As you take your seats, I invite you to turn in your copies of God's holy inspired word to numbers 33. Numbers 33, I wanted to take just a little brief time this evening to reflect upon our pilgrimage, the journey, that for which Christ is guiding us and feeding us. And so in thinking about that, I thought about the travel log that is provided for us in Numbers 33. And so we will look at Numbers 33, 1 through 49. These are the stages of the people of Israel when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Moses wrote down their starting places stage by stage by command of the Lord. And these are their stages according to their starting places. They set out from Ramesses in the first month on the 15th day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the Lord had struck down among them. On their gods also the Lord executed judgments. So the people of Israel set out from Ramesses and camped out at Succoth. And they set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. And they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-heroth, which is east of Baal-ziphon. And they camped before Migdol. And they set out from before Heroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness. And they went a three days journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. And they set out from Mara and came to Elam. At Elam, there were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees, and they camped there. And they set out from Elam and camped by the Red Sea. They set out from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of Sin. And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dafqa. And they set out from Dafqa and camped at Elush. And they set out from Elush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai. And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibberoth Chatevah. And they set out from Kibberoth Chatevah and camped at Hazeroth. And they set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithma. And they set out from Rithma and camped at Remen Perez. And they set out from Remen Perez and camped at Libna. And they set out from Libna and camped at Risa. And they set out from Risa and camped at Kehaloth. And they set out from Kehalothoth, sorry, and camped at Mount Shepher. And they set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. And they set out from Haradah and camped at Mekelothoth. And they set out from Mekelothoth and camped at Takoth. And they set out from Takoth and camped at Terah. And they set out from Terah and camped at Mithka. And they set out from Mithka and camped at Hashmonah. And they set out from Hashmonah and camped at Mazaroth. And they set out from Mazaroth and camped at Bene-Jaakon. And they set out from Bene-Jaakon and camped at Hor-Hagridag. And they set out from Hor-Hagridagad and camped at Joth-Bethah. And they set out from Jothbethah, and they camped at Abranah. And they set out from Abranah, and camped at Ezeon-Geber. And they set out from Ezeon-Geber, and camped in the wilderness of Zin, that is, Kadish. And they set out from Kadish, and camped at Mount Hor on the edge of the land of Edom. And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the Lord and died there in the 40th year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month. And Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor. And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel. And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmanah. And they set out from Zalmanah and camped at Punan. And they set out from Punan and camped at Oboth. And they set out from Oboth and camped at Ea Abarim, in the territory of Moab. And they set out from Eam and camped at Dibengad. And they set out from Dibengad and camped at Almun Diblathayim. And they set out from Alman de Blothaim and camped in the mountains of Aberim before Nebo. And they set out from the mountains of Aberim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. They camped by the Jordan from Beth Jeshmanoth as far as Ebel Shittim in the plains of Moab. This is the word of our God. Let's pray. Our father, your word tells us. That all scripture. Has been breathed out by you. And that includes a list of places. That not only do we not know where most of them are, we can't say him. But we praise you this evening for the amazing truth that you are revealing to us in a list of obscure places. Give us ears to hear and eyes to see, and give us hearts that will follow. For in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, certainly a list of places will certainly challenge your faith with regards to the inspiration of every word in the Bible. We find here this list of places. Some of them we do know where they are. Some of them, I'm sure, you may have recognized in my butchering of saying them. But most of them you haven't heard of. And if you go home tonight and try to find them on a map, you won't find them because we don't know where most of these places are. This is a wonderful text of scripture that provides us a travel log that lists 40 places at which Israel encamped between their departure from Egypt and their arrival in the plains of Moab. Numbers, though we call it numbers, is not necessarily about numbers. The book of Numbers itself is a book that has been provided to us as God's people that we might understand the faithfulness of our God. A faithfulness that he manifests by being present with a faithless people even when they have rejected his promises. What is interesting is in the book of Numbers, you have the time period from the time that they're leaving Egypt to the time that they are about to enter the promised land. And in a sense, you have over 40 years of history that is provided, much of which actually isn't recorded. So you have a long period of time but not much of it are we told about. And