In The Wilderness ...

"In the wilderness (or the wild country)" (Numbers 1:1).

"Stage by stage" (Numbers 33:2) - Moses kept a record of Israel's journey.

"In the wilderness", "stage by stage" - When we read these two phrases, and think about our own journey through life, we are invited to think about where we've been, where we are, and where we're going.   

Have we been in the wild country for far too long? Will we leave the wild country in the past?

There's more to life than being in the wild county. This is the message of Numbers for us today.

When we're in the wilderness, what we must remember is this - There's a way out of the wilderness.

Where will we find the way out of the wilderness? The book of Numbers gives us God's answer.

When we read about life "in the wilderness", we must remember this - We are not alone in the wilderness.

God is there with us. He's with us all of the time - not just some of the time.

This is what we need to hear and know, when we feel like God's gone away and left us.

Numbers isn't just about wilderness wanderings. It's about the guiding, delivering, sustaining and protecting hand of God.

God brought His people out of Egypt, and He was leading them to the Promised Land.

We must not forget this, when we're reading the book of Numbers.

When we're reading Numbers, it's easy to get bogged down. It's a tragic record of sad failure. That's what we see when we only see the human side of this story.

When we look beyond the human situation, we see something more. We see God - and we begin to see something else. We see another story - a story of glorious victory.

Numbers invites us to think about past, our present and our future. We read about the old generation, the transition era, and the new generation - and we wonder, 'Where do we fit in?'

This isn't just about old age and youth. It's about the old life and the new life - the life without Christ and the life that's being transformed by Him. It's about the struggle to put the old life behind us. It's about the call of God. He's calling us to to walk with Him in new life.

In Numbers, there's a strong emphasis on divine revelation (Numbers 1:1; Numbers 2:1). More than eighty times, in Numbers, we read the words, "The Lord spoke to Moses."

What does God say to us about our life? 

 - Without Him, our life is in ruins.That's the message of our fall into sin (Genesis 3).

 - With Him, we are redeemed. This is the message of the Exodus.

 - Once we've been redeemed by the Lord, we're to worship Him. That's our calling. We learn much about worship in Leviticus.

 - Worshipping the Lord involves more than what happens when we're in the Lord's House. We're to serve the Lord while we're travelling through life's wilderness. This is the challenge of Numbers. Find God in the wilderness. Follow Him as He leads you out of the wilderness and on to the Promised Land.

How are we to serve the Lord? We must begin with this - We have been saved by the Lord. Salvation comes before service. We've been saved by grace. Now, we must grow in grace. "Stage by stage", we must put the wilderness behind us, and press on to a life of faithful and fruitful service. 

 - Serving the Lord is a privilege that is given to us by the God of grace (Numbers 3-4).

 - We are to serve the Lord - according to His will (Numbers 7).

How are we to become God's faithful and fruitful servants? What we must learn is this - The way of service is the way of consecration (Numbers 6:1-8) and blessing (Numbers 6:24-26). Blessing comes from the Lord. It comes to us when we are consecrated to Him.

What does it mean to be consecrated to the Lord? It means this - We are to follow Him in the way that He leads us. When we take our eyes off Him, we will drift away from Him, and we will be pulled more deeply into the wilderness. When we keep our eyes on Him, He will lead us towards the Promised Land. 

Numbers challenges us - What will we be? Will be faithful? Will we be failures? In Numbers 13, we read about the unbelieving ten and the faithful two. God is saying to us, 'Let there be less unbelief, and more faith.' Numbers 13:30 is particularly challenging - "Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’"

In these words of Caleb, we learn about faith.

 - Our faith is based on facts - the promise of God.

 - Standing on the facts - God's promise, we believe that God is faithful. We believe that He will fulfil His promise. This is faith.

 - This brings us on to feelings. We don't start with feelings. We begin with facts. We build on facts. God's promise gives the firm foundation for our faith. When our faith is securely based on God's facts, our feelings will follow the lead given to them by God's facts and our faith. 

Without the God-given foundation for our faith, our feelings will take us all over the place. That's what happened to the people of Israel. The majority of the people lost sight of God's saving purpose - and they wandered around in the wilderness for forty years - “Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of those who were twenty years old or more when they came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly” (Numbers 32:11-12). When we read about failure of the majority, we must not forget faithful Caleb and Joshua. What a great example and wonderful inspiration they are to all of us.

In Numbers 27:18-23, we learn that Joshua had been chosen by God to succeed Moses as the leader of His people.

^"So the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership,and lay your hand on him. Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence ... At his command the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.’ Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses."

Reading about those who failed the Lord and those who were faithful - This challenges us: What will we  do? What will we be? Will we fail the Lord? Will we be faithful to Him?

To those who are unfaithful, the Lord says, "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23).

To those who are faithful, He gives His promise - "Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess" (Numbers 33:53).

Looking beyond the promised land, we see the promised Saviour.

In Numbers 19:9, we read about "cleansing ... purification from sin." This is what Jesus came to do for us. He's "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

In Numbers 28, we read about the feasts of Israel. they're full of prophetic significance. They point forward to our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the promised Saviour. Let us learn to look beyond all the details - to catch a glimpse of Jesus, our great Saviour.