Introduction We've come to the last chapter of the book of Numbers. We've worked our way through this book, which has told the story of what happened after the Israelites left Mount Sinai and headed through the wilderness to the Promised Land. And this book has recorded the unfaithfulness of the people and the faithfulness … Continue reading Numbers 36 →

Introduction Last week we read how the Lord described the boundaries of the Promised Land which he was giving to his people as an inheritance gift. And then we read how he assigned Eleazar the high priest and Joshua, who was a king-like leader, to oversee the distribution of the land among the tribes and … Continue reading Numbers 35 →

Introduction I was recently at a meeting in Church House; and the convener of the Parish Bounds Panel was reporting on their work. And he brought with him maps and maps and maps, each one showing a section of the island of Ireland, with lines drawn on them to show the boundaries of the different … Continue reading Numbers 34 →

Introduction I'm sure you've noticed that in my sermons I very often begin with a recap of the previous one. So, before going on to study the latest passage, I summarise what we learned from the previous passage. In this way anyone who missed the last sermon can catch up; and everyone else is reminded … Continue reading Numbers 33 →

Introduction It was back in chapter 20 that we noted how the Israelites had entered their fortieth, and last, year in the wilderness. And we noted that they were on the verge of entering the Promised Land. However, since chapter 20, lots of things have happened. It was in the fortieth year that Moses and … Continue reading Numbers 32 →

Introduction I've said before that the book of Numbers alternates between historical narrative and legal instruction; between history and law. In the narrative sections, it tells the story of the Israelites in the wilderness. In the legal sections, the Lord gave laws to his people to keep. Chapters 28 to 30 contained legal instruction: laws … Continue reading Numbers 31 →

Introduction I've explained before that the book of Numbers is called the book of Numbers because it contains lots of numbers. Right at the beginning of the book, all the men aged 20 years and over who were able to serve in the army were counted. And the same thing happened again in chapter 26 … Continue reading Numbers 30 →

Introduction I've said before that the book of Numbers alternates between history and law. After several chapters of historical narrative -- telling the story of the Israelites in the wilderness -- there always comes a section of legal instruction, with laws and rules and regulations for the people to follow. And then it goes back … Continue reading Numbers 28+29 →

Introduction You could almost say that today's passage is about succession planning. You know what succession planning is, don't you? It's when the leaders of organisations begin to think and prepare for the time when they will step down from their leadership roles and others will take over from them. So, the current leaders need … Continue reading Numbers 27 →

Introduction When we began to study the book of Numbers, I said that it could be divided up in several ways. For instance, it alternates between history and law. So, chapters 1 to 4, for instance, contain historical narrative, while chapters 5 and 6 contain legal instructions; then chapters 7 to 9 contain historical narrative … Continue reading Numbers 26 →