Hey everybody, welcome back to another edition of the daily Bible podcast. Yo, yo, yo. It's a Thursday and we are in the book of numbers still numbers eight through 10 today. But yeah, I mean the weather's been quite a nice change this week. It's it's not freezing cold anymore, which is it? It's a break until it goes back. Yeah, I don't know that it is again though We're in 60s and 70s for the foreseeable future You don't you can't make any determination based on what you have today or this week even Texas is different, man Yeah, not here. At least that's yeah, this is not California. You just got to be prepared for whatever Could be 90 tomorrow. It might or it could be five or it could be five. Yeah, we don't know. Yeah You Yeah. Anyways, we hope that you're having a good week wherever you are. And the word of God is definitely a part of that. Yeah, we are in numbers eight through 10. So I guess let's just jump right into it. Numbers eight. We deal again with the Levites here. And so in the first four verses, we have the lampstands mentioned. There's seven lampstands now. That's interesting because the, the seven lamps are going to eventually be compared to the, the Holy Spirit later on down the road in the, the prophets. And so. We have the number seven lamp stands, the number of completion. God is represented by the number of seven as well. And so we've, we've got that here. The seven lamps, I should say, not the lamp stands, but the seven lamps. That's the, the, the arms of the menorah menorah coming off the the main center branch there. But These are meant to give light there in the tabernacle itself. And then we get to Levites are going to be consecrated. They're going to be set apart as holy for the service of the Lord. They are offered as a wave offering, which is a comical sight. Moses picked them up and started moving them side to side. Say everyone do it. Pick up your neighbor. That's what came into my mind. Pick up your neighbor and wave them side to side. Give it to you, Lord. You're worried that we're going to do greeting time at church. We're going to do wave offering time at church this Sunday. Everybody's going to pick up their neighbor and wave them before the Lord. Which must have meant that Moses meant more than actually waving. It's a process, a form of dedication. I don't think he actually picked anybody up. No way. So the wave offering must mean more than just actually waving. Although you would think that's probably part of the wave offering ordinarily. Maybe not in this case. Yeah, I mean If it's, if you're asking of all the different offerings, which one would I want to be offered as, as a Levite, I think a wave offering is, is probably the best option out there. I guess. I don't want to be a burnt offering. I don't want to be a sin offering. Serial offering. I don't want to be offered as incense. I don't want to have my hair lit on fire. And I'm just, that's true. Yeah. So wave offering is, is pretty easy there. Yeah. But yeah, dedication to the Lord in place. Again, remember of the first point that God was going to take the Levites for himself. Yeah. And, and God is merciful here. 'cause even after the sin of, of Levi, remember Ruben and Levi and their, their sinfulness, God chooses Levites for this important role in service of him and in service of the tabernacle. Verses 23 through 26 gives us an age for retirement for the Levites of 50 years old. Is there anything to press on that? Pr I mean, we, we talk a lot about retirement and John Piper wrote that book, don't Waste Your Life and talked about retirement there, and that it's not about shuffleboard and going on cruises. Here we see the Levites retiring from service at the age of 50. Is there any principle for us to, to pull from that? Is there a reason for that? Why might we see that, that number associated here? Well, I don't want to press it too hard because he also says from 25 upward. So you're looking at the ballpark of 20 to 50. And what this tells us is that God wanted the Levites in their prime age of strength so that they could transport the tabernacle. Their work was largely physical. And so it makes sense that God would say, I'm going to. I'm going to give you a certain timeframe where we can expect the best out of you. But I don't think this has a direct connection to our work today, except to say that there are seasons where our work is going to be most valuable. And it sounds like 20 to 50, 20 to maybe 60, depending on how much you press it, where our work is going to be the best. It's going to be, which is why about this time of life, you know, 20 to 50 years when you're going to make the most money, when you're going to have the most prospects and most opportunities, not that it's all over before that or after that, but this is, this is To say God's getting your best and as it should be God's getting your best in this stage in life Ordinarily, I think our our time frame of saying I can only do this job until this time is a good thing If you don't think of yourself as saying i'm quitting work entirely God does not