This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we love helping you understand God's Word and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement. And if you'd like help to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip's free weekly devotional. You'll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive resources designed to help you stay strong in your faith.
All delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy, and you'll be glad you did. Go to connectwithSkip dot com and join the list today. That's connectwithSkip dot com. Before today's teaching, something you won't want to miss: an invitation to walk where Jesus walked next spring.
Have you ever dreamed of visiting Israel? Leni and I want to invite you to join us for a life changing journey through the land of the Bible in April of twenty twenty seven. You can walk where Jesus walked. You can worship on the Sea of Galilee. You can celebrate baptisms at the Jordan River, and we're going to share communion at the empty tomb.
You'll also have the option to attend the Epicenter Summit in Jerusalem, where I'll be speaking alongside of Joel Rosenberg, Greg Laurie, and Graham Lotts, Jack Graham, and more.
So join us April fifth through April sixteenth. You can learn more today at connectwithSkip dot com slash Israel.
Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. You know you don't have to love algebra or be a mathematician or an accountant or even like math to appreciate the Book of Numbers because it's not a book about mathematics, even though it's called the Book of Numbers. And even though the Greek title for this book is Arithmoy, from whence we get arithmetic, that's really not what it's about. And even though the Latin Vulgate is the title Numeri or Numeri, which means numbers, it's really not about. Math or numbers or algebra—it's about taking a census.
That's what the book gets its title from. In the book, there are two times where God instructs Moses to get the leaders to take a census or a numbering of the people, numbering to be more specific of the fighting men or the men available. To be conscripted into a battle, age twenty and above, who can fight in wars that will take place in the land that he's bringing them into. To catch you up, the family of Jacob has grown immensely. When we closed the book of Genesis, we found them safely perched in the land of Egypt.
There was a famine in the land. Joseph became the prime minister. The children of Jacob find their protection and provision in the land of Egypt. That's where the book closes.
So they have found their protection in the land of Egypt. By the time we get to the book of Exodus, it opens up where their provision turns into persecution. Four hundred years go by.
Now there is a pharaoh on the throne of Egypt who does not know who Joseph, the one-time prime minister, was, and frankly, he doesn't care. He enslaves the Hebrew people because they are growing very quickly, and the Lord in the Book of Exodus raises up a guy by the name of Moses to lead them out of Egypt.
So the book of Exodus is an exit. That's what Exodus means. They leave Egypt via the leadership of Moses, and God brings them out into the wilderness once again, protected and provided by God Himself. That takes us to the book of Leviticus, where for one year, a little over a year, year and a couple months, they're encamped around Mount Sinai. At Mount Sinai, in the book of Leviticus, God gives them laws.
He has given them the Ten Commandments, but He gives them way more than that. He gives them laws covering virtually every area of life, and God gives them a blueprint for a very interesting structure. We have already noted called the tabernacle.
So they are told who to worship. They are told how to worship. And they are given a place where to worship in the tabernacle. By the time we get to the book of Numbers, it is time for the journey to begin. That is why some people call the book of Numbers the book of journeyings, because it is about a journey that takes place.
Others who have read a little more carefully don't call it the Book of Journeyings; they call it the Book of Murmurings, because a lot of that takes place. If you've read this book, if you're Bible students, you know that the children of Israel become really, really good at griping. In fact, they have refined it to an art form. By the time we get to this book, they do it so much.
So, the Book of Numbers, or the Book of Journeyings, or the Book of Murmurings. I'm going to give it my own title: "On the Road Again." That's the theme song of this book. On the Road Again. Moses and I traveling on the road again because they're journeying, but they manage. To take an eleven-day journey, and turn it into a forty-year wandering, or you might say a two-week trip into a forty-year trial, as they meander and wander in the desert.
So Mount Sinai, where they are at this point, the book begins at Mount Sinai, and it ends at the plains of Moab, getting ready. To enter the promised land, but about almost close to forty years transpired thirty-eight years and eleven ten months to be most exact.
So the book begins at Mount Sinai. The trip from Mount Sinai—get this—the trip from Mount Sinai to the entrance to the land of promise, a town called Kadesh Barnea, is an eleven-day journey. That's all it takes. How do we know that? Because Deuteronomy Moses reminds them of that.
