[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. And so we're in Numbers chapter number 10 tonight as we go through Numbers. And I appreciate Paul, he's a good friend of mine.
[0:12] He said, if you want I could take a little longer on my missionary up day. And I said, what do you mean? He's like, well I see that you're in Numbers chapter number 10. I'll help you out if you need it. And as a lady told me in customer service, she said, oh you're going through Numbers.
[0:25] Hope you serve coffee at your church because they're going to need it. Without a vote of confidence. But I have loved going through Numbers. I enjoy it more hearing pastor teach through it. But I really enjoy getting to study it throughout the week.
[0:36] And Numbers 10 has something for us here tonight. But as a way of review, Justice, if you'll make your way up here. I'm going to include a couple people. And Jacob, if you'll bring up that first picture. It has the different images on it.
[0:47] Justice, you in here tonight? Nope. Alright, he's not. Oh, he's upstairs and working in the children's church. Okay, and so is Ben. Is Juan in here? Yes, Juan. Alright, get up here, Juan.
[0:58] Okay? And so as a way of review to catch you up. I know we've been in Numbers. But my sister, my mom's here, and some others are visiting. And as we go through Numbers, we want to give you an overview. As a church, we've been in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus.
[1:12] And now we're in Numbers. Don't be scared, Juan. It's just us guys. You know, it's just your friends. Alright. And so, Max Anders, he said there's these nine different eras of the Old Testament, kind of the way to keep it in your mind.
[1:26] And we start out with creation, the patriarchs, Exodus, conquest, judges, kingdom, exile, return. And then we have the silence before going into the New Testament. And so Juan is one of the Monday night four-year Bible study partners.
[1:41] And he didn't know he was coming up here the night. But Juan, can you tell us where we are at on this diagram? What are we between? What two pictures? You want a lifeline?
[1:54] You want to call a lifeline? You want a little help? Turn around. Which one of these three, four guys looks the smartest here? From Glenn, to Brendan, to Eric, which one of them? Bo? Good choice.
[2:04] Alright. Bo, which one are we between here in the book of Numbers? Where are we at? Between Exodus and Congress. Between Exodus and Congress. Thank you, Juan. Thank you so much, sir. And so that's where we're at.
[2:15] And we're about to leave Mount Sinai. And if you look at this next picture here. So they needed some wagons. Because they're going to start moving a lot of stuff. And they collected everything that they needed. And so they had to get the U-Haul wagons.
[2:26] And they loaded it up. And now they've designated some people, the Levites. They're going to set it up. And God, in His infinite wisdom, even has it set up. So that when He calls them, we're going to look at here in a minute. And they take off going.
[2:37] That the people have the tabernacle set up. Before the people with the furniture even get there. What about the logistics of that? You can never expect that from your husband, woman. But God, He understood what needed to go first.
[2:49] And so people weren't sitting around. And so we left her up to Haran. We came across. We know they were in Canaan before they went into Egypt. And then they were in Egypt for all those years. And then they crossed over.
[3:00] Now they're at Mount Sinai. And they're headed back to the Promised Land. And that's where they're going. And so we're looking at now. They're going to leave Mount Sinai. And they're going to go about 150 miles.
[3:11] The Kadesh Barnea will be their next stop. But all together, it's only about 316 miles the way the crow flies. None of us are crows. So that doesn't really help you any. But if you were, if you went in a straight line.
[3:23] But it isn't 40 years. It's waiting for a generation of disobedient people that would die off. And so they're going to roam around. And it's unbelievable how it happens. But they're waiting.
[3:34] So this is where we're at between Mount Sinai and Canaan. And we're getting ready to move forward. And so when you're moving, some say nearly 2 million people. When you're moving this large amount of people, you need instruction.
[3:46] You need somebody to take the lead on it. And so Moses is thankful that God decides when they should leave, where they should go, and what's the next step. And we see that in Numbers chapter 10.
[3:57] And these first 10 verses, we're going to learn about the trumpets. And that's important because that tells them what to do. My grandfather, Johnny Nelson, he served in World War II.
[4:08] And he tells a story that when the war ended, they were shooting off guns outside the bus. But he got underneath the bus because he thought they were under attack. And he waited there until they said, no, we're celebrating.
[4:20] The war is over. And so it's good to know when a gunshot means celebration or it means you're under attack. Well, these trumpets, the different sound would mean it's time to go to war or it's time to assemble together.
[4:30] And let's see if you can follow along with what it says here about the trumpets. In the first 10 verses. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver. Of a whole piece shalt thou make them, that thou mayest call them for the calling of the assembly and for the journeyings of the camp.
