Caleb Walker

Resources: PowerPoint, Pre-taught lesson, and synthesized Lesson Manuscript

Franklin Heights Church Connect Groups: https://franklinheights.org/connect/groups/

PowerPoint free Download Here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/s4q8k02xr8sfhi4yg6pp7/Numbers-33-34.pptx?rlkey=5vx9g78dwk25e88voqb043n23&st=fno6b38m&dl=0

Review: Last week we looked at how God used an unlikely person to accomplish God’s will despite his obstinance, and God would use this person—Balaam—to pronounce blessings instead of curses on Israel. We’ve even seen God’s blessings on Israel this week with the return of the hostages. We know someday King Jesus will return and there will be lasting peace in the Middle East. Balaam in his obstinance turned against the one who was trying to protect him, his donkey. And once the scales were removed from his eyes he was finally able to see the Mighty and of the Lord standing in his path protecting him despite his willfulness. Aren’t you glad God sent His Son to stand in the way of our stubborn willfulness and he blessed us with his gospel grace despite ourselves. 

Title: Instructions Given

Text: Numbers 33:50-56; 34:13-15

Key Verse: Numbers 33:53, “53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.”

Introduction: In this week’s lesson we see that… Theme: God’s plans require believers to act on the instructions He gives.

     Have you ever conducted any sort of construction project? The lone sign is out there on the plot of land, from survey crews to poured concrete to painters and finally the moving truck and the occupants, someone’s plan went into motion. Jesus is the Divine architect for His creation and has a plan for our lives that starts with “Come to me” (Matthew 11:28-30) and ends with “Well done” (Matthew 25:21). We just held a funeral for a dear saint in our church who went home to be with the Lord. God has a wonderful plan for our lives, and God has a plan for His people in our text, as well.

Main Points:

1. The Land (Numbers 33:50-53)

^“50 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ⁵¹ ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵² then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. ⁵³ And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.’”

• From Israel’s encampment on “the plains of Moab: they could see the Promised Land of their soon conquest, divided only by the Jordan River.
• Through dependence on God’s strength they were to (1) drive out the inhabitants and occupy, (2) remove all idols from the land, zero distractions. To inhabit the land with God’s blessings they needed to remove idolatrous distractions in order to honor God. Deuteronomy 9:5, “⁵ Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” And it’s the same in our lives, any progress, fruit, leading someone to saving faith in Christ as Lord and Savior, seeing a Church planted, seeing God work and move in lives, seeing God work in and through our church, it’s all-100%-going to be because of Him, not us and the strength of our own flesh.
• We have distractions that need to be removed as well, things that dis-attract us from being wholly yielded to and devoted to God.
• II. The Task (Numbers 33:54-56)

“⁵⁴ You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. ⁵⁵ But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. ⁵⁶ And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”

• God gave Israel the Land simply because God owns it. There’s a lot in the news about who owns the land in the Middle East and where that border begins and ends. Psalm 24:1 tells us: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,  the world and those who dwell therein[.]” God owns it and God gave it to Israel and her decedents, not Ishmael and his decedents. God gets to call the shots. Someday the great descendent of Israel’s line will come again a second time to destroy and conquer and then He will make all things new.
• God would control the lots and divide up the land amongst the Israelite tribes.
• If they didn’t drive out the inhabitants there would be “barbs” and “thorns” indicating pain and physical damage for the disobedience. Listen if God tells you to remove something from your life, don’t dilly-dally. Just remove it.
• Also, keep it removed. Israel wouldn’t; they’d syncretize with the idolatrous nations around them, intermarry with them, and inflict the chastening hand of the conquering Babylonians and Assyrians centuries later.
• We’re in a spiritual battle, and spiritual victory/spiritual ground won’t be taken passively. “We need to be killing sin, or else sin will be killing us.” John Owen, “Mortify the flesh” the old spiritual man, the old sin nature.

Matthew 11:12, “¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,^[a] and the violent take it by force.”

I Timothy 6:12, “¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

• The pathos of these verses is that of William Wallace in Braveheart compelling his men, “Would you be willing to trade all days from this day to that for one chance to come back here and [basically show God’s enemies what’s what.]”
• III. The Plan (Numbers 34:13-15)

^“13 Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, ‘This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. ¹⁴ For the tribe of the people of Reuben by fathers’ houses and the tribe of the people of Gad by their fathers’ houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh. ¹⁵ The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.’”

• God was fulfilling his promise here to give them the land, delineated in verses 1-12.
• Even though certain tribes would live closer to the border, they would still need to do their part to help the other tribes to conquer the rest of the land.

Doctrine: Our key doctrine for this week is God.

     Lifeway says, “To God we owe the highest love, reverence and obedience.”

 Deuteronomy 6:14-15, “¹⁴ You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— ¹⁵ for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.”

James 1:22, “²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Gospel: Jesus came and conquered our sin and brokenness by willingly dying on the cross to make atonement, payment for sin. He rose the third day. The Bible says that if you’ll ask Him, He’ll save you and give you new life to be lived for him. Many people our paths cross feel defeated by life or overwhelmed by their inability to live life in their own strength. That’s our inroad to transition the conversation to a gospel conversation.

Gospel Conversation Transition Statement: “I haven’t felt overwhelmed or defeated in that exact way, but I have had my share of worries and failure. May I share with you the hope and strength I have found in Jesus?”

Big Takeaway(s):

• God’s plans require believers to act on the instructions He gives
• Following God often includes that we as believers remove distractions.
• Believers can expect to encounter challenges while following God.
• We can trust God to keep His promises.

Discussion Questions:

• What tends to distract you the most from God?
• How can we live a life filled to the brim with obedience to God?
• What promises are you looking for God to fulfill in your life and how can you exercise confidence in Him as your promise-keeping God?
• What is one of your big takeaways from God’s Word here?