I'm not sure what to do now. You all are probably filled to overflowing with things you can do and think of and respond. But with a younger believer, these are things that are important and we should never forget questions like this to prod us to respond to the text. And of course, 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 is crucial for our thinking in that. Because it says, all scripture is inspired by God, or God breathed, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, for things, that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. That the child of God can be thoroughly, the King James says, throughly equipped for every good work which God would do through them. Without reading all those things, their teaching is whatever the Word of God says on any particular subject. What does it say? Then how do I accept it and choose to live by it? After adjusting my... getting rid of some false concepts and false teaching or correcting it, I need to apply what I've learned. Teaching, what does it say? Reproof exposes areas in my life that are not aligned with God's Word. You mean there are some? I often remind people, there are people, you know, just in life, people will come, it's happened all my life long, and they'll say, you know what so-and-so did? I say, well, do you still love him? Well, I don't feel like loving him. I say, well, did you realize none of us are going to be angels in this lifetime? It's great if we pursue Godliness, we are as two, but don't expect other people to be perfect unless they're dead and gone to heaven. Love them where they are. But reproof exposes things that don't align with God's Word. What does it mean to accept reproof? It means to listen to what it says, agree with it, and acknowledge what's wrong or what I haven't been doing that God says is right. Now I'm free from unbelief. I'm freed from sin. So teaching for reproof. Then correction. Correction comes many times simply by confessing and forsaking what is wrong. There's a proverb that talks about that, right? He who covers his sins shall not what? Not prosper. I saw it on your lips. But he who confesses and forsakes, it shall find what? Mercy. Mercy from God and mercy from others. Correction means Someone says, that was wrong, Henderson. Don't you understand? Yeah, I understand. I don't really want to listen to it. I'm quick to accept it was wrong. But I need to confess it was wrong and go on and do what's right. Don't cover it over. You're not going to find mercy if we hide our faults, hide our sins, when someone points them out, especially. When the Spirit of God points them out, don't hide. Sometimes simply confessing is sufficient. There are other times when you have to take definite steps in correcting actions and attitudes. Why? Because God works in you and me for His good pleasure, according to Philippians 2, 12 and 13. And as we obey, then joy then comes. So teaching, correction. Teaching, reproof, correction. And then the fourth thing in this text is training in righteousness. Training comes through studying God's Word. By being diligent in God's Word, He equips us through teachings, commands, promises, exhortations, warnings, the lives of biblical characters. And there are quite a few characters in Numbers. Oh yeah. And may we find ourselves once in a while there. The accounts of God's dealing with man. What does He do when this happens? Well, when applying the scripture, some other questions we could ask can be useful to you. So I'm just pummeling our minds with all these to stir us up to respond as we go through numbers. What does the passage teach? Is it general or specific? Does it apply only to certain people? Or is it to a cultural problem only present then? Or a certain time in history? Has it been superseded by a broader teaching? What can I learn? What does it teach? Another question, does this section of scripture expose any error in my beliefs or my behavior? Commandments I haven't obeyed or even just wrong attitudes? Motives? One of the most important things I heard as a Christian young man was, attitude is everything. I battled that a lot. As a kid who grew up in a Christian home, I thought I was a pretty good kid and by human observation probably was not a bad kid at all. But as an adult, as a young man, I began to realize that my attitude was really way before my actions. That just shook me. Attitude. Any wrong attitudes or motives that Scripture brings to light. Another question. What is God's instruction to me as His child? New truths, new commandments, new insights or promises to embrace. There are some cautions here. When applying Scripture, beware of applying cultural standards instead of biblical. Or attempting to strengthen the legitimate truth by using the wrong scripture for that, or using it correctly. Or to apply out of prejudice. We're very vulnerable to that. I am. Prejudice from past training or teaching or preference. Why? Because the goal is a transformed life. Reflects God's glory, not my righteousness. I don't have any righteousness. Whatever I have, it's all a gift. It's not mine. Martin Luther wrote this, The Bible is not merely to be repeated or known, to be lived and felt. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3.18, But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit. That's what I long for. I long that Week by week, we would begin to see the glory of God in one another in fresh and new ways as I respond to the text, as you respond to the text. So, questions on personalizing the text? I know tonight's a little bit like Sunday school in that I listen if you ask questions. But if you have questions on anything I've said so far, questions so far before I move ahead. Great. It was all easy. That's good. Okay. Piece of cake. Well, let's look at the big picture. We've seen the big picture. Let's scout out, letter B, some details in Numbers 1. And we're going to just read through it sort of really quickly. And now is the time when you, I'm going to ask you tonight, to just respond here and there. As you say, well, I see a truth here, a timeless truth in the passage, or I see an application that just leaps into my mind that I need to obey or we as Christians in general ought to respond to. Now this is just a way of bringing us up to speed on Numbers 1. Next week, Lord willing, we will go through the whole chapter in one leap and apply it in response. But I'd like to just sort of practice this personalizing the text in Numbers chapter 1. Numbers chapter 1. So if you see a truth made evident or an application to the Christian life, pop your hand up and I will call on you. Doc's already, he's there. Go ahead. So timeless truth, God speaks to man. Am I where you are? God does speak. Okay. When you're around someone who's got the Word of God open, especially then, that's true. Well, that was the first truth I noted too. Now, the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. The reality is God has spoken to man. The fool says to his heart what? is no God. Proverbs 14, 1. He has spoken. He's not silent. Someone wrote a book called The God Who Is Not Silent. I'm forgetting his name. He's an apologist. The good one. Thank you. Francis Schaeffer. God has spoken to man. Verses 2 through... Well, in the tabernacle of meeting where God is speaking on the first day of the second month, the second year after they come out of the land of Egypt saying something, Verses 2-4. Joe? Good point. Perhaps, Joe, are you thinking about the idea that the believer is enslaved, and now he's freed, and the Lord really begins to bring huge change. Good point. That's true. What Joe's pointing out is that much of, almost all of the vocabulary we used to describe becoming a Christian or saved comes right out of the Exodus. And now you have a picture. God has yanked them out of slavery and said, you're mine. I'd like to talk to you now. I'm going to change your life. Like John MacArthur said to me when I visited, he said, come to the Master's Seminary and he'll change your life. Oh, he was right. I just didn't know how cool it would be. But he's right. But God saved, and that's way bigger than going to any Bible school. Okay? Other truths in verses 2-4. What's... Sheila, please. God gave exact instructions. When He says something, He expects us to respond very specifically to, doesn't He? Exact instructions, okay? That is a timeless truth of the Lord, yes? That is true. There's a timeless truth that I'm hesitating on saying everything, but I would say the large thrust of things does rise and fall on the leadership, doesn't it? Part of it is, I mean, there has to be a response to good leadership, but where there's bad leadership, bad actions follow. Where there's great leadership, great things follow. That's really true. I saw another hand. Jane. He is a God of order and organization. 1 Corinthians 14, 40. Right? Let everything be done decently and in order. Now, let me ask a question I ask myself. Well, wait a minute. Doesn't God just sort of blow things apart sometimes? Not without a purpose, exactly. Isaiah 45 verse 7 says that he can work chaos or calamity. I think you need to translate that word ra instead of evil, calamity. He uses calamity sometimes to tear things apart that are broken. Sometimes he uses calamity or what appears to be chaos to spread his people where he wants them to go. Right? The persecution is an example of that. to push people where they don't want to be so he can accomplish his purposes. Okay, good. Other responses to verses 2-4? Yes, Linda. God is preparing his people to go to war. The word is right there in verse 3, to go to war. I say we. I spoke about this a few Sundays back. Why did God prepare them for battle? Well, number one, they used to be slaves, and so they had all these mean guys over them. Their job was to sort of lay low and work hard. And they didn't probably know a lot about battle. And they were all these people without walls, without fortresses. without any boundaries. It's just people. They had to be instantly ready to defend