at the end of the day, once you work through this long period of history, when you work through this long travel, as they have moved from one place to the next, what you find is that they still haven't entered the promised land. And the route that they have taken is quite It is difficult. It is confused. There is no straight line. In fact, there's a lot of walking in circles. Have you ever wondered why, in your walk with Christ, it feels like you often don't seem to be headed anywhere? Is it just me or maybe have you also experienced that looking back on your time in walking with Jesus and it feels like you're no closer to entering the promised land of your inheritance than when you first begun. Still struggling with the same sins. Still struggling with the same laziness, still struggling with the same judgment of yourself and others. Still struggling with trying to do it in your own strength rather than abiding in the strength that is provided by God. We feel this way because this has been the experience of God's people. This is part and parcel of what it means to follow God in a fallen world as we live between a time in which atonement and redemption have been accomplished and the entrance into the fullness of our inheritance is experienced. See, that's what it means in Numbers when it sets up for us that historical bracket that God had accomplished His will in Egypt. They had received the Passover. They had been fed, prepared for travel. The Lord had demonstrated His grace to Israel by passing over their firstborn because of the blood of the lamb that was shed and was applied to the doorposts of their homes, where they gathered as families together because of the covenant promise of God and this promise of deliverance that they would be freed from bondage and slavery in Egypt and that He would give them a land that was flowing with milk and honey where they would be freed from slavery ever again. It is a picture in historical earthly terms that are expressing a greater spiritual reality of what it means for us as the people of God to live after the accomplishment of atonement and redemption that has been accomplished by Jesus Christ, freeing us from bondage and slavery to our sin. where the penalty of sin has been covered, where the power of sin has been broken, but where the presence of sin is still hindering our walk. We have the promise of the inheritance in Christ and we possess a down payment of that inheritance through the Holy Spirit. And yet, do you feel as though you have entered into the fullness of that inheritance? Are any of you, in your walk, as you are trying to live a devoted life to God, and as you are trying to love your neighbor as yourself, do you feel like you are accomplishing this unhindered by sin? Do you feel like you wake up every morning and it's just roses and you are so happy because you have entered into all that God has promised you? Is that how you feel? See, that's the difference between living by sight and living by faith. You see, the people of God, when they left Egypt, they left being given promises. that they were to hold on to by faith, and that they were to travel along the road to Canaan, and they were to travel as if they already possessed it. We, in following our great high priest who has entered into the heavenly throne room, are following him, headed there, and we do so as those who already possess it. That's why the Apostle Paul tells us that because of the grace of God in Jesus Christ, we have been raised and seated with Christ in the heavenly places. For all of us, if we are honest, we struggle with the difference between what our faith holds on to and what our faith experiences on a daily basis. What encouragement is there from numbers 33 to keep pressing forward when our experience and when our faith don't seem to be connected? Well, we have this travel log. We have this list of places places, by the way. How many years were they in a wilderness wandering? Yeah, I love how God does this. In 3, verses 3 through 18, what we have presented to us are not just camps, were they encamped, But we also have provided to us in verses 3 through 18 some of the most important events that they experienced. In fact, in verses 3 through 18, what you find is a summary of the material from Exodus 12 to Numbers 12. Okay, if you want the Cliffs Notes on Exodus 12 to Numbers 12, read Numbers 33, verses 3 through 18. In 18 through 36, we find the central section simply lists the campsites, and it lists places that find no parallels in the Book of Numbers. So these are places, in 18 through 36, these are places that have never been mentioned before, and they are never mentioned again. These are places that we really, really don't know what they are. Now, in verses 31 through 33, there is a slight echo of a couple of those places in Deuteronomy chapter 10. But for the most part, 18 through 36 includes a list of places that we've never heard of, that you'll not hear of again. We don't know where they are. In verses 37 through 49, You find the conclusion of the travelogue. And what it does is it contains historical reminiscence as well as the names of the places. What you find in those verses is a summary of the material that exists in numbers 20 through 22. And so what you have here is a summation. It's a way that the writer is trying to sum up this traveling, this pilgrimage of the people of God between their redemption and their entering into the fullness of their inheritance. We have in this text not just a list of a random collection of place names. But what we find here is a list that is designed to shape Israel's perspective of what it meant for her to go through this pilgrimage. In this summation, in this travelogue, it's meant to help the people of God, not just those who went through it, but to help those who