From Egypt to Jordan

INTRO

Our job is to stand on the Rock that is Christ. First Corinthians 10:4 says, “And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.” In the wilderness, the Rock, Christ was present. In Numbers 32, we saw how the Gadites, Reubenites, and half the tribe of Manasseh didn’t want to depend upon the Lord. They decided to just stay where they were instead of following the presence of God. That leads us into Numbers 33.

TEACHING

Numbers 33:1–10: Chapter 33 covers the stages of the Israelites’ journey as they came out of Egypt by their military divisions (v. 1). God commanded Moses to record their journey (v. 2) by identifying the starting points when God showed up and moved them to the next stage. We’ll cover six cycles today. God instructed Moses to write these down because the Israelite people kept forgetting what God had done for them (Deuteronomy 4:9; 6:12; 8:2; Psalm 143:5).

Think about the different ways God has asked the Israelites to remember things:

• The Passover and feasts
• The jar of manna in the tabernacle
• Aaron’s rod that bloomed, budded, and provided fruit
• The Ten Commandments
• The tassels on their robes

(1 Corinthians 11:25; Luke 22:19 shows that Jesus takes this same mentality for remembrance of Himself.)

Back to Numbers 33:3-4, Moses wrote down the starting points for the stages of their journey: They departed from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after Passover, while the Egyptians were burying their firstborn, which God had struck down. The Israelites then left Rameses and camped out at Succoth (v. 5). They left Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness (v. 6). They left Etham, turned back to Pi Hahiroth, to the east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol (v. 7). They left Pi Hahiroth, passed through the sea and into the desert, and after three days camped at Marah (v. 8). The Israelites departed Marah and came to Elim where there were 12 springs and 70 palm trees, and they camped there (v. 9). They departed Elim and camped by the Red Sea (v. 10). Notice that when they arrived at the Red Sea, they had nowhere else to go. This first part of their journey took them from Rameses to the Red Sea, and they were led by the cloud.

Numbers 33:11-17: The Israelites departed from the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin and in the process moved from chaos to having some organizational structure (v. 11). They departed the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah (v. 12). They departed Dophkah and camped at Alush (v. 13). After Alush they went to Rephidim, where there was no water to drink (v. 14). They departed Rephidim and camped in the Desert of Sinai (v. 15). Then, the Israelites departed the Desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-Hattaavah (v. 16). The Kohathites had to pack up the tabernacle each time they moved and then set it back up before the holy objects arrived (Numbers 4:4; 10:21). This ended the second period of their journey.

How did the Israelites know when to leave and move on to the next camp? Numbers 9:17 explains that, “Whenever the cloud was lifted up above the tent, the Israelites would set out; at the place where the cloud stopped, there the Israelites camped” (Numbers 9:20). This is a great image of depending on the presence of God.

Numbers 33:18–31: Beginning in verse 18 is the third part of the journey, and it records the history from the spies being sent to the Desert of Paran. Then, during the fourth period, the Israelites moved from Kadesh to Bene-jaakan (vv. 26–31).

Numbers 33:32–49: The fifth period of the journey covers the desert journey the Israelites took to Edom and documents the death of Aaron. The sixth period of the journey follows the Israelites from Punon to the plains of Moab. Other theologians would divide the journey into 42 stages. Interestingly, Moses wrote 42 times that they had departed from one place and camped at another.

Numbers 33:50–53: On the plains of Moab, the Lord spoke to Moses (v. 50), and emphasized that when the Israelites entered Canaan, they must drive out all the inhabitants and destroy all their idols and high places (vv. 51–52). God emphasized that they should take possession and settle the land because it was the land He had given to them (v. 53). God reminded them that this land was their inheritance (v. 54). But the instructions also came with warning: If the Israelites didn’t drive out the inhabitants of the Promised Land, they would harass the Israelites (v. 55) and become “thorns in your eyes and in your sides.” Plus, God would punish the Israelites for their failure to do as He directed them (v. 56).

CLOSING

All of this leads to Romans 8:14: “All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons.” This means we must be led by the Spirit of God. If you don’t depend on the Holy Spirit, what are you doing with your walk with Christ? Are you sitting there like a Ruebenite or Gadite saying, “I don’t really want to go to the Promised Land”? If you want to be led by the Lord, you have to have more of the Holy Spirit. God wants us to experience more of His presence. He wants us to trust Him and His leading, not ours.