Monday, May 14, 2018

Life in the Desert - a Preview of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy


The same God who brought Israel out of Egyptian slavery and into the Promised Land leads us today through the wilderness of this world. So much has changed, yet so much remains the same as we compare their journey to our own. As we prepare to study Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy in Bible class next quarter, let’s get the lay of the land.
Where in the Bible would you find …
Note these familiar words and phrases located in these three great books of Scripture – Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
Le 19:18 ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
Nu 6:24 The Lord bless you, and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.
Nu 32:23 “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.
Dt 6:4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Dt 8:3 “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.
Leviticus: Because God is Holy
Leviticus: Facts
Name = “pertaining to the Levites.” But …
Moses as inspired human author. Noted 56 times.
Time duration: roughly a month between the erection of the tabernacle (Ex 40:17) and the departure from Sinai (Num 10:11).
“Holy” (adj., noun, and verb forms) – 152 times.
Because God is holy, we revere and obey Him.
Leviticus 1-5: Offerings
1: Burnt or whole – for sin in general. Devotion.
2: Grain – b/c all we have belongs to God. Honor.
3: Peace – for fellowship with God. Gratitude.
4: Sin – for unintentional neglect. Gravity of sin.
5: Guilt – for specific sins. Retribution.
First three voluntary; last two required.
Heb 13:15-16; 1 Pet 2:5; Rom 12:1-2
Leviticus 6-27: Highlights
6-10 Priests; Nadab and Abihu’s strange fire.
11-15 Diet, childbirth, leprosy, discharges.
16 The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).
19:9-18 Love your neighbor as yourself.
20:10-21 Sexual immorality.
23 Sabbath, Passover, Firstfruits, Weeks (Pentecost), Trumpets, Atonement, Booths.
Numbers: Decisions Determine Destiny
Num 14:33-34
Numbers: Facts
Named for two censuses (Num 1; 26). But …
Time frame: almost 39 years (c. 1444–1405 BC). From the last twenty days at Mt. Sinai, the wanderings round Kadesh Barnea, and finally the arrival in the plains of Moab in the 40th year.
Two generations (1-14, 21-36), two journeys (10-14, 21-27), two instructions (5-9, 28-36).
Numbers: Three Stages
1:1-10:10 Sinai: Preparation to Enter Land
Time: 20 days (Cf. 1:1; 10:11)
10:11-21:35 From Sinai to Moab: Failure
Time: 38 years, 3 months, 10 days
22:1-36:13 Plains of Moab: Preparing 2nd Gen’n
Time: c. 5 months
Numbers: Highlights
6 Nazirite vow; “The LORD bless and keep you.”
11 Complaint; manna; 70 elders; quail; plague.
12 Miriam and Aaron; Moses’ uniqueness.
13 Spies’ surveillance and report. Joshua, Caleb.
16-17 Korah’s rebellion; Aaron’s staff buds.
20 Meribah; Moses strikes the rock.
21 The bronze serpent.
22-25 Balak and Balaam; the talking donkey.
27 Joshua as Moses’ successor.
30 Men, women, and vows.
33 Review of Israel’s journey.
35 Cities of refuge.
Numbers was written for us. 1 Cor 10:1-14
Deuteronomy: Listen, Remember, Obey, and Teach
Dt 1:3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that the LORD had commanded him to give to them …
Deuteronomy: Facts
Name = “second law,” repeated for 2nd gener’n.
Author: Moses (Josh 1:7; Jud 3:4; Matt 19:7–9; Jn 5:45–47), now 120 years old.
Place: plains of Moab due east of Jericho and the Jordan River. Time frame: about one month.
The book was written at the end of the forty-year period in the wilderness, c. 1405 BC.
God’s Wilderness Survival Guide
Dt 4:9 “Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.”
Listen, Remember, Obey, and Teach
Moses’ Three-Part Sermon Series
1:1-4:43              REVIEW
“What God Has Done for Israel”
4:44-26:19          REQUIREMENTS
“What God Expects from Israel”
27:1-34:12          REWARD
“What God Will Do for Israel”
Deuteronomy: Highlights
2-3 Defeat of Sihon and Og; historical solidarity.
5 Ten Commandments (as in Ex 20, 40 yrs ago).
6:4-9 Shema (Hear); Teach your children.
7 A Chosen People
9 Not Because of Your Righteousness
13 False Teachers
27-28 Curses and Blessings
29-30 Covenant Renewed; Choose Life!
31 Joshua Commissioned
32 Moses’ Song
33 Moses’ Blessing
34 Moses’ Death
Dangers in Deuteronomy
The Danger of Abundance
The Danger of Complacency
The Danger of Paganism
The Danger of Tolerance
The Danger of Contamination

Possible hymns:
In the Desert of Sorrow and Sin
All the Way My Savior Leads Me
The Rock that is Higher Than I
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
To Canaan’s Land I’m on My Way

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