would come after to be able to look back on our history. Our history. As we are bound by covenant with those described in numbers, this is our history. He is giving us a summation of our history in order to give us a perspective on how to follow God. As we. Are on a pilgrimage. It has meaning not only for the past. but it has also meaning for future generations who, like ancient Israel, are pilgrims and strangers on a journey through the wilderness of this world. Our journey through life toward a promised land of inheritance and rest holds many of these same parallels to what we read about in their journey through the wilderness. And so when we rightly approach Numbers 33, This list of place names is a list that still speaks to us today with the same message that it spoke so long ago. We don't have to contextualize this text for us to find some kind of meaning. The meaning that was given then is still the meaning that God has for us today. And so what is that meaning? Well, what he is doing here is summarizing the main themes of the books of Exodus and Numbers. The text reminds us of the great obstacles that the nation has overcome in escaping Egypt and crossing the Sinai Desert. And the basic point here in all of Exodus, in all of Numbers, is that if God has helped Israel thus far, then he will surely enable them to reach their goal of the promised land. If God has been helping them so far, he's not going to stop midway. If he has been helping them as he has made promises and he is executing these promises, even when his people sin, his plan doesn't stop. If God has helped Israel thus far, he will surely enable them to reach his appointed goal for them. Yahweh's past dealings with Israel are always a guarantee that they will soon be in a position to implement the very laws that he is expressing to them in numbers in a promised land that he had given to the patriarchs that they are about to fully possess. And so when we look at this travelogue, we want to look at it through three basic lenses. Big point, God has been faithful. God is going to continue to be faithful. But when we look at the three sections here, there are three main things that we want to look at. That first section of verses 3 through 18 reminds us of God's faithfulness. The second section, 18 through 36, reminds us of God's forbearance. And the last section in 37 through 49 reminds us of God's presence in the familiar. God has been faithful to his people corporately. in families, to individuals. There has been an encouragement from God to his people in doing everything that has been necessary for them to be freed from bondage and for them to be sustained while on pilgrimage. God has been faithful to provide everything that was needed. He provided them places to stay, places to live. He provided them water from the rock. He provided them manna that fell from the skies. He provided everything that they needed in a supernatural fashion that they could never have received apart from God's presence going with them. God, as he has been faithful to his people, his faithfulness is not exercised as one who is at a distance. His faithfulness is not simply exercised by making promises and then from off at a distance, trying to kind of, you know, make sure nothing messes those promises up. What this section of numbers and this section of Israel's history has taught us, if anything else, is that when God makes promises, he guarantees that they are going to come to pass by entering into history to be with his people in the immediacy of where they find themselves. So this is not just God hearing from a distance, we're thirsty, and then providing water. This is God who is with his people. And when the complaints come to Moses, the mediator, they are coming to God. See, God is with his people. He is with them, as we sang moments ago, through the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. But he is also with his people in the tabernacle. The beginning of Numbers describes for us the way that the tabernacle was the center of the camp. And when they were encamped somewhere, the tabernacle was at the center. And then each of the 12 tribes, they had their specific place where they were supposed to be in relationship to the tabernacle. And when they set up their own individual tents, their doors were supposed to open up so that when they opened up, they would see the tabernacle. Because the tabernacle was God's presence with his people and his presence was always at the center of their lives. Now, what happened when they would pack up and they would move and they would travel? The tabernacle would be at the center. And so once again, they would be arranged according to where they were supposed to be in relationships to the tabernacle, but it was in the center. God was not just with his people kind of on the outskirts. He was always in the middle. Ever wondered why the tabernacle was made of a tent? What were the people of God living in? Ever wondered why the tabernacle was a tent that was made out of flesh? that God's presence would be enfleshed in a way that identified with the experience of his people. God's faithfulness is never exercised from far off. He is with us in the very midst of everything that we are experiencing. And he guarantees his promises by becoming enfleshed, experiencing what we experience along the way. And yet, even though we fail him, he never fails us. This first section helps us reflect on the Lord's faithfulness. The second section, so much more could be said about that, but that's what I want to say for now. The second section helps us reflect upon the Lord's forbearance. What's interesting is in this second section, you have all these places listed that we're really not sure what they are. But we also have a lot of places that are listed that we do know where