[4:46] And when they shall blow with them, pay close attention here. When they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And if they blow but one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves in the theme.
[5:03] And when you blow an alarm, then the camp that lie on the east part shall go forward. And when you blow an alarm, the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey. Then they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
[5:14] But when the congregation that be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound the alarm. Now, verse number 8 says that Aaron and the priests will be in charge of the trumpets. Verse 9, and when you go in the war in your land against the enemy that oppresses you, then you shall blow an alarm with the trumpets.
[5:31] You know, if this was written and it was Trent, not Moses, you would find in the Bible the word huh a lot. And God said, and Trent said, huh? Would you say that one more time? And so if you're listening to what all the trumpets did, how many of you would feel confident now that we're going through that you would know what needs to happen if this was the sound?
[5:49] If you could turn this speaker on, I am going to make a sound here for you. Or I'm not going to. I'm going to do one of those. Here we go. All right.
[6:03] And jazz got started in the book of Numbers, if you wasn't wondering. All right. So if you heard that, what would you be doing? What would you be doing if you heard an alarm from one trumpet? When you blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts would go.
[6:17] And then it said that if you hear just a sound of just, if they just heard one sound, then it meant something. And if there's two trumpets. And if you follow along there, you're going to see that they had different purposes.
[6:30] Some were called to assembly. Some were to move forward. Aaron and the priests were in charge. And it's kind of like a Morse code for the people there. And God's going to lead them. Blow one trumpet, prince and leaders come together.
[6:41] Blow an alarm, the camp on the east side is going to move forward. Blow the alarm twice, the camp on the south side is going to join them. If you blow both of them, sound an alarm, then all the people assemble together.
[6:52] So you're going to have these trumpets going off that's going to dictate when you move and when you gather together. And then we have more. Then we also have the cloud and the fire. Israel's trust in the Lord is visibly depicted by the sight of the ark and the covenant and the cloud.
[7:08] And they're going to follow that. That God's going to lead them through it. That it sits there in the middle and they're all around it. And they're going to get their marching orders from that. And they're going to follow that. And God during the day is going to provide a cloud covering.
[7:21] So there's an overcast. Don't you love to drive? If you're on missionaries, you drive a long distance. You want it to be an overcast. But you don't want it raining. There's perfect conditions there. And so they're going to have that. Then at night there's going to be a fire that leads them as where they're going.
[7:35] And as we watch them, and it seems repetitive. It seems redundant. But that's not the case. Because it has a purpose. And there's an emphasis here. Can anyone in here argue that being reminded of following closely and being obedient to God during our wilderness wandering is irrelevant to you in here?
[7:54] Can any of you say a lesson that reminds us that we need to follow closely after the Lord and our obedience during times of wandering is not important? Then you have mastered a level.
[8:06] You have become a black belt in Christian arts that most of us in here have no idea what you're talking about. Because I need that daily reminder. And so we're told in 1 Corinthians that when we look back on this story that you ought to see your own journey in life and be reminded.
[8:20] And what God is reminding us as we read this is that He's very much concerned about communicating with His people on an everyday basis. That our God has something for you to do and He wants to communicate with you on Monday morning.
[8:34] Not just Sunday morning, but on Monday morning, on Tuesday morning. He is interested in His life and He has ways in which He wants to help you move and gather together in the right way.
[8:45] And I'm thankful for this. If you are walking and not trusting, then you are simply wondering. Meaning that in your Christian life right now, if you're not trusting upon God, then you're not walking the journey that He has for you.
[9:00] You're not following after the Lord. We say follow Jesus, but that seems kind of hard because He's not literally here on earth and we're following after Him. So what does following Jesus mean?
[9:11] It means that people we trust in our God. We trust in what He tells us to do. That when He blows the trumpet, we show up. And when He tells us to go this way, we go this way. When He says act this way, we act this way, have this heart attitude.
[9:23] That's what we have. And that He is not silent. And if you're not trusting Him, then you're just wondering. You're in that time where you don't have the victorious Christian life that's there for you in the promised land.
[9:34] You're still His child. But if you're not trusting Him, then you're not having all that He has for you. And God's people must trust in God. What a simple, simple lesson about how hard it is for us.
[9:47] So that's what we get in the first part of this chapter. We're reminded of the trumpets. We already know about the cloud and the fire. And then now something interesting shows up here in this next portion of Scripture that I'm going to read for you, starting here in verse number 28.