themselves. And God was going to prepare them to take over the land. So God actually uses warfare. Most of what he uses warfare for is stopping evil. Or dealing with those who are entrenched in it and won't turn. That's a hard concept for us. Americans don't really like it. But I think we can understand it the more we read the scriptures. Thank you, Linda. Other observations before we move from 2 through 4? Verses 5 through 15, we have the 12 tribal leaders of a code named Generation Exodus. We talk about Generation X. This is Generation Exodus. They've come out of Egypt. They are more than bicultural. by the time their lifetimes are finished. And what do we find in 5215? We find a listing of all 12 tribes, and we see how many there are. How many Danes were there? Not just one. How many Benjaminites were there? Not just one, not just Benjamin. It's lots and lots. So what's the truth we see in there? Doc? Okay? Good point. God knows how each person is related. He knows their names. That's definitely true. We see that in Scripture. He does. How would this portion relate to someone named Abram? Alice says, I already see it. I saw her nod. What's exciting about this passage? It's just a list of numbers and names. What's so exciting about that? Gordon? It's the people that were delivered from Egypt. They came to the Red Sea. There was a mountain on their right hand and a mountain on their left. The armies of Egypt behind them. Okay, so we see... That's all true. God has delivered these people. They are alive. It's not zero Israelites. But when you think of Abram, How many Israelites were there in Abram's day? None really. How many descendants of Abraham? When he was 70? Zero. 80? Zero. 90? Zero. 99. One. 400. Yeah, Ishmael didn't get to count, unfortunately. Not really. But by the time you get here, there's 600,000 plus warriors. I think it was 603, 550, something like that. I'd say God made of Abram a great and mighty nation. Genesis 12 is happening. It's real. God keeps His promises. That's what I wanted to get. That's where I'm going with this. He did keep his promise to Abram. Well, verses 16-46, we see Moses and Aaron obey and then the people respond. Verses 16-19, Moses and Aaron act and assemble the people. They're organized and accounted for. What are some observations we might make from those? Maybe that's sort of simple. When leaders lead well, people should respond well. Yeah. What happens if they don't? Well, that's going to happen later in Numbers. Chaos, disturbance, burden on the leaders, God's glory is marred, all kinds of trouble. What about verses 20-44? They're going to call out the counts in verse 20. I'll read it right here. Now the children of, well it says, as the children of Reuben, Israel's oldest son, and then it goes on and on, from the children of Simeon, children of Gad, and it calls out how many in each tribe. What is that an evidence of? I would submit it's an evidence of two things. One is, our descendants are a combined testimony of, number one, our actions, that there are any descendants, and how they live is an evidence of our lives. And secondly, God's faithful response to our descendants. That doesn't mean we're responsible for everything our descendants do. But their presence is a testimony to our life. And how they respond is some indication of God's working in them in response to how we've led them. Verses 45 and 46, Moses and Aaron are going to tally the tribal counts. Verse 45. So all who were numbered of the children of Israel by their father's houses from 20 years old and above, all who were able to go to war in Israel, all who were numbered were 603,550. That's a lot of people. Doc? The what? That's an important question. The way I answered it when I preached on it, I think I answered it, but the way I understand it is some of this large size is in response to Jacob's blessing. It's a direct response. If we were to look back at Genesis 49, We're going to see that the firstborn received, well actually it comes all the way back down to before you get to Judah, before there's any significant blessing there. But the ones Jacob blessed were blessed immensely. And the others, it doesn't say. But Dan was one of those who crippled, he calls them crippled horses, right? In Genesis 49. I think that he's being euphemistic in speaking of what his brothers Dan and Levi did to Dinah's attackers' family. So, anyway, some of that is just Patriarch Jacob spoke and God spoke prophetically through him. Not all of it, though. I can't account for all of it. Some of it is God's sovereign choice. You know, why does he give one of my friends 11 children and me 5? Well, I don't know. Some of you would say, well, he had more sense. I don't think that's the issue. But, you know, why does he have capacity to lead 11 children? Someone else might have 1 or no children. That's God's sovereign hand working and you trust him in that. Well, one thing that's interesting, if you look at verses 45 and 46, I thought of a proverb, not only about God's faithfulness, but