Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20111120.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Numbers: Lessons From Spiritual Casualties And Conquerors
Part XXI: The Need For Full Loyalty To God After Sinful Failure
(Numbers 15:1-16 et al.)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    Many in our world are in great need of rebounding out of great sinful failure, of being restored to a position of divine blessing:

    (1) The November 12-13, 2011 The Wall Street Journal, p. A14 ran the editorial, "Why China Is Unhappy" to report: "On the Chinese equivalents of Twitter, criticism of the government is exploding, despite fierce censorship . . . Even the People's Daily warned last week that there is a crisis of confidence' in government . . . [due to] a realization that unless one is a member of the [Communist] Party elite, upward mobility is limited . . . Faith in the competence of the central government is also declining because of a lack of accountability."

    (2) Peggy Noonan, former speech writer for President Reagan, warned in her op-ed on page A15 of that paper ("The Republican Unreality Show") that presidential candidate Herman Cain who "(o)ver the past two weeks . . . has been accused of sexual misconduct by, at this point, four separate women . . . nervously dodged, deflected and denied" the allegations, a troublesome response according to Noonan.

    (3) We have all heard of the tragedy at Penn State. Peter Wehner's November 10 blog at "Commentary's Contentions" cited in the above paper, p. A13 reported: "A firestorm has engulfed what was once a great university -- and in the process it has destroyed the reputation of a great coach . . . The firing of [Joe] Paterno, who has more victories than any coach in major college football history, has caused outrage among students at Penn State . . ."

    "As for Penn State: if the Grand Jury report is accurate, it is an institution whose leadership was utterly corrupt. Person after person knew what a monster Sandusky is, the terrible crimes he committed, and yet nothing was ever done to stop him. As a result, he stole the innocence and broke the lives of young children . . ."

    "Why did so many people -- including Paterno, a man who by all accounts has lived an honorable life -- not intervene?"

    " . . . (O)ne cannot help but believe that the actors in this tragedy did not want to rock the boat . . ."

    (4) These stories from the secular world cause us to recall many personal sinful failures even we believers may have had in the realms of business, government or our personal relationships and lives.

    Thus, we may ask, "After sinful failure about which we feel very badly, what uplifting, hopeful advice would God give?"

    Need: "When we experience sinful failure, and we feel very badly about it, what lesson does God primarily want us to learn from it?!"