[10:02] It says, Thus were the journeyings of the children of Israel according to their armies when they set forward. And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Rechiel the Midianite. Anybody named Hobab in here tonight?
[10:13] All right, good, because I'm going to make fun of that name. All right, Hobab, the son of Rechiel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, We are journeying unto the place which the Lord said, And I will give it you. Come thou with us, and we will do thee good.
[10:26] For the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel. And He said unto him, I will not go, but I will depart to mine own land and to my kindred. And He said, Leave us not, I pray thee, Forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, Thou mayest be unto us instead of eyes.
[10:40] And it shall be, if thou go with us, Yea, it shall be, That the goodness of the Lord shall do unto us, The same will we do unto thee. And so what's happening here, Could I have my brother-in-law, Stephen, If you would make your way up here.
[10:54] And so no better illustration of a brother-in-law Than to have an actual live brother-in-law here with us tonight. And then we will have him come, And then Santiago, why don't you come up here, okay?
[11:05] And so what's happening is Moses, And we haven't practiced this, So this could be really bad, all right? And so we have Moses, He asked his brother-in-law for help, Which isn't always a good idea, is it?
[11:16] If you ask your brother-in-law for help, What does that mean? What does that mean if you ask your brother-in-law for help? You're not getting help. That's what he said. And that's what this guy said in the scripture.
[11:27] He said, Moses, I know you're leading a lot of things, You've got a lot going on right now, But I'm going to get back on my own. I don't need to be entangled with you. All right, Santiago, come over here. And so let's say that we are, I'm Moses because I have the best beard, But for sure of the three of us here, Okay?
[11:43] And let's say that I am going to get, You're not my brother-in-law right now, But I say let's get some advice from my brother-in-law, Hobab, the Midian Knight. And after we get done giggling about his name, I would say let's ask him to be our eyes for us.
[11:57] He is going to go out, And he is going to look out the land, And find a resting place for us. And do you think it's a good idea? We will start with Santiago.
[12:08] Tell us, do you think as a, With part of the children of Israel, Here I'm Moses, I'm going to go get some advice. Would you think that's a good idea? No. No, it's not a good idea? Tell us why it's not a good idea.
[12:21] I don't know. You don't know? All right, what would you say? Great idea. It's a great idea. Thank you, okay? And what would be a reason that you think it's a great idea? That we should seek advice from other people on a journey like this?
[12:35] Advice is good. Advice is good. Thank you, Bryce. All right? And then, all right, so he says it's good to get advice. So we're going to get some advice from some people. If you say it's a bad idea, Why might it be a bad idea that we would get advice from somebody out besides God About where we should move?
[12:53] Why do you think that might be a bad idea? They're going to tell you something wrong. They're going to tell you something wrong, And we should just trust in God, right? Yeah. All right, thank you guys. That went 20% the way I thought it would. All right? And so that would be what's happening, right?
[13:05] Some of us would be like, No, Moses. Don't be getting his advice. We don't need that. We have trumpets. We have fire. We have cloud. We don't need your brother-in-law's advice. I don't care if he needs a job and you're trying to help the guy out.
[13:17] Don't get Hobab doing this for us here. And that's one. And then there's another side of the equation where you're saying, Well, the Bible tells us to have godly counsel and to get advice and we should use common sense.
[13:30] And so there would be a tension there, wouldn't there? As I read this and I was looking at numbers, I read, I come upon Hobab and I think, He is a perfect example here for us of how we should get advice from one another.
[13:40] But then I read a little bit more and I think, You know what? This may not be a good thing. Maybe he is not supposed to help them. But do you see why that I would be kind of torn there between that? And do you feel that at yourself when you think about this situation?
[13:53] Or how about in your own life? You wonder, I just want to trust in the Lord, but I also know that God has told me I need to listen to the doctor. I want to trust in the Lord, but I really need my brothers and sisters to help encourage me in the way.
[14:05] And it's two things that are in tension there together. So here's some good reasons. Godly counsel, as Stephen said there for us. A wise man listens to advice. Proverbs 12, 15.
[14:16] The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearketh in the counsel is wise. A fool doesn't take advice from people. God will tell Moses to sign some spies in the future that go do some looking.
[14:26] In Numbers 13, which we're not there yet, but we have an opportunity to know that. At some point, God's going to send out some spies, and so he sees it as a needful thing. And then common sense.
[14:37] You've probably heard the saying before, trust God, but keep your powder dry in the military. Meaning you trust God, but you need to have some common sense. And then Acts chapter number 16, even the Apostle Paul, when he was thinking about where he should be going, he said, I assuredly gathered.