Said it's really an eleven day journey, but they managed to take an eleven day journey and and move it to a forty year march, because that's what happens in this book. Thirty eight years and ten months later, instead of eleven days, they come to the edge of the promised land. As I was reading the book of Numbers. This week, and by the way, every time I read the Book of Numbers, there's a little thing that happens in my mind. I, I think back to my family vacations.
My dad loved to drive across country, and we had at a particular time for a lot of our vacations a white Rambler station wagon, four door with a hatch in the back. And Dad figured he could, you know, drive from California to Newell, Minnesota, straight through. It's two thousand miles.
Well, when you have four little kids, I had three older brothers. I was the baby in the family, and during that trip, I acted like one, and so did my other three brothers. But it was like a gripe fest. That was a miserable time for a lot of us, and I'm sure for my parents. Are we there yet?
We got to pee. We're hungry. Da da da. Stop at Stuckey's. You know, just this.
So that's that's me with three brothers. I can't imagine being Moses with three million people in his rambler station wagon, going from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea, and it gets so bad.
Well, you'll see it for yourself.
Now I mentioned there are two numberings in this book, two census takings. Right, chapter one is one, chapter thirty, chapter twenty six is the other. And that's because there's one generation that is numbered. They effectively die off. You'll see why the new generation is numbered in chapter 26.
If you wanted to, you could divide the book of Numbers up that way, just in two sections. The first section being the first generation, chapter 1 through 25. The second part, chapter 26 through 36, the second census that is taken. But I prefer to give you this outline for the book of Numbers, chapters one through four is organization. Organization: the people are organized.
God says, number them, number them by tribe, number them by by leaders' names. Get them all numbered. Number the priests as well.
So it's all about organization. That chapters one through four. The second, after organization, is disorganization. You'll see why they get so disorganized. It's their complaining that disorganizes the camp.
That's chapter five through chapter twenty-five.
So you have organization, disorganization, and the third section of the book is reorganization. And the reorganization takes place not with the old, but a brand new generation. Those who have grown up effectively in the wilderness, wandering.
So, organization, disorganization, and the last part of the book, reorganization. Let's begin, right in chapter one, with the organization of the people and the priesthood.
So, chapter one brings us to that first numbering, the census that is taken for fighting men in the military. Verse one.
Now, the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. In the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt.
So this is two years after the Exodus. This is year number two. It's the second month. And he said, "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.
So now you know where the Book of Numbers comes from. It comes comes from numbering the men who are able to be conscripted to fight in military as they enter the Promised Land. This is the first census that is taken, and so the. The tally is given in verse forty-six of that chapter. Says all who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty men twenty and above who are able to fight.
We have a horde of about three million people in the wilderness. These are those who are able to fight.
Now, what's so great about a census? What's so spiritual about a census? I mean, this is included in the Bible. What's so great or spiritual about a census?
Well, nothing, unless your name happens to be in it. If it was your name and you read it, you'd be pretty stoked. I'm in the Bible. Here's a verse with my name in it. Here's the tribe I'm from.
Because there are numbers and names—not all of the names, with all of the numbers—but names of families and tribes and households that are named. Why is this important? It's important because once they were in Egypt, where they were just a number.
Now God gives numbers and names. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. The Bible is a big book—66 books filled with history, poetry, prophecy, letters, laws, and more. It's easy to lose sight of how it all fits together. That's why Pastor Skip Heitzig wrote his new one-year devotional, Soaring Above It All.
It gives you a panoramic view of Scripture, helping you understand the key people, events, and themes from Genesis to Revelation, while deepening your walk with God. Request soaring above it all as our thanks when you give fifty dollars or more today to help connect with Skip share clear verse by verse Bible teaching with people everywhere. Give now at connectwithSkip dot com slash offer or call eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight.
Now here is more from Pastor Skip. There were just numbers in Egypt. There was an innumerable horde of slaves. That's all they were. They were seen not as individuals with names having importance before God.
They were just a number to do the work of a slave. A few years back, several years back, a. Really great musician whom I've grown to love, Tommy Walker, gave a great song to the church. See if you remember it. He knows my name.
