1. powerpoint presentation designed by claro ruiz vicente http://clarovicente.weebly.com Adult Bible Study Guide Oct Nov Dec 2009 Adult Bible Study Guide Oct Nov Dec 2009

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3. Reinder Bruinsma Principal Contributor

4. People on the Move: The Book of Numbers General Introduction {180} IN THE book of Exodus, the Lord described the birth of a nation. Exodus and Leviticus detailed the rules and laws for this nation. In the book of Numbers we see another dimension of this nation, that of God’s people on the move.

5. People on the Move: The Book of Numbers General Introduction {180} But not just moving anywhere. They are to go and take possession of the land promised them— promised not because of their inherent holiness, not because of their inherent goodness, but because of God’s words to their father Abraham centuries earlier.

6. People on the Move: The Book of Numbers General Introduction {180} Directly tied to this promise is another aspect of this nation, and that of the nation as an army, a mighty army of God, a conquering army that cannot be defeated by external enemies because the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, is in their midst.

7. People on the Move: The Book of Numbers General Introduction {180} And because of God’s presence, they were not only an army, they were a holy army, and thus were expected to act like one as well. Unfortunately, that isn’t exactly what happened. This mighty, powerful and conquering army, hovering on the edges of the Promised Land, was defeated not by the Canaanites but from within.

8. People on the Move: The Book of Numbers General Introduction {180} “We have far more to fear from within than from without. The hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the church itself than from the world.” Selected Messages 1:122

9. People on the Move: The Book of Numbers Contents Chapters 1. A New Order 1–4 2. Preparing a People 5, 6 3. Worship and Dedication 7, 8 4. Trumpets, Blood, Cloud, and Fire 9, 10 5. From Complaints to Apostasy 11–14 6. Planning Ahead 15 7. Power Struggle 16, 17 8. Priests and Levites 9, 18, 19 9. The Sin of Moses and Aaron 20, 21 10. The “Madness” of the Prophet 22–24 11. Immorality on the Border 25, 31 12. The Second Generation: Admonitions 26–32 13. Cities of Refuge 33–36

10. People on the Move: The Book of Numbers Our Goal {181} AS A people on the move, as a people seeking to reach the Promised Land, as a people called out by God, we could learn from the book of Numbers. The most important lesson is that God will fulfill His promises.

11. People on the Move: The Book of Numbers Lesson 1, October 3 People on the Move: The Book of Numbers Lesson 1, October 3

12. A New Order Key Text 1 Corinthians 10:11 NKJV “ NOW ALL these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.”

13. A New Order Initial Words {194} GOD IS a God of order. Once the tribes were assembled in the wilderness before Mount Sinai, He began to organize them around the tabernacle. Israel’s armies were organized, and the encampment of each tribe was selected, as was their order of march. The Levites were given specific directions regarding their service.

14. A New Order Quick Look 1. ORGANIZING the Army (Numbers 1:2, 3) 2. ORGANIZING the Tribes (Numbers 2:34 ) 3. ORGANIZING the Levites (Numbers 1:49, 50)

15. A New Order 1. Organizing the Army Numbers 1:2, 3 NKJV “ ‘TAKE A census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above—all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies.’ ”

16. 1.Organizing the Army God’s Executioners {184} THE ISRAELITES were not a warlike nation. Their occupation had been that of shepherds, cattle herding (Gen 47:3). Furthermore, at this point they were recently freed slaves, without weapons or training for war. It may seem strange for the Lord now to organize them into troops.

17. But it must be remembered that their task involved the displacement of several nations of the most wicked and corrupt people in the Near East. Israel would serve as God’s executioners of these nations who had filled the cup of their transgressions (Gen 15:14-16). 1.Organizing the Army God’s Executioners {184}

18. A New Order 2. Organizing the Tribes Numbers 2:34 “THUS THE children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses; so they camped by their standards and so they broke camp, each one by his family, according to their fathers’ houses.”

19. 2. Organizing the Tribes Under the Standards {188} THE GOVERNMENT of Israel was characterized by a very precise organizational structure. The Hebrew camp was separated into three great divisions, each having its appointed position in the encampment, all based on family and tribal ties.

20. The position of each tribe in the camp also was specified. Each was to march and to encamp beside its own standard. Nothing was left to chance. The Lord carefully and precisely had organized the nation. And although they were one people, their distinctive family connection were not broken. 2. Organizing the Tribes Under the Standards {188}

21. A New Order 3. Organizing the Levites Numbers 1:49, 50 NKJV “ ‘ONLY THE tribe of Levi you shall not number … but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it and camp around the tabernacle.’ ”

22. MOSES PITCHED the portable tabernacle in the middle of Israel’s encampment. The Levites pitched their tents around it, on all four sides. Their presence acted as a kind of barrier, protecting the place where God manifested His presence. 3. Organizing the Levites The Presence of the Lord {186}

23. 3. Organizing the Levites Call to Ministry {190} The Lord also dedicated the Levites to Aaron and his priestly sons and descendants; they were to assist in the worship of God and the care of the tabernacle. In a sense, they were called to the ministry of the church in the wilderness.

24. “Those who have any connection with the work of God are not to walk in vanity of their own wisdom, but in the wisdom of God, or they will be in danger of placing sacred and common things on the same level, and thus separate themselves from God.” Evangelism 639 3. Organizing the Levites Protecting the Sacred {192}

25. A New Order Final Words {183} HOWEVER MUCH our world has been damaged by sin, we can still see the working of our Creator in the design and order of the natural world. But God’s order doesn’t end with nature. It is seen also in His dealing with His covenant people, the Israelites, even as they wandered in the wilderness.