Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20120506.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Numbers: Lessons From Spiritual Casualties And Conquerors
Part XXXVIII: Overcoming Pagan Errors About God Through The Typology Of Christ In Israel's Regular Offerings
(Numbers 28:1-15)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    A stream of negative misconceptions about the Bible's God and Christianity seemingly constantly flow from today's secular world:

    Robert R. Reilly of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D. C., in his letter to the editor in the April 30, 2012 issue of The Wall Street Journal, p. A14 reported that the op-ed, "The Islamist Road to Democracy" in the April 23, 2012 issue of the paper by Reuel Marc Gerecht claimed Christianity was the cause of killing before we in the West "secularized ourselves and became democratic" in being "exhausted from religious wars". Reilly reports Gerecht felt that we Westerners should then relax over current religious upheavals in Islamic nations as it will all lead "to more democratic, liberal politics in the region'" much like the West's religious wars fueled by Christianity finally gave way to democracy.

    Robert R. Reilly countered Mr. Gerecht, claiming: "The idea of freedom of conscience preceded secularism and was based on the very Christianity that he holds accountable for the killing . . . (B)efore the importation of totalitarianism, the [Christianized] British Empire had created model constitutional monarchies in places like Iraq and Egypt, which enjoyed real parliaments, limited government, the rule of law, independent judiciaries and relatively free press. So the real question becomes: Why didn't democracy lead to more democracy in the Middle East, rather than its overthrow? It does no good to say the West did this to the people of the Middle East; they did it to themselves. And now, most likely, they are going to do it again . . ."



    Now, it is one thing for an American foreign policy expert like Robert R. Reilly to defend the good character of genuine Christianity and so genuine Christianity's God, but we may ask if the Bible itself does the same thing.

    For this sermon introduction, then, we ask, "Does the Bible defend the good character of its God and Christianity versus negative misconceptions by the world?!"

    Need: "Does the Bible defend the good character of its God opposite claims to the contrary that are often touted in today's world?!"