design us to not work right the nature of the work might change but working never changes We're made to work in this life. And hopefully hopefully, you know this we're going to work in the next life as well Those are my thoughts. What would you say to that? Yeah. Work is not a result of the fall. Work was there in the garden prior to the fall. And so, yeah, to your point, we're going to be working, I think, in it's in eternity. Absolutely. I would agree with you. And my only caveat would be those of you on the setup and teardown team that might be on the backside of 50, this is not your green light to retire from our setup and teardown team. We still need you as long as you're physically capable. We need you, we need you out there. So yeah. Yeah, but I think that that's a good principle to pull from here for sure. But we should get some younger people to help. That's on, I think that's a good point too. Yep. Those, those stage pieces are heavy. They can be very heavy. Yeah, they are. They can't, they are very heavy. They are very heavy. Yeah. I mean, Matt Perales just picks them up single handedly and throws them around, but you know, aside from that, well, not all of us are Matt. Not all of us. I think he's between 20 and 50. That's probably it. That's true. Yeah. My guess is he's not pushing 50. I don't think, I don't think. Carries his age. Well, yeah Chapter nine we get into the the passover. So the people this is year two out of the the wilderness I don't know what happened year one But year two we are told here that the lord is commanding them to observe the passover. So we're 1444 around there bc and the lord wants them to observe this and remember and so he instructs everyone to keep the passover And there's a question there about okay. What if somebody has become defiled and now it's interesting because the case You That's presented is, is somebody who's been defiled because they come into contact with a dead body or somebody who has been traveling and they're a sojourner. What do you do with these people who are ceremonially, I think, unclean. And the response from God is this is a unique feast. This is a unique act of worship. Everyone is to keep the Passover. And if someone failed to keep it, even somebody who was ceremonially defiled at the time, that person was to be cut off from the people of God. So God wants everybody remembering the Passover. And there's a special dispensation of, I don't know, mercy for those that would have otherwise been disqualified from worship at the time to be able to worship at the Passover feast because of the significance of the feast itself. Ironically, Israel is going to fail to keep the Passover many, many, many, many, many times. In fact, we're going to get into the Kings and there's going to be times where we're going to read that the Kings observed the Passover for the first time in eons. And, and they do so in a big celebratory way. And so this is, you know, Problematic because here God says if anyone fails to keep the Passover that they're gonna be cut off from the people of God. So God doesn't cut off all of Israel because they didn't keep the Passover But that's part of what stacks against the people that leads them into exile is their neglect of this This this command of God as the the seasons progress and the years progress in the nation of Israel there Verses 15 through 23 then this is Israel camping and breaking camp. According to the cloud that, that covered the tabernacle. This is the first GPS. This is God's positioning system. He is represented there in the cloud and the cloud is going to take up residents above the tabernacle. And anytime that the cloud goes, the people were to go. And, and so that they are, are to follow him in that sense. I mean, that would be great if that were still true. Yeah. Today, I think in so many ways, if we had God's presence represented visibly and we could say, okay, it's time to go, or no, I need to hang out here and wait here because I see it so clearly. And yet I think that's part of our, you know and we walk by faith and not by sight now, but, but this was, it seemed pretty simple at this time to, to know when they were to go and when they were to stay, when the cloud went, they went. Yeah. I guess let's, let's kick that around a bit because I think some people would agree with you and say, man, that would be so nice if God just told me exactly what I need to be doing day in and day out. And but we find out from the book of Hebrews at this covenant and this dispensation is of a greater glory. It's better in every way Than the old covenant. Yeah, someone's gonna say well, I don't think this is better. I would like to have this Let's kick that around. Why, why is a new covenant still better? Why is having the spirit better than having the cloud lead people through the streets of prosper? And it's Alina and Frisco. Yeah. Oh, well, I think it's a little bit like we talked about in the gospel of John. The spirit inside you is better than the Jesus beside you. Right? I mean, they, they had the cloud beside them. They