  1. AFTER Israel had SINFULLY FAILED the Lord, He was WILLING and ABLE to BLESS her people in GRACE: His judging Israel's first generation in Numbers 14:28-29 to die in the wilderness for unbelief is followed in Numbers 15:1-2 by His renewed claim to give Israel's new generation the Promised Land.
  2. However, God's BLESSING would be APPLIED only if the new generation was LOYAL to HIM and HEEDED His WORD:
    1. After renewing His promise to give the Promised Land to a new generation, God directed them to offer Him "supplementary grain and drink offerings," Numbers 15:3-13; Bible Know. Com., O. T. , p. 233.
    2. These supplementary offerings were not for "sin or guilt", but were "thank or praise offerings" given along with sin and guilt offerings as "tokens of . . . covenant loyalty" to God as Israel's Sovereign Suzerain with Whom she had been in treaty relationship since Mt. Sinai, Ibid.
    3. Thus, the Numbers 15:3-13 "supplementary" offerings taught a new generation its need to be wholeheartedly devoted to God and His Word like Joshua and Caleb in CONTRAST to the old generation if they wanted the blessings of God's grace, Ibid.; Numbers 14:22-24.
  3. This COMMITMENT LEVEL to God had to INCREASE relative to one's SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP INFLUENCE with others:
    1. The amount of oil, flour and wine in the Numbers 15 supplementary offerings increased with the increase of the size of the animal offered in the associated sin or guilt offerings, Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Num. 15:4.
    2. The size of the animal in turn was set by the offerer's spiritual leadership influence: the priest, the most influential spiritual leader (Mal. 2:7), was to offer a bull for his sin (Lev . 4:3), a tribal elder, less of a spiritual leader but still influential, was to offer a male goat (Leviticus 4:22-23) or a female lamb (Lev. 4:32) and the common man was to offer a female lamb or a goat (Lev . 5:1, 6), or, if he was poor, two turtledoves or two young pigeons (Lev. 5:7).
    3. This taught that the MORE spiritually INFLUENTIAL a person, the GREATER the WHOLEHEARTED LOYALTY God expected from him to enjoy God's BLESSING! (Luke 12:42-48)
  4. Even those steeped in EVIL PASTS could know God's BLESSING:
    1. Numbers 15:14-16 revealed that Gentiles who chose to identify with Israel and her God who thus wanted to bring sin and guilt offerings to the Lord ALSO were to offer these supplementary offerings!
    2. Thus, even people who come from a heritage steeped in pagan apostasy could be recipients of God's GRACE and BLESSING PROVIDING they were PERSONALLY WHOLEHEARTEDLY COMMITTED to the Lord and to HEEDING His WORD!
  5. This all is amazingly seen in the life of Caleb, a Gentile and a ruler:
    1. Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, one of the two spies who had given a good report in faith in God, was a Gentile Kenizzite, Jos. 14:6-8 NIV.
    2. Now, the Kenizzites were one of the GENTILE nations God had named back in Genesis 15:18-21 who were to be dispossessed of the Promised Land by Abraham's descendants, Genesis 15:18-21!
    3. Thus, Caleb had come to trust in Israel's GOD as opposed to the false gods of his pagan Kenizzite ancestors, so in wholeheartedly following Israel's TRUE God , he became HEIR to a plot in the Promised Land IN CONTRAST to his ancestral pagan people group that was DISPOSSESSED of their land there!
    4. Furthermore, Numbers 13:1-6 shows Caleb was a leader of the tribe of Judah, a great achievement given his Gentile roots , and his godly leadership influence in that role via unreservedly following God though still a Gentile was richly rewarded by God: the Kenizzites dwelt in southern Palestine near Hebron, the town Caleb inherited, Z. P. E. B., vol. Three, p. 782; Jos. 14:13! Well, Palestine's pagan peoples fought each for the land because it was so good ( Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Numbers 13:32), meaning the giant Anakim had bullied other people groups like Caleb's Kenizzite kinfolk to gain Hebron and its fertile Eshcol Valley just north of the town (Ibid., Z. P. E. B., p. 108; Num. 13:22-23, 33). Thus, God gave Caleb the prized land the Anakim had bullied his Kenizzite ancestors to possess since he unreservedly followed the Lord as a leader in Judah, Joshua 14:14!
Application: To enjoy God's rich blessing, may we (1) obey His call to believe in Christ for salvation from sin, Acts 17:30; John 3:16. (2) Then, REGARDLESS of our HERITAGE or SINFUL PAST, may we follow the lead of Kenizzite, Caleb, WHOLEHEARTEDLY following God and His Word, (3) and see God RICHLY BLESS us!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 If you have appreciated the exposition of this pastoral ministry of Old Testament Hebrew and Aramaic texts, you have the son of a Gentile pagan Nigerian witch doctor largely to thank!

My Hebrew Old Testament, Kittel's Biblia Hebraica, has the name of its first owner in its inside front cover, that of "Byang Kato," and it was dated when he purchased it, on "May 20, 1972."

Byang Kato was a graduate of the doctoral program at Dallas Theological Seminary, and was such an outstanding man of God, he earned the Lewis Sperry Chafer Award as a student there, Dr. Chafer being the founder of the seminary.

Dr. Kato gave me his Hebrew Bible in part in appreciation for the fact that my parents and other missionaries ministered to him in Nigeria in the late 1940s and 1950s to lead him to trust in Christ out of a life of spiritism as he was the son of a pagan witch doctor.

I of course cherish that Bible not only for its inherent value as the written Word of God, but because of Dr. Kato's testimony behind it, and of the testimonies of missionaries who took the Gospel to him.

Dr. Byang Kato died in a drowning accident decades ago, but his memory and influence lives on, making you in part its beneficiaries.



So, regardless of a sinful heritage, regardless even of a sinful personal past, may we like Gentile Caleb the Kenizzite of old or Dr. Byang Kato, the son of a pagan Nigerian witch doctor, be RECOMMITTED to following God with WHOLEHEARTED devotion, that He in His grace might truly, wonderfully bless us!