Remember that song? He knows my name. He knows my every thought. He sees each tear that falls, and he hears me when I call. I love that song.
He knows my name. The God of Heaven knows my name, and if your name happens to be on the list, that's pretty exciting. Saint Augustine said, and we call him Saint Augustine because he's just a brother in the Lord. Back in the fourth century, said God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love. The love of God reaches beyond the numbers, beyond the hordes, beyond the mass, and goes to the names.
And people are precious to God. Nobody gets lost in the crowd with God. He loves you more than a number, and whenever God counts people, mark this: whenever God counts people, it's because people count to God, and so He counts them here and tells Moses to get the job done. In chapters two and three, the job is done. They are numbered according to tribe.
There are how many tribes in the children of Israel? Twelve tribes. There's a tabernacle in the middle. They're to camp around it. How many sides are there of the tabernacle?
Four, like the directions—north, south, east, and west—so they are to orient their tents. They're camping in the wilderness for 40 years. They don't know it's 40 years yet; they think it's 11 days. They're to orient their dwellings according to the tabernacle on four sides, and so there are effectively four camps—north, south, east, and west. Four camps, four sides, three tribes per side, because there are twelve tribes, and each of the camps, each of the four camps, has a flag or an ensign or a banner with the lead tribe's logo on it.
Now we understand from the Jewish traditions and commentaries called the Midrash, and we're told in the Bible, by the way, who the tribes are.
So there's the tribe of Judah on one side, his banner and ensign; the tribe of Ephraim on the other side, his ensign, his banner; the tribe of Dan on one side, and the tribe of Reuben.
So we have four. Tribes and three tribes are underneath that one tribe's banner: Judah, Ephraim, Reuben, and Dan. According to the Mishnah, the logos. I want you to hear this. I want you to understand this.
The logo, the banner, the ensign of the tribe of Judah was a lion. You probably would guess that. The banner emblem for the tribe of Ephraim was an ox. The tribe of Reuben on one side was that of a man, and the tribe of Dan had the ensign of an eagle.
So you have a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle.
Now, if you are Bible students, things are clicking off in your heart and head right now. Am I right? Because you already know what what's going on. You go, "Wow! We get hints of that in other portions of the Bible." In fact, I'll take a step out and say we have here a model of the throne of God.
You already know the tabernacle is a model of heaven, right? The book of Hebrews says that a few places. It's a shadow of heavenly realities. That's the tabernacle. But we have here a model of the throne in heaven.
In Ezekiel chapter one, he gets this wild vision. Remember, the prophet is in Babylon at the Kebab River, and he sees this throne, this chariot throne that is being lifted up by wheels. And there are creatures. There are four creatures, and Ezekiel said each had the face of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. Hmm.
Fast forward to the book of Revelation, chapter four. There are twenty-four elders, and there are four living creatures, and each creature has a different face in that vision, and they are the same: a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle. It's interesting, isn't it? It's not by coincidence. It's by design.
When we get to the gospel accounts, we discover there are four separate accounts of the life of Jesus Christ. Why four? Each tells a different story. What story?
Well, they tell their unique story. Matthew, for example, is the gospel of the kingdom. He refers to the kingdom more than the other gospels. He talks about Jesus as the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy. He is, according to Matthew, the lion of the tribe of Judah.
When we get to the Gospel of Mark, we see a shorter gospel, a rapidly moving gospel. The word "immediately" is used more than than any other of the four gospels. It shows Jesus on the move, not really resting, but getting work accomplished, like a servant, or like an ox, if I can use the analogy. Which was a symbol of servitude. We get to the Gospel of Luke, and he gives us the perfect humanity of Jesus, the perfect man.
He uses the term the Son of Man more often. And then we get to the Gospel of John, and John writes about the Son of God, Jesus in his deity. John says, "These things were written that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that believing, you would have life in His name." That's the eagle.
So we have again these representations here. What's more, the numbers are given for the four camps that are around the tabernacle. The largest is Judah on the east. Down in verse nine, you may want to notice there are one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred of the. Fighting men conscripted for army in the first census, just in the tribe of Judah.