have the cloud residing at the tabernacle. And yet we have so many more benefits. We may not have the, okay, turn left. Go take this job, go move over here, do this, make this decision with your family. We may not have that clear direction, the way that they had as far as moving through the wilderness, but the blessings that we have with the spirit which are innumerable. I mean, that just the idea of the confidence, the security, the peace, the access that the, the spirit groaning with groanings too deep for words on our behalf, and we don't know how to pray as we ought all of these things that we possess now. That's why the writer of Hebrew says it's, it's a better thing that we have the spirit in this, in the form that we have rather than the visible cloud that they had in the wilderness. Amen. Amen. Yeah. And remember, they didn't have the Bible. I mean, they had Moses. So they had a guy that was connected to God in a really significant way that got preserved, but they didn't have the Bible. I don't know that I would give up my Bible to have a cloud because the cloud could be misinterpreted. You know, a cloud could, or, or, or. Pillar of cloud by day, fire by night, the dispensation that was cool for them, I'm sure didn't result in them being more faithful to God. In fact, in short order, just a couple of chapters, we're going to see that despite the fact that they had the greatest privilege in front of them, that still did not preserve them. And therefore having the spirit inside me and have his word in front of me, guiding me is, is a better thing than having the fire and the cloud. And so, yeah, there's something about us that says, well, that would just be so nice. And I get that. I have that same instinct, but man, this is way better. This is way better. I have so much more to work with. I have, I have the spirit to guide me. I have the word that I could read and understand and study and scrutinize. That will give me better clarity and direction. It's like what Peter says. We have something more sure than the transfiguration on the mountain. We have his sure word. Yeah. And, and to your point, it's not as though if we had that, even if we had the, the, the The direct audible voice saying, do this, do this, that, that all of a sudden we wouldn't sin or wouldn't struggle with sin or battle temptation because yeah, you're right. The Israelites have such a clear depiction of God's power and leadership. And yet they still, they still grumble against him. They still put them to the test. They still sin. They still rebel. And, and we do have. His guidance. We do have to your point the word of God. We do have what Peter says is everything necessary for life and godliness Contained within the scriptures my son Luke this morning was just asking me. He said dad Why didn't God keep talking to people? Why didn't the Bible keep being written after John and Revelation? Why didn't? Keep going and was able to talk to him and say, because we, we've got everything we need, we've got everything necessary for life and godliness. And he does communicate to us today, as we talked about recently in a sermon through the spirit. It's just not in the direct special revelation kind of communication to us that we find in the scriptures. All right. It's not infallible. Right. Right. Yeah. Numbers 10. Numbers 10. Then we get into this. God provides more instructions on camp life with a command to make these two silver trumpets, which would be used. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do Louis Armstrong jazz. No. Who is that? Tell me. You know what that is. I'm blanking, man. It's the green Ranger, bro. Oh dude. That was not a power Rangers. Oh, I forget all the time. Everybody was anyway. Okay. This is not about power Rangers, but that is the quintessential. Trumpet solo the green ranger when he summons the dragon zord. Yes. Okay. Okay. Go ahead. By the way, if you're wondering what this looked like in the zondervan international bible backgrounds commentary We have a picture of it We referenced there is a picture of a trumpet from egypt around the same time Wow, and it's a it's a I think a brass trumpet or maybe a gold trumpet there But it would have looked similar to that So don't think like louis armstrong with the buttons on it and things think more like the medieval long trumpet tubular trumpet. But these were going to be used to sound different instructions. There was a sound for assembling a sound for assembling just the, the elders, a sound for the people to set out in different directions. And so they were going to use these trumpets to communicate. Cause again, even if it's not the 2 million that are out there, it is a vast camp. It's not like a lot of people and there's no microphone. So it's not like the, and there was no mass text message. This system. And so they needed a way to communicate to everybody. And God says, here, this is how you're going to communicate. So there's a lot that's just very practical in the scriptures. And I think sometimes I forget that God provides detail, not just about the