also Proverbs 26, 15, which says, the sluggard is too lazy to bring even the food to his own mouth. Sometimes I quote that proverb from my boys. Dad, we don't have... Dad, we can't do... You can't, huh? Why do you need to do that? Well, we need to buy or we need to get, why don't you improvise? Have you thought about what your resources are now? My mom, when I was a child, would reflect with a big smile on her face on how her younger brothers would have a tractor made out of chicken bailing wire and horses made out of wire and sticks and things. What do you have? Put it to work. This is what we saw earlier when God spoke to Moses. He said, what's in your hand? God told him, use it. I saw someone preach a whole message. I don't know if that's the exact point of the passage. But he said, you know, he told the guy, what do you have in your hand? He said, I don't have anything but a basketball. He said, well, then use it. And he made basketball camps and told people about Christ. And his word of life is huge on basketball camps. What do you have in your hand? An organ or hands to play an organ. What do you have in your hand? The ability to create order and plans. Use that. Have a harmonica. Have a screwdriver. Use it. But anyway, in verses 45 and 46, He counted them. They took stock of what God had entrusted to them. Well, 47 through 54 is that neat section, but the Levites were not numbered. It's so funny. Can you imagine if you were a Levite, you're standing there going, how come he counts everybody else, but we're not getting counted? Man, what a deal. We don't count. God says, Levites, you're mine. In fact, your name Levi means belonging to me. Literally. You're mine. You're not going to be those who are going out to war. You're going to do some special things. Yeah, they were one of the two sons that messed up Dinah's boyfriend's family, but God said, I'm going to do something special with these guys. And he did. Very interesting. The spiritual security guards were responsible for guarding the tabernacle. Truths you might get out of that little short portion, just remembering what you know about it. 47 through 54. They guarded the tabernacle. And we find that they are the ones who are going to preserve the right way to worship God. They're going to be the ones who preserve God's truth or the practice of it. And the prophets will be distinct from them. But they're the ones who are going to guard the tabernacle so that God's wrath wouldn't come on people. There are people that God chooses to instruct and to lead. They have a high responsibility. They are not to lead for their own good. They're to lead for God's glory and others' good. And that's what the Levites were to do. So I see that as a timeless truth that God does choose people to do that. So lesson one in summary. Delegate. It takes hard work to delegate. Unless you're just a natural at it. Delegate and take stock. Take count of God's blessing. Numbers 1 is really not so boring when you start to think about it, huh? It's going to be exciting. Numbers 1. Delegate and take stock of God's blessing. God spoke. He's real. He's given us people who can lead, people who can follow, people who can execute. Other observations on this brief hop through Numbers 1. Very quiet. Okay, good. Well, thank you very much for that. We're going to switch to a time of just taking time to handle prayer requests and look at some time in praying together as well tonight. Next, oh, I need to explain next week. For those of you who like homework, I know nobody really likes homework, but whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, right? So if you're a writer, and a reader, then do with all your might. I put on the back just some things you can do. Letter C. Find a verse to memorize. Maybe you'd memorize just the title for the book. Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. That's something to ponder. You may find another verse in there about preventing wrath. Find a verse to memorize it. Write out a prayer asking God for wisdom. List a great truth you notice. And then I've listed four questions for next time for you to think about. Can you come if you don't answer any of these questions? Yeah. Can you come if you answer them? Oh, especially, yes. But these are just to give you food for thought. Question one, why did God speak to just Moses and Aaron instead of everybody? Don't say it yet. You may already know. Let it be. Why did God speak to two persons instead of just one? It is sort of perplexing, unless you think through the background. Letter C, the tribes are in a unique order, a combination of birth order and grouping by the four mothers. What about in Chapter 2? Is that the same order? And if not, why is it there? Why is it significant? And then the last question, why is the tabernacle's position in the camp where it is? What's significant about it? You may already have all these and you've got them down. Great. Dig a little more so that we can have a concise, clear understanding. for next week.