[14:53] Meaning I don't have any written word on it, but based upon the principles that I'm obeying, based upon what I want to do in my heart as a godly desire and staying close to God, I've assuredly gathered that's what I should do.
[15:05] But what are some bad reasons? Proverbs 3 says we shouldn't lean upon our own understanding, which means that if he was trying to cut God out of the equation and lean upon the Midianite, it'd be bad. If he wanted more details instead of just moving forward, and Moses is like, God, I like your trumpets, but all your trumpet says is move forward.
[15:24] I kind of want a road map. I want to know what's coming up in my life. I don't like just this step of faith. I want to know what I'm stepping into. So maybe if I ask enough people, they can tell me exactly what's going to happen, and we know that would be bad.
[15:37] Needing a backup plan, maybe God's going to forget about us. Maybe there's some people in another desert, in another part of this world, that God's going to get busy with, and He's going to forget about us. So I need a backup plan, or as I said, doing his brother-in-law a favor, that wouldn't be a good idea either.
[15:52] And so we see some positive reasons, and we see some negative ones. And inside of this room here, there's plenty of examples of people that have been looking for bad advice, and that we've looked to the wrong person for advice.
[16:04] Every one of us could raise our hand and say there's times. And when I say that you're looking for bad advice, it's like Rehoboam in the Bible, when he could go in there, and he was going to set up, and he went before the elders, and they said, your dad was a hard man, and are you going to be like that?
[16:20] And he went to the elders, and they said, if you'll just be gentle and work with them, they will follow you. And then he goes back to his high school buddies, and he says, hey, they're worried I'm going to be too mean. And they said, if they think your dad was mean, you tell them that your dad's, that your finger will be thicker than your dad's waist, which is some weird trash talk used in the Bible, which is to say, you think my dad was bad?
[16:41] You wait until I get on the scene. And that was bad advice, but it's the vice he wanted. And we've done that before. We've been seeking for the advice that we wanted, so we went out looking for bad advice. Zedekiah is another guy in the Bible that does that.
[16:53] He has Jeremiah, and he said, Jeremiah, I don't like what you're saying, so he goes and gets another group of prophets that would tell him what he wanted to hear. And so not only do we look for bad advice, but we look for the wrong people to get advice from before, and that's true for all of us in here.
[17:07] And so I don't know what Moses was thinking and asking Hobab for help. He's mentioned one more time in Judges, and it appeared as if he doesn't leave, that he stays with them, but it's not enough to come to a decision on exactly what is happening there.
[17:21] But you and I, I would like to encourage you in how you should make decisions concerning your daily life. than in your daily life. As I said, I can't know the heart of Moses in seeking advice, but I can know my own heart, and I know that I have a tendency to do those same things as Moses in times that I might ask for advice for a bad reason.
[17:40] So let me give you a few things here. When we're looking for direction in our daily life, what's some good advice? First of all, I want to remind you that God is not quiet. Look at all the ways he's communicating with his children in the Old Testament.
[17:53] He's visible with the cloud and fire, and he's audible with the trumpets. Today, we have the Word of God. His Word has more answers than we have questions. And it's there for us.
[18:04] And if you think the trumpets are more clear than our Word of God, then I tell you that you're crazy. That the Morse code of the trumpets, if you would rather trade this living book that go back to a time where you simply had a trumpet that said move forward, take two steps back, do the hokey pokey, turn yourself around, that's what I'm all about, I wouldn't take it.
[18:22] I would like the Word of God because it speaks to us on a such deeper level here. And so if you think the trumpet is more clear, I say we're crazy here, but if you put your ear to the Word of God, would you not hear a trumpet in Matthew chapter 28, 19, and 20 when it says go to battle, that we should be sending people out.
[18:39] If you put your ear to it and you read Hebrews, does it not call us to assemble? And it says don't forsake it, don't forsake your brothers and sisters, get with them. In services, outside of services, stick together.
[18:51] If you put your ear to it, would you not hear a trumpet in Colossians chapter number 3 that tells us to forgive one another? The Bible is clear and it has commands and it has teachings for us and we should be grateful for it and we should get our daily marching orders from it.
[19:06] And notice the precision. First of all, God is not quiet. Second of all, notice the precision and the detail God gives in His marching orders to them. God doesn't just tell you, He doesn't just tell you everything that you want to know.