  1. When Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land, God had Moses instruct the new generation on the sacrifices they were to offer in promoting Israel's unique relationship with God, Numbers 28:1-2.
  2. The Numbers 28:3-15 regular daily, weekly and monthly sacrifices in the historical context critique pagan negative distortions of God:
    1. Each day, Israel was to offer two burnt offerings, Numbers 28:3-4.
    2. This offering first appears in Genesis 8:20 where Noah after the Flood offered burnt offerings of every clean animal to dedicate himself to heed God, and the Lord responded by promising not to destroy the earth again by a flood since man was helplessly sinful from his youth, and God would supply a stable earth while it remained, Gen. 8:21-22.
    3. However, though recalling the Flood's devastation, man abandoned faith in God, leading to a terrible misconception about the Lord:
      1. Man recalled the flood as "(t)here are over 270 flood stories from all parts of the world," Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, 1978, ftn. to Gen. 7:19.
      2. However, pagan man abandoned faith in God to trust in many false deities identified with the natural world itself, Romans 1:21-23.
      3. Recalling the flood but holding to false gods, pagan man thought he was exposed to fickle, despotic, selfish deities, and feared the world risked chaotic ruin as with the flood if he did not appease the gods, Bruce K. Waltke, Creation and Chaos, 1974, p. 47, 57-65.
    4. God raised up Israel to correct this error, and Israel's daily burnt offerings suggest a key theme in this corrective effort (as follows):
      1. Opposite pagan man's fear of an unstable earth, Israel's One True God wanted burnt offerings practiced akin to Noah's burnt offering that pleased Him to where God promised a stable earth!
      2. Opposite paganism's belief in a self-centered, despotic group of deities, Israel's pointing to Noah's God in the daily burnt offerings testified He was the One God of grace for helplessly sinful man!
      3. Opposite pagan man's belief in a host of fickle deities, Israel's God wanted twice daily burnt offerings year-round to present Himself as FAITHFULLY gracious unto helplessly sinful man.
    5. Then, Israel's burnt offerings ALSO teach the BASIS of God's faithful grace was the coming CROSS of JESUS CHRIST:
      1. Israel's regular daily burnt offering was not to that of just any clean animal as in Noah's case, but a lamb (Num. 28:3; Gen. 8:20), and Jesus as the Lamb of God would take away the world's sin (John 1:29). Israel's regular burnt offering of a lamb thus depicted Jesus' offering of Himself as man's Substitutionary Atonement for sin to appease God's wrath so that God might save man, Rom. 3:23-28.
      2. Christ was nailed to the cross at 9 a.m., the time of the morning sacrifice, and died at 3 p.m., the time of the evening sacrifice as performed in Jesus' day, Harold Hoehner, Chron. Aspects of the Life of Christ, 1979, p. 89; Alfred Edersheim, The Temple, 1975, p. 143-144. Thus, the constant burnt offerings always spoke of Christ's bearing man's sin on the cross to satiate God's wrath!
    6. Also, the weekly and monthly offerings seen against paganism's frightful superstitions augment the focus on God's GRACE:
      1. The weekly Sabbath Day offerings doubled the number of lambs offered to four (Num. 28:9-10), and the monthly New Moon sacrifices added two young bulls, one ram and seven lambs to the regular twice daily burnt offerings of lambs, Num. 28:11-15.
      2. This all pointedly countered pagan beliefs that every seventh day, connected with the four phases of the moon, was a "bad luck" day when man was to avoid pleasure and important work lest it fail, Ibid., Waltke, p. 65. God was teaching He was abundantly gracious ESPECIALLY on those days pagan man most feared!
    7. To these regular sacrifices were added grain offerings (Num. 28:5, 7, 9-10, 12-14), typifying Christ's sinless life as expounded in the Bible (solet = purified flour, Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 243f; B. D. B., Heb.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 701) and mixed with oil, typifying the Spirit's enabling of Christ's life as expounded in the Bible, and wine drink offerings poured out onto the holy place ground as Christ's shed blood propitiates God's wrath, and the monthly sacrifices add a sin offering, showing Christ's death removes sin, Num. 28:5, 15 and Lev. 4:1;5:13.
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ to be justified and become a child of God, John 1:11-12. (2) May we rely on the indwelling Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16-23) to (3) devote our lives to live for God like Noah did, which is our reasonable sacrifice today, Romans 12:1-2.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 Uniformitarian evolutionists claim that the Bible's record of creation and the universal flood are myths, and high school biology teachers and secular college and university science professors commonly reject and at times ridicule the Bible's record on these matters in favor of long ages of evolutionary development.

However, the Bible in 2 Peter 3:3-6 predicted such scoffers would willingly let evidence like that of the universal Noahic Flood escape their notice, and the testimony of coal beds validate this claim:

(1) First, no coal beds are currently being formed. (John C. Whitcomb, Jr. And Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Flood, 1978, p. 163-164) The accumulation of huge amounts of plant remains under the influence of temperature, pressure and time needed to produce coal beds or coal seams is simply not occurring today, a colossal critique of uniformitarian evolutionary theory, Ibid., p. 162.

(2) Second, various items that have been found in coal seams completely contradict evolution: G. Mulfinger's article, "A Unique Creationist Exhibit," Creation Research Quarterly, vol. 10:62-68 as cited in Silvia Baker, Bone of Contention, 1996, p. 33 claims, "Many facts suggest that the coal seams were formed when vegetation was uprooted and redeposited by flood waters, rather than slowly accumulating in a peat bog as evolutionists believe. For example, upright tree trunks more than three metres in height have been found in coals beds. Some trees are positioned with the tops downwards in the coal and so could not have grown in place. Marine fossils have been found embedded in coal. So too have boulders of rock that could only have come from a considerable distance away. Other objects have been found in coal which cannot be explained by the peat bog' theory. These include a twenty-five centimetre [9 inch] long, eight-carat gold chain, an iron pot and a human skull, and they constitute evidence that a human civilization perished while the coal was being formed."

So, not only does the Bible defend its own credibility and the credibility of the character of its God against evolutionary theory, but evidences in the natural world support the Bible's claim on the issue as well.

May we trust the God of the Bible and believe His Word, trusting in Christ for salvation and consecrating ourselves to live for Him in stability and blessing like Noah of old.