they are. But do you know what we don't find? In a section that is trying to help us understand What the people of God have gone through because of their faithlessness and being judged with 40 years of wilderness wandering. Do you know what you don't have mentioned in this section? You don't have any of the specifics that are connected to Israel's lack of faith being mentioned. Their lack of faith at Mara. and Exodus 15, which, by all accounts, was an event that very directly shaped the experience of Israel. It's not mentioned here. How about the Desert of Sin in Exodus 16? Rephidim, Exodus 17. Kibbutz HaVata, Numbers 11. Kadesh in the Desert of Zin, Numbers 20. These are all places where there were incredibly huge lapses of faith that even led to God's judgment on his people. But if you didn't know that from knowing the history, when you read through this section, they're just places that are mentioned. And they went here and they went there and they kept going and went there. If you don't know the history, you don't know how awful the people of God behaved in those places. When speaking of God's faithfulness, the text provides us very specific reminders of what God did to be faithful with his people. But what it does not provide us are the very specific things that recorded the failures of God's people. The specifics of God's faithfulness, recorded. The specifics of our failures, not mentioned. The golden calf, not alluded to. The failure to enter the land, not mentioned. Aaron's mentioned, right? Aaron's mentioned, you know what's not mentioned? His abject failure before the Lord and the judgment that he received because of it. Moses is mentioned, you know what's not mentioned? Moses's failure and the judgment that he received that he would not enter the promised land. You have this entire history of Israel that has unfolded. And yet the things that took place during that time, which were the most formative and shaping is as if they didn't happen. Never wondered what it means for the Lord to say that when he forgives sins, it is if he separates them from himself as far as the East is from the West. Is that just a legal fiction that we are often accused of? By people who don't believe. In the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. Have you ever wondered how your life, and all the specific ways that you tend to look back on yourself, and to look at your own personal failures, and you look at your own personal lapses of judgment, and you look at those events in your past that you see were sins that you committed that really seem to affect your life in a very negative way, Do you look back on those things in the way that God looks at those? Do you like to rehash your history in such a way that you find every little failure, and especially the big failures, and beat yourself up about them? And to tell yourself that I've got to remember that failure so that I don't do it again. or I've got to make sure I remember that failure and I've got to make sure I feel bad about that failure every time I remember it, because if I don't, then maybe I'm not taking things seriously. Maybe I'm not really trying to devote myself to God if I allow that past sin, that past mistake to be forgotten, or maybe even better, to have been redeemed. Beloved our God and the way he deals with us. As he loves to be specific. With his acts of redemption. In order to give us a new history. Where our past sins. Are forgotten. and where his past specific actions of faithfulness become ours. God loves to give his people a new history, not by ignoring it, not by simply deciding to wave his hand and say, well, I'm just going to redact history and just kind of remove some things. The new history that he gives us is not our own history, but just having certain things wiped away. The new history he gives us is the history of his faithfulness. This text helps us remember God's faithfulness, his forbearance. But it also helps us remember the Lord's presence in the familiar. Most of these places, we have no idea where they are. Most of the history, we have no idea what happened. We have very small snippets of 40 plus years of history that is recorded for us in numbers. Does that mean that that history just wasn't important? Or does it mean that it's supposed to help us understand that the majority of our pilgrimage is spent in the ordinary. So often what we want is a history that is bound to huge events. We want a history where we have one big event after another, after another, after another. If you want to understand American evangelical spirituality, then you need to understand this incessant desire to have one greater experience after another. And if you start to find yourself not having those experiences, well, then you've got to go to a conference. And once the conferences start to run out, well, then you need to go on some kind of special pilgrimage or go live in the desert or go hike the AT. There is this incessant desire. that for our Christian lives and for our Christian devotion to have meaning, that God must show himself spectacularly moment after moment after moment after moment. But the history of the way God deals with his people is that he deals with us in the quietness of the ordinary moment. Most of the places Where Israel traveled during that time, nothing is recorded of what God did for them there. But what do we know is true? Was God with them? Well, of course, the tabernacle was there. Of course, Moses was there. The mouthpiece. The one who would go into the tabernacle with the Lord privately and who would come out and speak the words of the Lord to the people. Of course, they knew God was with them. Aaron was there. They had a priest. And so what were they called to do for the overwhelming majority of this pilgrimage from Egypt to the promised land, they