massive big ticket spiritual items, but gives them instructions on this is just how you're going to operate. This is how you're going to function. And this is important for you to know. And we read about a lot of that here in the book of numbers. Yeah. And just to reiterate, notice how God is using these things to organize the camp. I just need to point out that God himself is an organized God. He's giving them instruction for how to do things and decently in an order, which is why some of that still bleeds into our church services today. Not to say I'm taking shot at any one particular denomination. I'm just saying God cares about order. He cares about organization to the point where he commands his people to do it. And he uses in this case, music, musical instruments, sound to convey his instructions, which I think is instructive for us today, 2025. Yeah. Yep. Numbers 10, then 11 through 36, that the people leave Sinai, and this is massive. They're, they're setting out there and maybe you forgot that they're still there, but they have not left Sinai yet at this point. And now they're, they're. Departing the mountain. They're, they're leaving the place where the law was given. And and they're going to go out and notice in verse 29, Moses says to Hobab, which that's a name for you. The son of rule, the media nights, Moses, his father in law, we're setting up for the place which the Lord said, I will give it to you. Come with us and we will do good to you for the Lord promised good to Israel. The media nights were Were nomads they were desert wanderers. And so it's it's possible that that Moses signals this guy and singles out Hobab here To say hey, we could really use your expertise here to to help us and to guide us in this And so that's one reason for for this guy that is singled out here. You might otherwise go What who is this guy and why is he anyone significant here? But I think that might be what Moses was doing which again just another point notice that Moses doesn't say well, we've got God We're good. I, I think that's incredibly huge because the Lord, as we were just talking about, was leading them. And yet he still sought out wisdom and expertise from somebody that, I mean, I guess Hobab he's, he's related, but he's, he's not, he's not a Yahweh worshiper to my knowledge, right? He might've become one after this, but he asks for. Expertise and wisdom outside of his immediate circle, even though he had the spirit of God operating up on him and teaching him and literally Instructing the whole congregation through but I think that's amazing I guess my takeaway if I can if I can simplify this is that god expects us to utilize the resources that we have available It is wise and good stewardship Not to say well, i'm just going to only read my bible I'm going to close my eyes to everything else that god opens our eyes to And i'm going to wisely use resources that god Gives me access to now that's harder to do today because there's so much bad information out among us I'm, not going to deny that but the fact that god Endorses moses doing this. I think this is a really helpful And an insightful guide for us to say we should use general revelation Hobab is general revelation a textbook is general revelation. We ought to use it not Not foolishly and not without scrutiny, but we should as god shows us here Take advantage of general revelation as god affords it Yeah. Yeah. Good word. Yeah. And at the same time as, as Bereans, I mean, that's, that's how you do that in a wise way. You take it back to the scripture. You got to know your Bible. Yep. You got to master your Bible to take advantage of general revelation and the best way possible. Yep. Yeah. Well, let's pray and we will be done with this episode. God, we pray that that would be true of our church, that we would be masters of the scriptures such that we would be able to engage with the sources of general revelation that you've given us in this world and to learn better how to serve you, how to follow you, how to be your, your disciples, and that we would we would see the benefit therein and not just bury our heads in the sand and say, we've got everything that we need. But God, that we would know that you've given us other sources to of truth and revelation as long as they coincide with and agree with the scriptures. And so God, we pray that we would know our word well, and we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Keep reading your Bibles and tune in again tomorrow for another edition of the daily Bible podcast. See you folks. Bye.

Hey, thanks for joining us for another episode of the daily Bible podcast. We hope and pray this has been a blessing to you and your time in the word. If it has, if you would subscribe to this podcast, leave a like, leave a comment and share it with some friends and family. That would be awesome. If you need more information about Compass Bible Church here in North Texas, you can go to compassntx. org. Again, that's compassntx. org. And we'll be back with you tomorrow for another episode of the daily Bible podcast.