[19:19] You could say, well they were told to move forward and God doesn't tell me which mechanic that I should go to, but that doesn't mean He doesn't have principles that ought to guide your everyday life. He may not tell you which mechanic to go to, but He tells you what kind of attitude you should have when you get there.
[19:34] He tells you what kind of conversation you ought to have with that mechanic. He tells you how you ought to look at two or three mechanics so that you're a good steward of the money that you have. He gives you advice so you don't get taken advantage of by the mechanic.
[19:45] He gives you brothers and sisters so you can ask for a recommendation on a mechanic. Do you understand what I'm saying? Just because you say He doesn't outline this for us doesn't mean He's quiet about your daily life.
[19:56] He says many things. And God in His wisdom made it so that people, as I said, carrying the tabernacle would come later. He's very precise, He's very specific, and He's communicating. Meaning that the details of your life that you think nobody cares about, yes, He cares about them.
[20:11] And yes, He wants to communicate with you about it. So first of all, He's not quiet. He's precise in the way that He communicates with us. And then also, I want to encourage you is look for your friends, those ho-babs, and make sure they don't contradict the Word of God.
[20:25] That when you talk to people, if they contradict the Word of God, then they don't have a place in your life when it comes to giving advice. The key to seeking godly counsel is that they're godly.
[20:36] That a person that's going to give you good counsel is going to say, what has God said about this? They're going to encourage you to stop and listen. When you sit down with them and you share your heart with them, they're going to say, hey, let's be quiet for a second.
[20:48] Let's listen. Do you hear a trumpet? Do you hear that God has already spoken about this? And if God has already spoken, then I have nothing else to say to you but to encourage you on your way.
[20:59] And maybe you're between something and say, well, God hasn't spoken specifically about this, but He's spoken about this and He's spoken about this. And because of that, that's going to help direct you along your way.
[21:09] And we need to make sure that we're that kind of person. You may think you have a lot of wisdom and you can help people. But don't speak where the Bible's already spoken. Just say what the Bible has said. Point to it and say, God has clearly said in His Scripture that this is how He would want us to live our lives.
[21:25] And we should be that to people. We should be pointing them to it. So look for your friends. He's not quiet. He's precise. We need to make sure we are the type of friend that would not contradict God's Word. And then lastly here, looking for God to lead you with His presence.
[21:40] I love this, what happens in verse number 33. And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days' journey to search out a resting place for them.
[21:54] The ark of the covenant is in the middle of His people. Moses is trying to strike up a plan with his brother-in-law. His brother-in-law won't play along. And he says, will you go be our eyes? Will you go before us and help provide protection?
[22:04] Now it's time to roll out. It's time to get moving. And the ark of the covenant moved from the center of the camp and it goes to the front and it leads them to a resting place. As we pursue a life that's in the presence of God, it's going to help us make so many decisions.
[22:20] Living a life where we just want to spend time with Him isn't going to leave time to get us to wonder very far away at all. That is, we just want to know Him and know Him more. Decisions become more and more simple because our life becomes more and more simple because it becomes about Him.
[22:35] In your pursuit of knowing Him, you will stay very busy and avoid many wrong turns. And it's true that we don't hear the sound of a trumpet or the movement of a cloud but we have the Word and we have the Spirit inside of us.
[22:49] And you want to be in the center of the Lord's will, obey His Word, listen to the Bible, follow the book, and do it God's way. And we will be like them and we will be, our everyday life will be driven by the Word of God.
[23:02] Right now, wherever you're at, whatever, there's separation between the way you're living your life and the way the Word of God is, bring it closer together and say, I want my life dictated by the words of this book.
[23:13] That I want to move forward in life, in His presence, obeying Him. The children of Israel worshiped and they fought, they journeyed and they halted, in simple obedience to the trumpet call.
[23:24] How much of your life can you say is dictated by His Word? I really love to hear a testimony of another brother or sister in Christ who talks about something that was happening in their life and why something was happening in their life.
[23:35] They said, did you know during that time I was reading in the Bible and Luke and God taught me something and because of that I had the strength needed to go through that time that as you look back on your journal entries of life, there ought to be a lot of scripture that is moving what is going on and being in it every day and listening.
[23:56] And then go out there and give advice based upon the Word of God. We have answers that the world needs because we have this. There's a man in North Africa today and I pray that he is turning the scripture and he's hearing from God and he's hearing that you can be my child if you will do the Father's will and repent and put your faith in me and I pray that he will make a step of faith based upon the Word of God and I pray that as believers we will take every step of faith in life based upon this Word.
[24:23] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia. For more information log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information and more audio and video recordings.