were called to live by faith with the presence of God in the smallness of everyday ordinary life. Waking up, opening the doors of the tent to reorient oneself on the tabernacle, bringing sacrifice morning and evening to the tabernacle, carrying out one's vocation according to the law that God was revealing to his people that provided the expressions of cleanness and holiness that his people were to exhibit in the middle of a wilderness wasteland. Where they were called in the very small little moments that seemed to be trivial and unimportant. to live in those moments in the fullness of God's presence who was with them. Beloved, our walk with Christ is a walk in which he does not always show himself powerfully and supernaturally. And yet. His powerful and supernatural resurrection presence. is dwelling within us. Where is the tabernacle today? Where do we open up the doors of our lives to look and see God's presence and orient ourselves around it? Where is Moses who comes from the tabernacle to speak God's word? Where is Aaron, the high priest who is there to mediate our sacrifice to the Lord? Where is the God who is in flesh dwelling among us? These are all things that now come to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God, who identified himself with us in our sin. Going to the cross. And in being raised from the dead, becoming a superior prophet, a superior priest, and a superior king who has provided us superior promises in the fulfillment of the new covenant in order to provide us a superior pilgrimage and life of faith. As we do not sit outside looking into the tabernacle, but now, as Pastor Olson reminded us last week, we boldly approach the throne of grace, not in a tent that is made of animal skins on earth, but through the skin and flesh and veil of Jesus Christ, where we enter the fullness, where we go where our sacrifice has gone. We have Jesus Christ. And Jesus still speaks. Jesus still prays. Jesus is still with us through the presence of his spirit. And so where is that tabernacle on Earth? It is you. We are now the place. Where God has taken up residence. to display the superiority of his presence and the faithfulness of his promises to give us a new history where Christ's history is now our history. That's what it means to be given the righteousness of Jesus. It means every time he was faithful to keeping God's law, we are now considered to have faithfully kept that law as well. The new history you have in Jesus is that you don't just need for that that you don't just have forgiveness. You are accounted as one who perfectly keeps God's law. Where you now have access. And where you serve as a place. For the people around West Ashley to look at. And to see that God is with his people. In the midst of trial and tribulation. That we might attract the nations. And to provide them the grace of God in Jesus Christ. God indeed has been faithful. God indeed. Has been gracious and forbearing. What I want you to remember. is that in Jesus Christ, every moment of your day is filled with the presence of his glory. And so go to work tomorrow. Change that diaper tomorrow. Sweep your kitchen floor tomorrow. Make lunch tomorrow. Put on your pants tomorrow. Please, put on your pants. Do these things knowing that though they do not seem spectacular, your God is with you in that moment. And that it is his transforming presence that indeed empowers us to be faithful. And when you are faithful in the little moments. You shine as lights. To something that is eternal. Beloved, you are now the tabernacle of God on Earth. Through whom Christ is speaking. Through whom God's grace and presence is manifest. And so go. and be that presence of Christ. And may the Lord, in the faithfulness of the small moments, use your witness to encourage one another and to call in those whom he has elected from all eternity. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, It is amazing that you give us your presence and that you give us a new history and that you give us a fresh calling, a calling in which we don't have to quit secular work and go to seminary in order to be used by you in this world. Would you this evening fill up the tanks of our faith with a vision of what it means for us to live as your people who have your presence so that when we become tempted by our trials and tribulations to think that you have somehow disappeared, our faith might cling to the things that we do not see. When we become tempted to think because of problems that we are experiencing in our lives to think that what is happening is that the grace of the gospel is not taking hold. May we remember the smell of the bread this morning and the taste of the cup. Fathers, we are tempted in this world to get caught up in our careers and to get caught up in everyday life and to get caught up in advancing in our jobs and in our families and in education and all the different ways in which we are tempted to make and try or try to turn the wilderness into the promised land. Would you help us to raise our eyes? To be reminded of the greater reality that you have made true for us in Jesus Christ. And that being reoriented around the heavenly tabernacle, we might be faithful to present the risen Savior to a generation that is lost in darkness, that is groping around amidst death, and where they need you, and where they need the blessing of your presence and the work of a gracious Savior. Lord, transform the ordinary moments of our lives, not by making them spectacular, but by giving us a faith that understands every second of our lives is spectacular, because they are lived out as those raised up and seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Lord, help us to travel from that perspective. For we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, Pastor Olson had shown us