Now, if you were to count up the numbers, we don't have time to do that. This is, after all, thirty thousand feet. I am just circling the plane right now a few times around this little camp of Israel as we're looking down. If you were to look down from thirty thousand feet or from an aerial view. And you were to take all of the different numbers of the tribes and put them out.
This is what it would look like from the air. Can you see that on the bottom left? That area of Judah has more people than the others. That that's numerically what it would look like. It looks like the shape of a what?
Cross. It's just interesting, and I can just see the Holy Spirit smiling. As even this foreshadows what is going to come in the culmination of God's revelation, the cross of Christ. He orchestrated all of this. This is not by coincidence.
Chapter five begins the disorganization phase. Chapter five begins with them getting ready for marching. But this section ends with meandering. They go from marching to meandering by chapter twenty-five. By the time we get to chapters seven through ten, we have the order of the march, given by the orderings of the offerings that they are to offer in the tabernacle.
By the way, chapter seven is the second longest chapter in the Bible. 89 verses. It's quite laborious to get through. I know. I got through it this week, along with the rest of the book.
We're introduced to a strange guidance system, one that all of us would love if it were offered to us today. We would take it. We would want it. And it's a cloud and a pillar, a cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night. What's interesting about this thing is it seemed to move on its own.
That's what it looked like to them. God was moving it, but there were no turn signals with it. There were no brake lights on it. It just this cloud started moving, and when they started moving, when the cloud started moving, they packed up, and they followed the cloud, at night or by day. Chapter nine, verse fifteen.
We read now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. From evening till morning, it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire. Isn't this cool? You'd never have to question God's will or God's presence. You'd never have to go outside.
Go. I wonder where I should go today. A nowhere until that thing moves, and then when that thing moves, you never have to say, "I wonder if I where I should go today." You should follow that, so you are always assured of the presence of God, and that would be nice. That would be easy. I got to tell you something: we have something far better.
We don't have guidance; we have a guide who lives inside of us. The Holy Spirit is resident inside us, and even though you don't know it or see it. You go. Oh, to be so nice to see it. No, wouldn't.
I mean, so what? That's easy. We live by faith, not by what sight they saw it. We live by faith, but you are guided by God's GPS. The Holy Spirit lives in you.
More than guidance, you have the guide. They had the guidance, so it was. Verse sixteen. The cloud covered it by day. The appearance of fire by night.
Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after the children of Israel would journey, and in the place where the cloud settled, the children of Israel would pitch their tents. At the command of the Lord, the children of Israel would journey. At the command of the Lord, inferring the command was signaled by the presence and movement of this cloud and fire, they would camp. As long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle, they remained. Encamped.
Now the Jews called this cloud. I know you, some of you've heard the term. Shout it out if you know it. They called this the the Shekinah. That's how most of us pronounce it.
Shekinah is the correct pronunciation. Impress your friends at dinner tonight after church if you're going to dinner. Talk about the Shekinah. Cover your mouth when you do it so you don't spoil the dinner. Or spread your cold around.
Shekhina is an Aramaic term, not a Hebrew term. An Aramaic term. It is not found in the Old Testament at all. It is found in the Targums commentaries that were written in Aramaic. The Shekhina is a word that means the residence.
God is residing with them. Must have been. Incredibly exciting to be in that tent in your own tent, looking out when that thing begins to move. It's like hot dog. We're on the move.
We're going somewhere. We're heading out to that promised land. It was an adventure. You never know exactly where it's going to go or how long you're going to be going.
Well, how long do we go for, Mom? Don't know. When do we stop? Don't know. Will we turn and right or left?
Have no idea. It was that kind of an adventure. Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember that your generosity helps share clear verse-by-verse Bible teaching with people everywhere, helping them know God more deeply and live out His truth. And this month, when you give fifty dollars or more, we'll send you Pastor Skip's brand new devotional, Soaring Above It All, as our thanks.
This one-year journey through the Bible will help you see how Scripture fits together, understand its key people, events, and themes, and grow deeper in God's Word each day. Give today at connectwithSkip dot com slash offer or call eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight. See you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the cross.
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